A few stats and a little bit of blues

August will mark the 4th anniversary of my LID.

There are 3+ months, or 75 days, of possible LIDs before mine still waiting for referral. The most recent referrals were for dossiers on or before: April 26, 2006.

I've completed my 3rd Homestudy: my 3rd I-171H will expire this fall.

I turn another year older in 2 days.

I went into the nursery today and for the first time, found cobwebs on the baby clothes in the closet.

Could everyone put in a good word with their personal higher power and get this thing moving!?

Get out there are light some candles.

Thanks,

m

Subliminal influences

This is one of those 'too weird to be true' things.

Last night I caught the last hour of my favorite holiday movie, White Christmas. Very kitschy I know, but I love it.

There's a scene in the movie with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Vera Ellen arguing and I tuned out a bit. But then I saw something on the wall behind them. A familiar print/ picture.

The very same vintage balloon print I put in the nursery! I swear! I even ran the film back twice to look at it again. There were two of them on the wall; one definitely was this print:



So, did I fall in love with these prints because I'd been staring at one every year when I watched White Christmas?



m

Nursery Update - Part 1

At the end of the summer I painted the nursery.

Once again I reminded myself that I really don't like painting. Really. And it's a pretty small room. Like a good, over-protective not-yet-parent, I selected a no VOC paint. At least it smelled nice.

Here is a picture of the new wall color. I like it, but it's a bit brighter than I expected.


And surprise, surprise, I finally found a rocking chair. It's in great condition, very sturdy and the upholstery goes with the new paint!

The rocker is vintage so it sits rather low to the ground, but with my short legs it's easier to rock. For once my feet completely touch the ground!

Here's the new chair:


The chair, combined with the rematted prints and new wall color, is a good start.

m

Nursery progress

I haven't worked on the nursery for a while; the more distant the adoption felt, the less enthusiasm I felt for planning.

After helping a friend paint her soon-to-be adopted little one's room, I decided I needed step up my efforts.

For the last year or so it's felt like everything about the adoption had become paperwork, websites and stress - no fun to be found.

But a few weeks ago I purchased some bedding (!), and last weekend I bought a crib. The pets found the assembly process very entertaining.

The pictures leave a lot to be desired, but here they are:

Nursery beginnings

The nursery transformation begins (did I say that before?)

What is the motivation you ask?

Actually it is thanks to Fergus and his house-messing compatriots, Thing One and Thing Two. They've managed to make a few of the rooms in the house dirtier than my growing OCD can tolerate.

Time to clean some carpets. Cleaning the carpet in the nursery meant dealing with the giagantic/ heavy/ hair-covered bed.

1. Out went the old bedding,
2. Out went the damaged mattress,
3. And out went the bed! (dismantled and moved to the basement for storage)

WWWHHHHEEEEE!!!!!!!

Now the question is, in light of the 3 pets and a baby, should I invest in a rug cleaner or just rent one?

Pictures to follow.

m

A new decorating scheme

As I'm on a decorating bend, I thought I'd check out the prices on the baby bedding I'd picked out last year.

Surprise! It's been discontinued! I searched the Internet furiously all weekend to no avail. It's long gone. Argh!

I found another set on eB#y and I went ahead and purchased it. It is really cream and black, not black and white. Take the wall hangings, diaper stacker, mobile and other junk out of the picture; that stuff is all too cutesy.

I want to make some changes so I'll have to dust off my sewing skills. Really, I can sew, could sew, way back in the good old days.

I have said before that I don't like toile, but times change. And I saw an episode of DivIne Des#gn on a nursery in toile and I liked the look.

Grandiose plans are my specialty.

m

Nursery decorating has begun (technically)

I bought a dresser for the nursery this weekend. It's vintage (or should I just say old) and right now has a dark stain. The picture is very dark, but it is a 6-drawer highboy.




I found it at my favorite antique mall, He@rt of Ohio Ant*ques. Great place, good dealers. I prefer vintage furniture; it's a better quality, solid hardwood instead of pressboard (see 99% of the junk from $ottery B##n). Prices are a fraction of new and hey, it's green to recycle furniture!

It's not so perfect and vintage that I'd be afraid to paint it, which is good since I haven't decided on a furniture finish for the room.

It might go white or cream or even some other color, and I may swap out the knobs for something fun or funky.


But, techinally, I have started decorating the room. Or I will as soon as I can get the dresser up the stairs!


m

Should I start working on the nursery?

Happy Lunar New Year to all!

I promised that once the CCAA got through the 2005 referrals, I'd start the nursery. For my agency, they have hit that milestone.



However, at their current rate of activity it is almost certain I won't have an occupant for that room until 2009.



Yes, I said 2009. If luck is with us.



If I set things up now, will the cats claim the crib as their own? Use the rocking chair as a scratching post?



Maybe it will be cheering and motivating. Maybe not. I really can't decide.

m