Mamma Says Biscotti: the original Italian Fortune Cookie. Not the best cookies but you gotta love the fortunes.

New Header

A big thank you to Lisa (of Baby Shanahan) for the solution to my blog blues. I was beginning to think that it wasn't going to get fixed but now the header is where is should be. You're the best, Lisa.

HELP!!

If there is a fellow blogger that can help me figure out how to lower the header on this page, I would so appreciate it. I know so little about html coding that I wouldn't have gotten this far without a lot of help from my friend Donna. But, I'm afraid this is beyond both of us. ANY assistance would be greatly appreciated!!

New Year's Festival

The Chinese Cultural Center in Phoenix has a week of activities to celebrate the New Year. I went down today for their culture and cuisine festival along with my parents, and my sister Sharon's family. There was an older Asian man drawing out names with animals. He was very fast and it was fun to watch him work. Below, you'll see Ava's name.

Heart Dress

This dress was too cute to pass up. It's 18 months so Ava should fit in it by next Valentines Day.

There were singers and dancers to entertain. Even this dragon dance.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy New Year! Gung Hay Fat Choy is the greeting and it means wishing you happiness and prosperity.

The Chinese New Year celebration will officially begin tomorrow, January 29 and runs through February 12. It's the year of the Dog. Those born in dog years (1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006) tend to be loyal, kind and generous. They will work to right wrongs and are able to keep secrets.

There are different rituals each day with the final day being the Lantern Festival. This day is the first full moon of the the New Year and marks the end of the New Year Celebration.

They're blooming

For the past three to four weeks, I've been nurturing my bulb flowers. And if you've ever grown indoor bulbs, you know they take a lot of care. They all started blooming this week and I hope that I get to enjoy them for atleast a few weeks.

The tulips.

Referrals

As expected, this next batch of referrals is once again for just over two weeks worth of LIDs, April 26 through May 13. Not unexpected but still disappointing. They really need to pick up the pace. It does seem clear that China is intentially slowing down the process but for what reason I don't know. There's lots of speculation about this but no one really knows. I just received a message from my agency a few days ago estimating my referral for June or July but I don't see how that is possible.

In three days, it will be four months since my LID in what started out as a six to seven month wait and is now looking more like a 12-14 month wait. This is crazy.

Super Secret Pals!

I love getting things through the mail so receiving two gifts in one day was great.

My wonderful August Secret Pal sent these gifts. The canister is full of candy from China. I will be hosting the February Waiting Families dinner at my home so I will bring out to share with that group. My August Secret pal also sent me a lovely card with good wishes. Thanks for being so thoughtful!!

These gifts are from my September Secret pal. Too fun!! I kept pulling one thing after another out of the box. You're way too generous! Thanks so much for being such a great pal.

A wish for Lauren

My friend and co-blogger, Donna, is putting together a "100 Good Wishes" scrapbook for her daughter Lauren. What a fabulous idea. If you're interested in putting together a wish page for Lauren, Donna's site can be found in my "Links" directory. This is my addition to Lauren's scrapbook. I used some of Ava's bedroom fabric to embroider Lauren's name on and to add a little piece of Ava and me to this page. It was a fun project to work on.

Don't be surprised to see the flowers show up at some point in Ava's Lifebook. I'm even considering using them in lieu of a family "tree". hmmm... I'll have to give this some more thought.

Lifebook: Nursery spread

This is the first 2-page spread for Ava's lifebook. It's also my first attempt at scrapbooking. I learned a lot of little lessons working on this page so hopefully, the next spread will go a bit faster. I know that I like working with fabric and will continue to use fabric throughout the lifebook. The fabric from this page is the same as Ava's bedding.

side 1

side 2

A girl can never have too many outfits

Ava better get home soon to start wearing some of her clothes. I'm running out of room for new stuff. One side of the closet is just 12 month clothing with a few 9 month sleepers thrown in and a giraffe costume that I couldn't leave .

The other side of the closet has 18 to 24 month clothing. This is where most of the fun outfits are found.

Starting Ava's Lifebook

I began working on Ava's lifebook/scrapbook this week. Since I don't have a referral yet and am not sure what province she will be from, I decided to start with what I have, a nursery. I know I definitely want to use the fabric from her bedding as a page background but that's about all I'm sure of at this point.

I have never been a scrapbooker so this is all new to me. I already have a book so I went over to Joann's and found a number of embellishments, many of which I probably won't end up using on this page. Although nothing cost more than $4, I still ended up spending $50, not a cheap hobby. I'll post a picture when I eventually get it done.

Some other pages that I thought to get started on include: Ava Totes- my adoption fundraising project, the baby shower and even this journal.

Paige, the Birthday Girl

Yesterday was my niece Paige's 10th birthday! Hard to believe. The birthday girl and four of her friends first went to a salon for manicures, flowers included. The black boas that the girls were wearing left feathers everywhere. Paige is pictured second to the left (wearing the princess crown) and my niece Bianca is second to the right.

The second stop for the day was the English Rose Tea House in Carefree. The girls were served scones with cream and jam, little tea sandwiches (PB&J and ham with mayo) and of course, some sweet treats.

Kenzie also enjoyed going out for tea or she atleast enjoyed the little tea spoons.

Timeline to Ava

I've added a timeline of my adoption process for those of you who are interested in this type of thing. You can view it by selecting "Timeline to Ava" from the Links menu to the right.

Final Fiesta Bowl

In Tempe, AZ, that is. Having worked for Tempe for 16 1/2 years, I will miss not being a part of the Fiesta Bowl. Pictured here are two friends/coworkers, Martha and Nikki. We have on-field passes for the pregame, which I consider to be the best part of the game - being the football fan that I am. ;)

We'll pickup the Insight Bowl next year and over time, it will grow into a great event as well. After all, it is Tempe's vibrant, energized, college town atmosphere that makes this such a fun event to be a part of. Things that the new host city of the Fiesta Bowl can't begin to compete with.

One of my favorite Christmas presents this year is this Anne Geddes Ladybug infant. She came in an egg. The little face is so perfect that it startled me a little when I first opened it.

too much shopping

As someone who truly loves shopping, it normally takes quite a bit to drive me to feel that I've shopped too long. Not today.

Einstein's at 9 a.m.
me: I'd like a dozen bagels, cinnamon raisin and sesame seed.
bagel guy: Will that be for here or to go?
me: hmmm. Although downing 13 bagels is tempting, I think I'll take them to go.
bagel guy: noticing the "you're an idiot" look on my face. You would be surprised by what people eat.
me: I'm sure.

Pier 1
I have a number of items, most things are on sale. Cashier is ringing up my order.
me: Did those cat food dishes come up on sale? (a gift for Sammy the Cat)
cashier girl: They should have.
me: Yes, but did they?
cashier girl: Well, I can't see any of the pricing until I complete the sale. So, after you pay, I can tell you how much they were.
me: my normally low tolerance for poor customer service is pretty much gone. That's just dumb.
cashier girl: That's the way we have to do it. If it is wrong, I'll reverse the transaction.
me: dumb, dumb dumb....

Danny's DRIVE THRU Carwash
I decide to do the quick and cheap $5 drive thru carwash. So, I go into the mini mart figuring I'll buy myself a gift card for car washes since they don't accept credit cards at the kiosk and I rarely have cash. After purchasing the $25 gift card:
cashier guy: Do you want to buy the $5 wash?
me: Well, I was going to pay at the wash.
cashier guy: Oh, you can't use the gift card at the wash, you have to pay here with it. You can only pay cash at the wash.
me: Since bringing the card into the mini mart to pay for the wash defeats the purpose of buying myself this card, I don't want it after all. I have $5 on me so I'll just go pay cash for this wash.
cashier guy: You have to pay for the $5 wash here. They will only take cash for the $8 wash at the kiosk.
me: What? That makes no sense.
cashier guy: Not my rules.
me: So, I can pay $8 cash but not $5 cash at the kiosk, am I understanding you correctly?
cashier guy: shrug
me: Then the only way to get a $5 wash is to park and pay inside the mini mart. You do realize that the whole reason people are willing to pay $5 for a spit shine is because they don't have to leave their car- thus the DRIVE THRU car wash. uugghh!!

I decided that was enough fun for one day.

One more Christmas

Well, just six more days to what I hope will be my last Christmas without my daughter. Of course, I have made this same wish for the past three Christmas' and yet, one more Christmas without my daughter. So, will 2006 be "the year"? Why ask me? I'm definitely not the right person to answer this since I thought 2003, then 2004 and then 2005 was "the year".

I actually entered into the international adoption arena believing that you do the paperwork, jump through the hoops, pay lots and lots of money and eventually, you get your baby. What could wrong? Ha! Right up until the moment my first adoption fell through (country closed down to international adoptions), I still believed this. After all, why would any government choose to have their children raised in an orphanage when they could have a forever family of their own. Seems like a no-brainer to me but, what do I know.

Now, if 2006 isn't "the year", I'll be sure to post my new address at the mental asylum. I'll respond to all mail as soon as they let me out of the straight jacket. But please, when you talk about me to your friends, I prefer crazy to nuts.

August Secret Pal Gifts

My August Secret Pal sent Ava these wonderful gifts. I love the ladybug blanket. I'll have to bring it along to China. A big thanks to my August Secret Pal.

Sammy enjoying the holiday decorations.

gurgle, gurgle...

... that's my stomach you're hearing. Day 2 of a stomach virus. As I lay around the house doing absolutely nothing, which is all I can handle when I feel nauseated, I keep thinking about all those parents in China, spending their first days with their daughters and horribly sick from eating/drinking something they shouldn't have. An all too common situation for adoptive parents traveling to China. From the different blogs I've been following, it seems that about half the parents end up sick at least part of the trip. I really am useless when my stomach is upset, this will not due. For those of you out there that have BTDT, any advice on not getting sick while in China is appreciated.