Kramer loved getting in the dishwasher, taking a bath (seriously) and playing with toilet paper.

Oh the sadness of losing a pet.

Yes, we have lost another pet. I took Kramer in to the vet yesterday to have her fixed and have her declawed. I dropped her off and then headed to Watertown. At 8:52 a.m. the vet called and said "I have some bad news". You know me and my weird thinking, the first thought that went through my head was that Kramer was really a boy and not a girl and he opened her up for nothing. Wrong. He said that he had given her the anesthetic and she had a reaction to it and stopped breathing and they did everything they could but they could not revive her. I said "What?" And he repeated it. This is all while I'm driving. So as I slowly lost control of myself, I pulled over and bawled my head off. How could this be happening? Didn't I just go through this three months ago? I called Rob and poor Dawn answered the phone. I could barely speak but she understood me enough to get Rob. I ended up calling the vet a couple of times and also another vet that we'd seen previously. The receptionist at the vet's office said they'd been playing with her up until they gave her the medicine and she just was gone. I asked them to take off her collar and cut some hair and put it in a bag. The bell on her collar is enough to break me down. I feel like I just handed her over to him to put her down. I walked in and he was there so instead of kissing her and telling her that I love her, I talked to the vet and handed her over. At least I held Bob as she died. I wasn't there for Kramer and I feel horrible. I'm just heartbroken. I don't understand why God would bring her into our lives for two months. I know that life isn't fair but this just is not fair. Why can people have kids and abuse them and have more and people can have pets and neglect them and nothing happens to them and we can't seem to have either? Poor Billy. Even though she annoyed him to no end, he misses her. He isn't a vocal cat. But he walked around the house tonight and cried. We've decided not to get another cat for quite some time. Maybe even until after Billy is gone. Rob's dad bought a baby blanket and they wrapped her in it and placed her in a box. After I got home from Watertown, we picked her up and drove to Aberdeen and met my parents. We ate with them and then they took her home. The ground is frozen so we can't bury her yet. They'll keep her safe until spring.

Rob and a friend from school were talking about Kramer yesterday and he confided in her about the adoption. I'm glad he has someone to talk to because he doesn't like to bring his work problems home. And she's someone I really like so I don't have a problem with him telling her. We talked about it on the way to Aberdeen yesterday. We're ready to start telling people. As soon as we get our acceptance to the orphanage, we'll share the news. By then, we'll know how long it will be before we're PARENTS!

We took our pictures yesterday morning and our heads were cut off in a couple of them. So we're going to have to do them again in the morning and then see if someone in Watertown can get them developed at WalMart so one of the plant operators can bring them back tomorrow night. My goal was to have these applications to the orphanages by Februrary 1. Obviously that isn't going to happen. But we'll still be close. The ironic thing about yesterday is that Rob wore his suit to school and I had on my new outfit so we looked pretty snazzy. Rob kept getting asked whose funeral he was going to. Little did we know.

I thought I was the queen of Internet research. I've been topped. My friend Maria found our blog. I have no idea how she did it, but she did. She's good. Now two people have found it. I can't even find it! I can't wait for our family and friends to read this journey and post comments. I also can't wait to get to Colombia and be able to tell everyone what we're doing.

Well, I guess it's time to go. I didn't get anything accomplished yesterday so I better wipe my tears and get busy. Thanks for reading.

I bought my first baby item!

Over the past nine years, I've never let myself buy anything for a baby. I broke down yesterday and bought a stuffed rabbit. It felt so good! Rob says it's girly because it has some pink on it. I don't think so. Even if it does, our kid is getting the stuffed rabbit with pink on it. You know that feeling when you think/hope you're pregnant and you go to the store to buy a pregnancy test? The anticipation and nervousness you feel? That's how I felt yesterday. And I guess in a sense, while I'm not pregnant, I sort of am. Except my pregnancy is without weight gain, stretch marks, and labor pains. But I am counting down the days until our baby is here.

We're waiting to hear back about our I-600A. We took our passport pictures this week (of course I hate mine), Rob applied for his passport, and I'll apply for mine in Watertown on Tuesday. I also took pictures of our house and we're still waiting to take pictures of us. It has to be done by Monday night so I can get them developed in Watertown on Tuesday. Good news, though...I bought a skirt that fits! Yay! I was in Penney's on Saturday and they were having a big sale. I found the skirt and jacket that match my one pair of pants that fits. The skirt was $7.50 and the jacket (regularly $60) was $15! Woo-Hoo! I am such a bargain shopper! Of course, then I went to Target and spent $160. We hadn't been to Aberdeen forever so I had lots to buy. To make up for the amount of money I knew I was spending, I bought Target brand toilet paper, soap...It better be good. I even bought my own hair color so I can stop spending over $100 to go to a salon. I'm not sure how this is going to turn out so I'm going to do it quick while Rob's gone. Cross your fingers.

NO ARREST RECORD!

If you could see the smile on my face!! I tried to take a picture of the actual words "no arrest record" but the glare from the paper was awful. I called Karen, our SW, but she wasn't available. We're ready to go on the next step. I talked to our attorney friend, Paul. He said we should still go forward with the pardon just to get it off of there. I will, but no it isn't a dire need. We have more important things to work on now! :)

Thank you, Lord, for answering our prayers!

The Suspense!!!!

I called the FBI on Wednesday to see what the status was. She said they were mailed out on Monday but wouldn't give me the status. Of course I had to go home and get the mail. And there was none. BUT, it was shortly before 11:00, so I thought maybe the mailman was late. I had to run to town in the afternoon and there was mail, but no fingerprints. So today comes along and I had a board meeting. It about killed me to sit there all morning KNOWING the fingerprints were in my mailbox and I couldn't go get them. So after the board meeting I stopped at my house to get the mail. My heart leaped when I saw the mailbox wasn't quite closed. My heart fell when I realized it was only a memory card I ordered from EBay. So the trivia question of the day is "How long does it take mail to travel from West Virginia to South Dakota?" I know the answer is at least three days. It better be here tomorrow or I may lose it!

I have a friend!!!!!!!!

I know that probably seems odd to many of you, but I met someone ~ Erin ~ who is from ND and has adopted two boys from Colombia. She has been a wealth of information for me. PLUS, she's an attorney so we're trying to get this minor consumption issue worked out. Cara and I have bonded so much during this process and our friendship has grown tremendously. We have something in common that we'll never have with most of our other friends. But some of her experiences from the Ukraine are totally different from what we'll have to do with Colombia. So that's why I'm so excited to have met someone who knows EXACTLY what I'm going through.

Thank you so much to those of you who have written letters of recommendation for Rob. They literally brought tears to my eyes. And it isn't because I'm an emotional person! :) They were very heartfelt and I appreciate them very much.

We hope to have our fingerprints back from the FBI this week. I talked to a man from the board of P&P and really had my hopes dashed. He said it could takes months to have this resolved. We thought that Rob could apply for an exceptional pardon since it has been more than five years. This would eliminate us from having to publish a notice in the Aberdeen paper to see if anyone has any objections to Rob receiving the pardon. But I found out that Governor Rounds does not approve exceptional pardons. So we have to publish this three weeks in a row and then wait ten days after the last publication. So that puts us in the middle of February. Then we'll have to send the application, letters from friends, a letter from the Brown County State's Attorney all to the board of P&P. They will then put it on the schedule. So if we go with this time frame, Rob would get on in March. He then has to tell the two person board why he wants a pardon. If they recommend it, he has to go before the five person board. If they recommend it, the pardon would go to the governor. The man I talked to said it could sit on the governor's desk for months before a decision is made. Well guess what....I started bawling. This is just so disheartening. If we would have known about this last summer, we would have taken care of it then. But I just didn't see that it would be an issue. So I called our trusty friend Paul, also an attorney. He had told Rob there is something that could be done on a local level. Rob had called the Brown County SA back in November and he didn't know what to do. So Paul is going to call the BCSA and see if they can take care of it. I keep telling Paul he owes me for stuff I've done for him for work. Paul, I will owe you CASES of protein powder and beer if you fix this! :)

Erin gave me lots of good information. They adopted from Los Pisingos. LP tends to place young babies (three months or so as opposed to five months) and will allow you to adopt three kids. Sometimes you can only adopt two total from the orphanages. She knows someone who got their referral six weeks after submitting their dossier! I'll go anytime. It doesn't matter to me. I'd rather have it be sooner than later. But I really want to be home in August for my niece, Katie's, wedding. We'll cross that bridge when we get there, but I hope we don't have to even think about it. I asked Erin about not letting anyone see the baby and she didn't think it would be an issue. So that makes me feel better.

We had the dining out last night. Sure enough, the dress didn't fit. Not even close. I think the zipper was about three inches from closing. Rob didn't get home from the wrestling tournament in Miller in time, so we didn't take pictures, anyway. I'd spent close to an hour using the timer on the camera to find a good spot. PLUS, I spent about two hours sewing a red thing to tuck in Rob's shirt pocket for the dining out. Red is their "color" and everyone had to have on something red. Socks, suspenders, pocket thing (sorry I can't think of the name even though I know it's something I SHOULD know). If they don't wear red, they have to put quarters into the kitty. It's a guard thing. Anyway, someone had given me an old bridesmaid's dress to use for Halloween. I cut the inside of the dress just in case I ever need to use it. And pinned it and stuffed it in the pocket, repinned and stuffed in the pocket, got my sewing machine out of the closet and set up, repinned and restuffed and finally got this cute little red pocket protector like thing. I must say...I'm good. I think it would have been easier if I'd used a ruler or something. I just guessed. Hence all the repinning. Back to the diet...I'm one of those people that expects to lose five pounds in the first two days. I've been drinking shakes since Tuesday. I have not cheated. And I haven't lost a pound. This is why I fall off the wagon. I expect immediate results. BUT, I think my pants weren't so tight. I've been doing Gilad's exercise's. I'm pretty sore, too. I love doing "The Firm". But I don't have an hour to exercise. Of course yesterday, I did Gilad for a half an hour and yoga for a half an hour. Man, that yoga is relaxing. I need to get back to my acupuncture. You wouldn't have to read my babbling. Well, maybe you would. I would just be more calm as I was typing this! :)

Well, I have to go. I didn't get much sleep last night. Kramer's alarm clock goes off almost precisely every night at 2:30. Either she's being pesky or she wants to touch my face. With her feet or her face. Lips included. Needless to say, it's a little distracting to have cat lips on you. PLUS, it was so smoky at the dining out that she was in hair-licking heaven. I finally had to pull the sheet around my face like a hood. She even tried to get in there. I had to hold on tight. Rob went to guards. I missed church. And my parents are coming to pick me up to go visit my niece Hailey for Christmas.

Have a great day....