ROUND TWO WITH THE POOL...

we relocated the pool. Michael was ready to fill it up at 8:30 p.m.! We moved it over by my flower garden (which by the way still looks like a jungle!) and is in plain view to all our neighbors (no skinny dipping in the little pool now haha)... We have a dip in the driveway which will be the center of the pool, so hopefully we will be able to keep the water IN this time.

I need to get a pump to blow up the top ring of the pool before we fill it up. I want to call my insurance agent before we do and ask about liability with a blow up pool...go figure, I'm an insurance person and I didn't even think about the liability until after I bought the foolish thing!

So we have it all laid out just waiting to be filled, but I think that it's going to have to wait until Monday and I call my agent.

If we get the green light your all invited over to your 18' x 42" blow up pool to come and cool off and have a cocktail or two...it's certainly big enough to hold a lot of people...maybe I should invite those neighbors over and finally get to know then after 5 years!

Thank you Jane and Kristen!!

I just wanted to send a big thank you out to Jane G. and Kristen S. These are two wonderful women that I have met in our Journey to Alison.

I was Jane's secret buddy in the last swap from my February group...she has already gone to China and is now home with her new daughter K. Jane sent me my last swap present, which I told her not to worry about...getting a picture of K and following their journey to K was better then any present...and I truly mean that...someday I hope to send them a picture of Alison. I received a big packet this week and it made me cry...I'll post pictures when I can find my camera.

Kristen was my secret buddy from my January group and I had so much fun shopping for her and her daughter to be C. and getting to know her by reading her blog. I keep checking in to see what is going on and Kristen is checking in with me too. I received your card and it was so sweet, I just have to say thanks...things are crazy, but they are getting better!!

You ladies are the best!!

Thank you Secret Buddy!!

Our February buddy sent us the cutest presents...the theme for this month was bedtime...we got another Fuvoo with a lady bug on it (you can't have too many fuvoo's can you Alex) along with a board book "goodnight moon" to add to our book collection and a lullaby CD.

Thank you so much!! I can't find my camera to post pictures, but once I find it I will post these wonderful presents for all to see.

Thanks again, this is the best way to stay connected to Alison. Every time you get a secret buddy swap in the mail you start thinking about your child and you picture them playing with the presents...it's wonderful and it makes you remember that she is real and she will come home...be positive and say a little prayer for us to stay strong in this crazy wait.

Great News!!

We have been notified that FINALLY, our paperwork is going into review! The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) has finished reviewing all dossiers up to January 31, 2007! The CCAA notifies the adoption agencies of their progress and they only update the review status when all dossiers are done for that particular month.

Now is the nail biting time to see if we will be questioned about anything that is in our paperwork. Hopefully, if we are questioned, we will sail through with no problems.

Let's hope that we have a quick review for February 2007. This is a huge milestone in our journey to China and Alison. Once we get through review we are then sent to the Matching Room to be matched with our baby girl. This will be another long line, but it's proof that the line is moving.

Still not better...

You ever feel like your world is just starting to crumble all around you? It's not a very good feeling...but you just have to say to yourself it's going to get better, you need to just pick yourself up and dust yourself off and you just have to go and do what you do.

Some things are easier said than done...but I guess that the good news is that I can identify that I need to just get it done...get out of the slump and no more pity parties...they get you no where.

Golf...

it's that time of year again and I have my agent golf tournament tomorrow and it's going to be a hot one. They are saying that it will get to 100 degrees and possibly beyond...

I'm already miserable just thinking about it...I really don't do well in the heat and I can't hide in the club house because I have to watch the Hole in One hole to verify any winners of the big money prize.

I bought a fan that spritzes you with water...hopefully, it will work ok.

Gotta run--I have a 2 hour drive to the course today and the HOT HOT HOT tomorrow.

I Bought A Pool...

yes, I did. I broke down yesterday because the kids were coming over and it was close to 100 degrees out. I went to the Christmas Tree Shop and bought a blow up pool that came with a ladder, pump and a skimmer. This pool is 18 feet long and 42 inches tall...perfect to have a lot of people sit in and keep cool and the kids can have a ball too.

I think this was the worst investment that I've made in a long time!! This pool holds close to 5,000 gallons of water. It took us ALL NIGHT to fill up the pool and the kids played in it as it was filling...my driveway is not completely level. When I was going to bed at 11:30 p.m. last night I looked out the window and it looked like Niagara Falls in my yard--because it is a blow up pool the weight of the water forced the water over the side of the pool that was on the down slope and now today it's empty!! I can't wait to see my water bill and now I have this pool that I can't bring back to the store (the kid put the box in the pool and it's destroyed) and I don't have a level yard to set it up properly.

I guess that you would call this a live and learn situation. Now I have to figure out who I'll give this monster of a pool to (that has a level driveway) and try to find a smaller blow up that can fit on my level patio.

When is it going to get better...

it just has to soon!

I've been in a crazy funk for a couple of weeks now...I thought it was getting better, but it isn't. I have done nothing for the past two weekends but laundry and that is only because I had to.

I know exactly what it is to...I wonder if I will ever have my "ideal" family...is Alison going to come home...I sometimes feel that I'm going to age myself out before we even get close to our turn for a referral.

The wait is really unbearable lately...you tell yourself that if you stay busy that it will be better, time will fly by and you try not to think about it, but it is always there...you think that things are good, but it's always there on your mind even if you don't realize it and it starts to become this heavy cloud that is carried around with you always...you don't even realize it anymore because you've had it for so long. It starts to invade your life, your relationships, your energy, your motivation and self esteem...it's really got to get better.

Work is crazy right now in a good and bad way, the economy sucks, and you should see my gardens! I should be ashamed of myself...it has to get better and soon.

Jury Duty...

Yup...I may have to go on Tuesday. I have gotten selected a few times the last couple of years and was never required to actually go...I'll find out Monday after 3:00 p.m. for sure.

The last time that I actually had to show up was about 20 years ago and that was a pretty scary experience. I sat in the court house all day and then I was part of a group that had to go and see the judge, two lawyers and the accused...it was a battery case and that guy was real big and real mean looking...he honestly scared the crap out of me!

At that time I was young and not really aware of my duties as a citizen, I was just more concerned that he was big, scary and scowling at me, and my dad and two of my brothers worked for the Corrections Department--I pretty much got out of serving on that jury.

Now that I'm older and wiser (I hope) I am ready to do my duty if I should happen to get picked to go to a trial.

I'll have to wait and see what happens on Monday at 3:00.