5K Runners!!

Tide Guy and I ran in a 5K on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 2009. He can easily run the 5K race, but once we arrived, he wished he had signed up for the 10k. My goal months ago was to complete the race. I recently decided I wanted to run the complete race without having to walk any. And I did it. I was so proud of myself. It isn't that I'm not athletic, but rather that I am not a runner. My time was just over 40 minutes and Tide Guy finished just over 28 minutes. Now, we've both set goals to run the 10K next year.

Three of my friends also completed the race. We are awesome. I was fine before the race, but just a few moments before the start gun, I looked at my friend and said, "What am I doing here?" Yes, I had a little moment there! But, I did it. I could have run further, but possibly only a mile. I could not have run faster.

We had so much fun. I was totally excited and felt great after the race. I guess that is what is called a "runner's high". Afterwards, we went to Lowe's and Home Depot because they gave a discount to military for Memorial Day. We bought a few things for the house. We finally got home around 2 and I was wiped out. The runner's high hit a low!

In house news, more of the cabinets and cabinet trim were installed yesterday. The black distressed hood looks amazing beside the cherry cabinets. We also told the cabinet man to build us a small island.

After seeing the snake at the new house Friday, Tide Guy and I had one waiting on us when we got home Saturday night. Tide Guy killed his first snake while I hid in the house. Monday afternoon, we walked to Mom's for a cook out and found one in their yard. So, Tide Guy killed another snake. That is three snakes in four days for me!

Tide Gal & Tide Guy

Pigs and Snakes

The CCAA actually referred through March 14, 2006. That will be great news if they refer another 6 or so days again the end of this month. Families arriving in China now, along with other passengers, have their temperatures taken before they get off the plane as a precaution.

Big news! I had to take the builders their check on Friday. While I was there, the builder asked some questions. One question was related to the mud room. As we entered the mud room, he saw a snake. Yep. He first asked if Tide Guy put a fake snake in there. Then he said it was real. I ran out the door. He and his brother killed it. It was a three foot chicken snake. He later said he shouldn't have killed it because it would kill bad snakes. I am terrified of snakes and yesterday had Tide Guy go into the house and check for snakes before I went inside.

There isn't much more to tell on the house other than there is more trim installed. And we have a lot more that is still needs to be installed. The columns are not up yet and I am very excited to see those.

Referrals!!

Rumors are floating around the internet and blogs that China has referred through March 15, 2006. If this turns out to be true, the number of days referred will be 7. This sounds a little positive, but considering it has been about 6 weeks since they referred last, it isn't great. If they would send out a 7 day batch of referrals the end of this month too, that would be awesome.

Of course, the reason for the delay in referrals is the swine flu. It seemed the swine flu had slowed and was dying away. There has been a resurgence in the last week or so. A vice principal at a middle school in New York died last week and he didn't have any existing conditions (example: heart problems) that would escalate the illness. Stories like this has caused China to restrict people entering their country. CCAA has to abide by these restrictions. However, CCAA has delayed many referrals, travel appointments, and matching without giving any explanation. All we've heard here are rumors and speculations. Nothing official. Even our agencies aren't told anything.

Several months ago, we heard of a potential speed up in this process. All signs were positive. But, something always seems to happen to prevent a speed up. Earthquakes. Severe cold and snow. The Olympics. Swine Flu. Will we ever get through this process? And, if we do, how long will it take?

Again, with no answers, I am so glad Tide Guy and I did not announce this information when we decided to adopt from China. If we have all these questions, we would expect to be bombarded with the same questions from everyone who we told. That was a great decision we made!

On with the delay....

Tide Gal & Tide Guy

Swine Flu & House Updates

The swine flu "pandemic" has fizzled and barely makes the news now. There are still cases popping up here and there across the country, but it doesn't make the headline or top story. Now, the swine flu has caused the CCAA to delay any progress. What progress they make is sporadic, shows no common thread, and follows no known plan. Some families are getting travel appointments, some are not. Some are getting referrals, some are not. Some are getting information, some are not. Some are traveling, while others have to wait. Different agencies are getting different information. Nothing makes any sense. So much for the potential speed up. One rumor is the CCAA will suspend matching until September. That is 4 months away.

Our house is getting lots of trim. We are getting trim around the windows and stairs, massive chair rails, and huge baseboards. The builder also set the whirl tub. Garage doors went in two days ago. Our columns have arrived and should be installed next week if the rain will stop. Our cabinets were also delivered on Thursday. The cabinet guy called Friday and told me they had returned the cabinets to his shop. The stain wasn't even and he wanted to fix them. I took the opportunity today to shop vac the areas where the cabinets will be installed. I want to get out as much sheet rock dust and sawdust to keep dust down in the house when we move in.


Gas prices have jumped up to $2.11 a gallon.

Rain, Rain, Rain

It has rained over 7 days straight. Everyone's yard is saturated and the water has no where to go. At our new house, we are keeping an eye on the basement and our new sump pump. We have a company coming to help with the problem in about 2 weeks. And, we are supposed to get rain for another two days or so.

The builder is at our house full time and is getting a lot of the trim work done. We should get the columns for the front porch in about a week. I really need to finalize the paint colors. I went to Atlanta Market this week with a friend and ordered our chandelier for the breakfast nook and four pendants for the kitchen bar.

The swine flu "pandemic" scare is basically gone. There seems to still be a few cases, but schools opened earlier than originally planned. There is still the possibility the swine flu could delay travel to China. There is some confusion as some families are getting travel plans and some are not.

And, our 18 month LID anniversary just passed on May 6, 2009, without any fanfare. Yesterday, we updated our fingerprints. Now, our update is completely done. We are done for 18 months. We learned our lesson and will start earlier for our next update.

Swine Flu

Swine flu has been on the news for almost a week. Seems a young boy in Mexico caught the swine flu and it has spread into the states. Three students at a local elementary school here have the symptoms, but there is no confirmation they have the swine flu. All three are in the same class and my friend is their kindergarten teacher.

*Gas is up a bit to $1.93.
*Chief Justice David Souter announced last night he is going to retire from the Supreme Court.

All of our siding is done on our house. The four columns for the front porch were ordered yesterday. Tide Guy just returned from the house and said our basement leaked during our big downpour today. We are going to have to rethink how we are going to keep water out.

Tide Gal