Winter Storm 2009

Thanks for all the Ergo input - I'm going with Dark Chocolate. But I'm going to wait until she's closer as I didn't think of the 1 year warranty. Thanks for pointing that out Robin. I guess I'll buy something else to celebrate...

Louisville always comes up with catchy phrases regarding our weather. I hate them.

So this week - I posted Snow Day, well - (the news called it WinterStorm 2009) - I should have said Snow Week. Tuesday was our normal Snow Day. I shoveled for way too long because it was an icy/snow mixture. The kids played outside yada yada yada.

Wed - I woke up to another 4-5 inches of snow and about an inch of ice. It wasn't too bad to shovel since it was the light and fluffy stuff. BUT THEN - I came in to check email and start working. The garage door wouldn't open. No biggee I'll use the front door, email doesn't send...What's going on??? It takes me a minute to realize we don't have electricity. I am not kidding. So at first, I'm thinking no big deal - I'll start a fire. It will be back on in a few minutes. Our electricity NEVER goes out. The entire city was out for WindStorm 2008 (the rest of the country called it Hurricane Ike not us) but we had electricity... Not so lucky this time.

By 5:00 Wed - I'm starting to get grumpy. There's very little food that doesn't need to be heated. I can't dry the kids' clothes from playing in the snow and everything is in a wet pile in my foyer. There's no internet. There's no email. There's no cable. No microwave, heat, and guess what...It's starting to get very dark and there's no light. I decide to tough it out for one night. We bundle up in the King bed and get through the night. I'm heading south in the morning. Well - I did come to my senses and decided against driving south but I also thought I would freeze to death. Let's just say my San Francisco sweatshirt got a lot of wear this week!! It's the warmest thing I own.

Thursday morning it's 50 degrees in my house. My thermostat never read below 50 so we're guessing it just doesn't go lower because we know it got colder than that. Thankfully, we lucked into a generator Thursday afternoon so we could heat one room and watch DVDs - still no cable and no internet. But with pizza, heat and movies, people are less grumpy. We also slept really well.

Friday morning - generator runs out of gas about 4:00AM- crap- the entire house is freezing except the master bedroom which is starting to get cold. Chris makes a gas run and I jack the master bedroom up to about 80 degrees. Hey if you have a space heater, USE IT to its fullest extent!!! My Dad comes over and runs wires to run the real furnace from the generator and he hooks up some other appliances, etc. The house starts to heat up. YEAH!!! The boys go to the neighbor's house and I watched Seinfeld Season 8. yada yada yada

Chris comes home and yells to me I FIXED IT! I'm wondering what someone broke and I walk out to see lights on in the house... Oh Thank GOD!!! Now if we can get through the melt down without losing electric again, I will be thrilled!

Ironically, when I logon to my computer. I opened my email and our Electric Bill came - I wasn't even upset that it was more than twice the normal amount. Tuesday that would have made me mad and I would have lowered the temp in the house... NOT TODAY.

Which Ergo To Buy?

Very important question for the blog followers:

Which Ergo Should I Buy?

I decided to buy an Ergo Carrier for our one year adoption anniversary which believe it or not, is coming up. We applied to adopt Mia on February 10, 2008. But I'm having great difficulty with the color selection. And no I haven't asked Chris' opinion yet.

Here's the deal about me - I always think Black looks best so I tend to think Black. It matches everything yada yada. But Mia is a GIRL so I think Pink but should everything in my life be PINK? I love everything palm trees (as I long to live near them) so I think Hawaiian... HELP! Here are the pics.

The Pink Heart One


The Hawaiian One


The Black One

OMG - I just discovered the organic ones!!! Are they that much softer? I think I need to buy an organic one...I love organic cotton It's so soft! Crap - I can't decide. But I'm leaning toward the Dark Chocolate one since Mia is wearing PINK until she has an opinion about it.

The Dark Chocolate Organic One

The Cranberry Organic One

The Chocolate Organic One

The Blue Organic One with the cute little flower

Also, did anyone buy the Ergo backpack diaper bag? I carried a backpack style with the boys and loved it but it's navy blue so not having any of that with MIA!!! I hate buying bags online. I like to check out the pockets and size and such.

SNOW DAY

Ugh - I hate snow! This is my front door as I opened it to a 2-3 foot snow drift. ICK

We've been very lucky so far this winter - just some flurries here and there throughout January. One snow fall earlier this month that melted within a day or so.

This one was about 5 inches I think. The kids were excited - no school - me not so much. I shoveled for way too long. Porch, side walk, driveway. Had to stop to go buy a new shovel. Buying a new shovel is like buying a small appliance. It didn't bring me any happiness and in fact, it brought me work, hard work. But we're expecting an ice storm today/tonight so I figured I better shovel it before we have 2 inches of ice on top of it.

The only good thing about a snow day is I get to work from home. And believe me, after last week's circus, I needed a day to work by myself without interuption. Oh, I guess I should do that now...

Kids Sports

Parents crack me up at kid's games. Matt played a team last week whose parents felt compelled to scream at their kids throughout the game. I don't mean - "Rebound" or "Block-Out". I mean, they screamed "Oooooh That was terrible Johnny" or "Johnny I can't believe you didn't take that shot" or "Johnny that's a terrible shot. You have to hit that." I mean - it is just a 4th grade basketball game, right? And so much for positive reinforcement.

What is it about a bunch of 10 year olds playing ball that causes parents to lose their minds? Or is that the way they act all the time? It's not like this is the first time we've experienced such a mess of parents.

I mean - there was the football game where the lady who was also the "Cheer Coach" (it was printed on the back of her shirt and she was NOT cheerful) was ripping her kids in the parking lot before and after the game and also ripped the coaches, refs and most likely (although I am making this part up) the Concession Stand Volunteers for the incorrect amount of ice in the cup.

And then there was the time when our player knocked the catcher into next week during a play at home plate. The runner was called out and the catcher did in fact drop the ball (so I realize according to Major League Rules he was safe). As the catcher was lying half unconscious in the dirt, several of our parents felt compelled to scream HE'S SAFE! HE'S SAFE! HE DROPPED THE BALL!! repeatedly. After much debate inside my head, I finally said, actually I yelled, WHO CARES? THE KID IS HURT AND WE'RE DOWN BY 20!!! which is a bit out of my realm of comfort. I like to stay Ms. Nicey Pants at these games and save my opinions for things that are more important but I was ready to choke our parents.

For the most part - our school's parents seem to keep it together which I like. Occasionally, we get the parent who is a bit crazed but we make a note and sit further away from him next game.

So Chris and I had a good laugh over lunch at these crazy parents and thank God that we aren't that crazy.

Mark's league is completely different. It is our school/church league - no outside teams allowed. Kind of like a cult! We allow everyone to break the rules. We cheer for everyone on the court no matter what team she is on. It's a great community and I really love it. The score might be 60-60 but we don't keep score so who knows, who cares?

Southern Sayin's

Last night American Idol was in Louisville, KY!!! Did you watch it? I don't follow the show religiously but I wanted to see how stupid they made Kentuckians look this time. Typically, the media finds the most vocal, missing teeth, no-shoes, hillbilly in the "holler" to talk on behalf of the entire state. We're not all that bad. Actually, I even wear shoes IN my house.

Did you notice anyone from KY not from the Ville was from a city named "Creek" or "Hills"?

Did you notice people who live in Louisville say the city name about 10 different ways? Personally, while in KY I use the 1st one listed and while traveling I use the 5th one.

And did you see Mark Mudd? He sang a George Jones song (not that anyone would remember that). He didn't make it. However, when he left he said, "Be Careful." which they construed to be a threat. It led me to think about all the things we Southerners say that people don't say across the country and wonder what do you guys (not ya'll) say that we don't say. Actually, I don't say most of these BUT I do find them funny.

We say "Be Careful" almost every time someone leaves the house. I wonder why? I mean, it's not like it's a dangerous place to live. There are certainly more homicides, robberies, assaults in other areas of the nation than here so why say it? We do have a lot of Deer blasting out in front of cars but why not say "watch the deer".

You've all hard "Ya'll come back now, ya hear". But have you ever heard "You'ins" as in You'ins goin' out ta eat t'night? One of my first audit clients asked me that. I thought it was some kind of joke but was very thankful I just played along because it wasn't. Same client also talked to me about her HELT checks. It was a coal mining company and I thought maybe HELT was some kind of chemical they used during the coal mining process so I acted like I knew what it was and asked my supervisor. Turned out she HELD them rather than mailing them...LOL I'll never forget that one.

Bless your heart - My client would have said Bless her heart, she doesn't know any better. She's from the city. She's ain't never seen a mining company before.

I could go on and on - but Wow that would get old! Besides that my spell check is screaming for me to STOP.

What's your version of the English language? or the Pasa Engli (My Thai really stinks!)

Obama - Hope Not Fear!

Approximately 45 Years ago a black man would not have been able to vote in the United States. Today Barack Obama stands as the leader of our great nation. I never thought I'd see anything other than an old white man as our president in my living years. Change is a good thing.


For all you people who think you have difficulties which you can't overcome, there went all your excuses. I can't get a job because I'm a woman, I can't get a job because I'm fat, blonde, gay... I can't get a job because they want a skinny, blonde woman... When are you going to wake up? There are no more excuses! In not these exact words, Obama told us today to get off our A$$ and take ownership of our country. Quit being lazy. Work hard like the ones who went before us. It's time to get off your couch America!

As Far As Racism Goes -

I read all the time about the adoptive parents' fear of how people will react to their child who looks different from them. I get it...sort of. I mean I know it will happen. I know people will stare, people will make stupid comments, ask inappropriate questions but to this I say - You can't fix stupid people!!! So fix how you react to stupid people. Educate your children how to react to ignorance.


Tell them to look at Barack Obama. Do you think people are always diplomatic to him? I'm sure he's been called everything in the Book and on the Internet. He didn't crawl under a rock. This man made Americans look beyond his name, his color, his minister, his Father's origin to become our President. Picture his first grade teacher's face when he raised his hand and said, "I'm going to be President of the United State of America." on Career Day 41 years ago. I'm not saying racism is no more but what I'm saying is by educating our children, one day it will be no more.

As Obama said, "Hope Not Fear."

We're Officially #7

I just heard that we are in fact #7!!! Now what does #7 mean? We are now EXPECTING a referral in June rather than HOPING for a referral in June.

We are now HOPING for THE phone call sometime in the next 4 1/2 months!!! A fellow blogger, who was #5 or #6 on the list, just received her referral - an adorable 8 month old little boy. Us being #7 on the list...Not to say that I'm EXPECTING a call but just saying, I can HOPE for one earlier than June.

I've updated all our phone numbers with the SW and given her instructions on which one to call first, second, third, fourth, fifth, KIDDING and urged her to give me a minute to be able to speak. I've also instructed Chris to answer the phone with caller id area code 541!!!

Where Are We On "The List"?

Here's the run-down of what I know. Since November's batch of referrals, there have been a few more referrals. Officially, we are #9 on the list BUT 2 families in front of us are reviewing their referral and have not accepted them yet. So...assuming they accept the child, we are #7 on the list. We are definitely looking good for a June referral which is great!

What happens then? Then we wait...4-6 months to travel to pick Mia up. We are planning to take the boys to Thailand for the 2 week trip. We are electing to stay 2 weeks - the process only takes about 8-10 days.

Then we come home to our new normal life which will involve A LOT OF PINK!!!

Back To Reality

Reality didn't enable me to post this yesterday but this is how we roll after 2 weeks off!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvC1ijiyv1c

Kids after Holiday -
Mon after Holiday - Kids bounce out of bed singing and dancing - can't wait to see their friends - come home from school in a great mood
Tues after Holiday - Kids get out of bed - school is ok - come home from school so tired they are fighting with anything that moves and they are grounded within the hour
Wed after Holiday - Kids are dragged from their beds, eat while sleeping, get dressed with eyes still closed, sleep on the way to school, parents wake them up and shove them out of the car - come home to tired to fight, go to bed early
Thurs after Holiday - Kids get out of bed grumpy, teachers are mean, school stinks - come home bright eyed and in a great mood as tomorrow is FRIDAY
Fri after Holiday - Kids bounce out of bed singing and dancing THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY! Come home pumped up for the weekend.

Whew - we made it through another Holiday Hangover!

Matt's Clutch Free Throws

You can tell I don't have a ton of sports excitement in my life. I mean, the Cards stink at football - and I don't really watch them play basketball. The Colts are doing great and we get excited about that.

But these 3rd-4th grade games have us on pins and needles for 1 hour every week. There are so many missed shots, dribbling into traffic, dribbling, dribbling, dribbling, jump ball, jump ball, jump ball, oops I dribbled out of bounds etc. But how many 2 point games can we have?

This week Matt was asking me what the best basketball award was - Best Defensive Player, Best Free Throw Percent, 110%, Most Rebounds, Most Points, etc. My response was basketball is such a team sport - every player needs to know how to shoot, pass, dribble, play defense, etc. But there's no better feeling than hitting the game winning shot at the buzzer or hitting the free throws to tie or clinch the victory when all eyes are on you and the entire gym is screaming or dead silent waiting to see if you choke. Those are the moments you remember for the rest of your life. He just smiled like he was picturing it in his mind.

At the beginning of the season, I taught Matt how to shoot a free throw. He wasn't real keen on it at first but I insisted that no son of mine was going to have crappy free throw form - if you miss, you are going to look good doing it! Now - I wasn't sure if he'd get in a game and just launch a shot at the basket or take his time and actually shoot a "free throw" like I taught him.

Today he had his chance. As he went to the line, all the Dads around C and I said, No pressure but if he knocks these down, we're all tied up. Well, Matt took his time and knocked down 2 free throws to tie the game late in the 4th quarter. When he sank them both, I turned around and told the Dad's, "He has my genes!" They all laughed at me. Matt ended the game with 5 points - shooting 75% at the line and we won 13-11. He is completely pumped up!

7 Months On The List

Hard to believe we could possibly have a picture, medical history, social service report and a NAME in 5 months. How cool is that! That's not long at all. It's about the same length as baseball season.

We have a lot to do!

We're very excited and very busy. I've been getting our house cleaned out - I love Coit carpet company - Thanks Whit for recommending them! They saved my carpet and if I had a toddler, she could crawl around my house without worries.

The boys are very excited. Today, Matt and Mark brought me a stuffed animal for Mia. It's a horse with a pink mane. They won it a while ago and with all the cleaning, it has resurfaced. So sweet.

We think about her all the time and can't wait to meet her!

Our Christmas was wonderful despite the 24 hour bug that made it's way through our house but we made the best of it - Spending a lot of time hanging out on the couch playing board games.

New Years was a bit different this year. Chris and I haven't stayed home in years. We were at home just the four of us. I wouldn't have traded it. Mark was so excited it cracked me up. He was counting down from 3 hours. He would pop in every few minutes and announce how much time was left. Matt, Chris and I were all in bed trying to stay awake watching TV LOL I'm sure you saw the crazy guys doing stunts in Vegas. OMG - I just knew they were going to splat - so glad they didn't. I think C woke me up to tell me I was getting text messages at 12:01. So sorry I didn't respond. I don't really do Resolutions or whatever but I will say I had a great feeling as 2009 began. Days come and go but for whatever reason, turning the calendar made me feel closer to Mia.