At Last, we have seen our beautiful daughter !!

They named her Qiu Ye because is to say that this lovely little girl that was abandoned in the garden is like a single autumn leaf.
Introducing ... Yin Qiu Ye

YIN
Means either "silver" or "polite" or "sound" or "shade" in Chinese.
QIU
Means "autumn" in Chinese

Precisely at 2:30 p.m Monday, July 31, 2006, we got the call from our agency. At 7:00 p.m. saw our daughter's sweet face for the very first time!! : )

She was found on September 30, 2005 in a garden circle of Yenjian Blvd. in YiYang (city), Hunan. On the same day a grocer store worker picked her up. She has a round face, fair skin, thick black hair.

Bon mots and prayers from Uncle Al

Who better than to give such perfect words of wisdom than one's godfather !!

Here, an excerpt from from my Uncle Al's e-mail:



June, patience is a virtue - you & Bruce have sure shown your Catholic patience and , I'm sure prayers. I pray every day for your adoption to finally take place and that it will be a wonderful one !

More back story on Uncle Al !

BRANCH OF SERVICE U.S. Army Air Forces
HOMETOWN Philadelphia, PA

ACTIVITY DURING WWII NAVIGATOR, 70TH TROOP CARRIER SQUADRON, 433RD GROUP, 5TH AIR FORCE. SERVED FOR 18 MONTHS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC, NEW GUINEA, PORT MORESBY, NADZAB, HOLLANDIA, BIAK, LEYTE IN THE PHILIPPINES. SERVED AS HEAD NAVIGATOR FOR THE SQUADRON. TOOK ON ADDITIONAL DUTIES - MESS OFFICER AND ASSISTANT OPERATIONS OFFICER. BASIC TRAINING FORT MCCLELLAN, ALABAMA; NAVIGATION SCHOOL, SELMAN FIELD, ALABAMA. AFTER GRADUATION, WAS ASSIGNED TO THE 70TH SQUADRON, 433RD GROUP. FLEW FROM FORT WAYNE, INDIANA TO SAN FRANCISCO. WAS SELECTED TO BE THE GROUP COMMANDER, COLONEL GILES' NAVIGATOR AND LED THE SQUADRON OVERSEAS. STOPPED IN HAWAII, CHRISTMAS ISLAND, THE FIJI ISLANDS, NEW HEBRIDES, BRISBANE, TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA. THEN ON TO NEW GUINEA FOR A BRIEF TIME IN PORT MORESBY AND ON TO NADZAB OUR INITIAL BASE. RETURNED FROM OVERSEAS DUTY MAY 5, ON TO PHILADELPHIA MAY 8, RECEIVED REST AND RELAXATION LEAVE. MARRIED MAY 19, THEN ON TO MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA FOR BEACH REST AND RELAXATION. RECEIVED DISCHARGE THAT WAS TO BE EFFECTIVE AUGUST 6, 1945.

Details of a room

Scenes from an empty room !

stuff & Nonsense

Look what Bruce did to my Madame Alexander doll !
actually, it was not in great shape to begin with, her neck was 'broken', and arms very loose...

off to the doll hospital with her

The Official Referal Countdown is On !!!

Check the documents processing box on the lower right side of the CCAA home page to see when they have finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office up to July 5, 2005 (our log in date) and beyond.

We hope to hear within 20 days that our referral package is on its way to us, and possibly even to receive a photo or 2 before that. When our agency calls us, I am gonna high tail it over there, faster than





And here is the weblink for the White Swan, Guangzhou, China, where we will most likely be staying. This is where the US consulate is, and where
everything will be finalized and we will officially have our daughter!
http://www.white-swan-hotel.com/eng/Public/index.asp

Cape May Redux

We stayed at this bed and breakfast in cape may in 2005, for what we thought would be our last vacation as a party of two.



Due to circumstances beyond our control, and lots of red tape (no pun intended) from the US and Chinese government agencies, we booked a stay there again this year

Stayed in the turret suite, lots of wine, great weather, enough shopping (but never too much) and great food. We will have to choose a different b and b, if we migrate to cape may again, because... no kids allowed.
there are many b.b's that do accept les enfants, so no worries!


















Disney flashback, circa 2004

at a retail emporium in the Magic Kingdom, shortly after I fell off the curb near the entrance. Yes , someone came over and brought me a wheel chair, for a bruised knee !

and me without my ball gown !

Gotta love the blog o sphere

http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php

http://www.oldwardogs.us/

http://www.mudvillegazette.com/milblogs/

The Constant Gardener

http://www.stonedcrab.net/

Plein de fleurs et bon anniversaire, Star Wars Style !












Bruce deserves the landscape architect of the year award, for the color, symmetry and backbreaking work he has put into the garden and landscaping of our petite castle !

just a few photos!

the last one is a post stormy sky over the park, just before you get to the Covered Bridge ! we had gone to Normandy Bistro, and were en route home, when this sky presented itself !

Trump and the art of shameless self promotion

These were taken at the taj mahal, atlantic city , last weekend, at Donald Trump's birthday media event at the taj. apparently he has delusions that he is James Bond like !






June-ellen Lane Books

The Art of Being...Psychic Book $17.37 By June-ellen Lane
(how is that for shameless self promotion)!!

Drama Queen, I need this tee shirt in my size !

More photo documentation of Little Miss E's bebe shower

stuff from the shower and beyond!

Pseudo surprise Baby Shower

Here is the evidence of the Baby Shower that Mom E. (aka Grammie) tried to keep a secret. While she really fooled me with the bridal shower, I found out about this one, due to my curiousity and web sleuthing.

anyway, here is the photo documentation of the event, on April 9, 2006 , which was Palm Sunday. (also some photos of the contents of my closet, dumped on the bed while Bruce installed a closet organizer in the walk in closet !
there was a second bed full of clothes, in addition to the one pictured !

abstract random

Today, I went to the Acme at lunch, in search of sushi (or that replica of it that the acme sells) and cash back.

So , in the express line, which was tres slow, there was an elderly woman in fromt of me with only 2 items. She was looking for a faster line, and I said, i guess you could try the self serve line, but it usually doesn't work, at least not for me.

She smiled, and said, "Do i know you from somewhere"? I said, well, I don't think so, maybe just from shopping in the area. I sensed that her memories might be a bit confused.

Then, she, who was wearing a purple jacket and pants (stylish "so called work out wear, juicy couture for the septegenarian) said did you used to attend Grace Lutheran Church. No, i am afraid not, I said.
She countered with, well, perhaps your mother did... No , I said.
Well, she said, you certainly have a twin out there.

I smiled, and said, I guess I do! (the jacket had embroidered on it, London, England, she must have got it while on holiday there).

What does this mean, this chance encounter? Probably just that, but I thought later, that perhaps my maternal grandmother was speaking through her. My Mom and Dad went to visit her grave yesterday. She (Nan) was quite psychic, and if anyone could "wave " at me like that, it would be Nan !Really miss her, and the fact that I will not be able to see her happiness at greeting her great grandchild. She would be
thrilled and excited, to say the least!!!


the jacket had embroidered on it, London, England, she must have got it while on holiday there.

Biggest damn kiddie consignment sale ever!

And to day, we also bought another oriental style carpet , medium quality, at the Dump,it looks just like this. we will now have 2 in the same pattern, to put in the living room.









For once, someone outspent me. Monique droppe $90 plus on books, clothes and toys.

I weighed in at $43.

Here are a few photos of the 'take' !

Mom bought this dress for petite mademoiselle at Lord & Taylor. The store is destined to be phased out, and in its place, Macy's. ugh, how declasse. I will dearly miss the signature red rose, and of course the fabulous merchandise!

oh well, bonwit teller. wanamakers. strawbridges (never was a big fan) and now Lord and Taylor.

River of Dreams

River Of Dreams
By Billy Joel
CodesAndLyrics.com

River of Dreams

the wait goes on, still hoping for a mid April referral, rumors abound, is the process speeding up, who knows.had a bit of trouble falling asleep, for me that means 10 minutes, still thinking, & that was at 12:15, so, peach brandy, just the thing, did the trick, stay tuned for photos of the bebe's room, now with crib assembled and in place. the search for crib bedding set is on.winnie t. pooh, or laura ashley princess or just plain fleurs in pink et lavande... looking online, overstock.com had nothing perfect, target, just so so, prob. just head to burlington coat factory again!: )

les fleurs from Bruce

February 14, 2006
Valentine's Day
Bruce sent these flowers to me at work. The lillies had glitter sprayed on them. The sentiment on the card was beautiful...
" Happy Valentine' s Day, Honey. Next Valentine's Day, I will have two lovely ladies to celebrate with.

Love,
B.

Bruce is my tech man guru !

i am working on adding this animation to el bloggo, not as easy as it looks !

here is the credit , where credit is due,

http://www.planearium2.de/flash/spstudio.html

no news on baby girl E, still in massive holding pattern !

New Year's, on the eve of 2006

The last seconds of 2005 !!

Novelty items

Found a lady bug themed pen at Papyrus, a card shop in King of Prussia mega supersize mall.

They also had a lucite hair brush with green liquid in the handle & 2 ladybugs (plastic ones) floating in it.
and a matching toothbrush holder. The pen and the hair brush got put in the shopping bag that went in the car that drove to the house that holds the room that June & Bruce have reserved for their treasure from China!

Miss Celania

Latest passing interest of mine is a re-read and re-watch of the Joy Luck Club. I am also reading Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter, which could possibly be even more sad at times than the JLC. But all has new meaning to me, so I googled Ms. Tan, and she has a very humorous website, and is even in a band. She did not win the Pulitzer Prize, and the only doctoral degrees she has are honorary as she states herself. Her urban legend info listed on
http://www.amytan.net/MythsAndLegends.aspx

is an amusing read!

She was also in a band
http://www.rockbottomremainders.com/home.htm

skippack pike grand victorian, citizen panda and a purple russian (your joke here !)

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Let the Shopping Begin !!!!!!!!!

As the wait continues (like sands through the hourglass, blah blah blah),

Veni Vidi Visa ( I came, I saw, I shopped) !

Ok, kids, here is the theme, white furniture, pastel colours everywhere,

especially pink and tints of "the color purple". Today is "tv and movie plagiarism day".

Also, in church today, the priest was speaking about the first Sunday of Advent, and he also said the phrase "the color purple" but in reference to vestments and definitely not nursery decor !

When Bruce reads this, he will just shake his head at my crazy adult ADD and semi sacrilegious ramblings! But, although there are not too many sure things in life, one is that I bet he is used to this by now !

So the room idea and the bedding etc below strikes my fancy, and , as they say in Pensacola, Scott, I am just gonna 'git er done". I could hem and haw and research 100's of possibilities, but that is NOT how I shop.

I got or learned this trait from Dad, just make a decision !there are a 1000 possible choices or answers, just give them an answer !

Go, Dad, thanks for that sage advice !!!

No waffle-ing and definitely no FLIP FLOPPING ! This is also an official NO Flip Flop Zone, Mr. Kerry !

end of politico statement, now a few photos from Thanksgiving, which I will add to my next post

River Of Dreams
By Billy Joel
CodesAndLyrics.com