Today is Monday October 16^th and here is the link the Newsweek Story, entitled “Material Mommy”.  Today was a very busy day as many of the support staff left this morning.  However, I was able to drop by the jewelry booth and purchase some hoop earrings that have both white and yellow gold wrapped hoops, this was a gift to myself for being so diligent with my workouts.  This has been a really great trip, but I am looking forward to going home, even if only for 24 hours.  On Wednesday of this week we drive to Nashville to fly out to Oregon for our trip for the Holt International 50^th Anniversary.

Today is October 17^th and I am on my way home from the DIB Market.  I am exhausted and it is just noon time.  I was able to find a copy of Newsweek Magazine with my quote in it and I bought 2 copies for saving.

I was sitting waiting for my flight and a Mom was flying alone with her little boy.  She turned her back and he came over to me and put his arms out for me to hold him, so I picked him up and he put his head on my shoulder and began to nod off.  I knew when she got off the phone and turned around she would be startled so I immediately showed her I was holding him.  He continued to lean on me and then finally he sat up and I tied his shoes and played “give me five” and then he got down and went with his Mom.

This reminded me of what it might be like when “ladybug” is placed in my arms except for she will have already left the arms of at least 2 “Momma’s” and she won’t really understand what is happening.  I just hope that I am able to comfort her as I did this little boy today and create a bond that will ultimately allow her to develop and grow and be all that she can be.

Well in Cincinnati my flight was delayed due to mechanical problems, so we waited around an hour for a new plane.  We made it home about 1 ½ hours late, but it was sooooooo good to be home.

Today is October 18^th and to say I am a bit tired is an understatement.  I had a long day in the office trying to wrap up all the issues I addressed at the market.  After work, we gathered all our stuff and headed to Nashville.  We picked up a sandwich on the way and checked into our hotel about 9 pm Nashville time.  We have to leave for the airport very early in the morning our flight leaves at 6 am.

Today is October 19^th and we were both up bright and early this morning as our flight left at 6 am.  We flew on Frontier Airlines, and it was wonderful.  We each had our own television and could select what we wanted to watch.  I watched the Today show and Mel watched a movie.  Then from Denver to Portland we both watched movies.  We arrived in Portland at around 10 am Portland time.  For us it was lunch time, so we had Chinese food in the food court and it was pretty good.  We ventured out to get our rental car and oh my word, I thought I might have a stroke while waiting nearly an hour and we were 2^nd in line at the Hertz counter.  The good news we eventually got our car a Toyota Camry and we hit the road.

We drove southwest with our final destination being the coast.  We stopped at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville Oregon and Mel got to see the "Spruce Goose".   He took a private tour and took a ton of pictures.  We then headed for the coast.  We arrived in Lincoln City in early evening, just before sunset.  The waves were crashing the shore and I was glad we had not made reservations right on the coast as it was a bit scary.  It reminded me of “old pirate” movies where the water is really rough.  Seeing Tsunami warning signs for evacuation routes did not help.  It is funny here where we live, we have signs for the nuclear evacuation routes and we see them so much we almost don’t see them.  However, being on the coast of Oregon and seeing those signs and seeing the waves almost panicked me.  There were places that the water could shoot over the road as well.

We finally got to Newport and checked into our hotel that had shown fully booked on line, but the stars were aligned and they had room for us.  It was on the water, but up on a cliff overlooking the water and you had to walk down about a hundred stairs and then the water was about ¼ of a mile out.  We could see the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, built in 1893 and still active.  The 93 foot tower is Oregon’s tallest.  We grabbed a bite to eat at Mo's in Newport.  It was so cool, very rustic and besides us, mostly locals were there.  It was only about 8 pm local time, but we were bushed, since for us it was really 11 pm in Tennessee.  What a fun day!

Today is Friday, October 20^th and we were up very early to drive to Eugene to meet the Holt staff.  We drove a windy road thru the hills of Oregon to get to Eugene.  The sun came up while we were driving and with the fall colors it was a beautiful drive.

While we were driving we began to talk about names for girls.  We both love Elizabeth Luanne, a.k.a Ellie Lu, but if by chance we see her and don’t feel the name matches her or if by some unlikely chance we were to be referred twins we thought would should have a backup.  Well just as I was saying how much I like Edye, the road sign said “Welcome to Eddyville”, was that a sign or what?  We like Edye Anne or Edye Louise or even Edye Deanne.

We made it to the offices of or agency, Holt International and it was so good to meet everyone.  While we were there a group of visitors from China came in, it was funny they were very up front about keeping us away from them.  They clearly only spoke Chinese so it wasn’t as if we could have really communicated with them and asked, “so why is this process taking soooooooo long?”

We left the office and headed west to the coast again, this time to Florence.  We had lunch right on the water at Driftwood Shores Resort and the view was just beautiful.  We walked on the beach afterward and took a few photos.  This is where the fun starts.  When we began planning our trip to Oregon I noticed they had what appeared to be a national recreation area or park which was right on the ocean.  I wasn’t sure what it would really be like, but I thought a dune buggy tour would be really nice.  I will tell you now that I didn’t know dunes would be any higher than say 10 feet tall, maybe 20 feet.  When I think of dune buggy tour I was thinking like a Sunday afternoon drive by the lake or around neighborhoods to look at houses, not like Nascar or anything fast or speedy.

We found Sandland Tours and they were loading up a group when we arrived, they called it the “comfort tour”.  It was almost like a school bus with no roof and big padded seats.  Well I went inside and they said they had another tour leaving really soon and told us where to go.  Well when I saw others covering their heads and then they handed out goggles, I knew I was not going on the “comfort tour”.  You just can’t even begin to imagine what this dune buggy ride was like.  The driver looked as if he had just escaped solitary confinement for some horrendous crime; my first impression was he was a “take no prisoners” type of guy.  He started the dune buggy which sounded like a racecar and we headed down a wooded path very slowly.  This gave me a chance to catch my breath, because as soon as we cleared the trees he stepped on the gas and we were doing like 80 mph.

Earlier I said I thought dunes might be 20 feet tall, well they were more like 500 feet tall and if you just imagine the most scary roller coaster you have ever been on, imagine not knowing where you are going and speed that burns your skin and for a full hour your heart just pounding not knowing what was around the next dune.  At one point we were on top of a dune and we went straight down toward a lake and literally he stopped with the tires on my side ride at the edge.  Mel really got a kick out of it since he knew I had no idea how scary and exciting the ride would be.  Just as we were finishing up I was thinking oh man I am going to live and even considered that I might do it again.  We came to another opening on the trail and our driver gave us his last revenge, I think I even saw his horns coming out of his helmet.  Note:  don’t eat lunch before a dune buggy ride J!

After the ride was over we went back into the gift shop and the gal asked us how our ride was, I said “I have a new name for the driver…”hellcat”.  She laughed and said “that’s my husband.”  We grabbed a coffee for Mel and a hot chocolate for me and headed back to Eugene.

We found our hotel and we got checked in.  We were tired but wanted to experience Eugene nightlife, since our trip was so short.  We found this restaurant, the Electric Station and dined in one of the rail cars.  The dinner was excellent and the atmosphere was really nice.

Today is October 21^st and we are in Eugene, Oregon and we are having one fantastic mini vacation!  We were up early this morning and had breakfast in the garden restaurant and then found a seat for our morning session.  The panel included adoptees from several countries, beginning in the 50’s from Korea to the present day from China.   Each person spoke of their story and you just can’t imagine hearing the stories and all were different.  Tears were shed, many talked of visiting their “birth country” and what that was like.  As we listened to the stories we could see how much has changed over the last 50 years.  In the early days, children came to America and they really never learned of their birth country and weren’t encouraged to embrace their culture or language, currently children attend culture camps and language classes and get the opportunity to have it all.

During lunch we met up with a friend I had met on line Robin.  She and her husband Randy are also adopting from China and are using Holt as their agency.  It was so nice to meet them and visit.

The afternoon session was also very good and then they had an open house for each country where we got to meet some of the Holt staff who work in China.  We took a break after all the sessions and went to Target where I got Ladybug 2 books on Halloween.

We attended the gala celebration where there was entertainment and awards and just a beautiful evening honoring our agency that has been at the forefront of adoption both in facilitating adoptions as well as programs and advocacy thru changes in laws, in country programs and sponsorship.

We had a very full day and our hearts are so warmed by this experience.  This wait has been so much longer than we could have ever imagined, but events like this energize us and encourage us to focus on our daughter and the day we will become a family.

Today is Sunday October 22^nd and we were up at the crack of dawn to drive back to Portland.  The sun came up while we were driving and it was an absolutely beautiful day.  We had an easy time getting checked in and our flights were uneventful.  We were very tired, but we both agreed, these last 4 days have been fun packed and just amazing…one of our best trips.  We know we will return to Oregon, there is still so much more to see and experience.

We made it home late tonight and the kitties were so glad to see us and we were glad to be home.  There is no place like home!

Today is Friday October 27^th and referral rumors have been floating around for days.  It is just so hard to follow them and not get your hopes up or down.  Right now the rumors say the cutoff will be 23^rd or the 24^th or the 28^th.  There is also some talk of LID dates adjusted or part days.  If the cutoff is the 24^th then that will only be 14 days and if that continues then we have 10 more months of waiting.  Pretty much the same for the 23^rd, but they get to the 28^th, then that would be 19 days and if they could maintain that, our referral would be in 7 months.  That would mean we would see Ladybug’s picture in May 2007…..if I really thought that were possible then I would just be jumping for joy and would not worry one more day.  However, nobody really knows, so for now we can just guess.  I personally think they may actually do more days than anyone has rumored…the optimist in me…maybe?

We have our FCC waiting families meeting tonight and it will be so good to gather with others who are in “limbo” too.  We will discuss packing.  I just can’t wait to begin packing; at that point we will have a picture and know approximately when we will travel.

HAPPY SATURDAY, October 28^th!  We have been going at such a pace it seems for months that this morning we slept in…all of us, the kitties too.  We went to the open house of our new local fire department and it was really interesting learning about how the fire department works and seeing the building itself.  It is less than a mile from us, but we haven’t heard any sirens so far.

The weather was just beautiful so Mel mowed the yard for the last time, we hope.  We then settled in to watch Tennessee play South Carolina and whoopee, we won.

Can you say FALL BACK?  Today is Sunday, October 29^th and last night we fell back, which means we got an extra hour of sleep…much needed I might add.  We made it to church but played hooky from our Chinese language class, it was too pretty.  We drove over to Murphy to see the colors and it was really nice.  We visited an Antique store where I got this nice fruit print for the kitchen.  We went to a local candy store and got ice cream, then we drove back home.

I am so far behind on my secret pal gifts as in months behind…I worked for several hours to get everything organized.  The presents had been purchased, just not organized and sent.  I feel badly that I got so behind, but it will be like Christmas for the next week few weeks for my secret pals.

Well it is Monday October 30^th and I checked “rumor queen” first thing and no referrals.

Happy Halloween!  Today Jeannie and her girls came over.  We all went out “trick or treating” then we had tacos.  The girls were both dressed so cute.  They talked about “ladybug” and wanted to know when she will arrive.  They wanted to know if she is born yet. They are excited and both want to babysit her.

I remember last year at Halloween how we talked about how much fun it will be trick or treating with Ladybug…we couldn’t even fathom not being home from China yet.  I just hope we are home by next Halloween, at this rate we may not be.