Thursday Thirteen

I've decided to join in the Thursday Thirteen Madness. Come along, if you dare!

Thirteen Things about being an Army Wife 1. You know which laundry detergents can be used on the new ACUs. 2. You call people sir or ma'am without being snarky. 3. Your dusting rags are old brown t-shirts. 4. When you walk before sunrise, you wear hubby's reflector belt. 5. You smile in disbelief when the show Army Wives depicts a close friendship between a COL(p)'s wife and a PFC's wife. 6. You know what the (p) in COL(p) means. 7. You got smacked on the backside with a sabre when you got married. 8. The world stops at 1700 for retreat. 9. You know the military alphabet - alpha, bravo, charlie, etc. 10. When hubbys asks if you're OK, you reply hooah!. 11. Outstanding is better than excellent. 12. All mechanical things in the house break when hubby is deployed. 13. You have to hit the Class VI before the weekend. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Amy's Random Thoughts 2. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Trip to the Dog Park

Of course it was one of the hottest days of the year, but we had to go to the dog park. We adopted a section of fence in memory of Lady. It was a little sad, but her sign looked so perfect and it will be there forever - a lasting tribute to the best dog that ever lived. I still miss her every day.

Thankful Thursday

I'm stealing this idea (and the graphic) from Digging a Hole to China. It's one of my favorite blogs. If you want an entertaining and often irreverent read, visit her.

1. I'm married to a wonderful man - B is a caring, considerate and God-fearing man who I am blessed to know and love.
2. Libby is recovering from her surgeries. She gets her stitches out today and seems to be healing well. I've seen no signs of new tumors since the first one was removed.
3. When I moved to Georgia, I knew no one. It was tough to pack up and move away from friends I'd had for years. But since I've been here, I have met some of the most wonderful people. I'm thankful for special friends like Janet and Irene who keep me sane and love me the way I am.

What are YOU thankful for? (Answer in the comments)

Introducing Liberty Belle

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our family. No, it's not our child from China (I wish), it's our new doggie. We named her Liberty Belle (the Belle part is named for her doggie cousin) and we call her Libby. She already knows her name and is working her way into our hearts and home. She's about three years old and came to us from the local pound. There are so many pets there who need loving homes.

She's such a sweetie and everyone she meets falls in love with her. She has a couple of medical issues we are treating. Please say a prayer she can beat these and grow strong and healthy. Libby has bonded to me so strongly she practically panics if I leave her sight. So we continue to work on her confidence that Mommy won't leave her. I do wonder if God is preparing us for adopting a child who's afraid of being abandoned.

Happy Birthday to our log in date!

Today marks one year since we were logged in by China. I'm feeling pretty zen about the wait right now so I'm not going to rant about how we thought we'd be traveling about this time. But, what a difference a year makes!

Digging a hole to China

Remember when you were a kid and would dig in the backyard or sandbox? I thought if I would dig really hard, I could dig all the way to China. Of course, no matter how hard I'd dig, I'd never get to China. Sometimes this adoption journey feels like that.

I totally neglected to report that referrals arrived last week. The CCAA matched dossiers logged in through November 21, 2005. This leaves 262 log-in days ahead of us. It's nice to see this number decreasing though the rate of decrease is not what I'd like to see! Each month that China matches less than a month's worth of log-ins makes puts us further from our child.

I tell friends and family we're probably at least a year away from being matched. I've been saying that for almost a year now. It's difficult to never be making progress. All day long I dig and dig, but the hole never gets deeper and the pile of dirt never grows.

Top 10

This is making the rounds in the China adoption community. It kinda sums up a lot.

Top 10 Ways You Know You've Waited Too Long For a Referral From China:
10. You've stopped telling people you're adopting from China because chances are the next time you run into them you'll still be waiting.
9. When someone tells you a far off date in the future as 12-18 months you think to yourself "wow, that's coming up so soon!"
8. You know people who have had two kids in the time you've been waiting for a referral from China.
7. The last Olympics were happening when you started trying for a family and there's a good chance you'll be in China for the '08 Olympics there.
6. You know couples who have gotten engaged, married and had a baby all while you've been trying to start a family.
5. You try out all the baby stuff on the cat to "practice"-- and you take pictures to post on your website because there's no other news to report.
4. You automatically convert the time to Beijing time in your head because you think maybe the CCAA is working on referrals.
3. Your nursery bedding has been discontinued.
2. You've had to dust cobwebs off the changing table in the nursery.
1. You've gone on your last childless vacation.....5 times!!!

Welcome Home Warrior Citizen

Today was the Welcome Home Warrior Citizen ceremony to recognize Army Reservists from USARC who have completed a deployment. Hunny B received an encased American flag, a specially-designed commemorative coin and a 'Welcome Home Warrior-Citizen' flag (see picture). I got a set of lapel pins. All of the children received and ACU backpack or a teddy bear in ACUs. Oh, how I wish we had a little one so I could get my hands on one of those bears. The whole ceremoney was very cool.