Moving **updated**

Moving moving moving......................day 1 and I'm already tired.

**Things are progressing! Everything has been moved, storage is EMPTY, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new house. I made coffee this morning and just lounged around the kitchen looking at everything. Seriously, I love it. Ok, back to work I go...there is a sh*t load of boxes in the garage that must be unpacked and organized.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Food for thought

Another adoptive mom and friend sent this link to me today. I found it to be very interesting and felt sorta sad after reading it. I understand her point of view, yet I'm not sure I completely agree. In the comments section, Kendra makes valid points as well.

And it got me wondering, how many of you find this offensive?

House update

Laminate and carpet are being installed today/tomorrow!

Move in is set for Saturday!

I have tomorrow and Tuesday off of work! YESSSS!

The refrigerator has already been returned and the correct one has been delivered (I am picky, what can I say...there is a BIG difference between Ultra Satin i.e. fake stainless steel and stainless steel).

The sprinkler system is running three times a day for a long time in an effort to green up the grass before winter...we'll see, it's awfully BROWN right now.

My Dad is busy changing out locks and hardware from gold to silver.

More later, that's all I can think of right now. :-)

Impressive

Another hypocrite - - another right wing conservative muckity muck preaching one thing and doing another - - WTF!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/28/craig.arrest/index.html

Backing up

Two weeks ago, while my brother and Ryan were visiting, my nephew Jackson came over and spent the night with us. I was pretty sick at the time, hadn’t started my antibiotics yet, and really wasn’t too excited about having my very spirited 3 year old nephew spend the night. Yet, this auntie cannot refuse the chance to spend time with one of her most precious nephews…so Jackson came on over with the uncles promising to take care of him and let me rest.

The exciting news upon his arrival was the fact that he had mastered the potty since the last time I saw him, only need pull-ups at night. He was even wearing his big boy underwear and whipped his pants down to prove it to me.

Later, he needed to use the bathroom. I followed him to the loo, he hopped up on the toilet and told me to “get out”. I asked him if he was sure he didn’t need any help and he assured me that he was ok. Keep in mind I do not have a potty chair, so he was hanging on for dear life on the big toilet. I went to my bedroom, which isn’t that far from the bathroom so I could hear him, thinking he would probably fall in or something…and a few minutes later he hollered “Saaaaarrrrraaaaa, I made a poop! I need a treat!”. So, I went to the bathroom to see if he needed help. Again, “Sara! I made a poop! I need a treat!”. I asked him what he needed a treat for (aren’t I a meanie), and in an exasperated you should really know this voice he said “because I made a poop!”. Ohhhh!

So, after much praise from myself and everyone else in the house I asked “What kind of a treat do you want?” quickly racking my brain to think of possible treats I might have on hand. “I don’t know” was his response. My mind was racing, crap!, what kind of an auntie doesn’t have treats on hand…and then I remembered..."How bout’ an Otter Pop Jack?”

Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

Here’s a pic of Jack and I after he made his poop and needed a treat!

Still here....

The house is coming along. My Dad is here for a visit and has been a tremendous help. He met the appliance delivery guys and the carpet guy while I was at work. It has really helped as it's fair time this week and I am in and out all day long (and evening) coordinating the college's fair booth. The first day he was here, he found himself at Sear's 3 times standing in the appliance section waiting and nodding while I took my sweet time picking everything out. Keep in mind the man had just traveled from Sydney Australia and was running on a total of 3 hrs sleep. Guess that's one way to beat jet leg...hehe.

No really, the appliances are in. The cable and internet installation has been scheduled and the utilities are all in my name. We are going to try and move my washer and dryer in between my fair shifts today and I plan to try and move everything into the kitchen and bathroom this weekend in between fair shifts.

The carpet and laminate are scheduled for install next wed, thurs, friday and pending a successful carpet/laminate install I am planning to move everything else next weekend!

School started for me this past week as well and I begin teaching my class this coming Wednesday evening.

I'll post pics later, but yahoooooo I'm so excited about the new house!

It's official!

The deed has been recorded! I am now a home owner!

So close, yet still no keys!

Yesterday at 11:00a.m. I signed all the papers at the title company. The next steps were for the title company to fax my docs to the lender, wait for the lender to call back with final approval, and then record the deed at the county. When the deed was recorded, the sellers real estate agent would call me and I could pick up the keys.

Oh so simple right? One would think. When the deed arrived at the county for recording, they noticed that the notary had made a mistake and would not accept it. The title company then called me and told me that they would have to have another deed fed-ex'd from who knows where with another notary and would not be able to record the deed until Monday.

:-(

I was bummed, but there is nothing I can do about it. I will get the keys on Monday and the carpet removal and cleaning will begin!!

Movers and shakers

Ok, so thanks to my AWESOME mortgage broker ie. my cousin Sheri...she moved the loan paperwork right along and I close on the house TOMORROW.

That's right, there's no dilly dallying around here people, I am closing tomorrow at 11:00a.m. and can take possession of the property as soon as the deed is recorded, sometime early afternoon.

WHOOOOHOOOO!! I'm so excited to clean it and start ripping carpet out. lol

must find fridge.

Let the house shopping begin!

I haven't found a refrigerator yet, but I did order this poster ...

Thanks for the idea Connie!, it's going to look great in my new hallway. :-)

I also found bedding for the king (finally) AND it was on sale. Bonus!

Priorities people. Who needs a refridgerator anyway? Kidding....

For my sister Lexi

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”
~Dr. Seuss

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one.

~Leo J. Burke

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

~Franklin D. Roosevelt

If you're going through hell, keep going.

~Winston Churchill

Smile, this too shall pass....

Tuesday...I can't think of a better title *updated*

I just wrote an entire post about how pissed off I am at the wait this week and then deleted it as it depressed me too much to post. Nothing much I can do about it, so on to other things.

The house purchase is moving right along, I should close next TUESDAY!

I bought the first "stuff for the new house" yesterday. 2 bookshelves for the office/guest bedroom. They match the desk and file drawer that I don't own and haven't even found yet! lol.


















I'm headed to Lowe's on my lunch break today to select and purchase a refrigerator. Fun!

*update*

I didn't like anything Lowe's had to offer in the appliance department, soooo no go on the fridge today.

8......8......8......8......8......and an illness update :-)

First up, today marks 8 months since I've been logged in at the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs. I'm guessing 16 more to go....that sucks.





















I'm still sick, getting better, but sick nonetheless. I went to the Dr. on Saturday, found out I have a sinus and ear infection. Great timing, my bro and Ryan were visiting AND it's the dead middle of summer....sigh. The good news is I have some very STRONG antibiotics and really am starting to feel better.

Neat.

As usual...

Stressful times = Sara gets sick.

I now have a raging cold/flu something and feel absolutely miserable.

Good dog - bad dog

Mom, quit flashing that stupid thing in my face...I'm trying to get some shut eye.

What? You don't want me on your couch?

House Info

So much fun. My nervousness is o.v.e.r. I have no problem signing my life away on stacks and stacks of papers because I am just so excited that I bought the HIL, pending the inspection of course. ;-)

It has everything I had listed on the little spreadsheet I created for my “need & wants” list. Yes, I know. Can we say Type A?

Here’s the run down…

It sits on a corner lot, nice size, in a cul-de-sac. The home is 1610 square feet with 3 bedrooms, a family room, living room, kitchen, and 3 full baths. It is new, built in 2005. The exterior description includes vinyl siding, a sprinkler system, and what I call a medium+ size back yard. There is plenty of space for the dogs, a swing set, bbq, patio set, and it’s fully fenced. It is located in the burbs of the city I live in (if there is such a thing in NI). A park is currently being built just 1 ½ blocks away.

Inside has vaulted ceilings, an open floor plan, a gas fire place, a good size kitchen, central A/C (thank god!), the appliances are all stainless steel (my fav), and the cabinets are pine (sweet, I hate oak and every dang house I looked at had oak cabinets…ewwww!). There is a double garage, with a garage door opener and a man door.

The only thing I didn't like was the color of the carpet, gray. gross. No offense to anyone with gray carpet, but it just isn't me. Easy fix and I plan to put laminate in the living room and neutral carpets in the bedrooms/family room before I move in. :-)

Now for some pics, snapped straight from the realty website. I haven’t had a chance to take quality inside photos yet.

The front. Looks small and like a rancher doesn't it? It's deceiving from the front, it really is a tri-level, very open, and certainly big enough for munchkin and I.

My fav...the kitchen! oooooh, lookie lookie at the pretty pine cabinets and fancy stainless steal appliances.

Lastly, Happy Birthday to my BIL Zach!

Holy Moly!!!!!

They accepted my offer! I am a home owner!!

Company, camping, and house hunting

Dustin and Ryan are here visiting from Boston for the week. They arrived on Friday and hauled ass from the airport to the HIL (house-i-love) where I was meeting the real estate agent to look at it “one more time” before I made an offer. I am thankful that my mom, Mike, my sis, Dustin and Ryan all made it out to look at it with me and make sure I wasn’t doing anything crazy (my request). They all gave me a thumbs up and I made an offer on Saturday. We’ll see…I should hear back anytime to see if they have accepted, countered, or denied my offer.

Camping was great! Someone special’s family is laid back and cool! I spent the most time visiting with his Grandma…apparently she is a talker and most often she preys on the “newbie” in the family. Ummm, yeah, that would be ME. Oh well, we shared my bottle o’ wine and she talked my ear off. I find her a very fascinating woman, she is Austrian and told me many stories of what it was like living in Austria as a 20 something teenager during World War 2 (I opened that can of worms when I asked her how she met her husband and ended up in Idaho). I will say there were a few times I didn’t really feel comfortable. For instance, there are only two kids in the family, someone special and his sister. His sister and his mom are tight, with a capital T, and didn’t really seem to make an effort to include me in their conversations at all. Don’t get me wrong, they are nice, but there were times when it was very clear that I was the outsider. I also wonder if it has something to do with someone special being the only boy…oh, I don’t know…I’m imagining the “no one will ever be good enough for my son” mentality. Only thing is, I’m the best thing that has ever happened to her precious son. ;-) Whoops, started to go off there a bit didn’t I? Whatever…moving on. It really was nice and different. Different in that I’m always the one cooking, planning dinner, prepping, cooking, cleaning-up, etc. and I didn’t have to do anything except talk to his grandma and drink wine. Oh, and the other downside…no campfires allowed due to the dry conditions. We all went to bed early and froze in the morning.

I feel like I am rambling…

Keep your fingers crossed they accept my house offer!

TGIF

I love the weekends. Especially when I have zero homework, work, etc. to worry about.

In other news....

• My bro and Ryan are coming to visit today, for a week! Should be fun.


• I found my HIL (House I love, thank you for the acronym Kristen, I love using it and my real estate agent uses it now too...hehe). I am taking my mom, sis, and bro out to see it today and will then make an offer. So scary, so nerve racking, makes me want to puke, but totally exciting as well. I think the only thing I am really worried about is the fact that I want a fair price and it's a bank foreclosure which means there isn't much wiggle room for negotiation...but how do I know what to offer? If I go too low, the bank will reject me. If I go to high...I won't feel like I got a fair price. This is the part I hate and this is the part that makes me feel like I am buying a car (I know I'm not buying a car...it's a much bigger thing, but it feels like I am in a way). Ok, moving on. It's a good thing I know, but stressful nonetheless.


• I've been asked to teach another class at the college this fall. Am I going to do it? Sure I am! I dropped one of my grad classes and will be teaching Intro to Business on Wednesday evenings. That's it. I will not be adding anything else to my plate. Take one class, teach one class, and work. That's it.


• I'm heading to the woods tonight for a quick overnight camping trip with my someone special and his family. pause. His family - as in...meeting most of them for the first time! I have a bottle of wine ready to go in case I need a couple glasses (or the bottle) to take the nervous edge off. ;-)
  

And now for some adopty edumacation for friends and family. The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs has updated their website! Wait, you don't know what that means...let me explain.

Each month, the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) matches babies with waiting families in the order of their Log-In-Date (LID), the date which adoptive parents paperwork is registered into the CCAA's computer system. My LID is 12/13/06.

The CCAA updates their website each month to let adoption agencies and waiting families know which LID's were matched with babies. Does that make sense? The date we need to pay attention to each month is the date circled in the image below (snapped straight from the CCAA's website this morning). As you can see, the CCAA has finished placement of children whose paperwork was registered (LID) before November 21, 2005. That's right 2005! They haven't begun working on the 2006 families yet. We have a ways to go before it's my turn. Eventually, it will be my turn and YEEEEOOOWWWWW I'll be a mom! I. can't. wait.

From now on, I'll be posting this information each month to keep ya'll in the loop.

In the meantime, check this out to see some August cuties. So precious. Congrats to all the new families!

How'd I do AP's, did I explain it alright?

Presents for munchkin!

Heather, my not so secret gift pal, sent presents! This month's theme...beach time!

Thank you Heather!