Gotta love vacation!

Another vacation comes and goes. After the passport fiasco I wasn't sure I'd be able to relax and give in to the vacation. Turns out, it's not that hard. A seven day cruise isn't quite long enough to really let it all go but I think I did pretty well. There were 8 of us on this trip - me, my sister Susan and her husband Erik, both sets of parents and Erik's aunt. I think we all had a good time. We celebrated halloween on board...

and dressed up on other nights...

More pictures to come once I get everything sorted out.

On my return home, I took a taxi from the airport. My cab driver was brand new. As in, I was his first fare. He came to this country last week from Ethiopia! I wish I could have talked to him a bit more but he was having some trouble driving (hope he gets better soon!) and his accent was very strong. Still it seemed like some kind of a message that I really would have a real connection to Ethiopia soon.

I also received a lovely packet from my home study agency with forms to update. Apparently that doesn't change anything in my dossier. I have until April until my fingerprints expire. I made a promise to myself that I would move to plan B if I didn't get a referral by the time my paperwork expired. I think I will not count this as expiring. Just not quite ready for plan B yet. My agency still seems hopeful for a referral soon so I'll go back to waiting waiting waiting. And remembering all those ocean breezes and drinks-of-the-day...

A cautionary tale about procrastination

I like to get on a plane at least once a year and leave my life behind for rest, relaxation and some kind of vacation. Many times, this includes my whole family traveling together. This year, we have put off any vacation in the hopes of going to Africa. As the likelihood of that happening this year dwindled, we decided to book a cruise. And as much as I love to get on a plane and leave it all behind, I just couldn't muster any excitement for packing.

So, I waited. The idea was that I would leave Wednesday night, spend two days at my sister's house and then the whole family would board the ship on Saturday morning. I'd thought about packing, even gathered a few things over the weekend and gotten my costume prepared. My plan was to leave work at 11am, have until 5 or so and the head to the airport for a 7pm flight. Only the flight left at 5:20. I realized this over the weekend but did that help speed things up? Not so much.

Monday night, I puttered around the house, cleaning up, watering plants. Didn't pack. Tuesday comes and I work both jobs, getting home from coaching at 8:30. Packing yet? Nope. Watched some TV (hello, it was Biggest Loser night!) and basically did nothing. Finally at 10pm I got off my lazy ass couch and got onto the computer. I had to print my boarding passes and everything, right? That led to checking emails, catching up on blogs...you know, the important stuff. At 10:30 I log on to the Holland America site to print my documents.

And at 10:32. The power goes out. Out out, as in pitch blackness. W.T.F.

Apparently it was a windstorm to end all windstorms, causing the lowest barometric pressure in the state ever recorded. Not sure why that was a big deal but the weather people sure did. My side of the block has a history of being the only ones without power in storms and sure enough, I could see the warm glow of happy families across the street but nothing on our side. So I drag out every candle I have, all the flashlights I can find and start to pack. In the dark.

*A quick note about candles, I realize now it's important to have unscented candles on hand. After two hours my house smelled like Bath and Body Works exploded in it. ugh.

The thing about packing is it's not really that hard. The trick is to have a list. And to know where things are. Since it's been so warm, my transition from summer to winter clothes in the closet has been slow. That means there are summer clothes in practically every closet. All of which are dark dark dark at 11pm on a stormy night with no lights. And of course I had not made a list. All in all I thought I did pretty well! I mostly have clothes that match, enough options for dinner and bathing suits for the pool. I figured there are stores here and on the ship if I really forgot something important. Unfortunately there aren't any stores to buy what I forgot.

Fast forward to Friday, one day to departure. I'd spent the last two days pretty much just on the couch, enjoying the quiet of not being at work. I'd realized by then I'd forgotten to bring the tshirt transfers I was in charge with for our custom cruise shirts. No worries, I had my laptop with the file! Whew. All is well. We run last minute errands (including one to buy transfer paper) and we're set to have dinner and finish up any last minute stuff before leaving in the morning.

I'm not even sure what made me think of it. It hadn't even crossed my mind the entire time I was at home, during packing or all the time I was here.

I forgot my frickin passport.

What?

Yes, my passport. The one thing that will get me on the ship that they do not sell at stores. It's 4:30pm (pacific time which means 6:30 at home) and I rush to the phone to call Lexi who is dog/house sitting. THANK GOD she was home and willing to save my ass. THANK GOD I knew where my passport was. THANK GOD FedEx has a 7:30 overnight deadline.  Waiting for it to arrive could possibly be the most stressful thing I've done in as long as I can remember.

If I thought the last seven months of waiting for a referral was stressful, the last day was all seven of those months rolled into one day. My stomach was on fire and I was practically shaking. No, not practically, actually shaking. All night I kept thinking about that expired passport that I keep in the same place as my current one. And hoping that Lexi didn't grab that one instead.

You can bet I will never do this again. I will repeat before every trip now...
Put your passport out with your luggage
Don't wait until the last minute
Lists are your friend
Don't wait until the last minute

Passport arrives, the FedEx man didn't want a kiss but I thanked him profusely. We board the ship and now we're on on our way. Someday maybe, I'll look back at this and laugh. But for now, I board the ship and try to shake it off. I'll have to think of something amazing to bring back to my angel of mercy Lexi!

Waiting but not sitting around

Three different people I know went on a trip during their wait for referral. When they returned, they soon got theirs. So, I'm on vacation! Seven months have come and gone. It's been a rough month. I know it will happen. Just would like to know when. Maybe it will happen while I'm on vacation with my family? It would be a wonderful way to find out and they would be there to celebrate it with me. I am going to have to relax and not think about it. Good thing about cruises, it's easy to relax!

That's all I have for today. A little whine, a little foot stomping, not much else. I'll get back on track after vacation :-)

Time marches on

It has been a hurry up and wait process since last September when I first contacted the adoption agency. I did everything in my power to move the paperwork along quickly so I wouldn't be the holdup on getting my family started. Then, the dossier was done. Cue the thumb twiddling. sigh.

Until last Wednesday. Something to do! I received a letter from the agency. Apparently they let their Ethiopian attorney go and hired a new one. Good because I had heard stories that he was tough to work with but bad because he's still a man with a family and it's hard to see anyone not being successful in their work. Good because now maybe things will go more smoothly in country but bad because now there's a new form to attach to the dossier. While I didn't really enjoy the thought of the process maybe being delayed while I got more paperwork done, it felt good to be doing *something* more than twiddling my thumbs.

So here's how it went down...
12:00 received email with new form
12:30 went downstairs to the notary and got two copies notarized
1:00 meeting (it was during work hours after all)
2:00 at Secretary of State across town for authentication
At this point, after waiting my turn in line we realized the forms weren't stamped. $#!+
2:00-2:45 drive back to work, get the forms stamped and then back to SOS
3:00 at the bank for the money orders
3:30 at FedEx sending overnight. done.

Ok so I probably didn't need to send it overnight but I just couldn't stop myself. I was so jazzed at being productive and also probably had too much coffee.

So now I'm back to waiting. The email from the agency also stated that they were starting to sponsor two additional orphanages as well as a foster care system. Hopefully that means there will be referrals coming soon? I have heard others who've been waiting the same amount of time as I have that have received theirs so who knows!?

In the meantime, I'm well underway on the Christmas stockings (well ok I'm halfway done with one anyway) and my moneymaking selling opportunity is almost ready to unveil. It's looking good and I can't wait to see if there's anyone out there who thinks the same and wants to buy one. Check back again soon for a cool Christmas gift!

Non-Update Update

I was hoping that I would have more exciting adoption news at this point in the year. Alas, I don't have any news except that there is no news. Disheartening for sure. So I've been busy. Judging season has started so between regular work and judging, I have much less time to walk into the empty nursery spare room and sigh.

Actually, I've been using that room to work out! Shocking, I know. I broke down and purchased the 30 Day Shred, since my 25th high school reunion was in 30 days. Haven't missed a day yet and I'm on day 16! So I haven't seen any difference yet but I did get fit enough to move from level one to level two. Not sure level three will come soon but who knows! It is perfect for my short attention span, being only 20 minutes long and each exercise less than 1 minute. You can do anything for less than 1 minute, right?

I've been enjoying the lovely fall weather and the dahlias that are now blooming in full force. This is the garden as of a week or so ago...

I'm still working on re-creating the Christmas stockings that our great-aunt made for the whole family. New family members don't have them but I'm not a very good knitter. I've signed up for a class at the local shop where they will help me figure it out. I sure would love to cross that project off my list!

Judging season provides me with a few captive hours in between sessions so I usually fill that time with crochet projects. Here are the latest...

The best news of the fall so far is that the family will be heading to Mexico on a cruise! It's a 7 day cruise and I'll be sharing a cabin with Aunt Shirley. Flights were even pretty cheap so with that and the cabin sharing it will be a relatively inexpensive holiday. We will be cruising over Halloween so there's another project for me - a costume!

Now I am not a costume person. Anyone who attended our amazing and fantastic (they really were) Halloween parties remembers it was not about the costumes, it was about carving pumpkins. Still festive but no dressing up needed. A bit of history to explain my hatred lack of enthusiasm for costumes - When I was 11 or so, can't remember the exact year, I made an awesome costume. I thought it was very creative. I used paper bags and covered them in brown trash bags in the form of a big circle, one for the front, one for the back. A big M&M! I had eye holes and my hands stuck out of the bottom of the M. The mean neighbor boys said I looked like a big black sperm. Now, I'm sure at the time I didn't have a concept of sperm or any such thing but I remember being horrified at being laughed at. So, it was the last costume I ever put on willingly. Now I only do it when I'm forced. So, I will figure something out for the cruise because no one likes a party pooper, least of all my sister, who will kill me if I don't (hi sis!). Any ideas?

And since I don't have enough projects going on, the Gerster/Zentmyer/Newberry cruise will need a logo for shirts. That's my project for this weekend. I scored a Groupon coupon for Zazzle.com and for a song, (or at least relatively cheaply) we will have some kind of cruise wear once the logo is designed. I'd better get to it!

Sunday Snapshot - weekend events

Saturday was a big day in many ways!

Enkutatash is the first day of the  Ethiopian New Year. They are celebrating 2003 which is different from our new year as the country uses the Julian calendar. It happens around the end of the rainy season and is marked by many celebrations. I had hoped to find some locally this year but failed to gather enough steam to make it happen.

It was the first day of meet season. It was a relatively low key mock meet that only lasted a few hours. However, it's the beginning of many weekends spent in a gym, watching hundreds of routines and listening to the same floor music over and over and over again. Don't get me wrong, I love being a judge. But I am really enjoying my last weekend of laziness for a while. 

Taking advantage of the free time before meet report time, Riley and I walked down to the Linden Hills Woofstock. It was a gorgeous morning and we wandered around looking at the various booths (me) and sniffing dog butts (Riley). It always amazes me how different dogs can be and still be dogs. Tiny chihuahuas and huge great danes, all mingling and enjoying themselves. We picked up some treats and chatted with friends and neighbors. Riley even got her picture taken by local photographer Leslie Plesser of shuttersmack. I can't believe how old she's getting (Riley that is, not Leslie).

Also happening yesterday was the 911 tribute at the Lake Harriet bandshell. I'm sad that I missed out, it is a very moving event. I did see some of the fireworks from my window at least. I can't believe it's been 9 years. In some ways it seems like it's another lifetime. I remember the quiet of the skies (I live under three flight paths, not far from the airport) and the almost silent drone of the fighter jets circling high above Minneapolis. With freedom comes responsibility and I hope we never forget that. 

All that activity yesterday has made for a lazy day today. I will have to get moving if the lawn is going to get mowed and the laundry done. Oh for another three day weekend...

Check out the great snapshots over at Ni Hao Y'all...

Sunday Snapshot - from the garden

A few years ago, I picked up a few dahlia tubers for my garden. I thought I'd attempt overwintering them in the refrigerator. Turns out, it worked! Well, mostly anyway. I had about an 80% survival rate. But since one tuber in the spring makes many tubers in the fall I always end up with more than I had the previous year.

Of course I still have to buy some new ones every year because the catalog comes in the middle of winter, when the whole world is white and brown and cold. It's all bright and shiny and flowery. sigh. This year I picked up a few new varieties and they are just now coming into full bloom.

Tomorrow is the last day of the Minnesota State Fair. I'm contemplating going one more time because the Dahlia Society has their show in the horticulture building. While I'm not up to showing these beauties, I have in the past and have one little ribbon to show for it. These people are *serious* about their dahlias and I'm just not. But it would be fun to see the show! If only I could helicopter in and not deal with parking or riding the bus or whatever painful combination of both gets me to the door.

Anyway, here's what's blooming in my garden this week...

Check out the other snapshots over at Ni Hao Y'all...