Mail Call

More fun mail today. My niece Ivy sent us these two masterpieces. Getting mail from Ivy is one of my most favorite things in the whole world. There were two envelopes - one addressed to Jon and one addressed to me. Not sure if you can tell in the picture but there was a little something extra on the back of the envelopes. Mine is on the left and had a small picture - Jon's is on the right and she wrote her name. I have a box of treasures that I have received from my nieces and nephew. I was going through some pictures recently and came across this one - probably my favorite picture of Ivy.

Nothing Like some Pink Presents to Cheer A Girl Up

Sorry, no pictures because our camera is not cooperating.

Tuesday evening we met up with Jon's work peeps for a send-off to his new job. I had been there for a few minutes when a couple showed up. Jon indirectly works with the guy - I met this couple once at a wedding a couple of months ago. They hand Jon a box which is obviously some type of going away present. I am half paying attention and half carrying on a conversation with someone else (typical). All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see pink, wait a minute.....I see little pink shoes!!!! Next thing I knew the box was in my lap. Now I don't think Jon handed it to me and I don't think it jumped into my lap so obviously I snatched it out of his hands. Hey - it was little pink shoes- I couldn't help myself!!!! Not only was it pink shoes but also a matching outfit. I was so touched - like I said, I've met this couple once. The woman is originally from China although she has been living here for quite some time - not sure how long. She is so genuinely excited and supportive about our adoption. It was such an unexpected gesture and it really meant a lot to both of us. She also let me practice my pathetic 5 words of Mandarin with her.

Then yesterday I check the mail and I got an adoption bracelet from my friend Andree' and her friend Michelle. I've never met Michelle but she knows about me through Andree' (hopefully she doesn't believe everything Andree' tells her.) Anyway, Michelle saw the bracelet, got it for me and Andree' sent it to me. It's pink and has a little charm on it that says:
Adopting a child
Shaping a life
Building a home
Creating a world
Again, a very nice gesture from someone that I really do not even personally know.

Andree' also sent me some other pink goodies for sponsoring her in the Breast Cancer 3 day. She is walking 60 miles in three days. She has been training really hard and I am so proud of her for doing this.

A New Chapter For Jon

Today is Jon's last day at his current job. He is taking the rest of the week off and then he starts a new job on Monday. He is very excited about the new opportunity but I think feeling somewhat nostalgic as well. He's been with this company for about 6 years and has lots of friends there that he will miss. However, it's just time to move on. He has been itching to make a move for months now. While we were in the middle of the paperchase, he let that itch go unscratched so that we would not have to re-do any of our paperwork. Ok, there was some scratching but he stuck it out until we were a month past our DTC date. (Of course, at this point, with the current time lines lots of things will likely expire and will need to be re-done.) A bridge to be crossed when we get there.

This job is also where Jon and I met. No, we didn't work together. He was/is actually a client of mine. Hey, you got to meet them somehow. I was a vendor trying to sell him some software. He bought. I remember my second meeting with him. I was a mess. I had been in Napa for a few days with some friends. I missed my flight home and ended up on the red-eye. Didn't sleep a wink on the plane (never do). I landed around 6am - got home, showered and re-packed since I had a flight to Denver that afternoon. Made it to his office by 9am for our meeting. It was pouring down rain - I never have an umbrella when I need one so I got soaking wet getting into his building. I was sleep deprived, my brain was mush and now a drowned rat. I can't imagine that I wowed him with my intelligence or looks that day.

The gang is taking him to the company's favorite watering hole for a send off. I am on my way now to meet up with him and probably take him to dinner to celebrate. Congratulations Jon!!!! I love you!!!!

Mandarin Monday - 4

First of all I have something to confess. Last week, I practiced the tones very little not at all.
I am not feeling very ambitious at the moment so it is going to be one short phrase this week and we already know one of the words (please) from a couple of weeks ago.

Words For The Week:
"Excuse me please" - qing rang yi xia (This is the phrase that would be used when someone is blocking your way and you are trying to get through - maybe a crowded elevator or something.)

Click here to hear the pronunciation. It's number one on the page.

P.S. I also seriously considered the following phrases:
1. "Please check your calendar,there are actually 31 days in May”.
2. "What the heck happened to June?"
3. "I will explode if I have to wait 18 months"
However, I am struggling to stay positive and that type of sarcasm has gotten me into trouble in the past.

Friday Night In The Big City

Friday afternoon I was quite bummed due to the news on the referral front. (It appears that my little ladybug was a poser.) I knew I had to step away from the computer. Jon had a work function to attend and I really didn't think I would be good company for anyone. I remembered how therapeutic my collaging date with Vicki proved to be. Somehow glueing pictures on something seemed to silence the voices inside my head. That combined with inspiration from Shannon's way cool IKEA mirrors gave me an idea. I have all these wedding photos in a box that are just sitting there. We purchased the digital images of our wedding photos so we could do "anything" we wanted with them and not have to worry about using a $300 5X7. Of course "anything" ended up being nothing.

I went to my local craft store in search of glue and something to glue on. I was on a mission. I'm not a regular at the craft store. I've been once with my niece and maybe once with my Mom and that is about it. I wandered around aimlessly for a while. I even ended up in the scrapbooking section. OH. MY. GOSH. I felt like a young girl that had not yet reached puberty that found herself in the bra section at the department store. I was fascinated by the enormous selection but totally not ready for that yet. Made a u-turn out of scrapbooking and found myself some glue and a wooden box. That would do.

Came home and started glueing (and poured myself a glass of wine just in case the glueing wasn't therapeutic enough.) Around 8:30 I called Vicki - I thought she would want to know about my "glue fest".

Me: Hey, well I hope you are happy.
Vicki: Why, what's up?
Me: It's 8:30 on a Friday night and I am glueing pictures on a "bleeping" wooden box.
Vicki: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Me: Well what are you doing?
Vicki: Eating a box of chocolate malted milk balls

I worked on my masterpiece off and on throughout the weekend and I must say that I am quite pleased at the way it turned out. It's far from perfect but I've not bad for my first try. I'm not sure if I used any of the correct materials so it may fall apart tomorrow. Better get a glimpse now:

Trying To Find My Happy Place

Ladybug For A Friend

I have to admit that I haven't really bought into the whole ladybug thing as of yet. In case you haven't memorized the China Adoption Handbook, Ladybugs are considered a good luck symbol for families adopting from China. Supposedly if you see one, that means that you are going to get some good news about your adoption soon. Don't get me wrong, I've always liked ladybugs. I just can't say that I felt any different about them after we started pursuing our adoption and I learned about the ladybug connection. Maybe I'm a bit cynical, maybe I don't like cliches', maybe a little bit of both. I love that other people want to smother themselves in all things ladybugs,I just haven't felt the need. However, today was a little different.

I went out to check the mail and something caught my eye as I was walking back towards the front door. Yep, a ladybug. Now, I am not the most observant person in the world and was busy enjoying my nice stack of junk mail so I can't believe that I even saw her. Also, it was quite chilly today - cooler than it has been in a long time. But there she was. Now tomorrow will be one month since our DTC so maybe we are going to hear something about our LID soon. However, I am going to dedicate this ladybug to a friend with an LID of 5/31. She's knows who she is. The last batch of referrals went through May 25 which quite frankly stunk. She held her head high and knew that she would be in the next group. Now there is the chance that this next batch will only cover up to 5/30. Everyone was of course hoping that part of June would be covered but to leave out a day in May....please don't let that be the case. Anyway, this ladybug is hers. I have no idea what her ladybug was doing in Texas but some things just can't be explained.

Mandarin Monday 3

There actually won't be any new words this week. I've decided that I need to pay more attention to the 4 tones of Mandarin. I briefly mentioned the tones the first week but that was about it.

This is typical for me - I tend to skip steps 1 and 2 then jump in head first around step 3. Somewhere around step 4 or 5 I realize that steps 1 and 2 actually were there for a reason. Jon is the opposite. He is definitely a steps 1 and 2 kind of guy. Sometimes we balance each other out. Sometimes we drive each other a little crazy. That's a different post.

Anyway, back to the Mandarin. Like I said, I've decided to practice the tones a little more before moving forward. Not just to say them correctly but to also recognize the differences when I hear them. (Remember the tone is what prevents you from referring to your Mother as a Horse.) Here is a link explaining the four tones and giving some decent examples. I found this site helpful as well. More new words next week!!

Weekend In Review

Well I finally got around to doing our taxes on Saturday. Unlike some over achievers (Julie) who had their taxes done by some insane date such as Jan. 2, I have been procrastinating. I knew we were going to be on the giving end instead of the receiving end so I let it go. It's done but I will not be filing before Monday, April 17th. So on Sunday, what did we do to celebrate our big tax bill? We went shopping of course. I finally went to the Ikea that opened several months ago just miles up the road. We need some bookshelves for the office so I thought that would be a good place to start. I even got Jon to go with me. Oh but it cost me dearly. Before Ikea, we had to make a stop at Jon's favorite electronic/computer store. OK, this place makes your typical Comp*USA look like Disney Land. This is not where you go to buy computers but where you go to buy the 50 million little pieces if you want to make your own computer. Hard core. They know Jon by name. They speak another language. They are not of this world. I will usually do anything to keep from going to this place. But it was standing between me and new bookshelves so I made the sacrifice. We got home with the bookshelves but only had 2/3 of what we need so we will be going back. Shannon, let me know if you need anything.

P.S. to Andree' - We had lunch at The Great Outdoors and yes I had a #21 with the works!!!!

Mama Dove Is Back

For the third spring in a row, we have a Dove that has made a nest on our back patio. There is a potters bench on the patio and the nest is built on the top shelf. In the exact same spot. It's right by our back kitchen window and right next to the back door. The first year, we had baby doves that hatched. Last year, she stayed forever but no eggs. I really wasn't that disappointed because it meant that I wasn't the only infertile one around here. Twisted but true. This year I am hoping for baby birds!!!! I have heard/read that it is either the same dove that returns or the babies that were hatched there. Personally I haven't caught and tagged any of these birds so I can't confirm. We just noticed her yesterday and the nest is under construction. She stays there and another bird (Daddy Dove I assume) keeps returning with building materials. I've been sitting here drinking coffee and watching them. When he shows up with something, she will move to the side, get the new addition situated, get back to her spot and off he goes. I would try to snap a picture but don't want to scare her away.

Baby Dreams

I've heard that pregnant women (paper pregnant and tummy pregnant) can start having baby dreams. I know some have blogged about their dreams while waiting for their referral. I had my first baby dream last night - well, sort of. It wasn't actually my baby, I was only babysitting. Apparently my subconscious hasn't completely wrapped itself around the fact that I may indeed someday be a Mother....only that I am worthy of watching someone else's child for a few hours. I have also been reading about signing as a way to communicate with babies. My friend Andree' did this with great success and Karen from Gwenblog has also made me a believer.

Anyway, this baby that I was babysitting was adorable. However, she could sign EVERYTHING and FAST. I had no idea what was going on. Her little fingers just kept moving faster and faster and she kept looking at me like I was an idiot. I was feverishly turning the pages of my one signing book and was googling like mad to try and figure out what she needed. Apparently she needed a diaper change. So I started changing the diaper and COULD NOT DO IT. (Yes, I have changed diapers before with no problem. Well, maybe a couple went on backwards but no major problems.) However, not this one. And this baby just kept looking at me like I was a complete moron. After 45 minutes (in my dream I kept looking at the clock) this little girl just pushed my hands aside and changed it herself!!!!!

I'm sure dream interpreters can have a field day with this.

Mandarin Monday II

Ok boys and girls, it's that time again. Hopefully everyone practiced their hellos and goodbyes last week. We should call this one Mandarin Monday Manners since that is the focus this week. Just a few words to help us be polite American visitors.

I have listed the English, Pinyin and then a pronunciation HINT in parentheses. Remember it is just a HINT since the tones are very important. I have a link below to hear two of the three this week.

Words For The Week:
Please - Qing (Ching)
Thank You - Xie Xie (Sh-eh Sh-eh)
You are welcome - Bu ke qi (boo kua che)

Click here to hear the pronunciation for "Thank You" and "You are Welcome" - look for number two on the page. I didn't have a chance to find an example of Qing but according to my CD's that I have been listening to, I think you will be ok if you pronounce it "Ching" (without any American accent of course). I'm using a different site than I used last week for the pronunciation since I am trying to find free sites for the examples.

Extra credit:
1. Notice the X is pronounced "sh" as in sheep.
2. Notice the Q is pronounced "ch" as in chore.
Yes, there are exceptions but we have to start somewhere.
It is helpful to learn these pronunciations because if you take a Chinese phrasebook with Pinyin representation with you to China, it isn't going to help much unless you know how to pronounce the sounds.

Remember to use these words at least once each day. Also, don't forget last weeks words. You know what will happen if you don't use them. As my Mom so nicely pointed out last week, I don't remember "jack" from high school/college French. How much do you remember from high-school language classes? Exactly.

Random Observations From My Trip

Here's some advice for the person that is designing the next major airport of the world. Look at your plans and count the number of electrical outlets. Multiply that by 100 and that is how many you need. Business travelers have been fighting for the few coveted electrical outlets in airports for years. I am guilty of once unplugging a vending machine in an airport to use my laptop. Don't worry, I plugged it in for anyone needing a Snickers. Now we have to also compete with every laptop carrying, Ipod toting civilian. If I had a couple of power strips with me at O'Hare I could have made some serious scratch.

Got into New York very late. Hotel was quite full so they upgraded me to a suite (which also had an amazing view.) This suite was larger than many apartments I have rented. I actually felt guilty. It was only me and I was not even going to be there for 7 hours, 5 of which I was asleep. If it had not been midnight, I would have gone looking for a family in a regular room and switched rooms with them.

The flight home was the longest 4 hours of my life. I have had several 15 hour flights that were shorter than this one. I guess I was just tired and cranky.

Here's some things I would like to say to my fellow passengers:

1. To the lady sitting two rows in front of me. Quit complaining about the fact that the overhead bin above your seat was full. It’s first come, first serve. You boarded in Group 6. Get over it.

2. To the teenager sitting across from me. I love my Ipod as much as the next person but you are singing very loud…..and horribly.

3. To Mr. Man sitting in front of me. See how little leg room you have? It’s the same for me back here. Your seat is already as far back as it will go. Quit using all of your body weight to try and recline some more. I am only 5’4” and you have busted both of my kneecaps.

4. To the lady sitting behind me. When you need to get out of your seat, please use your armrests if you need help getting into the standing position. The back of my seat is not for this purpose.

5. To the lady with the crying baby. It’s ok, babies cry. Ignore the man who is sitting next to you and rolling his eyes. I would cry right now if I could get away with it.

6. To the person that attempts to finish the crossword puzzle that I started in the airline magazine. . Yes, I am complete moron and obviously have the vocabulary of a 5 year old.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Ni Hao from Chicago. I flew in tonight and then tomorrow night I’ll be flying to New York and then back home Friday night. I love the cities of Chicago and New York but won’t really see anything since I’ll be in each of them for barely 24 hours. I’ll be seeing two customers along the way and hopefully performing some magic for both of them. Friday should’t be more than the old “rabbit out of a hat" trick. I’m afraid Thursday may be more like sawing a lady in half. Oh, and trying to put her back together of course. There is always a catch. I do pre-sales and post-sales for a software company. What does that mean? I basically make lots of software presentations and convince people that the software is going to make their lives a million times better with all it’s fancy features. That is the pre-sales part. Then sometimes I get to go back and make it do all the things we promised. I’m not sure if it keeps me honest or I am developing a split personality.

I’ve only seen The Amazing Race a couple of times. However, from what I can tell, a group of software consultants could kick some serious butt on that show. It’s what we do every day. You find out at the last minute that you need to get to some random city. Maybe it’s Tulsa, Oklahoma and then again maybe it’s Mumbai, India. You figure out how to get there. You may have a vague idea of why you are going but that probably came from a sales guy (love ya Rick!) so you are pretty clueless until you get there. You arrive, try to figure out the best way to get to your assignment….train, taxi, rental car, rickshaw, donkey. Get to your assignment and then you are instructed to perform the impossible. Oh and there is a deadline because you have to be in another city by tomorrow. Things never go as planned so we always have a plan B in our back pocket. I have been stuck in traffic on the way to the airport and knew I was going to miss my flight. I ditched my Rental Car at a hotel, got on a train and still made my flight. Piece of cake.
You would not mind being on national TV screaming your fool head off at your teammates either. They are only co-workers, not your family. I’m telling you a group of software consultants could not be beat on that show. Of course the withdrawal symptoms of being without their Crackberrys could slow some of them down. There is always a catch.

Mandarin Monday

Welcome to the first edition of what I am calling Mandarin Monday. Jon and I want to learn some Mandarin before our trip. Our daughter will be placed with people that she doesn't know and who will sound completely different from what she has been exposed to. While we will not be fluent and will have an obvious accent, we are hoping that it will help with the transition during the first few days. Can't hurt, right? Of course there is the chance that she has been hearing Cantonese but we had to pick one.
Also, one of my biggest pet peeves is when someone travels to another country and doesn't even bother to learn a few words of the local language. Come on, everyone should at least be able to say Hello and Goodbye(which is what we will be learning this week). I have found that regardless of how bad you mispronounce something, making the effort is usually well received.

(This is probably a good time to disclose the fact that on a trip to Venice with two of my girlfriends we ended up spending $300.00 on lunch by pretending we knew what we were doing. Yes, $100.00 EACH on LUNCH!!! Oh, and there was the time I got kicked off a bus in Singapore. Obviously I am not an expert.)

To properly learn Mandarin, I am sure we should enroll in a structured class so that we can ensure that we are learning all of the nuances of the language. We are also checking out the online courses. However, right now our lives are not working like that so we are going to start with the DIY approach. I am going to learn a couple of words or phrases each week. If we do enroll in a class we will either be ahead of the game or the instructor will be horrified at what we have learned on our own. Either way, I'm jumping in.

I'm sure most of you adoptive parents may be way ahead of me on this but if you want to play along at home, I am starting out easy this week. The assignment is to use the words everyday - not just read them here.

I will present the English word, the pinyin spelling and attempt to show the pronunciation in parentheses. This will be the difficult part since Mandarin is a tonal language. There are four basic tones in modern Mandarin Chinese, and every syllable in the language is pronounced with one of those four tones (or with a neutral tone). In Mandarin, the tones are extremely important. In fact, the tones are as much a part of the syllable or word as the consonant and vowel sounds are. Chinese words that might appear identical when written in English letters, such as the word “ma,” in fact are very different depending on the tone used. “Ma” can mean “mother,” “horse,” or “scold,” depending on which tone is used. Sounds dangerous. Mom, I apologize in advance if I call you a horse.

Words For The Week
Hello - Ni Hao (Nee how)
Goodbye - Zia Jian (Tseye geean)

You can try this link to hear the pronunciation. (Depending on what you have on your computer, I can't guarantee that these links will not require you to install an application to play the file or a language pack.) It's the first and third word on the page that will come up. Click on the red rectangle.

Extra credit
1. Notice the combination of "ao" makes the "ow" sound as in the english words now or how.
2. The vowel "i" makes the long "e" sound as in the english word see. However, from what I have read this is only the case when the i comes after consanants other than z, c, s, zh, ch, sh, r.

Zia Jian for now!!

P.S. to Dad - You always have a clever way of answering the phone. I don't have to tell you what I expect to hear this week!!!

Our Favorite Season

Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall? Nope - we're talking crawfish season, baby!!! (Yes, it's crawfish and not crayfish. I don't care what the spellcheck says. Please don't say crayfish.) I realize that not everyone appreciates this fine delicacy but in South Louisiana where I come from, crawfish are actually their own food group. And cooking them is nothing less than an art form. Needless to say, there is only one restaurant in our city that I trust with boiled crawfish. Lucky for me, I married a man that appreciates them as much as anyone (even if he is a Texan). We just got home from gorging ourselves. Mmmmm Mmmmm.

P.S. to Andree' - Don't worry I ate enough for you and me both!!!