Hope renewed

I sent off our application and check to the adoption c.onsultant this evening. That simple act rejuvenated my hope.

Sure, maybe it will still take awhile before we get a match. And maybe our facilitator will match us first and that check I mailed tonight will just be another expense in our family building efforts that ends up producing nothing.

Maybe this was the move we needed to make for a long time. Either way, it will all be worth it.

Tagged!

I was tagged by a fellow PA girl, Jodi

THE RULES:
Mention who tagged you.
Complete the list of 8's.
Tag 8 other people.

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO:
~ Getting confirmation from our new adoption consultant that they received our application so that we're officially signed on.
~ My birthday on Wednesday. Hubby and I both have the day off.
~ Going to FL in July.
~ Getting the home renovations going full swing once hubby gets some down time.
~ Every weekend! (I'm with you, Jodi)
~ Girlfriend getaway in the mountains in November. (Maybe I won't be able to make it this year for a good reason;))
~ Getting "the call" about our match.
~ Bringing our baby home.


8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:
~ Got a pedi.
~ Made breakfast for me and hubby.
~ Went to our friends' christening party for their baby.
~ Saw a lot of old friends.
~ Ate too much.
~ Completed adoption consultant application.
~ Caught up on some blog reading.
~ Wondered if the Phillies won or not (they did!)


8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:
~ Be pregnant.
~ Retire.
~ Go on vacation to the Caribbean tomorrow.
~ Spend more time with hubby.
~ Not have to worry about money and our adoption budget.
~ Hire a cleaning person. (I agree, Jodi!)
~ Be ready to get another dog.
~ Get a new kitchen and bathroom much sooner than later.


8 SHOWS I WATCH:
~ Phillies games
~ House Hunters
~ 30 Rock
~ The Office
~ Entourage
~ Seinfeld re-runs
~ Barefoot Contessa
~ Anthony Bourdain

8 FAVORITE FOODS:
~ pizza
~ cheese fries
~ fish tacos
~ cannolis
~ turkey burgers
~ quesadillas
~ carrot cake
~ vanilla cupcakes

8 PLACES I'VE TRAVELLED:
~ London, England
~ Florida
~ Chicago
~ San Francisco, CA
~ Kauai, HI
~ Las Vegas
~ Barbados
~ Maya Riviera, Mexico

8 PLACES I'D LIKE TO TRAVEL:
~ Spain
~ Turks and Caicos
~ Costa Rica
~ Grand Canyon
~ Vancouver, Canada
~ Southern CA
~ Italy
~ Greece

I'm only naming 6 PEOPLE to tag (if you're up for it):
~ Coleen
~ Deanna
~ Wendy
~ RB
~ Yaya
~ Denver Jen

Overwhelmed by this process...again

We've decided to sign with an adoption c.onsultant. The supporting facts:

1) Been signed with our f.acilitator for over 17 months -- no match or anything resembling a match during that time.
2) Most recent update with f.acilitator on 6/15/09 -- our profile has not gone out since our last check-in on 4/13.
3) After looking at my detailed notes, I realized that this means our profile has not been sent out since January or very early February. That profile went to an emom who is due next week (if she hasn't had the baby already) and they haven't had contact with her in months. Read: not one of our profiles is out there in the adoption world.

And the biggest, in-my-face, hard-to-fathom-that-I'm-still-not-a-mom fact:

*cue scary music*

My 38th birthday is next week.

All the above being said, I don't want to seem that we have lost faith in our facilitator or that we are feeling negative about her. We're admittedly not open to every situation that she has happened to receive.

The fact that scares me about signing with another adoption professi.onal:
1) Money (or lack therof)

I've thought about this for the last 3 months and started researching other agencies, attorneys, and consultants. At the time, it was just a lot of information to wrap my head around. So, I stepped away from it for a bit and thought it best to be more patient. However, the phone call to the facilitator really made me realize that we have to do something to help ourselves at this stage.

T really doesn't do much with the research, which is just as well, because his head would probably explode, especially these days. His job has been pretty stressful for him. But I was finally able to corner him last night with the latest research and feedback I've collected. He expressed his frustration about how unfair this is, why do we have to be the ones to wait so long, blah blah blah...he's just thinking of this now?? I've been there, done that and occasionally return as the time has gone by. It was as if it was the first time for him going through these emotions out loud. I realized that he blocks everything out. Truth be told, we really don't talk that much about it. I think he is just waiting until I tell him that we've been matched.

We had a good talk after that...reaffirmed that we're on the same page and the need to be pro-active.

We've narrowed it down to the one c.onsultant we want to work with...I think we can work with the costs of adding another adoption pro. I will let our f.acilitator know once we've signed. I just don't want her to stop working to try to match us. Our baby may very well still come through her. But I will feel better knowing that we're doing our best to get our profile out there.

Catching up on some reading

Besides not keeping up with regular posting here on my blog, I have not been doing a very good job reading up on my bloggy friends. I'm trying to rectify both! I'm still in the middle of my reading, but just learned some very exciting news about my friend Marcie. She and her husband recently received the referral for their son in Korea and will hopefully travel there soon. It's been a long wait to this point...congrats to Marcie and her family!

Weekend trip to Chicago

Last weekend I finally met some online friends I've been in contact with for almost 2 years...we originally met through an adoption thread on an IF board in October 2007. We planned to get together a few months ago and fortunately, it all came together. We decided to meet in Chicago with spouses and kids in tow for a long weekend.

However, T was not able to make it...he recently got a new job and he could not get off for the long weekend. Never mind that we had already booked the hotel and airfare. Argh...at least he was able to get a flight credit. T was a bit apprehensive about me traveling by myself, meeting up with people we had never met in person, and staying in a big city (yes, he's the nervous, protective type). So, I asked my little bro, who happens to have friends in Chi-town, if he wanted to hang out for a weekend. In return, I paid for his airfare. Turns out that I could have bought him a ticket to Timbuktu and it would have been the same effect....he quickly made plans and stayed with his friends about an hour outside of the city for the weekend. I saw him on the plane on the way there and we left each other at the airport. Some travel companion he was....although, we probably wouldn't have had time to hang out anyway because we arrived Friday and he left a day earlier than me on Sunday. But still.

Anyway, I saw this trip as a little adventure for myself AND an opportunity to meet some women I felt very connected to through our online thread. Sure, I had some qualms about going there by myself, (Caution: pity party ahead) the one still waiting for baby and no hubby to be my buffer, but I knew that I would have regretted not going.

Four of us from the adoption thread met...Coleen from AZ, Deanna from MI, Jennifer from the Chicago, IL area and myself, representing from Philly...yo! I quickly learned that my online buddies were just as great in person. Their husbands were so nice and the kids....very cute and sweet. Everyone was so down-to-earth and cool. I felt like I was with friends that I've known forever. I know that T would have really liked everyone too. We were so very lucky to have Jennifer and her husband, Mark, leading the way and taking us to some great places in the city.

I can't wait to do it again next year...but preferably with my husband AND a child for the next trip.
Our group...Jennifer and Mark with their adorable kids M & B; Coleen and Gordon, who recently adopted beautiful little C (you can't see her, but believe me, she's a beauty); and Deanna and Andre with cutie-patootie G. I'm third from the right.

Just the girls...Col, me, Jen, Dee
The Field Museum...Jennifer's 4 year old son was my personal tour guide. He's such a smart and funny little boy.
Jennifer and I outside of the Art Institute

Adoption consultant referral?

I know that I heard of this particular adoption consultant through a blog, but can't remember for the life of me where I saw it....A S.tep Ahead Adoption in CO.

Anyone familiar?

I have a lot to post about, but have had little time. I had a great time last weekend meeting up with some online buddies in Chi-town. That post and pics is coming up...

Unintended vacation from blogging

So many things to update on...I've really been slacking. Just to hit the main points, here's an outline of some of the goings on in my life...

Barbados - Wonderful and amazing. We had a great time and I highly recommend it as a destination. Our resort was lovely...
It was great because our hotel 'room' was more like a condo. Here is a pic of the living room We also had a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and balcony with a view of the Caribbean. Ahhhhh! We hung out at the beach most of the time,
but rented a car for 2 days too. T was a pro driving on the other side of the road. Traffic laws are pretty non-existent, roads are poorly, if at all, marked, and the main 'highways' are mostly 2-lane narrow roads.
T caught on pretty quickly. However, every time he meant to turn on the turn signal, he turned on the windshield wipers instead. Everything is on the opposite side. Kind of embarrassing when the locals saw us making a right or left...

We stayed in the southern part of the island. One day we drove up the beautiful east coast, which does not have many resorts because of the rough seas on that side. The next day, we went up the west coast (we were told Op.rah has a house here) and had lunch in the northern part of the island. Barbados is about 21 miles long and 14 miles wide, so the driving wasn't too bad. Easy for me to say, since I didn't attempt it. We also did a catamaran cruise and did some snorkeling and swimming with sea turtles. I loved that. I don't have the pics now because they are on our disposable water cameras and I need to get them developed still.

In the evenings, we hopped in a taxi to a different restaurant each night. We enjoyed dinner by the sea almost every time. We really loved the food, especially the Bajan specialty of flying fish!

Nurse of the Year - I received this award for my unit last month. Quite a surprise! I don't know about the name of the award or if I deserve it but it was nice to be recognized for doing a job that I really enjoy.

New job for hubby - T got a call while we were away (on our anniversary) that he was being offered an awesome position at the pro football stadium...he is in the c.arpenters union and the stadium keeps various trades (electricians, carpenters, etc.) full-time and year round. So, he is the lead carpenter, or foreman. It was really great news, especially since he hasn't worked steadily since February, when he was laid off after the football season. One negative is that once the football season starts in August, he won't have much time to work on the house.

Chicago trip - I'm so excited and fortunate to have the opportunity to meet some of my online friends! I met these particular women almost 2 yrs ago on an adoption board. We're meeting up next weekend in Chicago with spouses and kids.

If you've been reading along, because of T's new job, he is now unable to join me on the trip. I was so disappointed about that to say the absolute very least. At least he was able to get a flight credit. I decided to go, despite the fact that I'm the only one without kids and now husband-less for the weekend to boot! At first, I felt weird about planning to go there by myself, but I don't have too many IF/adoption connections IRL (in real life), so I crave the camraderie, so to speak. And I can't wait to meet their little ones...the ones I remember them dreaming about through their posts. I was able to find a new travel companion in my little brother (the guy's 32 years old, but he'll forever be my little bro). He was more than willing and eager to join me, especially because he has a few friends there. Oh, and maybe there is the teeny tiny fact that I offered to pay for his plane ticket. I should get sister of the year too...