Girls just want to have fun!!

Well I am back from the one day of training in Tampa on the BWM. While it was very helpful, I think we will go back for some more training down the road. But as for now, we are good to go, and just are waiting for a service guy to come and make some minor setting changes, and I will be off and running(okay. I will be off and practicing actually) The weather was beautiful in Tampa, such a nice change from the terrible cold weather we have been having here. So you will see we spent the day at the beach soaking up some sun and vitamin D. It was a nice break, even if it was for just one day.
Then I was off to KC to take care of my very sweet little goddaughter Katie, while her parents went to NYC. She is 3 1/2, and is just a blessing to our family. D calls her the happiest baby on earth. She was the perfect child while I was there(much to her mother's chagrin-she keeps trying to tell me that she does cry, and misbehaves- I am not going to believe it!!) she was perfect for her Aunt J. We had a great time playing with her dolls, dressing up, having tea parties, going to her ballet class, and finally making some valentine cookies(pic included) It was 5 days of perfect girl fun, and I am so lucky to have such a wonderful little girl in my life.


While I know it hasn't even been a month yet that referrals arrived, it feels like fovever and ages ago that they did. I seem to be looking forward to this batch, I guess it is because Oct is such a big month that it would seem promising if they could get through a decent amount of days. Lets just keep our fingers crossed. I do hope that once we get the wait to 18 months that we will see the wait stabilize a bit instead of each month adding another month to the wait. In the mean time, I will work on my list, read some books, decorate a nursery, work on my new business, and hope that our referral will be sooner rather than later. But for now, I fed my little girl addiction, and I should be okay for at least a little while.

Weekend Wrap Up

Well we're off tomorrow to Tampa for our training on the BWM(see below) so while I am looking forward to feeling more proficient on the machine, I am a bit worried that it is going to open up a BIG new can of worms for me. The training is just one day. We have 9 hours one on one with this trainer. So it will just give me just enough information to be dangerous. Right at this moment I know very little about the actual use of my new machine. When I read through the multiple books that came with it, it might as well be in French, as it is speaking a different language. So my list of questions is fairly short at this point. I don't know enough to even ask good questions. So this training day is just going to educate me enough to let me go home, and drive myself and D crazy!! The good news is we can go back anytime in the next year for more training, which we might have to do.

On a great note, I went to the Dallas Market yesterday. My friend who has a showroom at market reserved a badge for me, and so I walked the nine floors yesterday looking at all the treasures, and things that I can buy to monogram at wholesale prices. I found some really great things. I am telling you peoples once I have this down, you are going to want to buy some stuff!!

We are very slowly recovering from the loss of Matty. We both still have our bad days, and we both actually had a really bad Matty day this past week. But we are working through that grief. The house is just so quiet and still, and we have no real obligation to anything. I still always feel this giant rush of panic around 5:00 p.m. if I am out and about, as I feel I need to rush home to feed the dog, and let her out. It will be at least a year before we get another dog. I think we will get 2 dogs this next time. We waited to long to decide we wanted a second dog for Matty, as Matty would have never forgiven us. So I think we will get 2 in a very short period of time. We are looking at a standard schnauzer(D's pick) and I want a chocolate labradoodle. I think it is important for kids to have pets, and so we will get to the point that I think we are ready for that again. But for now we will just have to do some dog sitting for our friends.

Once I return from Tampa, I leave the following day to go to KC, to take care of my goddaughter Katie(3) while her parents take her 5 yr old brother Jack to NYC to visit his aunt. So I am really looking forward to our 4 days together for some good one on one time. Hoping it will give me enough of a little girl fix to help me out for the next month or so.

The wait for this baby is beyond words to me at this moment. There just seems to be so much uncertainity, and speculation that there are less children available, more domestic adoption taking place, this being the year of the golden pig leads people to believe that children born in this year will be highly desired and kept. Then there is the theory that little girls are becoming more of a status symbol to the wealthy in China, by showing that they are wealthy enough to keep or adopt a girl because they don't need a son to take care of them. The list goes on and on, and situation remains fluid at all times. We have moments that we wished that we had picked a different country. Someone asked recently if we were offering advice to a family looking at IA, would we recommend China. After pondering that for a day or so, I would say right now I would not pursue China, there are just too many unanswered questions, but I would watch and wait a year or so, and see where China is at that point. Then make the decision.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we have been logged in for 4 big months.

I have some movie recommendations for you:
The Good Shepard-long, very long, but very good.
Happy Feet-an absolute must see!!! Can't wait for it to be out on video
Little Miss Sunshine-we wanted to see it in the movies and didn't, Netflix delievered, and I can't wait to buy it. LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT!!!!!

So I am out of here for a week, but will be checking in to see what everyone is up to, and if referrals have arrived.

Enjoy the weekend, and peace out!

Soup is good for the soul.

Alphabet soup...
A - Available or Taken: VERY taken, and very smitten!!
B - Best Friend: Karen, Stacy, Suz, and David
C - Cake or Pie: Moist white cake(the only reason I go to weddings or birthday party)
D - Drink of Choice: Diet Pepsi with lime, or any kind of martini
E - Essential Item You Use Everyday: toothbrush, cell phone, Clorox bleach (I love this stuff)
F - Favorite Color: Can't pick one, but I love all shades of pink, I love black, taupe, and red
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: I'll take either. I love all that is gummy. I really love Cinnamon bears, or gummy penguins(peach flavored)
H - Hometown: Columbia, MO
I - Indulgence: Linda's fudge cake at Cheesecake Factory
J - January or February: Neither, but I will take February
K - Kids and Names: Taylor(22) Connor(19) and this babe right now is Avery, but it might be Abigail, Claire, Tate, or Sophie
L - Life Incomplete Without: Hubby, kids, dog, my in-laws, girlfriends, art, and beautiful flowers.
M - Marriage Date: Oct 12, 1996
N - Number of Siblings: 1 sister, and 2 step sisters.
O - Oranges or Apples: Oranges
P - Phobias or Fears: Heights, Snakes, confrontation, being stuck at the window on a plane and needing to go to the bathroom.
Q - Favorite Quote: I have a couple:
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Mahatma Gandhi
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. Confucius
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. Sir Winston Churchill
R - Reason to Smile: Woke up this morning, my husband, my godchildren, and my future daughter, my stepchildren graduating from college
S - Season: Spring or Fall
T - Tag 3 People:Anyone who read this far.
U - Unknown Fact About Me: I was the first runner up and miss congeniality in the Boone County Fair when I was in High School. I don't think my husband even knows this fact.
V - Veggie You Don't Like: Lima beans and cooked carrots
W - Worst Habit: Spending way too much time on the computer, I hate to wash my hair, because then I have to dry it, and it takes entirely too long. Being a rule follower to an extreme.
X - X-rays: I have had plenty, as well as MRI's, CAT scans, and sonograms(too many to count)
Y - Your Favourite Food: Mexican, Indian, Thai, Chinese, tofu. I know, I just said I was a rule follower, but come on, no one just has one favorite food.
Z - Zodiac: Cancer

BIG white machine

Okay, so you see that really BIG white machine sitting there all by its lonesome? Well that is officially my new profession. Yes, as of January 4th, I now run an embroidery business. You ask how do I know how to run that BIG white machine......I don't. Well I have done a few things in which you can see in the other picture. Those are actually monogrammed ponytail holders, and while I think they turned out great, there is still this question as to how am I going to learn all things embroidered, and how am I going to learn to run this BIG, white machine??????

It has been a daunting weekend full of first, curse words, anxiety, stress, giddiness, and finally just plain fear that I will fail, or worse......break the BIG white machine. The BIG white machine is a HAPPY Voyager made in Japan. It holds 12 spools of thread, it hooks to my computer for its designs, it weighs 88 lbs, and it has my little brain just a spinning.

D has been my biggest cheerleader in this process, he believes in me, he trust that I will learn to work the BIG white machine, and not break it, and he thinks without any hesitation that this is going to be a great stay at home career for me-because frankly no one loves monograms more than Moi.

I wish at this very moment that I had that same trust, and faith that I will succeed in this expensive endeavor, but right now all I feel, is fear of the BIG white machine now taking up residence in my office. I have already spent countless hours troubleshooting issues, it won't cut the thread automatically, I can't figure out how to size things to a proportion that is necessary for the project at hand, I have absolutely no idea how I am going to learn to digitize anything(embroidery lingo...really have no idea what it means) Now you ask, surely there is training involved with such a high tech BIG white machine-right? Right, but it is in Tampa, FL and we live in Dallas. It is only offered on Mondays, and we don't have a free Monday until February. They suggest you "play" with your BIG white machine for a bit before coming to training so you will have plenty of questions, you will have a feel for what you are learning, and you will have had issues come up that they will be able to advise you on. Well, they do know something....we have had plenty of issues come up in the last 4 days, and we will have plenty of questions that is for sure, but I am not convinced that we will have a "feel" for the BIG white machine for awhile.

So, if you are wanting ladybugs embroidered all over your undershorts, or an Ode to the RQ on your nightshirt.....find someone who knows how to run their BIG white machine. But if you are wanting a monogrammed ponytail holder, then I am your girl.

I ask you wish me luck in this new profession. D swears after we go to 8 hours of training I am going to feel proficient....yeah right. But any good karma you have to send would be appreciated. Well back to watching the online videos of how to run the BIG white machine. If you have a BIG white machine and have more than Karma....you have advice for me that would be appreciated too!! Maybe a glass of wine and a xanax would make me feel more proficient in the field of embroidery-just kidding it has warnings posted all over it claiming you should not operate heavy machinary under the influence of wine or anxiety.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Nic, Happy Birthday to you. Now blow out the damn candles!