A good book, nice weather and uninterrupted time

These are the three things needed to help renew the soul.

I just finished spending the last two hours, on my back deck, reading while my daughter is in pre-school. The sun is out and it is a rather balmy 70 degrees for a March day in New Jersey. I picked up Hypocrite in a pouffy white dress, tales of growing up groovy and clueless from Target earlier today and am really enjoying it. If you are a child of the late 60s and early 70s, then you will definitely get a kick out of all the tv and pop culture references.

The author Susan Jane Gilman writes about what she wanted to be when she grew up. One of the many things on her list is stewardess. This is what she writes:

What it really boiled down to, I realize now, was the "-ess" in the word "stewardess." Somehow, my five-year-old brain had grasped the idea that "-ess" was the culmination of all thing feminine and highly desirable. It was a suffix that separated the girls from the boys in the best of all possible ways. Princess, goddess, actress, countess. What was there not to love? A flight attendant, feh. But a stewardess? "-Ess" made any profession sound glamorous. A laundress, a sorceress, an adulteress. To this day, I'm convinced that, if someone had only been enterprising enough to call female MDs "doctresses" and female scientist "nuclear biologesses," I would have been equally enthusiastic about becoming those too.

Nicole and Tracy - I would be happy to share the book once I am finished!

You've Got Mail!

Or at least we did. Today we received the elusive big brown envelope from the Department of Homeland Security. Yep, our fingerprints have been approved and now we can send our documents to China (well, actually, our agency will need a few weeks to authenticate all of our documents first, then they are off to China)!

The other mail we received, via e-mail, was from our agency explaining about the current delays in the China adoption program. As it stands now, even if they consider us an expedited family (due to my husband's Chinese heritage), we will probably not be traveling to get our daughter during 2006.

Here is an excerpt from our agencies e-mail:

CHILD ASSIGNMENT TIMES - If you have been monitoring the assignment of children from China, you are aware that for the past four months, the waiting time for child assignments has been steadily increasing. There have been numerous explanations for this such as larger than normal volume of applications, lost time because of holidays, etc. For families directly affected by this recent change in assignment practice, the reason is not as important as the event itself.

As our recent monthly updates have indicated, CCAA has been assigning children to only a partial month of login dates at a time (covering approximately 14 days). Since assignments are generally made once per month, this has had the effect of steadily increasing waiting times. Yesterday, this pattern changed again when CCAA assigned children to only 6 days of May 2005 login dates (May 25 through May 30th). We do not know whether the assignment of only several days of login dates will continue in the months ahead, however if CCAA continues to assign only a partial month of dossiers once per month, then waiting times will continue to increase. At this time, we have no clear indication of what will happen with the next few month's child assignments; but if the present pattern (of assigning a partial month of login dates) does not change, we expect waiting times to continue to rise even further. Information about the number of days of login dates that will be included in the next group of assignments is not available from CCAA at this time.

FOR FAMILIES WHO DO NOT YET HAVE A DOSSIER LOGIN DATE - From the date that dossiers are express mailed from our office, it has been taking CCAA up to 4 weeks to log in dossiers. Three to four weeks is now common. Additionally, it has been taking significantly longer for CCAA to notify us of the log in date for some groups. It has been explained that the work volume at CCAA is the cause of longer log in and agency notification times. CCAA logs in dossiers in the order in which they are received and when the staff's work volume allows it. Please be assured that we carefully monitor receipt of your dossier by CCAA and receipt of log in dates and we will inform you of your log in date just as soon as the information is released by CCAA. It will take up to 60 days to receive written verification of your login date from the time that your dossier is sent to China.

This is not encouraging.

I heart Anthony Bourdain

I am in love with another man. He is a trash talking, beer drinking, smoke a cigarette every other minute kind of guy. And he is on TV. He couldn't be more different than my wonderful husband Joe. Still, my heart skips a beat every time I watch the Travel Channel on Monday nights.

Anthony Bourdain is a chef, bestselling author and host of a really cool show called Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations. He travels the globe and will eat anything put on his plate, as long as it is accompanied by a cold drink and a smoke. He has an awesome sense of humor and I just can't get enough.

Last night was his two hour season premiere. The first hour showcased his travels to Japan and then he headed over to Mainland China during the second half. First things first - the food in Japan looked incredible! Sushi and something called Octopus balls (catchy name, isn't it) were really mouthwatering. When he then headed to Beijing and found a little place that made Peking duck over an open fire I thought that my eyes would pop out of my head - it looked that good! Now, if you are a little squeamish about food, then you could just fast forward through the cow stomach segment. I will try almost anything, even cow stomach, although I have to admit that it did not look all that appetizing.

Most of all, the real reason that I enjoy watching No Reservations is that Anthony, even with his slight edginess, is always very respectful of the places and cultures that he visits. Just like my husband. Now, if I could only talk Joe into picking up all those other habits...

Corners of My Home # 5

OK, the only real reason that this is part of my Corners of My Home post is that it is brand spanking new! After many months of hard work, my husband has finished our powder room. I am thrilled with the results! Oh, and thanks Mom for making the beautiful curtains!

Big sister

As the wait for adopting from China continues to grow (and since I have yet to get my 171-H from the US government), I thought it was appropriate that I talk to my daughter about waiting a little longer for her sister. Initially when beginning this process back in November, we thought that we would be traveling to China by the fall of 2006. This, I now know, will not be happening. Even if we receive an expedite due to my husband's Chinese heritage, we still haven't even had our documents sent to China yet.

Anyway, we had been telling our daughter (who will be four this April) that we would be going to China to get her sister when she is 4 & 1/2. Last night in the car I was explaining to her that it might take a little longer for us to get her sister, probably more like when she is about to turn five. I then assured her that someone in an orphanage in China would take care of the baby until we could go there to get her. What she said next was one of the sweetest things I have ever heard her say. She said "but what if another family goes to China and wants to bring our baby home with them?" When I tried to explain that it wouldn't happen that way, she proceeded to say "good, because those orphanage people should know that I'll be coming to get my sister."

I guess she is ready to be a big sister after all!

Banana WHAT bread?

I just tooks some banana chocolate chip bread out of the oven. It smells delicious. Earlier this evening Leah and I (with a little help from her Dad) made it together.

When I asked her what type of extra things she would like to add to the bread, she said "gummy worms, sprinkles and tootsie rolls." Um, let's just say that I sure am glad that we don't actually have any of those items in the pantry. How does some Banana Worm Sprinkle Tootsie Bread sound to you?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the 1/4 IRISH,

1/4 Polish and 1/2 Chinese Princess!

Corners of My Home #4 (Enter at your own Risk)!

I have been inspired by Jen, who so boldly showed her "not so picture perfect" bathroom as her first Corners of My Home post. The whole purpose of this weekly post, at least for me, it to introduce everyone to some of the most comforting, peaceful and nicest "corners" of my home. I do admit that I hate clutter and tend to be somewhat of a neat freak, but just this one time I will get out of my comfort zone and show you one of the more horrible parts of my home.

This is my bedroom closet:



Frightening, isn't it. For any of you who have ever lived in a 50's era split level, you know that closet space was not a high priority when building these houses. This is my ONE AND ONLY bedroom closet. Once upon a time it was an actual closet, with real clothes hanging in it. Then one day, about three years ago, we decided to spend lots of cash to have central air installed in the house. Before I go on, I do have to say that it was truly the BEST thing we have ever done to this house. Every summer when the weather gets hot and I turn it on, I fall in love again.

Anyway, the large metal vent in the back of the closet had to be put there so we could pipe the central air down to our family room. So we moved all the clothes out and in went the vent. We have since added a few decorating touches to the closet to make it extra beautiful: Leah's old crib mattress, old baby toys, even some of my maternity clothes in the plastic bins. And the chair, piled high with clothes, is the rocking chair my grandmother bought for us when Leah was born. I suppose we will have to move that back into the bedroom for the new baby.

Probably the only thing I do like about this photo are the curtains on my window and the yellow walls, which is the same color as the walls in my family room.

When will we re-sheetrock the inside of the closet and actually use it for clothing storage? I have no idea.

There, I now feel liberated. I guess maybe next week I should show you the multi-colored wallpaper in my bathroom. Now THAT would be scary.

A new place to eat

OK, we went to the furniture warehouse to buy this:














and we came home with this:

















As you can see, this is NOT the same dining room set that I posted about last week. The warehouses inventory turns over often, and so when I walked into the warehouse this morning and saw this new set sitting there, I just knew that I had to have it. The damage on this one is even more minor than on the other set and I really like the fact that it has a slightly darker Cherry finish.

Looks pretty good in my dining room, don't you think?

Have A Nice Day!

Even though spring has not officially arrived, today was a wonderful 68 degrees here in New Jersey. So where do a bunch of women go after being stuck in the house with their kids during the long winter months? The park, of course! Our township has a really wonderful park system and we spent a couple hours just running around and enjoying the fresh air.

Corners of My Home #3

A little over a year ago, this room was my master bedroom. It is clear across the house from our other bedrooms and after Leah was born we always felt like we were too far away from her. We decided to pack up our stuff and move upstairs to a smaller bedroom. My daughter has since dubbed this our studio, but in reality it is just an oversized office with a 3/4 bathroom attached. I love this space for one particular reason - the windows. It is bright and sunny during the day and just a nice place to sit and check out my friend's blogs.

This room was an add on to our home by the previous owners who needed an in-law suite. It has two huge windows that look out at the front yard and two smaller windows on the side. About a year ago I found an older women sitting in her car in front of our house. It turned out to be that previous owner. We brought her on a tour and she told us that there is a fireplace footing below the floor between the two smaller windows. Apparently they planned on eventually opening up the wall between this room and the living room to make a bigger space. I don't know if we will ever do that, but I guess it is nice to know that it is there.

Anyway, this is where I spend all of my time blogging and where my daughter likes to play computer games on playhousedisney.com. As you can see, the obsessive cleanliness I so worry about in my kitchen (see previous Corners post) doesn't really apply here!



Oh, and here is one of my two cats, Howard. He is sitting in one of his favorite spots, right in my face, In FRONT of the monitor. Nice.

Is it just me...

Is it just me, or does this make you as sad as I am right now. I think Katie Couric sums up my feelings well.

To buy or not to buy...

My husband and I have never had to buy a dining room set. We started out with my grandmother's original set, which was beautiful but falling apart. Since then, we received my other grandmother's set. This one is definitely in better shape, but is smaller and more appropriate for a kitchen. So the search begins.

I happened upon a Bassett Furniture Clearance Warehouse where they sell overstocked and slightly damaged furniture at deep discounts. I stopped by on Saturday to take a look around and found this set. It is a medium Cherry and includes an 18 inch leaf to expand the table to 78 inches. The table has slight damage to one of it's corners and has a few scratches on the leaf. The chairs are all solidly built.

The price for six chairs and the table is LESS than a thousand dollars. Of course, my husband loves the price, but I am concerned about the upholstered chairs. With a four year old at home and another child on the way, the white chair cushions will be filthy in a matter of days. My mother said she could try to re-upholster them, but is this more trouble that it is worth? In looking at upholstery fabric, the prices range anywhere from $20 to $50 bucks a yard. What do you guys think? Any suggestions?

I'm feeling (not so) lucky tonight

On Friday evening, my girlfriend Nicole and I attended the PTA social event of the year - a tricky tray held annually to help fund scholarships and grants for our township public schools. For $50 bucks, you get to have a nice dinner at a nearby manor and then have the privilege of spending the rest of your hard earned cash trying to win all the cool stuff. In attendance were close to seven hundred women. Last year this same tricky tray brought in over $60,000 in one evening!

Some of the items which were raffled were three coach bags, one Prada bag, a Tiffany necklace, some Brighton jewelry, a Phillips home theater system, various i-pods, a vacation to Marco Island Florida and a ton of other stuff. My eyes glazed over for the two items that I so desperately wanted to win - this Coach bag and the cuisenart grind and brew coffee maker.



I was crushed when my stupid number didn't even come anywhere close to being a winner. Of course, that won't stop me from going back next year. You know, so then I can win the NEWEST Coach bag.

Did someone say cashmere?

OK, I took the plunge. Based on all the encouragement I received in my previous post entitled "I am very afraid" I have started knitting a sweater for my daughter-to-be. This is what the sweater SHOULD look like when I am through. After dropping a ton of cash at my local yarn store, I came home and started working on the back piece. It is currently about 10 inches long (I need to get to 13 1/2 " before this piece is finished). Then it is on to the front, the hood and then the two sleeves.

The yarn, believe it or not, is called cashmerino aran and is a blend of 55% Merino wool, 33% Microfibre and 12% CASHMERE. Yes, you heard me right - cashmere. I don't even have any cashmere in my closet, and yet my kid will be nice and snuggly in her hand made cashmere sweater. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? Know wonder this stuff was so damn expensive!

I will post when more of the sweater is finished. Oh, and if I hit any major snags, then I will be holding the following people personally responsible for encouraging me to do this in the first place - Lisa, Dalian Moon, Jen, Viv, Eileen, Lisa, Donna, Katie J, & Lisa! :)

One more step completed!

This morning my husband and I took the 45 minute drive to the Immigration office in Newark, NJ to have our fingerprinting done. Our appointment was at 8 a.m. On the invitation letter from Immigration, they tell you that you should expect 3-4 hours worth of delays. We arrived and parked the car by 7:30 and by some miracle we were finished with the entire process by 8:30! My husband, who became a US citizen in 1998, was shocked to find that we had gotten through so quickly. He had been to this office many times while working toward his US citizenship and has always had a long and crowded wait.

Anyway, now we just have to wait for the approval form, which takes an estimated three weeks. After that our agency with authenticate our documents (another 4 weeks) and then our dossier will be off to China!

Oh, and thank you Mom and Dad for getting up really early, driving over to our house and getting Leah ready for preschool. We really appreciate your help.