Possibly? Maybe?

Today I heard from a member of our travel group and she was told by our referral counselor that we will more than likely get our referral on Monday, July 7th! We were really hoping to hear something before the 4th of July weekend! You never know, it could happen! Just to be on the safe side I will have my Ladybug Call Sheet, the video camera, and the digital camera all charged up ready and waiting next to the phone! Oh well, after waiting for over 3 years, I guess a few more days won't kill us!

The Long and Short of it!

We are so close, but still aren't sure about WHEN? So here is the long and short of it!
If referrals arrive on................We have this # of days left to wait!
6/30(dare to dream!)....................13
7/1...............................................14
7/2...............................................15
7/3...............................................16
7/4(not happening, holiday!)
7/5(nope, again, Saturday!)
7/6(definitely not, Sunday!)
7/7...............................................20
7/8.............................................. 21
7/9...............................................22
7/10..............................................23
I guess that was really the short and long of it! But, that's it! I refuse to go any further! We are on pins and needles (or shall I say nails and spikes) already! The great thing is, no matter how you slice it, WE ARE NEXT!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD! HALLELUJAH! AND GOD BLESS AMERICA! Can't you tell, I'm not the least bit excited?! Heehee!

Happy Birthday, Big Man!

Golf, burgers, hotdogs, beer and more golf pretty much sums it all up! We love you, BIG MAN!

Ooops! I almost forgot!

I have been so excited and freaked out about being NEXT that I completely forgot to post about this months referrals! First of all, Gary and I would like to officially congratulate our good Panda friend, Sharon, on the referral of her beautiful daughter, MaryAlice! We are so very happy for you!! We would also like to mention our other good Panda friends, Susan and Riz, who are in Beijing China this very minute! They are only a few days away from meeting their gorgeous daughter, Sophia Joy! Along with them are our other good Panda friends, Susan and Jonathan, who will also be meeting their precious twins, Eleanor and LilyKate, on the same day as Susan and Riz! We can't wait to see all of the great pics of your Forever Days!

Ready or not, here she comes!

It is hard to believe that we are down to the inside of a month until Kaelin's referral! Time seems to be going by pretty fast, too! We have a long list of things we want to accomplish before we leave. Things like installing a new kitchen floor, painting the house, changing some light fixtures, cleaning the carpets, and on and on! Honestly, though, do any of these things really matter? NO! So what if our house isn't perfect? Something tells me she won't mind! More importantly, we are more than ready to be her parents and give her the love she will need to overcome all that she has been through, so far, in her tiny little life. That is all that really matters anyway, right? So now the countdown to Kaelin begins! We are hoping to get "The Call" sometime between the last week in June and the first week of July. Hopefully we won't have to wait beyond the 4th of July weekend, that would be way too long!

Referrals are on their way and the cut-off is the 22nd!!

YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! WE ARE NEXT! WE ARE ABSOLUTELY, NO IFS ANDS OR BUTS ABOUT IT, POSITIVELY, UNDENIABLY, WITHOUT A DOUBT, NEXT! OMG! OMG! OMG! SOMEBODY PLEASE PINCH ME!

A Sign??

Last Wednesday my dad and I spent the day planting a lovely border of all white Impatiens around my perennial garden, about five flats. Well, yesterday, I think I found a small glimmer of hope that Kaelin might be coming soon! Right in the middle of all my white Impatiens, there is a pretty little pastel pink bloom! It was not there when we planted all these white ones! Where did it come from? Could it be a sign? I sure hope so! Don't you love how, Tigger, our cat just had to be in the photo! He nonchalantly strolled up and posed there all by himself!
So far, there is no word on when the current batch of referrals will arrive. This has been an unusually silent month (insert cricket sounds) as far as rumors and the cutoff date! We are hoping for CCAA to at least make it to the 18th so that we have a better chance of being in the July batch! Maybe we will hear something today! BTW, so much for the "magic" red boots!

A Dare!

Not that I am very superstitious, but I am keeping these red boots on until referrals get here! I was going to take them off, but on a dare from some of my best cyber friend's here they are! Maybe, if I wish and hope and pray really hard and tap my heels together, just like Dorothy did in Oz, referrals will include the 23rd! I can't believe I am going to the post office with these on to mail a package! Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures!

Oh Crapola!

I totally forgot our 28th LID Anniversary which was last Friday! I guess this means that we are occupying ourselves with more productive and important things! Not that being logged into CCAA for 28 months isn't a major accomplishment, but we are so close to our referral that it just doesn't seem to matter as much! Could this be our last one! Maybe, if CCAA sends referrals thru Jan 23rd we could see our sweet little Kaelin as early as the end of this week! Ok, enough silly talk! But, seriously, if we are not in this next batch we are pretty sure that we will be in next month's batch! That is only 5 weeks away! We still have so much to do, it scares me! I did buy Kaelin's car seat this week and I got my ottoman that matches the glider! So I am confident that we are moving forward getting things done! We really need to start getting our house baby-proofed, and securing the pool!
If we don't get our referral this month, which I am pretty sure the chances are zero, I am still going to be a basket case for the next 5 weeks! Breathe, Breathe, Breathe! I swear this is the hardest labor I have ever had!

Oh and Happy Memorial Day! Please say a prayer for all of the brave men and women in our armed forces who work hard and sacrifice everyday so that others may be safe and have freedom.

Earthquake Update

Here, in our little pocket of the world, it is pretty much life as usual. But to thousands of people in China, it is a very different story. Another update from Jenny at Half the Sky makes this statement even more real and sobering. "There are 34,073 people confirmed dead, 245,108 injured, still more than 35,000 still missing." Gary and I were talking yesterday and to get an idea of just how many people we are talking about he gave me this visual image. A few miles away from us is The Palace, an arena for sporting events, concerts, and other big attractions. It can hold a capacity of 22,000 people. So I imagined myself sitting at a Detroit Pistons game and visualizing all the people filling those seats, and it is a lot of people! Now with that in mind, multiply it by about 1.5 and that is how many people have died so far in the earthquake in China! It is also how many people are still missing! These people are just like us, they have friends, husbands, wives, children, moms, and dads. They go to work every day and love and take care of their families! So, imagine if something this horrible and catastrophic were to happen in our life. Makes it even more real and heartbreaking, doesn't it. Please do everything you can for these people who are just like you and me. After all, we are all God's children. So please reach out to them whether in prayer or donation (Half the Sky) or both.