Some days you just wanna go "pfftttttt"

Our adoption coordinator resigned. Yes, the one that I didn't feel had a handle on things. But at least she was sort of familiar with our case.

We've had a busy week. I had a board meeting Monday and came home to an 85 degree house. We've been saying for months it isn't cooling. Sure enough...out of freon. Air conditioning guy came over and it immediately started to cool off. I hate to say it but it's almost cold in here now. Rob golfed in Aberdeen all day on Tuesday. Rob golfed for league all day on Wednesday. Thursday we went to Aberdeen for the All Star football game. We had friends come from Elk Point so it was really nice to spend some time with them. We left the game early to attend the memorial service for the wife of a high school friend of Rob's. I know that even though it really isn't fair that I can't get pregnant, we're still very blessed. We've had our struggles but we're still together. We love each other and we're able to comfort each other. I can't imagine Brent's loss. I don't know that I'm an overly strong person. But I'll gladly give some of that strength to Brent, their four boys, their families, and their friends during this awful time in their lives. After the prayer service we all came home and Billy was SO excited! NOT!



Kalla just loves him. He just tolerates her. I went to take their picture and I said something about Billy not looking. So she held his face. It does make for a cute picture, doesn't it? She hugged him and kissed him and layed by him and layed him on her and carried him around and wrapped him in a blanket. He had so many chances to run but he either isn't quick enough or secretly loves the attention. This morning when she woke up she said "I want the kitty". So I took her to Rob and she laid with the two favorites of our house.



I know where I stand. I take the cute pictures. I don't know if she'll like the baby though. I held another baby once and she didn't like it. And she isn't even my kid!

So then after they left, I had to work. I didn't shower because I wanted to be able to spend time with them and not have to get ready. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and left. Looking really good. Oh, I did rat my hair quite a bit. You know, I am an 80's girl so big hair has never left my system. Work normally wouldn't be too exciting but we had a little celebration at the gas station in town. They just installed blender pumps (ethanol blended at 10%, 20%, and 30% along with E85). So from 11-1 we pumped gas, gave out prizes, grilled hotdogs, washed windows, and gave $.20 back for every gallon of ethanol pumped. Plus the gas station owner gave another $.10 back. So the E10 that normally cost $2.97 was $2.67. We had people lined up down the street. By the time we were done, I was exhausted. I went back to work for a while then came home and watched some Big Brother. Some of these people just really have to go. Billy must have thought Kalla was coming back because he didn't come out from underneath the bed until about 7:30 tonight.

Rob's great aunt died today. She only found out a week ago that she had cancer which is just unbelievable to me. So we will attend another funeral this week.

I know that you're all waiting for some good news when you read this. I truly think it will be at least six months. I packed up most of the baby things and took them downstairs. It was a little difficult but needed to be done. We really don't have room so until we find a house we just can't keep all this stuff in the living room and dining room. So until then you will just have to read about our totally boring life. Rob does start school on Monday. I don't think he's ready. It just went by way too quick. I'm going to a bridal shower for my niece tomorrow. That's about all the excitement we'll have in the next week or so.

Since I haven't posted this week, I didn't get a chance to say "Happy Anniversary" to my brother and sister-in-law or my aunt and uncle. And happy birthday to the tons of people in our family whose birthday's were this week.

Have a great weekend!!

Back to normal life.

Well the anniversary went well. We didn't golf. We pretty much did nothing all day. It was nice! We met my parents, Rob's parents, and two of my brothers and their families at The Flame at 6:00. We've had many wonderful wishes and we thank you all for being a part of our lives. Your support as we have gone through life in general, marriage, infertility, and now adoption means so much to us. These are the pictures of our day. Spent most of the day in my bathrobe. Then with my family. Then with our only child. You can tell he wasn't very happy. The last picture of Billy is him with his catnip lid. He loves his catnip. It must be like real pot. He stopped eating anything but the catnip. Until I refuse to give him any more then he'll decide he better eat or he'll be hungry. So he doesn't get too far away from the kitchen. He either sits with the lid right in front of him or he lays his head on it. Rough life, eh?

Nicole, your profile is set to "private" so I don't know how to get in touch with you. Thanks for the encouragement. It's nice to hear of other people's good news!

Happy Anniversary, Babe!

Ten years ago today, I married my best friend. We've had our ups and downs but we are stronger than ever. And we're ready to start our family!

I spent HOURS making this video. My computer kept freezing up so I redid it like five times. I think I have one picture in there twice. Oops. You can see how we've changed over there years.

I know there are tons of pictures of Jen, Ang, and me, but most of our pictures are packed so I had to dig in boxes for quite a while to find what I did find. This way you can see my various hair colors and styles and how much weight I've gained! :)

I was supposed to have a board meeting today but it was postponed until tomorrow. So I have the day free to spend with my husband! We're going golfing here shortly and then will go to Aberdeen for supper tonight.

Love ya, Babe.

I found my wallet!

Five months later! :) I'll get to how in a minute.

We are a grilling family. During the summer we grill out almost every night. Until two years ago when we moved here. We left behind our grill because it was falling apart and had moved across the state and from house to house to house. We thought we'd find permanent housing quickly. So we didn't want to buy a nice grill until we had a house. Two years later, we are still in the same rental. We've had enough. Thursday, July 19 is our ten year anniversary. So we decided to buy a grill. Obviously I didn't know what I was getting into or I wouldn't have agreed. Saturday we went to Aberdeen and picked up a few things. While we were in Target we walked past the grills and decided maybe it was time. We had my car so we knew anything we bought wouldn't fit anyway. Sunday I played for church and we got home about 10:20. I didn't even make it in the house and Rob was waiting in the pickup (we drove two cars to church because I went early to practice). So we stopped at Casey's for a doughnut and drink and off we went. We went BACK to Aberdeen and figured we better shop around. We went to Shopko first. Nothing. We stopped to eat at Pizza Ranch. Then we went to KMart, Walmart, Menards, Target, Walmart, and Menards. Oh and then back to Walmart to exchange the grill cover we got. By this time, I didn't care what he got. I didn't care how much he spent. I just wanted to go home. My foot was killing me because I'd been walking too much, I was still in my church clothes, and I was ready for a nap. We got home at 5:00. We carried in the stuff we got and I let him take a nap for a while. We started cleaning out the garage about 6:00 and when he moved the garden hose roller-up thing, I found my wallet. I screamed a little and he thought a mouse was under there. I checked for money, but no such luck! We threw out stuff that we've been lugging around for ten years. My saving stuff habit totally went out the window. His dad came over and they started putting the grill together while I continued in the garage. We took the empty box and packing material plus two of the garbage cans over to his parents' house at 10:00 to the dumpster. We got home at 10:30. 10:30!! 12 hours after we left town to begin with! All for a grill. So tonight we were all excited to grill. Rob was a little too excited and things got a *little* done. If you know what I mean. He thought the 350 degrees he was reading was Fahrenheit. Nope. It was Celsius. :)

News that isn't so good.

We received an email yesterday from LSS. It seems there are 220 Colombian families ahead of us. Yes, that was two hundred twenty. Once those 220 have received their referrals we will be back on the list. Until then, LSS is not accepting any new applications for Colombia and they are recommending people who are already working on their documents consider switching to a different international program. So we wait. I think I can unpack the suitcase in the dining room. I also don't have to worry about missing my niece's wedding in August. Or anything else that will happen this year. They don't expect these 220 families to receive their referrals for several months. So it looks like it will be 2008 for us. I hope so at least. It's really a letdown but I know there isn't one thing I can do about it.

We've had some visitors this week. My nephew is hauling grain for a farmer near town so he's been here all week. Our friend Jason was here with his son for a funeral so we watched Jacob while Jason was at the prayer service. Billy just really isn't thrilled with the whole baby idea. Plus, we moved the ironing board out of the extra bedroom since Collin is staying here and now Billy doesn't have anywhere to lay. I'm not sure why he likes to be under the ironing board but he does. So he hid under the bed the whole time Jacob was here.

Totally changing subjects here...I'm going to be a little political. I've always been for the death penalty. On Wednesday night South Dakota executed it's first prisoner since 1947. It even made CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/12/sd.execution.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch Wednesday when I came home from work, I read the Argus and started feeling really funny. I think I'm a little sensative about death this week because today would have been my cousin's 38th birthday. So as I read the coverage, I started crying and praying for this man. I prayed that he is remorseful and had asked God to forgive him. I prayed for his family and the family of the man he killed. And I began to question whether I really agreed with the death penalty. It was a little weird for me. Thinking I'd always believed one way and then wondering if I actually knew what I thought. There hasn't been a death penalty case that I've been familiar with or knew of since the murder happened (one of Rob's friends from high school worked on his defense during his initial trial). I've had people tell me "you can't be against abortion and be for the death penalty". Yes I can. I can't get pregnant. The only way that I can be a mother is for a woman who decides not to parent her child to carry that child full term and place that child for adoption. If I could take the child out of her womb and carry him or her myself, I would. But I can't. For those of you out-of-staters, SD also made CNN this year in regard to abortion. http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/06/sd.abortion/index.html?iref=newssearch So this week, I'm sad for Elijah Page. I'm sad for his family. For Chester Poage and his family. For the people directly involved in his execution. I can't imagine what they felt. But I still don't quite know where I stand in regard to the death penalty. How do you all feel? Blogger has this new "polls" tool. So my first ever poll is whether you're for or against the death penalty. I don't mean for this to get into a heated debate. But I would like to hear your opinions. You can also leave comments. Not just about the death penalty either! :) Hint, hint!

Never run in church!

How many times were we told that growing up? Then how is it that today, I ran in church and broke my toe? Did I not listen to my mother growing up? I had to play at the Methodist church and I was there early to practice. I was trying to figure out how loud to play so I put my books on the keys (which made an awful sound) and then ran through the pews to the middle of the church to see what it sounded like. This went on for about five minutes until I kicked a pew. And that's the volume we sang at today because I wasn't doing it again. I've stubbed my toe before but this is nothing like just a simple stub. My poor pinky toe is black and blue and swollen. And it HURTS! I came home and told Rob "I broke my toe" and I know he thought I was just exaggerating. Until he looked at it. He should believe me when I say these things! I haven't done much else today...slept for about 2 1/2 hours this afternoon, watched some TV. I guess that's it.

Yesterday we went to Highmore and golfed in the Kusser Open. It was 106 degrees and I put sunscreen (SPF 30) on about every hour. Our team was the NSU Wolves (I was the only Coyote there but since I took one class at Northern one summer I qualified) and we golfed with the Mount Marty Lancers. Neither of our teams won but of course we had a good time.

We spent the 4th at the lake with my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and some of the nieces and nephews. Rob ran into some trouble that day. He likes to take the jet ski out. Whether it's by himself or with the kids. (They're in their 20's so they really aren't kids.) So Wednesday he went out by himself and didn't come back and didn't come back. We sent Corey out on another jetski to look for him and Corey said he saw the jetski at someone's house so he came back. Which was really odd because I should have known Rob wouldn't have gone to that house...he doesn't know them well enough to stop by for a visit. Pretty soon we saw someone swimming and pulling a jetski behind him. Sure enough. It was Rob. Corey went over there and pulled him in. He'd been swimming for an hour and half. He hadn't done anything fun yet and the jetski quit. So he swam all the way across the lake pulling the jetski. I would have left it and swam to someone's house but he was afraid someone would take it. He tried to flag people down as they boated by but no one stopped. So of course I felt horrible that he'd been out so long and we hadn't gone to find him. He got his exercise for the day and has a nice sunburn on his face.

I keep thinking "this will be our last holiday without kids". And then the next holiday rolls around. So the next official holiday is Labor Day. That means we need to hear something by the end of July to leave in August. Will we make it?

I did get my fingerprints back. And I have the employment verifications done, the doctor has our health certificate, and I have an email ready to go to the psychologist. Those should all be on their way to MN late this week. I have to send them to the state to be apostilled first but I usually get those back right away. And then if we have to redo them again in six months, I'm not going to be a happy camper. We thought we'd have our referral and be home by now. Another six months will drive me crazy!

I added some pictures. There isn't a whole lot on there but I want to have something ready when we get the call. I don't think I'll be thinking about pictures until it's too late.

ALMOST a hole in one!

Yes, it's true. I came within FEET of having a hole in one yesterday. Rob would have had a heart attack had I actually gotten it. He's been golfing for YEARS and he's never had one. So here I am, not a very good golfer, and it rolled right over the hole. I know that "almost" really doesn't count but this will probably be my one shining moment in golf so I'm going to hold onto it for a very long time! :)

Ack! I'm getting old!

Am I my mother's daughter or my father's daughter? I went to the chiropractor this week and told him that I'd been running and my knees hurt really bad. So he had me take off my shoes and socks and looked at the way I walk and stand. He told me two very disturbing things:

1 ~ He said "I see you're developing some bunions there". I AM NOT! Believe me. I check out my feet way more than necessary to see if this is happening. Thanks, Mom.

2 ~ He said "I think you need inserts in your shoes". I might agree with this one. Thanks, Dad.

So am I getting old or these the bad traits passed on to me? It does explain a little though. When I was in junior high and high school I played basketball and ran track and cross county. Every time I particpated in something, my knees hurt. Bad. I'd end up limping around wondering why I couldn't cut it. My brother and best friend were outstanding runners. I was decent but not as good as them. For a while hearing "Hmmm, I thought you'd be a better athlete" made me want to keep running. Surgery really didn't help. It made it worse. Knee braces didn't help either. I know the track/cross county coach just thought I was a wimp. My basketball coach was just a jerk so the fact that he went out of his way to make me feel worthless shouldn't have surprised me. By the time I quit, I really couldn't stand the pain anymore and was tired of the comparisons. I understand teachers have favorites. But teachers/coaches who go out of their way to make a student feel stupid and intimidated don't deserve to be either a teacher or a coach. ANYWAY, the chiropractor said I've probably walked this way my entire life which has caused some funky things with my knees and the stress fracture I had in my leg when I was 14. Finally, I had justification that my knees really did hurt. I wasn't faking it. So now, at 34, I'm going to have to pay attention to how my foot moves from heel to toe. Plus, I feel like I'm walking pigeon-toed trying to keep my left leg straight. So if you see me walking down the street and I'm tripping all over myself, don't be surprised. One of the many good things to adoption is that my poor kids can't inherit my high forehead, my fine hair, my wide hips, my non-bunions, or the breast cancer that seems to be prevalent in our family! :)

I'm starting to dream about other bloggers. The other night I dreamed that Erin and I went to New York to visit Starfish and while we were flying, Elle called me. We stayed in a fancy hotel somewhere in New York. Erin brought her briefcase and worked and I accompanied kids practicing for the band contest. And we flew home the next day. I'm not sure of the purpose of the whole trip. But I usually can't explain my dreams to begin with.

I had to redo my FBI prints for our dossier. Everything expires in six months. Even our birth certificates. I know. It's goofy. So just in case I've been out in the past six months getting arrested, I had to redo my prints. They expire July 8. The rest of the stuff doesn't start expiring until August so if we don't hear soon I'll have to redo that stuff, too. So my prints are in West Virginia at the FBI. When I get them back they have to be notarized and apostilled and sent to the social worker in MN. Then down the Colombia. This time I made sure to write in BIG letters "INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION". I won't make that mistake again.

I did get my hair cut. So far it hasn't helped with the referral process. BUT in my mind, I've calculated the days out and think the orphanage board will meet this week. Whether or not we get a referral, who knows. In the meantime, it's constantly on my mind. By next week and we haven't heard anything, I'll be OK until the end of July. Then I'll move into "is it this week" paranoia.

So unless I have some really good news to share, I don't know that I'll post again before the 4th. Have a great holiday everyone and keep your fingers crossed!

Random thoughts...

Remember back in March when I posted about getting my hair cut? It hasn't been cut since. I kept thinking that we'd be getting our referral soon and I wanted to get it cut and colored right before we left. So 11 weeks later, I need my hair cut BAD. The only thing that saves me is that, for the most part, I generally don't care what my hair looks like. Everybody who knows me knows I CAN fix my hair. That counts, right? Now that I think about it, maybe I SHOULD cut my hair. That might lead to a referral. Not getting my hair cut hasn't worked.

I went to Fargo Saturday with my parents for the air show. It was interesting. You couldn't pay me enough to get in those airplanes and my dad would pay any amount of money to get in one. I was a little freaked out that one was going to crash right into me. The thought crossed my mind that if I faced the opposite way of the plane coming at me and kneeled on the ground with my hands over my head, I might be saved. Sort of like the tornado position. For a second I thought it might work. This thought soon left my mind as I realized my skin was getting sun burned. I put sunscreen on but it didn't help. I'm burned. No doubt about it. I even had to borrow my mother's nylons for church this morning because I brought a skirt to wear and my sock line and sandals made me look like an idiot. I thought I'd be safe with booties that don't go any higher than my shoes. Yeah. Still look like an idiot.

Since I was in Fargo, I finally got to meet the infamous Erin of Viva La Colombia! :) And Michael. My parents were there too. We've talked many times on the phone and lots of emails but never actually in person. It's funny how I meet all these people on the Internet and may never meet them in person. So it was really nice to actually meet her and have her tell my parents some things about her adoptions and the time they spent in Colombia.

We spent the afternoon at my brother and sister-in-laws house for Father's Day. I often wonder if Father's Day is as difficult for Rob as Mother's Day has been for me. Surprisingly, I've never asked him. I suppose it's a random thought that enters my mind when he's not with me and by the time I see him again the thought is gone. I have bawled and dreaded Mother's Day for many years and I'm hoping this was the last one.

OK, I'm done for the day. Off to watch Tiger and the US Open. I remember as a little girl watching Tom Kite golf on TV and trying to keep score. That's a great idea unless you've never golfed in your life. It totally confused me so I gave up on golf. Now that I'm getting to be so good, golf on TV is actually fun to watch! :) After I become a master at golf, I'll take up NASCAR. Someday I might find that as exciting as golf!

Has it been a whole week?!

I guess that's a good thing. We've been pretty busy since my last post. We've been golfing quite a bit this past week. I had my best score EVER yesterday. It was a 70 but it was still my best score. I think golf courses should only be six holes because my game goes really downhill those last three holes. It's like bowling. I do OK for the first two games. The last one is awful. Back to golf...I had a 12 and a ten so just think what I would have had without those two bad holes. If I can average seven per hole, I'm pretty happy. Except I forgot my clicker thing in my coat pocket. I can't count (namely because I hit so many times) so Rob has to help me with my score.

Rob is an Atlanta Braves fan and I'm a Minnesota Twins fan so we drove to Minneapolis on Tuesday for the game. Our friend Jason went with. We had "cheap seats" (really cheap at $9 per ticket since it was Half Priced Tuesday!) but we had a good time. Rob walked in wearing his Braves jersey and started getting heckled. I followed right behind in my Twins jersey and the guys started laughing and said "It's a divided household!". The Twins won (they swept 'em!) so I was happier than Rob. We wished we could have stayed longer to visit the Diaz's, who just brought their daughter Olivia home from Colombia. But work (and a 4 1/2 hour drive) was calling. It was pretty much the quickest trip to Minneapolis I've ever had.

Rob left today for summer camp for guards. Two weeks. The first year we were dating (1995), this was very difficult for me. We didn't see each other every day but generally talked every day. So going two whole weeks without talking to him about killed me. Since then (and having spent eight months apart while he was on active duty) I've learned to enjoy my alone time! Especially when I get the entire bed to myself! When he was gone for so long, I learned to sleep in the middle of the bed. Billy and Bob snuggled up next to me. All night. So I'd wake up and move to one side or the other. And they'd follow me. So when I'd wake up the next time, I'd pick up my legs and move back over to the other side. When Rob came home, he didn't find this very amusing. Bob slept with me every night. All night. But Billy generally moves from the couch to the bed to under the bed to the guest bed. So now I just have Rob to deal with. My goal is to someday have a king size bed. Actually my goal before that is to find a decent house that has a large enough bedroom to fit a king size bed. Truthfully, I'd just go for a decent house.

My "no news" weekly update

What do you know...no news. I'm not sure how I'll react when we actually do get our referral. I always said that I was so used to negative pregnancy tests I didn't know what I'd do if it actually turned out positive. That's sort of how I feel now. I'm just getting used to every month going by and not hearing anything. I do have a lot going on so that keeps my mind off it.

We got a car this week. Well, it's not a car. But it sure isn't a van. Sorry to any of you van drivers but never, ever in my life will I drive a mini van. (Just watch, that will be my next vehicle.) But, I think I got something that's pretty close. Much trendier though. It's a Chrysler Pacifica. And still not a van. (Can you tell I'm not a van fan?) It was delivered last night so I've been in it long enough to program my radio stations.

We're supposed to get this huge storm tonight. Like the 19 inches of rain we got in May weren't enough. Rob's at golf and I'm starting to get a little panicky. The weather predictors are saying tornados and softball sized hail. I blame my brothers for much of the reason I am the way I am (throwing rocks at me and spitting on me while waiting for the school bus had to have done some damage, right?). I also blame them for my fear of the dark and storms. Every time it rains I'm sure a tornado is coming and is going to take me away. Since I know I wouldn't be able to get the cats in a few seconds and run to the basement, I tend to put the cats in the carrier and sit on the basement steps just waiting for the storm to hit. I haven't done that yet but I am starting to freak out wondering if we have lightening rods on the house.

Caught!

We know who the saran wrapping culprit is. Well, we're fairly certain. Two things clued us in. 1 ~ Said individual had to stay after school that day (on the last day of school, mind you) and 2 ~ one of said individual's parents is in a business where he/she uses industrial size saran wrap. I'm sure said individual had help. Rhonda...you've been saran wrapping before. Can you do it alone? BTW, your parents live in Iowa. Is that where you grew up? Iowa must have been a step ahead of South Dakota in the rebel department when we were growing up because I've never heard of it!

Still no news. I do know a family from LSS received their referral from Los Pisingos in the past few days. She was adopted from LP herself so I'm sure that's why they heard something so quick. So we probably won't hear anything until late June at the earliest. We're getting dangerously close to Katie's wedding on August 25. We'll have to hope for a speedy court.

We've been Saran Wrapped!

Aren't you jealous? Yesterday was the last day of school so SOMETHING had to happen. Rob went to golf and I went to bed about 10:00. Right after "Lost". I'm still not sure what to think of that one. Anyway, I didn't notice anything suspicious. Rob got home about 1:00. I went to work at 6:50 or so and the entire pickup had been Saran Wrapped.

We've been pretty lucky. We've had some youthful pranks pulled on us but nothing too bad. While we were in Highmore, we were toilet papered twice in two nights and had some lawn ornaments disappear during Christmas break. They ended up outside the wrestling room door the next morning. When we lived in Elk Point some kids were going to scare us on Halloween. The neighbor tipped us off and Rob ended up scaring them. Over Christmas break this year Rob went out the front door and found that almost every possible sign in town had been placed in our yard. For Sale, locate flags...you name it. So Saran Wrap just fits right in.

Typos

I have this obsession with typos. I don't know why. I blame my English teacher. Journalism class (not as much English) was my favorite class. When Rob and I were dating I was in school in Vermillion and Rob was already working and living in Redfield. He'd send me cards. Rob has this funky thing about poems. He always writes a poem. They don't make sense but they're very lovable. One time he needed something that rhymed with "air" and he couldn't think of anything. So he wrote "so I'll go cut my hair". Yeah...doesn't make sense but that's OK. It's the thought, right? So anyway, he'd send me cards and I'd correct his spelling. I couldn't help it. It was just SO obvious! Couldn't he see those mistakes?! He told me that if I ever corrected him again he'd never send me another card. Well that solved that. Not the spelling part. Just the correcting. I know that I put in extra commas and start sentences with "and" when I type. So I should not be throwing stones, right? Perfect example: the other day I wrote about the baby shower. I usually proofread everything I post. But you know when you write something you can read it ten times and it looks right. You hand it in (or post in this case) and what do you know? There's a typo. So I did proofread. But I missed something. Rob called me yesterday while I was home for dinner. He said "What word does 'W O H' spell?" I asked if that was the beginning of the word and he said "No. That's the entire word". I thought he was reading something at school and needed my help. So I said "Waa?" I didn't know what it meant but thought it might be some educational thing. He said "I'd like to thank all woh attended." I figured it out. I had a typo. So we hung up. About two minutes later he called back and said "I have a good knock-knock joke but you have to tell me 'knock-knock'". So I said "knock knock" and he said "woh's there?" He's so funny. Needless to say, I have edited the post so this is the only evidence it was ever there!

There's a blog that I read that I really enjoy. I think the counter on her blog went up dramatically when I started reading because I check for new posts several times a day. The posts are that good that I think she should post several times a day. I think she's a lot like me. Although she doesn't hold anything back. I'm more reserved on my blog. The point of my story is that she never has typos. She's very articulate. However, this disease I have hasn't fully gone away. Twice I've found typos. And they were good ones. I laughed and laughed. So Elle, even though I give you a bad time, I'm really not making fun of you. They're just such good typos I can't pass it up! And if you want to make fun of me about the "woh" let me have it. It isn't as good as yours but Rob's response made it funny.

You've probably all figured out I'm having a better week than last week. Last week I was just CONSUMED with freak-out-ness. I'm calmer this week. I don't know why. Lots going on, I think. The shower. Graduation tomorrow. Graduation parties that last three days. A new baby kitty to care for. One of the girls I work with has an abandoned kitty that we've been caring for. She's about three weeks old and is just the cutest thing. She sleeps in a box during the day then wakes up around noon. We feed her from a medicine dropper. Amy supervises while I hold her and Ashley feeds her. She just sucks down that milk like she's starving. Then she goes back to sleep. Until around 4:00 as I'm getting off of work. And we feed her again. We're all gonna be really sad when she can eat on her own and Ashley doesn't bring her to work anymore.

I belong to a Yahoo group for Colombian adoptions and people keep posting about a "lista unica". No one really seems to know what it is but it is supposed to make the wait longer for referrals. I emailed the social worker in MN and she emailed the facilitator in Colombia. Cecelia emailed back that the government is trying to place Colombian babies with Colombians first. Domestically and also internationally. So a Colombian on the list will move right to the top and receive their referral first. She said that she doesn't think there are many Colombians on the waiting list so it probably won't have much of an effect. But it COULD possibly mean a longer wait for us. They (the ICBF) were supposed to meet yesterday with the private orphanages and she would find out more after that meeting. As of now I don't know what they discussed. Hopefully it won't affect us too much. We're already up to the middle of June if we receive our referral this week.

When I emailed the social workers about the this list I told them about my dream with the cat. They wanted to know if they could share that with all of the other social workers and other adopting families. I'm glad I amuse somebody!

Rob's at Saturday school today. Last one. Plus there are only three days of school left. I think he's just as ready as the kids. Graduation is tomorrow which means food at all the parties. I haven't felt like cooking lately so I'm pretty excited about this. My dinners this week were either macaroni and ketchup or macaroni and cottage cheese and mustard. One day I did put some garbanzo beans in the macaroni and ketchup for added nutritional value. It ruined the taste though so I won't be doing that again. So then yesterday I just ate the rest of the garbanzo beans for dinner. Then I was hungry around 1:30. Note to self. Eat more than garbanzo beans for dinner.

There is baby stuff all over!

Four wonderful women from Rob's school hosted a baby shower for us yesterday. Lots of people came, even men, but most of the men didn't last. It was golf night. It started at 3:30 and Rob was pretty sure he was going to be on the course by 4:00. The course is like ten miles from town. Obviously he's never been to a baby shower before! We got lots of great stuff. Some of the people made the CUTEST cake made of diapers. And then they attached little stuff to it with ribbon. I have no creative bones in my body so I was really amazed at the whole thing. My mom took pictures so as soon as I get one I'll post it and show all of you. So thank you to everyone who attended. We truly appreciate not only your gifts but also your support. :)

And you wonder why I'm a basketcase...

After reading this you will see why I'm so tired all the time and why I'm so freaked out.

Remember way back when, when I said that I have a penchant for odd dreams? They continue. Last night I dreamt that Rob and I had gone wherever we were going (I would guess Colombia but it didn't come up in my dream) and we were sitting in a stadium of some sort. They were calling number and called every number in a range except for mine. They told those people they would be going to the court house and getting approved to adopt and would then get their babies. So of course I freaked out because they didn't call my number. All for naught of course because pretty soon they called my number along with a whole bunch of other people's. And we all started going down the steps of the stadium, sort of like at the end of a football game and everybody is leaving. I lost Rob in the crowd but I saw I guy I work with, Todd, but not his wife. So then we were up to the building. I didn't go to court but I handed the director of the orphanage my ticket and he said my baby would be through the next door. I opened the door and there were a whole bunch of cages. Our name was on one so I opened it and my "baby" was a black cat with white spots. Sort of like Roscoe for those of you who knew him but with short hair. For those of you who don't know Roscoe, he is Billy and Bob's father, brother, uncle, grandfather... So I went to the director and said "there must be a mistake" and he told me that I signed a paper saying I would accept any baby they placed with us and this is our baby. I said that I could have stayed in South Dakota and gotten a free cat from the barn or paid a whole lot less to get one from the humane society and did he know how much I paid to adopt and all I got was a cat? Now, you all know I love cats. That isn't the point. But he told me that I could take the cat or leave it but I wouldn't get another baby and I wouldn't get my money back.

I realize this won't happen in real life but it just proves how much this is running through my brain. No wonder I'm losing it!

I'm truly carless now.

I said goodbye to my car tonight. It was actually kind of sad. I got it in 2003 when Rob left for active duty and I've basically lived in it ever since! Does anybody else get as attached to their cars as I do? After we traded my car off when we got married and got an Explorer, I saw someone driving it down 6th Avenue in Aberdeen one day. I about had an accident as I whipped my head around to check it out. For as attached as I get, I don't name them, though. So I was a little emotional as I cleaned it out tonight. The insurance company is coming to get it tomorrow. There is still water soaked in it and it smells pretty awful. I haven't really had good luck with my last two cars. Obviously this one hasn't turned out too well. The last one I ended up sticking some money into it as well when what I thought was a squirrel but actually was a rabbit kept chewing apart the wires that connected something to something else. TWICE! And then my transmission went out. And I got a new car. I'm seriously going to try to hold out for as long as I can on one vehicle. But sticking $70 in gas into Rob's pickup is a killer! This makes me sound really old but I remember back in 1991 as a freshman in college, a gas station in Vermillion had gas for $.88. It was right before Christmas and cars were lined up down the street. That was a huge price break from the $.99 it usually was. And today it's $3.19! Ugh....

Well, nothing else new to say. I'm having problems with my email so if you've emailed me recently and I haven't responded, I've received it (probably). I just can't respond to some domains. If you emailed me a long time ago and I still haven't responded, I will. I promise. I even emailed myself a list of names to email so I don't forget. I'm the sticky note queen so unless I have a note, I can't remember. And once (well probably more than once), not too many years ago, I made fun of my mom for having notes on the counter. Little did I know what was in store for me!

No news is not always good news

I know all of you are waiting for the day when my post tells you we've received good news. I wish I could say I had that news. I don't. I wish I could say we're waiting patiently. But we aren't. The more time passes, the more stressed I get. My anxiety level is through the roof and I'm edgy, nervous, ready to burst into tears at all times, and just not really in a very good mood. And then I start thinking "If I could just run across the street and hang out and drink coffee" or "It's nice out...wish I could go for a walk to the church and back" or "If I could just go shopping with someone who buys ten pair of black pants and returns all of them" I'd feel better. Love you guys.

So until we get "the call" I don't know how much I'll have to say. Be patient with me. I know you don't want to listen to my pity party so I think my posts will be sparse for a while.

We did find out the insurance company is classifying my car as "totaled". So now we're using one vehicle. We only had one day this week that we had a conflict but Rob just drove me to work and someone else brought me back to town. I tried riding my bike to work one day last summer. I thought I was gonna die so I'll never do that again.

On this very special weekend, Happy Mother's Day Mom, Sandy, Grandma, Georgia and all the other mom's in my life. I did get a very nice card today. It was a Mother's Day card for the Mom-To-Be. :) And the tears that came to my eyes were happy ones.

Rain rain go away...

We had an interesting weekend. Rob had guards on Friday and Saturday and then we went to the prom banquet at 6:00 on Saturday. We had some rain so I knew the weather wasn't very good. But when you're in a gym you can't see what's going on outside. In the middle of the banquet the tornado warnings went off. So we all went inside the locker rooms and waited. We finally got out of there and finished the banquet. Before the grand march even started the fire whistle went off. Rob took my keys and went to the fire. While they were checking things out (no fire...just smoke) it started pouring. Really bad. When he left the fire to come back to the gym the water was coming over the hood of my car it was so deep. So my car quit and he had to push it two blocks to the gas station. In the rain while the deep water ran in my car. After he dropped off my car he started walking and got about a block from the school when the fire whistle went off again. Someone picked him up this time. By the time he got back to the prom the grand march was over. He was totally wet, too. So he went home and changed and said the cat was freaking out. I went home and found water in the basement. Which of course is where we've stored all of our boxes. Empty and full. We were lucky though because other people had sewers back up in their basements. We just had water. All in all we had about nine inches of rain, a few tornados were spotted, and three fire calls. Sunday after guards Rob, his dad, and a friend of Allan's pushed my car to the shop the friend owns. It wasn't good news. There is a hole in my engine. So we're now working with the insurance company to get my car fixed. While he was looking at my car, the guards called to reactivate them to bag sand. Needless to say Rob really didn't have a pleasant weekend.

Drugs, drugs, and more drugs.

I'm on as many drugs now as I was when I was taking fertility drugs. I had so much fun giving myself various shots every day that I've taken it up again. My right arm now is the beholder of a tetanus vaccine and a hepatitis A vaccine. My left arm is filled with a yellow fever vaccine and a hepatitis B vaccine. The yellow fever one did sting pretty bad. I related the pain to getting a tattoo. It hurts worse in the flabby part. Needless to say I will never be getting an armband.

Plus we have taken two typhoid pills. Unfortunately I think the first one is invalid. Rob was watching the NFL draft on Saturday drinking a Corona, we'd been eating chips and taco dip all day (very healthy, I know), and gave him a pill and took one myself. THEN I read the directions. "Do not take pill within two hours of consuming food or alcohol." Oops.

Oh, the waiting....

It's driving me crazy! You'd think we have enough going on in our lives that I wouldn't think all day "Is today going to be the day?". But no. I still manage to fit that in. It's been a busy week...the governor was here on Wednesday night so we went to that banquet. Thursday night I taught piano lessons and then went to the National Honor Society banquet. Wednesday afternoon we had our appointment with the doctor regarding vaccines. He gave me a tetanus shot since it's been a very long time since I've had one and gave us both prescription pills for typhoid, malaria, and hepatitis A & B. PLUS we have to go to Sioux Falls today to have yellow fever shots. I could care less if we take most of those but Rob would rather have the shot than the disease. So we're working until 11:00, driving the 2 1/2 hours to SF, getting the shot, and driving the 2 1/2 hours home to work at the Parent Teacher carnival. Tomorrow is the golf course clean up day (and for me...the day to clean the house). Next week is the athletic banquet, prom, and Rob has guards. PLUS, we started grinding corn yesterday! It was pretty exciting. The three of us girls in the office decided to cook for this special day. Someone slap us the next time we think that. After the governor's dinner, I made a pan of banana bars and two pans of taco dip. I also cooked 10 pounds of sausage and Rob cracked 120 eggs. At 11:00 I took out the bars and taco dip and chips, along with all the supplies for breakfast burittos and the sausage in a crockpot to the plant. In my pajamas, by the way. This way, when I went home I could just crawl in bed and get up the next morning and not have to find something to wear. I had a huge brain lapse when I said "Sure, I'll do breakfast!". The crews work from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. and then the next crew works from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. To make sure the night crew got to eat, I got up at 4:00 to start scrambling eggs. I finished at 5:00 and took them out to the plant. I got home at 5:30 and thought "I wonder if it will be bad to go back to bed?". Yes, it was. Don't ever do that. My alarm went off at 6:00 and I hit the snooze until about 6:30 and still made it to work at 7:00. Very groggy and not looking very good, but I was here! And then the real day began! Donna and Ashley made smokies and chili for dinner and we had bars and taco dip and we ate and ate and ate and ate.

Do any of you watch "How I Met Your Mother"? The above paragraph reminds me of a few episodes ago when Ted was saying that Marshall and Lily tell each other EVERYTHING. Right down to "and then I brushed my teeth and after I brushed my teeth I went to the bathroom...".

So now I'm off to work. Still groggy and still not looking too hot. But I only have to work four hours today so that always makes things better! :)

Happy Birthday Rob!

Rob's birthday was Saturday so we went to my mom and dad's cabin for the weekend. Our idea was to relax and we can't really do that at home. There is always something to do. So we took some games and books and got just enough groceries to last us two days and off we went. It was around 80 degrees on Saturday but we didn't make it outside. I'd read and Rob would watch TV for two hours, we'd play two games of Backup, then we'd repeat the cycle. All day. I had an awful experience on Saturday afternoon. We had gotten two salads at HyVee that were ready to expire so they were really cheap. Both had turkey on them but I took mine off and put it on Rob's. All of the sudden, I knew that what I had just eaten wasn't cheese. It was a piece of turkey. And for as much as I tried not to be sick, I couldn't help it. The memory will be with me for a very long time. I didn't think that eating meat would make me sick like that but I know better now!

We got home around noon today and have been busy catchng up stuff around here. We got our travel info from the social worker so I've spent some time reading today. Maybe we'll get some good news this week!

Happy Birthday....

to my Dad and Kalla! We love you both!!!!

No news...

I figured I'd put that first since that's the question on everyone's mind! BUT, I am in a better mood than last time! :)

Rob had guards this weekend so he was pretty much out of commission. Saturday I accompanied kids at the junior high band contest and did laundry. Sunday I played for church and did laundry. See, I do know how to do laundry! Rob and I went for a bike ride Sunday evening and I thought I was going to pass out. I just can't keep up with him. He will definitely be pulling the baby carrier behind him and maybe that will slow him down a little! It really did make me wish the baby was here!

Speaking of which...I've never really been nervous during this whole process. I think it's because we've just been so busy with the whole thing. But now that we are SO CLOSE...I'm getting butterflies! Seriously! I just can't wait. We totally not ready but I just can't wait! :) I know we'll never be ready. There will always be something to do. And I truly feel unprepared. But this baby is coming whether I have stuff in my house or not! :) So bring it on!

We have a slight problem with the FBI prints...they haven't been processed yet. Totally my fault. I sent them FedEx over a week ago. They arrived in West Virginia at the FBI on Monday, April 9. I wrote on the cover letter that we are applying for an INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION but means nothing if they don't open the envelope! I didn't write ADOPTION on the outside of the FedEx envelope so they just throw them in a pile until they have time to do them. I didn't think I could write on the outside of the envelope! So when I called today to check the status, she told me they weren't even in the system yet and Rob would need to send an email to them requesting the prints be done ASAP. So I typed his email requesting that they process the prints either today or tomorrow and forwarded it to him, he sent it off, and now we wait. I'm a little nervous that his minor will show up this time even though it didn't three months ago.

I emailed the social worker yesterday on the status of our orphanage acceptance. I just didn't think her info was right. What do you know...it wasn't! She said that only one of the Colombian orphanages accepts the family after they receive the application...Los Pisingos. The others don't accept the family until after they receive the dossier. So then I questioned if our application had been submitted to the orphanage since it has been seven weeks sent it was sent down. She emailed back and said that she received our acceptance letter on March 22. It was just never sent to me.

So now I guess we're just waiting. And still trying to respond to some of the emails that I've received! I'm working on them. I promise. And I'll let you know as soon as we hear something!

Everybody send good vibes to the FBI!

We need FAST vibes...not just good vibes. The SW emailed today and said that the facilitator in Colombia said we'll need to redo the FBI prints. So I'm glad we went ahead and did it. I checked my FedEx account and the prints have not been sent out from West Virginia yet. Once they get here I need to have them notorized and then sent to the state to be apostilled. I can get that done in one day. I should get them back from the state the next day and I can turn around and send them to MN to the SW. Of course it always seems to take her a few days to do her part so I know this is going to drag on for another week. I'm grumpy...can you tell??? So anyway, she said they won't present our dossier to the orphanage until we have that form there and we won't receive our orphanage acceptance until a few weeks after they have received our dossier. So much for our one to two month time frame as of February 27. :(

Oh the passport fairy has looked favorably upon us! :)

This morning I noticed that the website said that Rob's passport had been sent. We went out for supper tonight with Rob's secretary and her husband and when we came home it was propped up in the door! So I have to copy the passport and send it to the SW in MN. We're still waiting to get the FBI prints back. They arrived at the FBI headquarters in West Virginia today. I don't know how long it will take them to be processed. We're inching closer!

We had a nice Easter. Rob took some kids to a national AAU wrestling tournament in Detroit. They left on Wednesday and got home Sunday morning. I went to my mom and dad's on Saturday morning. We went out for supper with some friends, Sunday went to church, and then went to my brother and sister-in-law's house for dinner. We went to visit my grandma in the afternoon. Rob got up there around 3:00. We got home around 8:00. It was a good time.

Since it was winter when Kramer died we couldn't bury her. My parents kept her in the Morton building until it started getting warm out then my dad's cousin (a taxidermist) took her to his freezer. I buried her on Saturday. It was very sad and brought up a lot of emotions that I don't deal with on a daily basis. I really miss her. I swear sometimes I can feel her snuggle her head up to mine like she did when I got home from work and she took a minute to show me some love before she turned wild. I still don't understand. But there are lots of things in life that I don't understand.

I emailed the SW in MN yesterday and she told me that I was confused...she never said that we were second overall. We are second with LSS. Maybe there was a misundestanding when I asked, but I specifically asked her that question and she said overall. So now we're back to being second again. The couple ahead of us hasn't gotten their referral yet. The couple that DID get their referral is working with Bethany and they flew down to Bogota yesterday and received their baby today. I'm so jealous! I can't wait! So I really have no idea where we're at or when to expect anything.

It looks like we're in the middle of a blizzard again. The half of a foot of snow we got last week just melted yesterday. While the rain and snow doesn't make it very conducive to semis bringing in loads of corn, we're really getting close to start up. I am excited to know that I'll be around to see it!

Passport Jackpot!

Well, I had to lie but it worked. I happened to call the number this morning around 6:30. Right away I knew it was going to be a good day when I got a different message. Sure enough it told me to stay on the line for the next available representative! AND I waited less than a minute. The rep got on the line and of course she wanted to know if this passport was for me and I said that it was for my husband. She said that due to privacy laws she couldn't tell me anything. And I knew that. She wanted to know if she could talk to Rob and I figured that him being gone on a military trip would seem better than if I told her the truth and said he was gone to a wrestling tournament in Detroit! So she said that it's still being processed and that it has two more weeks to go. She told me that I WILL be leaving on April 13 so she is going to expedite the passport, they will overnight it, and we should have it in the next few days. I'm pretty sure we won't be leaving on April 13 but if she has to say it to get our passport here, I'll take it.

Well my vegetarian hands survived.

I took a whole bunch of Saran Wrap and wrapped them around my hands and taped them shut so they were sorta like gloves. It worked perfectly. I didn't have to touch the meat although I could feel it squishing in my hands. That was bad enough. I told Rob he owed me BIG TIME! Our friend Rahn says that my veggie burger tastes like range cake or cow candy (I have no idea what's in it but cows love it). I totally disagree. (I know this because my brother dared me to eat it.) Rob even admits they don't taste too bad. And it's not nearly as digusting to think about. I'm totally doing the carb thing tonight...mashed potatoes and toast. Who needs meat when you have potatoes and bread!?

Still no passport. I sent another email on Tuesday, pretending to be Rob of course. I must not sound desperate enough. Or maybe they've seen Rob's passport picture and realize he's 6'4" and 275 pounds and I sound too desperate. I always think I'm going to call Senator Johnson's office in Aberdeen over my lunch hour but I spend my lunch hours practicing with junior high kids for the upcoming band contest.

Today's my mom and dad's anniversary. Love ya. :)

You know, when we were trying to get pregnant, I've never felt more alone in my life. Even though I'm extremely close to my parents, my brothers are not just my brothers, they're my friends, their wives have been my family as long as I can remember, I'm close enough to my nieces and nephews they could be my brothers and sisters, I have my best girl friends, and I have my best friend...my husband, I truly felt alone. My friends became pregnant the first time and again and sometimes even again. People I didn't like got pregnant again and again and again! And even though someone very close to me dealt with infertility as well, I truly felt alone. It wasn't jealousy. It was a sadness over what I didn't have. And now I find it amazing at the number of people who have dealt with infertility as well. They were around me all the time. I have this bond with people all over because of infertility. People I know and people I don't know. People whose blogs I read. I don't know them but I feel like I do. And whether it's because of the strength of my family ties or my belief in God or my realization that there is a child out there that needs us as much as we need him or her, I don't feel alone anymore.

Straight from the Department of Homeland Security...

We have our I171! We actually got two of them: one for Robert and Dana and one for David and Dana. Not sure how they made that mistake but who cares!? They fixed it! So now it's just down the Rob's passport.

I'm going to be a good wife and make Rob MEAT for dinner. My vegetarian hands are already dreading touching the hamburger and I don't have any plastic gloves in the house. Saran Wrap doesn't work the best but it's better than touching the meat.

I don't really have much to say since I just posted last night but I will add this: Not that I'm trying to sell drugs on the Internet but I have three unopened boxes of Gonal-F 75 IU's that are doing me no good. They expire in October 2007. If any of you know someone who needs or wants Gonal-F, they can have them.

Everyone send good vibes to the passport agency! PLUS Happy Anniversary Dick & Pam!

One passport down one to go!

I am the beholder of a United States passport with a very bad photo attached to it. But I have it so that's what matters! It said it was processed on March 20. Rob's still is "processing". Maybe the passport authority felt sorry for me since I applied the day Kramer died. I'm sure I looked awful. Even worse than my passport picture.

I talked to the MN SW today and our dossier was FedEx'ed to Colombia today! One possible glitch...Rob got his fingerprint card from the school. So when we sent them to the FBI, we (I) whited out the place where it said to return to the school and wrote in our address. At the time I didn't think anything of it. Now I find out that white out is a banned substance according to the orphanage. So it looks like we're being sneaky and changing information. Granted, who cares where we sent the results! Well I guess Colombia cares! So we're going to have to redo Rob's FBI prints just in case. Since next week is Holy Week I guess everything shuts down in Colombia. Our stuff will arrive down there next week but there won't be anyone there to tell us if the white out is OK or not. So to be safe we have to resubmit his prints to the FBI. If we send them down now we should have them back in two weeks.

Well, have a great weekend everyone. I'll be doing laundry. Seriously this time.

One more piece of the puzzle!

Our social worker called today and said our I171 should be here this week! How many times have you heard (read) me say Woo Hoo? Well, one more time! Woo Hoo! And my day keeps getting better! I just checked the passport status...mine is on the way! All together now...Woo Hoo! It says I should have it by April 1. There is no mail on Sunday so I'm fully expecting it by Saturday! Technically it does say "on or about". I'm trying to be optimistic here. For some reason, Rob's is still processing. He applied for his a week earlier than I did. I think checking repeatedly helped speed along the process! Had Rob checked as often as I did, his would be on the way too.

Rob and I went to Aberdeen yesterday so he could get his hair cut. All the way there we debated names. We are down to two boys names and a variation for the middle name. We know the girls name but can't decide on a middle name. Neither of us is really giving in. No one has ever accused either of us of being stubborn so I'm not sure where that comes from! :) We aren't really keeping the names a secret but I'll post them when we get the referral. We probably won't have decided until then anyway.

One stupid, stupid thing Rob said yesterday...I told him that we've been together for 12 years, married for ten (hard to believe). So this is going to be a huge change for us. I said that I think we need to go on one last hurrah date before we go. Go out to eat and a movie. Rob said "Oh there will be plenty of time for that after the baby gets here". I'm not sure what he was smoking but he has to be on something.

This seems to be a repeated problem...I'm supposed to be doing laundry. Instead I'm checking all my blogs and was very excited to see that almost all of them have been updated! Rob's at a conference and Billy is very snuggly. So there's no one here getting me off this chair.

It rained last night so the plant is very, very muddy. I had to go out there today and seriously lost my shoe a couple of times. So I put on some very attractive rubber boots over top of my steel toed shoes and looked very stylish. Good thing I was holding the camera. Our plant is coming along and we hope to be grinding corn in April. The question is...am I going to be here to see it?

Good old OCD.

I have said many times that this adoption is moving so quickly because I'm OCD. For once I can say that being obsessive resulted in a good thing.

I FedEx'ed our dossier to the state on Thursday. They received it on Friday and also sent it back the same day. It should be delivered on Monday. Then I'll have to FedEx it to MN to the social worker. Then she'll send us packing lists and travel information.

I think the passport website has banned me for checking too many times on the status of our passports. In my defense the information could change sometime during the day and I want to know immediately. The website used to say April 9 for Rob and April 22 for me. Now it just says "Thanks for checking! Your passport application has been received and is being processed. You should receive your passport approximately ten weeks after you applied." Rob's ten weeks will be on April 4 and mine will be on April 10. I sent an email sometime this week but haven't heard anything. I'm sure they're thinking "It's the psycho lady who checks 30 times a day!" (I really don't check THIRTY times a day. Not quite.)

We did find out that the couple ahead of us got their referral somewhere around the 16th. A little boy. I don't think they are going to travel until the third week of April or so. So hopefully we'll be there shortly after. Since they got their referral and we didn't I don't think we'll hear in March. Which is fine with me. As I said before, I'm strangely OK with waiting a month!

I got my hair cut and colored yesterday. I think this is officially the fourth hair color I've had in the past year. But Rob will be happy...it's back to being blond.

Rob's at guards in Little Falls. Today is my grandma's 92nd birthday party. So I'm going to Aberdeen for the day. It's in the 60's today so I'm finally able to open the windows. Billy sucks in that fresh air like he hasn't seen it before.

I told my friend Pete yesterday that when I read other people's blogs I check every day to see if there is a new post. And I'm disappointed when there isn't anything new. Now that I have a blog of my own I know that sometimes there just isn't enough to say every day! So I'm trying to keep you updated often and in doing so you all get to read about the trivial parts of my day. Like getting my hair colored. Or finding a box elder bug in my slipper the other morning that about sent me into convulsions. Could there be anything more disgusting than a bug in your slipper? I had just gotten out of the shower but had to thoroughly wash my entire leg and foot again. Those of you who don't know me are probably suspecting that I'm crazy. Let me tell you...it all goes back to that OCD.

Good news and no news...

Well the good news is that our dossier was approved. Woo Hoo! So now I'll send it to the state for the final stamp of approval and then it's off to Colombia! Still no word on the passports. I tried calling on Friday on the way to the game and the lines were so busy they wouldn't even let me hold. I tried calling after the basketball game and they were closed. For the weekend as well. They're so busy again they wouldn't take my call. Since I can't stay awake past 8:30 I don't know how I'm going to call late at night. And when they do, I'm worried they're going to say "And your flight number is....". Of course I don't have one and I'm a horrible liar. Also no word on the I171. Considering they only took our fingerprints a week ago, I think it's a little early to think they'd have it done. Especially considering the fact that the USCIS' website says they are processing applications from December 13. Yeah, that makes me feel good.

No word yet on a referral either. I truly don't think it will be in March. I think it's going to be in April. And then if it is next week I can be really surprised instead of being disappointed that it will be another month. Imagine that...I'm not stressing out about it! Ha! That's odd. I probably will stress out if we get our referral next week just because we don't have the I171 or the passports.

There seems to be some confusion on the part of the grandmas about the age and size of the baby. So just in case I've confused anyone else...I think the baby will be around four months old at the time of our referral. From other people's blogs that I read, the babies seem to be around 13 pounds at that time. Now keep in mind that this isn't always the case. The age nor the weight. We're just guessing. We'll know more when we actually get the referral. Then we'll find out if it's a boy or girl, the size, the medical history, and it's name. So then it will be much easier to shop for clothes! Although I'm really going to hate to take back one of these outfits they're just so cute!

Our weekend was really good. I cleaned and did laundry on Saturday and my parents came down after the basketball games. We went to church and came home to my mom's cooking! That's what I really wanted for my birthday. I feel sorry for people whose mother's can't cook because mine surely can. :) Even the meat that I don't eat smelled good. We played some games and looked at a house in the afternoon. Rob's parents came over for angel food cake and strawberries and whipped cream (our birthday cakes growing up) and then they all headed home. I know I am so lucky that my mom and dad are my mom and dad. I love you both!!!

Today I went out for dinner with Ashley and for supper with Rob, have had lots of calls and emails, got flowers from my husband...it was a pretty good day. And next year I'll have a baby here to help me celebrate! I do have a little story to tell! Usually I do the really dumb things. Like going the wrong way for MILES because I was pretty sure I was going east even though the signs said west. I finally have a story about Rob! :) Today I was on the phone with my niece Katie when my niece Kara beeped in. After Rob got home from work he asked what I'd been doing. I said that I did some yoga and then talked to Katie and then Kara. He said "What are the chances they'd BOTH call today?" and I said "At the same time!". So I kept talking and he got this really weird look on his face and said "I finally realized why they both called you!". Hello! It's my birthday! You sent me flowers! I'm going to be telling this story for a loonnnngggg time!

Critique on the dossier.

I didn't do too bad. Since my name is hyphenated, the verification of legal names was REALLY long. We had to list every possible variation of our names. I forgot to list my name with the actual hypen. For example, I listed Dana Jo She's-Loony but I didn't list Dana Jo She's Loony. Now who would think that would really matter? But I guess it does. So I have to redo that one. And then some of the notary stamps didn't show up on the fax. I'm not sure why I have to fax them again if that's the only problem but I do. So I have to color them in with pencil a little. Then once I get the approval I have to send them to the state to be apostilled. I was also told that I need to expedite the passports. But when I called it said they would only expedite them if I am traveling in the next 14 days. I might have to embellish a little.

We're going to have to make some decisions here soon. First of all we have way too much stuff in this little tiny house. The dining room is now the store room for baby stuff. Unfortunately the dining room is right in the middle of our house. Second we need to find daycare. Third I need to find a pediatrician. I know there is other stuff to do but I really need to get something done with those things.

I'll be glad when this week is over. Namely because an unpleasant week will be over. I also get to see my mom and dad and we're going to the state basketball tournament. Good luck Weston & Zach! It's too bad your teams had to play each other during the first round. My birthday is Monday and I still get excited about my birthday. AND we're even closer to our baby!

I do want to tell everyone who has emailed me this week and I haven't responded yet that I will, I promise. Day jobs, night jobs, and piano lessons get in the way of my email capabilities. And to those of who whose taxes I'm doing from home, I will get them done. Just not this week.

Well, my 8:30 bedtime has come and gone so I better get off the computer. Have a great night, a great St. Patrick's Day, and a great everything else until I'm back!

We're back on schedule!

I'll backtrack and explain how my day ended up so off-kilter. Sunday after church we went to Freeman to the funeral of an Army soldier who died in an accident last week. Rob's close friend Scott was injured in the accident. We pray for his healing, both physically and emotionally. We then stopped in Parker at my friend Jen's to pick up some baby stuff from her sister. Off to Sioux Falls where we picked up Rob's sister and went SHOPPING! Well, Rob went to Shenanigans for a beer while Christy and I shopped. I really wanted to find something for our baby to wear when we meet him or her. I found the most gorgeous dress at Baby Gap. As you can expect, it was Baby Gap priced, too. But I loved it. If my child wouldn't wear the baptismal dress that I wore that my paternal grandfather wore that my dad's maternal grandmother made (did you get all that?), our daughter could easily wear this dress. We went in Old Navy and Penney's and didn't find anything. But, we found what we were looking for at The Children's Place. You've seen the pictures. They aren't "gorgeous" like the first dress. But they are so cute. AND everything I bought cost what the one dress cost at the Gap. I just need to find shoes. We went out for supper for our birthdays and went home and I fell asleep on the couch. Monday morning she was gone by the time we woke up. We got ready and went to Target and got that handy little gun you get when you register. Rob had so much fun with it when we got married that he ended up registering for Scotch Tape. Yes, we did get Scotch Tape for our wedding. So as we're going through the store, I got a phone call from Karen, our SW in SF. She said that she talked to Pam, the second social worker in MN and Pam said that she was right, the wait would be six to 12 months at the earliest. I asked how LouAnn could be so wrong about the information she gave me. She said the words "Los Pisingos", "Colombia", and "referral at the end of March possibly with travel two weeks later". Those do not correspond to a Guatemalan adoption. But Pam said that LouAnn was wrong. Karen said we could do a conference call on Tuesday to straighten everything out. So of course this took all the fun out of shopping for baby stuff. We just got some stuff for us and headed out to our INS appointment. They were open (thankfully) and I had to stand in this little tiny hallway with about five or six other people who were there to visit the INS. We were there a half hour early and it took us a full hour before we were done. Part of the problem was the fact that the time change caused their computer to crash and we had to do the fingerprints by hand. So then we got into the whole discussion about us going to MN and finding the office closed...I tried to suck up and sound as desperate as I could. I don't know if it worked or not. So all day I kept telling myself to refrain from freaking out about the time frame until I really knew what was going on. I had some things happen at work that took "refrain" totally out of the picture. So I spent a couple of hours bawling at work, at home, and again at work today. This morning then I did talk to LouAnn and Karen and found out that we ARE a month away. They are telling new applicants six to 12 months. We're still second on the list and LouAnn will tell Karen when the couple ahead of us gets their referral. She said they had two couples travel in February and one traveled yesterday. So I don't know if we'll get our referral in March or have to wait until April. But I feel much better knowing it won't be a year. Rob had conferences tonight and I did some taxes at Paul's office. My plan for working ten hours a week is going horribly awry. I'm averaging five. Oops. This was supposed to be spending money for Bogota. Anyway, I sent my dossier to Pam to review. LouAnn told me she'd have it done and back to me this week. I checked on the status of our passports. This isn't good news. It's been seven weeks for Rob and six for me. The Internet said to expect April 8 for Rob's and April 22 for mine. Expedited service is looking really good right now. When we applied they told us six to eight weeks. The Internet says that if we are scheduled to travel within the next 14 days or need to get a Visa I can call and get it expedited. So unless it shows up sometime soon I think I'll be making that phone call. Between waiting for the passports and our I171 (the form we get after the INS took our fingerprints) I'll drive myself (and the mailman) crazy!

Thank you for all of your well wishes. We've heard from so many of you and it truly touches our hearts. Old friends, new friends. You're all very special.

Aren't these just the cutest!?!?

I found my outfits! Yay! If only the rest of my day went that well. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to post about my day because I'm hoping by then I will feel better. Until then, this won't be a happy post. So enjoy the clothes and have a great day!!

Let's try this fingerprint thing one more time.

We have another appointment at the INS on Monday. Hopefully this one will go better than the last time. The weather is cooperating at least. We're going to SF tomorrow after church and taking Rob's sister out for her birthday. Then on Monday we're heading to Target. I've been reading "Baby Bargains so I sort of have an idea as to what I'm looking for. Then off to our appointment.

I had emailed our SW in SF about what to expect for the upcoming months and she forwarded on our email to the SW in MN. I think I've been unnaturally calm (for me) during this whole process. I can now say that I'm freaking out. Two weeks ago one of the MN SW told me to expect a month or so since things at Los Pisingos were moving really quick. Yesterday, the other SW from MN said to expect six to 12 months as things are moving very slow. WHAT!?!? Do they work in the same office? Do they talk to each other? This is the same SW that earlier last week made a comment about our Guatemalen adoption. Yeah...not a lot of faith in this one any more.

I have gotten nothing accomplished today. I had a headache until around noon. So I'm still in my pajamas. I think I need to take advantage of that because pretty soon I won't get to! :)

The last cat is out of the bag!

I finally got to tell my brother in Las Vegas tonight. So now I'm content. I really wanted my family to know first and it bothered me that I didn't connect with him last week before we told everyone else.

Rob was in the production of Oklahoma this weekend. They put in so many hours of practice and it showed. It was really good and he enjoyed taking part. My parents and some family friends came to the production yesterday and my mom brought Grandma presents. It's been a long time since we've had a baby in the family so I think she enjoyed shopping (which is something she doesn't usually like). She also brought two blankets that my grandma had made when she was still able; one pink and one blue. I really hope that my children will know my grandma. Although she isn't the spunky lady she once was, she's still my grandma and I can't wait for her to meet my kids.

I don't know if I should feel bad or not after reading some posts on my Colombian Connections Yahoo group. There are people who have been waiting TWO YEARS and don't have a referral yet. While I'm sure it must be very hard for them to wait, I'm so glad we haven't had to do that. It reminds me of when Rob was on active duty. I felt horrible for the families of other soldiers who went to the desert. But I wouldn't have traded places with them in a second. I do think Rob would have but for me, Fort Carson was a wonderful place. So please keep in mind all the parents who are waiting to meet their children and the kids who are waiting to meet their moms and dads.

A wonderful website...

A friend who has been in our shoes sent me a link to a wonderful website. To those of you who have never struggled with infertility, be thankful. To those of you who have, only you know the pain.

http://www.vocalicious.com/empty_arms/empty_arms_mod.html

The cat is out of the bag...

The past two days have been crazy. When I got to work yesterday, I called my employer. I thought he deserved to know before the rest of my coworkers. So after I told him, Rob & I sent out our emails. Mine was short and to the point (very typical of me I think!) and Rob's was really long! I even emailed him mine so he could just copy it. So I was really surprised when I got his. I tried to remember as many addresses as I could but I know I missed some so please don't be offended if you weren't on the list.

We've had many good wishes and for that we are truly grateful. We know our true friends and we are blessed to have you in our lives.

Already the house has more stuff. Diapers, onesies, bibs, blankets, that big round thingie...We're seriously going to need a different house. This isn't big enough for the two of us and all of our stuff let alone a baby and all that stuff.

Billy is going to stay with Rob's parents while we're gone so we're going to take him over to their house for some play dates so he can get used to the new environment before we leave.

We've been asked about daycare so I'm throwing out the question "Does anyone want to babysit?" :)

Would you like the good news or the bad news first?

We'll start with the bad. If you live around here, you know we had a little bit of snow this weekend. But we had our INS appointment on Monday in St Paul so we drove to the Cities on horrible roads, snow, ice...because we didn't dare change our appointment. We got to our friends, the Shantz's, on Sunday afternoon and really enjoyed our time with them. Monday morning, Jason & Rob went to school while Ann & I went shopping. I did pick up a few pieces of clothing at Once Upon A Child that can go with either a boy or a girl. I also got a play thingie from there and two books from Barnes & Noble. Then it was time to pick up Rob at Jason's school and head to St Paul. We got over there and the sign on the door said that they are closed on Mondays. Now why would they have scheduled us on Monday if they are closed on Monday?! So we frantically called our SW in Sioux Falls and couldn't reach her. We then frantically called our SW in Minneapolis who tried calling the INS. They said they would not have scheduled us on a day they were closed. I kept saying "I have proof! I'm looking at the document!". So after sitting there for a couple of hours, she finally said that we wouldn't be getting our fingerprints done that day but we could go to Sioux Falls on Wednesday. Like we really want to take ANOTHER day off. But we really have no choice. Wasn't it just last week that I said things were going too smoothly?

So on to the good news....last Friday Karen told us that we were "in queue". Of course I had no idea what that means, but Erin said it was good news! We are on the list!! Yay!! So when I was on the phone with Karen yesterday I asked her what number we are on the list. She didn't know but said to talk to LouAnn. So I asked LouAnn and she said number 5 and that we should expect our referral at the end of April or middle of May. While we were in WalMart, LouAnn called back and said that she called Los Pisingos and they should have our application translated by next week and that we are actually NUMBER TWO on the list since one family got their referral and two of the families don't have their paperwork done. See, I knew it was a good thing that I'm obsessive and got that paperwork done! So she said while this isn't set in stone, we should expect a referral at the end of March or middle of April. Holy Smoke! That's a month away! After a few moments of being excited, it hit us. That's a month away! We have two stuffed animals and about five outfits! What will this child eat? Where will he/she sleep? We have nothing! We thought we had a little more time to get these things but I guess not. It's better to have it go quickly than to wait the 12-16 months (from the time our application was sent to the orphanage..which is NOW) like we originally thought it could be. So Target...here I come.

We decided to tell our families last night so that we could tell everyone else today. So I first called my parents and told them the story. Poor Rob heard it about six more times as I called my family members. He wanted to know if we could just record it and then say "please stay on the line if you have any questions". After we got back to Redfield, we stopped and told his grandma.

So today is the day for the world to know. It's been difficult lately keeping it a secret but I don't have to anymore.

A few side notes to this post:

1 ~ Congratulations to the wrestlers on bringing home the 8th place trophy from the state tournament this weekend. We are so proud of each of you. And also to the wrestlers from EPJ & Highmore. We may not be there anymore, but we cheered and prayed as if we were. TC, we knew you could do it.

2 ~ I lost my wallet last week. I really have no idea where it is. I had it on Monday at the dentist and didn't have it on Wednesday morning. I have looked in the freezer, the washer, the laundry baskets...everywhere. I know it's somewhere totally stupid but just haven't figured out that place yet. Unfortunately, my ID's are in there so I had to get a new driver's license in Aberdeen on Friday because I needed it yesterday. Little did I know.

3 ~ I somehow ended up on the wrong road yesterday on the way home. Rob was sleeping and I know I went through Hutchinson. I was on the phone with Erin when Rob woke up and said "Where are you?". I had no idea really but knew I hadn't turned anywhere so I must have been on the right road. Hmmm...what do you know. I wasn't! We ended up going through Litchfield and Grove City and then turned south to go through Cosmos and get back on track. I have no idea how that happened but it made me feel a whole lot better when my brother David said he's done it about four times.

4 ~ A dear man passed away on Friday. Mary and family, you are in our prayers.

More later after I spill the beans! :)

I'd just like to say...

I want my mom and dad to come home! :)

I'm not sure if time is moving fast or slow...

This week has gone by so fast. Every week does. Every day does. And I really haven't accomplished anything worth noting. Still not done with my laundry. And I've gained about two pounds. Casey's doughnuts really seem to be a problem for me. Anyway...so it seems like we should be receiving our acceptance information from the orphanage soon. That would be great, except our application hasn't been sent down to Colombia yet. Hello, people...we can't get on the list until they receive our application! I've been busy getting dossier info taken care of. When I was in Aberdeen on Tuesday I stopped to pick up my birth certificate and marriage license. I also talked to my doctor in SF (actually the nurse) to see if we had HIV tests done last year. We had blood drawn for everything else and test after test after test so I would have been very surprised had we not had HIV tests done. Sure enough we did. How depressing is it that we had so many tests done that I don't even know if we had an HIV test!? Anyway, the nurse said that I could send her the physical evaluation part of the dossier and they'd sign off on it. Rob knows a social worker and he's going to see if he'll do the psychological exam part. Paul is going to act as my "financial planner" and verify our net worth. He's also going to notarize Rob's request for a birth certificate and verify our legal names. We already have our fingerprints from the FBI. So we're pretty much good to go. Getting this dossier information hasn't been too hard at all. The whole process has been so easy. It makes me nervous.

Tuesday at my doctor's appointment, I had such a good conversation with the doctor during such an awkward (is that not a weird word?) moment. I won't name the doctor for fear that it could come back to bite him in the butt. He had a very strong opinion on mothers living off of welfare without making an effort to get a job, waiting to get married until after they are all done having kids so the government will pay for it, medical insurance not covering infertility treatment but yet the government passes on to the taxpayers the costs to support these mothers and their children (who don't deserve to be in those situations). So the whole exam went by really fast because we were too busy talking. Never thought I'd say that.

I'm really jealous of my parents being in warm Cancun while we suffer through this miserable weather. We had above zero temperatures today, though. I almost broke out the shorts.

I've been trying to find outfits for the baby to wear when we meet him/her. I just can't find anything that knocks my socks off. Shopping for clothes, I'd love for this child to be a girl. Paying for clothes, I'd love for this child to be a boy. There are just so many cute girls clothes out there. Of course I can't find anything for the baby to wear on that first day. Internet shopping just isn't cutting it. I'm on my way up to Groton tomorrow for regional wrestling so I'm going to stop at the mall and see what I can find. I know I don't know if it's a boy or girl but I just really want to find the perfect outfit. And I'm afraid that if I have to power shop after we get our referral, the mall in Aberdeen just won't have the right outfit.

Well, I better end this post for the night. Rob's at wrestling, Billy's lonely, and I'm tired. I've really struggled this week without Kramer. Billy isn't a snuggly kitty and I miss that so much. I dream about her at night which makes her be in my thoughts during the day. So then I dream about her at night again. I'm not sure why this week is harder than last week. It just is. I'm ready for this baby to get here so I can devote my attention to him or her. I can't wait! :)

The grandparents know!

We told our parents this weekend. Christy, too. I called my mom & dad on Saturday morning and talked about their upcoming trip to Mexico. My dad and I were discussing the weather and I asked what he thought about taking a trip to South America this summer. He talked about the weather (he is a farmer after all) and then asked where at in SA. I said Colombia. He talked about the weather in Colombia and finally I said "Dad did you hear why I said we're going to Colombia" and he said "no". I said "Rob and I are adopting a baby from there". And there was a big pause. And then he said "You are?" We talked and cried (well I did at least) for quite a while. My mom was at my aunt's house so when she came home, she got on the phone and I told her. By this time, it was after 10:30 and I was supposed to be leaving for the wrestling tournament at 11:00 and hadn't showered yet. So we didn't talk long. After the tournament, Rob and I went over to his mom & dad's. We talked for a while and then Rob told his mom "I got you a Valentine's present but I'm only going to give it to you if you can keep a secret". So he gave her a picture frame that said "Grandma and Grandpa's little something". I can't remember what it said and I even picked it out! We gave his dad a little Christmas ornament that said "Grandpa" and a bib that said "I love Grandpa" or something like that. I'm amazed that I can't remember what they say! And then Christy was home so we gave her a baby picture frame. And then we talked about it until 1:00. Way past my bedtime. Rob's dad ran in the bedroom and got something. As he came back out he said "I have the baby's first present!" It was a Green Bay Packers sweatsuit. I'm glad we told them but we still have a little bit of time before we tell everyone else. Hopefully the acceptance letter will come from the orphanage soon and then we'll know how long it will be.

In other good news, our good friends Angie & Wade had a little boy on Friday! I'm so excited to think that our babies will be the same age! So when we were in Target on Saturday, Rob was Mr. Shopper and picked out two outfits for Carter. He also bought a different stuffed animal because the one I bought was too girly. Neither of us is too into Pooh, but we bought a stuffed Pooh because he is so soft. Rob felt every stuffed animal there trying to find the softest one. We also bought a picture album so we can take with us. It's a baby one and the pictures go behind plastic. Then we'll be able to show the baby pictures of our family and Billy. At Target Rob kept finding shirts that were in the Toddler size that said "My dad is so cool" and I told him if he could find infant size he could get it. He searched furiously but to no avail. Thus, Mom must be the coolest! :)

Today has been rather lazy. I had to play for church and Rob got a fire call shortly after church started. We both got home about the same time. And we haven't done much since. I fell asleep for over two hours. I had to force myself to get off the couch and wake up. Otherwise I won't get any laundry done.

I'm going to get my paperwork started tonight for the dossier. At least our birth certificates and marriage license.

I'll leave you with two special moments from yesterday. My dad told me "You know, this baby isn't just your baby. This baby is for our entire family". And Rob's dad said "Now we really are grandparents". Both brought tears to my eyes. And my dad is right...not only have we been waiting for this baby for nine years, so have our families.

We received our dossier information!

Woo-Hoo, we're within six months! I received the email from LSS today. It was a pretty hectic day...lots of bills to be paid, checks to be paid for corn delivery last week, and a board meeting. So I'm peacefully relaxing at home. I'm supposed to be doing laundry.

Back to the dossier...we have to get another copy of birth certificates & marriage license, social worker's report stating that we're mentally fit to care for a child, a physician's statement stating that we're physically capable to care for a child, employer statements that we're employed, we have to state that our names are actually our names...I think that's it...and then have it all notarized. Good think Marcy is a notary! Then we have to send it all to the state to prove that Marcy is really a notary. We also have to include a copy of our homestudy, which is done and notarized.

These things all expire within six months, that's how I know we'll be there within six months. I'm really hoping it's quicker than that but that would still be August. We only started the process on July 30 so we have no right to complain about August.

So that's our big news of the day. Rob's home now so we're going to play a game. It's either cards, Backup, or cribbage. Lately it's been Backup. We're going to have to take some games with us to Colombia. Otherwise we'll go through withdrawal!

I-600 A update...

We received our appointment to be fingerprinted. February 21 in Sioux Falls. When I sent in our required documents and the money requesting to be fingerprinted, I sent this nice letter telling them where we wanted to be fingerprinted and which days we are unavailable. Never in the letter did I say the words "Sioux Falls". It generally takes about three months to get everything taken care of when the fingerprints are done in Sioux Falls. However, if we could go to the office in St Paul, it would take about a month. Three months from February 21 is May 21. I had sort of hoped to be close to leaving for Colombia by then. So I'm a little frustrated. I'm going to call tomorrow and see if we can get it changed. Cross your fingers...

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. We're going over to friends' house to watch the game. While I was always a Bears fan growing up, Peyton Manning has sort of grown on me. So I guess I'm rooting for the Colts. If the Chargers aren't there, I guess it really doesn't matter anyway.

I woke up this morning with a sore neck and it's been killing me all day. I've taken more aspirin today than in the past year and it just isn't helping. Needless to say, I'll be going to the chiropractor tomorrow.

February is a big birthday month in our family. So I'm going to do all my shout-outs today. Otherwise, I'll be about a month late. My family knows that so it really wouldn't be a surprise. I realized about a week ago that it's way past January 9 and I totally missed Denita's birthday. Sorry, man. So anyway...

Happy Birthday to:

Allan on the 1st
Sandy on the 3rd
Emily today (the 4th)
Dick & David on the 5th
Caitlin on the 7th
Brianna on the 20th
Pam on the 24th

Hope you all have great birthdays!!