In the Meantime

I've told you about our possible adoption and we are very excited about that, however, after our last fail at adopting, I've become a bit more of a realist. So, I am very aware that any of a hundred dozen things can happen to stop this adoption from going through (for instance, The Hubs' boss held a meeting on Monday of this week and informed the office that, due to revenues being down, he was going to have to lay some people off. He will be telling them tomorrow who will be getting the chop. It's supposed to be only for 3 months only, but that is reliant on revenues picking up. We've been here before....The Hubs is ve3ry worried and upset, but we're trying to keep a positive outlook on things. At least this time he would be able to claim unemployment.). With that in mind, I'll tell you a bit about our plans in the meantime.

I have an appointment today with the RE. I think he'll be pleased - I've lost 16 pounds since I last saw him! I think that's pretty good going. We have decided that, should this adoption fall through, we will be using the money in my HSA account to fund an IUI before June 20, 2012. We've also got money in our savings account (and we're adding more monthly) to use, but we'll probably leave that to go towards another adoption should the IUI fail. By the time we have a definite on what's happening on the adoption front (February), I should have lost the total amount of weight Dr. O (our RE) wants me to lose so we'd hopefully be able to move on that.

We're also going to go ahead and get homestudied through the State of Georgia so we would be eligible to adopt through foster care. Our main reason for going this route is that Juno has opted to sign up to a program (which we are fully supportive of) that offers help with living expenses, maternity clothing and counseling for brithparents amongst other things. They counsel her on adoption placement as well, however, she chooses parents from a list of homestudied families approved by the State of Georgia for foster care placement. What this means is that we would be the baby's foster parents for the first year of life and then would be able to finalize the adoption after a year. We're pleased with this arrangement because it means that even if this adoption doesn't work out, we're all ready to have a child placed with us when the right match becomes available.

So, that's where we stand right now. Adoption plans being made, visiting with the RE and contingency plans in the works. We feel good about it right now. I'll update you soon on how my visit with the RE goes and what The Hubs finds out about work.

For those interested, the Fall catalog is now available on my Thirty-One Website. I appreciate any orders you make! If you're never heard of Thirty-One, be sure to check it out! It's awesome-sauce!

Confession

Okay, I have a confession. It has to do with the big news I mentioned the other day. While I am sharing this with you, we are keeping it very quiet in our personal lives, so if you know me on Facebook, please DO NOT mention it on my Facebook page. We have not yet told The Hubs' family about this and are picking our time to do so carefully. It will be soon, but not just yet.

Anyway, I guess you're waiting for me to spill, right? Okay, here goes.....

The Hubs and I have been tentatively matched for adoption with a birthmom and baby due in February 2012! Remember the significance of February? Having said that, nothing is yet set in stone, so we are not getting overly excited. We still have much to do to get there.

First, I'll give you a minor amount of details about the whole situation. We were connected to the birthmom by my friend/former work-colleague Lady V. Lady V's niece J's partner C is the sister of our birthmom (complicated, I know). One of the reasons this is all so tenuous is that, at present, all of our communication with the birthmom (who I shall from here on call Juno) has been through Lady V. There has been plenty of communication, but all through a middle-man. Lady V did pass our phone number onto Juno and her family (she is very young - not a bad girl, but one who made a decision that backfired on her), however, right now they prefer to maintain contact through Lady V. We are okay with this for right now, since it's still very early on. As we get closer to the goal, we'll move forward with personal contact.

When Juno first discovered she was pregnant, she contemplated abortion and met with a counselor. After the meeting, she made the admirable decision to carry the baby and place it for adoption after birth. Juno's next step was to see an adoption counselor. Because of Juno's age and the family's situation, the counselor suggested she enroll in a program offered by the county/state that helps mothers who intend to place their baby for adoption with the cost of living expenses, maternity clothing and other expenses to do with the baby (before your hackles get raised over this being done for mothers who are placing a child for adoption, there is also a similar program for those who are keeping their child, it's just a different program). Because the program is offered through the county and state, the adoption placement will be with families who are on the state's approved list of adoptive parents (foster-care adoption). She can place with whatever family she chooses, as long as they are on that list. This means The Hubs and I have to get moving very soon so we can be approved in time!

Our first order of business is to find a home to rent or purchase that is not right next door to my mom and dad. I love my parents dearly and know their help and support will be greatly appreciated, but The Hubs and I need our own space, particularly with a child possibly entering the picture. We've been living next door to my parents for over 4 years now and we've lost a lot of the independence we had before. It has not been good for us or for our self-esteem. It is now time to move on. Secondly, my mom is not a person to sit back and let you do it your way. She will constantly be telling me I'm not doing something right because I'm not doing it her way. This will, however, be our child and not her's and, therefore, we need to do what is right for us with our child, not what she thinks is right.

We are already looking for a home and have a few possibilities. As soon as we get moved (which will hopefully be within the next 2 to 3 weeks), we will be getting in touch with our local Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) to get enrolled in IMPACT training courses and start our home study. It is going to be a busy, busy time for us over the next few months! I hope you'll stick by me and give me support! I'm really going to need it!

Something else that has recently transpired is that, in order to help earn some extra money to help with the cost of the adoption, I have become a Thirty-One Consultant! What, you may ask, is Thirty-One? For those who don't know, Thirty-One is a great way to purchase very, very cute personalized handbags, totes, luggage, wallets, backpacks, lunch totes, diaper bags, organizational bags and lots of other things! Maybe you're looking for a new purse or a diaper bag for that baby you've fought so long and hard for? Or maybe you want to give a gift to a friend who recently had a birthday or just found out they were going to be parents? Maybe you want to purchase something special and personalized for your little one as school time rapidly approaches us? Or maybe you just need help in getting things organized? If so, please, please check out my Personal Thirty-One Consultant Webpage. If you need any help AT ALL, with the site or making a decision about a purchase, please contact me or you can email me at wistful [dot] girl [at] gmail [dot] com. If you need to speak to me, simply email me and I'll send you my number!

I'm really eager to make Thirty-One work for me and become successful at it. I'm also eager to make our adoption go as smoothly as possible! I'd love for anyone who would like to contribute to our adoption fund but also receive something lovely for themselves to place an order with me!

Thank you all so much for standing by me and being my sounding board through all this. You will never know how much this community means to me!

July ICLW

I can't believe ICLW time has rolled around again already! Seems like time is flying these days!

If this is your first visit to my humble online abode, welcome! I'm pleased to have you with me =D If you've been here before, pull up a chair and visit for a while! It's always lovely to have friends stop over!

For those who don't know me well, I'll share a bit with you. I'm Lynn, a 32-year-old Georgia girl. I'm married to The Hubs, a 35-year-old Englishman. We met online nearly 11 years ago and we married 8 1/2 years ago. We lived in England for the first 3 years of our marriage but moved to the US in January 2006. We've been here ever since!

Life has its ups and downs for us. Our move to the US hasn't always been what it's cracked up to be. The Hubs was out of work for a 16 month period just over a year ago and, once he finally found a new job, it is not what he would like to be doing, nor does it use his degree at all. In addition to that, we've been on a fruitless 7 1/2 year journey to start a family. We've never even seen a positive HPT. It is so depressing somedays I barely feel able to even lift my head.

Having said all that, we do have one another and we are very much in love! We have awesome (if sometimes too caring) families and we have a few good friends. We're working everyday on improving things for ourselves.

We are currently on a hiatus from fertility treatment while I attempt to lose weight. Our RE wants me to lose 30lbs before we move onto the next treatment. This reasoning is down to the medical challenges I have facing me. I have PCOS, Type II Diabetes, hypothyroidism and sleep apnea. I had endometrial hyperplasia last year, but am currently showing all clear at the moment.

Not related to losing weight, but another challenge I face on the fertility front is that my right fallopian tube was removed in a surgery 4 years ago. I went in for a routine laproscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) and, when the surgeon went in to remove the gallbladder, he discovered a very large cyst (he drained more than 2 litres of fluid from the cyst) on my right ovary. Sadly, my fallopian tube was buried in the cyst and had to be sacrificed. I understand the tube was not salvageable, however, the fact that the surgeon "forgot" to tell me about the removal of the tube until 3 years later when we were gathering medical records to carry to our first RE visit, kind of pisses me off.

Anyway, back to weight loss. I am currently about half-way to my mini-goal of having lost 30lbs! As of this past Sunday (normally I weigh on Fridays, but I cheated and weighed during the week - not a fact I'm proud of), I had lost 15lbs! Stay tuned tomorrow to see if I've managed to keep that weight off and continue losing or if this is one of the flukey weeks I gain weight. I am on a strict 1480 calorie per day diet and I generally try to walk 2 to 3 miles everyday. This week has been unusual because I've had rehearsal every afternoon for a local musical I'm involved in, so I've been unable to get a moment to exercise. Let's hope all that singing has helped me to shed a few pounds! My overall goal is to lose a total of 103lbs. 15lbs down, 88lbs to go!

The Hubs and I have 3 dogs. Isabel, our terrier, is 9 1/2 years old. We adopted her as a rescued dog when we lived in England. When we made the move to the US, we naturally had her vaccinated and certified to move with us. She is our first baby and we love her enormously! She is spoiled rotten! Our second fur-child is Melly. She is a beagle hound/border collie mix. She was born to a couple of stray dogs who took up residence at our house several years ago and were our fur-children for a while until the dad got hit by a car and the mom wandered off a few months later. I really miss them. However, Melly is lovely! She looks more like a hound than a border collie. She has long floppy ears and she's so soft. She has a lovely temperment! Our third fur-child is Fonzi. He is technically Melly's brother, but from an earlier litter. Same mom and dad, Fonzi was born and we had him until he was about two months old. At that time, he just disappeared from our house. We never knew what happened to him or where he had gone until he appeared back at our house last year looking much the same as he did when he was a puppy and still answering to the name Fonzi. He also has a great temperment, though he is less inclined for silliness than Melly is. They are also incredibly spoiled!

I have lots of interests including reading, writing, music, movies and crafts. I'll read just about anything. I love vampire novels, mysteries, children's fantasy/sci-fi and morality fiction (i.e. Nicholas Sparks or Jodi Piccoult). Reading has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I also love to write, hence the reason I have a blog. I've been in a state of writer's block for creative writing for several years now, so I've been hoping that writing my blog will trigger something there. Unfortunately, I find that a lot of times my writer's block just carries over into my blog as well. I struggle on, though!

I live for music! It is so difficult for me to do anything without having music on. I love 60's and 70's rock. Fleetwood Mac is my all-time favourite band, but I also like The Doors, The Who and The Beatles. I do love modern music - I absolutely love Adele, Lady Gaga, Train and Katy Perry. Jazz, soul and classical music are also favourites in our house. We're a very musical family. I enjoy singing as well as listening to music and The Hubs plays piano. I own a violin on which I can play a few notes, but I hope to one day find someone who can give me lessons to play it properly. I'd also love to learn to play guitar.

The Hubs and I are movie fanatics! We go to the cinema usually once every week or so. This is a big thing for us because the nearest cinema to where we live is a 45 minute drive away! We use this time as date-night and go out for a meal as well. It works really great for us as a break away from the everyday. We're not really picky about our movies - we enjoy comedies, dramas, thrillers, horror.....you name it, we'll probably watch it! Having said that is not to say we have no taste in movies - there are movies even we will not watch, lol! But, in general, we probably do take in more movies than the normal person.

I love crafts. I enjoy crocheting, cross-stitching, scrapbooking, card-making and most any other craft I can get my hands on. I'm currently attempting to teach myself to knit, which has been an interesting experience. I'm not sure I could term it successful yet, but interesting definitely fits. I also recently purchased some wooden photo frames I'm hoping to paint and offer personalization on so that I can sell them to add money to our treatment/adoption fund. Someday maybe I'll actually get them uploaded to an Etsy shop, lol!

That's about all I have to share about myself right now, but if you have questions, please ask them! I'm eager to answer any questions. Also, please, please, please share information about yourself as I'm always interested in meeting new people, too! Have a great ICLW!!

10 on Tuesday - Summer Camp Edition

I've decided to kill two birds with one stone and combine my 10 on Tuesday with Calliope's Summer Camp. Forgive me for this, but it seems the only way I'm going to start getting caught up, lol!

1. Day 1 – Provide a photo or sketch or dramatic rendering of the space where you normally blog
   
   Ah, yes, my blogging space. Let's see....no photos and no way to sketch it in right now, so....
   
   My blogging space
   Is a comfy place
   This much I speak is true.
   My blogging space
   Is a cozy place
   Even when I'm feeling blue.
   It keeps warm, it keeps me snug
   And offers a place to lay my head,
   Because, you see, my blogging space
   Is my very comfy bed.
   
   And that, my dear friends, is why David Bottoms* has no worries about losing his prestigious title ;D
   
   



2. Day 2 -What were you like in high school? What extracurricular activities, if any, did you take part in during high school? Did you consider yourself a writer?
   
   I was a toned down version of the me of today in high school. I was quieter. I wanted to be more popular than I was and I always felt a little bit second-best. I didn't date, not because I didn't want to, but because no one asked. However, I did have lots of friends and I was considered by others to be popular (Ick. That just sounds so unimportant and airheady now.) I was in Drama Club (in fact, I was president of drama my senior year of high school), FBLA and Y-Club. I participated in Model UN. I was on the Literary Competition Team. I played tennis and did cheerleading my junior and senior years (I was the mascot for most of those - that's what you get when you're the "fat" one on the team). I liked to read a lot and I worked a lot. I think that pretty much sums the me of high school fame up.



3. Day 3 - What are your guilty pleasures?
   
   Hmmm...my guilty pleasures? Well, I love Glee. Not sure if that counts as a guilty pleasure, but some people think its a little sad. I love, love, love (and have had to give up) Little Debbie Snacks Nutty Bars. So good, but so full of calories! Of course, I love to put off doing things that need to be done in favour of crocheting or playing online. Not sure what else I could claim, though. Food for thought.



4. Day 4 – What has most surprised you about being an adult? What have you learned about yourself through blogging?
   
   What has surprised me most about being an adult is that life isn't like it seems in the movies. Winning the lottery is rare. Bills come daily. Dream jobs rarely come along. Childhood friendships rarely last long-term. Families don't always just oops! happen. If you plan it, it's unlikely to work out the way you plan. Patience is a necessity, not just a virtue. People will act the way they want to, not the way you want them to. You always want what you can't have until you have it, then you often no longer want it. The grass is usually greener on the other side, but when you move onto greener pastures, they usually enjoy a freak drought. And, that when you get to an age where you can stay up as late as you like or eat whatever you want without someone in authority nixing the plan, your body no longer cooperates. You're too tired to stay up past 10pm and any ice cream or candy bar you eat goes straight to your hips.
   
   What I've learned about myself through blogging is that I'm whiny, cynical, self-pitying, obsessive about certain subjects, long-winded, self-absorbed and often rather bitchy. I've also learned that I love to start projects, but rarely have the staying-power to complete them, I'm contradictory in the things I want and struggle to make my mind up to stick with one decision and I suck at beig a steady blogger and commenting on other people's posts. In a positive light, I do believe I have a knack for commentary =D



5. Day 5 -What do you prefer to do on your birthday?
   
   My birthday is around Thanksgiving so, in the years when it doesn't actually fall on Thanksgiving, The Hubs and I usually take an annual trip to Helen, GA. It's beautiful up there! Helen is an Alpine Bavarian village. The restaurants all serve German food and German beer. It's just so awesome! And, since we usually go right after Thanksgiving, we get to see all the Christmas lights up. I just love it! In the few years that we don't go to Helen, we spend time with family. I think I have only ever worked on my birthday once in my entire lifetime! I try to arrange it that way most years, lol!



6. Day 6 – When was the last time you tried something new? What was it and what was the result? Have you ever done something just so that you could blog about it?
   
   Hmmm...difficult one....I think the last new thing I did was when The Hubs and I went to the beach in beachwear. For most of my life I have lived less than two hours from the seashore. However, I can not swim and I am a chicken, so I had never ventured to the beach. Last year, The Hubs took me to Tybee Island near Savannah, GA to wade in the ocean, but we weren't in our bathing suits, so it wasn't really a proper beach trip. We rectified that in April this year when we set out for Fernandina Beach, FL. We had a great time! I love wading into the ocean! Still very afraid of the water, but at least I went in up to my thighs. The worst thing that happened was that the sand was nearly washed from under my feet several times.
   
   I don't believe I've ever done anything just so I could blog about it. I'm not saying it'll never happen, I just don't think I have so far done something just to give me something to blog about.



7. Day 7 – What’s your favorite thing to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Do you read food blogs or would you ever consider writing one?
   
   Oh, yum! Well, my favourite breakfast dish, if prepared correctly, is Eggs Benedict. It is just scrumptious! Lunch and dinner I'm pretty easy about. My favourite kind of food is Italian, but as long as it's something I enjoy eating, I'll eat!
   
   I do occasionally read food blogs, usually to get recipes, but it's not a frequent thing. I do have a recipe blog, but I haven't updated it in ages!! I probably should get some of my recipes down and post them. I love to oook - I'm actually a certified catering specialist, although I don't want to do it for a living. I really love food, I should read more food blogs. In fact, I think I'll look some up soon!



8. Day 8 – If you had to teach something, what would you teach? (If you DO teach, when did you discover your love for teaching/the subject?) Do you think blogs can play a role in education?
   
   Interestingly enough, the degree I'm currently working on is to teach. My major is in Social Sciences with an education concentration and my minor is in history. I want to teach history for high school students. I love history! I just find it so interesting! I hope I can instill that love into my students when I finally get into my own classroom.



9. Day 9 – What is the most important lesson you learned from your own mother (or other primary caretaker)? What do you imagine the name of your Grandmother’s blog would be and what would she write about?
   
   The most important lesson I learned from my mom is the value of hard work. My mother is an extremely hard-working woman. There have been times in my life when she has held multiple jobs at once. When my dad got ill when I was a teenager, my mom just took it in stride and worked that much harder to keep us afloat. She taught me to have that same work ethic. I've held a job pretty much continuously (with the exception of the first few months after I moved to England when I was not allowed to work in the UK and the first few months after we moved back to the US while I was looking for a job) since I turned 15. During my junior and senior years of high shool, I actually held four jobs (at the same time) and took honours classes. I even managed to keep A's in those classes! I worked every morning before school at a local donut shop, Wednesday afternoons at our local paper putting the inserts into the center of the paper, Saturday mornings doing the same thing for the local free shopper paper and the rest of my time in the layaway department at Walmart. I'm proud I was able to manage all of that and still keep good grades. I hope I'm able to instill the same work ethic in my children without it being so necessary for survival for them to work like that.
   
   As for what either of my grandmothers may have called their blog, I'm really not sure. My dad's mom died when he was 9 years old, so I never met her. My mom's mom died when I was 4, so my memories of her are vague. I'd like to think her blog would be called something like The Life Value of a Good Green Bean. She made the best green beans! That much I do remember.



10. Day 10 – Share your favorite recipe (or two) (see! You CAN be a food blogger!)
    
    My absolute favourite recipe is one for a Mars Bar Cheesecake. However, I can't currently find it, so you'll have to make do with my second favourite recipe ;D I'm too lazy to type it all out again, so you'll have to travel to see my recipe for French Onion Soup.
    
    

Well, I know I'm not caught up yet, but at least it's a start! Keep watching this space for more Summer Camp fun to come!

*In case you have no interest in reading the burble on Wikipedia, David Bottoms is the Poet Laureate of Georgia.

Do you ever get discouraged from posting because you know there's something you need to be posting that is supposed to help you post more often, but you just can't find the right words to strike the balance to get started? That's how I've been feeling lately. I know there are things I need to be posting, yet I just haven't been able to find the right words to do the posts justice. Having said that, I promise that my posts for Calliope's Summer Camp are coming soon! I just need to find the time to get them right!

For now, though, I will tell you about my experience with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. As for the movie, it was AWESOME!!! I really, really loved it! The Hubs and I got the last two 3-D tickets to the movie at the cinema we normally attend. Now, I'm guessing most of you have seen 3-D glasses before. Well, let me tell you about an extremely cool Harry Potter-take on 3-D glasses - our's looked like Harry's glasses!!! I thought they were awesome!


Not the best pic, but at least you can see our glasses (I think)!

As someone posted on my FB page, I've never seen such a cult following since The Rocky Horror Picture Show! There were people dressed up, fans with wands all over the cinema, kids dressed in Gryffindor-coloured shirts. It was an amazing site. I did manage to snap a pic of some of the folks in costume. They looked very cute =D


Dobby the House Elf, Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort, Rita Skeeter and Bellatrix Lestrange

All in all, it was a great evening!

As for the Big News, we don't really have any updates, so, for the moment, I'll refrain from saying much. Thank you for all the prayers (keep 'em coming!!) and support. If it turns out, it is very good news, but right now there are still just too many unknowns, so I'll say no more! All things in their time!

Emergence

Wow! The last 3 weeks have been staggeringly busy! I'm so tired I don't honestly know if I'm coming or going!

My dad is finally out of the hospital. He was discharged late yesterday evening. His speech is still very garbled, but he started eating very soft foods on Friday and has been enjoying them ever since! He still has to be very careful when eating and drinking and he does still have a feeding tube, but at least he can help to take care of himself now. He will still be very reliant on my mom, The Hubs and I, but we'll work it out.

I've been very, very busy with school. In early June, I started the first class of my teacher certification course. This is really a preliminary class as I haven't quite finished my bachelor's degree yet. However, one of the things I need to do for this class is take the Accuplacer exam. Should be a simple task. It's just basic reading, writing and arithmatic questions. It has, however, been the bane of my existence ever since! Since my course is online, I'm trying to find someone to proctor the exam for me. I called a local college and discovered the person who does their proctoring is currently on leave. I thought we had found a solution, though, because the Director of Admissions has proctored before and he agreed to do this for me. So, I submitted his name to my college. They promptly sent me an email back stating the school had someone who was approved to proctor. It was the person who is on leave. I emailed them back and explained that she was on leave and asked what I should do. That was on June 30. I've yet to hear back from them. In the meantime, I've been trying to phone the person they told me could proctor in the hopes that she had returned from leave. So far, I've had no response from her either. I feel at the end of my rope and will be trying to contact my college by phone today to see if someone can offer me some actual, real advice.

In other news, I've been heavily involved in practice for a local production the Arts & Entertainment Council in our town (of which The Hubs and I are very involved members) puts on every year: Beach, Boogie and Blues. We have four more practices before our first performance next Friday (July 22). I'm excited! I'm singing a song called "Hip-Swingin' Blues". (I'd post a video link for you, but I'm currently at work and YouTube is blocked here - as are all video sites!) I will, however, post a pic of my costume. I love it! I think it's going to be a great show!

You like?

The Hubs and I have both taken Friday off from work. Why, you ask? Well....THE FINAL HARRY POTTER MOVIE OPENS FRIDAY!!! Well, technically at 12:05am on Friday/Thursday night. The Hubs and I are going to the midnight showing. I can't wait!!! I'm like a kid in a candy store! It's going to be awesome, but sad as well. I'll never again get to go to a Harry Potter movie in the cinema. I have to stop, I might cry. But, Thursday night/Friday morning is going to be magical!!

There are other things going on and something major that I may share with you in a couple of days (when I have more concrete news) but for now I'll just ask for your thoughts/prayers over the next few days. I've been asking for that a lot lately, but please know I'm returning the favour for all of you. This is something very, very important to The Hubs and I. If it comes through, it's life-changing! I need to stop before I say too much! I'm superstitious that if I talk about it, it'll fall through. So just please take a moment to think of us and hope with us and I'll fill you in as soon as I can!

Oh, btw, I am supposed to be participating in Calliope's Summer Camp and, if I can ever pull my shiznit together, I'm going to get right on that! My camping will probably be over the next couple of months, lol!