The Waiting Game

We have officially been in the "waiting" phase of the adoption process since early September. Almost three months down. Anywhere from 20-30 months left to go.

During the last three months, I've been asked no less than 867 times if we've heard anything. If you've asked you can continue to ask away, I don't mind. I love that our family and friends are so supportive and so involved. I can honestly say that it is such a blessing to have such a great support system. I do find it hard to explain that the waiting process is L. O. N. G. . . . long (in case you're wondering you're supposed to spell it the first time). Most people just can't fathom that we would wait that long. That's okay too. It's a choice we made. It's definitely not for everyone, but for us it was the right decision.

Having said all that, I have to admit that I'm a doer and not a waiter. I was born with almost zero patience for waiting, and when I want something done I just go and do it. I can't say that's always a good idea. It's gotten me in trouble more than once. It's gotten me hurt a couple of times. But with this adoption there is nothing I can do. There is no option but waiting. Our caseworker warned me about this. She told me there'd be days when I am fine, and there'd be days when I am incredibly frustrated and discouraged. While I can honestly say, that for now I've had only fine days, we're only at the very beginning of our process. I have had moments of extreme longing (I know dramatic), and moments when I just wish that I had both of my children in tow. . . moments when I wish that it was all said and done. And I'm sure that as the one and then two and even possibly three year marks (let's hope we don't get there) roll around, I'll have a whole lot more moments (hours, days, weeks . . .) of impatience. And I'm sure that you'll here all about it.

But in the meantime I'm learning to wait. Gosh, I hate that word. But I'm learning to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. I always look back and wish I'd cherished the journey a little more. My pregnancy, all eight months of it, had some rough moments, but it also had some awesome moments. I didn't know it would be my only pregnancy, and I'm more than okay with that, but I do wish I had taken time to just enjoy it more. The first six weeks of Andrew's life were extremely difficult. All newborns are hard, but bringing home a premature newborn has to rank up there with some of life's more difficult challenges. Just the same, I wish I'd stressed less about doing everything "right", and just cherished those moments more. I wish that instead of running around like a madwoman, I'd just laid on the couch and let him sleep on my chest more. He's four now, and doesn't like to sleep on my chest anymore. Don't know what that's all about.

I think you get the point. I'm learning to wait. To wait on my husband instead of trying to move the piano by myself (stupid). To wait to open my big mouth (that's a huge work in progress). But mostly I'm learning to wait on God. He has some awesome promises for those that choose to wait on Him.

But those who wait on the LORD
      Shall renew their strength;
      They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
      They shall run and not be weary,
      They shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)

Happy Thanksgiving

I didn't think I'd have time to post this morning since I planned on sleeping until around 7:30, and then rushing around the house like a crazy person to get everything ready. Clearly, I forgot who this child is that I gave birth to (yes I know I ended the sentence in a preposition . . . ). He came bebopping into our room at 6:00 a.m., and I tried to my best to convince him it was still night. He wasn't buying it. Then I tried turning on the t.v. for a little while, but he kept asking when we were getting up. So we're up, and I have time to blog.

It is important to note that even though I'm up earlier than I planned, and even though, I should have plenty of time to get everything ready (including myself), I will wait until the last minute and still run around like a crazy person. Isn't that what the holidays are all about?

In order to help you better celebrate your Thanksgiving holiday, I've come up with ten rules for surviving Thanksgiving. I think I may have a future career as a late night talk show host . . . just kidding. Anyway, for your reading pleasure I now present . . .
Rules for Your Thanksgiving (otherwise known as Courtney's Survival Guide):
1. It's okay to eat some of every dessert . . . calories don't count on Thanksgiving. (And as a side note, please don't try to eat healthy on Thanksgiving. How boring!)
2. They do (I'm talking about calories here), however, count the day after.
3. You must love your family . . . it's the only one God gave you.
4. Don't talk about politics. If you do it will be much harder to love your family.
5. You must watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade even though it's not all that interesting.
6. When picking sides in the great Horns vs. Aggies football game, remember it's just a game. It's not worth ending relationships over. (This one's for Texans)
7. If and when you feel sick tonight remember you did it to yourself (just so you know TUMS work wonders).  
8. If you decide to go shopping at midnight, have an exit strategy. You don't want to get trampled.
9. Don't go shopping on Black Friday. It's too dangerous. (That's a joke . . . sort of.)
10. Sometimes it really is hard to see the forest for the trees, but look around you today, and even if your life seems far from perfect, find something for which to be thankful. You'll be surprised at how many blessings you do have.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving Eve

Good morning y'all. Happy Thanksgiving Eve. It's chilly outside this morning. Just like it should be this time of year. And there's nothing over 75 in the seven day forecast. Perfect Texas weather.

Andrew and I have a busy day today. I have every intention of finishing my Christmas shopping this morning. I know the traffic will be insane, but I'm hoping that the stores won't be too crowded. I'm not a Black Friday shopper. I just can't take the craziness to save $50. I am, however, a cyber Monday (and Tuesday and Wednesday and everyday) shopper. Internet shopping was made for me.

After the shopping is done (hopefully), we'll come home, and I'll bake pies for tomorrow. I always bake a buttermilk pie for my parents', and I'll also bake a pumpkin pie and another buttermilk for here. Some of the second buttermilk pie will go to my father-in-law since he loves buttermilk pie. The pumpkin pie is Andrew's request. For some reason he thinks we need one here at home.

So I'll bake, and then I'll clean. Usually I clean then bake, but it finally clicked with me that I end up mopping the kitchen floor twice since I'm such a messy baker. I'm not organized or neat when it comes to baking or cooking. I can make the biggest messes you've ever seen. So it makes more sense to clean afterwards.

Tomorrow morning, I'll make a corn casserole, and then we'll head to my parents' for lunch.

Now that you know our itenerary for the next couple days, I'm sure you'll be better able to enjoy your Thanksgiving. I have no idea why I felt the need to share all that, but anyway, if I don't get a chance to tell everyone, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Let the Holiday Season begin!

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.” Psalm 100:4-5 NKJV

Colds, Carpet, and Thanksgiving (oh . . . and Oreos)

Y'all I've had a cold since last Wednesday (a.k.a. an eternity). I know it's getting better. I've progressed through all the stupid phases of having a cold. I'm just sick of it. I'm sick of my throat hurting, and my nose running, and you get the picture. I know I'm whining about a dumb cold, but have you ever tried to teach school with a cold? It's a sight let me tell you. And my ears are so plugged up that I couldn't hear anything the kids said. I bet I said, "What?" at least 16,000 times today. I'm just glad no one came in to observe me.

The good thing is this cold has not had any effect on my appetite. That's really important because I'm trying to keep my weight up for Thanksgiving. Wouldn't want my stomach to shrink. Then I couldn't eat as much. Which is why I'm eating Oreos as I write this. Plus when I eat my throat feels better. Priorities people.

Anyway, life doesn't stop for a cold so on Saturday I decided it was time to shampoo the carpet. I've already tweeted it, but I have to say just once more that I will never put carpet in a house again. You would not believe how dirty our carpets were. And I'm a clean freak. I mean I was really grossed out, and it is amazing how much better our carpet looks. It's definitely brighter and fluffier.

This is ridiculous . . . I sound like an advertisement for some Miracle Carpet Cleaner.

Oreo anyone?

I'm waiting for this weekend before I put up our big Christmas tree. I'll show you pictures of my decorations when they are all done because I know you're dying to see them. I may or may not be slightly obsessed. I'm actually a little behind this year. I usually have all my gifts bought at this point, but I still have a few men left on my list. What the heck do you buy men for Christmas? Patrick's ideas for gifts fall into the "let's spend half of our savings" category. Hope he likes his shirt. ;)

Either way, Thanksgiving is before Christmas. I can't wait to bake pies, and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and eat, and eat, and . . . well eat some more.

I have so much for which to be thankful. I'm an incredibly blessed woman.

I'm Dreaming Of . . .

Not a white Christmas. First, it ain't happening. And second that would be a disaster in Texas. Can you imagine all the car accidents if it was snowing on Christmas Day? (I'm such an optimistic person.) (And yes, I'm aware I used the word "ain't". It just felt right. Sometimes you have to go with how you feel.)

I just deleted an entire post. Why? Because I wrote about my carpet shampooer, and the head cold I have. Seriously, after the allergist post and hives post and crazy Hantavirus post, I'm starting to sound like some sort of mix between a medical freak of nature and a full blown hypochondriac.

I promise, I'm mostly normal.

I'm thinking about entering an essay I wrote to the Ladies Home Journal essay contest. I already have it written, but part of me is afraid it's not good enough. The other part of me says, "What've you got to lose?" I'm super competitive, but I have a bad habit of only trying things at which I have a fair chance of success. I'm not much of a risk taker, but I think I'll give the contest a shot.

One of my dreams has always been to be a writer. That's one of the reasons I like blogging. It gives me a chance to write. I'm not a great fiction writer (lack of imagination and all), but I feel like I'm a pretty decent writer in general. I could be completely off base on that one. Still, it's always been a dream of mine to be able to write, and I would love to be a freelance writer. Maybe an advice columnist? Ha! That's a joke. Could you see me doling out advice? Actually, yes, but it would be totally inappropriate and insane advice. I definitely don't have a future career as advice columnist.

My other dream is to be a book critic. Actually, that's more like a fantasy. If some publishing company or magazine would pay me to read books all day long and write reviews of them . . . what could be better than that? Except, I only want to read the good books. No crummy books please.

Now that I've shared my deepest dreams with you, I'm going to go break out my new carpet shampooer and do some serious cleaning. Because I also dream of having a spotless house. That's a battle I'm rapidly losing.