Things Duffy Is Thankful For

Being 32 but looking like I am still in my 20s
Splenda
Clark's shoes
100 calories packs of anything
Pasta
Anne Taylor
LL Bean
Block scheduling
My new laptop
Audiobooks
Online shopping
Sleeping in
The National Dog Show
The Macy's Day Parade
It's a Wonderful Life
Princess Bride
Star Wars
Sense and Sensibility
Jeans with Lyrca
Warm socks that are now in pairs thanks to the Great Batzer Sock Hunt of '08
Being Greek
My pets for teaching me patience and that unconditional love means sloppy kisses
My amazing friends who make me laugh and hold me up by the perfectly timed phone calls
My family who shows support through faith, guidance, and loud talking
My sister-in-law & brother-in-law, for sharing
My mother-in-law, for knowing exactly the right ways to spoil us
My brother, Wyatt, who constantly makes me laugh with surprise after surprise. Except the chain letters.
My brother, Will, who listens like no one else
My father, for making me self-sufficient
My sister, I can't even explain in words
My mother, for everything that is good in me
My husband, for being my friend and my heart
My baby who I hope to share all of this with very soon

In the absense of Human Baby News

Since we don't have any new news on the adoption front, I figured I'd share a cute story about our fuzzy children. Last night, I was playing ball with Snickelfritz (whose idea of "playing ball" is to yell at you when you're ignoring him, but as soon as you show any interest, at all, of actually playing with him, he takes the ball and runs away -- he thinks this is hilarious) when we realized that the other two dogs were nowhere to be found.

I hopped upstairs to find Cosmo hanging out in the bedroom doorway. I explained to him that it wasn't bedtime yet, but he had no intentions of coming downstairs, and was acting quite guilty (I'd soon find out that this was "concerned", but Cosmo nuances are typically only known to Cosmo). I checked the bedroom to ensure that nothing was peed or chewed upon (all was clear) and went back downstairs, figuring that Hobbes was outside.

After 15 minutes of chasing Snickelfritz around, attempting to convince him that it's more fun for both of us if he lets the ball go and then chases it when I throw it, I became more concerned. Hobbes is a world class smeller . . . but 15 minutes of concentrated smelling, without gathering the attention of the other two puppies, that just doesn't happen. I called outside to get him to come in, but there was no response. So, I figured he must have been under the bed in the bedroom -- but he wasn't. At this point, I started opening doors, and he had managed to get himself locked in the nursery -- at our house, getting a dog locked behind closed doors isn't really Earth-shattering news (heck, Snickelfritz manages to lock himself in a bathroom every other week), but what happened next really is.

As soon as the door opened, Cosmo started acting happier than I have ever seen a dog act. I could have offered to make him a steak, and I think his joy over Hobbes's liberation would have superseded that emotion. This is on par with Dudley saying "I don't think he's a waste of space". Cosmo is usually all about Cosmo -- but this was true concern and elation about another dog. I gave him a big puppy hug for that (he's a very, very good puppy hugger).

Just so you know we haven't forgotten about you!

Hey everyone, there is nothing new, but I thought I would post so the blog keeps some of its momentum.
Do you remember what it felt like to exist on a daily basis before September 11, 2001? Since that date, I have always felt like I lost something, an arrogance about my own safety, I suppose, is the more cynical way to say it. Some more sunnier people might call it an innocence. Either way, life in the U.S. changed that day, and it can be hard to remember how existence felt before such an epic crack in the foundation appeared.
We have been waiting for a baby since March of 2005 in one way, shape, or form. Life before Waiting is getting fuzzy. It is a life constant by now. Sometimes I wonder if it will take a while to stop expecting even after a baby has arrived.
Does pregnancy feel the same way? Like you can't remember how it felt to not be pregnant, and then when it's over, you sometimes forget you aren't pregnant anymore?

One Evening

So when these things come up, I give myself one evening/day to be miserable and self indulgent. The best thing is to get on with things. After John told me about his phone call with M, the other SW in our office (Who called at 9 PM which I was impressed with, thanks, M!), I laid on the couch and sulked. I called my mom and sulked and whined. I called my sister and sulked and whined some more. Then I made my lazy, grumpy butt get up and fold laundry. Then I decided I should at least pretend to do the reading for my class this weekend. There is a quiz after all. Then life takes over. Routine can be theraputic.
So today, while I am still sighing over being just Waiting again as opposed to WAITING, I am back to being more positive and knowing that each day is closer to an adoption even if that is two years away. They do happen. I know that. On the list serves there is a match at least once a week or two. But self indulgance in gloom can be healthy for short stints.
So we thought that the plane was finally going to take off. Turns out it just taxied to another runway.

Back to Just Waiting

The twins.... an aunt stepped in and has taken the twins.
At this point I was ready for a negative for us, but really hoping that an adoption would take place. Of the four situations we have been notified about, not one has ended with an adoption.
So while I am not vastly disappointed because of this specific situation, I am really frustrated in the fact that it doesn't seem that adoptions are real. This is especially hard to deal with as both John and I have had this weird feeling that something is just around the corner. Maybe it was just the situation with the twins. I don't know.
I do know that I hate my stupid uterus at moments like these.

And the twins story continues

I believe the line is "and the story continues..."

Turns out that Saturday was false labor. Right now, the birthmother is still considering adoption and still looking through profiles. We are not discounted yet - but that's all I know.

News will be posted as warranted.

The Story of the Twins

So, our apologies for not posting this earlier -- the phone call came at a very odd time (a time when there was absolutely no way for me to get onto the internet), and the following events have had my mind running a million miles a minute, meaning that slowing things down enough to blog about it wasn't a possibility.

On Saturday, my phone rang it's special ring (Who Needs Sleep? by the Barenaked Ladies) and I rushed to answer. S, the social worker, was on the line and had a situation to talk over.

Now, I need to mention that there are limited cases where S would actually call us -- most of the time, should our profile match the mother's, we'll just be shown, and should our profile NOT match the mother's, our profile will not be shown. It is only in instances where our profiles MOSTLY match and the difference between the match/non-match is a minute detail that we'd get a phone call. For instance, we'd get a phone call if a mother mentioned that she had a drink or two during the entire course of the pregnancy, but not if she mentioned that she drank more than that.

So, S is on the phone and mentions that a mother was soon to be going into labor in Philadelphia, expecting twin girls (twins were not something that we had as a "maybe" -- we said multiples were fine). She happened, however, to be in jail -- a cop had witnessed her throwing a bleach solution at an ex-boyfriend (jail or violent offenses do no preclude us from wanting a child . . . in fact, if somebody is in jail, you know where they are, what they're eating, and it's a lot harder to get drugs). Well, we had agreed to help with housing and medical costs for the birthmother -- to the tune of $500, should such costs be incurred. This situation looked like it might require $1,000 of extra assistance. I immediately said that I would increase that for this situation.

However, there were even more situations. Typically, our agency operates alone with an adoption . . . not so here. S was aware of at least three couples from our agency - but possibly as many as 13 from other social worker agencies.

I just got off the phone with Adoption from the Heart -- S is in court today, but it sounds like the children were placed elsewhere. When it's our time, it'll be our time.