Random!

So I have chatted on here before about my car. My beloved, 2000 Subaru Legacy Wagon (same car as in the photo, except mine is a different color).

So Tuesday evening, as I pulled up to my house after work, and opened the driver's door to get out, I heard something fall to the ground with a "clink" and roll under my car. My first thought is always that I dropped my cellphone, but this didn't sound like a phone. So I get out and look under the car and I see a large bolt.

Clearly, this bolt had previously led a life holding some piece of my car together, and had decided to make a run for it and a new life for itself...but not so fast mysterious bolt! I picked it up, and took it into the house. I had Steve look at it and he wasn't sure where it was supposed to go either. I tried the power windows and locks, everything seemed to work fine. I drove the car to work yesterday morning and it was running fine. At lunch, I took our department's summer intern to lunch. After lunch, I had had some leftovers which I was going to place in the backseat for the drive back to the office...went over to open the back door and son-of-a-gun...the back door fell off! So obviously, my little runaway bolt had been holding the back door on it's hinge! YIKES! Luckily I caught it before the entire door dropped on my sandal-clad foot...and I was able to shove the door into place for the drive home...eeek...that totally freaked me out! Needless to say, my intern got a good kick out of it!

All's well that ends well though...last night Steve was able to reattach the door and replace the bolt - so we (my Subaru and I) are back in business. But how weird is THAT? Just had to share.

Going with the Flow

At church on Sunday, the topic of this week's sermon was "Recovering from Struggle Addiction". The premise being that many, many (perhaps almost ALL?) of us, get into patterns of believing that we must struggle in order to "earn" anything good in our lives - or we falsely believe that God expects us to "suffer" in order to appreciate the gifts of his graciousness...

The theme of this week's talk was to re-evaluate those beliefs, and instead BELIEVE that all things are possible, and that we are deserving of all the wonderful things God gives us, and we can be grateful and lead a less stressful and drama-filled life by putting our trust in those beliefs and in fact, living our lives as if all of our dreams have already come true. The five steps of this process were outlined as:

1. Anchor in Spirit (know that God is the basis for all that exists)
2. Enter the "flow" of Life (instead if constantly battling "upstream")
3. Embrace a Blessing (express gratitude for every moment in life)
4. Nurture your Vision (anything you can envision is possible!)
5. Give "effortless effort" toward achieving your dreams (no need to "force" things)

Don't worry - I'm not going to "go all religious" on you guys...but I am going to try to embrace these ideas and use them as I can to help balance my life and focus my energy over the coming months (and years!) as I wait to be united with my sweet baby Lia. I think these basics translate across "religious" lines, to have meaning for people from all backgrounds and walks of life. Whether you believe in God, Allah, Buddha, Spirit, or any other higher being, I think these same principles apply. Just my opinion...and so it is!

Can You Help?

Today I am asking you to help out someone you don't know. In fact, I don't even know her personally, just "virtually" from email chat groups and following her blog. Teri is currently a single mom to a 4 yr old daughter from China. Many months ago she applied to bring home a 2nd baby girl -a waiting child with some special needs - to be "mei mei" (Chinese meaning "little sister").

The good news is, she has finally received her travel approval and expects to go to China in two weeks to pick up this special baby! Not so good news...a friend who had promised her $1,000 to help with her final travel costs, orphanage fees, etc. has had to back out last minute due to unforeseen circumstances. So now she is forced to look for donations from anyone who can help - with even as little as $10 or $20 - to help with her costs while in China. Even as little as $5 will buy a decent meal in China!

This is your chance to directly impact three people's lives - a desperate mom, an anxious big sister, and a baby in an orphanage in China. If you are able to help out financially, thank you. If not, maybe you could just say a prayer/light a candle/think good thoughts for her that somehow this will all come together in time for her to leave in two weeks! Goodness knows I am trying to fund my OWN adoption, so I don't have much to give her either - but tomorrow is my payday and I am going to chip in $20...

Her blog and directions on how you can "Chip In" are posted at this site: http://twolittleladybugs.blogspot.com

Congrats Becky!

Congrats to my Yahoo Group friend Becky & Family who finally met their sweet baby Laney today!

Check out this cute Ladybug piggy bank I found this weekend. Love it!

Be there...and BE Square...

Aaaaah - cubicles...there's just nothing like the pale brown or gray of a cubicle wall staring you in the face every morning when you get to work, is there? Or the ability to listen in on your cubicle neighbor's personal phones calls - or their hacking and sneezing when they come to work sick. I am talking about GOOD TIMES people!!!

As I've mentioned previously, the hospital where I work is moving to a new location Oct. 1. There is a lot of stress around the office regarding the move (how do you pick up and move 3,500+ employees, hundreds of patients & their families, and TONS of medical equipment seven miles east?) Lots of logistics to deal with surrounding all that.

A couple weekends ago we got to see the main hospital up close - all the wonderful natural light, beautiful artwork and amazing color schemes were just awesome to see! This week we finally got a glimpse of where our new digs will be in the office building across the parking lot. It looks somewhat like this:

You can imagine my absolute JOY upon witnessing this for the first time. I know, I know, the hospital is about providing the patients with a great, healing environment - not the office workers...but REALLY? Does it have to be like THIS? This takes me back to the fond memories of my days as an insurance claims adjuster (circa '97-'03). Not the best of times, really...

I do realize that many, many people all over the world go to work in this type of environment every day and survive it - and so will I. I suppose I've been spoiled the last few years, sharing a private office (yes, with a DOOR even!) with just one colleague. It's back to the cube farm for me. I guess I'd better enjoy the next five weeks of semi-privacy while I have it.

In other news…there is really no other news...what have I been up to? WORKING. Hopefully I will have a little bit of time this weekend to post some more pics of new "Lia stuff" I've received. This little girl is going to be one well-dressed cookie!

Baby Blues...and Happy Surprises...

For the past few days, I've been feeling kind of down about the extending wait times and the prospects of seeing Lia before 2010...I know I need to stop visiting certain website and blogs that depress me and just keep myself focused on the prize...there is still a long way to go. Anyway, I posted a little bit about my current state of "baby blues" to one of my Yahoo LID groups yesterday and everyone there was so supportive and I know that they all understand the ups and the downs of this process, because they are going thru it now, and many of them have been thru this before. It's nice to have people who can justify that we all have our hard days during the wait - and that's OK.

When I got home from work last night, Steve said "You got flowers!" - which was a shock. Was it my birthday? No. So I looked at the card. They were from my Yahoo Group Secret Pal. Not sure if she saw my post and KNEW I was having a rough day, or whether it was a coincidence, but it certainly was a lovely (and much appreciated) surprise! They are a beautiful display of pinks and red in a wonderful vase:


So THANKS Secret Pal for thinking of me. It really helped lift my spirits. And thanks to all my Yahoo group friends for the great support system we have in place.

I was also pleasantly surprised yesterday afternoon when my boss called me into the conference room and shut the door (rarely a good thing!) It turns out the hospital has been doing some salary analysis' and my job description/title was approved for a small bump up in pay! Whoo hoo! Again, nothing major - this is a non-profit after all - but every little bit helps, and when added to the bump I received at my annual review in June - it ends up being a nice little raise!

So two happy surprises to end a day that started out pretty rough...not too shabby.

Four months down...

...and how many more to go? Nobody knows. So I will continue to wait patiently. I do have to admit, the last month DID fly by! Maybe the next 20 will too? Also, two quick Happy Birthday shout outs to my mom (Aug. 9) and dad (Aug. 16). Wish I could be in Seattle to help celebrate! :) Unfortunately, I get to work all weekend - the hospital is moving to it's new location at the end of September and this weekend is the first, of several VIP "Grand Opening" parties planned over the next month. Thank god Steve has volunteered to come help. The parties should actually be fun. It's neat to see people's reaction to the new hospital for the first time - like, WOW! The artwork and design in the new building is amazing and creates a truly, light-filled, healing environment for patients. It's easy to believe that miracles can happen in a place like this...