Still ekeing out a few more bucks!

So, the good news is that the scrapbooking half of the consignment thing went really well. I brought back almost none of the scrapbooking stuff I took. Bad news is that virtually all of the stamps are now back home. I guess rubberstampers just didn't come to the sale, or they were looking for stamps other than the ones I had. So, one last ditch effort & please pass the word along to your rubberstamping buddies. Here's what I'm offloading, for a mere $2/stamp:


(Only the sea-themed & square acrylic ones remain)




(Cheerfully Slaving, YinYang, and Cat/Mouse are up for grabs)


(Butterfly, Butterfly Fairy Boy, and Flying Girl are up for grabs)


(Climbing Roses & Broomstick are up for Grabs)


(Chocolate Heart & Grinning Guy are up for grabs)




(All but Brain are up for grabs)


(All but Blue Dragon are up for grabs)

Stamps not yet pictured: Clouds, Rock, Fleur de Lis, Celtic Knots, Christmas Angel, Christmas Heart, Happy Holidays Border, Solid Square, New Waves, Playful Kitten, Chinese Dragon Square, Mickey Mouse head, Waves & Dots pattern, Bouncing Tigger. If you want to see any of these unphoto'd ones, let me know & I'll get to scanning/photographing them!

I'm willing to sell 'em pretty cheaply -- just $2 per stamp, when many of them retail for $8 or more -- but the buyer's just GOT to pick up the actual cost of shipping!

(edit: Just deleted a few stamps that people asked for. THANKS!)

Yay! ... pages getting done

I'm slowly but surely completing some pages from our Disney trip in December 2009!

More books added!

Yay! I received some more books from a few friends & have added them to my half.com store. All proceeds go directly towards adoption expenses. Between both agencies, we're looking at a total cost of $40,000. YIKES. Click here if you want some books. *grin* Feel free to share with friends. I'm going to take my stamping & scrapbooking stuff to a consignment sale next weekend, too!

Upward trend

Tuesday was hard. We got turned down by another birthmother. I found out about it right after I had lunch with a good friend.

Wednesday was better. The day went by without nary a glitch. At least until 10 pm, when I had a work crisis I had to field. Still. It was better than several days in the last many weeks.

Today is another improvement. My cup is filling up. This is good.

I swear, I'm trying.

I really am. I'm trying to be positive, but man ... the hits just keep on coming.

We had a pretty decent weekend. I spent some time with friends, which was a great recharge to my soul. And with one exception, I ate wonderfully nutritious & healthy meals. And got in some exercise on both days.

Yesterday afternoon, I noted it was suddenly especially cold in the master bathroom ... because there is a 1 1/2" hole smashed through the glass in the window.

We received the video camera from the national adoption agency, along with instructions that are pretty much useless because they've apparently cut and pasted from other documents. No proofreading was done here, I can assure you. Or if there was, their proofreader should be shot for dereliction of duty and then fired. Not to mention that we are absolutely not at our best, and that we don't really like being caught on video, and that we have little time, and a whole host of other things about this project we dislike. Suffice to say, it's a chore, not fun.

So, I got shorted on sleep last night, because we read over all the criteria for the multiple interviews & shots & stuff for the video. So, now I've been shorted on sleep for maybe 4 days in a row?

And I get a call from Ken this morning ... his maternal grandma died a few hours ago.

I mean ... come ON!!!!!! I am trying to be positive here, but every time I manage to dig my way out, another brick gets tossed on my head.

Best thing about today so far: fresh strawberries. Because, yeah, I weighed myself and my weight is continuing to climb. Not fair. Not fair, notfair,NOTFAIR.

Strawberries are mighty tasty, though. And today is Valentine's Day. And I'm going out to dinner with my honey. And he's making me some kind of special dessert.

It will get better. It will. It just HAS to.

Regroup

My honey & I agree: the last 6 weeks has just been unbelievably brutal. We've endured a LOT. both of us are stretched paper-thin. We are vigorously pursuing friendship-time and couple-time, because it is just vital. We've had a couple more rounds of "the birthmother has chosen another family," which is just heartbreaking. We also had our required bi-annual home inspection, done for the 5th time, which means we've been approved-and-waiting for exactly 2 years. The adoption process is an enormous strain. Our best coping skills are handicapped as we try to rustle up more cash, working longer hours, and not planning vacations. We contemplate freeing up some money to be able to travel, but we cannot really savor the anticipation (or use it to hang hopes on), because it might be canceled suddenly. I started gathering little outfits for Future Baby, but it aches to do that because there's no one to wear them. Well-intended folk are now no longer saying "hang in there, we had friends adopt and it took them just over a year -- surely any day now..." and they have started saying "I know someone who took 5 years to adopt, but she's so happy." If this is where we are at 2 years, I cannot even begin to envision 5. We're trying to be positive, and we're doing our best to support each other, and we're gathering some awesome support from friends ... but I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel almost every day. Soon, we'll need to start recording video for the national agency to put online ... and I have to say I'm distinctly unthrilled, because I'm probably at my worst. Lowest energy, highest weight, worst attitude. Calgon, take me away.

Blizzard!

I love snow. And being buried in 18" of snowfall, with 4' drifts, and getting up at 6 am to shovel for 2 hours, so my husband can get to work ... hasn't diminished that love one iota.