Latest Addictions - iPhone Tops the List

The iPhone is so cool - it's so much better than the commercials! I admit I had wanted my old Mobile Q to tank so I could buy one. It bit the dust, so I bought one (and one for hubby) and I LOVE IT!!! I think my Dad has been infected by this addiction too. Why is it so cool? Read about it here

I am addicted to Starbucks Skinny Vanilla Lattes. Thanks Jenn for saving me a couple hundred calories per day! I love it better than the full fat. The Gold Card is pretty cool too. I get 10% off everything and my card was "free" which means I spent a lot of money on coffee. But the card does cost everyone else $25.

Book 4 of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series - I can't read it fast enough! So good!

I'm completely addicted to working out. I figure if these people can do it, I've got no excuse. And I really want my arms back. You know the arms you have when the kids are toddlers and you're toting them everywhere? Those arms! Ali was my favorite last season. She's a machine.

What's Going On In The Adoption World?

I know of 2 families who are travelling in November. I think they both received June referrals so that's pretty cool they only had a 5 month wait to travel. I'm so very excited for them and can feel their excitement from the forum. I hope they blog their journey. It's so helpful to the rest of us who are just waiting.

If I decorated a nursery today - It would be a very pale pink paint and dark furniture - Not sure if I'd buy cherry or espresso. Brown and Pink is what I would lean towards though. I'm not decorating but that's what I would do if I were!

We are waiting - waiting for the moment when we have a picture, waiting to travel, waiting to complete our family, living our busy lives with 2 great boys wondering if she is born. Our Dossier (large stack of official paperwork) is complete (as of June 08) and in Thailand with about 15 families in front of us. Everything is approved and we're anxious for the next set of referrals and then the next and then the next - hoping that from some fluke we get a referral before the anticipated date which is 10 1/2 months away. Everyone asks us, "When are you going to hear?" as if we have any clue but we nod, smile and say June or Sept. It already sounds closer than it did this summer. I mean, it is closer but as winter approaches, I guess I start counting down to flip flop weather so it goes faster. The thought that the phone will just ring and it be THE CALL is still a bit crazy to me. I get nervous when our SW sends an email. I won't be able to speak if she shows up on Caller ID. I hope she doesn't hang up on me.

Eclipse

WAY BETTER THAN BOOK 2!!! This is an excellent book! The 600+ pages flew by. I now understand what the fuss is all about. I really, really love these characters - werewolves, vampires and humans - all of them. I don't want them to die, get hurt, be sad, etc. Stephenie Meyer is an incredible writer. At times, I feel like I'm there in the clearing with the vampires or I get chills when she describes Edwards skin. Her descriptions are that good and I'm constantly wanting to read even when I don't have time. I did predict one of the twists but missed the other one completely. Of course, I'm still dreaming about them... The love between Bella and Edward is... well, has grown into what a new marriage is like. You know what I mean.

I can't wait to sink my teeth into Book 4. (LOL couldn't resist)

I've already decided I will read these 4 books again while I wait for Book 5 to be completed. I'm going to be one of those people.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I have officially spent enough on Starbucks that I earned the Starbucks Gold Card. I'm not really sure what that means but I'll take it because it might save me 30 cents a cup.

THE GOOD
I came home to find these darn things in my yard today. I cannot help to feel more than a little sad at what this sight really means in KY. It's the end of my favorite time - the hot, humid, green, flip flop summer. I try very hard to savor the fabulous fall weather but in the back of my mind I'm thinking one thing - why don't we live somewhere where the weather is fabulous all the time?

THE BADI tolerate what is next and not very well.

THE UGLY

I know there's more to life than weather - to that I say BLAH BLAH BLAH!

New Moon

Don't they always say the original is better than the sequel. So I guess New Moon was destined to be a little bit of a letdown. If you remember I couldn't put Book 1 Twilight down and loved it cover to cover. New Moon was great, I mean fabulous, at times and other times, it was slow. It was like Narrative Hook and then sink and then Narrative Hook and then sink over and over. The last couple hundred pages were great and I really debated if all the detail in the middle was necessary but I guess it was...

All in all - I would recommend it. As ironic as this sounds, it feels like a very real story. Like this could definitely happen. I know - vampires & wearwolves don't really exist. BUT - all the human stuff about the book could happen. And you'll fall in love with these characters! Worth the read.

Bad Drivers

This week has been a driving adventure! Where did all you bad drivers come from anyway????

Tuesday I was driving the Jeep to transfer it to the buyers name (Side bar - yeah we finally sold it!!) I had to kill some time waiting for the buyer so I ran to the mall - while driving through the parking lot, "Hyped-up Starbucks Mom in the Minivan" backs out at like 50 MPH and nearly takes out my side - She stopped when I laid on my horn. Survived the near miss.

So then I'm pulling out of the bank (still in the "sold" Jeep) on the way to the County Clerk's office - I'm turning left across 2 lanes of traffic. Guess what, so is the idiot in the right hand turn lane. So fortunately, I was paying very close attention and slammed on my brake and avoided dingleberry in the shiny Volvo.

I handed the guy the keys and transferred the title before I wrecked the darn thing.

That was enough in my mind - but no, not for all the other drivers who seem to have taken a sabbatical from driving when the gas was jacked up and now have forgotten how to turn, stop and go.

Driving my car now - someone nearly, I mean nearly, hits me head on this morning. WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE DRINKING??? I honk; we both swerve - I don't want to leave me house ever again.

But I have to - so I'm driving down the street - Speed Limit is 45 and "Mr. I don't feel the need to buckle my toddler in" is driving 35 (in the fast lane) and jerking his car all over the place. I think he's playing some version of the warped game "throw the kid around the car" and I pass him on the right - yes - not supposed to do that - but sometimes I do, because I don't want to see toddler hit the window.

THEN - OMG - I just want to go home - Lady eating her bowl of cereal, putting on make-up and talking on her cell phone (hand-held, not hands-free) - ok I exaggerated a bit - runs over the ALREADY DEAD animal. UGH - OOOOOH - and it bounces up in the air - Did I mention my car sits like 6 inches off the ground... I had to break hard to avoid this flying animal - I mean thank GOODNESS my top wasn't down right??? HOW DO YOU RUN OVER AN ALREADY DEAD ANIMAL???

SO if you think the gas prices are just killing our wallets - you are seriously overlooking the bigger picture of those people who are truly forgetting how to drive and are going to kill those of us who do it very well!!!

8 Months Since We Pushed the Button!

Every day is one day closer. Have you seen the pictures of Thailand?

We look toward the day of seeing pictures of Mia and visiting these wonderful places as a family.

Keeneland

Keeneland is Lexington's race track. Chris and I took the boys today and had a great time. Keeneland was probably a lot more fun at one time. It's still like something out of history. Almost everyone dresses up - when I say they dress up, I mean over the top dress up - Suits, dresses, 4inch heals and parasols if you can believe that. At first I was like this is really cool, impressive. Then, I realized it was probably once cool and impressive.

Saturday it was just a fraternity party gone wrong. Too many college girls and guys in their semi-formals which may or may not be appropriate for day wear and may or may not be worn with... can you guess? BOOTS... well, if you put the girl in Lexington, she might just develop the need to wear boots with her semi-formal. So can you picture this so far? Now put an endless amount of alcohol in those bodies and you can imagine what that does - almost ruins something that would be pretty cool.

The funniest part of the day was my overhearing a conversation between a college couple who was not going to be able to wait until they got home to how should I say this ... "dance" and the country family who talked about "how much their Dad was pissing" and throwing money on the 95-1 shot. We left that area and kind of roamed around when the language went south.

Oh I almost forgot - Chris wore his black cardinal polo shirt to Lexington so that was pretty funny. One lady said He's brave as he walked by.

Is Keeneland always like this? I don't know - we had enough fun people watching that we might go back but we'd probably avoid opening weekend and when UofK is not playing football at home because I think it would be more fun if most those crazy college kids weren't there. No offense to any of you crazy college kids but I'm old and my kids are young. Although, we did get a kick out of the girls stumbling to their cars, which of course, they couldn't find. The DD half-carrying them the distance.

The highlight might have been eating at one of our favorite spots - Mellow Mushroom - It's a pizza place which reminds me a bit of Wicks although not nearly as good. The food was pretty good but I do think it tasted better in Destin, Florida. But doesn't everything taste better at the beach, really?

Picking Pumpkins

An annual fall tradition is to head to a pumpkin patch. Normally, we pick a day after it rains 20 inches so it's nice and muddy. We were fortunate this year - no rain.

We went to Gallrein Farms which is really cool. It's a small family owned farm so a bit different from our usual Huber Farm experience (which I love for other reasons). We went with 3 other families. The boys had a blast. They ran around the farm and played until they were ready to collapse. Of course, they asked for the mega pumpkin which wouldn't even fit in my car but found perfect pumpkins which were big but didn't require a truck for delivery.

Mark loved the petting zoo.

Have you ever seen albino and orange striped pumpkins? They also had grey.

Matt got a push from the boys on the way to the pumpkin patch. This had bad news written all over it. And yes - ended in a wipe out which fortunately, didn't rip the clothes or the skin.

The perfect pumpkin
All the boys and their picks
Muscle man Matt - pulled the wagon LOL

4 Months Since Dossier

In ways it seems like forever since I was notarizing every document in my house to send our Dossier to Thailand. I'm very happy to have 4 months behind us and know that we should have a picture of Mia in 11 months.



I savor all the moments with the boys as I know life will be busier upon her arrival. The boys are constantly reminding each other that "you have to be gentle with Mia" as they continue to be rough with one another. Time will tell how long that honeymoon period will last.