Journal

Our Church throws amazing Conferences. I love the Women's Conferences... they are empowering, encouraging and you come away feeling loved and valued. One thing our Church loves to do, is give pressies! At the last Women's Conference, every lady received a Journal. They were all wrapped up, and tied with a gorgeous pink bow. The pic, is the Journal that I received. Its perfect. To me it says, no matter what - Family matters.

Anyway... why am I dribbling on about a book with no words in it? I decided today, that everynight, I'm going to make a note, of what I've done, during the day. I figure, SURELY, we'll see our Mini, in the next 12 months. And if that is the case, she'll be born (obviously!) sometime in the next 12 months! So, on that glorious day, in the (hopefully) not so distant future, I can whip out my Family Journal, and read about my (mundane) day. Some may say, why don't I use the blog as my Journal? Coz believe it or not, I only post about exciting things on my blog. (OMG! yes! Gardening, and shopping, are considered exciting, in my pretty ordinary existance!!!)

Gardening and Gymboree

Step One: Assess the situation





Step Two: Don gloves, grab garden tools, and rip out knne-high weeds! Prune roses (that should've been done 2 months ago!)

Step Three: Three Hours of back break weed pulling, have a spa bath and glass of wine.





WARNING: CUTENESS TO FOLLOW...









Now, from horrible weeds to weeeeeely cute clothes! These are just a couple of things I got from Gymboree with my Gymbucks! I LOOOOVE this itzy bitzy cowgirl hat! Can it be any cuter?






Next is the colourful combo of this little apple top with my favourite stripey skirt!









And I just had to have this one!

I just feel all warm and fuzzy!!! God bless you, Gymboree!!!

Cars and computers

Is it Thursday already?!! Geez this week has flown by!

My week? One word. Frustrated.

Monday I was looking after 2 of my nephews, as well as our own kidlets, they were all rev'ed up to go to the movies and see Transformers. I went to the carport to drive the car out... it wasn't there! OMG!!! WHERE IS MY CAR?!!! It's pretty well impossible to steal it, it's behind a locked garage door, the car is locked with those fancy "you can't steal my car" locks, so I didn't think it had been stolen. I thought back, retracing my steps. OMG. I've left it at McDonalds... it's been there 2 DAYS!!!
(*insert going back in time music*) Sat morning, we'd met some friends at Maccas for brekkie, T had a last minute job he had to attend to, so met us there. From there we had to drive about 30 mins to drop my nephew home, who'd stayed the night. So T says "Leave your car here, we'll go together in my car, and pick yours up on the way home". Ok.
I phoned T Monday morning (he'd already gone to work) "My car is at Maccas". There were no words, only hysterical laughter. When he recovered slightly, he says "You'd better ring them, and make sure it's still there". I said (not very happy at his hysterics) "I'm not ringing them to say I'm the idiot who left there car there for 2 days!" T says he'll ring them. He rings me back "It's still there, but the wheels have turned into Big Macs"... what a comedian, hey? The thing that cracked him up; there is an advert on TV, and a chick is sitting in her PJs, ringing Bottle Shops (Alcohol Shops) looking for her car. Guess what the Maccas boy says "You're like that chick on the ad!" Yeah. Thanks for that.

So, I've got my car back.

You know my new sexy laptop? Oh.my.goodness. Is it giving me grief. Sorry, I'll rephrase... VISTA is giving me grief. I.HATE.IT. It won't let me access our server at work, and now... it won't even let me access the internet... EVEN WITH A LAN LEAD IN. What is with that?!!! It's going back to the shop today, and I'm get it wiped, and XP put on. I know XP, I like XP, and XP likes our equipment and server. AND, (just when you thought things couldn't get any better), our Accounting Package released a new "Vista Friendly" upgrade. ARGH!!!! It is crap. Yes, it looks pretty (also takes up 160MB more than the last version), but it is SLOOOOWWWW. I thought, maybe I'm just being impatient. You know, fast internet and all, I'm used to things happening immediately. I went to do ONE employees wages. It hung for FIVE MINUTES, just to open his file, then another FIVE MINS to process the pay transaction. That's for one bloke. We've got 60 working for us. I had a tech come out. He said it is slower than the last version, but when he tried to work with mine... "Ooo, I haven't come across one this slow before". I'm telling you... it's my "AURA" ~ I have an Anti-Computer Aura, and it bugga's up every computer I've ever owned. Every programme I've owned, I've had Tech's say to me "I've never seen it do that before". So now, all the guys in the Office cross there fingers (hex style) at me, when I go into their offices.

One Word.

NB: Transformers is FANTASTIC. Heaps better than I thought it would be. Kids absolutely loved it. It is "M" rated (for mature audiences) because of low level violence. But if your kids watch Pokemon, Ninja Turtles, Super Hero cartoons... violence is all about the same. They used the word "masturbation" in a parent-teenager conversation, I wanted to hide under the seat, was waiting for 4 kids to quiz me on the way home, about what that was... thankfully the "action" was in the forefront of there minds and imaginations!!! (clarification: "carchase/battle action"... not, you know, "adult action"... there was none of that!!!)

17

Seventeen.
The months our file has been sitting in China.
The number of months from when we received our first info booklet on International adoption, til our file went to China.
The age I was when I travelled to Singapore, solo.
The age I was, when I first (seriously) dating hubs.
The number of years I have been working.
The number of times a day, I think of Mini.

Red velvet?

You Are a Red Velvet Cake

Rich, decadent, and sensual. You have a deep appeal that transcends all trends. You are the definition of passion: intense, adventurous, and seductive.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Ok... that's not what I expected!!! Firstly, I've tried red velvet cake, and didn't like it at all! Sweet and sickly.

Secondly... sensual and seductive and two words that have NEVER been used to describe me!!! It sounds so cheap?!! Let me tell you... I'm definitely NOT cheap (hubs will back me up on that one!!!)

Thanks Shannon! I needed a laugh!

Works of Art

Not sure if I've showed you these before... but I've got nothing better to talk about, so if you've seen 'em, you get the privilege of seeing them again!!!

A few months ago, I had some spare canvases and M was nagging me to paint on it! So I said she could, but it had to be a picture for Mini...

Top painting was painted by H, (I added the word "Hope") the one underneath it was painted by M (I added "Love") and I painted the ladybug "dream"! I didn't tell the kids what to paint, they are all totally their own ideas. I love 'em! They don't hang all together Mini's room, they are spread out, all around her room.

I'm sure Mini will come to love them too, knowing that we were thinking of her, everyday, even before she came to complete our family.

My City... the facts

Thought I'd hit you with a little trivia today, due to popular demand (yes... 2 people asked, so I'll take that a demand!)

This is my city:

Settled in 1836, it's only a baby in comparrison with some European cities!

It is the only "free settled state" in Australia, all over states were established as convict colonies

Current population: 1.3 million, like I said, a baby!

Was named after Queen Adelaide, the reigning king of the time's, wife

Known for: wine, beaches, wine, restaurants, Home of Haighs Chocolate, home to Lleyton Hewitt (tennis Pro)... did I say wine?

Popular sports: (Aussie rules) Football, tennis, cricket, basketball, soccer, swimming and netball (we obviously do have other sports, but these are by far the most popular)

Events: Adelaide500 (V8 motor racing), Classic Adelaide (older car, car racing), Royal Adelaide Show (massive 10 day carnival), WomAdelaide (Arts), Schutzenfest (German festival...beer festival!), Tour Down Under (cycling), Adelaide Wine Show (did I mention that we have alot of excellent wine here?!)

Weather: Summer about 28 dgrC (82F)-42 dgrC (107F), Autumn about 18C (64F)- 25C (77F), Winter about 5C (41F)-15C (59F), Spring about 18C (64F)-25C (77F)

And that's about it!

NB: NETBALL is like basketball, but non-contact and no bouncing the ball! Just catching and throwing!! Man! America is really missing out, if it doesn't have Netball?!!!

9 degrees out, 30 degrees inside!

Winter holidays... what is a family to do? Go swimming of course!!! We wore our long pants, boots and woolly coats, to strip them off to our bathers, and go for a dip! (when I say "we" that didn't include me!!!) Kids had a ball! (yes, I had one extra with me! you're not confused... I still only have 2 kids!)

Results...

Well, the general consensus appears to be (in no particular order):
Lila, Bella, Ruby

Close runners-up:
Charlotte, Callie

And it appears that
Scarlet, should only be used if your planning a career in pole dancing

And
Samsara... maybe it's just good if you're Balinese?!!
Matilda... should probably be limited to iconic Australian poems (Waltzing Matilda!)

Hubs, pick is Bella
M, pick is Ruby or Hope
H, pick is Sophie (coz that's his little girlfriend at school!!!) If we are allocated a boy (highly unlikely, but remotely possible!) H wants to name him, Luke, as in Skywalker! hehehe! Thank heavens he likes Luke better than Yoda or Darth?!!!

Me? Well... you'll just have to wait and see, when we announce our little girl!

Thinking of names...again...

I must have a bit of time on my hands at the moment, coz I've been thinking about "Mini" lots.

Thinking about names again, so thought I'd run a little "popularity" poll...
Leave your Best and Least Liked choices in comments, from my list below:

Layna (French) - means little rock
Samsara (Balinese) - can't find a meaning, but Sam means From God and Sara means princess
Scarlet (English) - means Red
Hope (English) - means Hope!
Bella (Italian) - means beautiful
Cleo (Greek) - means To Praise
Lila (Persian) - means Lilac Tree
Camille (French) - means perfect
Ruby (English) - means Red Gem
Brielle (Hebrew) - means God is my strength
Charlotte (English) - means free
Callie (Greek) - means beautiful
Sophia (Greek) - means wisdom
Annabelle (Hebrew) - Gracious and Beautiful
Tia (spanish) - means Aunt (but if spelt Thea (Greek) means Gift from God)
Aislin (Celtic) - means Dream
Seana (Celtic) - means God is gracious
Matilda (English) - means Battle might! (holds a special place in Australian's hearts!)


I'm only thinking about "English" kind of names, we will be incorporating Mini's Chinese name either as her first name, if it's easy to pronounce etc, but definitely as her middle name. We have pretty much decided on her name, but I'm not prepared to set it in concrete til she's here!!! It's turned out to be a very popular name, which is swaying me to look at another name, more unique! They are not in any particular order, or coloured for any other reason than it looks pretty!!!

Is anyone else out there, a "non-stop" name thinker, as well?!!! There are just too many to choose from, and such important decisions, sa naming your child, can keep one awake at night, for a really long time!

Napster...

I stole this pic from Lisa, sorry Lisa!

I thought the top photo was a classic! Is it just me, or does that bloke look like he's nodded off, and having a nap on the files?!!!

WAKE UP, MAN! No wonder it's taking so damn long!!!

PS. Argh!!! I just had Blogga-blunder! It wouldn't let me title my post!!! Here I was sitting all smug, that Blogger liked me?!!!

(Tip: type post, then click back into Title, to type your title), but I'm sure you already knew that?!!

I forgot to post a couple of days ago... we've cracked the 500 days Logged In. Not sure if thats a good thing or bad thing ~ it's just history.

White Chocolate & Berry Cheesecake

White Chocolate and Berry Cheesecake

1 & 1/4 cups crushed plain chocolate biscuit crumbs

75g melted butter

500g Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon rind

200g white chocolate melted

2 teaspoons gelatine dissolved in 1/4 cup boiled water, cooled

1 cup cream

2 & 1/2 cups frozen berries

Combine the biscuits and butter. Press into the base of a greased 22cm springform pan.

Beat Philly cheese, sugar and lemon rind until smooth. Stir in the melted chocolate and gelatine mixture until smooth. Fold in cream and 1/2 cup berries.

Pour the filling into the prepared base. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Garnish with remaining berries.

Serve with dollop of stiff cream.

Mmmmmm....

(my pic is of my cheesecake, although this piece is a day old, so berries have run a bit!)

Interesting Research

I was reading this post from Rumour Queen's site and thought it was very informative and thought-provoking.

Rather than steal her time consuming research, you can click the link, and read it for yourself!

Debate about number of Chinese Orphans

Interesting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KADE!

Updated

It's official. This month the allocations go til 14th November 2005. WAY TO GO to all of J&C's batch!!! WOO-HOO!!! Congrat's to all families, seeing their little one's for the first time.

I've just come from our "batch dinner", where the families from our batch (all 4 families!... I soooo pity you guys in the US with your ginormous 36 people batches!) get together for some yummy food, beverages and plenty of chatter! It's the third one we've had, and it's great! Tonight was a curry night! YUMMO! And the desserts were to die for... I'm still feeling the tight tummy from too much dessert!!!

Anyway, conversations were around referral predictions (I think the concesus was "early next year"), and we talked a bit about who's taking their kids etc. Geezzz.... now I can't stop thinking about whether or not we should take our kids!!! We always said, No. But gosh! They are a heck of a lot older than we thought they would be!!! We were joking that H would be "10" by the time we travel!!! (he's 5 now!) With both these topics, I'm not going to give them too much thought, and just wait and see what's happening when we eventually get to allocation. (so I say... but anyone that knows me very well, knows I'll be thinking about it!!!)

Good lord, I'm dribbling on... it must be the caffeine talking! I MUST NOT DRINK CAFFEINE after 8pm. I was going to give you my "Berry and White Chocolate Cheesecake" recipe, but I'm too lazy to get up and get it. So if you want it, leave a comment, and I'll try not to eat it all, so I can take a pic of the last piece!!!

Bag Lady

I AM the bag lady. I have a shameful collection of bags, and although this one isn't a designer Gu*cci or Glitzy Ch@nel... it is my current favourite! Well, not to throw over my shoulder and run down to the shops, but it's definitely more than I thought it would be.

The details:

Super tough (nylon!) duffle bag... WITH WHEELS. About 60cm long when fully extended. Has a sturdy "pull along" handle. And packs away to virtually NOTHING! My feet aren't in the photo's coz they're sexy, I'm giving you a size comparison, and I have pretty big feet!!

Yes... I bought it specifically for China (along with about 30 other "must have" tavel items!!!) I plan on packing this baby, to whip out, once I've done my shopping!!! Oooo, and I must tell you... I bought it from AV0N...$20!!! Yep... $20 whole dollars!!! Yes, I'm an organisational nazi, Yes, I'm a packing freak... but hey... when everyone else gets their referrals and starts freakin out coz they don't have anything... I'll be sipping champagne in my ginormous spa bath in the candle light!!!

Connie, Sweetie... we are almost logged in on the same day... hopefully we get to meet in China. If you find you need a spare bag, I reckon I could give you my beautiful grey nylon collapsable duffle bag!!! (carry-on only, my a$$!!!!) You know what? I know you'll go carry-on only, and you will have absolutely everything you need... I'M SO JEALOUS - already!!!

Huge ((hugs)) to Jim and Colleen, flying to China NOW!

The latest...

**WARNING - THIS POST COULD CAUSE VOMITTING, STRESS, PANIC ATTACKS, DEPRESSION **

OK, so the latest gossip around the traps, is that CC*AA have allocated up until the 14th Nov 2007. Crap, only 7 days. BUT, it is absolutely fabulouso news for my friends who were logged in on the 11th! They are in! Of course, you can never count your chickens until they arrive in the mail... but I'm celebrating anyway!!!

7 days. Geez Louise. We have 99 days, (between 14 Nov 2005, and 22 Feb 2006 - our Logged In Date)... making our approx wait = 14 months. If they start allocating 10 days per month, we get down to only 10 months. 15 days per month, lands us at 6.5 months. It's incredible what a difference only a couple of days can make. I was still really hoping for a Christmas referral... I know things can change, but recent events have proven things lengthen.

Maybe I should start planning our next family holiday?!!! That seemed to be a fantastic distraction, and sure did make the time fly!

I went to Uni today! (University). Ooo... I did feel very clever, young and funky!!! haha! I was invited to a talk on the Great Wall of China, spoken by the Curator of a Great Wall of China Museum exhibition, currently showing in Melbourne. It was really interesting. Here are a few facts that I picked up:

* It took 2,000 years to build the Great Wall

* It isn't one wall, but several walls, built by different Provinces for different reasons

* You cannot see it from the Moon

* Alot of Chinese people don't like the Wall, as many of their ancestors were forced to build it and died.

* It isn't all built out of brick and stone. Some parts are made from a sandy cement mix, made with local sand

* In 1987 it was Heritage Listed, you cannot remove any part of the wall, or you will be fined thousands of dollars

* Just a few weeks ago, a coal company pulled down a part of the wall, so their trucks didn't have to drive around it.

She showed some great photos, and the exhibition people have released a book about the Great Wall.

I can't wait to see the Great Wall, in "real life"! I'd love to see the Terracotta Warriors too... but we'll see how much time we have. China is so rich in history... I love it!