Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day to all! Last year I let you all know what we're doing in our little corner of the world to help save the earth. We continue to improve on our list. We've added another compost bin to the yard and traded in our gas-powered mower for a battery operated one. It's pretty cool, not nearly as loud as our old mower and zero emmissions.

This year I'm sending a shout out to everyone on the climate crisis. A day doesn't go by where we don't see a message, a news story or magazine article addressing the iminent climate crisis. We keep hearing that we need clean energy to slow climate change and the potential devastation that comes with it. We also hear the naysayers (i.e. big oil supporters) who claim that there's no proof that our activities play a role.

To those conservatives out there who argue against the human impact on climate and discount the need for clean energy, I ask you this:

Global warming aside, how do you feel about the pollution from oil/gas/coal consumption being forced into you childrens' small, developing bodies (check this article)? Would you blow cigarette smoke into your child's face? No? Then why do you support continued spewing of poisons into our air that are proven to cause cancer, asthma and other ailments?

It shocks me that this aspect of dirty energy isn't highlighted more often in the media - perhaps if it were, some of the naysayers would understand this isn't just a climate issue but a human health issue and would start to back clean energy technology.

24 Months LID

Wow. When we started this process, we never imagined we'd hit a 2 year wait - and now we know our wait is very likely to surpass 3 years. The positive in this is that it appears that our wait for referral is more than half over and we are on the downhill slide to our child.

Meanwhile, in 'celebration' of our extended wait, we've ditched tropical diving for the year and scheduled a cross-country China trip starting in Beijing and are hoping that the Tibet unrest and tourist restrictions are lifted before then. If not, we'll re-route to other areas of the country. Either way, the experience will be phenomenal.

And our wait will continue...

Shakin' & Quakin'

I was awakened around 4:40 AM this morning out of a really fun dream - by an earthquake! For all you California folks out there, this is not a common occurrence here in the Midwest. A 5.2 tremor hit downstate but was felt as far north as Milwaukee. Apparently, because of the flatness of the land out here, the energy from quakes tends to disperse much farther than in the western quakes.

I began to feel the shaking in my dream, woke up and looked at my husband thinking perhaps he was having some fitful sleep, but he was still. I propped up on my elbows and realized I was hearing objects rattling, it wasn't just the bed. It lasted about 20 seconds and I noted the time on the clock so I could get online to see if I was crazy or if it was the earthquake I suspected.

This is actually the second time this has happened to me, but the first time, a few years ago, the quake was much smaller and I only woke up in time to feel a couple seconds of the shaking and chalked it up to dreamy dizziness - until I saw a blurb on the news the next day saying it was a quake.

I've always wanted to feel a small earthquake (non-injury, no-major damage causing) to see what it was like so this was a very cool thing for me. Any other mid-westerners out there feel it?

Wild Chicago

Wow! The variety of Chicago wildlife just keeps growing! Since my last city wildlife post, we've spotted a coyote in our neighborhood, opossums, raccoons, a huge hawk eating it's captured woodpecker and did get verification that indeed red fox do inhabit the city limits. Now this in my old neighborhood...there have been several cougar sightings in Illinois and Wisconsin over the past year, including the Chicagoland area.

It will be interesting to see how all of these sightings develop over the next few years in terms of origin of these animals. Many believe that overcrowding of western habitats is pushing the cats back east. Some think all of these sightings are escaped or released illegal pets. My unofficial guess is that it's both.

For more information on cougars (aka pumas, panthers, mountain lions and catamounts) in the Midwest visit Nature Almanac.

UPDATE 4/16: based on necropsy results, veterinarians believe this was truly a wild animal and not an escaped captive. It was a young male, perhaps pushed out of his home territory by older males.

UPDATE 4/17: news report this morning states a Forest Preserve Police Officer spotted a cougar chasing two deer near Skokie Lagoons and shortly after, two joggers reported to the same officer that they had spotted the cat. This was after the cougar was shot in the city limits. I was so close to calling in sick today to bike up there to see if I could spot it...this is along the North Branch Trail that I talked about in my Big City Nature post.

UPDATE 4/30: from the Chicago Tribune: DNA test results show that the cougar police shot April 16 on the North Side of Chicago was the same animal that left blood drops in southern Wisconsin in January, Cook County animal control officials said Wednesday. The cougar's genes link it to a population from the Black Hills of South Dakota, according to Wisconsin wildlife officials. The animal's long journey apparently took it through North Chicago and Wilmette, where people reported seeing a cougar after the animal left Wisconsin but before it arrived in the big city.

Greening My Birthday

I had a fabulous birthday last week - my honey made sure I had good friends, good food, good flowers and great fun all week...and he appealed to my crunchy granola eco-friendly sensibilities with this little bit of green:

This baby holds SO many photos and videos for me to share with you all - and yes, you'll have to suffer our pet and vacation media until our little one comes along. I'm lovin' my little green ipod nano! Thank you honey!

April Stork Alert

April referrals are here! Families logged in January 5 through 9, 2006 are seeing their children for the first time this week! Congratulations to all of you on this happy occasion!

Only 102 LID dates to be matched until our turn! Referrals continue to come about once a month, with an average number number of LID dates referred seems to be 6-7 per month. If referrals continue at this rate, we are 15-17 months away from our referral - July-September 2009.

While we're disappointed that it's still going to be a while before we are parents and we seem to be creeping further away from referral instead of closer, we are taking full advantage of this time as promised. We're getting in better shape, doing a few extra home improvement projects, booked a great vacation, and we're enjoying our couple time. I'm also learning Chinese and learning how to sew with my new machine. Soon, I'll start re-reading all of those adoption and attachment books again - it's been 2+ years since I've looked at it and will need a refresher pre-referral. The wait goes on!

23 Months LID

Our dossier has been logged in at the China Center for Adoption Affairs for 23 months.

So, we've been paper pregnant for 23 months - and have officially surpassed the longest gestation of any land animal, the elephant at 22 months. Take THAT you long nosed pachyderms!

Petition Change

Hold the baby gifts! It's official! We might not get a referral for a baby from China!

When we started this adoption journey, way back in January 2005 before choosing a country from which to adopt, we talked about wanting an older sibling group of 2. After deciding on China's non-special needs program, which does not have older sibling groups available for international adoption, we opted to request a match with a baby, either gender.

Recently we've been revisiting our desire to adopt an older child and why we migrated away from that. We talked with our agency and social worker about it and they were supportive. As a result of our discussions, we have sent an addendum to our adoption petition asking that we be matched with a child up to 7 years of age. Our agency sent it to CCAA on March 13th.

We're very happy with this change and look forward to the day we are finally matched with our child.

March Stork Alert

Yes, I'm aware I skipped February referrals...they just got lost in life's shuffle. The good news is that March referrals are out and families logged in December 28 through January 4 are very happy this week! Congratulations to all!

Only 107 LID dates to be matched until our turn! With an average of 6-7 LID dates referred per month that puts us at about 16 months away from our referral, which would be summer-ish 2009. That means my goal of adding two children to our family before I turn 40 isn't going to happen...and my revised goal of adding our first child to our family before I turn 40 isn't going to happen. It does mean that I'll be coming up with a fabulous way to celebrate entry into my next decade...only a little over a year to plan!

Dominica! Boiling Lake

Dominica boasts the largest boiling lake in the world. In their Morne Triton National Park, a very loooooong, arduous hike takes you through tropical rain forest, tropical elfin forest, rocky areas fondly named "the valley of desolation" (photo) and finally to the lake. It's a challenge and it's worth the effort.

For 8 hours we walked...the hike was about 95% stair stepping/climbing over rocks...17,000 stairs planted on the mountainsides by volunteers over the years...and that does not include the areas with no stairs. By stairs I mean sections of fallen logs placed in the ground to give grip especially during wet conditions.

We saw wild parrots, countless forms of plant life, sulfur springs, natural hot tubs, rock slides, and drank from crystal clear mountain streams. The lake is big and boils like a cauldron...we were met by a refreshing rain burst to reward our hard work getting there. It was truly an amazing journey.

22 Months LID

22 months ago our dossier was logged in at the CCAA and our official wait for our child began. We continue to wait.

Dominica! Canyoning

The vacation log continues:

Did I mention I'm afraid of heights? Not paralytically afraid, but nervous nonetheless. So when Cocoa Cottages/Extreme Dominica asked us if we wanted to go canyoning, I was skeptical. Sure, rappelling down jungle waterfalls and journeying down a canyon river sounded exhilarating...for someone else. Dangling by ropes 60 feet in the air wasn't really my thing.

We all suited up, and I made sure everyone knew there was a very good chance I was going to chicken out and wait for them near the van - I was OK with reading a book and enjoying the jungle breezes by myself for a while.

Richard took us to a five foot high garden wall to teach us all how to rappel...being taller than the wall, I had no problem with it...still unsure if I'd really do it in the canyon. We drove to the access trail for the canyon and made our way to the first waterfall...thunderstorms were rumbling in the distance and Richard and Geoffrey, our guides, gave each other nervous glances...they didn't want us to get caught up in a flash flood, stranded on the canyon walls...they rigged up the ropes and hurried us along. When it came to be my turn, I let them clip me on, gingerly stepped to the edge, took a half a dozen deep breaths, took half a dozen more deep breaths, decided to focus on the beauty of the location and started to lower myself down...

I did it! Here's the photo to prove it (see the little people down below?)! It was the most exciting thing I've done on land! I want to go again! The canyon was beautiful, the water refreshing and it was and all around perfect day. In all we rappelled down 7 waterfalls and had a picnic lunch on the rocks next to the river. Dominica is truly spectacular.

21 Months LID

We have been logged in at CCAA and waiting for referral for 21 months and our current best guess at when we'll receive our match is still sometime in 2009.

Meanwhile we're busy with life in general, working on having fun and getting fit in preparation for summer, our fall vacation and of course future parenthood.

Timeline Update

An agency - not our agency - sent out a communication to its clients and a friend who is adopting through that agency shared that it appears the 5-7 LID day referral batches are to continue indefinitely. If we take the 122 LID days in line ahead of us and divide by the average of 6 days, we would see our referral in about 20 months (ultimately a 40ish month wait). That's later 2009. A recent email reply to me from our agency leans toward expecting our referral sometime in 2009 as well.

In light of this new "information", we'll be planning a fabulous vacation this year - and I do mean fabulous! We haven't decided where yet, but will keep you all posted. Meanwhile this blog will continue to chronicle our pre-adoption adventures and beyond and I'll be sure to keep you all informed of any changes on the China adoption front. I know I'm behind and I've promised much more Dominica information and now that the holidays are behind us I should be catching up soon.

Stay tuned!

January Stork Alert

Referrals are out. Those families logged in December 15 through December 19, 2005 will be receiving their referrals this week. Congratulations to all of you.

4 calendar days of referrals means there are now 122 LID days ahead of us to be matched.

20 Months LID

We have been logged in at CCAA and waiting for referral for 20 months and our current best guess at when we'll receive referral is sometime in 2009. Maybe.

For those outside of the China adoption community, here are some answers to frequently asked questions and frequently heard comments:

• Yes, we've looked into other options and at this point we're staying with China.
• No, we have not done anything wrong - all families waiting for a non-special needs child from China are in the same boat.
• No, there is no way to speed it up - China has an orderly system where it's 'first come, first served' and there are a lot of people in line ahead of us.
• No, we are not going to get pregnant to speed up receiving a child. We are not infertile as far as we know, but we made a choice to complete our family through adoption and as I've said repeatedly, we have no interest in conceiving a biological child when there are so many children in this world who need families and we are not tied to our genes. If anyone pushes this point, prepare yourself for my unedited comments about how I really feel about overpopulating the earth.
• Again, adoption is not settling and having a biological child is not superior to adopting a child in any way, shape for form, so please stop with the comments that imply that.
• Yes, this wait sucks.
• Yes, we will continue to wait.

December Stork Alert

Referrals are out. Those families logged in December 9 through December 14, 2005 will be receiving their referrals this week. Congratulations to all of you.

6 calendar days of referrals means there are now 126 LID days ahead of us to be matched. This rate of referrals gets more depressing each month. If the current rate continues we will not see our child until mid to late 2009. Yes, you read that right - that's a '9', not an '8'.

This is so very hard. For any new readers, we expected about a 10 month wait, give or take. Now we'll be lucky to wait only 3 years.

And please, if you comment, leave out the "worththewaitallingodstime" bullshit. I simply don't want to hear it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving I am grateful for...

1. my loving husband
2. our funny dog
3. my princess kitties
4. our cozy home
5. the giant tree in our backyard - and all the critters that congregate on it
6. the awe-inspiring nature that surrounds us
7. all of the people who take care of orphaned children throughout the world either through donation, daily work or adoption
8. the ALTs - this adoption journey wouldn't be the same without you all
9. the smell of plumeria flowers
10. and of course, high quality organic fair trade deep dark chocolate

19 Months LID

We have been logged in at CCAA and waiting for referral for 19 months. It's starting to seem ridiculous to keep track every month.

Dominica! Diving

We discovered Dominica through a small but beautiful ad in Scuba Diving magazine. I just couldn't resist the lush green surrounding a waterfall and the profession of even more beauty in the sea. We did three 2-tank boat dives with Nature Island Dive in the southern town of Soufriere (photo above) - for you non-divers that means we dove 3 mornings, 2 times each.

When we arrived at Nature Island Dive, we were surprised and very pleased to learn that it would be just us with divemaster Tony for our first two mornings. Morning 3, we had a dive mate from California. Apparently the threat of hurricanes scares away most tourists in September.

All of our dives were in the Scotts Head Sourfriere Marine Reserve it was the most beautiful diving we've experienced to date. We don't have an underwater camera, so you'll have to use your imagination and click the links to the dive sites below.

Jacek dove 6 dive sites, I dove 4. On the last dive day I was still too exhausted from our Boiling Lake hike and opted to snorkel instead. A few of our dive sites included Coral Gardens, Danglebens Pinnacles, and Champagne Reef.

There is so much life in Scott's Head Bay that it was almost overwhelming. Our eyes darted everywhere, constantly trying to decide which spot was the most interesting - not an easy decision considering the diversity of corals, sponges, chrinoids, fish and invertebrates, with every color of the rainbow represented.

Some highlights included a seahorse, a nurse shark (our first shark sighting that was not part of a shark dive), several sea turtles including a huge turtle munching on sponges, spaghetti worms (hey, they might be lowly creatures, but they were a first for me), huge bristle worms, spotted snake eels, and so much more...way too much to list. During my snorkeling adventure chasing a school of baby reef squid, Jacek saw his first octopus! Jealous!