Blizzard

I'm here now in Chicago with my buddies. We are having a great time. Last night we took the train into the City and had dinner then hit a couple of clubs. A good time was definitely had by all. On the way home it started snowing. It was beautiful with about an inch accumulated over night. It's a good thing we picked last night to go cause we are now on a Blizzard warning. YAY!!! You know me, I am ready for it. It is for casted to start around 4PM today with 4 to 6 inches expected tonight then snow all day tomorrow too. The winds are already kicking at 30 miles and hr. Luckily we don't leave till Monday. Stay tuned.....

Happy New Year!

We celebrated Chinese New Year today. 2007! The year of the Pig and possibly the year that Abby will be born. My Niece Erin spent the night with me last night. This morning Meema and Da picked us up and we headed to the Norfolk Chinese Community Center. Mom's friend N had invited us to celebrate with her wonderful family.

It was really neat and there was food galore! It just kept coming and was all very authentic.

The menu was as follows :

Dim Sum

"Snow Ear" Scallop Soup

Assorted Platter (meats & Dumplings)

Salt and Pepper Shrimp

"Jing-Du" Pork Ribs

Soy Sauce Chicken

Sal teed Shrimp and Squid with Black Bean Sauce

Orange Flavored Chicken

Buddha's Treasure

Fresh Oranges

They brought these dishes out one by one and they were all wonderful.

Shannon I think these are the same musicians that were at the FCC CNY. They came from the Norfolk Chinese School.

More students preforming the Fan Dance. I apologise for the quality of the pictures. We were sitting in the back and my camera was not cooperating.

At the end of our meal the Dragon appeared.

He danced and moved about the crowd to the loud beat of drums. Again I wish my pictures were better.

Children and Grownups alike crowded to put red envelopes inside the Dragons mouth.

There was even a little miniature dragon circling the crowd.

So Cute!

Erin has a serious problem with any type of dress up character that she sees in person. WE thought she would be okay with the Dragon because she had studied CNY in school. As soon as he appeared she moved quickly from my lap, then to Meema's lap, and finally as he got closer she went under the table.

Too Funny! She did peak out on occasion but that was pretty much it for her.

We had a wonderful time! Everyone was so very nice too. I am so glad I was able to go. Usually I have to work when ever there is something like this to go to.

WOW!

Since everyone is talking about the snow they are getting right now I thought I would post these pictures . These were sent to me by Aunt Debbie. They are of my cousin Wendy's family and home.


They live in Pulaski New York. It's very close to the much talked about Oswego county. These pictures were taken on February 8th and she said they have been getting around 8 to 16 inches almost daily since then! Below is their fence almost completely covered!

I believe that Is Josh below helping his Daddy with the shoveling.

Josh and Ben. This is what kids dream about. I bet they are having a blast!

Dad and the boys. On top of a snow drift.

Thank's Wendy and Patrick for letting me post these pictures on my blog. I miss seeing you guys and plan on making a NY trip once I have Abby home so she can meet her North East relatives. Mean while be safe and I would really love it if you guys sent a little snow our way. We need one good snowstorm here before spring!

Ready?

Lately I have been having trouble sleeping. I lay there and all these thoughts start running through my head. Mostly I think about how my life will change once Abby gets here. Then the worries begin. Will my cats like her? Will my cats ever like each other, should I get my one cat with claws declawed before she gets here, Is my place big enough for her, will she be okay in day care, will I be able to work three 12 hr shifts weekly or should I look for a job with eight hr shifts. Will I be okay financially? It seems like the longer I wait the more I have to worry about. That said though, I can honestly say that I never worry about if I have made the right decision or if I will be a good enough Mother to Abby. Those two things I know for sure. This Is my path and this is what I was meant to do.

Word what?

What is up with this word verification? I swear sometimes I have to type my "guess" three times before I finally get it right. And before (to me anyway) it seemed like if you got it wrong the first time then your second attempt was a lot easier to decipher. It doesn't seem to work that way anymore.... I will admit that for sometime now I have suspected that I may need some sort of visual assistance. I have even resorted to the use of cheap reading glasses at work . (Now you would think that for something as important and potentially life threatening as a medication. that the print on medication lables would be a lot larger wouldn't you.) Anyhow is anyone else having this problem? Or is it me???

Finished so now what do we do?

My niece (Virginia) and nephew (Jack) don't mess around. I'm hoping my youngest nephew Zachary isn't under that pile somewhere.

Actually their house is in the process of being remodeled but I thought the picture was cute.

LID UPDATE

14 months today! I'm getting closer :)

EEEEEEEEEK!

The Rumor Queen has posted some projections for various sceneries as to when one might get their referral. She does not claim to be right and makes a point of saying these are just guesses. Even so I am not liking what I see. It has me getting my referral somewhere between July and September! YUCK!!!! I am hoping it's not right. July would have my wait at around 18 months and a September Referral would be around 21 months. Both waits are certainly possible since I am hearing that people just starting out are being told to expect an 18 to 24 months wait for referral.

Old Photos

The old photo challenge has been making the rounds on the blogs lately. Here are mine I was going on three years old when these were taken. Thanks Hugh for scanning them for me!

These pictures are of my first major haircut.

BEFORE





And After!

Referrals

Referrals arrived today! I am happy for all of the parents who finally had their dreams come true today. It has been a long wait for all of us. It appears the cut off date for this batch of referrals was October 13th. Not exactly the best case scenario for me but it could have been worse. I am thinking that I probably have at least 5 more months before the CCAA reaches December LIDS. Please pray that things speed up and it doesn't take that long.......