In Case You Were Worried

I am home - safely, soundly. I did actually visit NYC Monday morning - as my
audio post below declares, in spite of what other, less informed and
partially delusional people in the bloggersphere may think.

Life somehow managed to go on without me. Be sure to check out Brendan,
January, and Baby Makes Three link to the right.

More later . . .

iron-y

ironic photo
Originally uploaded by jiglover.

i'm posting to keep the masses happy and to answer my critics. i'm going to be out of town for a couple days so my blogging will be sparse. i will try to call to let you know i made it safe - all three of you reading this.

the picture is for the critics. hope you like it. (and let me take this opportunity to point out the media cornucoppia on the "homepage" link to the right.)

and the poem is bonus material - previously posted on clay's sight (also can be found to the right).


kite squirrels flying freely
giving blood does make me
ill

anglers on my lawn mating
no, she is matriculating
still

smiley says no blogging
jayna does so secretly

nill

the number of peeps who
actually read this mess

peeps, marshmellowy treats
sickly sweet
nuke em till they

explode

This Just In!!

I could tell you about it but instead I'll just show you. . .

Happy Pope Day

If you're reading this then I would suspect you already know there has been a new Pope named. If you don't already know this then I find you suspect generally speaking.

I wondered how the Pope comes up with his name? Why Benedict? Fond of eggs? I plan to research the history and accomplishements of Benny 15 to get some idea but have already stumbled upon this little jewel.

I was trying to come up with any sort of retort to the above mentioned article but words escape me. Enjoy the read.

Full Weekend - Refer Madness

It was a full weekend. You've already read how I was an unwitting accomplice at the poetry festival. This colored the rest of the weekend because every time I heard sirens I ducked for cover or tried to play it cool. Sometimes I tried both but that rarely worked. Good thing Hays doesn't have that many sirens.

Saturday I spent most of the evening volunteering to help World Vision sign up child sponsors at a concert. I got to meet a really great guy in Ben Greene, the full time WV staff person who tours with these folks. I'm hopeful we manage to have a lasting friendship. From there I ended up spending some extra time praying with good friends - always a favorite pastime. On the way home from there, though, at midnight we happened upon two completely naked people attempting sex in their front yard. Of course, it may not have been their front yard, anyone doing such things most likely has little idea of where their house is at that time. We were so shocked at this we just left.

Sunday was also full with the regularly scheduled program. I did get to spend some great time with a couple I hope to marry this summer. She is here in Hays, he in Florida. I only hope to marry them because I may be in China on the day of the wedding. As she left, another friend came by with a possible new beau, and as they left one of our regulars came over - she signs her comments thus: :) and while she was there, helping us in the yard no less, another great friend came by (I think he reads the blog occasionally but has yet to comment). We all supped together and had a grand time. The wife ended up going into work, being that she was on call, and the boy and I eventually found our ways to our beds. First we, being short term bachelors, watched some TV together - but then it was straight to bed.

The boy passed out quickly. I started reading a book about the Noon Prayer Meetings in NYC way back in 1857. Didn't get very far but was interesting still.

In other news - the boards are indicating that Ireland and the Netherlands are getting their referrals as we speak. They should hit the states today or tomorrow? With that we'll start to figure out if we get our first glimpse of Baby Joy next month or June.

New Stuff to See

added new stuff to "the homepage". follow the link on the right. maybe you're included in the multimedia extraveganza?

Germanic Peoples of the Western United States Regional Spring Poetry Festival

Here is the pregame interview with the two combatants.

Overall the competition went well - if you don't mind some "minor" rules infractions . . . Go here (first place) and here (second place) to see what both winners had to say. I had to feel pretty good because I was with both winners. Until I heard how they won.

TA and Living in Denial

Travel Approval. I'm not sure exactly why, I suppose it has to do with the whole Communist nation thing but before you can travel to China they have to give you approval to travel. So that's another set of initials us crazies who wait and wait and wait to actually go and get our adopted children blog about and make excited phone calls over.

We also use everyone else's timeline of events to gauge our own. Miraculously, in our sleepy burg of Hays there are two other couples also going through the same process of adopting from China. The whole trip takes a good year from starting the paperwork to actually traveling. All three couples are within a month of each other in the time frame pipeline. All three couples are tied to the hospital as some source of income. None of us knew each other beyond names/faces until just a couple months ago. We'd be telling someone our story and they would say there's another couple who just told them the same thing. So, now we get together every week and wait together. It certainly passes the time. And I'm excited that each of our daughters will be living and growing up with two other kids who have the same story as theirs (which is remarkable for the fairly homogeneous place Hays is).

Now to my point. Couple number one just called to tell us they received their travel approval to go to China. They expect this means they will be heading over there on May 7. They'll be there two weeks. So, by the end of May there will be one more person coming to our weekly get togethers. Couple number two should have their referral pics in hand before couple number one leaves. And all of this increasingly freaks me out. Baby Joy has been a concept for months. A concept that has been fairly easy to keep removed from my current reality. This mental floor exercise was less easy when the wife was pregnant with the boy. But as our friends all jump out of the plane ahead of us (figuratively speaking of course and let me apologize for mixing so many metaphors but it does emphasize the point I'm trying to make - I'm going crazy and you all keep coming back for show!) my pulse quickens and palms get sweaty. I have this mixture of joy and panic as I share the thrill they must feel but reality hitting home with me can be a bit much. I mean, little girl clothes cause my heart to murmur. So, I will try to live in denial for as long as possible.

LID

rumors

i thought i'd actually post something about the impending adoption. there are an insane number of letters you have to remember when going through this process. BCIS, USCIS, LID, DTC, TA, CCAA, DH, DW, DS, blah, blah, blah. well, you only need to know them if you want to read the adoption boards. so our LID is 11/23 and it has been running roughly 6 months from LID to referral. the closer that arbitrary 6 month deadline comes the faster the rumors fly. if everything goes like it has for the last several months then our 6 months should be up in May. but the rumor mill, she is a spinnin'.

i've decided from here on out to only skim the adoption boards for the subject headings - "announcing our referral". i gloss over the smarmy warm feelings these new parents are gushing and skip right to the data - when was their LID? if they don't post their LID with their referral date, i hate them. at least for a second or two.

these things come in batches. depending on which version of reality i'm in, within a week or so the next batch should be in. and, in theory, we're the batch after that.

oh, what does LID stand for? feel free to leave a comment with your suggestions. i'll let you know if you get close.

Four Legged Personal Trainer

so the purple clawed canine has been my personal trainer the last week or so. at first it was very difficult. it's like she has an extra set of legs on me and it requires more effort on my part to keep pace. this morning, though, she was actually slacking off. could be all the food she stole off the counter last night - she had horrendous gas. even so, that's not a bad thing (the slacking off, not the gas). she almost killed me the other morning.

she has this nasty habit of chasing cars. don't know what she would do if she ever caught one. so coming around the bend, heading toward home, me wheezing and gasping for breath, a truck pulls onto the road just ahead of us. she figured her chances of a kill were pretty good and took off. my legs were too rubbery to actually put a stop to her and my brain was too oxygen deprived to think to let go of the leash. all i could do was keep leaping into the air, letting physics carry my body forward and rapidly repeat the process each time gravity pulled me toward the sidewalk again. i desperately tried to yell her name but the lungs had commandeered all the air. fortunately, it ended well enough. she didn't catch the truck. my face didn't catch the concrete. eventually she had mercy on me and stopped. after wheezing a bit more, we walked the rest of the way home.

Tubes, the follow up (or, why don't they just throw my kid down the stairs while they are at it!?)

we'd been talking with the boy about what to expect - he was going to the hospital. that he'd fall asleep. and when he woke up his ears would be a little bit of an owie but not for long. he seemed to process that ok. and the morning of he was a champ. he didn't want to wear the backwards gown (who does?) or the ID bracelet but there wasn't much chance of him getting lost in the shuffle. he'd be the only mostly naked 2 year old in the OR with a blue blanket and a stuffed elephant.

i was admittedly nervous leading up to this moment. i had images of the boy being wheeled away on a gurney down the hallway, screaming - don't leave me!!! you know, the kind of thing that would haunt him and require much therapy later. but, no, he was pretty much fine.

he was barely gone 30 minutes. within 35 minutes i was checking the ID bracelet that was taped to his leg along with the IV because i was not prepared for the person that returned. Apparently people come out of anesthesia in different moods. they can be loopy, lovey, say funny things, or combative. the boy falls under the category of vietnam flashback. this i was not prepared for. the wife has a better understanding of these things since she sees it as part of her job. i was doing my best to keep from having to be the second person she'd have to keep under control.

the boy was protesting greatly, to put it mildly. and though i knew with my mind that the staff at the hospital had done an excellent job with my son, my heart was fairly distraught. what devious torture did my boy go through in that short 30 minutes? i mean, why didn't they just take him and throw him down the stairs while they were at it?!!

needless to say by the time we were back in the van on the short drive home - some mere 70 minutes or so from when we first arrived - the boy was quiet and nearly asleep but i was in tears. it was a bit much for me to take. a couple hour nap helped everyone involved. but it was still another several hours before i felt fully recovered. the boy managed much better then i did.

so,apologies but all we get for this experience is the text only version. i just didn't feel up for some great multimedia extravaganza. maybe if he ever gets his tonsils out.

New Addition

Here is my nephew Bailey holding his birthday present, Allannah (Bailey's
b.day was yesterday) who was born on Easter.

It's all smiles now, just wait till she can go for his toys . . .

We're going out to visit in a couple weeks so expect fresh from the oven
pics, vids, and pithy commentary.

(editor's note - for the three of you who actually care about this - our plans have changed. There will be no pics, vids or pithy commentary this month. I apologize but you'll just have to find some source of REAL entertainment - like the Michael Jackson trial. So, apologies. I'm going to Princeton for a conference instead of seeing my new niece. We hope to make it out to see her in May - THEN you can expect pics, vids, etc. etc. As for Allannah - I don't think she'll know the difference.)

tubes

took isaac to see the ent doc today (not the tree creatures from tolkien but eye, nose, throat). true to his name, he checked all three. all three are fine. but it was not so for most of this year. so, the recommended prevantative medicine is to put tubes in his ears. this thursday. to my knowledge most children survive this procedure and even manage to benefit from it. but, that hasn't made the little twitch in my stomach go away. so i'll skip work. pace the waiting room. and most likely the boy will be better off then me when it's all said and done.

fortunately i have these pages as my personal therapy. expect pictures. possibly a little movie, and maybe even an audio post on location. maybe i'll interview someone at the hospital to pass the time . . .

a wonderful evening

sometimes life is just fun. check out our homepage link on the right. tonight we ate at the playground, flew a kite, played in the sprinklers. spring forward isn't all bad.

Diving In

Well, I've kicked the tires, checked behind the fridge, taken the test drive and now it's time to pull this Winnebago called life out onto the information superhighway. Welcome to my blog. Don't get caught in my blindspot.

The Boy Ponders

What's Wrong with This Picture?

This is only a test . . .

Inspired by Genn (erantpedantry.blogspot.com) and the impending trip to China to get our daughter I decided I better try this again. So today I've been setting up Audioblogger, messing with getting pics to and from Flickr to the blog, etc.

So far, so good.

Saturday Morning at Paw & Bew's - 3

Saturday Morning at Paw & Bew's - 2

Saturday Morning at Paw & Bew's - 1

A pic of us playing this morning.