Our journey to "Little Maple" and back...

5 years...

2011-09-13T09:13:00.000-04:00

Not much more to say about that...

58 and holding...

2011-07-13T18:29:00.000-04:00

57

2011-06-13T17:49:00.000-04:00

Lately it seems I've run out of oomph, steam, juju when it comes to the blog. All I seem to be writing about is "another month down". So, I guess I won't disappoint the one or two readers I have left here...

57 months down! :P

♪♫ If you read me and you know it, leave a comment... ♫♪

New box-y goodness!

2011-06-02T09:11:00.002-04:00

I'm so utterly thrilled that June 2006 is finally done (none more, of course, than the people who were logged in that month). ;)

I've started hearing rumblings that since they finished June up with a big batch of 10 days (and 93 RQ families), that if they keep at that rate we might have our referral in as little as four months or as much as seven or eight. I'll believe it when I see it, but it's nice, at least, to start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...

56

2011-05-13T21:37:00.001-04:00

Not really much more to say about that, just one month at a time...

I *am* super-excited that she will be meeting her daughter in a few short days. I.can't.wait!

55

2011-04-13T09:45:00.000-04:00

There's nothing much to say, other than this SUCKS beyond belief.

Congratulations!

2011-04-06T07:16:00.002-04:00

Two of my friends, her and her just received their referrals. If you haven't already shown them some love, go to their blogs and congratulate them. Their daughters are absolutely gorgeous. :)

Pretty!

2011-04-04T20:34:00.002-04:00

I bought and received some beautiful items from my friend Michelle's Etsy shop. Not sure if you can make it out, but on the card it says "friend" in Chinese and English.

The magnets, from left to right say "love", "faith", and "hope" in Chinese. Honestly I don't think the pictures do them justice...and they now hold a prominent place on my fridge. :)

Take a moment and go and visit her store, you won't be disappointed.

Déjà vu

2011-04-04T07:10:00.002-04:00

For those of my long time readers (are there any of you left here anymore?), every year you know that I enter the Ultimate Blog Party. Last year was a bit of a downer because the prize I was supposed to win, never came, but that's a story for another day. However, all that was made up for when I won THIS on their Christmas contest.

For those of you who are new to my blog, my husband and I are PAPs (Prospective Adoptive Parents) and we've been waiting for our little one for four and a half years. Yup, THAT long. For a process that was supposed to take nine to 12 months, here we are still waiting 4.5 years later...not that I'm bitter or anything. ;)

Anyways, take a look around and enjoy.

54 months and counting...

2011-03-13T07:26:00.000-04:00

Not much more to say about that...

Finally!

2011-02-24T14:53:00.003-05:00

With the latest batch of (surprise) referrals that came out today, we're finally in the double digits of LID's until it's our turn! I can't believe this is actually going to happen!

Off to do my happy dance. :)

Not too much longer until she and she get their referrals. So excited for the both of them!

I'm in love...

2011-02-21T15:44:00.008-05:00

For those of you that follow me on FB, you'll know of my love of ~~addiction to~~ beautifully scented soaps. A few weeks ago I discovered a store called Candied Bath Bakery, and if you read this post, you'll know that I was contacted by the owner of the store. They were (and still are) having a contest to try to get to 500 "likes" on FB and 500 followers on Twitter. If you're on FB, click "like" on her site and you'll be entered into the contest. What do you have to lose? Someone's going to win it...

I had done some poking around on FB and had a few of my friends go to the site and "like" her products. As a thank you, the owner told me that she was going to send some products my way! How awesome is that?

Today the items arrived...

What I love is how thoughtfully and well they're packaged. Believe me, it didn't take long until I ~~tore the packages open~~ gently, and lovingly removed them from their bags.

The four items she sent me were, from left to right:

A rootbeer scented french macaroon cookie, a happy birthday donut (which, to me, smells like a straight-from-the-bakery donut), a strawberry scented mini-cupcake, and two peanut butter cookies...and yes, they're all soap! Look at how cute they are!

I decided to try out the rootbeer scented french macaroon cookie and I have to admit it, I'm in love. The macaroon cookie, as with the others, are exactly as you would expect them to smell. The scent is strong, but not overpowering, and it lathered up really well. I'm tempted to try the others as well, but so far I'm really impressed with the first one.

FYI, she's having a sale at her store all this week and I suggest you stop by and take a peek at her products.

(Oh yeah, leave a comment for Candied here - she reads the blog - and support a small Canadian business at the same time...)

...another one bites the dust

2011-02-13T10:34:00.003-05:00

53 months. That's a long-ass time to be waiting, but we'll wait as long as we need to for our "Little Maple". I've realized that this isn't our year, even though we're still in February. We're holding out hope that it will be sometime next year, but who knows?

I am happy, however, that they're FINALLY into June 2006. I've got two friends, her and her, who should be getting their referrals in the next few months and I couldn't be more excited for them! *mwah*

How cool is this?

2011-01-27T21:38:00.003-05:00

For those of you who know me, know my affinity for lovely soaps. I've been a Lush-a-holic for a few years now and I'm not afraid to admit it. ;)

Lately though, I've become bored with the "same old/same old" round bath bombs and was looking for something...different. Lo and behold, I found another company - a Canadian company - that does just that!

I found them through Bargain Moose which is a website that finds discounts for Canadian companies and posts about them. It's pretty awesome, if you don't have them on your blog reader, you should add them.

As I was perusing their site a couple of months ago I noticed Candied Bath Bakery. Yes, bath bakery. They design their bath bombs, bubble bars and soaps into the shape of baked goods!

Take a minute and peruse their site. You won't believe that it's actually soap. Go ahead, I'll wait...

(The site is a little sparse right now, as they're currently restocking their shelves.)

I started following Candied on Facebook as well as on Twitter and noticed that they're having a contest.

As soon as Candied gets to 500 followers on Facebook and 500 followers on Twitter they're going to be giving away some of their product! They're really close on Twitter, so if any of you have a Twitter account, feel free to follow them. Also, "like" them on Facebook. Who knows, you might win something. :)

Since I've been helping Candied get more followers, I was contacted by the owner of the company today. As a thank you for helping her, she's going to be sending ME some free products! How cool is that?

Well...I never!

2011-01-22T23:23:00.002-05:00

Josh and I got together with our BFFs and their kids for a night out. We decided to go to our "go-to" restaurant Boston Pizza, as usual. We normally go there at least once a month, give or take.

We had a delightful waiter who couldn't do enough for us. We placed our drink orders and I told him that we both like A LOT of lime. Usually when we've said that in the past, they'll toss a couple pieces of lime on the side of the glass. This waiter totally "got it" and he must have cut up at least two or three full limes and put them on a plate. It was awesome. :)

We placed our orders and everything came to the table quickly, and was oh-so-delicious.

We sat around, ate, talked and just had a really good time. BTW, the imagination of a certain four year old is amazing. ♥

The girls got their desserts and we continued talking. I swear we never run out of "interesting" topics to discuss. ;)

We asked for the bills and paid, and continued talking.

About ten minutes later, the waiter came over and said that he needed the table because they were going to have a party of 30 come in. I get it, it's a business and all, so we asked if he could move us to another table.

He couldn't, or wouldn't, not really sure, so in essence we were tossed out of Boston Pizza. Oh the humanity!

We all left the restaurant and came back to our place for more coffee and talking. I love when you just get into a really good conversation with good friends.

52

2011-01-13T09:33:00.001-05:00

Not much more to say about that...I just never, in my wildest dreams, thought we'd get to this point. I was feeling hopeful a couple months ago that this was going to be our year...now I'm starting to doubt it. Blah.

It's purty!

2010-12-30T20:42:00.002-05:00

For those of you who remember this post will recall that I entered a contest last month. Well, lo and behold, I WON! The stroller is now sitting in little one's room and it's going to stay in its box until we get our referral. Truth be told, I did take a peek at it and I'm in lurve.

Always a story...

2010-12-29T19:38:00.002-05:00

Josh, mom and I went to Buffalo this past Monday and Tuesday. We wanted to get away and do some shoppy goodness.

We left at 6:00am Monday morning, so we could be at the Walden Galleria mall by the time they opened. Before we hit the road we had to stop at Tim Hortons for breakfast. By the time we hit the road it was closing in on 7:00.

We started out, as usual, at Target and walked around there for an hour or so.

We did a lot of shopping, I got myself some nice sweaters at Macy's, and a couple pairs of jeans at Lord & Taylor. They were having a post-Christmas sale and I got the jeans at 25% off, plus they had a coupon...so it was a really sweet deal. :)

By the time we were finished with the mall, it was closing in on 2:00pm and we were all pretty hungry. We decided to go to the Olive Garden. We used to love that restaurant when they used to be in Canada, and we haven't been there in years. Now I see why they went out of business here.

I called the restaurant and did "call ahead" seating. There was a 35 minute wait for a table, but since I called ahead, we only had to wait for about 10-15 minutes which wasn't too bad.

We were sitting at our table for a good 15-20 minutes before the waiter came over. We were too hungry to get up and leave, though in hindsight we should have done just that.

We placed our order and they brought out the warm breadsticks and salad. We were talking and eating, and then my mom found...something in her salad. A hair. Eww. It was pretty nasty.

We asked for the manager to come over. He trundled over and apologized for the "inconvenience" (yes, he actually said that). He then went on to talk about how all the staff in the kitchen wear hairnets and that it shouldn't have happened. He then asked if we wanted more salad. Umm, really? Do you really think we want MORE hairy salad?

A few minutes later our waiter then came over with our meals. He got Josh's meal right, my mom's meal was right, but he totally screwed up mine. I ordered the cappelini pomodoro, and he gave me chicken parmesan. Apparently they sound alike? He took away my meal and said it would be about five minutes for a new one. Fine. He came back about two minutes later and my mom told him that hers was cold. He said that he could make another one and it would take "five minutes". Oh yes, the story gets better.

He finally got the orders correct and as we were eating, the general manager of the restaurant came over to talk about our meal. She said that she was just told about what happened, again mentioned the hairnets that the kitchen staff wear and gave us a five dollar coupon for our next meal. She also said that "lunch would be on us".

We finished eating and decided to order dessert. The desserts were fine and the waiter came back and said that there would be a bill for them. We asked to see the manager again, and after some hemming and hawing, she said that they would throw in the desserts. I mean, she DID say that lunch would be on them, she didn't say anything about dessert being extra. :P

Thankfully, the rest of the trip was uneventful...

Seriously...

2010-12-16T11:34:00.001-05:00

WTF gets into people's heads? This is freaking hilarious!

51

2010-12-13T22:11:00.002-05:00

Today marked 51 months that we've been logged in. FIFTY ONE. I don't think I really have much to say about that.

On the upside, we got a piece of mail from the CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) saying that they are processing our immigration paperwork for little one. Not that it means much, since our referral is still X number of months away, but it paves the way for little one to become a Canadian citizen when we get her. In the letter, it mentioned that it's going to take 27 weeks for them to "approve" us. I can do 27 weeks standing on my head, when you compare it to FIFTY ONE months. (Yeah, I just had to say that one more time).

50 months...

2010-11-13T22:02:00.000-05:00

or...

* 131,500,800 seconds
* 2,191,680 minutes
* 36,528 hours
* 217 weeks (rounded down)

Not much more to say than that.

Let's try this again...

2010-11-08T07:54:00.002-05:00

5 Minutes for Mom is having another contest. I'm going to enter the contest and try my chances again. Perhaps I'm just a glutton for punishment. ;)

Wish me luck...

This about sums it up...

2010-10-13T21:48:00.002-04:00

...for another month.

Starting to believe...

2010-10-04T22:51:00.003-04:00

I checked in on RQ this morning to look at her infamous projections for the next few months, and according to her, the CCAA should be into July (2006) this coming February or March! *deep breath*

There's actually a chance that we might see our referral in less than a year?! Holy crap.

Eternity

2010-09-13T10:40:00.003-04:00

On Saturday night, we went to our BFF's* house for a street party. It was an absolute blast. During the party, their daughter, her friend and her friend's mom were doing airbrush tattoos, so I got...a few. Anyways, one of the ones I chose was the Chinese symbol for "eternity". I figure that's an appropriate one.

(The picture of the tattoo didn't turn out as well, so I had to Google it.)

Today marks four years that we've been logged in. FOUR YEARS. At least in my mind that's a freaking eternity. It's a hard day, but we'll wait as long as it takes until we get our "Little Maple".

*BTW, you really need to update your blog, woman! ;)

"Mark all as read?"

2010-09-10T22:50:00.004-04:00

Is it bad that I don't blog anymore? Or that I don't read blogs? I'm just so...over it.

Don't get me wrong, there are a select few that I read religiously, but for the most part, I just don't have the oomph I once did.

(BTW, I don't know if anyone is even reading this.)

I haven't blogged about our summer vacation (which was awesome). We drove from T.O. down to Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. Seeing good friends again was awesome, but I miss them...

For Special K

2010-08-24T08:55:00.001-04:00

47

2010-08-13T21:43:00.001-04:00

Yup, it's that time of the month again...47 down. ?? to go.

I haven't forgotten about the blog, I just have nothing to say here anymore. Blah.

Hmm what do you think?

2010-07-29T17:40:00.002-04:00

I was sitting in my FIL's car this afternoon, after having been to the bank, and as I was about to put my seatbelt on, I noticed something on my shirt. A ladybug.

Now, I'm not one to necessarily believe in "signs", but what the ladybug did next was rather curious. It flew from my shirt and landed right on my charm bracelets. For long time readers of my blog, you know that every month I place a charm on my bracelet to mark each passing LIDiversary.

Strange.

Do YOU think it means anything?

This about sums it up...

2010-07-27T06:54:00.002-04:00

46...

2010-07-13T07:30:00.001-04:00

Yup, another month down. What else is there to say? At least the rumours are starting to come in...let's hope that they finally do a half-decent sized batch for a change. I'll be happy if I can mark off a good chunk of days this time.

Keeping everything crossed, though I highly doubt it.

UBP10, or why I'm boycotting Hilton...

2010-07-12T05:53:00.004-04:00

I held off writing this post as long as I could, but right now I'm pretty peeved with Hilton Garden Inn.

If any of you remember this post, you'll recall that I entered a contest in which I *could* have won a prize. Well, I did, win. I actually won a very nice prize in fact.

In theory at least.

I had entered to win a $250 gift certificate for Hilton Garden Inn. All was going well, until, of course, it was time to *receive* the gift certificate. Apparently something funny happened on the way to the proverbial forum.

The contact that this person had with Hilton went on maternity leave and her replacement didn't want to fulfill the gift certificate that I rightfully won. There was also an excuse that Hilton Garden Inn was not happy about their placement on the prize list. Apparently with such a nice prize, they expected to be placed higher on the list.

How any of this affects me and/or them going back on their word, is beyond me.

For the past (almost) three months, I have heard from my contact that it's going to be sent out "immediately", and yet nothing ever seems to come of it.

Josh and I are going on vacation soon, our intention was to use the gift certificate during our trip, which would have come in *very* handy. Since this happened, and no resolution is on the horizon, we made a concerted effort during the 2+ weeks that we'll be on vacation, to avoid any and all Hilton hotels.

Oh yeah, if anyone from Hilton happens to pop by the blog, which I doubt, feel free to explain why this happened...

Shampoo anyone?

2010-06-29T11:16:00.000-04:00

45

2010-06-13T16:22:00.002-04:00

Forty-five months, where do I begin? 45 is a significant number for me. Personally it's a number where I never thought we would get up to. Yes, I know, there are people who are/have been waiting longer than us, but when I was thinking about our referral last year, I just dreaded this month. My dad died when he was 45. I know I really shouldn't make any inference from that, but I do. I didn't think I could be any more 'down' than I am and have been for the past 3+ years, but today sucks. HARD.

So, another month and another charm. This month I'm adding the fortune cookie charm to the bracelet, which my sister-in-law chose (a long time ago).

This also marks the last month that I'm going to be adding charms to the bracelet.

I have a number of charms saved up, but I just can't bring myself to add them. They're a little too 'personal' and we would have to be a helluva lot closer to referral for me to even think about adding them. By adding them, that would mean I would have to look at them every.single.day and it's just too painful to do that right now.

Since I haven't done this in a while...

2010-06-11T22:42:00.001-04:00

I'm going to shake the proverbial lurker tree and see who comes out. Come on, don't be shy, I don't bite...

...hard.

Trippy...

2010-06-10T23:04:00.001-04:00

Thank you for being a friend...

2010-06-03T16:09:00.001-04:00

For Special K...

2010-06-02T11:21:00.002-04:00

Yay...?

2010-06-01T23:03:00.002-04:00

I got an email from our agency this afternoon and found out that our new update was given re-re-re-approval and we're 'in the clear' until May 20, 2012. I'm hoping that we get our referral before that runs out. I can't think of redoing all of this...again.

I feel kind of guilty posting and complaining about doing our update, when I have a friend whose dream is crumbling.

I guess I should count ourselves lucky, even though our situation is sucktacular.

Help needed...

2010-05-22T21:47:00.004-04:00

Most of you know that I tend to stay away from 'controversial' topics on the blog and generally keep it 'light'. That's about to change, at least where this post is concerned.

A dear friend of mine who had a LID of May 8 2006, received some heart-wrenching news on Friday.

By all accounts she should be celebrating within the next few months. Her dream was about to come true. The dream of adopting her child. All of that has come to a swift end.

She got divorced two years ago, and she had just completed (what would have been) her last update. Everything was going swimmingly, when all that abruptly ended. She received a call from her agency and she was told that while the CCAA had initially approved her new 'status', they were now reversing that decision.

To say that she is devastated by this news is an understatement. She is crushed, her family is crushed. She needs some help. If any of you know of someone who got divorced mid-stream in their adoption, and successfully adopted their child, please contact her at this email address.

Please take a moment tonight, as you tuck your child into bed, or dream of your future with them, to think of my friend and her horrible predicament.

Thank you.

44...

2010-05-13T22:36:00.003-04:00

My brother (AKA Ugly) chose the charm for this month, it's pretty self-explanatory.

Personally though, I wanted to get a series of four charms that spell out UGLY, but he vetoed it...I wonder why. ;)

Drum solo kitty!

2010-05-11T12:11:00.000-04:00

Feeling blah

2010-05-09T19:33:00.002-04:00

I've been feeling really down all (mother's day) weekend. I used to love this day, years ago. I loved spending the day with my family.

The year that we tried to start our family was the same year that we lost my grandmother on mother's day. For the past 12 years it has sucked...a lot. I'm looking forward to the year when we can finally celebrate something.

I hate this feeling of helplessness.

For Special K...

2010-04-22T08:11:00.001-04:00

Awesomeness overload!

2010-04-17T16:38:00.006-04:00

For those of you that have been following the blog for the past week or so, you'll remember that I wrote this post all about the Ultimate Blog Party (or UBP10).

Anyways, I never thought it would happen, but I *actually* won something and I couldn't be more pleasantly surprised and happy about it. I won a $250 gift certificate to a Hilton Garden Inn Hotel! How awesome is that?!

It's going to come in *so* handy when we go on our road trip later this year. WOO...HOO!!!

Thanks everyone at 5 Minutes for Mom!

2010-04-16T10:52:00.000-04:00

43

2010-04-13T19:42:00.002-04:00

43 months down. ?? to go.

I chose this charm to add to the bracelet as a remembrance for my late paternal grandmother. I'm named after her, and her name was...Rose.

Hell Mobility

2010-04-12T22:38:00.003-04:00

You might wonder why I've got a picture of Snookie here, but all will be explained in time...

I've been having some issues with my cell phone lately. I've got the Palm Pre (need I say more?) and there have been problems with it for a while. Long story short, the volume button on the side doesn't work. I can decrease the volume, but not increase it (without going into the menu and adjusting it there). I can hear the phone ring, but I can't play videos or listen to music on it. I know it's not the end of the world, but when I buy something I kind of expect it to work.

So I went into ~~Hell~~ Bell Mobility this evening to talk about the issue. I went up to the customer support person who was busy talking on her cell. She was a combination of Snookie and Carmela Soprano - complete with the poofy hair and the long fingernails. I mean, LONG. She had her nails airbrushed with the Louis Vuitton insignia on them. Seriously.

They had to be at least a couple of inches long and she kept putting her fingernails in her mouth while we were talking. GROSS. But I digress...

~~Snookie~~ The sales rep asked me when I got my phone, and I know I got it sometime in September, so all I said was "late September". She went to her computer and started looking for the date I purchased it...by the DATE. Not by the phone number or any other information, and she just kept scrolling. One of the other reps ~~bitchslapped~~ asked her to step away from the computer and go ~~hooch it up elsewhere~~ deal with another customer.

He found all the details and told me it was still under warranty. Great. He said I could get another phone, but they were on back order. I asked him how long it would take to get a new phone and he told me it could "take up to a month". Umm, ques'que fuck?!

Not that I live and die by my phone, but that's kind of an inconvenience. I asked the rep if I would lose any apps that I recently downloaded, and he said he wasn't sure and if I wanted to know, that I could call Bell. Umm, I'm in the Bell store, shouldn't he know that?!

Anyways, I called Bell from the BELL STORE and the customer service rep went through some trouble shooting with me. He asked me to restart the phone because "sometimes that fixes the problem". Umm, my problem is a mechanical problem with the button, but apparently I don't know what I'm talking about...but I digress.

When the phone restarted, he told me to click this, click that, do this, do that, and after twenty seven minutes and fifty three seconds (yes, the phone had a time stamp), he told me that the issue was with the phone's buttons. For all things holy...I was about to scream.

He told me that I should go home, upload all my pictures, and any info that I had on it, to my computer and then go back to ~~Hell~~ Bell and ask for a new phone. Didn't we already establish that I needed a new phone?! Anyways, he told me that if I wanted a new phone, I could get one for "free".

Technically it would be "free", except I would have to pay $35 for them to diagnosis the problem (yes, I already diagnosed it for them), and if I wanted a "loaner" phone while I wait for my "free phone", I could get one for $25. Yup, I could get my new, free phone for $60.

In the long run, I decided that I didn't want to bother. The issue doesn't affect the phone, per se, it's just annoying. Anyways, really, why should I pay for any of this when it's a technical problem? They suck.

Party hardy, drink Bacardi...

2010-04-09T16:59:00.008-04:00

I've been doing the "Ultimate Blog Party" thing for a couple of years, and it's always a great way to "meet" new people and find out about them. For my regular readers, the handful that still keep reading my blurbs, the UBP is basically where you meet other bloggers and can actually win prizes. Some of the prizes kick ass, if I do say so myself. If I won anything, the one prize that would really come in handy would be the $250 gift certificate to a Hilton hotel, especially with our upcoming road trip this summer. ;)

Granted, I haven't won anything yet, but you never know...

For those of you that are new to this blog, I'm an ever-so-impatient, waiting mom for a child from China. So far it's been a very long process. When my husband and I started out, we were told that we would have a child within a year, but things changed...slightly.

Next week we'll have been waiting for 43 months. FORTY THREE long months. I'm not going to bore you with all the things that have led us to this point, but suffice it to say that this is the hardest thing I've ever been through. This wait has, in essence, drained us; emotionally. Who would have thought that it would be *this* difficult to have a child? But I digress...

The two things that have kept me ~~somewhat~~ sane throughout this process have been my wonderful husband of almost 14 years (is it wrong that I just referred to my husband as a 'thing'?), and my cat, Deuce.

If any of you new(er) folk would like to leave me a comment, I'll be sure to visit your blog.

Seriously...?

2010-04-06T15:05:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, we had met with our new social worker just this past Thursday. I just checked my email and the update is complete.

Seriously.

I'm absolutely stunned that since first talking with her on March 1st, that we were able to get all the documents complete, meet with her, and she was able to do our update. I'm sorry, but I'm just not used to this kind of prompt attention from a social worker.

Now if the CCAA could just hurry up...

Wow...just wow.

2010-04-05T10:17:00.003-04:00

[Does anyone actually read this blog anymore?]

This past Thursday (yes, April Fool's Day and the middle of Passover), Josh and I met with our new social worker. We decided to schedule the meeting during Passover because: a) the house would be at its cleanest and,
b) Josh had the whole week off to help me with cleaning and preparing.

I can't get over how great she was.

We sat for just over two hours (she even ate my all-too-dry passover cake and said it was delicious) and talked about *everything* - including what's going on with our agency...

She wasn't a "typical" social worker, or at least what I've come to know as "typical" over the past 4+ years. She wasn't stiff (again, unlike the cake), she was *gasp* human. We talked, laughed, joked about things. It was totally bizarre, but in a good way.

She went over our original home study, page by page, but really only touched on the major points. She didn't even bother to comment on our first update because there really wasn't any substance to it. A few comments were made about our previous social workers (by her), which made me snort. ;)

When we got around to the topic of education, Josh mentioned that he had gotten his MBA during the time we were doing our original homestudy and that he had spent three weeks at Cranfield University. Our social worker's mouth dropped open. She told us that her second daughter was born on the grounds of the university (in a res). It was all a little bizarre considering how small the university is (in case anyone is familiar with the area, it's near Milton-Keynes). They spent about 15 minutes talking about the scenery, etc.

At the end of the meeting, we asked her if she wanted to see the rest of the house. She looked at me, and said that "your previous social worker saw it two years ago, that's good enough for me." (I wish I had known that before we cleaned it from top to bottom). :P

She told me to let her know when we're close (about a month or two before we think we'll get our referral). She actually schedules her vacations around referrals, so if she knows she's got a client who is getting theirs, she'll make sure she's in town.

We had such an enjoyable (I never thought that was possible) time with our social worker that when she left, I had to stop myself from hugging her. If any of the GTA folk need a social worker, leave me a comment and I'll pass her info on to you...

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, THANK YOU, LISA for giving us her name. We seriously can't thank you enough.

Click all as read?

2010-03-17T11:03:00.002-04:00

Are you sure? Yes!

I had to do this to my google reader, so sad too bad. If I missed anything important on your blog, leave me a comment.

I had computer problems the last few days and the only access I had was through my Pre. I don't know how I made it through, honestly. :P

...hear me roar!!! UPDATE

2010-03-13T14:51:00.003-05:00

Not the best picture, but so sad too bad. ;)

Today marks 42 months of waiting. FORTY TWO months. *splat*

To answer Dreamer's question, the charm was chosen by my MIL. It's representative of Josh's Hebrew name which translates into "lion". :)

What a difference!

2010-03-08T09:09:00.002-05:00

Last Monday we started working on our update for our ~~neverending~~ adoption. We wanted to switch social workers, due to a few reasons - none of which I'm going to on here, and we went with a suggestion from our BFFs. The social worker turned out to be better than I could have ever imagined.

Seriously.

We have been in constant contact with her via email and phone calls. She's always there, even in the evenings AND on weekends. I've had more contact with the new social worker than I have been with both of the others, over the past four years, combined. Scary, isn't it?

We sent her our entire file on Tuesday, she sent us all the forms we had to fill out and sent them back to her. Everything was complete by Saturday (except for our physicals which occur at the end of March).

On Saturday we went to do our police background check, because we're such big criminals. Anyways, when we got there I asked the lady behind the counter how long it would take to get the paperwork back from the police. She told me that, on average, it would be about ten days. I told her that it was for an adoption. She asked me if it was the last piece of paperwork we were waiting for and ~~I lied~~ said yes. She told us to have a seat and five minutes later she handed it to us. How about that for efficiency?

With all this completed, we still haven't even met our social worker or even paid her a dime...but everything is complete. Is six days a record for getting the paperwork done? ;)

With everything we have been through, it's about bloody time that something goes smoothly. It's gone so smoothly, in fact, that with my nature I'm almost waiting for the other shoe to drop. How sad is that?

Captain obvious...

2010-03-02T06:52:00.001-05:00

This about sums it up...

2010-02-27T08:10:00.001-05:00

2010-02-25T10:43:00.000-05:00

41

2010-02-14T19:33:00.002-05:00

Yesterday marked our 41 month LIDiversary, nothing much more to say about that. My BIL chose this charm and when I showed it to him, he asked who picked it. It's been two years since he actually picked it, that he forgot.

I think that's a sign of the times.

Awesomeness...

2010-02-09T21:09:00.001-05:00

I seriously love Ellen, and even though I've never watched The Jersey Shore, after this and the stupidity of it, I just might. Take a few minutes and watch it...

VD & CNY

2010-02-08T21:12:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm back from a month long self-imposed blog break, did anyone even notice? Thanks to the few of you who checked in on me, it was appreciated.

Josh came home this evening with THE most gorgeous roses. He got them (early) for Valentine's Day as well as CNY. Is he not THE sweetest guy? :)

More fireworks...

2010-01-15T08:44:00.002-05:00

Seven different hotels had seven minute displays, this is just a little taste of what we saw...

New Year's Eve

2010-01-15T08:31:00.002-05:00

Just to give you an idea of the huge crowd that was on the strip. This was with about an hour to go before New Year's, and it got *much* more crowded as it got closer...

Bellagio fountain

2010-01-15T08:17:00.002-05:00

Las Vegas - Part 2 Long post ahead

2010-01-14T22:10:00.003-05:00

I've been ~~more than~~ a little lax in my blogging as of late, and haven't gotten around to writing the second part about our Las Vegas trip. My bad. We really didn't take *a lot* of pictures, but I'll share some of the better ones. I decided to make this post REALLY long, because if I split it up who knows when I'd get around to getting it done.

When last I left off, I mentioned how we were given another room (our third) which was quite the improvement...if I do say so myself.

After all the crap that we went through on our first day, we decided to take it easy for the rest of the evening and just did a little bit of touring up and down the strip.

The next morning (Tuesday), we went to the Hoover Dam. I had been there before, but Josh hadn't. We wanted to go to the Grand Canyon during this trip, but we didn't end up doing it. We were told by the tour organizer that the road to the Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon was snow covered and closed, and since the weather was so craptacular, we decided to just go to the Hoover Dam instead. Oh well.

We saw the new bridge that was being constructed, that will eventually bypass the Hoover Dam. For those of you that have been there, you know that there's only a two lane road (one lane in each direction) that goes over the Hoover Dam. The problem with that, of course, is that it leads to HUGE traffic jams for those that live in the area. We were told that it's not uncommon for there to be a five to six hour traffic nightmare every afternoon. Imagine going through that on your way home? Ugh.

While we were standing on the Hoover Dam (keep in mind that the road surface is the top of the dam), we looked out at Lake Mead. If you look closely at the picture, you'll notice the difference in the colour of the rock. The brown represents the actual colour of the rock. The white represents where the level of the lake used to be. Pretty neat, huh?

Anyways, after that we headed back to Vegas and went out for dinner at the hotel. We decided to keep things kind of low key that evening because we were going to a (free) comedy show. It was one of the comps that the hotel manager gave us...and man am I glad that it was free because it stunk. Seriously, smelly.It was hosted by J.J. Walker. For those of you who remember the show Good Times, that's who I'm referring to. He is SUCH a hack. I'm sorry but anyone who introduces himself and then says "Good evening, ladies and germs", shouldn't be doing comedy anymore. Seriously. His jokes were dated, and he just wasn't funny. At the end of the show he was signing t-shirts with the Dyn-o-mite logo on it. Just sad.

Wednesday was spent walking around the strip, which is what we did for a majority of our time there. Since Josh had never been to Vegas, I wanted to show him all the hotels, as well as seeing the new hotels myself. For most of the time, we didn't take the camera with us. So sad, too bad. ;)

Wednesday evening we went to the Bellagio hotel. If you ever get a chance to go to the buffet there, I *highly* recommend it. They have every kind of food imaginable. Seriously. After dinner we watched the fountain in front of the hotel. Four times an hour, in the evenings, there's a 'show' set to music.

Thursday was spent walking around the strip some more and we went to the Fashion Show Mall. We didn't buy anything, but we walked our feet off. I have to say I was more than a little disappointed with the shopping on this trip. Sure, there were things to buy if you wanted to shop at the boutiques, but I didn't feel like spending that kind of money. ;)

Thursday night, being New Year's Eve, we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for dinner. Oh my, the steak was *amazing*. As the restaurant was a little ways away from our hotel, we took a cab there. The ride to the restaurant was uneventful, but on the ride back to the hotel we had the.best.cab.driver.ever. He was hilarious. He was telling jokes and had us in stitches, talking about how he was born in Cameroon and so on. He asked us if we had kids (gotta love when people get nosey), and we told him no. Josh did say, however, that we have a cat. He told us that we needed to have kids. He told us that he has seven kids; five biological and two adopted. At that point I did something I never do, I told a stranger about little one. He wished us well and told us that he had adopted his best friend's daughters (his friend was killed in a car accident).

Once we got back to the hotel, we went upstairs and changed...and then it was off to celebrate New Year's Eve with 400,000 of our closest friends. Yup, we brought in the new year on the strip. It was beyond awesome. Everyone on the strip was drunk, actually that's an understatement. They were FUBAR'ed. Actually when I went into one of the hotels, there was a gaggle of girls who were sitting on the floor of the bathroom in their mini skirts, texting the others in the next stall, playing paddycake with the floor and singing songs. If that isn't FUBAR, then I don't know what is.

There was a Bud Light truck in front of one of the hotels that was selling 67oz beer bottles (the equivalent of a six pack) for $14. There was a HOOGE lineup for those.

All in all, it was an awesome trip and I can't wait to go back...hopefully later this year. :)

The big 4-0

2010-01-13T07:45:00.001-05:00

Another month, another charm. This one was chosen by Josh's sister. Yay.

Las Vegas - Part 1

2010-01-06T18:07:00.006-05:00

December 28th we got to the airport at 6:10am for our 9:30am flight. We got caught up in the whole fufura with the Christmas Day attempted bombing and the after effects being that we had to get to the airport extra early for a few new layers of security. It made for a LONG day. Not that I mind, in the long run, since it will make things safer for everyone. Though at the time, it wasn't great.

We had four layers of security to go through. First we had to put our bags through the X-ray machine (which is normal), then we had to go through the X-ray machines ourselves, then a physical patdown and then our carry-on bags were physically searched. In order to make things easier on ourselves, we decided to check-in everything except my purse and Josh's camera bag. All of that took an hour and a half.

Once all that was complete, we sat around to board our plane. We waited...and waited...and waited. Then we waited some more. The flight could not take off until everyone was on board, and they decided to delay the flight because some passengers were caught up in the extra security measures.

Fine, whatever.

We eventually took off an hour and a half late. I guess I should count myself lucky, the previous day's 9:30am flight didn't take off until 2:00pm. Ugh.

We finally arrived in Vegas (bay-bee) and went to the hotel. We were able to check in early, so we went right up to our room. I took one look inside and noticed that they gave us a room with two double beds - I had requested a room with a king size, so that was a problem. I went down to the front desk and told them what happened and I was told "requests cannot always be filled and if you want a king size bed, you'll have to wait until 3:00 when normal check-in is."

Fine, whatever.

We put our bags in the secured baggage area and went to the Flamingo Hotel for a bite to eat.

Check out the size of the koi in relation to the size of the duck. Insane!

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and got the keys to room #2. We walked in and this is what we saw...(notice the lovely stains on the floor).

Needless to say, a call was *immediately* placed to the manager. I told him all that had gone wrong since we arrived (and that I always stay at this hotel), and he apologized profusely. He also told us that he would "do something" for our trouble. He asked me "what would you like me to do?" I told him to "think of something and get back to me".

About ten minutes later, a bellhop came up to our room and transferred our bags to the new room. The manager called us in the new room and said that he was reviewing our reservation details. He told me "the price you are paying is astronomical and I'll reduce your room rate". He ended up not only taking $300 off our stay, but he also sent us free tickets to the shows at the hotel as well as several food vouchers.

Awe.some.

I'll be posting more about our trip during the week...this is just a teaser. ;)

Blown away...

2010-01-05T19:42:00.002-05:00

When I went to get the mail today, I saw that I got a package. Inside, was a thoughtful note and beautiful gift. Tears were shed when I read the note. My friend, Mary (aka Belen), sent me a necklace and pair of earrings. I've 'known' her online for years, but we've never talked on the phone nor met in person. I was secretly hoping we could meet when we went to Vegas, but it didn't work out. One day we'll have to fix that...

If you can't read the note, it says:

Rhonda,

This is what I've been planning for months for you and never got around to with school.

I hope the necklace and earrings match something in your wardrobe and that they serve as a reminder that people from all over are constantly thinking of you and Josh and when you'll be holding your "Little Maple".

Much love from Nevada!
Mary Belen

The thing that makes this even more special is that the clasp is a gold heart. I don't know if she knew this or not, but gold hearts hold a special meaning for me. For our one year LIDiversary, I added a gold heart charm (the explanation is in that post). Also, everyday I wear this.

This and that...

2009-12-28T02:23:00.002-05:00

Friday evening Josh and I, Cari and Mark and Michelle all went to the airport to welcome 4D home from China. We couldn't be happier for them! The pictures don't do Daphne justice, she is SO precious and beautiful up close.

Sorry for the quality of the pictures, they were taken with my phone. For some reason I keep forgetting my camera. Oops.

---

Saturday, as I was about to take a bath Deuce decided to join me. Before I got into the bath, he jumped onto the toilet seat, where he usually sits and waits for me to finish the bath. Anyways, he must have thought that the toilet seat was down, because he jumped right INTO the toilet. Poor wet, humiliated kitty...

---

In a few short hours we're heading to the airport for our trip to Vegas, bay-bee. Miss me. Miss me lots. Leave me stuff to read here, because lord knows I'm not going to catch up on the bajillion blog posts that you're all going to post in the time I'm gone. So sad, too bad. ;)

Make stuff up. I don't care...

---

Happy New Year to everyone!

What a weekend!

2009-12-21T10:44:00.002-05:00

Josh and I had my family as well as Lisa, Craig and the girls over for dinner on Friday, and if I do say so myself, a good time was had by all.

Lisa had read this post just before leaving for our place and brought us two containers of Philadelphia cream cheese...you know, so I don't kill everyone at the table. Actually we ended up using the other brand, and as far as I know, everyone's still alive and well... ;)

After a fully belly-bursting, jean-button-popping dinner, we took a small break from eating and I brought the kids into the kitchen for a 'surprise'. I had made dreidel-shaped cookies and bought icing and had a little decorating station set up for the kidlets. It was HILARIOUS watching the kids put the icing on the cookies. S (who is, if you ask her "2.75 years old") was more interested in smiling for the camera than watching what was happening with the icing...as it glooped to the plate and counter. Some of it actually ended up on the cookie! I wouldn't have had it any other way...the kids had a blast and the adults were killing themselves laughing.

We also exchanged gifts for the kiddies, and Lisa and Craig got us a gift certificate for Boston Pizza (where else?) ;)

I had my nephew for the weekend and we had an amazing time. Friday night, after everyone left, we watched cartoons and then tucked him into bed.

Saturday morning was started off with chocolate chip and peanut butter pancakes...*drool*. Zachary did some research with Uncle Josh on his project for school. He's doing a write-up on king cobras, so the boys went to the library for some research, as well as doing some on the computer.

Saturday night we went to Josh's parents' house for dinner (it was Josh's dad's birthday). Zachary had a *blast* over there...especially playing every.single.note on the piano, both up the scale and down. I'm sure everyone's ears are still ringing from that. ;)

When we got home from dinner, I gave him two options - it was a loaded question. We could either sit on the couch and watch cartoons or we could all put on our pjs and snuggle in bed and watch them. Guess which one he chose? What a snuggly little boy he is.

Sunday was spent at the Canadian Air and Space Museum. We got some great picks of my nephew in the cockpit of a plane. He was enthralled with all the different planes and he read *everything* about each plane. His parents came by later in the afternoon to pick him up and we all went out for dinner.

This morning the house is just WAY too quiet...

Sayonara salmonella

2009-12-16T21:53:00.002-05:00

Josh and I are planning a dinner party this Friday night for the last night of Channukah. We're having the family and Lisa, Craig and the girls over. Anyways, we like to get things done early, so we did our shopping earlier in the week.

Tonight, as Josh was reading the Canadian Jewish News, he stumbled over this article and tore down the stairs. Lo and behold, we had THAT cream cheese with THAT date and THAT UPC code. We nearly plotzed.

We packed up the ~~disease-ridden~~ cream cheese in question with the newspaper article and went back to the grocery store. We went to the customer service counter and told them about the cream cheese. The clerk looked at the article, looked at the cream cheese and was about to ring it up. Umm, we don't want to BUY it, we wanted to return it.

We asked to see the manager. The clerk didn't want to exchange the cream cheese we had and give us new ones because we didn't have the bill.

The manager ambled down the stairs and we re-told the story. She told us that she knew about the cream cheese and that the story was actually out a little while ago. She then looked at us and said "Did you buy it here?"

It was REALLY tempting to say "no, we're part of a great cream cheese conspiracy and we walk around from grocery store to grocery store trying to return rancid cream cheese. You're onto us, lady!"

We told her that we bought it there and she said "ok, straight exchange". Fine, great. The clerk took the original cream cheese from us and was going to put it back on the shelf. The manager told her "no, it has to be destroyed".

So we went back to the shelf to pick up our new cream cheese and guess what we saw? An entire shelf full of the 'bad' cream cheese. SAME cream cheese, SAME date, SAME UPC code. We went back to the counter and told them that it was still sitting there and asked to see the manager again. This time we had to wait a few minutes because she was on the phone.

She didn't come down the stairs and Josh actually ended up talking to her on the phone. Josh told her that it was still sitting on the shelf and that she would "deal with it shortly".

Well, that wasn't good enough. I mean, we don't want anyone getting sick because of the manager's apathy or laziness.

We found the manager in charge of stocking the shelves. We showed him the article and pointed out the entire shelf of cream cheese. He told us that "it was a new shipment" and that even though it has the same date, it's not the affected product. He understood our worry and said "instead of making excuses, I'm going to personally take all of them off the shelf and call the company in the morning".

As we were talking to him, wouldn't you know that a clerk walked by with the two affected cream cheeses (from our fridge) and placed them back on the shelf. Oh yes, he did.

We didn't take the second manager at his word, seeing as what just took place. We stood there and watched them remove ALL the cream cheese in question.

So, what do you like with your salmonella-laced cream cheese?

Monday morning mew

2009-12-14T11:13:00.002-05:00

39 months

2009-12-13T20:42:00.002-05:00

So today marks our 39 month LIDiversary, one shy of the big 4-0. Instead of focus on the negative and how long we've waited, I'm going to try to be positive about the wait from now on. (HA! I know how many times I've said that in the past, and failed, but this time I'm going to really see beyond what we've been through and look to the future).

I'm not going to lie and say that it hasn't been hard, but when I see my friends getting their kids and realizing that the CCAA are now starting April, I'm hoping that things speed up a little. What I'm really hoping for is that the Rumour Queen is right (ok, you can stop rolling your eyes) about her predictions, and that we'll see our referral in a year and a half. Perhaps I'm still being naive, even after all this time, but I have to believe that this interminable wait is going to end...at some point.

Anyways, enough of that. This month's charm was chosen by Josh's dad. Since he's a doctor, he chose the charm that definitely suits him the most...

3D is now 4D!

2009-12-13T09:43:00.001-05:00

Please take a moment and go over and see this beautiful family and wish them congratulations! We couldn't be more thrilled for them.

Happy Channukah!

2009-12-11T23:00:00.002-05:00

I think I prefer the Adam Sandler version, but this is just so...wrong, it's right. Give it a listen. ;)

To all of you, whether you celebrate the holiday or not, I wish you a happy and healthy Channukah!

50,000

2009-12-10T07:39:00.003-05:00

At some point today or tomorrow, I'm going to pass the 50,000 mark on the blog. I find it hard to believe that in the past three and a half years (has it really been THAT long?!), since starting the blog, that I've had that many hits. That there are that many of you who like to ~~be bored~~ follow along with our adoption ~~standstill~~ journey.

Thanks everyone, and here's to the next 50,000. Hopefully I still won't be waiting at that point. ;)

How thoughtful!

2009-12-09T20:52:00.000-05:00

I've been feeling rather down about the adoption, which doesn't seem to be going anywhere lately (which you can all attest to). For long-time readers of the blog, you'll probably notice my lack of posts *about* the adoption lately. As we're coming up to month 39 this Sunday, I've been feeling like this is never going to happen. (It probably will, but this is just how I've been feeling lately).

Anyways, today I received a truly thoughtful card and present in the mail from very good friends - that are currently in Shanghai and are about to receive their beautiful daughter in a few short days. I won't lie, a few tears were shed when I read the card...

Rhonda,

I saw this charm and thought of you. The two hearts reminded me of a hug. A hug between friends when times are rough. A hug between a mon & her child. Both have & will happen.

xo Doris

This charm is going on the bracelet today, and I'll be putting another charm on the bracelet on Sunday as well.

Doris, I can't thank you enough for the truly thoughtful gift. It means more than you know. I'm putting it right next to the daisy you sent me last December.

Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies

2009-12-09T04:09:00.001-05:00

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup or brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and .

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still ok, try another cup just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the frigging fruit off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry it loose with a drewscriver.

Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who geeves a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

(Thanks Nic.) ;)

Monday morning mew

2009-12-07T09:50:00.002-05:00

Is it just me, or is this the *perfect* picture to sum up my love/hate opinion of the RQ site? ;)

She just released her projections for the next few batches, and she's still standing by her thoughts that the CCAA are going to get to mid-May by April/May of 2010. I still don't see it...

March is done!

2009-12-02T07:25:00.003-05:00

Finally!!! Even though our LID is in September, I breathed a sigh of relief this morning when I read that March is FINALLY complete.

Congrats to everyone who is about to get their referral!

Still looking to see how many more lurkers there are out there. If you're reading this, leave me a comment. I don't bite...hard.

Shaking the lurker tree...

2009-12-01T10:06:00.002-05:00

...let's see who falls out. Leave me a comment if you're poking around here...

Not so humane after all...

2009-11-30T12:06:00.004-05:00

Anyone who knows me, knows of my deep love of animals. Just over 11 years ago, we got Deuce from the Toronto Humane Society. Our experience in getting him, and our joy in having him, led me to a decision to support the society on a monthly basis since then.

You can imagine my outrage and extreme sadness this weekend when I read about the conditions at the Humane Society and the treatment (or lack of same) of the animals in their care. I'll link to a few stories, but be warned, some of the things you are going to read are quite atrocious.

They can be found here, here and here.

The final straw was in Saturday's paper when it mentioned that the donations would be used to defend the 'accused' who were arrested on charges of animal cruelty.

I tried to call the Humane Society a few times this morning to cancel my monthly donation, but nobody would pick up the phone. I decided that I would call my credit card company, and wouldn't you know it, when they called someone picked up and discussed the cancellation of my donation. I hate to do it because I know the animals still need help, but who would have thought they would need the most protection from those who were supposed to care for them?

Happy Thanksgiving...

2009-11-26T10:46:00.001-05:00

...to everyone south of the border.

Awesomely awesome...

2009-11-24T17:47:00.000-05:00

Monday morning mew

2009-11-23T07:24:00.003-05:00

When we used to live in the apartment, I came home from work one day, and the same thing happened to me.

As my usual pattern, I went into the kitchen to see if we had any calls on our answering machine. I picked up the phone and all I heard was weird slurping sounds. I didn't know, at first, what to make of it and I hung up. I waited a few seconds and picked the receiver up again, and the same thing happened. It started to freak me out, I thought we had an obscene caller.

I hung up the phone again, and started walking around the apartment. I picked up another receiver and the same thing occurred. Weird, slurping sounds...but this time it was followed by a very distinctive, very satisfied purr.

Apparently we have a talented kitty. He had lifted the receiver from the cradle and was licking the phone...

---

On another Deuce-related note, he had his rabies shot and a general check-up yesterday and they actually gave him a report card. Everything checked out *really* well, but they want him back in January for a dental cleaning and another urinalysis. All seems to be going really well. He was extra-super-sucky yesterday and wouldn't leave our side, nor would he stop mewing for attention. He's such a little bum. :)

Just one of those days...

2009-11-20T22:43:00.001-05:00

Exciting new venture!

2009-11-17T17:48:00.003-05:00

My very good friend Lisa has started her own business! Please take a few minutes, go here and peruse her items!

She's selling hairclips, bows, tutus, and much, much more!

She's also got a selection of items for the holidays. Go look! What are you waiting for?

38 months

2009-11-13T21:32:00.003-05:00

Josh decided to add this charm to the bracelet because of his love of cooking. In case you can't tell, it's supposed to be a chef's hat.

Last night I thought we were heading into month 39, not 38. How much does it suck that we've been at this so long that I'm starting to forget how long we've been waiting? Bleh.

Quality, value, service, trust - Part 4

2009-11-12T17:10:00.002-05:00

...and the hits just keep coming.

I found this comment on the blog today and I thought I would share it with all of you (it's posted in the comment section of Part 1)...

Dear Rhonda,

It is disappointing to read about the service that you have received from Sears. It is our goal at Sears to not only meet but exceed our customer’s expectations and at this point we have not done this for you. My name is David and I work for the Sears Cares executive team and we would appreciate the opportunity to right this situation. At your convenience please contact my office via email at searscares@searshc.com so we can assist you in resolving this issue. Please provide a contact and the phone number the mattress was purchased under (if different than the contact) and we will call you at your convenience. We look forward to hearing back from you soon.

Thank you,

David V.
Senior Case Manager
Sears Cares

Off to send an email! Wish me luck, everyone...

I'll let you all know what happens, after the phone call. ;)

Quality, value, service, trust - Part 3

2009-11-09T17:30:00.002-05:00

Yesterday afternoon Josh and I decided to go into the store to talk to the manager, we figured she could always try to 'dodge' us if we simply called.

She told me that the salesman would be talked to and not to promise anything like this again. Ok, fine. We went through the whole story of everything that went wrong, and she basically shook us off like an annoying fly on the wall and told us to call up customer complaints in the morning and that she was forwarding all her notes there...

About to explode, I turned around and left.

I called customer complaints this morning and spoke to an agent. She asked for my name and particulars, which I gave to her. She then said 'nothing about your situation is on my screen.' I replied '...and this is yet another element of the lack of service we received this weekend.' (At this point, I don't care what I say...)

She then said that she found the note(s) and she was just reading them. She said that the store is doing all it is prepared to do about the situation and they are dealing with it at the store level, by talking to the salesman.

I told this person that this was unacceptable and that we've spent a considerable amount of money there, since we've moved into the house. (I was trying to tell her that we're repeat, mostly satisfied customers, but she didn't want to hear it.) I told her that we would not be returning to Sears as a customer, and all she said was 'I'm sorry to hear that.'

Now here's the kicker...

I asked to speak to her supervisor, since I wasn't getting anywhere with this lady. She told me, and I quote, "We all speak for the president, so it doesn't matter who you talk to, you would get the same response."

I was waiting for her to say "resistance is futile"...

This afternoon I got the name and address of the Divisional V.P. of the Corporate Call Centre. It looks like he and I are going to be corresponding very shortly.

I'm not going away quietly...correction, I'm not going away. ;)

Nighty night

2009-11-07T20:21:00.002-05:00

Quality, value, service, trust - Part 2

2009-11-07T19:47:00.003-05:00

When last I posted, it was just shortly past 1:00 and SO much has occurred since.

I was promised by one of the people at Sears that the second crew would be arriving sometime between 2:00 and 5:00, and was asked if it was alright if they arrived early. While still angry about the situation, I agreed that this would be fine...especially about the 'early' part.

Midway through the afternoon, probably around 2:30, I called the store and asked if they had an ETA on when the guys would arrive. She said that they hadn't gotten to the store, but she was calling them "right now" and would get back to me. I let that go, and waited...and waited...and waited some more.

She finally got back to me around 3:15 and said that I would be receiving a call from the second team 'momentarily'. I got a call at 4:30 saying that they just got to the store and would be coming right away. My question is, if they weren't arriving until 4:30, then how could they promise me that "someone would be here between 2:00 and 5:00"?

Apparently our ideas of 'right away' are off base. The second team called me and said that since our order was 'an add on', we would be the last one of the evening. They said that it would definitely be after 6:00, probably closer to 7:00.

I called the store back and said it was unacceptable, and the clerk said, that she would see what she could do.

A third gentleman called back, Shazam, and said that he would be out as soon as he was finished his job in East York (roughly 45 minutes away), and if the other guys arrived first, so be it, but certainly someone would be arriving this evening.

I called the store back, spoke to the manager, for the 324237th time, just to let her know what was going on and that I was livid by the whole situation. Delivery of a bed should not require this much work.

5:00 passed. 6:00 passed. Finally at 6:30 the second team arrived and went into the bedroom to attach the bed frame to the headboard. Hallelujah!

They walked into the room, realized that they would have to drill new holes, and even though they had a drill in their hands, told me that they COULD NOT drill new holes. Apparently they aren't allowed to do so, there's just one guy who could do it, so they turned around and LEFT. Yes, that's right. They left.

I called the store back, AGAIN, and told them what was going on, and the manager told me that she would put in a 'special call' to Shazam and that she would TRY to get him out tonight, but if not, would tomorrow be ok? Seriously?

Ques'que fuck?!

I told her again that the mattress was in our hallway and the boxsprings were leaning against the armoire and that we didn't have a bed tonight. At that, she said (are you sitting down for this?) "Can't you put the boxsprings on the frame and the mattress on top?"

Yes, of course we COULD, but that's not the point. It's the principle of the matter. We paid for service, and damn it, we were going to get it come hell or high water.

She sighed and said that she would call Shazam and 'see what she could do'.

No more than five minutes passed when Shazam called back and said that he would be arriving as soon as he left his job in East York.

7:15 rolled around and finally, by the grace of all things holy, Shazam walked through the door. He walked up to the bedroom and he couldn't believe all that we had been through. He asked why none of the other crews did their jobs, and honestly his guess is as good as mine.

He looked at the bedframe and said 'it's been put in backwards and you're missing the supports!' He looked in the box and found them, and said that the guys who originally put the frame together (around noon), totally screwed up and actually put the wheels on backwards as well. He looked at the shape of the frame and said that it was all askew. The top width measured 74 inches and the bottom was 76 inches. Yeah, I'd say that's askew.

Shazam and his sidekick, the boy wonder (AKA Kato), took apart the frame, put it together properly and drilled new holes in the frame and attached everything properly.

He turned to me and said 'how hard was that? Why didn't anyone do this properly the first time?' He had a few, more harsh words about Sears, but they're not quite fit for print. ;)

All in all, it was a REALLY stressful day. More stress than should be involved in a simple purchase and delivery of a mattress and boxspring.

On the last call to the manager of the store, I told her that I wanted to talk about doing something with the bill. She told me that "we'll talk about it tomorrow, after everything has been set up". I think she basically wants me to 'sleep on it' and cool off by morning. HA! She doesn't know me at all...

Believe me, I'm SO calling her in the morning...I'll let you know what happens.

So, all in all, our day and our sanity was saved...by Captain Marvel.

SHAZAM!

Quality, value, service, trust - Part 1

2009-11-07T13:02:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Josh and I went into our local Sears store to buy a mattress, boxspring and frame. Pretty simple, right? We were told that because of health and safety regulations, that we would have to put the mattresses in bags (which they supplied). Not a big deal, or so we thought.

Well, this morning we knew everything would be delivered, so we woke up early to start packing things up. We unfolded the mattress bag and realized that it was too small. I asked Josh to call the store to make sure that they sent us the right bag. They confirmed that they did, but before sending him to the store, we measured the mattress, then the bag. He called the store, and after being transferred from person to person, he was told that our mattress was too big for the bag.

Umm, we've already established that.

They told Josh that since the boxsprings would fit in the bags, that we should package those up and if the deliverymen didn't take the unbagged mattress, that they would send out someone to take it. To me, that seems like an unncessary level of bureaucracy, but whatever.

Fast forward to noon.

The guys got here, took away the boxsprings and stared at the mattress and we had to go through the whole story with them about the mattress being too small for the bags. They decided to take the mattress, which was fine.

Then they saw that the frame was still attached to the headboard and told us that WE had to disassemble that as well. We told the deliverymen that we weren't told anything about the frame being disassembled. We also told them that the salesman said that the guys would attach the frame to the headboard.

We started disassembling the frame from the headboard, and the frame itself, when the deliverymen said that they would have to call dispatch. About five minutes later we got a call from their dispatch saying that the guys would have to move on to their next delivery.

Wow. Nice customer service.

I called up the store and complained. The woman I spoke to said that they would be sending someone out to attach the frame to the headboard later today. Great, but still just an extra level of stress and annoyance that we don't need.

We were almost finished disassembling everything at that point. I sent Josh outside to get the guys (before they drove off), and said that everything was taken apart. They came back up, put the frame together, put the new mattress in the hall and the new boxsprings in the bedroom...and left.

As soon as they left, I called up the store to complain about how we were treated (the guys were VERY rude as well). She said that she would be sending someone out A.S.A.P. to attach the headboard to the frame, and asked if sometime between 3:00pm and 6:00pm was ok. Fine, whatever.

As I was walking up the stairs, I noticed that there's a HUGE gash (26 inches...I measured), and called the store again. I was told by the person at customer service that "I'm with a customer right now, but I'll call you right back".

I totally lost my shit with her.

I replied "what am I? I'm a customer. I'm a very angry customer." I'm so pissed off right now about the whole situation.

I just got a call back from the store, and she apologized for what happened and replied "The service you get at Sears, you'll never get at any other store." She SO walked into that, and I went off again and said "I would hope I wouldn't get this service at another store, I would hope it's better."

Now I'm waiting for a call back from the store manager, I'll let you all know what happens next. ;)

(The title of the post refers to Sears slogan that's plastered all over our bill of sale. HA!)

Canadian, eh?

2009-11-05T17:46:00.000-05:00

Happy 40th Sesame Street...

2009-11-04T21:49:00.001-05:00

In honour of Sesame Street's 40th birthday, I thought I'd post this. I think I've done it before, but it's THAT good that it bears repeating.

Just so you know...

2009-11-04T11:19:00.001-05:00

Congratulations!

2009-11-02T10:29:00.001-05:00

Please go and congratulate Catherine and Hannah! She finally received her precious daughter this morning. We couldn't be happier for you, my friend!

Happy Hallowe'en!

2009-10-30T11:07:00.002-04:00

When monkeys fly outta my ass...part two

2009-10-20T23:16:00.002-04:00

In honour of the monkeys flying out of my ass post, my friend Sam made this picture for me.

Enjoy!

Check this out...

2009-10-20T14:44:00.001-04:00

...amazing isn't strong enough a word.

It really is...

2009-10-16T20:58:00.000-04:00

Our journey to "Little Maple" and back...

5 years...

58 and holding...

57

New box-y goodness!

56

55

Congratulations!

Pretty!

Déjà vu

54 months and counting...

Finally!

I'm in love...

...another one bites the dust

How cool is this?

Well...I never!

52

It's purty!

Always a story...

Seriously...

51

50 months...

Let's try this again...

This about sums it up...

Starting to believe...

Eternity

"Mark all as read?"

For Special K

47

Hmm what do you think?

This about sums it up...

46...

UBP10, or why I'm boycotting Hilton...

Shampoo anyone?

45

Since I haven't done this in a while...

Trippy...

Thank you for being a friend...

For Special K...

Yay...?

Help needed...

44...

Drum solo kitty!

Feeling blah

For Special K...

Awesomeness overload!

43

Hell Mobility

Party hardy, drink Bacardi...

Seriously...?

Wow...just wow.

Click all as read?

...hear me roar!!! ***UPDATE***

What a difference!

Captain obvious...

This about sums it up...

41

Awesomeness...

VD & CNY

More fireworks...

New Year's Eve

Bellagio fountain

Las Vegas - Part 2 ***Long post ahead***

The big 4-0

Las Vegas - Part 1

Blown away...

This and that...

What a weekend!

Sayonara salmonella

Monday morning mew

39 months

3D is now 4D!

Happy Channukah!

50,000

How thoughtful!

Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies

Monday morning mew

March is done!

Shaking the lurker tree...

Not so humane after all...

...hear me roar!!! UPDATE

Las Vegas - Part 2 Long post ahead