November 1st!!!

It seems that the Rumour Queen is really certain that the cut-off for this month's referrals is November 1st! She rates it an R5 rumour which is the highest rating as in, it is pretty certain. I was ecstatic to see November 1st today as I really didn't think they'd make it through the 31st of October. Ok... so now we are in our month... November. Now, what are the odds that they will do 10 days next month to make it to our LID of November 11th. That's the tough question. I can see it now... we will be living on the edge for the next 30 or so days. Back I go to listening to Jim Cuddy's (of 'Blue Rodeo' fame) song... 'Pull me Through'. Maybe that'll help...

Pre-Referral Funk

I have just named the state of mind that I am in... the pre-referral funk. We are at that time of month once again where we wait to see if we will hear anything from China soon. Rumours have it that we might hear something on Monday. If we don't, then we will have to wait until mid-May as the Chinese are off for the first week of May. So here we are once again, in limbo. Although we are pretty much guaranteed not be in this batch anyway. But the further ahead they go, the better our chances will be for the next batch.

Add to this the fact that today was Cara-Li's nanny's last day with us. This is the day I have been dreading about for the longest time. After all, she has been with us for 3 years and they are very close. Hugh... so sad!

One good thing happened today. We had a travel meeting with our adoption agency. These are always fun as everyone is always very excited about their upcoming adoptions. We decided to bring Cara-Li with us as we did not want to leave her with a sitter after what happened today. We walked into the room with her a couple of minutes before the meeting was due to begin. It was funny because everyone gasped simultaneously when they saw Cara-Li, her being a live example of what they will soon be travelling to China for! And another couple brought their 5-year old as well with whom we hope to travel with. And the best part was, the girls hit it off! Cara-Li went home happy to have made a new friend who is also going to China to pick up her Mei Mei.

Not a bad end to what was a pretty difficult week. To new beginnings!

Shoes & Cribs

OK... so we have resigned to the fact that we will probably not receive our referral call until the July batch... at best :( Which puts us in China sometime in August. It better still be really hot as, when we thought we'd be there in June/July, I went out to buy 3 pairs of shoes just for this trip that are perfect for really hot weather. These Rockports are my personal favorites as they are a closed shoe (perfect for travelling and walking through some of the dirty streets in China) and the white fabric is a mesh therefore very breathable. And they are machine washable! If we go in fall/winter (Aghhh!), I will have to add these shoes to the ones I bought last summer when we thought we were going then. Did I mention that I am not what you would call a big shoe person... I hate buying shoes. Too stressful!

I was off work for a couple of weeks as Cara-Li's nanny was not around so I took this opportunity to set up the baby's room. I rebuilt the crib and set it up. Yes, folks... the crib is up! Some of you might remember back in 2003... Twas the night before departing for China... and there was no crib in the house... not even a diaper! Did I think that this baby was never coming home? Yes, because of SARS, we were delayed several months. I was definietely having crib issues! But no longer. The crib is up and this baby will come home!

Now, I've got to get those hedgehogs painted on the wall....

(OK... make that 5 pairs of shoes. Just got back from shopping! Boy, I really do get weird toward the end of the wait.)

2 Days!!!

We will NEVER get to China! That's right. They only moved ahead 2 days in the referral world from October 24 to October 26. So much for our May referral. We might be lucky to get a June referral at this point. I am speechless. Never mind... everyone who is waiting is floored at the lack of days being referred. 2 days is an all-time low, the lowest being last year at this time with a referral of 5 days. Ah man... I am going to bed...

April 4, 2003

It was 4 years ago today when we got our referral phone call for Cara-Li. Friday, April 4, 2003 at 3:03 PM. We were at a trade show at Place Bonaventure standing in our booth hoping the next 2 hours would hurry by before we could start closing up. In the distance, I could hear my cell phone ringing. I meander over thinking who could that be on a Friday at 3PM. It is our FUF rep calling. As she is talking, I can't help but wonder where she got my cell phone number and what it is that she was calling about. Then I heard her repeating over and over, ''Suzanne, j'ai devant moi votre proposition. C'est une fille... BLAH, Blah, blah....'' I finally clued in to what she was talking about. My God... this woman is telling me that we finally have a daughter! Knees buckle, tears start flowing and then the pacing. The rep is continuing on with info about Cara-Li which I think I made her repeat three times. Things have changed in the four years. At the time, there were no web sites to follow to see what was happening so that phone call came at least one month earlier than I expected. And this, just when SARS was starting to be mentionned. But that is another story all together.
In my heart, I kept hoping that today, April 4, 2007, we would receive yet another phone call about Mei Mei. But it didn't happen. Oh well! It will... eventually!