AUGUST
2006
Today is
August 1st and referrals are in.
The CCAA has finished the review of
the adoption application documents
registered with our office before
October 31, 2005.
The CCAA has finished the placement of
children for families whose adoption
application documents were registered with
our office before
July 13,
2005. Families included had a login date of
6/28/05 thru 7/13/05.
A blog I follow called the
“ Naked Ovary” got their referral of
“MP”. After the long weekend in
Atlanta,
nothing like referrals to put the spring
back in your step.
This was a fun batch
of referrals; I believe 3 families were
referred twins. We follow the blog of one
family,
"Salsa in China"
and they
were referred twins. To put things in
perspective, when we started this journey we
were expecting our referral at this time.
However they are still 182 days from our
login date of
1/11/06.
Today is
August 5th and I got up bright
and early and met Teri at Kennestone.
Colin was doing pretty well, considering.
Teri took me to pick up my new laptop
computer. This weekend is “tax free” in
Georgia and Tennessee, but I could not find
my laptop in Tennessee. We decided we
wanted one to take to China so we can keep
everyone up to date on our travels and keep
our website up to date too. After many
phone calls and driving to several stores in
Atlanta we found one at Circuit City and got
it.
“Listen and attend with the
ear of your heart.”
~ St. Benedict
Today is August 10th
and I haven’t kept track of much over the
last 2 weeks because the only thing that has
been on my mind is my brother Colin’s
health.
The last 3 days have been almost unbearable,
if I wasn’t working I was searching on the
internet or talking to Teri about options or
speaking to our old pediatrician about what
to do. We have all been so worried. Last
night I told Teri she needed to be prepared
to go to Emory and meet with Dr. Hefron and
ask why Colin had not been transferred, but
then we decided instead that she would
pursue Piedmont as we felt Emory must have
turned Colin down.
I went to bed just praying
for a “change”; I didn’t ask for specifics I
just said “Lord we need a change”. This
morning when I talked to Teri Colin was much
worse, but our prayers were answered. A
cousin to Colin and Christi went to Emory
and spoke to Dr. Hefron and this afternoon
Colin was transferred to Emory.
To say I was relieved was a
HUGE understatement. These last 2 weeks
have been an absolute roller coaster and to
finally have Colin in a place where we know
the care is good and that something can be
done, there are no words to describe the
relief I am feeling.
Today is Saturday August 12th
and Aunt Betsy is driving down from
Cincinnati and I am taking her down to
Atlanta.
She is going to spend the week down in
Atlanta with Colin. She arrived mid
afternoon and we headed off to Atlanta. We
got there around 5 pm and were able to see
Colin briefly; he was in ICU and was in
pretty bad shape. Because he is in ICU, we
can’t stay in his room and we can only visit
during scheduled times. We met up with
Teri, Christi and Mitch who was the
“guardian angel” who got Colin into Emory
and we all went for dinner at a cool Atlanta
eatery.
We checked in
on Colin and then found our way to the hotel
and called it a night. This afternoon when
we were trying to find our way to Emory,
let’s just say we saw some of the “less
desirable” sites in Atlanta. At one point I
suggested we just asked directions and we
pulled into a service station and then
slowly everything came into focus and I
began to see bars on the doors and I noticed
the people in the parking lot and we pulled
off very quickly and counted our blessings
that we made it out without sliced tires or
getting shot at. NOTE: never leave home
without your cell phone and make sure you
have the numbers of the place you are going.
I called the switchboard at Emory and
they walked us thru turn by turn and we
found the hospital.
Today is August 13th
and we met up with Christi and we all had
breakfast at the hospital.
We camped out in the waiting area of ICU and
I programmed Aunt Betsy’s cell phone and
showed her how to use it. We were able to
visit with Colin briefly a few times and he
did seem a bit better today.
During the
afternoon I took Aunt Betsy to eat at
Captain D’s and we got some yarn so she
would have something to do. She is going
to knit Ladybug a blanket. I got
everyone settled and then as much as I hated
to leave Colin, I had to come back home.
The drive home from Atlanta was just awful,
as I was leaving Emory I said to God,
“if I can find my way out of hear then I
guess I should be leaving, but if I can’t
find my way I will take it as a sign that I
need to stay.” Amazing as it may seem I
found my way with no map and not really
knowing where I was, when I found the
connector road to I75, I knew it was okay to
keep driving. I got back home as it was
turning dark about 9:30 pm, totally
exhausted and still very worried.
Today is Saturday August 19th
and the past week is a blur.
I received updates every day
from Aunt Betsy, but still my whole week was
spent working all day, getting updates in
the evening and trying to get my house in
order and catch up. I left for Atlanta
about 8 a.m. and arrived at Emory around
10:30 and was able to visit Colin briefly.
He is in a private room and looked better
and he had been walking some and eating some
regular foods. |
|
How cute is this...
Pottery Barn Changing Table
Pottery Barn Side Table
Stanley Contentment Crib
Marmalade has discovered he can sleep behind my
monitor!
The wait has been so long, the ladybug flag is
faded and worn.
|
We left the
hospital by 11:15 and picked up Aunt Betsy’s
things at the hotel and headed home to
Tennessee. We arrived back home about 2 pm
and Aunt Betsy hit the road. She called me
from Berea and made it home as it was
getting dark. What a “trooper” she is or
should I say AMAZING! Thank goodness for
Aunt Betsy, she really helped out so much by
spending the week in Atlanta with Colin.
I was pretty numb after my
down and back trip to Atlanta so I vegged
out the rest of the day. Since coming home
from California on July 18th I
had only been home on 1 Saturday.
There is no place like
home.
Today is Sunday August 20th
and as much as I wanted to go to church I
didn’t.
I just did a few things around the house and
rested. I have been running hard for nearly
a month and it was good to have a break.
Today is August 21st
and our Secret Pal has the best timing.
Today we received some goodies in the
mail…take and toss spoons, take and toss
bowls and a sassy spinning photo frame.
This long wait has been so hard, but
participating in DTC groups and exchanges
has really helped. It seems the surprises
come at the best times.
Today is August 24th
and referrals are in.
The CCAA has finished the review of
the adoption application documents
registered with our office
before November 30, 2005.
The CCAA has
finished the placement of children
for families whose adoption application
documents were registered with our office
before July 22,
2005.
To put things in perspective,
when we started this journey we were
expecting our referral in July or August.
However they are still 173 days from our
login date of 1/11/06.
Today is August 26th
and we worked in the yard.
As you can imagine with me being gone the
better part of the last month and a very
busy month of June and Mel traveling quite a
bit for work; our yard needed some TLC. We
spent the better part of the day weeding,
trimming, mowing and just a general
cleanup. Then we got ready and headed off
to Atlanta to see Colin. We got in around 7
pm and spent some time visiting with Colin
and Margie and Teri who were there.
We went to
dinner at our favorite Atlanta restaurant
Bahama Breeze and then checked into a hotel
as it was nearly midnight by this point.
Needless to say we had a full day!
Today is August 27th
and we got up early and headed home to
Tennessee.
On the way home we stopped at the outlets in
Calhoun and did a little shopping, this
helped break up the drive.
I spent the
afternoon ironing and finished packing for
our vacation next week.
Today is August 28th
and to keep my sanity the last few weeks I
have found relief in a little retail
therapy.
I have found several cute outfits on Ebay,
Gymboree “Prep Club” and “Strawberry
fields”. I also purchased the changing
table on Overstock.com back in May. It is a
Pottery Barn product that had been
discontinued. I got quite the deal and it
goes well with the Stanley Contentment
Spindle Crib that we hope to buy soon at a
local Children’s Furniture store. A few
months back I purchased the spindle side
table on Ebay and it was a Pottery Barn
product too. You can see some of the photos
here and others in our “shutter fly” albums.
Notice the “thread baron”
Ladybug flag.
I put it out when we were DTC in December of
2005 and in just 9 short months it is nearly
faded and literally falling apart. I have
purchased a replacement, but it will not be
flying until referral rumors are in for our
LID of 1/11/06.
Today is
August 31st and we will be
leaving for a much needed vacation on
Saturday! |
|
|
|
|
|
