My sweet kitty...

Deuce is such a sweetheart, I swear he understands me more than most people do. Yes, I know that sounds weird to most people who don't have pets, but he's SO much more than that. He can sense my mood, he knows when I'm feeling bad...and have no fear, I'm not really in that bad of a funk. I'll be ok, it's just this time of year.

Lately, whenever I'm watching tv and lying down, he jumps on my chest, curls up and goes to sleep on me. He's NEVER done that before, but lately, it's his habit. If I'm not lying down, he'll mew at me until I lie down, or he'll jump on the couch and nuzzle his face into me.

He's just too cute for words.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries...

Gotta love any picture of a cat with a Monty Python caption. :)

This about sums up my attitude lately (the picture, not the title of the post). I've been in a bit of a funk and I haven't had very much to say on the blog at all.

Meh, or in this case, meow.

Do me a favour?

I know in the past a lot of you were having problems viewing my blog and complaining that it would 'hang'. If you're currently viewing this post through Bloglines or some other reader, can you please come to the actual blog and see if you still have any problem(s) viewing it? I think I *gasp* actually may have solved the problem...

Leave me a comment and let me know.

Tasty...

Happy birthday, Mark!

A break-in!

I was sitting at my computer, minding my own business when I heard a LOUD crash followed by the house alarm going off. We have glass break sensors on our windows that, well, sense if one has been broken and they're EXTREMELY sensitive

My first thought was "oh my G-d! We're being robbed!" and I freaked out. I ran up the stairs to investigate, which probably wasn't the smartest move in the world, had it been a real robbery. Thankfully, it was just an overly curious cat who had jumped on the kitchen counter, knocked a plate on the floor (broke it) and tripped the sensor...and then gingerly tap-danced across the living room floor and scurried up the stairs to the master bedroom.

Damn cat.

Though he did have the cutest "Who me?" look on his face when I found him all curled up on the bed...

Happy VD!

Seventeen

Nothing really much more to say about it than that. We're probably at the one-third point now, can I get a sarcastic woo? ;)

I'm probably going to end up going online and getting more charms for the second, and inevitably third, charm bracelets as this wait continues to drag out. Thanks for the offer, Doris, but I think it's just going to be easier this way. I'm a visual person and VERY picky, and I *know* I would drive you crazy telling you which ones I wanted. :)

For those of you who know Josh, know he's a very even-tempered person, but tonight he summed up the wait this way. "Is it possible to be angry at everyone and everything for absolutely no reason?"

He's got a new hobby...?

Happy birthday, i-Con!

To the best little horse-climber* (at least at P.F. Chang's).

*Photographic proof is not currently available...but does exist. ;)

Found a peanut...found a peanut...

Limbo, and not the fun kind.

Yesterday Josh and I went to Yorkdale to get next month's charm for my bracelet. I was going to start my next bracelet (albeit a few days early) - the friends and family bracelet. I was a little excited at the prospect of moving forward with the next bracelet, since this was going to be a bracelet for Little Maple to eventually wear and she could see all the people who chose special charms for her, and I could explain the significance behind them.

Well, I went to our usual store and the salesman looked behind the counter and said he couldn't find the tray. He asked another saleswoman, and she said that they were sent to 'head office'.

Head office was actually another store in the same mall and I was told to go there. We walked over there and I was told that they were 'phasing out' the Zoppini charms because nobody bought them anymore. Umm, excuse me? Here I was, about to buy some, but apparently I was nobody. Oh well. I know, bottom line and all that. I was probably one of their only customers who bought the charms.

So now I have one bracelet (which is actually incomplete because it doesn't have her initial, nor her zodiac, nor her astrological sign). Much like the adoption...it's just hanging in limbo.

I'm sure I could probably find them online, but I've never really been a fan of online shopping.

A bargooooon! ***UPDATE***

For those of you that remember our big move back in September, we used the largest company in Canada. Not only because they had a great reputation, but because we could also use our Sears card and earn points towards something later on. We also used Sears for our blinds and carpets and well, we had a shitload of points saved up.

Since our asshat movers screwed up and scratched my grandmother's dining room table in the move, they credited our card. So we have a ton of points and a credit to boot. Anyways, we decided to use all of that today on this. With all the credits and points, etc., the grand total came to $60. WOO! (Not too shabby, if I say so myself).

It should arrive on Friday. :)

***Dolores, that's why we got ours. I don't know if you remember where we currently have our microwave, but that nook is going to be free space now. Woo! Yes, things like this excite me...even though it's Josh that does almost all the cooking.

My only requirement in all of this was that the microwave was white so that it complemented the rest of the appliances in the kitchen. Is that wrong? ;) ***

Pesky door-to-door salesmen...

Breakfast anyone?!

It's only a year?! Really?!

I was talking to Josh last night and it suddenly dawned on me that it was only last year at our agency's LNY celebration that we met Dolores and Shawn. It seems like we've known them SO much longer than that!

*sigh*...and now they're leaving us in a couple of weeks. We're going to miss them SO much...

Have fun in the meantime and re-read some of the posts above...ahhh, memories. I still *vividly* remember that lady walking in and sitting with us... ;)

Gung hay fat choy!

Wishing you all good fortune and happiness in the year of the rat! I hope this year brings us closer to our children, and hopefully for some of you it brings your children to you.

The new addition to the family...

We finally went ahead and did it. Yes, Josh got a bug in his ear thanks to Shawn. ;)

Josh ordered the Garmin 650 (not that that means anything to you or me, but he's really excited about it) and can't wait to use it...too bad we're having one helluva time with snowstorms lately.

We're supposed to visit them next weekend, but if the current swath of storms keep up, Josh is going to curl up on the floor and throw a fit. He really wants to use his GPS soon.

I told him that we can always use it in June when we go out to Calgary to visit them. I don't think he can wait that long...

Poor baby.

Happy birthday, Cari!

It's Cari's birthday today. Go here and wish her a happy birthday!

What are you waiting for...an engraved invitation?

Go...

Vamoose...

Another day...

Yup, it's that time again.

My mom and I went in on some Heart and Stroke tickets (they were 1 for $100 or 3 for $250), so we ended up getting three tickets. Since I put them on my credit card, I put her share in the loonie/toonie fund. Yeah, I know that's technically 'cheating'...so sue me. Oh well, it's tallying up to a fair chunk of change.

Now if my mom and I could only WIN something on the Heart and Stroke lottery...oh well, at least the money's going to a VERY good cause that's near and dear to my (no pun intended) heart.

Though, last year we did (technically) win something...though it was weird timing...

Referral's are out...

Well, it's that time again. Yup, referral time is here.

I have to say that I'm actually a little surprised that they covered as many days as they did. The referral batch went from December 19th to 27th. Eight days. While that doesn't sound like a lot (and really it isn't), it's a lot better than the rumours of a one day batch that everyone was fearing...so I'll take it.

As I mentioned a while back, our agency thinks we should receive our referral in 2011. Yippee...

This site seems to think we might see our referral in 2010, though it would be late 2010. Right now I find it hard to believe that it would be at the early end of the spectrum that the site suggests.

Hey, I won't quibble if it's early.

I've been following this blog for a while and Wendy and John received their referral in this batch. Go and wish them a hearty congratulations and tell them that I sent you! Check out the pic of their daughter and the rockin' do she has... :)

2 years...

No, it's not our 2 year LIDiversary. Today marks 2 years since we started our, what we thought at the time was going to be relatively short, adoption journey.

February 1 2006 we walked into our (first) social worker's office, and talked about our hopes and dreams of adopting our child from China and how long the process would take.

I know, you're probably all rolling your eyes at that last sentence...

Oh well, life happens. You either roll with the punches or you just get beaten. I refuse to do the latter.

So, we continue to wait. It's not easy. I've had my ups and downs lately, sadly more downs than ups, but I'm trying to pull myself up...

Anyways, last night we went into our (second) social worker's office. Since the adoption is taking so long, our first social worker has now moved on to another job so we had to find someone else to take over our case. Anyways, we had to get the update letter done, and the social worker finally had it ready for us to pick up last night. We'll have to update again in 2010. Can I get a 'woo hoo'? :)