Yard work still?!?

Here it is, nearly December, and I am still doing hard labor yard work. Six hours of stacking firewood, snapping kindling, mowing (leaves mostly), raking (more leaves), and cleaning flowerbeds. Sure, research to-date hasn't shown that a girl can give herself arthritis, but allow me to present to you the first case study: me. My sister - Happy Birthday, JoAnne (that's her on the right in the picture and her oldest daughter on the left of me) - tells me I simply need to elicit additional help when I need to open jars - the handle of a knife, a knock on the counter top, grab some young 'en off the street.

But that's OK because DH is going to be home soon!

U.S. Dept of State China Adoption Numbers

Ah, yes. I remember when we were completing our first round of China adoption paperwork in early 2006 and how I shuddered when I heard our social worker say the wait from log in date to referral might go to 14 months. And now the wait is at 33 months and growing.

There's definitely fewer children being referred out of China, and the US Department of State's number of adoptions from China show that. In the government's fiscal year 2005, there were nearly 8,000 adoptions from China to the United States (the highest number on record). In fiscal year 2008, there were half as many adoptions as in 2005 - and that's not because there wasn't a pile of applications waiting (ours included)! Even from 2007 to 2008, the number of adoptions dropped by nearly 30% to 3,900.

Hopefully next week we'll hear rumors on how far the CCAA got with matching during the month of November. I am hoping they match through the end of February 2006!

My vet, my love

That's "vet" for veteran, my sailor, my DH, my love. A few days have passed since Veteran's Day, but I still wanted to post.

Seven years and seven months ago my DH and I first met. We spent a total of five days together before he deployed on the USS Enterprise for six months. At some point during those six months he sent me a ratty, time-yellowed poster with a poem titled "Loving a Sailor" on it. The poem reads as follows:

Loving a Sailor is not always gay,
and loving a Sailor is a high price to pay.
It's mostly living with nothing to hold,
it's being young but feeling old.
It's having him whisper his love for you,
it's whispering back that you love him, too.
Then comes a kiss, a promise of of love,
knowing you're watched, approved from above.

Reluctantly, painfully, letting him go,
while you're dying inside from wanting him so.
Watching him leave with eyes full of tears,
standing alone with your hopes, dreams, and fears.
It's sending a letter with the stamp upside down
to a faraway love in a faraway town.
It's going to church to kneel and to pray,
and really meaning the things that you say.

And though you know that he's far away,
you just keep loving him more each day.
Being in love will merit your dreams,
with thoughts of heaven where love's light gleams.

Days go by and no mail for a spell,
you wait for a word bearing he's well.
The letter comes and you're filled with joy,
you're like a small child with a new shiny toy.
With fingers that tremble, and heart beating fast,
you tear open the letter and read it so fast.
Yes, he's doing well and he misses you so,
and it's filled with the love you want to know.

Weeks are a month, and months are a year,
you're waiting for the day that you will have no more fear.
Time passes slowly, yet it's gone very fast,
you're barely aware it's here until it's past.

Yes, loving a sailor brings bitterness and tears,
loneliness, sadness and dependent years.
Loving a Sailor isn't much fun
but it's worth the price when his time is done.
Remember he's thinking of you everyday,
he's sad and he's lonely for being away.
So love him, miss him, and try to be braver,
and always be proud of loving a Sailor.

Yeah, pretty corny. But the sentiment was not so corny that I would not reply with a poem of my own for him!

And loving a sailor and “promises” of things to come
May be the certain fate of some;
For deep in your heart you dream of the fun
Removing the injustice time apart has done.

Who would have thought that "Five Day Chris" and I would have come this far? To my vet, my sailor, my love, I say that I am so proud of you for so many reasons. And I can't wait for you to freaking be back home already.

Adoption Status Update

This past month (October) the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) matched babies with families whose applications were received February 16 and February 17, 2006. A two day batch is quite painful to see. February 2006 was considered to be a relatively "small" month in terms of the estimated number of applications China received, and yet they are now starting their fourth month in matching those February applications with children.

There are no rumors of a speed-up in the China adoption referral process. At this rate, our referral would come mid to late 2010, and we would likely travel two months after receiving the referral.

Just to recap, two of the reasons for the slow down that have been officially stated by the Chinese government are 1) there are more domestic adoptions within China, thereby reducing the number of children available for international adoption, and 2) there are fewer children being abandoned in China.

Dory

This is Dory. I picked her up to foster her last Saturday, wrote a glowing (and truthful) review of her on the Lost Dog Rescue website, took her to an adoption event yesterday, and today she is going home with her new owner. She is a sweetheart and will be a wonderful companion for her owner and her other lab.

I approached fostering a dog as kind of like applying Bondo to a dog-chewed window frame, to temporarily fill the hole in my life created when Sammy died. (I am still working on that window frame, Sammy.) Of course I knew no dog would be all that Sammy was to me, but I needed something, and I knew I didn't need it for too long. I saw only a very little bit of Sammy in Dory. And I saw Sammy more easily in my daydreams.

Gosh, I still miss Sammy something bad. And I miss my DH something real bad, too. Thankfully, he will be home soon.