A much needed change and 38 months of the same...

It's a BEAUTIFUL day in this steambath known as Florida. It's cool. There's a nice breeze. I got up this morning at 6:30 (on Saturday, no less) and opened all the windows in the house. It was still dark outside but my windows were wide open, much to my thin-blooded husband's dismay! We rented a steam cleaner and while I sit here and type this, Paul is cleaning our carpet. We're trying to prolong the life of the already 10 year old "stain resistant" berber. I figure we have until the first of the year until I can't stand looking at it any longer!

I was inspired by this beautiful day to do some much needed yucky tasks. I scrubbed our back french doors and the screen doors. Man, people who have come to visit have been awfully nice and haven't said anything about how filthy those doors were! Thank you. The dog got a nice visit to the groomers today. She was in need of a spa day. She's all pretty for her long weekend at her Nanny's.

Paul and I leave for Cedar Key on Thursday afternoon. We're going to spend the weekend there in celebration (although a weekend early) of our 15th wedding anniversary. We're really looking forward to this trip because we've never been when the weather was cool. This weekend is the big Cedar Key Seafood and Art festival so the place will be overrun with tourists. We've been told that next weekend the place is a ghost town. Just the way we like it! Hopefully we'll get some birding in and some nice long walks. I can't adequately express how much I need a mini-vacay from the job.

I talked to my niece today, well I talked and she listened really, but I miss that little booger. She's growing up so fast and I can't believe she'll be 3 in March. Our baby (yes, Kim, I said OUR baby ;) ) is almost 3... pretty soon she'll be going to college (Harvard, don't you know). I suppose that the only really good thing about this adoption taking so long is that Devon will be available for babysitting by the time our EG gets here! And I'm only partly kidding there, folks! Our adoption agency received referrals for 9 healthy babies ranging from 7-21 months this week. The families who received these referrals were logged in to the CCAA March 26 of 2006. Do the math (mainly because math was never my strong suit) and you'll figure out that we won't be hearing anything until March/April of 2010, which we knew but it still stinks. So, that's the update. The news from the front, if you will, and really what choice do you have reading this from wherever you are reading it... :)

Thanks for stopping in and I look forwarding to chatting with you all real soon.

Lisa

Happy Birthday, Paul!

Tomorrow, Sept. 23, is Paul's 4oth birthday. Can you believe it? Paul is 40! It's hard to imagine that it's been 23 years since we met and began dating. When I think of Paul, especially around his birthday, I think of his Grandpa Harp as well. On his 80th birthday Grandpa Harp, who lost his parents at a young age, told a story about his promise to his parents, to always be a good boy, that he lived his life with that in mind. I remember how moved Paul was by that story and how he, too, has always tried to be a good boy. Interestingly enough it isn't something Paul must try to do (nor was it for Grandpa Harp, either). He is genuinely a good man. He's thoughtful, kind, loving, patient, generous and humble. The list goes on and on. I can't tell you how fortunate I am to have chosen so wisely all those years ago. Shoot when you're 15, you don't know a darn thing and while I might have had an inkling that he would turn out to be such a great man I was mostly just dazzled by how handsome he was, and is! :)

Even though I am terribly biased I believe we, who know and love him, are blessed to have him. So on September 23 I will say, as I do everyday, thanks be to God for this husband of mine, and thanks to his parents, for raising such a wonderful man. You did good!

Happy Birthday, Paul. I love you more than you can ever know.
Your wife,
Lisa

See two posts before...

Our agency announced the referral of 7 healthy baby girls this week. It would seem that 7 is the magic number and it would seem that the time between referrals is about a month now. I don't know what that means for us exactly. We've been in this game for 36 months this month so perhaps we really are closing in on a date? Sometimes reporting this news feels like not really reporting anything at all. There you have it... :)

Love to you all,

Lisa and Paul

Enough already, Jon Gosselin

I think that Jon Gosselin, of the now infamous Jon and Kate Plus 8, is in need of a PR consultant. Seriously, if he's got one they aren't doing their job. LAY LOW, you bonehead. Stay out of the limelight, stop catting around with 22 year old old floozies and have a little respect, if not for the mother of your children, then for your CHILDREN. Good grief.

He released a statement recently wherein he claims to be trying to lay low for the sake of his children who he fears will one day GOOGLE him and see the debauchery that has been his habit of late. YA THINK, Jon?

While I understand the difficulty of an impending divorce (yeah, it looks real difficult, partying on the French Riviera with a 22 year old girl) and there was a time when he might have had my sympathies but those days are over. The argument has been made that he was so young, 22 himself, when he and Kate married and he's making up for lost time. I would suggest that time wasn't lost... it was spent raising children. Also, should someone point out to Jon how ridiculous he looks so openly chasing after his lost youth? An earring. A young girl on his arm. A motorcycle. Parties in the Hamptons, and with French designer Christian Audigier and now Michael Lohan (that's an entirely different rant, folks). I hate to say it (no, no I don't) but Jon Gosselin, you are a cliche, pal.

Well... I've gotten that off my chest. For now. :)

News...of sorts

Our agency just announced the referral of 7 healthy baby girls yesterday. The families who received these referrals have been waiting 40 months and were logged in to the CCAA on March 22, 2006. As you know we were logged into the the CCAA on August 16, 2006. That's the latest. Our family coordinator advised us at the end of 2008 that we shouldn't expect to hear anything until 2010 and that seems to be true, if then.

I would ask for your continued prayers. It's tough.

Each of you is a blessing to us and we value your love and support more than you will know.

Lisa

Grudges and stuff

You know, what they say is true. Harboring a grudge, or hurt feelings, is really only punishment for yourself. I am certain that the person with whom I am angry has no idea and really wouldn't own their part of it anyway. So, why then do I find it so hard to let it go?

How do you find a way to love and accept people and all their warts when you're constantly smarting over their barbs? Prayer? I do a LOT of that. Forgiveness? Trying. It's tough though. I dunno.

Jon and Kate...

I am, like so many folks, addicted to trash TV and magazines. I'm not proud of it, but it's a fact. There is nothing I want to see more than a good episode of the Real Housewives, or some other trashy Bravo network show.

My addiction to trash has taken a serious turn recently. I'm talking about the media frenzy that is Jon and Kate plus 8. I'm both saddened and sickened by what appears to be their marital problems. I keep thinking about those 8 precious children, and while I am sure that now they are very well insulated from the media hoopla that surrounds their parents, one day they will have access to this garbage. They will read about their father's alleged infidelity, their mother's controlling and domineering behavior. One day they'll know things about their parents that children simply shouldn't know.

It is too easy to blame their parents for this. Sure, Jon and Kate put their children on display for the world to see, and in doing so have left them all vulnerable to media scrutiny. I dare say that anyone I know wouldn't make the same choices that Jon and Kate have made. They have 8 mouths to feed. 8 college tuitions to prepare for. I would be hard pressed to turn down a paying gig that would help me feed my family. Who can blame them for answering the door when TLC came a'knockin'.

It's been interesting to watch the media coverage of this private (as if they will ever have a private life again) crisis. First, the allegations that Jon was having an affair with a younger woman. Then, the reports that it was Kate's controlling and demeaning treatment of Jon that made him step out. This one I love, blame the woman. If she'd been more understanding, more patient, and less controlling why this wouldn't have happened, if it did happen. It's ridiculous. Although I am guilty of thinking it myself. Why, if Kate was warmer and more loving to her husband, blah, blah, blah... Now, family members are crawling out of the woodwork with their individual stories of how the marriage was a sham for quite some time and essentially the couple have been estranged for months. I find this twist in the story especially interesting. No one on the outside of a marriage can accurately or fairly say what it's like.

The trash lover in me is titillated by all of this. Ooh.. who is at fault? Did he really have an affair? Did she? How could he stand to be treated the way she treats him? Ooh... enquiring minds, etc. But sadly, the show isn't called Jon and Kate. It's about a family and the all important +8, the folks who have the most to lose from all of this. My heart breaks for them and their parents. Marital strife is never easy. It's painful and devastating. I can only imagine how the media attention makes it all the more so.

Tonight when the season premieres I, like millions of others, will be watching to see if there's a crack in the facade. It's shameful, but I'll be doing it and all the while I'll be praying for those 8 gorgeous children, that their parents get their act together and do what's right for their family.
I'll be praying for them, all of them.