Official update from the CCAA

The CCAA came back from vacation and updated their website. It's official, only 5 days.
I have a lot to write, but it will have to wait till later. Till then....

E-I-E-I, Silly…

Tonight is one of those nights that I would love to remember forever…
I picked Cackie up from school and she was in a great mood. They have been studying the letter “F” for the last two weeks and had their “F” party today, which means that she came home with a bag full of fruit cup, flower stickers, fabric, fruit rollups, funyuns… you get the idea.
She was soo agreeable and after watching the Backyardigans we went into the spare bedroom to hang out on the bed and play. I rested, or tried to, while she covered the both of us in stickers! Michael came home and couldn’t believe how quite the house was, lol! Cackie and I were having a great time!
Then we went out to dinner for sushi! Yum! They gave Cackie some kids chop sticks and she had fun picking up her rice and chicken, she’s getting the hang of it. The whole time at dinner she was just too cute, very agreeable and silly. Silly is her favorite word right now. Last week she called her swim teacher “silly, silly” and her gymnastics teacher was “silly girl”. Daddy is regularly called “silly boy”, it seems that I’m the only one without a silly nickname. So, while were eating dinner she starts singing “E-I-E-I…. silly” (to the tune of Old Mac Donald).
Cackie kept asking for ice cream… Most toddlers know where McDonald’s is and some parents can’t drive by without their kids freaking out. My girl, she knows where Baskin Robbins is and asks for ice cream every time we drive by. Well, the Japanese restaurant is across the street from Baskin Robbins so she kept insisting on ice cream. The restaurant has an awesome cheesecake tempura with vanilla ice cream, so we ordered it and told her that ice cream was coming (yes, Aunt Caryn, we cheated on you…)
I don’t think Cackie took a breath until all the ice cream on the plate was gone! It didn’t take very long at all!
Then, before we knew it we were home, she got ready for bed and just now we turned out the light.
It was a really good night tonight, the kind that will leave Michael & I smiling until we head to bed ourselves….

Referrals!

Well, another batch of referrals arrived today. We don't know the official cutoff from the CCAA because they are celebrating the Chinese National Holiday and are on vacation. But from what has been gathered on Rumor Queen the referrals go through November 30, 2005.

FIVE DAYS! That is all! I'm starting to get sick over this wait! I am sooo absolutely thrilled for all the families who are seeing their sweet child's face for the first time, but at the same time I'm absolutly depressed about how long things are taking!

I'm such a geek that I put together a whole spreadsheet to track the referral progress and estimate how long till we get our referral. So, here's what I've calculated...

The CCAA has referred 37 LID since we were logged in on 3/29/07.

Over the last 12 months they have averaged referrals for 9.42 LID per month.

At this current rate of 9.42 LID per month, we should expect our referral in late December 2011!

That sucks!
We "celebrated" our 6 month LID anniversary last Saturday, but we don't feel like it's much progress at all. Can you tell that I'm real down about this?

We did actually do a little something to sort of celebrate... We finally sat down and finished off the medical checklist and submitted it to CCAI. This means that we have identified a few special needs that we feel we can handle and we've asked them to match us if and when a waiting child's file is sent to them that meets what we can handle. We're still in the NSN (non-special needs) line, hoping that referrals speed up. But, if there is a child who has special needs that we can realistically handle, this gives God the opportunity to match us with the child that is meant for us.

Now, all we can do is wait.


Last month I posted a picture of 3 jars with glass stones and promised to give details later. Well, those stones each represent a LID ahead of us in the wait. The jar on the far left has 365 stones in it with the rest in the middle jar. Each time a batch of referrals comes in, I will take stones from the middle jar and move them to the jar on the right. By my calculation, there should soon be 37 stones in the jar on the right. I'll wait to move them until the official update comes from the CCAA. Then I'll take pictures and add them.

This is just a visual representation that helps Michael & I to "feel" the progress that is being made. If things keep up at this pace, there may come a point where we need to make a decision. This is a decision that we don't want to think about right now, but that we need to be prepared for. I keep praying each night that we will not have to make that decision. If you find it in your heart, please pray for the same.

Catching up

Well, it’s been a while since I updated anything. We’ve been totally busy! If I could just get a computer that can put on “paper” the stuff that I “write" in my head, then I wouldn’t constantly be catching up! (and the content would be much more amusing, too!)

I should be working on the cushions for our camper right now, but the house is sooo quiet that I couldn’t resist sitting down. Cackie just went to bed and Michael is at the football game and I’m sitting here typing and eating my sad little Lean Cuisine.

OK, highlights of September… (not that anyone really cares, but I want to document for when we decide to go down “memory lane” years from now)

The weekend after Labor Day we took Cackie to see her first Broadway show, not on the real Broadway, but close enough for a 3 year old. The Lion King was in town and we knew we had to take her. I was a little worried that she wouldn’t be able to sit still or concentrate, but within seconds of the curtain going up those worries were gone. She was totally amazed by it. The costumes and the puppets are just amazing and they definitely kept her attention. At intermission I thought she was going to have an absolute fit because they stopped. We explained to her that they were taking a break and would be coming back to sing some more. Her response was “and then they are going to come back and sing more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and MORE, and then it will be over!”

This was the second time Michael & I had seen the show, first time was back in January 2005 when we were waiting for Cackie and then we bought the Simba doll to be able to give to her. So, we took the Simba doll with us to the show and figured that we would get her another to add to it. Well, during intermission while Cackie & I went to powder our noses, Michael picked out a Pumbaa doll for her. If you don’t know who Pumbaa is, he’s the farting warthog! Good choice Michael!

We had a fabulous time and the show was awesome. Cackie really enjoyed the theater and we found out that they do a couple of family shows a year that are geared towards kids. I’m hoping that we can fit a couple of those into our schedules and help her grow an appreciation for the theater.

Swim lessons have started back up for Cackie, this time once a week. We are soo happy about this; it’s a great opportunity for her to “zip her lips and open her ears” and have fun, too. She really enjoyed the swim lessons back in July and was excited to start up again, especially since her buddy Hallie is in the class with her. Michael & I think this is so great for her to be involved in and as long as she keeps wanting to go, we’ll keep up the lessons when they are available.

We've also started Cackie in gymnastics lessons! (This is one busy kid!) Back at the end of August when I found out her dance lessons were cancelled I was soo upset, I really wanted her to be involved in a long term activity (swim lessons are only for 6 weeks at a time) both for her physical well being and to help boost her listening/learning skills. So, I checked into the gymnastics program at the gym, hoping they had something open. Sure enough, they called to tell me that the class I wanted was open for her! Wonderful! What I didn’t know at the time was that she’s the only student in the class! Even better, private lessons at the group rate, the day & time that I wanted and she’s having a BLAST! She just had her 3rd lesson and according to her “coach” she’s doing really well. The first week they had her on the balance beam (low) and the mini uneven bars! She was learning to flip herself over while holding onto the lower bar and then was standing on it and swinging on the upper bar! How cool is that? The second week she was learning to hang from the rings and swing out over the “foam pit” to fall into it. That night Michael was with us and all he and I could hear from her was “help, help, help!” Tonight her coach said that she’s listening and paying attention real well for a 3 year old and is progressing in her skills. I am soo thrilled to hear that and I love to talk with Cackie about doing somersaults and jumping on the trampoline on the way home. Besides knowing that Cackie is having a great time, there’s a plus for me as well… the gym area is surrounded by a walking track, so while Cackie is taking lessons I get some free time and have logged 2 miles a week for the past two weeks! Win win for both of us!

Let’s see, what else? Cackie came down with a sinus infection a couple of weeks ago, nothing serious thank goodness. Of course, it’s always easy for her, but when I catch it I’m down for the count. I missed 3 ½ days of work last week with bronchitis and pink eye! Just when I thought I was going to be able to catch up on things at work, too. I went to the Dr. last Thursday and the best news she had was “well, it’s not pneumonia!” Yay for me!
I think I caught the pink eye when we went mattress shopping the week before. (Michael has been complaining about our mattress for a while. After one night out of town in a decent hotel, he came home and proclaimed that we couldn’t get a new mattress fast enough!) I think I must have rubbed the pillow when testing out one of the beds and caught the dreaded pink eye!
So the mattress was delivered on Sunday, I was already feeling run down and by Monday morning I knew I needed to stay home. I managed to work Tues and part of Wed before it was back to bed for me. So, my side of the bed has gotten a nice “breaking in”. Good timing on my part, wasn’t it?

The best part about being confined to bed, much better than feeling like I was hacking up my lungs and dying, was that I was able to catch up on my latest guilty pleasure… 24! I started getting the series from Netflix and had made my way through the first season and just into the second. The disks had been sitting for a while since things were so busy, but now I’m caught up. A new one came in today and I can’t wait to see it! (please, don’t spoil it for me!)

Well, I guess that’s the highlights of our September. Hopefully we will make it through October a little healthier and I’ll have more time to add some Cackie’isms and such.

The Potty Referee

I have a new title around the house, I have dubbed myself "The Potty Referee".
How does one become a Potty Referee, you ask? Well, there's an extensive 4 year training program, continuing education courses... oh wait, I'm sorry... that's how I became a CPA.
Here's the real story...
Anyone who has been to our house knows that there are 2 restrooms downstairs, the full bath between Cackie's room and the spare bedroom (very convenient for little girls to fill up cups of water, take them in Cackie's room and throw them at each other... oops, sorry that's totally a different story/nightmare) and the half bath/laundry off the area that my Dad has dubbed "the concourse".
Well, here recently Cackie has started referring to the half bath as "Daddy's Potty", we guess because he is sometimes in there when she wakes up in the morning. She has become fascinated with using "Daddy's Potty" and will often opt to go in there over using the one attached to her bathroom. (exciting, huh?)
So, tonight we're trying to get her to go to bed and we ask her one last time to go potty. She got out of her bed and took off before we realized that she was not in her bathroom. Michael called out for her and she yells back "I'm here in your potty, Daddy." I headed toward the half bath to check on her when I hear Michael say "well, I'm going to use your potty then". As he said this, the look on Cackie's face was a cross between "how dare you" and "oh, no, what have I done".
So, my response was... "well, you're using his potty... it's only fair that he uses yours". This was followed by the usual toddler arguing and I feel into the trap of trying to defend my husband using the potty in his daughter's bathroom rather than waiting.
Thus, the title "Potty Referee". I can just see my uniform now. (why is that guy smiling????)When I start hearing "Hey ref, you suck" from the fans in the stands, I shall resign my post.

So, just after I had written this, but before I hit post.....
Cackie has gotten into a habit of calling us back into her room just a few minutes after good night kisses and lights out. We hear her calling on the monitor "Daaaaaddddddyyyyy, come here". Michael responds "Why?" Then, you hear this sweet little voice "because I love you" (this kid has never played fair!)
So, he goes into her room... gives her more kisses... tells her goodnight again... and then I hear (in an irritated voice) "Daddy, you used my potty"
Sorry Cackie, I've already refereed one match tonight... that's my limit!

New Car!

Our car saga is officially over!

On Friday we went out and bought a Honda CR-V that looks like this...

(yes, right now it's pretty much still nice & shiny like that)

I LOVE it! Michael LOVES it and Cackie has a new "big girl" booster seat so she loves it, too. We went to the dealership intending to get the one that we had driven earlier in the week that was green with camel colored cloth interior. Over the week, I had worried that the interior color was too light and would show dirt real easily. We got to the dealership, took one look at the green one and knew that I was right. It already had a little dirt look on one of the door armrests, I could just imagine how bad it would look within a week, let alone a couple of years. So, being the awesome shoppers that we are... I had already checked out the dealer's inventory online and knew that all the other CR-Vs were leather. Within the next few minutes Michael surprised me twice... first he said let's just go for the leather, it will stand up a lot better. Then when we headed toward the red one that I really liked, we noticed it was the souped up version with the Navigator system (I like gadgets, so I thought the navigator would be really cool to have, but it was definitely not a necessity) he surprised me again when he said "let's get this one." That was it, we sealed the deal and got rid of the old car. Hopefully we will have far less problems with the new Honda.

While we were working on paperwork, etc we were trying to keep Cackie busy. This is never an easy thing to do, but we got help from one of the dealership employees. She asked if Cackie could have a balloon and Cackie's eyes lit up. They went off to get the balloon and she came back with the biggest one I have ever seen...

(sorry for the bad photo, it's from my cellphone).

Cackie & I took off on Saturday, running errands and we hit a local craft fair. Poor Michael never even got to drive the car for the first time until Sunday. Now he keeps telling me that he's going to take it when he has to go out of town and make me drive the truck.... Yeah, right!

Never Forget

How to Remember 9/11

CCAA Update

Here’s the latest update on the CCAA website…

All files through July 2006 have now been reviewed. This means that there are only 7 more months before they get to our LID month of March 2007.

There is much speculation as to why the CCAA has reviewed through July 2006, but has only referred through November 25, 2005. Some question whether this means that they are getting ready to refer bigger batches and need to have the files reviewed and ready to go. Sounds plausible to me.
Most agencies are saying that the review room and the referral room are two separate functions at the CCAA and they operate on their own schedules. This one just doesn’t sound very efficient to me. But, this may be just how the process works.
Only time will tell…

When I get big...

Most of the "Cackie'isms" lately have come with this clause attached. It usually comes out as "I can do that when I get big" and usually she's referring to something that there is no way that we would ever let her do now, such as driving, drinking alcohol, riding her bike in the street, letting the cat sleep in her room... you get the idea. Hey, at least the kid knows that she has some limits, right?

So, here's a "when I get big" example....
On Monday we went out test driving new cars. If you've purchased a new car anytime in the last 15 years, you know the drill... you peruse the back lot, looking for the vehicle that meets your needs (they always ask you what color you want, like that matters more than $$$), then when you find the ONE, they go back to the office to get the key so that you can then take it for a test drive. So, we found the car we wanted and while we were waiting for the key we checked out some other offerings on the lot. We'd open the door and Cackie would climb in the drivers seat and play driving. (This in itself amazed me. I don't think she has ever been in the drivers seat of either of our vehicles, yet she instictively knew to turn the wheel from side to side and make vroom vroom noises!) She was having a grand ole time and was behaving, so no complaints from us.
The saleman came back to us with the key and we were ready for the test drive. We all headed over to the car we would be driving and Cackie headed straight for the drivers seat, climbed in and said "I want to drive." LOL! Then, the inevitable came when we told her no. "I can drive when I get big..." stinker

So, then yesterday we're driving home from her school and she wants to talk about my sick car (when the car went in the shop we told her it was sick and needed to go to the doctor (now it just needs to be put out of it's misery... can I shoot it?) anyway... we're talking about my car and the conversation goes...
C: "Mommy, when I get big I can drive"
M: Yes, Cackie when you turn 17 you can drive. Just 14 more years.
C: Do I need to wait that long?
M: Yes, Cackie.
C: OK Mommy, When I get big I can drive.
M: Yes, Cackie
C: And you can sit here in my seat!

Great, she's 3 and already planning on how she can get even with me! When she starts driving, I get to sit in the back seat, strapped into the car seat, lucky me! Who knows, if she starts out driving anything like me, I'll be safer that way! Sorry Mom!

Update

Before I find time to whine & cry about the China wait, (more on the picture later...)I figured I should post an update on how we're doing.

We had a much needed 3 day weekend! We were busy, but at the same time we got nothing done. The Tigers and the Vols both lost on Saturday, boo hoo! We went to the Tigers game and it was a nail biter down to the end. I'll admit, I feel asleep before the end of the Vols game (well, they were losing anyway...).

On Sunday we had the final Redbirds game of the year, they lost as well. As usual Cackie loved it, though!

On Monday we hung out around the house most of the day and then in the late afternoon we went out test driving cars... Yes, we've decided to give up on my car. Michael did a bunch of research and it looks like it's not a matter of if the engine will fail, but when. There is at least one group (probably more) that is working on trying to get the manufacturer to acknowledge the problem and/or put together a class action lawsuit. We read comment after comment where the manufacturer ignores requests and we are just too busy to spent hours a week trying to negotiate with them.

Michael checked a few things on my car (the one actually sitting in the driveway) this weekend and barely 2k miles since the last oil change and it's low on oil. Has the oil light ever come on? No, according to the dealer it was extremely low on oil once.... but not low enough for the light to come one... bull crap!

So, we've decided to cut bait and fish elsewhere... for the non-southerners (maybe I have a few non-southern readers... I did spend half my life as a Yankee) that means change your approach. That means Consumer Reports, here we come! We started reasearching every CR recommended vehicle out there. Yesterday we went and drove 3 of them. Good ole standbys... Honda & Ford. I think right now we're both leaning toward a CR-V. And after doing some more research tonight we may now be ready to head to the dealer to negotiate. We shall see where this drama leads us...

My depressing news of last week (more depressing than the fact that I'm going to have a car note again) is that the dance lesson that I had Cackie signed up for was cancelled. I'm really pissed and now have to find time to drive to the 'burbs to return $75 worth of ballet crap. Geez!

Oh, and we had the boys "fixed" last week. Well, sort of... did you know that they now do vasectomies on dogs? (And I always told Michael he was special...) I wanted to see them with a fresh new look ;-) , but the dang things are still there! Ninety percent of our reason for having them "fixed" was to help with behavior issues most likely related to hormones. Well, the issues are still there because the hormones are still there! We did save $$$ at least, but I had no idea that I should ask if they lopped the boogers off or they just did a little snip! Oh well, live and learn!

Well, it's late and I've accomplished nill tonight so I think I'll go to bed and read some Harry Potter.

Here's some great photos from this weekend...

Apparently laundry baskets can be used for things other than laundry (looks like more fun that way, too)...

She's started loading up her backpack with all her favorite items and wears it around the house (anyone notice that I picked out her outfits these two days... Vols then Phillies...)

Tonight sitting with Daddy watching the US Open (secretly planning how she'll be playing there in about 15 years (OK, so Daddy is secretly planning))....

Referrals!

I'm trying to stay upbeat here, but this really SUCKS!!
Four Days... that's all the LID that received referrals! Four Days!
I really need to write out my feelings about this, but I just don't have the time right now. For now I'll say that I'm extremely happy for the families who are seeing their sweet babies faces for the first time, but I'm very sad for all of us who are waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting....
More later...

High Five!

Well, we're now officially 5 months into the wait. Cackie celebrated today by giving us the high five!

Congrats to our friend Kim on her 5 month LID-aversary today as well.

Five months have really flown, we really can't believe that we've already been waiting 5 months. Hopefully the rest of our wait will fly just as quickly.

I've been meaning to post an update, life has just been busy. I had 3 weeks off of school and took full advantage of the time off. I even took two days off of work to work on "stuff" around the house. Good news is that we almost have the camper ready! I have some curtains to sew and cushion covers for the kitchen area (Kim, don't run... I may be calling you for help/advice!) But that's just cosmetic stuff, in reality we have some cleaning and then we'll be ready to roll. I spent a whole day working on cleaning out stuff around the house, it was cleansing both mentally and physically!

Work for both Michael & I has been pretty hectic and it doesn't seem to be dying down. Now, on top of my increasing work schedule I started back with a new class this week. Hopefully it will be less hectic this time since the semester is longer than in the summer. I'm taking an accounting class this semester, so it should be easier for me, lol! Hopefully I'll remember some of what I studied for the CPA! :::fingers crossed::::

We've been dealing with crap from the PIA (pain in the @$$) loser step son. He's trying to get whatever he can out of us, not much lately, telling MAJOR lies, etc... we're pretty much just plain tired of his crap. He started a new job today. Prayers that he keeps it and stays reasonably sober are much appreciated! It's a LOOOONNNNGGG story... one that has been going on for the whole 11 years that Michael & I have been together. It wears us out and get's really old.

Then, on top of all the other stuff that we've been dealing with, my car is in the shop again for the 2nd time in 2 weeks. It looks like a bad engine issue that is a common problem with that model year car. I don't drive a lot at all... we've had the car 5 yrs 9 mos and it has about 48k miles, so a major engine issue should NOT be a problem! We're going to contact the manufacturer to see what we can do, but after reading stuff on the internet we're not hopeful. GRRRR! This really SUCKS!!!

When it rains it pours!

Two positives right now... we've got 5 months of wait behind us and football season starts this weekend! Go Tigers! Go Vols! I can't wait to celebrate football this weekend!

Making changes

I've been busy making changes to the blog.... what'cha think?
I've been wanting a ladybug theme for a long time, but they are few & far between. I liked this one, but really wish it was a three column. Any easy ways to convert one? I'm not that good with this stuff!
I still have some of my old page elements to add and hopefully I'll get to those this weekend. I'm also hoping to sit down and add some new pictures as well.

So, let me know what you think! Any ideas on how to convert this to 3 column?

August 3 Referrals

Well, I updated the ticker last week, but Blogger was giving me trouble so I never got to post the official news from the CCAA. They are now thru 11/21/05, ugh! Still 493 dates before our LID of 3/29/07. Hopefully we won't miss Cackie's high school graduation due to the fact that we're in China adopting Mei Mei....

St. Jude Runners

Just got back to my desk from watching the St. Jude Memphis to Peoria Runners take off on their annual run. This is the 26th year that they have run the 465 miles from Memphis to Peoria. Mike in my area at work runs each year so we got a group together to go and cheer them on.

Just wanted to post this real quick while I was thinking about it. I should be back with full updates real soon. Tonight I will take my final exam for the summer semester and then I'll have some free time until classes start again on Aug 27. I'll be back to share pictures from our trip to Chicago, Cackie's 3rd birthday & birthday party, and hopefully we'll have some referral news coming real soon, too. I'm also hoping to find some time to pretty up my blog.
Until then watch for a news story on the St. Jude Runners, last year NBC Nightly News did a story on them on Friday evening. They'll arrive in Peoria on Saturday evening, so keep them in your prayers!
~Deanna

To properly record the progress...

Official news from the CCAA website...

A Whole Month!!??

Oh my! Has it really been a whole month since I've posted?
Suffice it to say that things have been extremely busy around here. Here's a recap of the last month, sans pictures (they'll come later, promise!)...

My sister came to visit for a week in anticipation of her friend Jennifer's son being born. Cackie loved having Aunt Caryn around for a whole week (she's still looking for Aunt Caryn to be in the spare bedroom every morning). I was sick most of that week and even spent two days at home recovering, but still ended up working my butt off from home all weekend.
Work started picking up for me in anticipation of our June 30 year end and now I'm "knee deep" in it, just a couple more weeks and that should slow down. Michael's work has been picking up, too and keeping him busy. Last week we went to Chicago for 5 days to have a couple days of vacation and then spent a couple of days with 3 of the families from our first travel group. We had such a GREAT time! It was wonderful to see all the girls again.
This week is midterms for me and I'm a little behind on my reading. Trying to catch up today & tomorrow so that I can take my exam on Sunday.

That's about it. I've updated the top ticker. The CCAA has announced on their website that they've sent referrals for all LID through 11/14/05. The wait is getting quite depressing for us. We celebrated our 3 month LID-aversary last week in Chicago, but we're really starting to feel like there is no end in sight. Just keep saying prayers....

Funnies....

Been blogging up a storm tonight! I'll leave you with this....
Cackie is definitely growing up and starting to notice that not everyone is alike... especially Mommy & Daddy.
Since the weather has gotten warmer and we're busier in the evenings, instead of taking baths at night she has started taking showers with me in the morning. She really used to hate showers, but now she looks forward to them... and she loves to SING in the shower!
So, poor thing, she knows all about what Mommy looks like. Well, this morning she took a shower with me and then was in the bathroom with us when Michael got out of the shower (we're trying to be open with her, so we don't hide our bodies... we don't strut around, either... just natural). He was drying off and she pointed and said you have a.... (didn't finish the sentence, lol). So, Michael said, yes Daddy is different than you and Mommy.... my wee wee is different. Cackie stared a little and then told him... "mine hasn't grown yet... not Mommy either" (and it never will, darling!). It's really hard to keep a straight face when she gets thoughtful!

OK, another....
Last week she started transitioning to the "big kids class" at school. There are a handfull of her friends who had already transitioned to that class and she has missed them soo much. So, I think she was glad to be joining them again. Well, on Wednesday when I went to pick her up we got called into the director's office. I was informed that one of the little boys in the new class (one of her old buds) was holding Cackie's hand on the playground when another little boy got very upset and pushed him away and then grabbed Cackie's hand and ran off with her. Little boy #1 got hurt and they had to fill out an accident report. I was able to figure out which little boys were involved, but I'll keep their names secret to protect the innocent... but, I'll say that both are considered highly for future boyfriends by Mom & Dad! She's only 2 and they're already fighting over her! She's definitely her Aunt Caryn's niece! Michael is going gun shopping this weekend, figures he can't be prepared too early! LOL! We are soooo in trouble!

You know you communicate by email too much when...

You recieve something via inter-office mail and it has a sticky note on it with a question. You want to respond to the question, so you start to write your answer on the sticky figuring the sender will get it.
This really happened yesterday!
This is my life folks, ain't it great???!!!!!!
Either I'm going nuts or I need a vacation... maybe both?

Pictures from the zoo...

Our new baby giraffe...

Isn't he cute???