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

One last gentle nudge

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, but it is also December 31 - the last day of 2007.

Everyone has one more day to give one more gift.

Find your favorite charitable organization and send a donation.

You can donate through the organization's website; some will accept checks that are postmarked by midnight Monday.

If you give your help before the official end of the year, you should be able to receive a tax deduction for 2007.

And it is possible that your company participates in an employee giving match program. If you've missed this year's program, put it on your calendar for 2008.

m

Paper Chase - Part Deux

My new I-171H arrived today. The latest set of fingerprints is good until February 2009; the I-171H is valid until May 2009.

(I applauded the local USCIS office, they process documents fast. I've heard horror stories from other states, where the process can take months.)

m

2 years ago

I spent Saturday morning traipsing downtown to have my fingerprints redone. I needed those, along with a homestudy update and a new I-600A application, to renew my I-171H.

That excursion reminded me that it's been over two years since I began the adoption process.

Two years!

m

I'm no better than those annoying retailers

It isn't even Thanksgiving yet, and I'm already talking Christmas!

I found this ornament at T*rget today. Ten percent of the sale is donated to St. Jude Hospital. It reminded me that I want to get holiday cards from someplace like the Half the Sky foundation.

If I can't have my little one home for this Christmas, I'd like to know that I'm somehow contributing to the care of all the little children who won't be home with their families either.

So, do you see where this is going? Is the hint broad enough? Okay, I'll be blunt. Make this holiday about caring for those who don't have the good things that we have. Those who won't spend a Thanksgiving eating too much food, or have a Christmas morning awash with presents. Participate in Toys for Tots, donate a scarf and hat to a giving tree, or send a donation to a small charity.

Do it or I'll have to speak to Santa about you.

m

We're through the Review Room!

Wow that was fast!

It took over nine months to move from 'Pending Review' status to 'In Review'. It took only two weeks to get through the Review Room!

Okay, it's likely my dossier had been looked at well before this month but they finally finished all of the August 2006 dossier reviews.




PROGRESS!

Therapy (Retail, that is)

As I've stated before, I occasionally need to use retail therapy to get through the tough, slow, 'it's never gonna happen' days. My rule is that the item cannot cost over $15.

This weekend's therapeutic purchase was some pyjamas from b@byG*p. I ended up with two pair and an intriguing question -

Will Beach Baby be a cutesy, fairy-princess jammie wearing kind of girl . . .


Or a wild child, skull-and-crossbones jammie wearing kind of girl?


Something to ponder.

m