Happy Friday!

7 am is too early for a dentist appointment! The good thing is my teeth are in great shape. Next time I’m scheduling an early afternoon appointment and taking the rest of the day off!

FYI – Real Dodgeballs hurt, but they are easier to throw. Lesson – have good aim and don’t get hit!

Crockpot debacle – I burnt, no wait I beyond burnt our dinner to a crisp. Think chicken breast burnt offerings. Turns out when cockpit size is specified I should listen. I had a feeling there was not enough liquid in the Crockpot, but since it was the first time using this recipe I thought it best to follow directions and not improvise. BIG mistake! Next time I think more lemon-lime pop is needed to cook the chicken; I will put in more lemon-lime pop. I will also get a smaller Crockpot so I have the right size.

Because we had to rush to Dodgeball practice we improvised. I had chips and salsa and Mark had toast with cheese. Not the greatest dinner, but it worked.

Today – I am so excited to finally be going to The Saint in Seattle. It is a Tequila Bar that I have been wanting to go to for about a year and we finally coordinated time with friends to go. I can’t wait! The hardest decision of my day will be what drink to order first.

Adoption – I left my phone at work last night and was convinced that since I didn’t have my phone it would be the day the agency calls. I was wrong…they didn’t call. Mark keeps reminding me it has only been a little over a month. Honestly even though I’m ready for a baby I really am enjoying not having to worry about a babysitter, or getting up 20 times a night, or changing diapers. To keep my sanity I’m focusing on enjoying how easy life is right now.

Crockpot Dinner

I am so excited to come home to a Crockpot dinner tonight! Thursday’s are busy for us because we have just enough time to get home, change, and eat before dodgeball practice, but it’s hard to cook a full dinner. So, thank you Shelley for the Brown Sugar Chicken recipe on your blog! I’m trying it out today. I was excited this morning that it was so quick to get it all ready this morning before leaving for work.

I love opening the front door and being hit in the face with the wonderful smell of dinner ready to eat.

I have noticed that a lot of Crockpot recipes specify the size of Crockpot that should be used. I only have one size and I don’t have room to store multiple sizes, so I guess what I have will have to do. I wonder if the food tastes different depending on what size is used. It probably has more to do with cooking time, but who knows.

My co-worker gave me a gluten free peanut butter cookie recipe today…I can’t wait to make them this weekend. That is the great part about have people over to watch football…I can make “bad for you” food that tastes wonderful and not worry about Mark and I being the ones to eat it all.

Really I would be so happy if I could stay home and cook wonderful things all day. I love, love, love cooking/baking!

Today – I am looking forward to using actual dodgeballs at practice tonight. They are a different size and weight than what we have been using and I’m wondering how much it will affect my throwing and catching ability. Plus I’m wondering if it will hurt more when I get hit.

Adoption – There are a lot of things to worry about with adoption. Things like what if the birthmother changes her mind, or what if the baby is not well and the list goes on and on. Of all the important things to worry about I am hung up on traveling with a newborn. We may get lucky and be able to drive to the state our baby is in, but chances are we will have to fly. And, depending on the courts in that state chances are we will be there for several days if not weeks. I can’t seem to wrap my head around packing everything we will need for the baby, getting all the stuff we need there and back, and flying home with a newborn. If we only have to be in-state for a few days I can certainly ruff it by leaving the stroller and anything else that is not totally necessary at home. But, if we are going to be in-state for a couple of weeks I am not going to sit in the hotel room the whole time and I am not thrilled with the idea of baby sleeping in bed with us. I suppose she could sleep in her car seat or a dresser drawer (just kidding). Everything I have read says flying with a newborn is not ideal due to germs, but we may not have a choice. What if she cries the whole time, or has a blow out? I’m sure getting through security with a baby is going to be oh so much fun. It is silly to be worried about this when there are much more important things to obsess over, but for whatever reason this is what wakes me up at night and makes it hard to breath sometimes.

Day Off

As a city employee Mark had today off, so I decided to take the day off as well so we could spend some time together. We went to Cabelas, Mark's fave store and then we made a great start on our Christmas shopping.

It was really nice to sleep in, lounge over coffee, shop and spend the day just being silly with Mark.

Today - I am thankful to all those past and present who have given so much to this country.

Adoption - Mark made an appointment to have the rooms measured for carpet. Soon the nursery will have carpet and we can move the baby furniture in! Can't wait!

Steelers Win!

It was a good night in my house last night. Any time the Steelers win, and win big it’s a good night! Plus I won in both my fantasy football leagues for the first time this season!

I’m starting to get excited about Relay For Life again. This year is the first year in a long time that I am going to be a Team Captain. I was a captain for 10 years and spent the last 4 years on the Leadership Team for the Tacoma Event. Well this year brings a lot of Relay changes for me. I am not taking a leadership role this year (need time to be a mom!), I am starting a Friends and Family team (can’t wait to spend Relay time with those I love), and I’m not participating in the Tacoma event (need a change of pace). I love Tacoma, I feel like I grew up at that event, but it’s time for a change. Mark and I live in Lakewood so it was an easy choice for us to decide to participate in the Lakewood event.

Ever since we bought our home in Lakewood it has made me crazy that while I’m out shopping or running errands people in Lakewood would stop me to talk about my Relay shirt and they would want to talk about the Lakewood event and would have questions about it. I was constantly explaining that I participate in the Tacoma event and a lot of times the light would go out of their eyes when they realized I didn’t participate in the Lakewood event. So I am really looking forward to participating in my “home town” event! I do a lot of business in Lakewood and can’t wait to engage those I regularly interact with in Relay.

I am so excited to share Relay with close friends and family and have Mark as my co-chair! I am also excited to be part of an event that is 18 hours vs 24. The thought of going home at noon on Saturday rather than 6pm is divine! Since we are hopeful we will have Sky by June it will also be nice to be at a smaller event with a new baby. One of the things I’m really looking forward to is being able to have a camp fire!!!

The Lakewood Kick-Off is the 17th and I am so ready to get going and have the top rooky team at the event!

Today – Mark and I are having dinner with the parents tonight to celebrate his birthday. I love spending time with them!

Adoption – I think it may be possible to read too much! I have ready several parenting books all of which contradict each other. I have also read a lot of adoption related books some talking about the horror of adoption and “tearing” a baby away from its birth mother (I only made it to page 2 before feeling like the worst person in the world for being part of the adoption horror. I then decided the book was crap and got rid of it), and other books talking about how wonderful adoption is. I have come to the conclusion that I am only going to read it if it makes me feel like I am being true to myself and the parenting style I believe in. The bottom line is there is a lot of advice and I will have to wait and see what Sky’s temperament is before figuring out what will and won’t work for her and us.

Say it isn't so...

I am a little (ok a lot) sad…there is a rumor out there that Steven Tyler has left Aerosmith. I don’t know if it’s true and the band has made no official statement, however it is posted on a legit news site and the posts on the fan club site lead me to believe it is true. I have been an Aerosmith fan for 20 years. I have all their albums, a lot of bootleg stuff, every movie soundtrack they have been a part of and have been to every concert they have done in WA for the last 15 years.

Aerosmith is not Aerosmith without Steven, and Steven is not much without Aerosmith. I hope it’s not true! I will do my own Aerosmith rain dance with my scarves and play every CD I own of theirs back to back in the hopes the band will be ok.

I don’t want the last time I saw them to be the last time. Oh Steven why are you breaking my Aerosmith heart?

Today – Despite my sadness over Aerosmith I am looking forward to the Steelers game tonight. If Ben and the Steelers D have a good game I will win in my work Fantasy Football league. I already have my other league wrapped up, so this could be the first week I win in both leagues!

Adoption – It feels odd to be making “parent” decisions with no idea of when we will have a baby. As we have been working on the house and re-painting/carpeting/decorating we have had to think about things like cordless blinds, lead free paint, flooring that will reduce allergy and dust issues. The latest discussion was about what kind of freezer to get. Now that Mark has taken up hunting we need a freezer to store the meat in. He wanted a small chest freezer so it would take up less space. But, I want a stand-up one because I don’t want Sky playing around the chest freezer and opening it and potentially falling in and getting stuck in there. After I told Mark how I felt he completely understands my point of view. It stuck me how we are already acting like parents for a little girl that does not even exist yet. I don’t know who Sky is yet or when she will make her way into our lives, but I already love her and want to make good decisions for her.

The Morning After

Happy Birthday to Mark! He turns 35 today. To celebrate we had friends over to play Band Hero and it was a lot of fun. Band Hero is perfect for parties because no matter how bad you play the song keeps going, you can switch players mid song and change the difficulty level mid song as well. Plus, it has a great selection of music. Thank you to everyone who showed up and had fun with us! Just a few of the many, many photos taken.

Mark, Amy, Shannon (singing), Brian.

Left to Right: Jay and Kendra, Mark, Michelle, Shannon, Bob, Brian, Josh, Me and Simone.

Mark and Bob being silly.

Mark getting ready to open Bob and Michelle's gift which Grace was kind enough to decorate.

Today: I am thankful that I have such a wonderful husband and was able to celebrate 35 years with him. I am also thankful that we have such a wonderful group of friends! I may be the most thankful for my new really comfy bathrobe. We were up until 3:30am and my bathrobe is just what I need to snuggle in today.

Adoption: Mark's wish was that this birthday is the last childless one we have. That means a baby before my birthday in April! Let's hope!