Love my chinese food.

Now that chinese everything is on the brain, pretty much non-stop, I have been craving sesame chicken and lo mein. Unlucky for my expanding waist line, Bamboo Garden is 2 minutes up the street. Just opened, great food. Had it twice in the past 4 days. If that is not an addiction, not sure what is.

I am just glad that I never got this guys fortune.

Here we come Lucy!

Thank you very much Mom and Dad and Stevie and Steph!! The flowers were a big suprise and they are so beautiful. We both love them and it has made a special day even more special.

I lost it a little when I read our LID email, all of the waiting and hard work and finally that part of it is done. I was suprised just how emotional I was. I wish I could have read it at home and not at work. Thankfully, John answered his cell phone and if we could have kissed each other over the phone, today was the day.

I envisioned Lucy in the car with me on the way home, and pictured us singing together all the way home. Hopefully time goes fast and this will really happen one day.

We've passed several months already so just "several"more to go right?

Yaa! for us. High five! Thumbs up! Here we come Lucy!!!!

L.I.D. L.I.D. L.I.D.

(sing the title to the beat of Queen's 'We will rock you')
Guess what we got in our email today?? We are LOGGED IN!! This is the date we have been working toward. August 16, 2006. The date that starts our new waiting period. The date that started a new ticker. (check it out).

This is big deal, this right here. Logged in. So, this is what it feels like ... aahhh

To: Johnmark & Tonya

Re: CCAI Log-In Date & Packet

Congratulations! Your dossier has been logged in by the China Center of Adoption Affairs.

Your official dossier log-in date (LID) is: 8/16/2006

There is not much else to write. We have to open our LID packet tonight, so we are hoping for more good news later.

Yipee!

CCAI Reunion Picnic

Alright.
We need a little girl in our family right now! As much as we loved this past weekends picnic; meeting other families that have been through the adoption process, meeting couples in the same 'place' as we are now... it was about the kids. Those cute, perfect, well behaved little boys and girls from China. It was all just a tease for those of us who have another 18 months to go. I took a lot of pictures, way too many to place in this post, so I have attached them in a little video here.

The reunion was a success, even though we did not win anything in the raffle. We have Sandy, Grace, Fran, Nancy and many others to thank. We were able to meet Josh, the founder of CCAI, our agency. Tonya is standing with him here. He was a real happy guy, and kinda gave a little hint that our wait time may be a bit longer than we would like. There is not anything anyone can do about wait times, so we have not been reflecting too much on it. Well, we are trying not too. It was encouraging to see that he took a personal interest in our adoption, and the adoption of so many families.

Playing with these little kids, watching them interract with other little ones as they did, the wait will be well worth it. Until then, we have much to do. New babies in our family, enjoying the rest of the summer and getting some things done around the house. That's always on our list!! We are trying to keep up with a book for Lucy. We are adding some personal passages for her and letting her know what we were up to while we waited for her to join us.

Until next year! Maybe more families can join us for the next picnic. Depends on how far away it is I guess. Maybe it will be in Hawaii. I think that would be a good suggestion. :)

Spiedie - fest

For those who do not know.... which is anybody who has not spent time in Binghamton NY, a spiedie is marinated, skewered chicken, pork, beef, and/or veal served in on Italian bread. Lupo's makes this special marinade, and locally we can find Salamida's brand.. but it is not as good. The picture gives you just an idea. Seriously good eating, yet it is pretty much only found in Binghamton.
Since that is the case, there is a Spiedie-fest every year down there to celebrate it. It is a pretty good time. All kinds of food, like any festival would have, stuff for the kids, a million give-aways, and drawings to win stuff...as long as you do not mind getting spammed for the next 3 years.
They have a classic car show there, to be followed by a Harley display. At least it was not real hot this year. Last year was unbearable. Good cars, great food and good company. We went, as always, because we can spend the day with Grandma T. She is pictured below, looking in amazement at the root beer float I got. 'Umm.. I ordered the LARGE. HELLO!'
Tonya ran into her friend Cheryl, whom she has not seen in 5 years, since her last class reunion. She lives in NC now with her hubby, near her other good friend from school, Carrie.

I am kinda rambling, since there is no real news to share on the adoption front. We are at a stand still for a while. If you have read our earlier entries, which I know you did, we have one more critical event to take place before our final waiting period starts. So... this is what you get.

Things are looking up..

We received more good news on the adoption front. We just received an email this evening confirming receipt of our dossier at CCAA. THAT'S CHINA, people!! This is amazing! We are busting! We should be getting 'logged in' there within a week, but will not receive notification of that date for another 4 weeks. That's fine, as long as it happens.
At this point, (well, right now at least), I am not worried about the long wait ahead. The rumor mill is turning and changing, and the wait time is as well. Whatever. Fine. It has always been that way. It goes up, it goes down, but in the end, everyone gets their girl. We'll get ours too.
I am going to enjoy this new perspective, because in a month or two or ten, it will most likely change.
I am watching War of the Worlds on HBO... so I guess some things could be worse than waiting.