No Ordinary Family

With all the days lately that I have been really feeling the absence of a special little someone that has never really been here, it is a great feeling when I have those moments of complete contentment with our family. A couple nights ago Sully was curled up on my chest, Gypsy had creeped between our chairs so I could pet her and Toby was content to be laying under Jim's laptop. And in that moment everything was perfect. Our little family might be small and mostly four legged but it's ours. It reminded me of a quote from Lilo and Stitch " This is my family. I found it, all on my own. Is little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good." Yeah, our family is good, too.

OK this is going to be a bit of a pet peeve post, sorry in advance. I don’t like it when people get mad about the phrase Happy Holidays preferring Merry Christmas. When I wish people a Happy Holidays it is because I realize that from the end of November to the beginning of January there are a lot of holidays and I want them to all be happy not just Christmas. When I am specifically thinking of Christmas I say Merry Christmas but I don’t think it should really matter. It is the feeling behind it wishing people good will any time of year should be welcome what ever the semantics. I think changing the names of items like Christmas trees to holiday trees is just plain silly but people, there are way more important issues in the world than what we call a silly tree. So our Christmas cards will say Happy Holidays and if you are offended too bad throw the card away. And if next year the card I choose says Merry Christmas then you should not be offended either and if you are too bad. Re...

One of my favorite things at Christmas time is going up in the mountains and finding a tree. I have great memories from doing this during my childhood. We would bundle up, pack hot chocolate, marshmallows, hot dogs, fire making supplies and all the other necessary things for getting a tree. A couple times even though we had everything else we forgot the saw. I remember the bread sacks in my moon boots to keep my feet dry and still my feet always ended up wet but that was OK because we had like 10 pairs of extra socks, just in case. I loved the near death experiences on the sleds and inner tubes. It always took us longer than we thought to find that perfect tree and often times it ended up a lot bigger in the house than we thought. I remember singing Christmas songs in the back of the truck with my sisters and I remember getting stuck a few times. One time it was just me and dad and we found a tree pretty quick that year. Although my memory is not great I believe that was the y...

If you follow China adoption you know that November referrals were skipped. It was heart breaking to those parents that were NEXT but the referrals were finally received. They processed 3 days and are now up to April 2006. It does not seem like a lot and it's not but it is such a relief to finally see them out of March 2006. We are now 390 LID days away from our date, 4/25/07. Slowly but surely we are getting there and 3 more dollars in the bank. I would like to say a special congratulations to a couple of bloggy friends getting their referrals this month (finally!!) Christie and family (from A Bushel and A Peck ) are seeing their new daughter and sister, Keira, for the first time. And Kayce and her family ( Stories of Life in the Middle of Adoption ) are also seeing a new family member this week! I love it when I actually cyber-know people getting referrals.

I have been meaning to post about this for a while but then I got sick and I had no energy for anything let alone posting. But I am getting better so I thought I would fill you in on my latest doings. We have started fundraiser to help with the adoption and travel expenses. I found a company called That's My Pan and they sell personalized cake pans and other kitchen items. I got a sample kit and I am really impressed with the all the products. I think they would make a wonderful gift or a treat for yourself. Everyone has brought food to a pot luck or a family event and left the pan or the serving utensils and not got it back. And I know I have been cleaning up after pot lucks and found pans with no owner :0(. This way everyone knows who it goes back to, plus it looks great. close up of the side of the casserole pan If you are interested in anything let me know and I can get you a price list and order form. If you are local it is only $1.10 per item shipping to me and then I will...

OK, apparently what I had going on yesterday was just not enough on my plate. My cold got worse last night, my throat was so sore I could only eat broth and my head was killing me. I took plenty of cold meds and went to bed early. I woke up this morning feeling a little better but still pretty sick and I have no voice above a whisper, so I am home from work. Gypsy seems to be feeling better she still will not put much weight on her leg but I am feeling better about it. I know that this is not usually fortunate but Jim was only able to get an afternoon job today. So that means he was able to take Gypsy to another vet this morning to get a second opinion, I was going to take her but I didn't know I was going to get so sick all of a sudden. Jim's sister also sent us some links to some sites about dogs being able to heal from this injury with out surgery, Thanks!! We will see what the other vet says but I think we will take the more conservative approach. If she needs surg...

Well, I felt I needed to post something and it is probably going to be quite boring and a bit of a pity party, sorry, I won't blame you if you stop reading now. So how come when it rains it pours? How come everything seems to break or fall apart all at the same time? I am trying very hard to be thankful especially this month but it has not been easy. If you read Jim's blog, you may know some of this stuff already, but here I go anyway. Jim's laptop is on its last legs it is literally being held together with 2x4's, he uses this computer to get jobs since he is a substitute and most of the jobs are posted through a website. Our DVD/VCR player decided it no longer wants to work, well it kind of still works you can play things if they have the auto play feature but forget fast forward or rewind. Then, Gypsy hurt herself somehow. She was fine Saturday morning but by about noon we noticed her limping. It was not getting any better so I took her in to the Vet this morning. Lo...