Shelba

Self Portrait Tuesday - All of Me

Oy.  This is me in all of my ugly glory.  Uncombed hair, puffy faced, uneven complexion, major undereye bags.  Not very pretty.  In fact, the top picture looks like a still from the horror movie, The Grudge.  Yeah, so I'm not too thrilled with the way I look in these photographs, can you tell?  Used to be I would never in a million years post a bad photograph of myself for the world to see, but now, what do I care?   Good bye, All Of Me!

Nothing of Interest

I've got nothing good to say, but that isn't going to stop me from posting, sorry.  I sent off our I-600a and I feel like I've accomplished something.  Of course, I'm going to continue to worry about all of this until we have clearance, but there is nothing else I can do to help speed the process up.  If there is, please email me. 

Tomorrow is Self Portrait Tuesday, the last one of the month.  What am I going to do?  What am I going to do?  I need to think about this one.  Hmmmm.  I've had fun with this month's theme, but I'm looking forward to March. 

 

Awwww Freakout!

I'm feeling all freaky and anxious this morning over our dossier.  It looks like our BCIS office now takes their sweet time when it comes to processing paperwork.  This might mess me up my timeline.  Now, I feel very calm about paperchasing and about the thought of waiting a year for a referral, but I feel very attached the idea that we will go dtc on a particular week.  If that idea is tampered with in any way I may have start biting more than just my nails...I might have to chew my fingers down to the knuckle. 

I know, I know.  We have a bit over three months before I need to start eating my hands, but I am a worrier by nature.  I will worry about this from now until it is all over.  I want to go back to feeling calm and panic free, you know?  I don't want to enter into this nasty state of obbsessing about dossiers.  Breathe, breathe, breathe, try not to worry, breathe, breathe, stay calm. 

I am mailing out the INS paperwork tomorrow WITHOUT the homestudy.  G

Three Months, What?!

Okay, so listen to this, I was counting on my fingers how much time we have left until we are allowed to go dtc and we have a little over 3 months left.  (Yeah, I was counting on my fingers.  Lame?  Yes, but I'm bad at math.) Three months, what?  I haven't even turned in our I-600A yet!  I'm waiting for our homestudy, which I think will be done next week.  But maybe not until the week after depending on how quickly or agency approves it.  So I was going to wait to mail the hometudy with I600A, but now I feel all nutty and I'm considering sending the I600A without the homestudy.   

What have I been thinking taking my sweet time with this dossier?  Here I've been lollygagging and thinking that I have all the time in the world until June, but June isn't that far away.  How sucky will that be if my lollygagging causes us to dtc later than I planned?  Pretty damn sucky. 

Self Portrait Tuesday - All Of Me

I bite my nails.  It is a habit I've tried to break, but one that I've never been able to shake.  And truthfully, I have no desire to stop.  I LOVE biting my nails.  For real, I enjoy it.  Though it does make for some pretty homely fingers.  Notice how short my nail is in this photograph, there is not much there.

I once read that when you go for a job interview, you should pay careful attention to the appearance of your hands, because employers look at your nails to see how well kept they are.  They equate perfectly groomed nails as a sign of competence.  Slovenly digits are viewed as a sign of disorganization, etc.. Because of this, I used to try to hide my fingertips during interviews.  Once, I got fake nails put on my little stubs.  I thought this would help me stop biting them, because they looked so pretty and because it would stop me from nibbling.  But then I and I even tried to bite the fake nails.  In fact, I chipped a tooth because of it!  Yes, I'm that dedicated to the craft of nail biting that I won't let acrylic nails stand between me and my love of gnawing on my fingers. 

KLB Weekend

It has been a great weekend.  Tomorrow, Z and I will hop back on a plane for Texas and I won't see any more KLBs until this summer.  And for that I'm sad, because I wish I lived closer to my friends and I wish that getting together didn't have to be an event.

American Family, Chicago Mama, JenEx, Run Girl Run, and Shelly, I loved meeting all of you in person and hope that we see eachother soon. 

And that is it for our KLB weekend.  I'm exhausted.  Z is exhausted....she finally passed out a few minutes ago and I'm getting ready to join her. 

Good night!   

Here We Go!

Well, I'm all packed and true to my nature, I've way over packed.  Lately Z has been going through two outfits a day, so I had to keep that in mind.  And then I had to pack extra PJs because she sometimes needs to be changed in the night.  And then I thought I needed to pack layers for her since it is going to be cold.  And diapers.  I did okay for myself, I think.  Though damn, sweaters are bulky!  Anyway, I'm bringing way too much stuff.  I have this HUGE suitcase, it is one that I brought to China.  Here we're going away for the weekend and I've brought half my house.  Plus my laptop, my camera, my lenses, and my kitchen sink.

I keep telling Ray that I'm going to take some stuff out of my suitcase and he keeps telling me to leave it. 

Well, that is all.   See you later, gator. 

The Day Before

Holy crap, Z and I leave for the tundra mid-west tomorrow.  So much to do today!  I need to find a bag to bring all of my junk on the plane.  I need to have a pedicure.  Yes, I know, my feet will be covered up while I'm there, but I will feel better if my toes are presentable.  And hello, you saw my feet, they need help. Early Intervention is coming this afternoon.  Z will still need to take a nap and be fed, so I have to squeeze her needs in there too.  Hmmm.  I need to clean.  I need to drop dossier documents off at my doctor's. 

I'd better get going, because I think I need to brush my teeth and shower too. 

Power!

Z and I doing the "power" move for the camera. 

Boring paperchase update: 

I went to my cardiologist today to see about her writing a letter for our dossier.  Our social worker needs to see this letter to wrap up our homestudy, so obviously I need this letter pronto.  I had to wait a week to get an appointment with my doctor, which was fine because I was gratfeful that they squeezed me in so quickly.  It is not unheard of to have to wait a month for an appointment.  So I'm telling her what I need, etc and she says, "Okay, well if you haven't received it in a few weeks, give me a call." 

Ummmm....well....I kind of need it sooner than a few weeks.  So she asked me how soon I need it and I said, "No later than next week."  I stressed how important this letter is and how moving forward with the process hinges on this letter.  She said she hopes to have it done by the end of today.  Phew. 

So much to do before we leave for our trip on Friday! 

Self Portrait Tuesday - Valentines

My dirty feet.  I hate wearing shoes, hate it.  And as a result my feet are to' up from the flo' up.  My heels are thick.  My heels are dirty.  My heels are oh so very rough.  Once, when I was getting a pedicure with a friend, the lady doing our feet told my friend, "You're feet aren't bad, but your friend's feet are horrible."  She said this as though I were in another room unable to hear her!  Then she told me, "You're feet are awful.  It is going to take me a long time to even make a dent in them."  She was telling the truth though, so I couldn't be mad a her.  I'm sure she thought that I should have been charged extra.  The tops of my feet are nice, I think, but the what lies beneath is a fright.