The Latest

I don't feel like I really have all that much to blog about, just that it's been a bit and I should write something.

I've actually been in better spirits since my last post - I just had a rather down weekend there due to a lack of information and progress and I was just worn out by it all. Last week indicated more progress and I bounced back spirit-wise. But I am taking a bit of a step back - spending less time reading blogs and message group stuff, all of that. I think I had gotten to a point where just about my every waking moment was consumed with this adoption, and it was getting exhausting when you feel like you're not getting anywhere.

So, I'm taking the opportunity to work more, catch up with some books, play some games, see more of friends and family, sleep, etc. As Anne had mentioned, it's time to live and love this adoption journey again. It might manifest in a slightly different way for me than what she was saying, but I do need to make some adjustments - we'll see how succcessful I am! It's not that I'm not still paying attention to all the issues out there and happy for everyone's progress and successes, but I was beginning to worry a bit about what was left of me if you took the adoption out of the equation and how much pressure that could potentially create for the little guy when he comes home.

Wow - way more serious than I intended for this post! So I guess I'm just saying I'm still around, I'll still catch up to blogs sooner or later, but I'm trying to diversify my world a bit. Of course I can't pass by the updates of my very favorite, most addictive blogs of my real-life and blog-life friends, but I am not reading every update on every blog I can find in the universe every night.

So, if I'm not doing that, what am I doing?

Well, I was working quite a bit volunteering to get our agency picnic up and running for this past weekend, until Mother Nature decided to confuse us all by dropping the temperature a good 30 degrees and drench us from dawn to dusk. So, no picnic but all the nametags are ready! Shoot!

I dog-sat for my friends Carrie and Rob this past weekend as well - which is always amusing. The first pic below is my boyfriend Benny. He is just the sweetest dog all-around, even though he is quite shy about having his picture taken. He is very loving and cuddly, but old enough that he's fairly mellow and content just hanging out. He really is just a doll. Then the bottom pic is the baby of the family, Sophie Jean. Sophie cracks me up - she is such the younger sibling. She loves attention and thinks that she should be the center of it all of the time. But both dogs are very sweet dogs. I felt horrible leaving them on Sunday morning, but knew that my kitties were also in need of my attention which was indeed the case. I know some but not all of you will understand this, but it is going to be very, very hard for me to leave my cats for the length of time of my trip to Vietnam. I know they'll be ok and I'll be ok, and of course it is for a good reason, but it is really going to be tough on all of us.

In terms of actual adoption news, I did have some last week. My paperwork is at the DIA and may even be logged in! Or I should say I'm told it's logged in - I'm just looking at it as a bit of a "soft log-in" as it seemed to flow fairly quickly in getting to that point and I just want to be cautiously optimistic that the news is correct. I know other people have been waiting longer, but it does seem to vary a bit by agency and how many dossiers they've submitted (or so I've heard) and if that is the case it would be logical mine would move smoothly as I am just the 5th dossier sent over with my agency.

And though I don't have specifics to share, I am under the impression that we are making progress and getting closer to having things in place with orphanages. I won't relax on that front until I know for sure, but I am glad to be hearing things are happening.

So in the meantime, more waiting but hopefully of a less manic nature!

On that note, I think I am off to spend some time with the cats and dig into my latest read, "Maximum Ride" by James Patterson. I love Patterson and my brother had loaned me this book some time ago but I hadn't had a chance to dig in. It's one of a series and I love the characters. What better to do on a rainy, cold evening in Minnesota with pets who need some snuggle time? Not too much, I don't think!