Timeless classic but expensive, too

I know I've been awol lately but I am still here. Not much going on, though.

I actually had a pretty good Mother's Day yesterday. In the past Mother's Day was a day for me to try to put on a happy face for my mothers and try not to break down in complete shambles while doing it. Yesterday we had dinner at our house for both of our mothers. It was a hugely wonderful dinner.

I really cleaned our downstairs to get ready for the mom's and downstairs the house looks great. Upstairs is another story. E is still sanding the new drywall in the kid's room so it is super dusty upstairs. I vacuumed a lot yesterday but dust still covers every surface and has permeated every crack in our hardwood floors. Yuck. And, he is leaving for school tomorrow until Friday and I am not sure he'll be done sanding before he leaves. Our home study is the 18th! I don't care if the room is not painted and the flooring is not laid but I at least want to be able to have a clean upstairs.

Speaking of paint and flooring, here is what we picked out.




The brown is for the walls and the cream is for the ceiling, door, trim work and a dresser. The floor is awesome! It is not quite this brown in real life. The photo makes it look stripey but it really isn't. I like these colors because they will look good with blues or pinks or turquoise depending on whether we adopt a boy or a girl. My mom laughed because I choose Beh.r paint and a Pe.rgo floor. She said I have the same taste as my Grandma Mac, her mom. I asked, "expensive or timelessly classic?" Mom answered, "both!".

And with that, I must leave for work. Crap. I am seriously hating my job these days but that is for another post.

Miracles happen every day

Sew has some super exciting news for us all!! FYI, she was mine to pray for during the lenten season and I haven't let up! I am so, so happy for you!!

Moving right along

So, our home evaluation is scheduled for Tuesday, May 18 at 1:30pm. My E is gone the whole week before and then works the weekend before so the house should be relatively clean on that day. Of course, it'll be as clean as is possible with two yellow fur-shedders living here as well.

We are still working on a date of our parenting classes. We agreed to May 21st and 22nd but by the time I got the okay from my employer that class was full. That was the perfect date for us because a: I could take a Friday off and b: E is off that weekend. We are on the cancellation list but our SW doubts anyone will back out. The next classes are two Saturdays in a row, June 5th and 12th. My hubby never has two Saturdays in a row off unless he has vacation arranged. We are hoping he can get the second Saturday off but there are already people off in the jail. Sigh. The logistics.

I am not worrying, though, because we have lots to do before we can bring a child home. After the home eval and parenting class we'll just need our final approval. Once that comes through we could be matched immediately with a child. OH. MY. GOSH.

It seems unreal. This may be the last Mother's Day that I am not a mother. This may be the last Father's Day where E is not a father. We could potentially have a child to take camping with us yet this year. I may be able to enroll a little one in preschool. Make a Halloween costume. Carve a pumpkin. Take a family photo for a Christmas card. I am in awe of the possibilities yet I do not feel overwhelmed. I have waited for so long.

the cat is out of the bag!

I messed up. I casually mentioned my blog on Face.book and now everyone wants the address! How do I start a new blog for family and friends and have no connection to this one? Any tips? Will I have to make this one private and send invites? Input, please! I am not very blog savy!

Speak up!

I should have griped sooner! Our SW called today and they want us to attend a parenting class on Friday May 21st and Saturday the 22nd from 9am to 3pm. It is being held in a town just over an hour south of us. They also want to get our home study scheduled as soon as possible. Isn't that just awesome?????? I am so excited!!

Our SW commended us on the terrific job we did on completing our paperwork. I guess my "full disclosure" didn't hurt us one bit!
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While I am excited for us I am so sad and pissed as well. On the other side of things we had an absolute tragedy happen in my little old hometown. Actually, it happened 8 miles to the west in the town where I work but I consider both places my hometown. A completely innocent, 7 year old child was raped and stabbed by her mother's boyfriend this morning. She was brutally attacked and then murdered while her mother and her two younger siblings slept in the next room. The lousy bastard then turned the knife on himself and committed suicide. The mother found him before he died. He confessed to raping and killing her daughter. He said he stabbed her before she could tell on him. What a lousy bastard. I get so upset about any form of sexual abuse and domestic violence. The people who commit these horrendous acts are complete cowards. I hope this man burns in hell for all eternity. This is no forgiveness for an act like this. I cannot help how I feel on this subject. and I'll leave it at that. God bless that poor little soul and her grieving family.

Waiting is the hardest part

In the words of T.om Pe.tty, waiting is the hardest part.

There is nothing going on right now. Nothing. We are still working on the bedroom. Mud is going on the walls today and I should be able to sand it this weekend and paint next week. But as far as the adoption goes, we have heard nothing. I checked with our friends who are references and they have received nothing from the agency yet. We sent all our paperwork in two weeks ago today.

So, that's it! Waiting. Hurry up and wait. I guess I've waited 12 years, what's a few more months? God has granted me with the gift of incredible patience.

Lo.we's is my new favorite store

E has made great progress on the demolition of the little bedroom. All the lathe and plaster has been removed and it is time for wiring!




This is a shot of the inside of the walls in a 90 year old house.



Not very pretty and yeah, our whole house will look like that.

Friday night we went to Lo.we's and bought wiring, a light switch, some little blue boxes (I don't know what they're for - something electrical) and a new light for the bedroom. Oh, yeah, and new electrical outlets, too. Living in an old house means you never have enough closet space or electrical outlets. Nice thing about this remodel is that we can put as many outlets as we want in all the rooms. We are putting three in the little bedroom. Then we'll have to work out the closet situation because the room is too small to build a closet into a wall. My FIL does beautiful work working and I think he is going to build an armoire (sp) and re-do E's bed from his childhood a bit lower to the ground. That bed is just too high for a 4 year old.

Saturday morning I am heading back to Lo.we's. I saw a book on creating the perfect children's bedroom but I didn't buy it. I mentioned it to E and he asked why I didn't buy it. I also need to get a breaker thing for the breaker box and another electrical outlet. I think I'll get some pain chips, too even though we are days from that point. Then, I have to come home an suck up the cobwebs in our basement. Yay. Our basement is so gross. If you've ever heard the term "Mi.chigan basement" then you know how gross it it. My only consolation is that there isn't a dirt floor and someday my washer and dryer will be upstairs. E, FIL and our friend D are starting the wiring 9am Monday and they'll be spending some time in the basement running the wiring to the breaker box. Don't want the free help to go home with cobwebs in their hair!

Sunday, one of my cousins is making his First Holy Communion. I am so looking forward to Sunday! First off, he is making his FHC at a beautiful, old church that I love attending. It is half an hour from my house and in another county so I don't attend that church very often. Secondly, we are having our family Easter after his FHC. Kind of a joint party.

I haven't seen my out of town aunts,uncles and cousins since Christmas and I cannot wait to see them! My mom is the only girl from a family of 9 siblings. That's right - 8 brothers! All but one of her brothers are married so that means my mom has 7 sisters-in-law! I have 16 first cousins, three of which are married and one is engaged plus my brother and his wife (or whatever)and E and I for a total of 24! We range in age from 38 down to 5. Four of us first cousins currently have children, 8 all told, and two of us are expecting to become parents this year through 1 pregnancy and our adoption. 10 second cousins. When we are all together it is a huge party with lots of noise and tons of food. I joke that I cannot have everyone to my house because the noise would make the plaster fall off.



The above picture is from my brother's wedding almost 2 years ago. We are missing several family members but we are still a big group!

The only down point to this weekend is that E is working the whole thing. He works every other weekend. He tried to switch with someone but no one would do it. So, we'll be missing him tomorrow.

I guess if I'm going to get anything done today I better get running. Have a blessed weekend, everyone!



****UPDATE***** My hubby got tomorrow off. Yay!!! I am so excited he gets to go. He misses so many family functions with having to work every other weekend.