My own bed!

Just lettin ya know - "'WE'RE BACK!"

Had an awesome time! Besides that the "Sunshine State" was friggin freezing, and we didn't take any warm clothes with us! But coming home to 4 degreesC (during the day)... I guess it wasn't so "freezing" in Queensland!!!

The Gold Coast in Queensland was our destination, and I guess you could compare it to Florida... sorta. The weather is always warm, and gets humid in Summer, excellent beaches, surf, shops, and of course there are "theme parks" - it's probably nothing like Florida - I've never been there!!!

Our home flight wasn't til 7pm, so we decided to hit the Warner Brothers Movie World, one last time. My neck was feeling a little "out", so I decided to go on one of the big, "Loop-de-loop" rides, maybe it'll jiggle back in. BIG MISTAKE. So our last day on holidays, I spent doped up on pain killers, and cried, coz my damn neck is killin me. I have no one to blame but myself.

I've got a chiro appointment today, hopefully he'll snap it back in, and I'll be able to stand up straight again. It was a fantastic holiday. Maybe I'm "allergic" to holidays? Last year, my trip to Bali, had me in hospital for a week with Dengi Fever.

Anyway, I'll be back later, I need to download the 300 photos I took... think I'll wait til I've had my "crack" (of course I'm referring to my back crack!). First, I need to go check out all the referrals!!! We had NO internet while we were away... do you know how hard it is, to quit cold turkey like that?!!

Get away...

Need to get away? Yeah, me too...


See you in a couple'a weeks!

Back to baby-girl's birthday!

I forgot to post a pic of M's cake! I made it from start to finish! This is a HUGE thing for me, I am a terrible baker. (Sorry Dad, I do try, but I'll never do what you can do!) She wanted a frog... just in case you were having trouble working it out!!! It had the jelly frog lollies, all the way around. The kids just about mobbed me, as soon as the candles were out!

Next pic: Cousins, peas in a pod! TJ looks SOOOO much like M did at the same age. Even Mum has looked at pics of M as a toddler, and thought they were pics of TJ!


Pic 3: H has just started playing football (fondly known in Australia, as footy!) Aussie Rules football - none of this "nancy-boy" soccer or rugby in our house!!! Ooooo... I just know I'm gonna cop some hate mail over those comments!!! Go H - Go! You are a little champion in the making!

Soprano's

My hubs LOVES Sopranos. For his recent birthday, it was one big Soprano fest! He got the entire Series on DVD, and one white singlet.

He's in his own little 7th heaven! I'm only posting about this, because, besides the kidssquealing in another room, all I can hear is
"Woke up this morning... Get myself a gun"...

If it wasn't so cold, I'm sure, he'd don his white singlet, to watch them all "cap" each other!!! Sorry... I think it's actually f'ing cap each other! Choice Christian viewing.

Tell me, why is it, they hate homosexuals so much, yet the men all kiss each other - and that's ok?!!! This is why I don't watch it... I just don't get it!!!

Happy Birthday LINDA! Only 51, isn't it?!!! You are the best secretary we've ever had... besides me of course... then again, you're the ONLY secretary we've had, besides me!!! :) You are a true gem. We appreciate you very, very much. Hope you have a fantastic birthday!

It's adoption crack!

I clicked on the R Q site, knowing I would cringe... BUT I STILL CLICK?!!! What is the matter with me? (and I'm pretty sure, I'm not alone in this boat?!!!) Truly, it's like crack... I just have to look, have to know... first, it's a real high, I feel good, they're allocating 1/2 a month! Woo Hoo... then I start to come down, the month wears on, and the information wears down... my shakey hand circles the R Q link, I click on it... O.M.G 7 days? We're down to 7 days worth of allocations.





I need rehab.








Don't get my wrong. I have HUGE admiration for R Q, she must put hours upon hours, in to research and gathering information. It's not her fault. If CC@@ were allocating a month at a time, we would all be jumping for joy! It's just a pity that all the early information is so over inflated, and quick deflates, by the time referrals are given out. I was SOOO excited at the early May info, I thought FOR SURE, I'd get to celebrate with my friend's, who are logged in on 11 Nov.


Deflated.



PS. I did look for a "round" balloon, but could only find this one... it IS a children's party balloon.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Can I call a 10 year old, Baby Girl?!!! Oh my gosh... 10 years. The Divine Miss M, is ten.

This is my most favouritist photo of my baby girl. It captures everything about her. A lotta spunk, a half measure of cuteness (which is slowly disappearing, into "womaness"!!!) and a dash of attitude.

Happy Birthday Sweetpea!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Mr.T, you sexy thing!

Gosh, darn it, you were cute! Not alot has changed, hey?!!

# 7

True. I do physically, sleep (and other things!) with my ex. We try to catch up at a hotel at least a couple of times a year. We occassionally get to sneak out for the odd lunch. And sometimes, he calls in home, on his lunch break. M, is from my first marriage, so I do have to still see him. Can you ever really stop loving your first love? Seems I can't.



So much so, that I as many of you suspected, I married him twice! Yes, a&mg its not nearly as sinful as it all sounds!!! Sometimes I throw in the line, that I sleep with my ex AND my boss! I've been known to tell our employees, that I get a bit on the side with my ex... its very funny to see their faces!!! Ahhh... T IS the love of my life, he's funny, witty, kind hearted, clever, helpful, charming... and the best part is, he adores me! Can't ask for more than that?!

7 secrets...

There's a little tag going round, to reveal 7 secrets about yourself. When I was reading them, on a few blogs, I was thinking... "Geez, I don't reckon I could come up with 7"... well, I've been thinking and I come up with quite a few!

1. I've been married twice. I was 19 the first time. Divorced at 25. Married a second time when I was 27.
2. I hate anything to do with teeth. The dentist. Wobbly teeth. The sound of teeth scraping on metal. Crusty teeth. Stained teeth. Don't like it.
3. When I separated from my first husband, my weight dropped to under 45kgs. My 5'6 frame looked skeletal. Awful. But I couldn't see it.
4. I've always wanted to go to Paris. I learned French at school, and I've always wanted to go somewhere, where people actually speak French.
5. I can't stand "bits" in my food. (fruit in yoghurt, pips in jam, multigrain bread, bits in orange juice)
6. I was on the TV gameshow Wheel of Fortune when I was 19. I only got to play one round, and left the show with the consulation prize, a cordless phone (that never actually worked!)
7. And the biggy... I still sleep with my first husband... shhh... don't tell anyone.

Mum's the word...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM-MA!

My Mum is so Special
She has a kind heart
She works so hard
And still looks like a work of art

She loves my Dad
Yes! Its true!
After many long years
They still find, their love is new



They travel Australia
Cooped up in a Van
Missionaries, in Australia?!
That's their plan

My Mum is the glue
That holds things together
I love my Mum
I love her forever




And due to popular demand... here are the sleepsuits. Did I say "a" sleepsuit? Sorry, I lied! Well, I didn't lie, I just held back!!! (wish I could do that when I shop - hahaha!)

TA-DA!

1. Ladybug sleepsuit (as if I could resist that... Lisa, you know me too well!!!) Got a size 1.



2. 2 sleepsuits for only $10! Can't resist a bargain either! At the other end of the spectrum, these are only a size 00 (6-9 mths). If Mini is too big, I'm sure I'll find someone to make good use of them! would the orphanages use them? Don't they have "open-bum"pants?!!!



**EDIT: The Ladybug suit is from "Pumpkin Patch" which is an Australian Co, but I think they do international sales, check out the website: www.pumpkinpatch.com.au and remember - its all in AUS$$ which means it even cheaper for you lucky Americans (Canadian's, sorry, I think our $ is about the same rate as yours!!) And, yes... it is me in the pic, as well... many, many years ago!!!**

I said I wouldn't...

I said I wouldn't mark LID anniversaries (yada, yada, yada!) And Deb, you were right! I'd get over it, and I have! Lisa, you were right, I bought a sleepsuit the other day, coz I just couldn't resist! So now you know... If I'm having a bad day, don't believe a word I say?!!

Someone asked me the other day, if we'd consider swapping countries. I didn't even have to think about it.. .No! We're in the third year, of our process, and our file has been (not so patiently) waiting in China for 15 months. FIFTEEN MONTHS! Geez! That's a long time, why the heck would I throw all that time away, to start from scratch, and maybe end up in the same boat anyway? Nope. Our little girl is in China. She always has been. And still is.

My friend is logged in on 11 Nov... *Rumour Queen* has given me hope... oh gosh... what have I got myself in for?!!

Pics

1. H, at his farm excursion

2. M, in action. (800m)

3. Sports Day was a wash out! I poured with rain!

TO ALL READERS: I've set the "comments" section, so that anyone can leave a comment. If you're not a member of blogger, you can use Anonymous, but I'd really appreciate it, if you could leave your name at the end of your comment! To leave a comment, simply click on the word COMMENT at the bottom of the post, leave your comment, click Anonymous, key in the letters for the word verification thingy... and your comment will be published! Too easy!

Mad Week!

Ahhh.... it's Friday night! I can put my feet up, and CHILL OUT! This week has been absolute chaos! Between work, home renovations (is it ever REALLY finished?!) and the kids activities... I'M POOPED!!! H had a farm excursion on Thursday... (21) extremely excited 5 year olds... what a joy!!! And I was mad enough to take the school bus with them to the excursion!!! (thought a free 45 min bus ride was a good option as opposed to $1.37 per litre of fuel!!!). I saved money - but definitely lost several brain cells!!! A good time was had by all. They fed chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigs, goats, sheep, donkeys and ponies (although a couple of ponies took a little more than feed = crying kid with pony bite!). They got to hold guinea pigs, baby rabbits and baby chickens. Ride a pony. Hand feed milk from a bottle to a calf. And ride around on little pedal "John Deere" tractors! What 5 year old, wouldn't like that?!!!
Today, I got to drive M and a couple of her friends to a cross-country running event (nearly an hour later, through the peak hour traffic), we arrived, 10 mins late. The girls race was about to start! So without any prep. they were straight out to the starting line, to run their 1 kilometre race! M came 16th out of 32 girls, her age. I was really proud. She did a great job! Especially since her school had not really prepped any of them. The girls thought they were going to run around an oval!!! M came in first for our school, so I couldn't ask for a better result! Then we had to wait around for 4 (four!) hours, in the rain, on a muddy oval, (did I mention, stand? there were no chairs!) for the rest of the age groups to run. We had to wait around for the presentation! I think a few parents are going to try and organise it a little better for next year... first off, leave an hour earlier, so we're actually there for the walk through! And then organise something for the kids to do, after their races!!! It was still a good day, M was happy she wasn't stuck in a classroom doing a Maths Test!!!

H had his first Aussie Rules football practice, after school. He was so excited! He was running, hand-balling, and kicking goals like a pro! Aussie Rules is definitely for him, not poxy soccer!!! He won't actually be able to play any "real" games til he's 8 or 9, til then, he's more than happy to stay in this programme!

Only a few more weeks, and I'll be baking my buns in the sun!!! Bring on the holidays!

So... it's chill-out time for me... this Mum business has me beat!

The goodies

Mothers Day was incredibly busy! No brekkie in bed, no quiet relax time. not even lunch! It was quite chaotic!!! Our church has 2 morning services, because they couldn't fit anymore people in for one service! So we have a 9am and a 11am. Well, Daughter M was asked to get up on stage (in front on about 500 people!) and tell everyone what she loves about her Mum! (that'd be me!) She said "I love her, because she's been with me right from when I was born. I love her coz she cooks for me, and she irons my clothes. I love her as much as she loves me. That's why I love my Mum!" Yes... I did cry! Then the Pastor asked me to get up there with her!!! Yikes! Scary that my 10 year old is braver than me!!! I literally had sweat running off me!!!

We visted my Grandma, (all of 88 years old), at the Nursing Home. She is doing so well... poor Luv has Alzheimers, she has good days and bad days, and Mothers Day was a good day.

We visited Todd's family, who'd had a very late breakfast, and decided they'd have an early tea... only thing was, I had to leave at 4pm, to get back to Church, as I was on the Kids Church roster! So I missed lunch! I thought I was going to miss tea too, but my darling husband, heated some left overs for me!!! Good thing, I'm not a "precious" Mummy... I more of a "keepin it real" Mummy!!!

Anyway - the pics! The absolutely gorgeous Ladybug candles are from my sister-in-law! THANK YOU D.! I LOOOOOVE them!



I bought myself the little ugg boots (sheepskin slippers - not sure if they have ugg boots outside of Australia?!) I also bought myself the pink top, and gave them both to M and said, wrap these up for me!!! H made me the pink heart, with I (heart) U on it! He also bought the lovely bright red Nescafe slippers with the chocolate bar, from a trading table at school! (I later found out, that he bought it because he wanted to eat the chocolate!) And M bought me the KISS soap from the trading table and made me the tiny purple flower (not sure if you can see it - just under the red slippers, on the grey sleeve?)
THANK YOU GORGEOUS CHILDREN!




My flowers! I cut these myself, from MY garden! I'm the worst gardener in the world - it's a miracle that anything blooms at all! I'm also not a very good florist! I just jammed them all in a vase!




When I went to be on Sunday night, I couldn't help but think about Mini's Mother. I'm kind of thinking, that she's carrying Mini, right now.

My final thoughts of her, were "Even on my very worst day... it couldn't possibly be anything like the day that she has to give up Mini".

Happy Mothers Day!

Whether you're a "waiting Mum", a "babe in arms" Mum, or a "grown up kids" Mum... I wish you a wonderful day!

Forecast

I must be mad... I hit the link to the China Adoption Forecast. Expecting some hideous date, in 2008, I was surprised, that it speculated that I might receive a referral by 30 Dec 2007. I must say, I was rather chooffed! Last year, I think it was around October, I did the forecast thing, and it said Oct 2007. So I made my own prediction of late Sept 2007. I still think it's do-able. Reasonable? Probably not!!!

H asked me today, "When's Mini coming?". I answered "I don't know, probably not until next year. After Christmas." He thought for a minute, "But you said after my birthday" (October). "How come she's taking so long?" Ahhhh... Sweetheart, if I only knew?! Poor little fella, I've been telling him different dates for ages now. When our file was logged, it was "Near Christmas time" (Dec 2006). Then it was "After Bali" (Feb 2007). Then it was "After your birthday" (Oct 2007)... now I just say, "Next year... I really don't know! Whenever China decided to give us our little girl?"!

It's kind of funny, one of our reasons for choosing China (among about 20 other reasons!), was that it was "stable and predictable"... the words of our agency! HA! Big-fat HA!

I have to keep reminding myself, we are in the middle of an "International Adoption" - Anything can happen!

Contradiction!

Ok, ok... so about 2 months ago (after the devasting 2 day referral month) I had a serious case of the blues! I went into denial... there is no adoption, no logged in dates, no waiting etc (I'm sure you get the picture).

Here we are 2 months later, and I think I've overcome my mood. I read Donna's post, and yes... I did do some quick calculations in my head. I caught myself out - "What are you doing?!" I asked myself. "Don't do that! You'll just be devasted (again!) when Christmas rolls round, and you still don't have a referral". Scary, when you actually catch yourself, having conversations in your head... with yourself!!! Although the content of my conversation wasn't all that positive, it did prove to me, that I do still hold hope. Hope that, I thought, had gone forever. Disappeared with the 2 days worth of referrals.

I know in that 2 days, though, hundreds of people, had their dreams come true. The piece of paper, and tiny photo, of their child... those people's lives will never be the same again.

Then, yesterday, I saw the sweet face of Hannah, Jim and Colleen's little angel. How could I have thought there was no hope?

Hannah is hope.

Thank you to all the families who have blogs and websites, and post their referrals on them. You are a beacon of hope to the rest of the families, who were like you were... waiting. I have a spark of excitment, that one day, that will be me. Posting about one the most memorable days of my life. Offering hope to those families waiting. One day...

Scraping up something blogworthy!!!

I've got to post something... anything.... to move the last post down! It freaked me out a bit, with me being "right there" when you open the page!!!

So I'm going to blog about cars! I've been thinking about cars, because my sister-in-law is just about to get her brand new car! Now, before any of you (particular my family and close friends) think I'm getting rid of the Subuaru... I'M NOT! I love Subi and she is here to stay (for a while longer, anyway!!!) For the last 10 years or so, I've had a bit of a nasty habit of having a "revolving garage!" The longest I've ever owned one car, is about 2 years!!! What can I say - I like change!!!

So... if I HAD to change my car, and I had a spare $40k or so, I'd be looking at one of these...

Isn't she purrrrity?!!!

Holden Captiva: 3.2L engine, semi automatic (I don't actually know what that means, but it sounds pretty fancy!), 7 seats (just in case Mini is not the last!), and well... it's just darn sexy, I reckon!!! And it's got cup holders - every yuppy mummy has to have cup holders, you know!

But like I said... Subi is stay a while longer. I was just admiring this one!

Hannah

Hannah has an identity!

Congratulations Jim and Colleen! God speed to your precious daughter!

CCofAA have allocated children to all families whose files were logged with their office before 1 November 2005.

Also, a HUGE Congratulations to all the local families whose files were logged on 30 Oct 2005! And fingers crossed for the next batch logged in on 11 November 2005, may you be in the next lot of allocations!!!

Sending ((hugs)) and :)Happiness(: your way!

Weird Weather

You know I'm down to the dregs, when I'm talking about the weather!!!

Here in our fair country of Australia... it is DRY. With a capital D. We had very little rain last winter, which meant that we were running out of water, come Summer. We are on "Water Restrictions" and can only water the garden once a week, among alot of other rules! I just didn't water the garden at all. I only have a little flower patch. That now looks like a crusty patch! I want to conserve water - so I lost a couple of plants? I'd rather give my kids a drink!

Anyway, we did get rain last week - 4 solid days of rain - it was wonderful! Australians all over, welcomed the precious resource! The garden got a REALLY good water, and although our reservoirs won't be full - it definitely would have helped. And the farmers would be tickled pink, as they were forecasting they needed rain by the end of April, or they wouldn't have any crops at all!

So we had rain. And it got colder. And I thought - good'o, winter is coming. But no. Today I'm back in tee shirt and capris. It was windy, warm and humid! Troppo! Literally! My sinuses are going bonkers!

Yes, I do like the warm weather... but truly, it needs to get colder - and we need MORE RAIN! (I'm having visions of next summer, our whole family bathing out of a 10 litre bucket of water, once a week!)

I'm starting to think, we'll be living the movie "The Day After Tomorrow"!!!

Note to self: Maybe I want winter to come, coz then winter will go... and I'd be alot closer to Mini?!!!