Big, Bigger, Biggest! (Long Post . . . )

Okay, I've been hiding. I confess. I've been hiding behind piles of laundry, mountains of spring clothes, landslides of winter clothes, and avalanches of paperwork. I've been lurking in Wind Ensemble concerts, Spring Band concerts, memorial services in upstate NY, and cousins' new houses also in upstate NY. I've been sneaking around gargantuan mounds of paperwork accumulated after only 2 partial days out of town, and tip-toeing through bedrooms full of outgrown toys and other various spring cleaning purging projects. Yup, I've been in-communicado - withholding all my witty banter and sage insights on the world from all of you faithful blog readers. But I have three big pieces of news to share that has brought me out of hiding, at least for this post. At least until my piles and landslides take over and completely force an involuntary commitment to the local madhouse.

Big News ~ I've got a new bedroom! After months of waffling on color and style and trim, The Boss devoted all last week and two weekends to painting our room and helping me re-arrange furniture (his very least favorite thing about my inner decorating diva!). We've hung pics, refreshed furniture, and re-hung curtains. The only thing left to do is settle on some drapes, but until I've got a nice little nest egg of babysitting money saved up (do I totally sound like a total like teen there? Like, really?!), I'm more than content with my lovely filmy sheers. Maybe soon I'll treat you to some "before" and "afters" of The Boss's masterpiece!

Bigger News ~ Due to some recent changes in the policies of the CCAA (Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs), we went from #31 to #20 on the list for a Waiting Child! I am sad for those families that were bumped out of line because of these new rules, but I am very excited that we may be closer to Aidan than ever.

Biggest News ~ Today's weekly email update from Living Hope Adoptions informed us of the following:

"CCAA has reviewed documents logged in
up to and including December 31st, 2006"

This is HUGE news for us! This is GOOD HUGE news for us. Basically, unless we get a call or a letter in the next week or so from our agency stating otherwise, this means that the CCAA has cleared us for adoption of a Chinese orphan. This means that we are one big step closer to Aidan. No, we still have no time frame to count on. No, we don't know how much longer it is from here. But we logged in to the CCAA on 12/14/06 and have been waiting these 16 months for this progress! For those of us who watch faithfully the progress that CCAA makes on these reviews and referrals, the fact that two months worth of LID's were reviewed and passed is GREAT NEWS!! (The last completed reviews noted were Oct. '06) So to all you fellow November and December '06 LID'ers: Congrats to us all!!!!!

So . . . . Spring clothes are (mostly) out, (mostly) washed and (mostly) folded into drawers. Once I sort, store, purge and wash, the folding and the putting away is up to all of them. And if they all get them into their drawers, well, then that's just a big 'ole bonus for me. Woo hoo! Winter clothes are stored away and all the heavy coats have been washed and stored also. The only thing left is sorting through that huge messy box of hats, gloves, mittens and scarves. I may need an extra large Vanilla Latte for that one though. I am pretty certain that there's really only one pair of gloves that actually match after the winter ravages. And Baby Blue Eyes is now fitting into the same size clothes that Dr. Doolittle was wearing when we moved into this house. How is that possible? How can it even be remotely possible that my little guy is so grown up?

Finally, with all this cleaning and purging that's going on, we're making money on our stuff! So far, Baby Blue Eyes and I have sold Rescue Heroes, dinosaurs, and Hot Wheels. We're continuing to purge and sort and clean; what we don't sell on our local craigslist, we'll be tagging for a big yard sale in June. All proceeds are heading for our Adoption Jar and so far, the take is $50 from BBE's room alone! Next up, we're tackling LadyBug's room and the bins of baby stuff that we're fairly certain we won't use with Aidan. But now, I'm putting my feet up and crashing. It's been a long two weeks and I need to crash. Before I burn!