Pricks and Pokes

Ah, the life of a sailor on his way out to sea... er, land-locked Afghanistan.

Chris started his pre-deployment medical screening last Friday. On the roll call were shots for hepatitis B, rabies, flu, and anthrax. He got a series of three pills for typhoid fever. He also got tested for TB and HIV. Today he got his tetanus shot. More blood work tomorrow. And malaria preventives will start a few days before he deploys.

Did I tell you about how he used to tease me that I had the smallpox scar and (younger) he did not? That is, until his last deployment in 2003 when he got the vaccination. He even sent me a picture of his scab! BTW, the scab didn't look much different than the pictures of chili mac served on the ship.

NYC billboard

I'm in NYC for a conference and thought I would share a billboard in my view from my hotel room. It's the Tweety Bird ballon from the Macy's day parade... stuck in a container of yogurt. BTW, I hear Fage is indeed an incredibly yummy yogurt.

New post

Somebody suggested I post anew because she was so tired of seeing my gorgeous girls displayed as post numero uno.

Fine and dandy. Take a look at this:

My DH, My Catrinas

My dear husband (DH) is truly amazing, an incredible giver of gifts - often ones that are quite romantic. Case in point: an early anniversary gift of a piece of art I truly adore. I present to you, my newest Catrina (#3).

He knew I wanted this particular catrina created by Juan Torres. He knew when I was in Dallas last week I would be going to the Casa Mexicana gallery where she was for sale. Obviously, he, like many of you, knew I have two other catrinas by Torres that I revere so much that I... well, you might not want to know the extent to which I revere them.

So sad was I when I got to gallery in Dallas and was told that this particular catrina had been sold the week before. And so did my jaw drop when I found the catrina at home when I returned from Dallas (me being "oblivious to my surroundings" he pointed her out to me; she was standing on the same place on the mantel that catrina #1 stood). Oh, how I love her and my husband, too!
For those of you who are not familiar with the catrinas I already had, here's pictures of Catrina #1 and #2. Yes, #1 is smoking, and #2 is pregnant.

Adoption Status Update

Rumors are that this past month the CCAA matched babies with families whose applications were received up to and including January 4, 2006. It appears this was a fairly small batch but HURRAY we're finally into 2006!

As I said last month, the CCAA no longer posts how far they've matched on their website. Agencies now need to have an account with the CCAA in order to check how far the CCAA has matched. So I rely soley on the infamous (in the adoption community) website China Adopt Talk -a.k.a. Rumor Queen- and its forum where prospective adoptice parents share the lowdown.