I copied this from Amanda’s blog!

 The band, Five for Fighting, is generously donating $0.40 to Autism Speaks for each time the video is viewed. The funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure. When you have a moment, please visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal. Link to the site

http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/408214=20

PLEASE, PLEASE check it out and pass it along!!!!

Okay Catalina and Regina - your timing …..eh…not so good..   : )   ….but I just spent the last 45 minutes redoing my adoption budget and need a moment to clear my head so here goes.

These are the rules:

 1) You have to link the person who sent this to you and leave a comment on their blog so their readers can visit yours.

Okay right here I am confused.  Catalina and Regina sent this to me so I have to link my blog to theirs?  It is already…. meaning there is a link on my blog to their blog (and everyone else and their mother that I could find adopting from Kaz) so that part has been done already – I think.  Feel free to correct me if I am wrong. 

Then I have to leave a comment on Catalina’s and Regina’s blog to let their readers know that they can visit mine?  Is that right? Okay I am going to go do that now…brb.

 2)  Post the rules on your blog. 

Yup I am doing that right here.

 3)  Share 7 strange/weird facts about yourself.

Yikes.  How strange and weird?  LOL.  Okay.  Let me think…with the one brain cell I seem to have left. 

#1)   Because I was so worried about not having enough time to get everything done at work and home I decided tonight to pull an all nighter.  So I am posting this list of 7 weird things at 1:42 am.  I figure if I do the all nighter 2x a week for the next two weeks then I will be able to get everything done. 

#2)  Up until I turned 35 I never received a moving violation – then I got one for speeding while traveling from Illinois to Tennessee.  I felt really bad about it for the next 200 miles until I realized that if I kept up this pattern then my next moving violation wouldn’t be until I was 70, and the following one until I was 105.

#3)  My legal name is not Amy.  It is a Persian name that is hard to pronounce.  When I was four years old I got tired of people mispronouncing it and told my mother I wanted to be called Little Elephant after a story we had read that day in preschool.  I was told no.  (For this I am thankful now that I am in my late 30’s) The next day I came home and said I wanted to be called Amy after another little girl at school.  It was so much better than Little Elephant that my mother made the mistake of saying yes.  After that I would not respond to anyone unless they called me Amy.

#4)  I saw my first grey hair at 23.  That is right 23.  My older sister didn’t see a grey hair until she was in her 30’s.

#5)  I love going to the dentist, except for the bill, because my dentist gives nearly painless novocaine shots, does great work but more importantly he is seriously hot, but unfortunately married.  My life story.

#6)  Last weekend I spent the better part of Sunday at an investment house I own trying to insulate the copper pipes.  To do this required inching myself through a 26″ crawl space….and yes, I am a girl….and yes there were bugs.

7)  I am a sucker for resale shops.  I love taking something that no one wants and with a little paint turning it into something beautiful.  And I love love love a bargain.

8)  I do not think that Brad Pitt is hot…he is too pretty looking to me.  I am told this is weird since all women supposedly think Brad Pitt is hot.     

Okay, I went one over so that should do it for me.  Sorry if these weren’t weird or strange enough – hard to think this early in the AM.  Now back to work for me!!!

Well I called and asked about what kind of time frame I am looking at.  Here is the answer.  If I go for one child and do not update my 171-H it could be as little as 2 to 3 weeks.  If I update my 171-H then it will be the same amount of time plus the time it takes for me to get the 171-H back.  I am waiting on my social worker to find out how long it would be to get an updated 171-H.  She has already contacted the Orphan Unit at the Illinois branch to find out this info. 

In a way I am not sure how to make the decision.  I have crunched the numbers and have come to the conclusion that the extra amount I would need to adopt two would be feasible….with the extra tax credit I would get it all back at some point – though possibly not until all five years allowed for the tax credit was up.  But regardless I would get it back.

I guess I am waiting to hear back about how much longer I would have to wait regarding the 171-H.  If it turns into a three month delay I guess I will take a pass.  If it is only a 4 week or so delay then maybe I will just go for it.

Hi All!  My coordinator emailed me to tell me that my dossier had been released from the ministries and I am definitely going to Ust-Kamenogorsk region.  Can anyone out there tell me what kind of timeframe they dealt with from this point on.  I am trying to figure out what the smallest amount of time left is to what the average amount of time is until travel.  I need to get so much done between now and travel that I am trying to figure out if I need to call in the friends for a day of help to get everything done or if I can manage to accomplish everything on my own. 

I bet the title of this post made you think I was going to talk about counting the days that are left till I travel.  Well not this time.  At least not in the beginning of this post.  What I am referring to is a literal counting of the number of days it has been since I signed my contract with Adoption Ark.  I actually sat on my living room sofa and with a calendar counted out exactly how many days it has been so far in this process.  The cool Blogger blogs have neat counters that you can put on your blog to show how long it has been since you started…I don’t think WordPress has them…and if they do I have not figured out how to add them to my blog….so…I am doing it the old fashioned way….by hand.  So far it has been 249 days. 

According to a handy online calculator I am paper pregnant for 35 4/7 weeks.  They say I should be due on February 25th, 2008.  Hhhmm, would someone like to call my agency and let them know?  Or better yet….call Kaz and let them know.  I wonder what the conception date of June 4th, 2007  correlates to?  Oh I know!  That would be the date my application fee check cleared after signing the contract on May 21st.  LOL.   

Hey everyone!  Good news for Philip and Amanda from Ireland!  They got their LOI, they got their Visas, they have their plane tickets and they are flying to Ust tomorrow!!  Go check out their blog – they seem like a very patient couple since they have been working on this for 3, count em 3 years!!

 The link is:      http://davidsonadoption.blogspot.com/

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Canadian couple flies out soon to Almaty!! 

 Sara and Julian are heading out for sure this time on February 1st to Almaty!!!  That is 6 short days from today!! 

Their link is:   http://yeomans2kaz.blogspot.com/

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Dawn is heading back home with her two newly adopted children 6 and 4.  And she sounds like she has her hands FULL!!!  Here is her blog: 

http://www.kazquest.blogspot.com/

Hello all friends and family in blogland!  My coordinator has advised me to update my homestudy and 171-H, just in case for siblings.  She has also told me that most likely I will be going to Ust.  She also told me that I needed to get myself ready because it could be very soon.  ……..moment….moment……AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH……panic, panic……breathe in………breath in again…….realize you are not exhaling….exhale…….catch breath because you are out of breath from not exhaling……………realize how much has to be done in a short span of time……………………….panic, panic……………………start making a list………………….decide that sleep is not a necessity anymore, resolve to find the determination to push through the panic and attack the unfinished business with vigor, striking down item after item on my list like a Knight with a big a** sword.   

 That was my reaction to her news.  So far I have clawed my way through the pile of work that had accumulated on my desk in three days time while I was out of town!  Took a break to write this post and am attacking the pile that was here before I left.  I am going to stop at 5:00 and pull out my adoption paperwork to make a game plan for the remainder of paperwork…..then make a list of all other things that need to be done before I go.  Make a separate list of things that can be done after I come back during the wait for the second trip.  Then I intend on going to Walmart to pick up a new brain.  I hear they have them on sale now. 

I am feeling like this may happen soon because of the intensity of the conversation with my coordinator.  I have not had a conversation with her that was so direct and focused.  Like we weren’t playing house anymore….does that make sense?  So, wish me luck slogging my way through what remains.  Thank God for caffeine!  

Well, finally my 4:20pm flight left (at 7:35pm) heading for good old Chicago.  I got in around 9:35 and have made it back to the office now at a little before 11:00.  I must high tail it home and try and catch some Z’s (that is sleep not cute little Zahri’s Christy) before being back in the office at 8:00-8:30ish.  Fun fun fun.  It is of course much colder here than it was in New York.  I miss the warm weather already!  Spring can’t come soon enough for me!  All you Florida PAPs have it sooooooooo easy!!!  Or as Shannon would have put it….seasy!  Don’t understand?  Go click on Shannon’s blog (sblog) and read two or three posts back.  or sback.  ; )  And all will be clear.  or sclear.  I blame this on bad airport food and sitting too long in one spot.

Well, I am now posting to you from the beautiful JFK airport in New York.  I was supposed to be on a flight departing at 4:20pm but now have been delayed to 7:30 pm.  First it was 5:30, then it became 6:00 and now the best guess is 7:30.  I am in the main terminal and have hesitated to go toward the gate because it requires a shuttle ride and all the food and wifi is in the center of the terminal.  But I may have to get up and go find out what the heck is happening since if it departs any later I may not get home till AM hours.  Ho hum.  So much for getting home early and getting a good night’s sleep. 

On the plus side I have never seen so many amenities at the airport.  I just had the best sake sashimi ever!!!  Very tender and yes it was made by a sushi chef at the airport!  You gotta love NY.  Chicago has a lot to offer at O’Hare but they don’t have incredible sushi! 

So on to adoption related news!  I was counting the list of PAP links and wanted to make mention of the fact that slowly but surely people are moving from one level to another.  Here is the tally so far:

 1 – PAPERCHASING – 4 Families

2 – DOSSIER IN TRANSLATION – 4 Families

3 – DOSSIER AT CONS/EMBASSY – 1 Family

4 – DOSSIER AT MINISTRIES – 12 Families (including me)

5 – LAST LEG OF THE WAIT - 9 Families (including Kim)

6 – IN COUNTRY - 2 Families

7 – WAITING FOR TRIP 2 – 2 Families

8 – IN COUNTRY TRIP 2 – 1 Family

9 – BACK HOME FOR GOOD – 16 Families

Here is to hoping that the bottleneck of families at levels 4 – DOSSIER AT THE MINISTRIES and 5 – LAST LEG OF THE WAIT opens up soon!!!  They seem to be going over one at a time and with long intervals in between them.  Like some bad version of the Heinz ketchup commercial, just waiting for the next drip to drop. 

Until then all we can do is wait…wait for LOI’s and for planes to take off …. eventually they will.  I just hope to not be an octogenarian when it finally happens. 

THEM: 

 I am sorry, we don’t adopt to people who are over the age of 50. 

ME:

Well I was 36 when I started.  Doesn’t that count? 

Hi all. I am posting to you from the lovely Belvedere Hotel a few blocks away from Broadway and Times Square. Sounds extremely glamorous except for the fact that it is not. Right now my swollen feet are propped up on a pillow and I am trying to recover from standing for 8 hours and showing our products to potential customers. Tomorrow I get to do it again but for probably only 6 hours. My cheeks hurt too. From all the smiling that is. It is an interesting trade show and one we go to every year. It is a very in your face reminder of how male dominated this industry is….sheet metal manufacturing/ductwork.

Today I spoke with two gentleman from a local company that do approximately the same thing we do. However, one of the guys runs the front office of this facility and the other runs the plant. They are similar in size to our company. At our company I get to do both jobs. It was funny standing there while the virtues of these two nice guys were extolled to me….and all I could think was, “Hey, I am not impressed…I am one person and I do both of your jobs.” Sometimes as a woman you just can’t win. Doesn’t matter how smart you are, how hard you work, how much you know about the industry, how much money you save the company, how protective you are of the company….if you are not male you aren’t good enough.

I hope all of you women out there reading this and raising little boys find a way to influence the thinking of your little boys so that they do not grow up believing there is a natural inferiority. Being a woman who does “a man’s job” day in and day out….I can tell you that it is highly disconcerting for the men to be given preference when there is absolutely no concrete difference.

Well, I am going to go soak my feet in preparation for tomorrow’s fun filled day of standing.