another oops! jeez!

i just viewed my own blog and didn't know that if i sent multiple pictures that they would be sent as separate blog entries! the time is also off by two hours! let me try this again... too funny!

The kitty made it!

I have got to remember to rename my pictures BEFORE i save them and/or publish them! all that this number tells you is that i have taken about 726 pictures with my camera! SO?

Anywhooo... This picture shows the white kitty that made it! He is in the foreground there resting after a long feeding and play session! It is hard to imagine that when I picked him up, he was so cold and limp! It's amazing what some TLC and warmth can do! There are six of these little buggers and they get LOUD when they are hungry and momma kitty isn't there! Three white and three leopard print kittens made a corner of the room their own. Of course, the electric blanket under them helps!

We will leave for China in just a few days and in the mean time, a friend of ours will take care of the place. I don't think that I will recognize all these babies when I return! The six kittens and the 30 or so chickens, ducks and geese will be much larger two weeks from now! I'll just take more pictures and post them on Flickr for all to peruse at will...

I love this stuff!

THE HOUSE IS OURS!!!

yesterday was a huge emotional rollercoaster ride for me! we were very busy at work and i thought that i would not be able to make it to the closing of the house! we had several emergency cases and by 3 p.m. (the closing was scheduled for about 3:20) i called kim to tell her 'forget it'! i can't and won't make it! i was not about to leave my crew or the patients there in their time of need! i was very upset, to say the least. my coworkers sent me away though saying that everything was going fine and that they would be o.k. whew! i owe you, huh? at the signing, well, what a mess that was! our side seemed to have it all together. the other party? hmmm. very interesting. we got it done though and the property is officially ours! we will move out soon!

this morning i finally got to go to the property! the last time that i had gone, it was all brown with no leaves on the trees. i wasn't terribly impressed but Kim loved it! she sees things better than i do! (I usually have to see the dress on her before I can truly appreciate it!) Kim told me that the place had plenty of potential though and she was very excited about it. well let me tell you something folks! check out the pictures and make your own decision but today i absolutely fell for it! wait! we went to the property right after closing on it! how could i forget!? oh yes. i was just a little stressed yesterday... wow! the place has 'greened up' nicely! trees and wildlife are abundant! 60+ acres of pure fun! the landscape is awesome to me! Dallas and i can go play paintball all over the place! camping out back will never be the same! this is gonna be so much fun! there is a lot of work to do now! holy smokes.

the town of Mccracken has a pool, a golf course, a library, a nice little restaurant... some people have told me that it is a dirty town but i found it quaint. quite cute, actually. an anual rodeo is held there too! that should be interesting!

life is good

Thursday 4-28-05

I'm tired! yesterday was a long day! where are those kittens? while packing stuff last night, i heard some loud meowing coming from the living room! i went to investigate and lo and behold our Egyptian Mao momma kitty had her litter of kittens! by the time that i put boxes down and made my way to her, she had rejected one so i picked it up and cuddled it for a while to warm it up as it was one cold little kitty! wife came shortly thereafter and found the electric warmer and placed it over my (buddha) belly to give kitty additional warmth. wife is so smart. it only took a few minutes under that blanket to really get the motor running! to have been a popsicle just minutes before to a feisty little kitty in 5 minutes flat was amazing! we gave him some kitty formula from a small slip-tip syringe and after about 1mL it was full! Buddha belly for the baby kitty! so cute... then we proceeded to reintroduce him to momma and kitty, now lively, latched firmly on to a teet and started eating dinner! Today they are all one big happy family. I'll post a picture later. i need to head to our meeting tonight!

This will be the last meeting that we have for the next two weeks as Kim, her mother, Dallas and myself are heading to China in just a few short days! Oh yes, we close on the property down south tomorrow also! I hear that it's nice! I love my wife so much!

I had to buy an additional water dispersal system for my baby chickens, ducks and geese! those darn ducks and geese just absolutely HOG the water trough! jeez! little pigs! the poor little chickens, which are absolutely dwarfed by these larger brethren, rarely get a chance at the water! the ducks and geese are kinda fond of it. they will need their own pond soon. the Bantam chickens are absolutely the cutest! miniature chickens. too funny.

How do i post an audio blog? Dallas is headed to Topeka tomorrow to sing at the capitol building with the Singing Irish Falcons! What a day that will be! they will be gone for the weekend. that leaves me alone with the wife! oh. yeah. we are moving this weekend. nevermind...

Look what we got today!!!

now THIS is cool! look who is coming back with us from China! everything is falling into place! i love it! i'm gonna pack the gift that i recieved today and Mei Mei will be wearing it on our return trip! it is SUCH a cute outfit! soft too, Le Mei will love wearing it... it will be her Mothers Day outfit! only 9 more days to takeoff... 13 to GOTCHA!

dum-de-dum-de-dum...

got a gift from a co-worker today! brought a tear or two! so cute. i am also trying to crop the referral photo that i have but i can't do it properly! it's a 5 meg file... any suggestions? why am i so emotional lately? it was a good day at work today - i love my crew! love my job! i guess that this whole adoption thing, being a year long trip, has taken its toll on me! what an emotional rollercoaster! we will be traveling half way around the world in just a few short days to pick up our daughter! i am just a little awestruck by the whole thing, ya know?

oh yes, we should close on the house this friday also... this coming weekend will be interesting to say the least! i just might need to start imbibing caffeine again! nah. pure adrenalin works better!

oops! Forgot to upload the picture...

I am SUCH a newbie! That just cracks me up...

njm

We're moving! (our plate is full!)

During all of this, we are in the process of trying to close on a property that we can call our own. We currently live a few miles north of town but this property will be, what, 25 miles south? I haven't paced the distance yet! This does have a couple of drawbacks; we will now be living further away from the two families that are also adopting from China at the same time that we are and secondly, that I cannot stay at home during my week on-call due to the 20 minute rule. Doesn't our Policy state that we have 30 minutes? Hmmm... Yes, we are working in overdrive right now! Helping Dallas with his homework every night. Mowing and maintaining the current property regularly. Packing stuff. Cleaning stuff. Kim is working 8 hours minimum everyday for the past few weeks. I've been working 8+ hours also... Anything else? Life is good.

so close now...

been thinkin today. my mother in-law will arrive this coming wednesday or thursday and she is going to chaperone dallas on his trip to topeka on friday. she is also going to go on our trip to china to help us out with all the unknowns. hmmm... contrary to popular belief, this is a good thing!

We will leave Wednesday, May 4 for Wichita where we will take a flight to Los Angeles (via Houston) and then it's off to Beijing!!! We'll be given a tour of the Great Wall, Tian An Men square and the Forbidden City. Seemingly hours later, we will fly to Guangzhou to settle in to the White Swan hotel to rest (yeah right - it's GOTCHA DAY today!). We will then go the Civil Affairs building to receive our children! Can you believe that we will be so lucky as to recieve our children on Mothers Day? That is so awesome! Wheeeweeee!

Monday, May 9th we will go again to the Civil Affairs Bureau to the the adoption registration and then to the notary public to do the paperwork. May 10th will be set aside for shopping for 'stuff' for our children and do some INS stuff. May 11th will be baby visa pictures, medical exams, sightseeing tour to Six Banyan Trees and we will pick up passports in the afternoon. May 12th will find us in the American Consulate to pick up some more documents and then we will embark on another tour. This time to the Chen Family Temple. I believe that this is where our children will be given a traditional blessing by the monks.

Saturday, May 14th marks the end of the tour. How depressing! I haven't even left yet! I just wish that we could stay longer. Perhaps that sentiment will change once the trip actually begins but for now, I'd love to stay and 'soak it all in' longer. We'll see.

Check out the White Swan at : http://www.whiteswanhotel.com

goodnight for now...

njm

First time blogger...

As I am new to this world of blogging and bloggers, I cannot possibly be held responsible for the manner in which this blog appears, right? What is a 'blog' anyway?

My family (Kimberly and Dallas) and I are in the process of adopting a baby girl from China. Here given name in China is Qu Le Mei. Roughly pronounced "Choo Looah May". The name "Qu" identifies where she was found, in this case, the Qujiang region. Le means happiness and Mei means pretty or beautiful and we certainly think that she is happy and beautiful! I'll post some pictures later as I begin to understand this machine.