08'? What happend to 07'?

As I sit here sipping my cranberry margarita with only 3 hours and 3 minutes until we ring in 08' I can't help but wonder where 07' went. I hate to admit that as it would seem that it went by so quickly that waiting another 2-3 years for our turn in China will go by in a flash. But to be honest the year has gone by quickly....actually one of the quickest years I can remember, but there have been some very long moments.

I went back and reviewed my resolutions for 07' and the scary part is that most of those resolutions still need to be worked on, I have made progress on a few. We have seen and done a lot in 07' and had some additions and losses. I would say overall it was an okay year. I am looking forward to 08' and hope there are things that will happen, and some changes we will be able to make.

Here are a few highlights to our 07'

* We bought the BWM and I started my embroidery business, and while it was a slow start, I am overwhelmed with how well my business has done so far.

* We had a few great trips to NYC, San Diego, LA, Colorado and Las Vegas and 7 trips to KC(due to Karen's preganancy with Meggie and being on bedrest)

* We met up with some other adoptive families down in Austin, and had a great time. It amazes me when I think of the friends I have made during this journey. I feel so lucky to have met some, and the hope of meeting others in person. You all inspire me, and make this wait a whole lot more bearable. I look forward to the day I watch each one of you travel to pick up your children.

* We decided to host a Chinese exchange student for the school year. She will arrive in Aug and stay for 10 months. We think this will be a great way to learn about our daughters birth country, culture and heritage.

*While we continue to grieve the loss of our dear cocker Matty, we decide to get on the wait list for a labradoodle puppy. They will be born the end of May, and we will get our puppy the end of July. They end up being born May 29th and we become the proud owner of a black labradoodle that we name Gracie....even though I voted for Ruby. We have had Gracie now for 5 months and she is growing, and growing and growing. She is very smart, loves toys more than any dog I have ever met, and can run incredibly fast.

*We take a rafting trip down the Colorado river in June with Taylor as our guide. It was a ton of fun, and she is amazing at what she does. We were so proud of her!!!

* Our student arrives in August. Her name is Shiyu, and she is 16 almost 17. She has blended well with our family, and kept me very busy. She has transitioned well into American life, and she is doing well in school, and has been a wealth of information for our family in learning about China. What an experience this has been. I highly recommend this to anyone who has considered it. She will forever be a member of our family. We look forward to the fact that she will return to TX to go to college. We also look forward to the day we meet and visit her family in China.

*We welcomed my goddaughter Meggie after a very difficult pregnancy. She came into the world very small, but she has made a BIG impact on our family, and she is growing and thriving, and just your normal 7 month old now.

* I lost one of my sorority sisters in Oct after a brave battle with liver cancer. It had a big impact on me, as it just reminded me how important it is to live life to the fullest and know it is a gift that we are not guaranteed to have long term. LIVE WITH NO REGRET. I also decided that I had to stop living my life always waiting for something.

* I have watched several of my friends travel to pick up their little ones, and it means so much to have the honor and privilege of being a part of something so big and important. I know someday it will be our turn, but in the mean time we will make the most of each day, try to grow and learn as much as we can, and anticipate the day when we see the face of our daughter.

* The CCAA made it all the way through what 3 months this year. I don't know, actually I don't care. I never thought I would make it past obsessing over referrals each month, but I have moved to the place where I actually did not know the last 2 months that referrals even came out. Wow, that should be a resolution in itself. Here's to being a recovering RQ/referral addict.


I do hope that each of you have had a wonderful holiday season. I hope the New Year finds you safe and looking forward to what the year will bring for you and your family. From my family to yours..........Happy New Year!!!! Now make sure you eat your black eyed peas tomorrow for good luck.

Naughty or Nice?

NICE:
* all of my friends in Chicago that understood why I had to cancel my trip. I promise I will come.

* all of my girlfriends here who are just the BEST!!

* my husband for always being willing to lend a hand, and listens to me whine, and for taking vacation time to be home with us the last half of Dec.

* all of my blog and adoption friends who always check in on me.

* my MIL for hosting Gracie at her house since Thanksgiving.... to let her 4 dogs socialize the little beast

* the lady who let me in front of her at Hobby Lobby yesterday b/c I had only one thing:)

* to the dr. office who got me in the same day I called......you ROCK my world.

* Shiyu, for being excited for Christmas and understanding why we didn't get the lights up outside, and being okay with it when I told her we would put lights up outside for Spring Festival(Chinese New Year)

* To all of my customers.....the response has been overwhelming, thank you for doing business with me:)


Naughty:

CCAA..................shame on you, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Out of Review

Out of review!!! Thought it would feel better than this.
I guess it is one step closer.

Off to Chicago on Friday! Going with some friends and meeting up with some friends. Should be fun, and looking forward to some quality girl time, shopping time, eating and drinking time. I hope the weather is better than it is this weekend.

I am very busy with PinkPolkaDotz.....don't forget if you need a gift.....I am your girl. If you are looking for something for your secret pal, just enter secret pal into the coupon code for your discount.

Wish I had something more to talk about, but not much going on here at Casa Rock.

Hope things are good on your end.

Bring on the Gobbler

Turkey-Check
Loaf of very fresh white bread-Check
Miracle whip-Check
Warm and comfy jammies-Check
Macy's Thanksgiving day parade-Check

That's what I will be eating, that is what I will be wearing, and that is what I will be watching.

It has been a grueling week thus far, and I am actually ready for next week to be here. But it is nice to know that we can take a few days off, sit back relax, sleep, eat, and be merry, and no one cares.

Happy Thankgiving, and I will see you on the other side of this one!!

Still here

I am still here, still under the weather, and still have a million photos to post. Lot's going on around here, lot's of change, and lot's of upcoming visitors and hoopla with the holidays. Gotta make this a GREAT holiday season for Shiyu, she is very excited about celebrating Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, and mostly she is excited about the kids coming home from college.
She is counting it down....so cute. I told her she will be counting the days until they leave after they have been here for a few days and invaded her space....all of her space with all of their crap!!

I will get around to the photos soon, this I promise. I figure you all are not going anywhere any time soon....I sure know that I am not.

Hope everyone has a Happy Gobble Day, and know that I don't really enjoy the Thanksgiving feast, but Shiyu is really looking forward to it....especially the pie part that D has told her about. I will be watching the Macy's parade, and then I will be waiting for the day after turkey sandwich on VERY fresh white bread with miracle whip....now that part I do like. D will have us out at 6:00 a.m. shopping for all of his Christmas bargains.....last year those bargains did not include one present for anyone but us.

I just have one question.....will this ever end??

**the nausea is back.....no I am not!!!

Song, Crap, and very important question.

* I heard this on this lovely person's blog and was immediately smitten with this song. It conjures up so many thoughts and feelings...............all in one little song. It took me a bit to figure out the autoplay, and still not positive what I did, but it seems to work now on it's own. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have(since I have now played it like 400 times....I swear I am still in 6th grade)

*I have so many pictures I need to put on here to update what has been going on the last few months with Shiyu. She has had a lot of first since she arrived, and we have documented them all, but I suck at getting everything done now.
But stay tuned, because they are coming, and hopefully you will enjoy the accompaniment of Vince Gill and Sarah Evans.

I have been VERY under the weather. As long as I stay horizontal I am okay(sorta) but the second I stand up it all becomes a very different story. It's the can't keep anything down diet, and I must say that my jeans will fit very nicely at the end of all of this......but there is nothing worse as far as I am concerned than feeling like you are going to blow. I have felt this way since Thursday afternoon, and I have moments(okay a few hours) in there that I feel sorta okay, and then the wave comes at me like a speeding train. Yesterday I slept from 4:00 p.m. until 7:30 this morning. I think there is something wrong. But unlike my husband who is insisting that I go to the doctor(no, can't even think about getting dressed and getting myself into the car) all she is going to say is that is that it is viral and make sure I try and keep as many liquids down as I can and here is some nausea medicine(which I already have) So unless this is not better by Wednesday I am in my fuzzy robe and staying in a horizontal position, and dreaming that this is an excellent weight loss program as well as allowing me to wallow in pity with the new rounds of referrals.
Happy Sunday:)

**as a sidenote I was not able to attend Martha's services, but my friends were there, and I must say that now I am kind of glad that I was unable to go. I understand the concept of an open casket, but my personal beliefs are that you should remember the person as you knew them, and it is seldom that someone who has died looks like they did when you enjoyed their company.....especially when someone has been very ill. So it sounds like you would not have even known it was her had you not known who's funeral you were at. I want to remember her for the beautiful young girl I lived with in college, and for that visual to always remain, and not have it replaced by a visual of a different person. I know this is terribly immature, but I just think as a child I would want to remember my mother the way she always looked...especially in good health, and I just don't know if you could ever replace the site of her in her casket not looking like my mom.
I made D promise that if I die before him that he swears that the casket will be closed.

I am going to have to do some research into the history of open casket funerals.....I am sure there is some reason for this practice. Cremation is sounding better and better.

With Fondest Memories.............

For the last few weeks I have felt very overwhelmed by the knowledge of knowing that one of my pledge sisters and college roommates was battling liver cancer. She was diagnosed almost exactly 2 years ago, and has been fighting for her life ever since.

I have been very fortunate to have not faced a lot of death in my life, and the death I have experienced has usually been with people that I cared deeply for, but they had lived very long lives. It just seems so wrong to me that a mom of a third and fifth grader who just turned 40 in April was fighting the fight of her life. For whatever reason it has just struck a very strong cord with me. I have spent a great deal of time these last few weeks thinking about what that must feel like, how do you spend time with your children each day knowing it could be your last, what do you say????? All of these questions that I have run through my brain a million times this month. Then I moved on to have I lived a life that I am very proud of? What would people say at my funeral? Do I make the things that are really important.......be important, and appreciate those important things and people?? What changes should I be making with these thoughts and feelings running loose? So many questions, and not as many answers as I would like.
It also puts time into perspective. The thought of waiting 2 more years for this baby is way too much for my brain to cope with, but what if you were told you only had 2 years to live?? Boy, that wouldn't seem quite as long now would it??

I met Martha in HS as we are from the same hometown. We only knew of one another then, but then freshman year we both pledged the same sorority and became pledge sisters. We then became very good friends, and Martha was one of those girls that everyone likes. She had a radiant smile, very friendly, smart, patient, happy, and she was one of the best dressed girls I have ever known. We lived together sophomore year with two other KD's; Missy and Kristy. That was a great room change for me, and I loved living with those girls. I transferred the next year to another college, but I remained active in the house, and enjoyed remaining friends with those girls. I always knew what Martha was up to through many of our friends.

Martha married a great guy and had two great boys...Alex and Clayton. She ran a successful business, and loved being a mom. Martha grew up without her mom, and I know that was always difficult for her. So it breaks my heart that she must have felt so much pain knowing that her kids would be growing up without her.

I really feel so much sadness with her passing, and my thoughts and prayers are with her family. This weekend a huge group of our pledge sisters will be getting together to attend her memorial. I am unable to attend, but I will be there in spirit, and I know that Martha is smiling knowing that all those girls will be together, laughing, spending time with each other and celebrating great friendship and memories.

Martha you will always be loved and remembered for being such a great friend and sister.
Love in AOT
JDR

Please keep this family in your thoughts!!


Mary Martha (Frech) Berry
Mary Martha (Frech) Berry, Bradenton, formerly of Columbia, Missouri died October 28, 2007. Visitation will be Wednesday, October 31, 2007 from 6p.m. to 8p.m. at Palms-Robarts Funeral Home, with a prayer service at 7p.m. Also, visitation will be Friday, November 2, 2007 from 4p.m. to 8p.m. at Krieghauser Funeral Home, 9450 Olive Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri with a funeral Mass on Saturday, November 3, 2007 at 10a.m. at St. Monica Church, 1236 Olive Blvd., St. Louis. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. Survivors include her husband, Mark Berry; her two children, Clayton and Alex; her father, David and stepmother Linda Frech; her brother John Frech and her sister, Katherine Frech. Mrs. Berry graduated from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1989 and was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority. After graduation she taught at Ellisville Elementary and earned her Masters of Education at Maryville University. Mrs. Berry and her husband Mark Berry moved to Bradenton, Florida in 2001 and she started her own Web design and advertising business. She was current President of the Lakewood Ranch Business Club of Bradenton, Florida. In Lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to TideWell Hospice and Palliative Care, 4151 37th Stree East, Palmetto, FL 34221.,

Gracie, Gracie, Gracie

I am sure you all have been wondering what Gracie has been up to??? No, you say. Well let me just update you anyway.
Gracie is 5 months old tomorrow, and she has the energy of 5 dogs. She is growing very quickly, and in case you forgot let me remind you that I thought that we were getting a dog that weighed around 50 lbs, and at 4 months Gracie already weighed 33 lbs. I would guess she weighs about 40 lbs right now. The vet thinks she will at least weigh 70-90 lbs-Shiyu only weighs 90.

** Gracie is very, very smart, actually she may be the smartest person in the house. Trust me having a dog that is as smart as Gracie makes it very hard to train her.

** We have hired BarkBusters to come and help us train Gracie. We have our 3 rd visit tomorrow. Gracie is still training us. But we are slowly making progress in becoming the pack leader.

** Gracie is no Matty, and I still have moments when Gracie makes me miss Matty more than I ever thought possible.

** Gracie can run faster than any dog I have ever seen, and she will retrieve a ball or toy all day long if you are willing to throw it for her. In turn D is convinced that she can become a fly ball champion. If that works off some of her energy, I am voting yes on this proposition.

**Gracie loves to dig, and sometimes par take in her poop, so she can not be left outside unsupervised by a responsible adult. We are working on these things. Although if she can dig a hole to China I might not care so much about the digging. The latter must stop and we have the medicine to help curtail it. The vet seems to think this is very common, and that I should not be too concerned. Concerned?? Grossed out is more like it.

** Gracie will ride in the car now, she will even jump in and jump out......you have no idea what progress this actually is.

** Gracie is basically housetrained. She never seems to have an accident in her living quarters(the gated kitchen) but we can't have her upstairs for much longer than 20 min or so and she is rooting around looking for a nice piece of carpet to potty on. I am not sure she will ever get to live outside of the kitchen. She does still do the submissive wetting thing with strangers or if she is punished. That sucks!!

** For the most part it is great to have a dog in the house again. I try to not compare Gracie to Matty. But it is hard when she chews up the baseboard, or tears up something(Matty never tore a thing up in her life) Matty was easy to housetrain, and never puddled. But Matty also never retrieved anything in her life, and she also had zero interest in toys. Gracie loves toys more than any dog I have ever met. I have to buy them in bulk. So it is very fun to play with her, she is not much on snuggling, but she sure can get to the ball quickly!!

Now that is a beautiful baby!!

Little Miss Meggie had her first big photoshoot and I think it went exceptionally well. Who would ever know that this baby was born 10 weeks early and spent 5 weeks in the NICU? She even made it to a blog. Here is the link:http://photographybybrandi.typepad.com/blog/

Meggie's Baptism, Katie's Birthday, Trip to KC

I know you have been waiting with baited breath

Sorry it has taken so long to get the answers to your questions. Shiyu has been very busy with school, and getting ready for her first homecoming. She answered all the questions(I think) and these are totally unedited. So we will do this again in a few months. If you ever have questions about China or Chongqing don't hesitate to email me and I know Shiyu will be happy to answer any questions you have.
We volunteered at our FCC culture day last weekend. Shiyu worked at the festival booth. I think she had a wonderful time, and enjoyed participating. I think she was totally blown away with seeing all of the children that day. She told me that it was great to see all of the children being taught about Chinese culture and history.
She searched out all of the kids that had come from Chongqing:)
I had her watch Lost Girls of China the night before culture day, because I wanted her to see the process that each of the families she was going to see the next day had gone through to get their children. I am not sure what she thought overall. I know she felt embarrassed, and she did not like the part where the lady put the sign up in the park. She said she too felt disgraced that she did that, and she felt that she should not have pointed it out to everyone that they had abandoned a child. All I can say is.......very interesting. I know she is very positive about our adoption, she can't wait for us to come to China, and she hopes that our baby comes from Chongqing. But in general it seems to me that very little talking goes on in China about this particular issue. I am not sure she knew or her family knew that Americans were coming to China to adopt their children before she met us.

Alrighty, enjoy, and again sorry it took so long.

What advice did your parents give you about America or Americans?

1.Be happy and we all believe you can do everything!***she told me that the Chinese think that all Americans are overweight. I am happy to report that she told me that she sees that is not true:)

Singing bird wanted to know if we would adopt more children. While I would love to do so, it won't be possible with the length of time this one is taking. We are basically aged out of being able to adopt from anywhere. I would just like this one to come to fruition.

What is your favorite kind of music?

2.I love pop music. Most time I listen to Chinese pop music at home. But I’ll try more different American songs here.

The differences between schools here and in China?
3. I think school is so different from China. At first most school in China is 6 years primary school, 3 years middle school, and 3 years high school. Most kids will go to college. But it doesn’t mean everyone can receive good education. Secondly, we can’t choose the subjects we like. All the students study Chinese, Math, and English. (English class at school mostly starts in middle school, but English is really popular in China and many parents think it very important. Many children study English when they are very young.) We also have Physics, Biology, Chemistry, History, Politics, Geography, and PE. Different grades have another classes such as Computer, Art, Music, and Health. My school in China focuses on Math and Science. But different cities and schools have different systems. The next is we don’t move to different classrooms, only teachers move. And some big schools have a lot of students. So the class is also huge. Like my school in China, we have total more than 6000 students (my school has middle and high school and 4 campus). I think schools here are much better. You can study what you are interested in. And you can choose easy or difficult classes, so you won’t feel easy in some classes or not be lost in class. Physics and math are easy for me, as long as I know the words. The biggest problem for me is vocabulary. Schools here have more teams, bands, choirs and another organizations. School life here is much colorful than in China. It’s pretty good.
The situation is very similar. We also have very rich people, middle class and poor people.
People in China are more conservative than here. So the interacting with the opposite gender hardly happens among middle or high school students. By the way, many Chinese parents and teachers won’t allow students to have boy/girl friend at school (before 18). Cliches are not as common in China because we don't have many groups to belong to, and we don't change classrooms, so our class of 50 or so students stay together all day. So we don't have athletes and cheerleaders, and most of the kids in my class are smart so we are all the same.

(Angela disappointing and miss the most about China):
The disappointing thing is nothing so far
I miss my best friends very much, as well as my family.

(wzgirl: DO you like Turnip cake?……. Favorite color? how do you like the weather?Has your exchange-mother convinced you to become a flight attendant?)
Don't know what turnip cake is.
The Dim sum is much different here than back home. It’s more delicious and sweet here. At home, we don’t usually have desert and only few snacks. My favorite color is Green. The weather here is perfect because I love sunny days. But it’s hot outside. The weather is similar to Chongqing’s weather. Nope, …..I’m too short to be a flight attendant. Haha. It’s a cool job that can fly all over the world!

(bbmomof2 boys: Best experience so far)
Always the movies wait for me! (there are so many movies to choose from. In China she says they wait for the movies, and here they movies are so plentiful they wait for her)
Football~ After I watched the first game, I fell in love with it. Em…..I hope I can play it. It’s true! Haha

(Beeb: where ….for holiday?)
My favorite is traveling. So every labor days, national days(both 7-days off) my dad and his friends will drive to travel. My dad said” Of course I want to travel to big, beautiful, and modern city to have a comfortable vacation. But for you, it’s the valuable time to travel to some place natural and beautiful. Although it’s not relaxing sometimes even hard. After you grow up, you won’t have chance to go to these places and I won’t have enough energy to drive for long time. After you grow up, you can go to any big city you want.” And in winter holiday (during Spring Festival) we enjoy our traditional new year and spend a lot of time with family. We usually go on a family vacation even take my dog. During summer holiday, I’ll travel with friends or my aunt and uncle take me to travel. We always go to another province.

(liene: think of American malls…….)
We also have as big shopping malls as American. I think clothes here are cheaper and more cute than in China. By the way, it’s hard to buy dress shoes! Haha. Not as crowded as in China.
Yes, I love football. “ Just do it.” probably can express my feeling!

(headmeister)
My favorite food is Mexican food and milkshake.
The school surprised me most. I and a lot of people have thought the students here would be allowed to do anything they want and not really respect teacher. But we are wrong. Class is quieter when teacher is talking. The groups are amazing. I am shocked by my choir and our band, team and other organizations. We could never make such a huge united group in my school at home.

I think most Chinese people think you’re so kind and full of love with homeless children. Some can’t understand it even some think it’s China’s disgrace because we can’t make our own babies have a nice life and the government is not good enough what we expect.

Moon Festival-By the light of the silvery moon

By the light of the silvery moon.

Wow, we had an awesome dinner of hot pot and dumplings, and then sat outside and gazed at the moon looking for the girl with her rabbit(Chinese Folklore) and ate mooncakes. SHHHHHH dont tell anyone, but I actually like mooncakes. We had pinapple, lotus seed and red bean. I liked them all. But not as much as I enjoyed my dinner. WE love when Shiyu cooks for us. I do all of the chopping, and she does all of the cooking. No need to guess what I am eating for lunch tomorrow. I am a lucky girl, and I am getting very good at my using my chopsticks!!

**she has enough hot pot spice to almost get us through her 10 months here-thank god!!

**stay tuned to her answers to 20 questions. She has had a lot of homework, so she is about half way through her answers. We will try and have them by tomorrow or Thur.

Let's play 20 questions!

I think most of you know at this point that we have a Chinese exchange student living with us this school year. She is from Chongqing, she will be 17 on Saturday, and she is from a upper middle class family. She is so anxious to teach us anything and everything she can about China, the history, the language, the food, culture and heritage. She is very proud of her country. Anyway, she and I have decided that she will contribute to the blog when she has time, and we would like to start by allowing ya'll to ask her some questions. Please be polite, and respectful, but feel free to ask what you like. I will leave this up for a few days, we will reconcile the questions and try to get them answered later in the week.

You can ask questions of me too. But Shiyu is far more interesting than I will ever be:)

The Secret Pal strikes again

To J's secret pal,
Thank you!! I love the gift very much! It will be a part of Shiyu's beautiful memories.

Shiyu

When mom gave me the gift, I couldn't believe this is for me! I was surprised but very happy. Then I read the nice letter that you sent out loud to my host family, and of course, the cute dog. They were also very happy. I told all my friends at school about the gift. How wonderful it is! I love to share my happiness with others.
Thanks!


***Thanks Secret pal!! You made her day, I can't tell you how big the smile was on her face when I gave her the box, and she opened it. The box for her U.S. memories will get filled rather quickly I think, and she loves the beautiful file with the matching cards to send home.......you never cease to amaze me. You are incredibly generous and thoughtful***

How do you say RIDICULOUS?

4 days........REALLY?

just when you think it can't get any worse, it does.

if you ever wonder why I don't change my CCAA poster on my sidebar.....I don't know how is the first reason, and why bother? It is like a soap opera, you can just check in about every 6 months and not much has happened, and you can be updated quickly... so I figure it isn't worth learning how to make the change.


Thanks to this lovely friend I have an updated CCAA sidebar. It feels wonderful to see it updated because we are actually getting VERY close to being reveiwed. Wow, actually making some progress, it has been awhile since I said something felt wonderful regarding this adoption.
Thanks Headmeister for making that change for me.

America the beautiful!

Shiyu on the first day of school in her new Abercrombie clothes.
Doesn't she look so cute? Well all I can say is the last two weeks have been a BIG learning experience.

1. Registration took 4 days!! If you decide to host a student I advise you to take their immunization records to a doctor or the school nurse the second you receive the file(should have done this in May when that file arrived) She had to get a tetnus booster, and almost had to get a Polio/Measles....but we applied for a letter of conscious through the state to avoid this. But it could have all been avoided had we had someone look over the records when they arrived. It is also advisable to make them send you a very detailed transcript....something more than just Math, English, Geography. Needs more detail, maybe even some assessment test scores. Makes registration a whole lot easier.
2. It is hard to participate in a US History class regardless of your intelligence when you have not one speck of that history in your brain.
3. Kids are very, very resilant, and very strong.
4. Parenting is a very different job in China. Shiyu is shocked at how involved parents are in their kids lives, and in their school. I have had to sign every single sylabus that has been handed out....she has no understanding of this process.
5. Shiyu thinks that everyone in America must be rich, that we never have to wait in line for anything, that everyone is incredibly friendly and wants to be so helpful(except for her Math teacher-Bi$ch) Trust me I have tried to make sure she understands that none of this is accurate, and it only appears that way, and that she will get to see that this is not accurate.
6. We drive everywhere
7. That there is a store for everything
8. It is easy to learn to barracade yourself away from the dog so you can enjoy your breakfast in peace
9. That not all kids are created equal. Teenagers can be level headed, responsible, and can take on more than you would ever expect. So far this has been very different than having Taylor and Connor in our house. I don't know if this is a difference in parenting, or if it is a cultural difference, our it is just a personality difference. I would guess it is a combination of all of them. So far....she is the perfect child.
10. That we have a lot to learn about China
11. That the people in China think that George Bush looks like a monkey, and that they also think that most of the US thinks that he is a good president, and that we all want to be at war. We have had some very lengthy discussions about this, and she now understands that most of the US does not want to be at war, and that overwhelmingly our population is ready for a new president.

The list could go on and on. But this is just a few that come to mind. We are very lucky to have this opportunity. Let me just tell you how quickly someone becomes a member of your family, and quickly you become protective of that new family member.

MIA

You must be thinking what a slacker I am....Not, I just have not stopped moving since last Sunday. This past week is a total blur, I have not had a moment to spare or to write a post.
All I have to say is if you are frustrated with the current wait times in China.....accept an exchange student to live with you for 10 months, and you won't have a moment to think about the wait times. I have been moving and doing constantly for exactly one week now. Don't get me wrong here, Shiyu(pronounced shhh- u- wee) is a wonderful addition to our family, we are thrilled to have her here, we are enjoying all the things we are learning from her.....but it has eaten this last week away like bagworms eats a tree..... it just disappears into think air.

So school starts tomorrow, she is working hard to get at least one of the summer reading books finished(Death of a Salesman) she will have a timed writing on it on Wednesday in English. So I am much more worried about it than she is. She is mostly just really excited to get the show on the road, and wear the new duds I bought her yesterday. I think she considered wearing the new jeans to bed!!

So I will write a real post in the coming days. Be prepared that our blog has gone from a blog about adoption, to a big white machine, to our many travels, to a new dog, and now it will be mostly about this amazing, brave 16 year old from China. Maybe someday it will make a full circle and be about a family adopting from China again:)

Hope your weekend was good, ours was full, fun, short!

She made it safe and sound!

The girls made here a little late, but safe and sound, and no worse for the wear. We are so lucky, she is just great, and is so polite, and anxious to dig her heels in and make this a great experience. She is so little......and by the way she speaks Chinese. We are communicating just fine, but after a summer of emails, you forget that someone does not speak the same language. Anyway, she brought us some Chinese tea, a beautiful tea pot, and she made us a scrapbook of her family, friends, her home, dog, and some of the trips she has taken. So sweet, and her mom wrote us(in Chinese) a lovely letter about taking care of Shiyu, and that she knew she was in good hands. We hope someday that we will get to meet them.
Anyway, gotta go get her up from her 1 hour nap that I allowed(gotta get her adjusted to the time before school starts) and we are headed over to our friends house that is hosting too for swimming, and pizza.
Thanks for everyone's nice comments, and you were right....it was fine the second I hugged her:)

She's leaving on a jet plane

Well our student will be headed for the airport in Chongqing in about 6 hours to make her long journey to Texas. I think her flight leaves at 2:55 p.m. and arrives here at 9:20 tomorrow night.

She emailed me to tell me her best friend had come over to stay the night and to celebrate her upcoming year, and her departure. How they had had so much fun, and how happy she was for her to have this experience.

She is 16 almost 17, and I am so impressed by the fact that she is so excited about this journey, this opportunity, and this life changing experience. I am not sure at that age I would have been mature enough, or brave enough to leave my parents, and fly 8000 miles to live with strangers for 10 months. What must she be thinking?? How must she be feeling? I worry that maybe her parents have encouraged this opportunity and her real desire is to stay at her own school with her friends, living with her parents just as all kids should do. Or is she thinking this is the opportunity of a lifetime, and will change her life forever....hopefully for the better! I can't imagine what must be running through her mind. Is she worried that she won't like us, or that we won't like her...I worry that she won't like us, or think that we are too strict, or wayyyyy too boring. I want her to feel comfortable in our house, and in her room, and with us, and at her new school, and with her new friends.....I worry about these things, and I am 40 years old with a lot of life experiences behind me. Does she not worry as much because she is too naive to worry?

We are just about 25 hours from her arrival, and I can't wait to see her, hug her, and introduce her to our life. I am not sure who's life will be changed more....

How did I get so lucky??

The secret pal strikes again. Man she rocks, and I am so lucky. She sends me stuff all the time. She has this amazing knack for knowing exactly what I like, and what I need. This months theme was something personal. There is some really cute stuff for the "princess" that beautiful blanket, and the Oink Piglet book. But most of the box was for the "Queen of the house" which included my favorite english breakfast tea(no I didn't care that it was Archer Farms) a cute new mug to enjoy my tea in, some calming bubble bath, a great new CD-which happens to have one of her favorite songs. It is Corinne Baily Rae, and the song which is #3 is "put your records on" so I can't wait to listen to it. I can tell you what I will be doing tonight. Thank you Secret Pal, and thanks for the book last month. She sent me "Your not my Real Mommy"
I can't wait for us to meet, and that desire grows stronger every single month, because it is like you know me so well, and we are already friends.
**she always wraps my gifts in the cutest paper, and even the box she sends it in looks cute. My mail lady always tells me that when she sees my box in her truck....she always thinks how lucky I am, and she always wonders what's inside(all because the box is always so cute)