The Future is Full of Possibility

Last night an American skiier won a bronze medal. To me he represented more than just our country, but the possibility of this country. Toby Dawson was adopted from Korea when he was three years old. His ski instructor parents went through a similar journey to the one we are on now. Winning an Olympic medal is certainly an accomplishment, but it was his character and attitude that impacted me during an interview with Matt Lauer of the Today Show. He seemed so comfortable with himself and his life. Of course, Matt delved into the "abondonment and adoption" issues during the interview, but Toby handled it so well. There was no talk of being "lucky" or any garbage like that, just, "my mom put skis on me and I never wanted to take them off." I wonder everyday how my daughter will adjust to her life in the U.S. Toby gives me hope for her and the possibility of her future.

LID 1/24/06

Logged in Date! We started this process in July 2005. It took us six months to get here, but so much was accomplished during that time. Writing biographies, 4 homestudy visits, medical physicals, FBI fingerprints, every background check ever invented, and the promise that we will love our daughter as our own.

For some people the LID probably seems like a huge accomplishment, but its left me feeling a bit empty. It just another step in this long journey. I just hope that next year at this time our daughter is home and happy.

General Patton's Bounce

Today, I was researching some motiviational business quotes for a client and I happened upon a quote from Gen. George Patton. "Success is how you bounce on the bottom." For some strange reason it made me think about our daughter, and all of our lost daughters from China. From a certain perspective, they are at the bottom, there lives will only go up from here. They will bounce. And, we will be there to catch them. We will help ensure their upward momentum continues for the rest of their lives.

I am from Space

You know you have a tragically low hit count when even your friends and family fail to notice that somehow you are listed as being from Space. I looked at the blog today after my previous posting and noticed that instead of saying Space Coast as my location it said just Space, Florida, United States. Maybe my friends and family weren't surprised, but to those in my travel group who are just checking out the site. I am really not that "out there".

Year of the Dog

Jennifer sent us this picture to commemorate the year of the dog. Maybe it's designed to make us laugh, since at this point in the process, we wait. It's a waiting game with some guesswork, really. We watch the referrals come in, track the dates and guess when ours will come. We heard word from Lifelink that LIDs from "before May 13" got referrals on Jan. 25. So, then we have to guess on our LID date, since we don't have it yet. Lets say LID is Jan.25, then we would be looking at late September or early October for a referral. Then travel will end up in late October...just in time for only brother's wedding. Let's pray that the dates don't match up like that. I would love to have our daughter home in time to go to John and Laurel's wedding.