The Magic of an Ordinary Day

back on the roller coaster

The US State department has issued warnings regarding adoptions from Vietnam.  (Details can be found HERE.)  Our agency has emailed us and informed us of the warning, and basically we are all waiting to see if the US government and VN government will draft an agreement that will continue adoptions between the two countries.  If an agreement isn't reached, there are a couple of pretty unattractive options, including trying to wait it out and see if adoptions would resume between the countries (while all our paperwork outdates), abandoning the adoption (and the close to $7 grand we have put into it) and trying to change to another country---with new fees and paperwork, of course, and abandoning the adoption all together. 

I am starting to wonder if I am just banging my head against a wall.  That maybe that Hannah is such a tremendous gift that I don't get another.  That maybe I'm just not ever meant to have another child.  It's all very sad, and nerve-wracking, and unfair.  Especially to those poor kids sitting around it a shared crib while politicians decide whether or not they will have a permanent home with people who want to be their parents.

And, while I'm ranting, I'm just going to say that if I ever hear some misinformed bimbo tell me (while complaining about how she can't wear a bikini anymore or how their boobs sag after nursing their children) that I am doing it "the easy way"...I swear, there will be physical violence.  And I mean it.

So now we are waiting to see if all our hard work, if having our lives, finances  and medical histories turned inside out for the viewing of bureaucrats on two continents to judge will actually bring us a child.  I'm sad, and angry and just exhausted from the emotional toll this has taken on us. 

I just don't know what to think anymore, and what to expect. 

happy birthday

We celebrated Mom's birthday on Saturday. 

We started with a champagne brunch cooked by my hubby...

We had gotten Mom some roses...

We finished the night with steamed crab claws, roasted red potatoes and Patron margaritas.  It was a good day all around.

Happy birthday, Mom!!!

Just like Grandma

Hannah's new thing is putting together puzzles with Grandma. 

sick day

Hannah's got a cold so we're having a sick day.  Which means she gets to stay in her jammies, watch movies all day (her favorite place to do that is in the basement in her Hello Kitty sleeping bag).  She's got her box of Kleenex, her cup full of goldfish and a drink.  She's all set. 

I used to love sick days.  Not because I liked being sick--and trust me, you really had to be sick to stay home when I was a kid.  As in a fever or a witnessed vomiting (not a reported vomiting).  I think I just liked the peace and quiet (if it so happened that my three siblings weren't sick at the same time) and the little snacks my Mom would make for me.  It was great.

Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes

I went on my first transport flight this week.  I think I'm going to like it!  It was a jaunt to Carlsbad to get the patient, fly them to Tucson and return to Albuquerque.  The Learjet 35 is a great plane: it is quick, comfortable (it's a bit tight with a patient and a passenger) and is so well pressurized that I hardly felt the altitude changes.  The only thing is that I was COLD on the way back (and the other flight crew told me it's usualy cold and to bundle up) so I'll have to get some tights or something to wear underneath the flight suit.  I went out yesterday and bought the requisite black leather oil and fuel-resistent boots.  They are comfy but very, very butch.  Oh, well. 

I am very excited to start working in a different field of nursing, and the people at Med Flight seem very fun to work with.  Five of the staff there are already colleagues of mine from CCU and I know they are competent and dedicated nurses, so I'm feeling good about the level of care we are giving to the patient. 

I am just so glad I took the leap to get out of hospital nursing.  I am sick of the politics, sick of the hoops you have to jump through just to do your job, and sick of doing the same thing I've been doing for 13 years.  I always swore I wasn't going to be one of those burnt out hags who stay at the hospital (hating their jobs the entire time) for their pensions, or because they are afrad of doing something new, or whatever the excuse is.  I hate those people.  The patients hate those people.  And I just refuse to be one of them. 

As the great Jimmy Buffet would say...There's just too much to see waiting in front of me, and I know that I just can't go wrong.

Go Pack!!

I have to say, it was an exciting football weekend for us!  First of all, the Packers beat Seattle 42-20!!  Then as an extra bonus, the Cowboys lost, so the Packers are hosting the NFC Championship game in Lambeau field.  Wooot!!  We had a great Saturday watching the game and having snacks.  Mom got here just before kick-off so we had our small contingency of Packer fans cheering them on.  It was a great day.

Mom made the trip well, except that her cat Cricket got the call of the wild and ran away from the van.  She's hunting mice somewhere in Oklahoma right now.

Hannah is loving having Mom around.  They hang out and play all day long. 

the January blahs

We are just trudging along, and I am personally waiting for January to pass quickly.  Besides my mother's birthday, January doesn't have much to offer me.  Christmas is over, it's still cold and dark out and the seasonal produce is a little, well, bland.  I tend to not get enough exercise and generally want to ball up on the couch and stay there until March.

So what are we doing this week?  I'm studying my flight nurse stuff, Hannah is back in school and loving it, and Dwayne is working.  Pretty exciting, huh?

I'm orienting at Med Flight two days next week, and dispatch called me last night to do a "third man" ride, which unfortunately I couldn't do because Dwayne was at work and I had Hannah.  (A "third man" ride is when I go on orientation flights.  The usual team is one RN and one Medic.)  I am so excited to start flying!

My Mom left Wisconsin yesterday for her drive here.  She's near the Quad Cities in Iowa when she called last night.  I can't wait for her to get here!   I just hope the weather holds out for her.  And that one of her cats doesn't get out of the van on the way here, since she lets those things run around the van while she's driving. 

I haven't even taken any fun pictures lately to share.  Today is library day for Hannah and myself, so we'll find new books and movies for her and I have a few things on hold.  Yes, reading something other than a textbook sounds nice.  Maybe I'll make a fire and make it all cozy-like. 

I still scrapbook

I'm still doing my scrappy thing, I've just moved things over to my scrapbooking blog, footnotes.   There's lots of stuff over there so check it out!

my pretty girl

She is just so much more than my DNA could produce, that's for sure. 

back to school

For Hannah and myself.  She's going back to preschool today after her winter break, and she is so excited!!  She kept asking "Am I going back to school today?" 

I am studying for my new job.  I ordered a textbook which came yesterday, and am going through it.  It's exciting to be starting a new venture.

2007

That's it, the good, the bad and everything in between.  I'm actually glad to see it go.  Although I've had the pleasure of seeing my daughter bloom and grow more delightful every day, we've also experienced some heartbreaking, tremendous losses. 

Here's to a new year!!