What's with all the ladybugs?

Several people have asked - what's with all the ladybugs?

For those who aren't familiar with the Chinese adoption process, here's the deal:

Ladybugs are a sign of good luck in the Chinese adoption community. It is said that if you see ladybugs that good things will happen soon!

Take it for what you will...some people believe it - others don't - I choose to believe in all things that could possibly bring me more good luck and good news regarding my journey to Lia!

DTC!

Hi folks - I am officially DTC as of Friday! I just got the email from CCAI:

CONGRATULATIONS, Julie,
Here’s the news you’ve long been waiting for—your dossier was sent to China late Friday afternoon (3/23/2007)! :)

Whoo hoooo! This is awesome. Now I can look forward to my log in date (LID) - but they said that could take up to 8 weeks. So I will be patient - and enjoy this current MILESTONE in the journey...

UPDATE - as of 2 pm:

Congratulations! Your dossier has been delivered to the China Center of Adoption Affairs.

WOW! That was QUICK! The China team has already delivered my dossier to the CCAA.
Today is just full of good news!

Update

Hi everybody, sorry it's taken me so long to write since my last post - needless to say, things have been BUSY!

I ran around getting my I171-H notarized and certified and then sent it off to the courier in Chicago for authentication - and finally received it back from Chicago on Tuesday and delivered it to CCAI yesterday. So my dossier is now in translation and will hopefully be DTC (Dossier to China) next week! I will post again when I know for sure.

In the meantime, has everyone seen the April issue of "O" (Oprah) Magazine? There are several articles on adoption this month and one in particular by a woman who adopted two daughters from China. It is a GREAT article - (and has very cute pictures!) - talking about the top things NEVER to ask an adopted child. Basically from the point of view of an interracial family who has strangers walking up to them and asking random (and sometimes rude) questions all the time. Very well written. I think it's a "must own" issue for everyone going through this process.

Thanks for everyone's support over the past few stressful weeks. It brightens my day to see people's comments and know that I am not alone on this journey!

"Favorable determination has been emailed to:..."

"Guangzhou, China (Approval for 1 child)"

Yeeeehaw people! My golden ticket FINALLY arrived today (one month to the day from fingerprinting!) Time to blast a little Kool & the Gang on the stereo and "Celebrate!"

...and of course hit the ground running tomorrow on notarization, certification and authentication of this document - but I'm on the road to DTC baby! : )

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

That's the sound of the minutes, and days, passing as I don't receive my I-171H. I officially went into "freakout" mode this afternoon after the mailman came - and yet again - there was no form. So I called CCAI and asked them when I can officially freakout (even though I already was!)...and when do I go to the point of calling my congressman about it?

Thank God for Kathy calling me back - and calming me down. THIS is why we pay CCAI the bucks people. They are amazing. She was very understanding and soothing and told me that they had been in contact with the local USCIS office this week and they ARE running behind their normal turnaround times due to the influx in applications. But their plan is to have ALL the China forms out by 3/15. Nothing like taking it down to the wire to give a girl a heart attack! : ) But whomever she spoke to ran down a list of names they were working on and MY NAME WAS ON IT! So that is very good news...

In other news... I got up this morning, went out to my car to leave for work and my front driver's side tire was flat...not just a little flat...but "sitting on the rim" flat. UGH. I love my Subaru Wagon, but it is 7 years old so I no longer have roadside assistance on it. And I don't have AAA...(something I will want to do before I get Lia!)...but lucky for me I now live near a lot of car dealerships, and the Honda dealer across the road sent over a service guy to jack up my car and put on the spare for me. I know what you're thinking ladies...I should know how to do this myself - but I was dressed for work and feeling helpless and deflated (like my tire) this morning. Anyway, the tire could not be repaired - apparently I'd been driving with a bolt puncturing my tire for at least a couple of days and had worn down the tire beyond repair. Greeeeaaaat.

So long story short - and $500 later - I have new tires on my car! What's $500 more on my credit card at this point? Geez. I'm going to need to get a second job to pay them down before Lia comes... I wish I wasn't so exhausted from my first job that I had some energy to do that.

TGIF!

Remember when you were a kid...

and you wanted something really badly because all your friends were doing it? And your parents would say, "if all your friends were jumping off a bridge, would you do it too?" The answer was always a sheepish, "well...YEAH!"

Yeah. That's how I'm feeling right now. It seems like everyone is getting their I-171H's and I am sitting here patiently visualizing it in my mailbox everyday - but alas, no form...this is ABSOLUTELY out of my control and I realize that. What's that 12-Step prayer? "God grant me the serenity..." uh yeah. That too.