The best $0.67 I've ever spent

It has been grey and dreary here all week. So dreary that I need to be sure to get out every day or I start to feel down. Today was especially drizzly and nasty so we went to the second happiest place on earth (I've have said happiest, but thought that Disney might have some sort of license over that claim) - Borders!

There is a promotion this week of 3-for-2 Dr. Seuss books and I still had ~$15 left of my "holiday reward dollars", so while Rob copped a free read of Popular Science, I headed back to the children's section to pick out 3 Dr. Seuss books for Nora. The regular, standard issue Dr. Seuss books were all $8.99 and I decided on Fox in Socks, Green Eggs and Ham and There's a Wocket in my Pocket. I'd have liked to have gotten Horton Hears a Who and The Lorax, but they were out of those two.


Anyway, it turns out that deals can be combined and I had a personal shopping day (10% off) that expired today, so I got all three books for $0.63 plus tax, for a total of $0.67. I kid you not, here's the receipt. I saved $20.34 (or, as I prefer to think of it, 97% off)!!

How often do you get to buy something great with pocket change?!

By the way, I think the 3-for-2 sale is good through tomorrow. If you need some silly rhymes, check it out!

Holy Hannah, what was I thinking???

Perhaps you remember Nora's One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt. I started collecting squares more than a year ago and am finally getting to the piecing. I've selected a pattern called "Morning Star" from the book Nickel Quilts by Pat Speth. I think it's a really nice pattern if you have a lot of scraps.

I've spent the entire day trimming and arranging the patterned squares on the dining room table. See your squares in there?? Some are on reserve for the border and anything flannel or fleece is going into a stroller blanket, but everything else is in there, including Steve's Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety polo shirt (just typing that makes me smile!).

This afternoon I moved on to cutting the background pieces (as you can see I've commandeered the kitchen island for this task - good thing we don't cook much).

Tomorrow I start sewing. Christmas shutdown needs to be about a month longer, I think. There's no way this is going to be finished in the next two days!

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to Nora's quilt. I know that this will be a very special keepsake for her and I am really looking forward to playing "I Spy" with all the great fabrics and telling her the stories behind each piece.

(not-so) Happy Anniversary

Today is our 1 year DTC (dossier-to-China) anniversary. DTC marked the end of our paperwork phase and the beginning of our official "wait" for Nora. Who'd have ever thought a year ago that we'd still be waiting for our little girl. I sure didn't. All I can think at this point is that - no matter how long the wait - every day that passes brings us one day closer.

Is it or isn't it??

Last year I thought for sure that Nora would have been born by Christmastime (that would be Christmas 2005!), now it's Christmastime again and again I'm wondering about Nora. Has she been born? Is she still with her birth family? Is she in an orphanage? Foster care? Is she warm and loved and cared for? I hope so.

And in case this is her first Christmas, we have an ornament for her collection.

Merry Christmas!

New CCAA Rules

The China Centre of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) has released the long awaited new rules for intercountry adoption from China. You can read the new rules here, on the Rumor Queen's site.

The most notable changes are:

• Married M-F couples only
• Net worth must exceed $80K and income must come from stable employment (so even if we win the Powerball we need to keep working to qualify for Nora's Mei Mei)
  
• BMI must be less than 40 (30 is considered obese according to CDC guidelines, so I'm thinking that 40 is pretty heavy -- at 5'5", for example, I could weigh up to 240 lbs)
  

I guess you can't argue that the CCAA is trying to select the most stable homes possible, in the most objective way possible, but my heart goes out to everyone who is affected by the new regulations.

We have no willpower whatsoever

Do you remember several posts ago when I mentioned that Nora had received a Christmas present from Rob's Aunt Jan and Uncle Dave? Well, after looking at it for more than two weeks, we couldn't take it any more and decided to open it. We told ourselves it was because we'll be spending Christmas with my Mom and Dad and couldn't cart all the mailed gifts along with us, but the truth is that we just couldn't stand the suspense any longer.

Anyway, I'm so glad we opened it because it really brought a smile to my face. It is Nora's very first Dr. Seuss book, "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish", and an accompanying stuffed blue fish! Isn't it great??!

Nora update

Today we received the monthly newsletter from our China agency. They have projected referrals through LIDs (log-in-date) of 12/8/2005 which are projected to arrive in May '07. You may remember that our LID is 1/16/2006. Continuing the timeline in our agency's projection, it looks like we would expect Nora's referral in August 2007. That would mean travel in October or November next year. So we have almost a full year to go. When we started the wait was 6 months.

Are we going to stick with China? Yes. Why? Because Nora is there.

The science of cuteness

Ok, so I logged in fully intending to do something else, but when I got to my Yahoo! homepage there was picture of a baby panda

and a link to a great CNN Jeanne Moos report on cuteness. It turns out that most people think that baby pandas are even cuter than Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt (aka the Brangelina baby).

Need more pandas?? Click here.

Yes, it is MEGA MAIL MONDAY!!!

Mega Mail Monday is BACK!!! Today, in addition to the heap of catalogs, we received a package from our Jan DTC Secret Pal. It was such a great surprise - she remembered everyone!!

Chocolates for Rob and me:


Treats and toys for the pets (it was upon opening the cat toys that Rob said "Who is this person? She is really nice!" I have to agree, she is really nice!)


And two hats, pink tights and a soft blankie (fleece on one side, satin on the other) for Nora:


Thank you so much Secret Pal! You are the best! Merry Christmas!

A Family Tradition

One of our family traditions is the annual Lorie Line Christmas concert. Our anniversary is December 21 (15 years this year!!) and for the past four years this has been our anniversary outing. This year's concert was earlier than usual, but still close enough to count I think.

They have a nice tradition of having all the kids up on the stage. Usually it is a visit with Santa and Rudolph, but for this year's more traditional show it was a nativity. I don't know how well you'll be able to see the picture on the blog, but there were a LOT of kids, all of them in costume. I think that officially only age 3 and up are allowed to come to the show and 4 and up are invited on stage, but yesterday there were babies in the audience and some kids who were no more than 3 on stage. So, of course, I mention to Rob that next year we will bring Nora. I hope that's true...

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

As sad as I am that the wait is so much longer than expected, Christmas still lifts my mood. Nora has some presents (thank you Aunt Jan and Uncle Dave -- so nice of you to think of her!) and we are participating in an ornament swap with the Precious Pandas Jan DTC group. Yesterday we received our ornament from Kathy - thank you so much! - it's a Panda with the Chinese character for love on the other side. Very special.

Hope, if you're reading this, I mailed yours today - should be there by mid-week. Bet you can't guess what animal yours is!