So excited I can't stand myself...

Why you ask? Let me explain...

This is my pal Cindy (who I can't link because her blog is private)...
Isn't she beautiful? Cindy and I "met" during the spring of 2008 when we signed with the same adoption agency. We became instant friends and have supported each other across the miles ever since. We had it all planned out. All signs pointed to us going to China together to meet our babies. Same time. Same place. Be there or be square. Ahhhhh...the best laid plans.

As you know, in March we received our referral for this little spit fire...
Unfortunately, Cindy and Dave did not. We didn't lose hope but when April and May passed them by without a referral we knew our hopeful "plan" was not to be. Fast forward to September. We boarded a plane bound for China without her while she was still waiting to meet the face of her daughter here. She was the "CA" I mentioned in this post the morning we left. She was so heavy on my heart that day. We joked the entire summer that they would surely receive a referral while we were in China because I wouldn't be around to cheer her on. Can you see where this is going?

September 17, 2009, three days after we met MeiMei in China, I received an email entitled "of course you knew this would happen?" I KNEW the second I read it what it was going to say. While we were in China meeting MeiMei, my sweet friend Cindy "met" her beautiful baby girl in the US...Don't you just want to pinch those Cutie-Mc-Cute-Cute cheeks? She is four months younger than MeiMei and waiting for her family in Chongqing. All I wanted to do that night was fly over to her province and bring her home with us. Ahhhhh...FINALLY!

I found her email at about 11:30 pm China time but I didn't care. I had barely slept the entire trip and I wasn't about to start then. She emailed me the file and I reviewed it with her. It was a perfect match!! I called her via Skype--love Skype--to talk it through. She was screaming and I was whispering into the laptop cam, "I think this is it! I think you just found your baby!" And so we celebrated and we cried tears of joy and we laughed because her husband Dave was in an extremely important meeting and I "met" his daughter before he did. Hahaha--sorry Dave. Isn't that an awesome story? Both of us on different continents but I was still able to cheer her on through the power of modern technology. I think we should get our own Skype commercial, don't you?

Anyway, all that to say, guess who is coming to our neck of the woods tomorrow? That's right. CINDY-Cindy-Bo-Bindy-Banana-Fana-Fo-Fendy......! We have 48 hours to do all the things we've spent the past year and half wishing we could do together. Like go for pedicures and late night movies and solve all the worlds problems over a glass of chardonnay. I'm going to play tour guide, stuff her full of Southern food and enjoy the friendship we have developed in real time. It's going to be a great weekend. I am sure of it.

Cindy--I'll see you tomorrow at Baggage Claim. You'll know it's me. I'll be the one with the three yahoo's running around at the end of the escalator. Be there or be square. XOXO...

Happy Mother's Day...

Transcending: Words on Women and Strength by Kelly Corrigan...

Welcome baby Ansley...

Congratulations to our friends April and Chad on joining the ranks of parenthood! Baby Ansley made her debut this morning at 9:12am weighing in at 7lbs 13oz and measuring 20 inches long. MG says she has a thing or two to teach her about being a girly-girl. Sorry Chad :-) Hurry home guys so we can give that baby some love.

Birds of a Feather...

My Sunday began with an early alarm, a quick stop at Starbucks and a road trip to meet two super cool friends (though we have never met until today). Today I had the privilege of meeting Emily and the Nester in real life. For those who know them, I'm pretty sure I just heard you say SHUT-UP! For those who don't know them...go ahead...click the links...I'll wait...(insert Jeopardy music here)...Do you see why I was so excited?

My new friends in real life (because I can call them that now) happened to be passing through so Kim, Rachel and I made a short little roadtrip to meet them. Can I tell you it was great? You know how you wonder about meeting new people...will it be awkward? The answer for today was NOPE. Not one second of our two hours was remotely awkward. It was like five old friends gabbing it up over sour dough french toast and more bacon than we knew what to do with. Can I tell you it was great?

OK, so here's the part you want to know. They are the same ladies in real life as they are on their blogs. They are not 89 year old bald men from Canada and I have the pictures to prove it. Sweet, funny, genuine kind of girls. Girls I would be friends with at playdates, Bible study or Mom's night out if miles didn't separate us. Through months of emails and of course, her blog, I knew Emily and I shared many of the same traits. At one point she got a little teary when she talked about our adoption and that pretty much confirmed it. She's a big ole mush bucket like me. I informed her of my long standing rule...no one cries alone. Rachel quickly confirmed that I was SERIOUS so we diverted the conversation before tears fell (from someone other than myself if you can believe that). :-) I am still stoked about our morning. Perhaps we'll have an opportunity to do it again soon. If not, I am proud to say that they are now real life friends. Hopefully this week I'll be moving out of the "friends I'd like to meet" category into the "people I know in real life" column. I think I'm going to like it there.

Here is the obligatory group photo. I hate to have my picture taken but I didn't want to be a party pooper. I wanted the photo but without me in it. :-) We humored Emily as she dug out her tripod and attempted to find the perfect spot. The best we could find was in the blinding sun in front of the barbed wire fence. Our options were slim in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrell so this was the best we could do.

Rachel, me, Emily, the Nester, Kim

A little history...back in February I won a gift from the Nester. She posted about my business on her blog which brought a few clients my way. One client happened to be her sister Emily. Emily and I became friends while we were creating her blog and have kept in touch.
Anyway, Kim arranged this little breakfast date and knew I would be HACKED OFF if she went without me. I would also like to state for the record that Kim, in her desperate attempt to keep the surprise, told me "God will forgive you for missing church for this one". LOL! I was having a day when she called. The ONLY way she was going to persuade me to go was to answer this question. Where are you taking me at 8 AM on Sunday morning that I might need forgiveness? Kim, you'll be happy to know I made it to the 11:00 service, Todd Agnew was awesome and I made it home to see my kiddos before nap. What a great day! Thanks Kim for making sure I was present for the festivities. I would have had to hurt you if you had gone without me. :-)to Emily and the Nester...let's do it again soon...

Girls Night Out...

16 years after meeting these girls, I can still vividly remember how it all began. I was 14 years old, trying to find my way around this new planet I had landed (AKA high school). I had spent 9 years prior at a small elementary/middle school in the county. I grew up with the same kids from Kindergarten to 8th grade with very few changes along the way. Then came high school. When I moved up to 9th grade, I knew the 48 kids that came with me. That was it. In a sea of 800 teenagers. Can I tell you I was SCARED TO DEATH? Those "city kids" were a scary bunch. They had known each other all of their lives and they liked it that way. Why in the world would they want to befriend someone new? Someone like me?

Second period--freshman year, I sat behind a girl named Rachel in Coach Thaxton's World Geography Class. I loved that class because of her and looked forward to it every day. I thought she was intelligent, witty and fun. I enjoyed talking to her and listening to her stories. She always had great ones to tell (even if we got in trouble for talking in the process).

As time passed I became friends with April, Rachel's best friend. Then I met Andrea in Sophomore Biology (who happened to be best friends with Suzanne and Shannon). The five of them were "city girls" who grew up together. I was the odd ball, and sometimes they gave me a hard time about it, but I still loved them.

12 years after our high school graduation, it feels just as it did back in the day. We've all graduated from college, joined the ranks of married life, acquired a mortgage and most of us have started a family. All by the ripe old age of 30. We've changed as individuals, enlarged our social circles but our commonality remains...four drama filled years of education, pep rallies, football games, cruising "the strip", great friends and many memories (both good and not so good).

I spent this evening reminiscing with these girls (sans Andrea) at one of my favorite places. Dinner was fantastic and we shut the place down. I don't think I've ever said that before so I'd like to say it again. We shut the place down. hehehehe. We laughed until we nearly peed our pants (well maybe that was just me). We remembered the days when our highest priorities were our friends, our wardrobe and who was cruising the strip on Friday night. We were reminded of things we had long forgotten and a few things we wish we COULD forget. Ladies, I had a great time on our girls night out. The adult conversation and comic relief were therapeutic for this stay at home Mommy. In my very best Shannon voice I'd like to say "Call Me". hehehe. Let's not wait so long to do it again. Hugs to all...L to R: Mommy, April, Rachel, Shannon and Suzanne
(Andrea, where the heck are ya?)