Odette

Here's kitty #2, Odette. I adopted Odette after moving from a very small town to the big city. You see, Cleo was a bully and hated outside, so naturally I took her with me and left the rest of the entourage with a friend in animal disneyland (and no, that's not code for animal shelter, he really does live in animal disney - woods, pond, hills, fur brothers & sisters, etc.). Well, despite her hatred for other animals Cleo became quite neurotic and it was suggested that she missed having company while I was at work. So I called a local shelter and explained what I was looking for - bully cat who beats all other 4-legged creatures is lonely and needs a punching bag - fully expecting the woman to laugh, sneer and hang up on me. Surprise! She actually told me she had the perfect cat for my situation. Odette was living in the shelter in a room with a bully cat and was holding her own very well. The girls get along - well, they tolerate each other - and they don't even fight anymore. Occasionally Odette will body slam Cleo in "play", which Cleo so does not appreciate, but it remains peaceful.

Odette is shy but very sweet once she gets to know you. She loves scratchings and shoulder massages and goes nuts for wine corks and grass. She despises Tuesday and has a very uncanny ability to know whether or not the dog is actually sleeping or merely relaxing. We get her clipped every summer - and she loves it - the groomers can't get over how much she enjoys the clippers. Nutty cat! She's a doll.

Cleopatra

It's time to meet the rest of the family - Tuesday's had plenty of blog time to date. Introducing Cleopatra - Cleo for short. This is my first furry pet not including a hamster and mice from kidhood. I adopted her from a shelter - rather she adopted me. I was just entering grad school at the time and I had my sister's old very light colored furniture so naturally I was looking for a light colored cat. Well, I walked into the trailer (small town) and there were cats everywhere. My eye immediately went to a small black beauty draped over a small tower with her tongue sticking out. Too bad I was looking for a light colored cat. I met several wonderful kitties and as I walked around to see them that little black munchkin of a cat followed me around. She also beat any other cat who tried to get too affectionate with me. You can see she's the one who came home with me. She was 4 years old at the time - she's been to an eye and a respiratory specialist and has cost me a bundle - she's about 16ish now 6 pounds and going strong. As I type this she's leaning over the desk swatting our pit bull in the face. She is very sweet and loves children. She's very demanding of attention but at least she doesn't jump on guest's laps in the bathroom anymore. Gotta love her!

CCAA Update

Congratulations to those with those June 7 to June 15 LID's! Your referral is on the way! Enjoy your celebration!

Hugs to everyone else still waiting. Here's hoping this continuing slowdown ends soon. Hang in there!

For the non-adopting readers, if CCAA continues referring only about a week's worth of referrals at a time, we won't see referral until early 2010 - a 45-46 month wait. Of course, if the slow down continues I expect some families to change countries or move to the waiting child program which could speed things up a bit. It may also mean fewer families choosing China and opting for countries with a shorter timeframe - so in the end I expect it won't be nearly that long for our referral.

One Month LID

We've passed our one month LID anniversary! How many months to go?

For family and friends anxious to meet our new addition, be warned - it will likely be a while. The adoption process in China has slowed considerably since we started. When we first began our paperwork for China back in August, the wait from LID to referral was 6-8 months and we expected to travel to pick up our child later this year.

Now the wait is 11-12 months and our agency is currently saying to expect a 10-14 month wait, and that the time could change at any time, as that is just an estimate based on recent activity. Now we are expecting to travel sometime in 2007. Other agencies around the world are telling clients just entering the process that waits could stretch to 18-22 months from LID.

There is so much speculation and so little official information or certainty that one adoptive parent set up a rumours blog just for China adoptions. While it's a little frustrating not knowing when we will recieve our child, we know that our child is in China and will make it home to us and we will be very happy when that happens.

Sweet Slumber

Babcia (that's 'grandma' in Polish) made these for Hana - aren't they beautiful? The pillows are fleece and so soft - the big one has a very soft curly type fabric in matching stripes on the back. I think she's going to make a matching blanket, too. I just love the colors and the dragonfly print. I'm thinking of saving them for the toddler/junior bed stage. Thank you Babcia from Hana!

Ouch!

Here's a shot of what was smacking my car for the longest 3 commuting minutes of my life. I haven't the heart to look to see if my baby Element suffered any dents - it's a tough little thing, so I'm guessing it fared well. How my windshield isn't cracked is beyond me. Our trees and plants didn't do so well - the yard and streets are smothered with green debris - that glorious bright green of spring shredded by nature's weedwacker.

First Books

Look what we received in the mail from our baby's Gram and Pap Pap! It's an adorable trio of stuffed animal books, each with a cute little story - and if you pull the string the animal vibrates. We think it is critical to do everything we can to encourage our child to enjoy reading - looks like we'll be off to a great start. Too cute! Now which one should we take to China with us? Sheep? Bunny? Ladybug?

Thank you Gram and Pap Pap from your future grandbaby!

The Oregon Trail

Just got back from a fabulous trip to Portland! What a great little city – and so close to nature. One day we were playing in the snow on Mt. Hood and the next we were walking on the beach in shorts. There is green everywhere. I saw waterfalls that rival those in Hawaii - of course my shot here of Bridal Veil Falls does not do it justice.

The city itself is so clean and all cities should adopt the same livability initiatives that Portland has (mostly free transit, building height and signage restrictions, urban sprawl controls, requirements for public art being part of a building’s budget, etc.). If you go start with the downtown walking tour that leaves from the Visitor Center in Pioneer Square – not your typical “this is where to spend your money” city tour. Instead, it focuses on the history of Portland and all those livability initiatives. Very interesting. I also saw the Japanese Gardens and we had a date night on the riverfront – wine, cheese, seafood, and fireworks courtesy of the Cinco de Mayo festival.

I think the funniest thing we saw was on the ride back to the city from the coast. The drive is through National Forest and is very pretty – and desolate – not much civilization. We stopped at a little mom and pop gas station out of the 70’s. While the attendant pumped our gas we browsed the store. One entire side of a revolving rack was dedicated to very serious books about Big Foot (a.k.a. Sasquatch)…and behind the counter the entire wall was covered in guns for sale…hand guns, hunting rifles and even an AK-47. Why oh why didn’t I think to take Jacek’s picture holding a Big Foot book with the guns in the background!?