Ticker updated

The official word is now that referrals have been sent through November 1, 2005. So, I've updated the ticker to reflect this.
The CCAA goes on "vacation" starting tomorrow for the May Holidays. So, my guess would be that it will be about another month before we see more referrals. Of course, I hope I'm VERY wrong!

Ladybug Alert!

Ladybug Alert! Referrals are on their way!
RumorQueen says that the referral batch has been sent out!! CCAI doesn't yet know the cutoff date, but RQ says 11/1/05. Once I know for sure I'll update the ticker.
Congrats to all those families receiving referrals!

New Ticker Added

Last week I went ahead and added a new ticker to the blog. This ticker keeps track of the current wait from LID to referral for China adoptions. Last month there was a very small batch of referrals... rumors are there were 600 - 800 referrals, but they only covered 2 LIDs. My guess is that the majority of these were referrals to Europe because I saw very few referral notices on the adoption boards and CCAI had no LID that received referrals (the second time in a row that this has happened). The next LID waiting for referrals is 10/27/05.
I'm trying to be hopeful that things will speed up, but it doesn't look too promising. There is a rumor that a European agency is telling its clients that the wait will get up to at least 30 months.
Next week is International Labor Day (May 1) and the CCAA closes down for an entire week. Hopefully they will send out a batch of referrals before they take off for the holiday.
So, all we can do is pray that things will speed up. And, if you see us... don't ask how much longer... we're just likely to smack you!

What we've been up to...

OK, I’m finally getting a chance to post a message, yay! We have been soo busy around here, to say that we’ve been going nonstop is an understatement.
So, what have we been up to? Well, we’ve been seeing a lot of Cackie’s Chinese sisters. We enjoy being with them so much, it’s been wonderful seeing them so often.
On Saturday the 14th we went to Sara Grace’s birthday party. The weather was still quite cool here and then it was raining, so it was a pretty yucky day. Sara Grace’s mom was definitely making lemonade out of lemons that day! On top of the cool rainy weather, the parking lot of the park where the party was being held was completely torn up for rebuilding. Essentially it was a huge muddy mess. Then there was also a horse show at the same park that day! The girls had a ton of fun, though and that’s the important thing.
Last Wednesday my sister came into town and Cackie had a blast with her Aunt Caryn. On Thursday night we all went out for pizza to meet Cackie’s Chinese sisters and welcome the newest sister home from China. We basically took over a corner of the restaurant while we all mingled, ate and the girls ran around. Before we knew it the clock struck 8 and we all had to get home. It’s so easy to loose track of time when we’re all together!
Friday night we took Caryn out for sushi and the best dessert ever, deep fried cheesecake with ice cream! We had a good time and Cackie discovered the soy sauce bottles on the table. She kept pouring it in her rice until it was rice in a puddle of sauce.
On Saturday we went to the zoo to celebrate Gleny’s birthday. It was a lot of fun and the weather was just awesome! The girls got to ride the carousel and see their favorite animals. I kept trying to leave so that I could get home to study for the GMAT, but it was such a good time that we didn’t leave until Cackie crashed in her stroller.
Sunday we spent a much needed day around the house working on projects and I was studying.
This week we have been trying real hard to get out of the house before 8 in the morning. I’m feeling some pressure at work with our year end fast approaching, so getting in a little early helps. Three days down and each day we were out of the house by 7:45! We had been getting out around 8:15, so this is a major improvement.
Let’s see, what else has been going on? Well, a couple of weeks ago we bought a travel trailer for camping! We’ve had a pop-up camper for about 3 years now and we love using it, but we have been quite cramped and with another child on the way we knew that eventually we would need a travel trailer. The GSA is auctioning off used trailers from different disaster recovery efforts (Hurricane Katrina, Rita, etc.) and a friend had already bought one with good success, so we decided to go for it. It looks like a nice trailer, even has a slide out (it may be broken, but Michael is confident he can fix it). We figure it will need some work, but we’re hopeful that we got a good deal. Michael goes to pick it up tomorrow and we can’t wait to get it home and check it all out.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time lately saying my prayers for different things... one friend was in the hospital for almost 3 weeks, another is a single adopting from China who sent her dossier to China, but does not yet have her LID. She needs to be LID before May 1, which I’m sure she is but not knowing is very hard. Then last week the stepson started causing problems again. Same story different day with him… no job, you can tell he’s lying simply because his lips are moving… yada yada yada… I pray that Michael can make it through, it’s always so tough on him and I worry about his blood pressure, etc.
I guess that’s just about everything exciting that we’ve been up to. Saturday we have a birthday party for Hallie and I need to get some major studying done this weekend. Only 2 ½ weeks until I take the GMAT (I also pray that I PASS!).
Will try to write more later!

Catching up...

Wow, it's been a long time since my last post. I'm going to try to do better!
First our most exciting news is that we have our Log In Date! We were officially logged in on March 29, 2007! Yahoo!!!! I found out on March 30, while I was in a computer training class at work. Funny thing is that in October 2004, I was in a training class for the same computer program when I found out that we were LID for Cackie! It was like deja vu.

So, besides getting our LID we have been very busy! Up until this time last week we had beautiful weather here in Memphis! We spent some time working in the yard and planning things around the house. Two weeks ago, Michael & I had worked our tails off and we were aching from digging in the yard. He's working on a new brick walkway on the south side of the house where we'll put a new gate for backyard access. I planted some new shrubs & flowers and moved some things around in the flower beds. Then last week the COLD weather hit and we had freeze warnings, YUCK! We went from 80 degrees to 45 in one day. On Easter morning it was below freezing and there were a lot of cold people at the sunrise services around town.

Cackie has been busy as usual. She really enjoyed the basketball tournament and watching the Tigers & Vols. She would get out her pom pons and cheer them on. When the Tigers game came down to the wire she just didn't understand what we were so anxious about, lol! Of course, she still thinks its football. Heck, we went to a baseball game a few weeks ago and she called that football, lol!

Well, all sorts of things have happened since my last update, but I just can't think of what they were right now! I guess my only other news is that I have officially applied to the Distance MBA program at Tennessee Tech University. I'm scheduled to take the GMAT on May 12 and I'm very anxious about it. I didn't do so hot on the practice test, so there will be lots of studying for the next few weeks. I'm thinking positive thoughts that I'll do allright and be able to start classes this summer. This is a "now or never" thing for me and it should keep me busy while we wait for Mei Mei.

Guess that's it for now.
~Deanna