National Champs!!

Tide Guy and I went to Pasadena for the National Championship game earlier this month. We saw the team arrive at the Rose Bowl and Mark Ingram, the Heisman winner, winked at me as he walked toward the stadium. (Well, he winked at someone in my area, so I assume it was me.) We sat in the Texas section. Ugh. Although they were nice, we had to contain a little of our excitement during the game. Not too much, as we cheered our team to victory. It was a nerve-racking game, but in the end, the best team won. We stayed for the Coach's Trophy presentation. The team was ecstatic and such a joy to watch. This team is such a great group of leaders and young men. I am so proud of them. They played as a team and gave credit to each other.

We slept for the first time in our new house on New Year's Eve. Tide Guy was determined to move in our new house in 2009. So, by a few hours, we made it. We still have a few little things at the other house to move. Plus, right now, the new garage is packed with boxes and such. We have done a lot here, but we still have a lot to do.

In world news, last week, Haiti had a 7.0 earthquake. There is so much damage and destruction. Hospitals, schools, hotels, their one airport, and most homes are completely destroyed. Even their palace is destroyed. Their leaders are homeless, too. People are living on the street. As of yesterday, they pulled people out of the rubble. The people are desperate for water, food, blankets, and medical supplies. There is a lot of help arriving, but for some reason it is bottlenecked at their airport. It is taking a week for help to get to the Haitians and that help is very slow. The estimated the death toll is 200,000.

In national news, gas has gone up to about $2.61 a gallon. There is an election today for Teddy Kennedy's Democratic Senate seat. There is a chance this could go to the Republican candidate thus causing the Democrats to lose their majority in the Senate. This would severely affect the health care issue in the Senate.

In the adoption world, even though there is a new director in the CCAA, nothing has changed positively. There is such a slow down it is unbelievable and basically disgusting.

On with the day!
Tide Gal

19 Months

Today is our 19th month LID anniversary. Almost two years. Nuff said.

China is still confusing the waiting families as they didn't refer the end of May as we all thought they would. Now, we wait to see what happens and when it will happen.

Our builders are doing more trim and we have much more to do. I think they will start the coffered ceiling next week which will be so exciting to see. All four columns are installed, but still need to be painted. Right now they are the same color as our stucco and front door, which still needs to be stained. I'm sure all the neighbors are confused about our brown columns with the white coppers and bases. HA. Yesterday, I picked out our granite slabs and they will be sent to the fabricators.

In national news, gas prices are going up. Gas at our local Race Way is $2.39. Ugh. Not good. The economy isn't great and neither is the unemployment rate.

On with the weekend.

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.

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.