Life from where we are

This picture was taken at Beijing airport right before we boarded our flight to Newark! Here we are getting our luggage in Newark........I got severely reprimanded for taking this picture - thought the customs officer was going to confiscate my camera!!! And now getting into our limo for the long ride back to New York - at this point Miss Li Li was an official US citizen!

Dani received an e-mail from her agency letting them know that Michael Wei Zixiong - CCAI in-China representative - had died from a cerebral hemorrhage. It was such shocking news that we are all having a hard time with it. He was so young. Michael was the agency guide in Nanning & was so just unbelievable with his care of all the adoptive families & babies. He had a room on the same floor of the hotel & his door was always open in case someone needed him. He did everything from taking all the families to the grocery store to help them pick out baby supplies, arranging laundry service, having water delivered to our rooms, to teaching "soothing" chinese phrases for "Gotcha" day. He even arranged a trip to visit the orphanage even though, it being a relatively new orphanage to open up to adoptions, they did not "allow" visits. We were able to take the trip & see the outside of the orphanage & while in the town Michael found someone ...

I know I have been neglecting the blog lately but my "winter hiatus" ended very abruptly last week & I'm back to work. I did get Thurs off last week as it was kinda rainy but then worked Friday instead.........so much for me working less hours this year! Went to work at 6:30 AM this morning & there were snow flurries while I was getting some carts out! We weren't opening the course until 9:45 AM & were booked until 4:30. The phone rang off the wall all morning in spite of the cold weather..............people must have "cabin fever" & want to play no matter what!

It has never happened to me before but I didn't get the last of my outside christmas decorations in until today!!!!! My husband will tell how I "spaz" out when I see people's wreaths still on their doors past Valentine's day! Here I was today packing the last of the reindeer, after I had decorated the tree with easter eggs! Pictures to follow.

Today is one year since this moment!!!!! Oh what a year it has been for our family..............this little girl has been such joy to everyone in our family. She has the sweetest personality but there is a "silly" side as shown in this picture! She is growing & changing daily................I wish time would slow down a little! Li Li you are loved so much & show us all unconditional love in return.

Mark, Dani & Li Li came over for dinner today & it was so beautiful Popster cooked chicken, potoatoes & vegetables on the grill. Li Li & I took a walk & went almost to the end of the street..........I didn't think those "chubby legs" could walk that far & was sure I'd end up carry her home. Not so - the only time she had me pick her up was when she wanted to eat a goldfish cracker! They were in a snack bag & because she wouldn't let go of my finger she couldn't put one in her mouth. These pics are of her having a love/hate relationship with a dish of rainbow sherbet.........she kept complaining about it being too cold but wanted to eat it anyway. Too funny!!!!!!!

YUCK !!!!!

This is where we were a year ago today!

Guess where I was today?? Yes - the golf course! As I got off 890 & drove by I realized I could see a lot of green & only a few patches of snow. We live in the snow zone so I didn't believe that my time was getting that short! It looks like the course may be opening this weekend so I'm on standby. Yuck!!

I was given a good report from my eye exam today which made me feel terrific! I have a husband who will disagree with me but I have been convinced for a lot of years now that following a "good for you" diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains & as many anti oxidant foods definitely helps you stay healthy as well feel good. I was diagnosed about 6-7 years ago with Macular Degeneration during a regular eye appointment & at the time my optometrist recommended that I take a multivitamin with lutein & minerals along with lots of antioxidant foods. On a scale of 1 - 10 (with 10 worst case) mine back then was a 2. Today I was told it was around .4 (that's POINT FOUR) & now I don't have to come back for 2 years instead of my yearly check. Whoopie!!!

My new BFF is Don the repair guy who came today to fix the dishwasher. Amazingly, after he took the door apart it would close - I really did not believe the handle was broken but was defective! It had never felt right........always kinda loose. Anyway he decided that as long as we had a new handle he would install it & even gave me the old one as a back-up. Works much better now. Funny story - while he was here he got a phone call from the office telling him one of his earlier repairs of the day had called saying their dishwasher would not start at all. He called the lady back & suggested different things for her to try but nothing worked. He said he would stop back after his next call to see what it could be. As he hung up I said "Sounds to me like she has the "child lock control" on!". Sure enough after another phone call that turned out to be the problem! Maybe I need a change of careers!!!!!

Happy birthday to Dani - have a wonderful day!!!!

Happy birthday to my nephew Kevin

I need a "homeboy repairman"!! Went to run the dishwasher this morning & I couldn't get the door to close. I tried everything I could think of but finally gave up & called the hotline thinking that I had the child lock on or something. After spending 20 mins pressing buttons I finally got to talk to a "real person" ! Another 20 minutes before this so-called expert decided the latch was broken!. I explained the dishwasher was just about a year old & probably had been run a total of maybe 75 times!!!!!!! I was given a choice & 3 repair places to call along with an authorization number to get it fixed. I tried calling & not one of them answered the phone. At that point I pulled out my receipt which was dated Feb 21st, 2008 - more than a year - I called the store I bought it from. A very understanding sales person said he understood & gave me the number of their repair service. This phone call did not go as well as the "witc...

I drove to Boston yesterday to help JoAnn with her move into a new apartment(yes she moved again). I had forgotten to ask her for her new address & after I was on my way Popster called to see what time I had left. He asked how I was going to find my way there to which I said "No problem I had entered her old address into "Wanda" (GPS) & that I knew her new apartment was right around the corner". To which he jokingly said "What are you just going to drive around until you see her car?" I called her when I got off the Mass turnpike & she told me to call her again when I got to California St. I had "Wanda" in my lap so was just listening to the directions but wasn't watching the map to see where I should be turning. "Wanda" had me take a left on some very obcure one-way street & as I was coming up to the next cross street saw what I thought was JoAnn's car parked behind an apartment bldg on the corner. The cr...