This month's Rumor from the Queen ....Feb 24,2009

I made this chain on Jan 28,2009 and put it on our kitchen mantle. The links represent the number of LID referral days before our LID group(May 18, 2006) get our referrals. A referral is when we will receive a picture and info about our baby. About 6-8 weeks after that we will travel. So the green links represent March, purple is April and pink is May 1-17th, 2006. The CCAA has matched through February 28,2006. The next picture is of spouse pointing to where we will cut links off after Rumor Queen gives the referral rumors an R4 rating. Below is from RQ 2/24/09 titled Rumor roundup

A few more agencies are now verifying that the CCAA is matching. One agency thinks they will get beyond March 3rd, but won’t go so far as to say how far that might be. And I can’t tell if this is them just guessing, or if they have been given some reason to believe this. And that is it. it’s like a ghost town. Instead of rumors there is just tumbleweed rolling and bouncing along. Posted in Rumors - Next Referrals 27 Comments »

AND here is RQ's most recent post which broadly explains her rating system. This entry is titled R3 for March 6th

February 27th, 2009 We have three agencies confirming the cut off is March 6th. We have another agency telling their 3/7 people that they are not in this batch. There are also some conflicting rumors, so at this point it’s an R3. I hope to be able to take it to an R4 later today. (The conflicting rumors aren’t very cohesive, everything from a cut off of the 3rd to the 8th, but they don’t come from multiple sources like the 6th rumor does.) I agree with everyone yesterday who said that a backlog of only 12,000 doesn’t sound right. I’ll do the math on it later.

This update is required coincidentally just as both spouse and I have more work projects than usual, our primary care physician has surgery scheduled in March and we need a physical for the I171H, our homestudy agency is going out of business (the economy) and we need a update homestudy interview and we are traveling half of March. Additionally as of March 1 we still have not organized and thus mailed our tax paperwork to our accountant. But the good news is the pet nanny and house sitter are all lined up for while we are traveling to New Orleans and Florida.

Anyhow the I171H is the US governments document of pre-approval for the adoption of a foreign born baby. This document will also give her American citizenship the day she arrives in the US. Oh, and another thing we have to do is get re-fingerprinted as our last set expired 12-13-08. There are no penalties for letting your fingerprints expire. Since biometrics fingerprints cost $80 each you don't want to do them too early and thus risk expiration.

All this paper chasing was made more fun by getting conflicting direction from our 2 agencies (homestudy & international). Two Friday's ago I caused us (but mostly me) to "chase our tails" for half a day. I was told we needed to get all our addresses from where we have lived since the age of 18 for child abuse background checks requests. This was easy for me as I lived with my parents and at the Alpha Chi house which has a really easy to remember address ... 1000 N. Jordan in Indiana and relatively few addresses in Ohio. Completely different scenario for spouse who has moved a lot. About once a year for a decade. So it took a little more digging, specifically a half a day. I was surprised that I was able to get all this info online. Turns out this little exercise was unnecessary.

Because of all this I needed to take some adoption related paperwork to work last week. The picture below is my desk @ conservatory and my very cute file folder with adoption paperwork. This file tote was a Valentine's gift from spouse

last year.

New Orleans

Above are pictures of the hotel where we are staying while we are in New Orleans. Below is a description from the hotel's website:

History of the Hotel Provincial In 1718 Jean Baptiste LaMoyne, Sieur de Bienville, established New Orleans as the Capital of Louisiana. The land on which the Hotel Provincial is located was a grant from King Louis XV of France to Bienville's Lietenant Louis Boucher de Granpre circa 1725. In 1775 it was sold to Chevalier Jean Lavillebeuvre, an Indian agent for the French Colony from 1780 until 1797. The site was acquired and developed by the Laurans and Roque families during the 1800's. It was sold in 1903 to the French Market Ice Company. The Dupepe family purchased the tract after fired destroyed the Ice Company in 1958. Here the family built the 100-200 buildings, which opened as a Hotel in 1961. The site of the 300 building was used from the founding of the city and throughout the 18 th century as a medicinal herb garden supplying the Military Hospital located down the street. The Archbishop of New Orleans acquired the tract at some time during the 18 th century, and sold it in 1820. The present townhouse and slave quarters were constructed around 1825. Its present restoration was completed in 1967. The 400 building was built in the 1830's and was utilized in the Creole fashion of retail store downstairs, and living quarters upstairs. For many years a hardware store occupied the site, until it was purchased and restored in 1964. The plot upon which the 500 building is located belonged to the Ursuline Nuns. Here a military hospital was erected in 1722. In 1831 Archbishop Leon de Necke, sold the property to Antoine Abat. Abat sold the building to a lawyer named Dominique Seghers. He tore down the old building and erected two grand houses on the site. In 1848 Francoise Sambola bought the property and ran a boarding house and coffee house. The two houses burnt in1874, the present building was built the same year. The Reuter Seed Company bought the building in 1916. The Dupepe Family acquired the building in 1969.

Needless to say I am looking forward to this trip... just have a lot to do before we leave... including:

1. get tax documents organized for accountant (almost done)
2. collect documents and make appointments for I-171 H renewal (at this time still unsure how difficult since agencies are giving conflicting direction... arggh the joys of int'l adoption)
3. hopefully rent my last open apartment and become 100% occupied again
4. get initial b-fly orders placed and fill-in approvals passed.

Urban Life

So this is what I did today. Spouse and I worked out at the gym which is less than a mile from our home. This gym has the most beautiful scenary of any gym I've belonged to as it looks out on the Ohio River. This morning I watched several barges carrying coal up the river going to Pittsburgh and empty ones heading down the river towards Louisville. After the gym we headed to our neighborhood coffee shop for breakfast. As we were walking to Koka we ran into one of our neighbor/ friends and briefly talked about the Nature Show on this week about Cats & Dogs. I really think she is going to like it . She is a P&G executive and I think she might be a combo of Idealist / Observer ...but anyhow I think she'll enjoy the Myers-Briggs concept. Also on the way to Koka we passed the The Gilded Age (neighborhood shop) which had a handwritten sign posted on the front door that said "Gone to Mt Adams Business Meeting. Will open tomorrow". At Koka the employees don't have to ask our names to give us coffee credits. As usual, this morning we saw more neighbors in the coffee shop as well. Some of them we even know their morning routines. After Koka I went to work, a 5 minute commute , which is in a conservatory in the park adjacent to our neighborhood. Oh and I am particularly appreciative of working there this time of year as the weather outside is kinda gloomy. I came home for lunch today, as ususal, but since I have so much to do (lots of B-fly orders to place) I only took a 1/2 hour lunch. After work spouse met me @ Conservatory for a lecture. So the reason I recapped this "day in my life" is because of an article I read at breakfast this morning titled "Hard times won't push suburbanites back into old cities". It was written by David Brooks, New York Times and a regular contributor on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, who I think is an excellent (and interesting) reporter. Here is how his article starts: "You may not know it to look at them, but urban planners are human and have dreams. One dream many share is that Americans will give up their love affair with suburban sprawl and will rediscover denser, more environmentally friendly, less auto-dependent ways of living." But the answer is Americans will probably not move to the cities. Later in the article he cites a recent Pew Research Center study about where Americans want to live and the lifestyles they want as well. Turns out 1/2 of Americans want to live somewhere other than where they currently reside and they want to move outward. This study shows that urbanites are the least happy (only 52% of urbanites rate their communities excellent or very good compared to 68% of suburbanites and 71% of rural Americans.) And "cities are profoundly unattractive to people with families". Third thing the Pew study found is Americans want to move west, Denver, San Diego, Seattle, SanFrancisco, Phoenix, Portland and Sacramento (7 of the top 10 most desireable cities). So my first reaction to the title of this article (admittedly smug) is "their loss". I love living in an urban community so much I can't imagine living anywhere else. I'm also so looking forward to raising a child in this community. So I quess I forget how I don't fit the conventional mold. I do think it is sad that half the population doesn't like where they live. But ... at least as an American you can decide your own destiny.

Why We Love Cats and Dogs

Last night we watched Why We Love Cats and Dogs on the Nature Channel. I thought it was fascinating, spouse liked it and Lucy slept through it. The woman in this picture is Sarah Wilson who was featured in one of the segments. She explained her definition of 9 types of dog owners and their behavior patterns. Anyhow, here are her categories and types (sorta Myers-Briggish).

FEELERS

1. The Angel - these owners want to save their dog with love. They often have trouble disciplining their dogs ... and despise force. Angels will put up with "naughty" behavior.
2. The Soulmate - these owners are loving and attentive. They always are concerned with pet's health. The dogs of this type tend to be well socialized .... b/c they get to go more places (trips, outings, adventures).
3. The Free Spirit - these types are not interested in controlling their dog at all.

I found this characterist about FS interesting: most are high powered executives.

Free spirits want nothing more than to let their dog call the shots when they get home.

THINKERS 4. The Idealist - these type set high, but often acheivable standards for both pet and owner. Rules are important. However, Idealists often pleasantly surprised with the "natural chaos" as it can remind them "loosen up a bit". 5. The Expert - will research a lot about how to own a dog. These types are often smart and often enroll dog in obedience, agility and training classes. 6. The Observer - these types just genuinely enjoy that their dog is a dog. This type often will lose track of time b/c they love to watch their animal. Jane Goodall is a Classic Observer. DO-ERS 7. The Dynamo - busy people who get a lot done in a day. These dogs are well cared for. 8. The Master - this type usually describes themselves as "dog owners" and by most common professions = coaches, teachers and leaders. These type often have a strong bond with pet. Often master communicates wtih pet really well, but also master often needs to control. 9. The Buddy - these type love high energy, sporty dogs. Buddies usually don't have trouble training a dog. Sarah Wilson's interviews of different combo's of owners with their dogs was fascinating and ....sometimes hilarious. The 2nd act of this show about a shelters. So it gets pretty serious...but then they tell can test shelter animals and describe cats and dogs naturally personality and make better family matches. This is just so responsible. Then the 3rd act was about actual family stories. It was interesting and a little surprising to me. But, in my opinion, the best line from this show was "Cats have staff and Dogs have family."

Valentine's Day 2009

While spouse was shopping at Findlay (downtown farmer's market ... his Saturday routine) I made apple cinnamon scones with dried cherries on top (usually I just make coffee). They were pretty good if I say so myself. Spouse gave me a dozen beautiful roses. We are having tilapia and snow peas for dinner tonight.

This week spouse reminded me that February is the month we first met 9 years ago. We met at a dinner party ... in the home we live in today. I just google'd a calendar from 2000 (I love how easy it is to get info off the internet) and I am fairly certain this party on Friday February 11, 2000.

This dinner party (salad, spaghetti, italian bread for about 20 -30 people) was in an empty apartment. Before the end of February 2000 the kitchen cabinets were re-painted "hunter jumper green" (as seen in this picture from today) but for the party they were still purple. The previous homeowner, who had just moved out a month earlier, was an interior designer. Anyhow, spouse also recently reminded me about the conversation we had that night about the kitchen cabinet colors. Still amuses me to think about that conversation.

Oh, and spouse also reminded me of the Euchre game we played that night. Ahh........, my spouse is so sweet. I wonder if he reads this blog?

LID + 1,000

Today is our 1,000th day since our dossier was logged in at the CCAA. This morning spouse and I worked out @ gym and then breakfast at Koka.

Tonight spouse and I have reservations at Oceanaire, a seafood restaurant downtown (pictures and description below).

Hopefully the weather does not change our plans. We are expecting a big windstorm today... winds possibly as strong as 50 mph.

Nowhere else can you overdose on luxurious ultra-fresh seafood, bask in exceptional service, and lose yourself in a classier era of Americana. From the moment you enter the Oceanaire you feel a sense of place and time akin to a classic 1930s ocean liner. No detail is left to chance. From cocktails in the lounge, to our raw oyster bar, to a main course of ultra-fresh fish, a rendezvous at the Oceanaire is the perfect occasion to indulge your unfettered senses. Our seafood is flown in daily from around the world. We source only top-of-the-catch fish from the world's most reputable suppliers. From the moment it lands on the fisherman's deck to the time it lands on your plate, each catch is carefully coddled to ensure our standards of quality and flavor.

Video from DC Trip

Attached is one video from the American History Museum. Still a mystery why I can't post more... but really I'm not good at videos yet so not a loss. So all I've got here is the presidents 1- 44.

The interior of this museum was not at all what I remember. It is contemporary in design. I thought it was really appropriate and quite beautiful too.

Travels of Angelica

Last Friday spouse and I saw Travels of Angelica at the Playhouse.

Here is the description from the Playhouse website:

By Joseph McDonoughWINNER OF THE MICKEY KAPLAN NEW AMERICAN PLAY PRIZE 1657: A writer wanted for treason barely escapes from England with his daughter to start a new life with a new identity in Virginia. Can he outwit his blackmailing neighbor and escape capture before completing his most important work? 2008: Two graduate students come to Virginia in search of clues about this forgotten author, hoping to make an important literary discovery. As the play twists and turns between the past and present, this time-traveling tale explores history, hope, heart and the possibility of a remarkable future. A new play by Joseph McDonough, author of One and Stone My Heart. Travels of Angelica is suitable for adult audiences. It contains some adult language and mature themes.

We both enjoyed the play. But we almost missed it. That night we went to dinner @ the neighborhood Thai restaurant and since we had an hour before the play we stopped at the Wine Bar. Well we were having so much fun talking to one of our neighbors we didn't pay attention to the time. Spouse looked at me and said "We've got 7 minutes" and I replied "Until we have to leave" and then he said "No, until the play starts".

Well I was halfway down St Gregory street still putting on my coat and gloves when spouse caught up and then passed me. I could not believe we were going to blow $52 seats (yes this was going through my mind as I was running) because we were talking to friends. Humiliating.

Fortunately we made it in time, in fact we weren't the last to be seated. It also reinforced just how out of shape I am too. I have not run that far (and it wasn't far at all) in a really long time.

Like most of the plays at PIP this one kept your attention and was unpredictable. The 2nd act brought gasps from the twist in the plot.

Today

This morning we woke to another 2" of snow... which for spouse and I means shoveling sidewalks and a parking lot. Fortunately no ice this morning. It was realtively easy. Afterwards we went to Koka (our neighborhood coffee shop) for breakfast. Surprisingly I made it to work on time. This first picture doesn't come close to capturing how beautiful Hinkle Garden (across the street from Krohn) but it is the best shot I could take from inside the building. After I got to work and while my computer was booting up I walked around and took pictures of Krohn. In my opinion this really is the best season for Krohn. It smells great, looks great and you can more fully appreciate the beauty inside when you are getting tired of winter.

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View of the Palm Room from the Lobby.

The Desert Room

Agave Sacra.

The elephant that will be a topiary for this year's India themed Butterfly Show.

Another picture of the elephant.

A long view of the Spring 2009 show "Enchanted Oasis".

Closeup of the fountain. The camel benches.

Closeup of the Lemon Tree.

China Packing Info

A blog I recently found www.waitingforlaurenelizabeth.blogspot.com had an interesting post I tried to copy and paste (didn't work) so I'm re-typing here. These parents (LID 2-17-06) traveled Jan 9 - 22, 2009 to get their baby. Anyhow here is their advice of what to pack.

Items we took and didn't use:

• Small funnel for transfering the powdered formula from the travel dispenser to the bottle... worked fine without the funnel.
• Cherrios ... Lauren didn't want anything to do with them.
• Disposable wash clothes ... no need since we used hotel washcloth while in the room and diaper wipes when out and about.
• Disposable diaper changing pads... just used the real thing from our diaper bag.
• Toothbrush and toothpaste for Lauren... there was no way we were approaching that trauma on top of everything else.
• Disposable razor for me ...time to shave ... ha, what was I thinking.
• Jewelry ... you can just use what you wera over there... this is no fashion show.
• Travel shopping bag ... every shop owner we encountered gave us a bag. Even Carefour (the Walmart equivalent in Guangzhou) has cheap re-usable grocery bags to buy at the registers.
• Travel toilet paper ... the two times that there wasn't toilet paper, I left the darn travel roll outside with Joe in the diaper bag so I never got to use it anyway.
• Stuffed bunny rabbit toy for Lauren...she wouldn't even give it a second look.
• Instant soup, granola bars and beef jerky...there is plenty to eat in Guanzhou.
• Since Lauren wasn't sick, we didn't even touch the well stocked bag of over the counter meds or antibiotic we brought for her.

Items we took that couldn't live without:

• Scented diaper disposable bags for the poopie diapers.
• Plastic baby spoons in a cool travel container...Lauren used them at every meal.
• Gerber baby prunes... got the plumbing working right away.
• Travel formula dispenser.
• Playtex drop-in bottles...they were SOOO convenient and work like a charm.
• Diaper pins for cinching Lauren's waistbands on her pants...otherwise several outfits we brought would not have worked for her.
• Tights for her to wear with dresses and pants that rode up... kept the local clothing police away... God forbid a babies leg show in China! ;)
• Long johns if traveling to Beijing in the winter!
• Thermos for keeping hot water for baby bottles ... used this daily.
• Staking cups ... Lauren loved them (tip...get the ones with little holes in the bottom so it can "rain" in the bathtub)
• Shoe box sized rubbermaid container for cleaning the bottles, nipples, sippy cups and plastic spoons every day in the room.
• Dish liquid and plastic tongs for doing the dishes.
• Travel packets of Tide detergent for cleaning clothes with stains you can't trust to the laundry. Lauren had sticky lollipop stains all over her coat a couple of times and Tide came to the rescue.
• Laptop computer and headset for making phone calls on Skype...this was my only connection to friends and family and I don't think I would have made it without this stuff.

How many id we take?

• Playtex drop-in liners - 200. We used about 125 including the 40 or 50 we gave to another family who ran out. We used them for formula, water and juice bottles.
• Diapers - 20 Huggies Over-nights. We bought Pampers in China and they worked out fine for day-time use. We used the Huggies over-nights each night and save about 6 for the flights home. We bought two packages of Pampers in China and brought about 10 home.
• Diaper wipes - 2 refill packs of Pampers Sensitive Skin wipes. By the time we got home we used every one of them, but we used them a lot as multi-purpose wipes when we ate out.
• Spending money - $4,500. We used about $2,500 on souveniers, Chinese outfits and shoes for Lauren, pearls, gifts, meals that weren't included and a couple of minor adoption expenses that popped up along the way.