New Baby :)

Some of you know about my eyes and the fact I can't see. It wasn't a torn retina and they believe its either a tumor or too much spinal fluid in my brain pressing on my eyes. I feel like its the last one because I fit the profile, overweight, female and still pretty young (I can call 31 young right?). Anyway, basically I can't see, can't walk straight and have a headache so bad I feel like I'm going to puke. The other reason I don't think its a tumor is because I had a MRI on Thursday and I feel like if I had something wrong like that, they would of called me back into the doc on Friday.
Ok so on to fun things. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself Thursday afternoon and I have been spending a lot of time at my dad's house. When I came home, my tomatoes had fallen over and were all shriveled up. So of course that set me off, poor me, can't see, my head hurts and I don't even have tomatoes. I went out to water them and I heard a "thunk" "screech". My first thought was one of my outdoor cats had been hit by a car. I finally figured the sound was coming from a small ditch area on the other side of my retaining wall. What I found was a kitten just 3 or 4 weeks old!
At first I thought I should just leave him alone but on closer inspection, he was covered in fleas. I thought he was a calico he was so dirty. I knew that if I took care of his filth that his mom wouldn't take care of him anymore. But my goal for 2006 is to fix all the ferral cats in my neighborhood so I won't keep finding kittens (see I want to keep them and even at the reduced fees clinic, its several hundred dollars to get everyone fixed). So I made the decision to take the kitten now and tame him so he would have the chance of having a home where he would be loved on and fed.
So I took him inside and started washing him with baby shampoo. The blood poured off of him from all the flea eggs. He wouldn't even suds up in the beginning. I felt so bad for him, I knew he was just miserable. It took two baths to get him presentable and he actually turned white :)
So here I am, cat #8 in my hands. I made the decision to take him to Petsmart to give him to the no kill group and pay for his fixing and shots. When I got there they were too full of kittens to be able to bottle feed one. One of the people working there showed me how to bottle feed him and the next thing I knew, I had 8 cats. Who on earth could give up a kitten that they had bottle fed?
So kitty 8 (unnamed at this post) gets daily fleabaths which he loves (he likes the warm water and the hair dryer) and gets 6 teeny bottles a day. He eats a little more than the chart says he should but I think he was dehydrated, he didn't have a scruff and you could see his ribs. I am happy to say he is now a rotten roly poly who likes to crouch on my stomach, take a flying leap and land on my face. If I'm lucky he'll chose to bit my nose (which doesn't hurt) but normally its my lip (ouch!). He has quite a set up, most the time he is on me somewhere but he also has a very posh pad in the bathtub. He loves this particular rug and likes to hop around on it. He also has 2 bunnies which I rotate out that he'll just lay on, kick with his back legs then come back a lick to say he's sorry.
So here is my new baby :)

Who the heck are you and why am I in a pot?

My big belly



Hi!

Die bunny die!

Blogathon

Got $10? Got more? Throw it Doug's way, he is doing a 24 hour blogathon to raise money for Half the Sky. His goal is $600 which pays for a nanny for a whole year!

http://www.hendersonhomeonline.com

Oh Well

I am sure that hundreds of adoptive families wrote to the White House for today's meeting. This is what we got:

Donald, from Anaheim, CA writes:
With international adoptions taking much longer to complete, how is the USCIS addressing requests to lengthening the time that I171H and other related documents are valid?

Dr. Emilio González
Thanks for your question, Donald. We are very much aware of this issue and recognize that there are concerns with the process. Currently, USCIS is closely reviewing the existing regulations regarding the I171H which is the inital step in the approval process for parents seeking international adoptions.

I think this answer screams politician, no real answer, no admittance of guilt or promise of a solution. Too bad.

Karma Shmarma

Karma bit me in the ass this weekend.

When I don't want to do something, I happily tell the other person "No thanks, I'd rather poke my eye out". PC? nope, but it very visual and much worse than no thanks. Its kind of like the horrid part of bad you know?

So anyway, last week I woke up with a sore eye, didn't think much of it. Took some allergy meds and off I went. By Friday it really hurt and I lost half my vision in that eye and was seeing spots. How did I hurt it? I have no idea. I am not a good sleeper, I talk & walk a lot in my sleep. I have been known to clean and pack luggage before a big trip. I've knocked over stuff and one time put my hand through a window (luckily I didn't cut myslef) all while "sleeping". I'm guessing I walked myself into a door. To sum it up, I poked my poor little eye and hurt my retina.

Tomorrow they are going to laser it so I'll stop seeing spots and the cloudiness will go away.

Lesson learned, I'd rather NOT poke my eye out, my mom was right.

USCIS Director Gonzalez

Please go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask/ and post a question to USCIS Director Gonzalez to extend the expiration date of the 171H from 18 to 24 months.

Be sure to tell him exactly what sort of burden it would place on your family to have to get a new 171H. It does require a new home study and all the paperwork assosciated with it, a new filing fee and fingerprinting fee. For me this is close to $1800.

Without going into too much detail, tell him a little bit about you. Are you married? Are you single? Is this your first baby?

The idea is to show power in numbers with adoptive families posting a similar question. Don't make it too long so they won't even read it, but be concise with your information.

Thanks! - Kim

Well its just super ;)

If you haven't seen, go now and see it....it was worth me buying the soundtrack and messing around with this blog.

New Deal

I've come across a new deal. Go to www.mycpvisa.com and sign up for a choice rewards card (click on the button that says you don't have a code). There is no annual fee, 1.9% APR on purchases through Feb, no balance transfer fees (altho if you need to balance transfer, you need to get the Citi Rewards card, its a year not 6 months) and you get 24,000 points. These points can be cashed in on hotel rooms and you should be able to get three for free :)

Remember if you get it that you have to make a purchases on it before Nov so they'll give you the bonus. I always make that first purchase then log in the account and pay it before the statement comes out to guarantee the points :)

I am going to add these nights to the Disney trip, where will you go?

New Disney Pictures

I don't think I'll need to take a single picture of the resort on my trip in Sept, I keep finding great pics online :) This is the place we are staying, its pretty cute for a value resort (no fluff). I figure you spend all your time in parks, you only need a shower and a bed. Here is the Pop Century Resort....

Whew! Friday!

Ok, how did my Friday's become so complicated? This was suppose to be my wind down from a stressful work week. I am remote on a lot of Fridays so that means I'm sitting here in my PJs!

So listen to my "quiet day". Up at 6, yard sale at 7. Fridge shopping at Home Depot after that. Grocery shopping next. Home by 10 to log into my PC for work. Off work at 2:00 today because I don't feel like working overtime (ha take that!) get ready for the evening then off to the mall to meet my friends at 3:30 (don't forget post office first!). The girls have some mall errands to run then off to Applebees for half price appetizer and 2-4-1 drafts. Then we are off to then the Fun Fest parade at 6:00. Parade until 8:30 (we hope not longer than that...the crap we do for a free tshirt). Pirates at 9:30 then out at midnight. Home at midnght:15 then sweet sweet sleep!

People tell me this is great practice for the baby, I just need to tie a wet 20 pound bag of potatoes to my back and blast my ear with an air horn every 3 minutes.

So I really started thinking about scheduling and what I'm doing right and wrong. I feel like more remote time would help (save an hour in commuting, save $5-10 in lunch and snacks) and instead of taking occasional social breaks I'll be tossing in loads of laundry. Food is another issue I've not given a lot of thought to. I eat now about half the time out and half the time here. I don't think there is anything wrong with a sandwich for dinner and that there doesn't need to be 7 courses a night. I think I'd rather serve turkey on wheat, give her a piece of cantaloupe and some carrot sticks than going the processed food route. I've also read lots of posts from people that cook one time a month and freeze it all. I am not organized enough for that sort of thing but I think I need to be. So I guess my quest for the weekend to read into this cooking in batches idea to see if it could work for me :)

A bad day for the Nov DTC group

I am sad (and horrified and just sick) to say that someone in our DTC group was rejected last Friday and just found out about it today. Its about a medical issue that was 100% cleared up several years ago and its such a non issue now. I can't imagine how they feel right now :( I'm really sorry :(

There are several other rumors floating around that China is going to start using BMI for parents and whether they will grandfather those who are LID already or not. I would *think* they'd wait with next adoption cycle which starts on Dec 1 because that is right around the corner.

But regardless, here is my next purchase. I am spending $37 a month for the Y and not using it. I don't want to shower there before work and a lot of times I have to work from home at night. So its the same $ OOP in a year but I can walk on it in the morning before work. BMI- take that!

Frugal?

What exactly is today's definition of frugal? Is it the people that save their empty Wal-Mart bags to make topiaries for Christmas celebrations or the people that just plain old behave with their money?
The reason I question this, is I've considered myself frugal for a good 5 years. My everyday living is pretty simple most days. I'd rather buy something new that will last instead of buying 4 used versions. I have a limit on clothes, $15 for tops, $40 for pants (jeans are expensive!) and I own 3 pairs of shoes. I only buy purses when I need them. Heck people, I made my own detergent first because of allergies, second because its 2.5 cents a load. That alone should get me a gold star!
So heres the thing that makes me question if I am frugal... the amount of stuff I have bought for the baby. Keep in mind, I've not paid full price for a single item I've bought her. Books come from TJ Maxx, clothes from various sources (yards sales or 75% off sales), even her bedding was half off through ebay and Pottery Barn clearance. But yet people I know say I'm not frugal because I didn't carve a carseat out of a block of wood then knit a cover for it. I counter- quality is frugal in the long run. A co-worker told me I had spent too much on my carseat that his kids did great in a $50 seat. First of all, and I've said this before, you don't mess around with car seats. You buy the Cadillac of car seats for your Hyundai. You just do. I don't understand the concept of buying an infant seat, regular seat then booster seat. My little girl will use her seat up to 65 pounds. One piece of quality, not three pieces of substandard equipment. That my friends makes me frugal!

Whew!

What a day!
First, I got my carseat and it isn't all gray, its gray and blue! I was surprised about the blue but I think its ok. My theory is, get the lesser expensive pattern and get a spare cover if needed...that comes out to the same price as the pink one. The gray is the exact color of my car's interior, yay!

Second, I put the last coat of clear stuff on the nursery floor. All I need to do is quarter round before I start moving furniture on Sunday. So the furniture from the back bedroom goes into the new nursery, the office stuff now in my breakfast nook (that has been here a year because of the living room remodel) goes into the back bedroom and I finally have the master bedroom, nursery & office set up like I've needed. I think once the nook is cleared out I'll mess around with the kitchen. I've already put in tan tile and painted everything white, soon it will be time to add color back and coordinate everything.

Third, today is Walgreens rebate day! Don't forget to pick up your free back heating pads, shampoo and styling product :)

Fourth, we have set the yardsale date on the 15th. We are having it at mom's in her unfinished basement. Its nice having it there because we don't have to worry about weather or setting things up the day of the sale. Tomorrow I am taking a car load of stuff over, I love to see it leave the house. After I clear out the cheapo stuff its time to start ebaying again. It my goal to own almost nothing, I'm tired of things. I can't wait to clear out my closets, I want to toss old stuff that I messed up when I started remodeling the house (I have a lot of t-shirts with paint on them). If its too small/too big, its out too!

And last, www.disneystore.com is having a sale. Spend $75 and you get free shipping. Get the code off the front page and save $15 off of $60 (stackable). Sign up for their credit card and get a $25 instant credit. You also get a free beach towel with a $50 order. Whew did you catch all that? This is what I bought - 4 patriotic mickey t-shirts for Sept (2 for me, 2 for mom), 15 logo t-shirts (yes 15 - 8 for me (ok that is a lot but they were 3.98 each, tell me where I can get a disney t for 3.98..taking them on the trip!..3 for my mom, 4 for my dad) a stitch beach towel, a nemo beach towel (my office is in a Disney theme, I'll be hanging these on the wall like posters) and a set of bambi lithos (office again). It came out to 97.53 which qualified for free shipping (no tax either for TN which saves another 9.75%) minus the Nemo towel (free promo) and the $15 coupon code, so $73.79. I then applied an old $15 gift card so its $58.79. For those following the promos, with the credit card offer of $25, you'd pay just $48.79. If you have a lot of Disney fans in the house, this is the time to stock up on birthday/Christmas presents.

Room Update :)

I took the day off from work so I could work on the nursery :)

I finished the sanding the bad spots in the walls and I got all the pink up :) As soon as I catch my breath I'll be doing the last coat of clear stuff for the floor today. Then Saturday morning I'll do the baseboards, windows and door in white and start moving her furniture in on Sunday :)

YAY!

The color of the walls is between the two colors, my camera didn't pick it up well. It was really pepto before I added half a gallon of white to the color THD tinted for me.

I need a new light fixture, a new light switch and new outlet plugs. Then after that little stuff its all decorating. I think as I move things from her old room to the new one, I'll keep track of what I've spent just for giggles. I need to clear out half her loot anyway, its just too much. Hello yardsale!

Happy 4th of July!

Fantasmic

Here is a little fun fact about me..when I lived in Orlando I worked for a contracting company that placed people in positions at Disney. I worked in the Marketing department and got to go to the Fantasmic press event and see the very first Fantasmic show! I still have my press pass, masks, pens & t-shirt from the event. I need to get a shadow box :)

I can't wait to see it again in Sept!

Car Seat

Today I was very mature.
Today I bought a car seat.

No its not pink altho I did spend some time yesterday petting the pink one at Babies-R-Us.
Its gray, the color of my backseat. Everyone keeps telling me that I'd cry the first time the baby puked on her pretty pink car seat.

So it's gray.
Gray is ok..I guess.

One of the reasons I got this particular one, is its a step up from the pink one (Decathlon compared to Marathon)and it was $219 total instead of $305.
Before you say that's an insane amount to pay on a car seat, let me stop you. You don't buy cheap car seats. It kills me to see Graco car seats in Mercedes. Just say no to Graco...mothers against cheap plastic crap, unite!
But back to my point...the whole pink thing. If she never pukes on it, I'm going to be mad, like park ape mad (My fav APC quote - thanks Mary!)

Trip Update

Last night, after being wired from drinking WAY too much tea, I stumbled across a Disney Hints website. I started checking out the forums and they were talking about reservations for food. Silly me, I thought I could just walk up to a place and eat there?
So after a sleepless night (mostly of me running through Disney chasing characters, I REALLY need to lay off the tea) I called at the crack of dawn to make our dining reservations.
For those of you who missed the promo, Disney was giving away free food for our Sept trip which is one of the reasons we could afford it. 6 nights at the Pop Century, 6 days of park tickets and 6 days of food (6 dinners, 6 lunches, 6 snacks, 1 planey hollywood meal) for $470 each.
But listen to what we can eat while we are there!
Lunches are things like roasted chicken, burgers, ribs and salads.
Dinner #1 Tonys
- Crispy Calamari tossed with olive relish and drizzled with caper aioli
-NY Strip Steak with roasted potatoes, mushrooms, caramelized onions, and spinach tossed in a warm pancetta vinaigrette, topped with red wine gorgonzola butter
-Caramelized Apple Cake - Caramelized heirloom apples with cinnomon gelato and a warm sour cherry sauce
Dinner #2 O'hana Polynesian Buffet
Fried Wontons served with peanut sauce, chimichurri sauce and harissa
Mixed greens with a honey-lime dressing
Spicy-sweet and sour shrimp
Honey-coriander chicken wings
Marinated Sirloin Steak
Asian Barbecue Pork Loin
Mesquite Grilled Turkey
Hawaiian Pork-sausage with pineapple terriyaki glaze
Maui Scalloped Potatoes
Stir-fried Vegetables
Dinner #3 Le Cellier
- Shrimp Cocktail - wasabi slaw and horseradish chili sauce
- Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon - wild mushroom risotto, white truffle and herb beurre blanc, topped with fried parsnips (we are big steak eaters)
- Happiest Celebration on Earth Chocolate Whiskey Cake - chocolate cake brushed with whiskey, layered with chocolate mousse, finished with orange marmalade
Dinner #4 Hollywood and Vine - Fantasmic Package
This is a standard buffet, probably very similar to Golden Coral but done in a Disney style. They save us a place in line for Fantasmic, that is why we are eating here!
Dinner #5 - Chefs de France
- Tartare de saumon legerement fume, sauce moutarde - Tartare of raw salmon lightly smoked with cucumber dill and honey mustard sauce
- Jarret d'agneau, servi avec une polenta cremeuse - lamb shank with creamy polenta and fresh tomato compote
Dinner #6 - Mama Melrose's with Fantasmic Package again :)
- Mozzarella and Tomatoes - with marinated sweet onions, balsamic drizzle, extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil
- Spicy Italian Sausage with rigatoni pasta, peppers, onions, and a tomato basil sauce topped with caprino cheese
- Honey Hazelnut and Ricotta Cheesecake with a blood orange sauce and dollop cream

Whew! That's quiet a list for someone who had a hotdog for breakfast!

Babies, Tomatoes & Cars!

Ok, I really have been productive today, I promise. Yes I've spent a ton of time online but I've been cleaning while catching up on all my reads. You see, yesterday was the end of all my projects at work. I have just a few small things to do on Monday then things can get back to normal. I've been just a little stressed so I guess its ok to take a day and do nothing?

I got word that Miss Kendall has made her appearance. Isn't she cute?

I did a little bit of deck gardening today. Look at how big my plants have gotten, there are 11 tomatoes on them! :) Not too shabby for a used free bucket, $2 of plants and $2 of dirt :) unfortunately I put the dog kennel next to them during a bad storm for support and they have grown into it. It guess that is a redneck tomato cage to the extreme?

I've also decided to buy a new car. I currently have a 2000 Elantra and I am going to buy a new one in 3-4 years after I've saved up the money. This has been the best car in the world, its peppy, gets 30 MPG when I drive like a maniac (33 when I'm good)and has all the features I need. Did I mention my insurance for it is $18 a month? My mom and I went to the dealer and they had one with an automatic transmission for $11900 (she is thinking about moving to a smaller car). I want a 5 speed and I get an extra rebate because I already own one, so I am looking maybe $12,000 including tax minus my trade in (which I know won't be a ton but I keep cars pretty long so its OK). Everyone is like get a van you are getting a kid. I am getting A kid, not 7. She'll be just fine in the back seat with her sister. I wouldn't move up to a larger car unless I had more than 2 kids. Hehe if I had more than 2 kids, I wouldn't be able to AFFORD a big huge car so it all works out :) It is shown in black, I will more than likely buy another white one, thats my fav color on a sedan.

Stroller :)

I have a stroller, its a demin Osh Kosh one in like new condition, I got it at a yard sale for $10.

The more I look at it, the more I CAN'T see my baby in it. It looks to boy-ish and heck, I'm adoptiong a girl and I want something cute.

We just got a new Babies R Us and they send me a circular. Evil evil store, because look at what they have! $179 for baby pink perfection!

AND they have come out with a new pink Britax Marathon seat called Olivia. I never got to see the first pink one for comparison, but this one looks pretty cool! But its $259. UG..where's the shower fairy when you need her?

Happy News!

I got a quite a bit off track because of the second beach trip and the Disney trip, but I set up the second and last CD that I need for travel. I have $1,000 of my travel money in escrow with Remax on the junker house but I'll get that back if it falls through. So I guess I'm done? I want to take some money to buy things with, I really really want a set of salt water pearls in about a 20" length. That would be $800 here and its just $100 in China. If that is the only thing I buy while I am there, I will be a happy happy girl.

I put the CD into a 9 month special for 5.55%. It runs until the end of March which is pressing my luck. My goal is to not get into either of those CDs and use them for the first part of DD#2's adoption and save another $7500 for the travel portion.

Plus the interest from the CDs do help towards the new trop $, its a little over $350 a year. I know there are better ways to max out my interest but this is my baby money...you don't touch risky investments with baby money!