Beijing Olympics 8-8-08

Well, this evening I was mesmerized by the amazing opening ceremony for the start of the Olympics. It truly was beautiful to watch. I was just amazed that 2008 people could stay in sinc for the whole performance - whether it was the cool drummers or tai chi masters. WOW!! If you missed it, it's definitely worth a peek at the video stream of it.

I also love the slogan "One World One Dream", but I'd like to modify it a bit to say "In My World, My Dream is to Have My Daughter Home with Me NOW"

Let the games begin...

National Mustard Day 2008

On Saturday, Robert and I headed off to Mt. Horeb - Troll capital of the world and home of the Mustard Museum (where they have the world'd largest selection of mustards to see and buy) - to celebrate National Mustard Day. We only live about 15 minutes from there. It was a beautiful day here in Madison with temps in the mid-80s and sunny. They had free Oscar Meyer hot dogs (only free if you slathered them with mustard, of course!), the Oscar Meyer weiner-mobile (you could get your free weiner-mobile whistles and get to see inside the vehicle), music and lots of games for the kids. It was a lot of fun.


Note: I am holding a "poisonous" hot dog. I actually put some ketchup (along with some mustard) on mine. All of the ketchup bottles had "poison" stickers on them. You gotta love a warped sense of humor.

Adoption Piece on NBC Nightly News

Not sure how many of you caught the adoption piece on NBC's Nightly News last night, but here's a link to view it. It didn't say anything we didn't already know...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25988324#25988324

TV Series "China from the Inside"

Tonight on PBS was part 4 of a 4-part series called "China from the Inside." It was a beautiful and sometimes sad account about China. It really provided a unique view of China - the Communist Party, Rural Women, the Chinese environmental problems, and religious freedom. It was a really fascinating series that really gave me a deeper understanding of my future daughter's country and the culture that she will be coming from. Below is a description from tonight's final episode. Since it's PBS, I'm sure that they will replay them all. It is a worthwhile series to watch.

Episode 4: Freedom and Justice
Religious worship in China is problematic for Tibetan Buddhists, Catholics separated from Vatican influence, the 40 million adherents of China's unofficial churches, and the Falun Gong. Civic problems include forced evictions, government cover-up of AIDS, corruption and land grabbing. Filmed in Tibetan temples, newspaper offices and a labor camp, this final episode asks: what are the limits of freedom -- and the threats to stability?

Definitions

This came from Rita L on my China Lifebooks yahoo group that I'm on and I thought this was so wonderful.

Natural Child: Any child who is not artificial.
Real Parent: Any parent who is not imaginary.
Your Own Child: Any child who is not someone else's child.
Adopted Child: A natural child, with a real parent, who is all my own.

I Wish I Could Use These Airfares

I was checking some airfares on American Airlines website and I came across these fare sales for China. While they are of no use to me (unfortunately), I know that some of you who read my site may be traveling soon. Here's some of the fares they are advertising - they are all to/from Shanghai. Fares are valid for outbound travel August 26 through November 30, 2008. All travel must be complete by December 30, 2008.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Yesterday, we celebrated 6 wonderful years of marital bliss. (or as Robert likes to say, "6 down, 1 to go...") Time sure flies when you're having fun! We celebrated by having a beer on the Memorial Union Terrace and then went out for a very nice dinner at one of our favorite Italian restaurants - Bellini Italian Restaurant. Robert even bought me some beautiful red roses. I guess he occasionally appreciates me!

Here's a look back at our wedding photo. I don't feel any different now...

China Earthquake Donation

Well, today I made my first of many contributions from sales of my CafePress stores to the earthquake fund of Half the Sky Foundation. The next check that I receive from CafePress will go to Love Without Boundaries. Since China's May earthquake, I have created many CafePress stores selling adoption-related gifts in order to raise money to help those children affected by the earthquake.

I would also like to say "Thank You" to all those who have bought items from my stores. Your generosity is appreciated. If you are interested in checking the items out, you will find the links to the various stores in the purple column on the right side of my blog.

Destress Your Life Through Food

Instead of relaying depressing adoption woes, I decided to post today about my favorite topic - food. I was brought up in a great family where at breakfast, you discussed lunch, at lunch you discussed dinner and at dinner time you discussed the next day's breakfast. Of course, I think my mom is the world's greatest cook!

With all of the stress of a Chinese adoption, I find pleasure in eating some great comfort food. This recipe is one of my favorites for brunches. For those who don't know what a blintz is - it's the Jewish form of a filled crepe. You can find them in the frozen section of your local grocery store.

Blintz Soufflé

2 pkgs Blintzes (I like either fruit or cheese blintzes)
1 stick butter
4 eggs, well beaten
1-1/2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tablespoon orange juice (optional - I never use)

Melt butter in a 2-quart Pyrex and place blintzes over melted butter in one layer.
Blend other ingredients with eggs and pour over blintzes.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until top starts to brown.

Note: You can use light sour cream to keep the calories down a bit, but NOT the FAT FREE sour cream - doesn't work.

Happy Eating!!

Our 2-Year Anniversary of our LID

Well, today marks our second anniversary of being logged-in in China. It's not exactly a celebratory occasion for us. It's been more of a roller coaster ride! This wait is enough to test even the most patient of persons. It's just hard to grasp the fact that we're only half-way through this whole process. When we started, we never imagined that it would progress to this - who could have! Even during SARS, the waits were only about 18 months or so, so there was nothing that could have prepared us for this lengthy wait to our daughter. But, 2 years later, here we are still waiting for the wonderful day when we get our referral.

As we speak, our paperwork is still sitting in line waiting for our LID (log-in date) to be next in line for our referral. The referral is the official package that our agency, CCAI, will receive from the CCAA on our behalf with information about our daughter. It will contain her Chinese name, her age, where she is living, her medical condition, pictures and any other information the orphanage or foster family provides. It's hard to imagine the number of files (dossiers) still ahead of us - and it has to be thousands of them. So, our wait continues...