I really do have better things to talk about other than the fact that I smashed the heck out of my toe! Here are the things I'm looking forward to this year!
Heather's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party
Regan's Graduation
Mike and Heather's Wedding
Cancun (as long as the swine flu isn't an issue!!!)
Taylor Family Reunion
17-Year Wedding Anniversary
Another Special Event in July
Zufelt Family Reunion
Wine Festival
Vegas Reunion Trip (girl's trip!)
Thanksgiving with my Family
Graduation in December
It's going to be a busy year, but I really am looking forward to everything we have planned for the remainder of the year. Good times!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Toe Update
The toe is getting better - still tender and swollen, but on the road to recovery. Not looking forward to the part where I lose the toenail though. I'm scared of that! This is what the toe looked like this morning - about a week and-a-half after the accident.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
April's China Update
We've been hit with an estimated increase by another month. Current timeline is now 37 months from Log-In to Match, and there were only 9 children matched this month. That still puts us a solid year away from being matched and 12-14 months until we travel. I just hope we don't have to travel during the summer. I hear the heat and humidity there is unbearable in the summertime.
This came from our adoption agency's website. Thought I'd share it with everyone. I feel like there's always an excuse for the lack of matches, but it is another explanation we are hearing regarding the reason for continued delays.
Starting Today, No Unregistered Private or Transferred Adoption Allowed
China Legal Daily, April 10, 2009
"Beginning April 1, 2009, all abandoned children discovered by private citizens must be reported to local public security agencies. If birth parents or other legal guardians are unable to be located, the public security agencies must transfer the child to a local social welfare institute. No private citizen is permitted to keep a child themselves or transfer the child to other unauthorized persons without proper registration with local authorities," stated a Ministry of Civil Affairs spokesperson during an interview with the China Legal Daily on March 31, 2009.
China's Adoption Law was first approved by the 7 th National Congress on December 29, 1991, and was revised on November 4, 1998, by the 9 th National Congress at its 5 th session. The revised adoption law went into effect on April 1, 1999.
"Although our citizens' understanding about the law and therefore legal registration of private adoption has since increased," according to the same spokesperson, "unregistered private adoption is still a major problem. Such unregistered adoption without establishing a proper legal relationship has resulted in irresolvable legal obstacles to the adoptee's legal residency, education, and inheritance, etc."
Therefore, in September last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Health, and the Family Planning Commission jointly published the "Notice on Resolving the Issues of Private Adoption," to be effective April 1, 2009.
(Translator's footnote: The CCAA believes that the rise of unregistered private adoption in China in recent years is one of many contributors to the decline of the orphanage population. A citizen who finds an abandoned child may choose not to report the child, desiring to keep the child themselves or give the child to another, out of financial and confidentiality concerns. The CCAA pushed through this Notice last year for the purposes of protecting abandoned children's legal right, as well as for a desire to see more abandoned children reported to orphanages for eventual legal adoption.)
This came from our adoption agency's website. Thought I'd share it with everyone. I feel like there's always an excuse for the lack of matches, but it is another explanation we are hearing regarding the reason for continued delays.
Starting Today, No Unregistered Private or Transferred Adoption Allowed
China Legal Daily, April 10, 2009
"Beginning April 1, 2009, all abandoned children discovered by private citizens must be reported to local public security agencies. If birth parents or other legal guardians are unable to be located, the public security agencies must transfer the child to a local social welfare institute. No private citizen is permitted to keep a child themselves or transfer the child to other unauthorized persons without proper registration with local authorities," stated a Ministry of Civil Affairs spokesperson during an interview with the China Legal Daily on March 31, 2009.
China's Adoption Law was first approved by the 7 th National Congress on December 29, 1991, and was revised on November 4, 1998, by the 9 th National Congress at its 5 th session. The revised adoption law went into effect on April 1, 1999.
"Although our citizens' understanding about the law and therefore legal registration of private adoption has since increased," according to the same spokesperson, "unregistered private adoption is still a major problem. Such unregistered adoption without establishing a proper legal relationship has resulted in irresolvable legal obstacles to the adoptee's legal residency, education, and inheritance, etc."
Therefore, in September last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Health, and the Family Planning Commission jointly published the "Notice on Resolving the Issues of Private Adoption," to be effective April 1, 2009.
(Translator's footnote: The CCAA believes that the rise of unregistered private adoption in China in recent years is one of many contributors to the decline of the orphanage population. A citizen who finds an abandoned child may choose not to report the child, desiring to keep the child themselves or give the child to another, out of financial and confidentiality concerns. The CCAA pushed through this Notice last year for the purposes of protecting abandoned children's legal right, as well as for a desire to see more abandoned children reported to orphanages for eventual legal adoption.)
By Popular Demand, but Not For the Faint!!
I can't believe how many people want to see pictures of this nasty injury - I am just going to warn you - it's not pretty, not flattering, and is totally disgusting, but I guess many of you really want to see it, so here it is. This was taken the day after the injury occurred in between bandaging that day. It is looking much better, but it's been bandaged for the day, so maybe I'll post an "after" picture later this weekend.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Quite the Injury
We sold our old kitchen table and purchased a new one. We had to put it together, and I was getting anxious about bringing it into the house – all around 10:00 on Friday evening after an exhausting day of “moving back in” to our house after new carpet went in. Anyhow – we had a ton of snow, so we didn’t want to bring it in through the main entry to the house, so we were trying to bring it in from our garage.
Long story short, I didn’t have a good grip on it (the table top, which weighs a ton), and I dropped the corner right on top of my big toe. It hit smack dab in the middle of my cuticle and punctured it. The pain was unreal…. Darren got me into the house, and we took off my shoe. My sock was soaked in blood. He then got me into the bathroom – I was afraid to look at it. I was feeling woozy, and there was no color in my face or lips – pale white. Then, Darren took my sock off. It was so disgusting, and I was bawling because it hurt so bad. It was oozing blood, and my toenail was bluish grey and looked like it was foaming gray matter.
I then proceeded to pass out. Darren had to catch me to keep me from falling back into the bathtub (avoiding a head injury, I’m sure!!).
I came back around shortly, but it really freaked Darren out to see me just go limp like that. I wanted to lay down, but I didn’t want to move, so we had some freshly washed rugs I hadn't put down yet, so he rolled out for me to lay on. I made one into a pillow - It was kind of funny – I was lying on the floor, not knowing what to do about the situation, and he asked me if I could move my toe, and I was like, “No…. Oh, wait… Yes.” It hurt so bad that I wasn’t even trying!! We had a little chuckle. I put it in some cold water to help with some of the pain and rinse it off – Darren wanted to help me so bad, but I wouldn’t let him. I’m such a control freak.
We cleaned it out with peroxide and then wrapped it up. He got me to the couch, elevated my foot and got me an ice pack. It was still bleeding though – we changed the dressing several times over the next couple of hours, and I was worried that it wasn’t going to stop bleeding. It was still hurting so bad that I was crying again, so Darren got me some ibuprofen and asked if I wanted a shot of whiskey, which I gladly accepted. It helped take the edge off a little bit, and then he put some blankets underneath the table top and finished sliding it into the kitchen so that I could see it – so sweet.
When the bleeding still wasn’t stopping, we finally got some nail glue and put it on the toe, wrapped it in a wet dressing, and I finally fell asleep – slept on the couch, and so did Darren (partially because we didn't get the bedroom put back together either!).
On Saturday morning, the bleeding still hadn’t stopped, and Darren was thinking we should go to the walk-in clinic. He decided to call his buddy, who is also the athletic trainer at the school, first to see what he thought. He told us it wasn't surprising that the toe was still bleeding – said it was a very vascular area of the body and that there was probably nothing the doctors could do but to cauterize it and that if we could deal with the bleeding by just keeping the foot elevated and putting pressure on the wound, a trip to the doctor was probably not necessary. So, I’m a gimp right now, and 48 hours later, it is still bleeding (not as much though). We did get some of that “New Skin” antiseptic liquid bandage to put on it, and that seems to be helping some in controlling the bleeding, but I’m still frequently changing the bandages.
What really stinks is that Deanna (Darren's sister), Regan (our niece), and I have been planning a girls day out for months to celebrate Regan’s 18th birthday tomorrow. I don’t have any shoes I can wear except for my Crocs, and they are stained with paint, so I purchased a horrible-looking pair of shoes at Target on Sunday afternoon, and I'm going to take one for the team!
Well – that’s my sad story! Needless to say, it wrecked my plans for our entire weekend – we took the time off and didn’t schedule anything so that we could get our house put back in order. There’s not a single room that’s put back together right now except the formal living/dining room. Darren, however, saw the bright side - we got some down time and hung out more than I planned. I guess it will get there eventually, huh?!!
Say a prayer for my toe - I really don't want to be hobbling around for too much longer. I have many things to do!!
Long story short, I didn’t have a good grip on it (the table top, which weighs a ton), and I dropped the corner right on top of my big toe. It hit smack dab in the middle of my cuticle and punctured it. The pain was unreal…. Darren got me into the house, and we took off my shoe. My sock was soaked in blood. He then got me into the bathroom – I was afraid to look at it. I was feeling woozy, and there was no color in my face or lips – pale white. Then, Darren took my sock off. It was so disgusting, and I was bawling because it hurt so bad. It was oozing blood, and my toenail was bluish grey and looked like it was foaming gray matter.
I then proceeded to pass out. Darren had to catch me to keep me from falling back into the bathtub (avoiding a head injury, I’m sure!!).
I came back around shortly, but it really freaked Darren out to see me just go limp like that. I wanted to lay down, but I didn’t want to move, so we had some freshly washed rugs I hadn't put down yet, so he rolled out for me to lay on. I made one into a pillow - It was kind of funny – I was lying on the floor, not knowing what to do about the situation, and he asked me if I could move my toe, and I was like, “No…. Oh, wait… Yes.” It hurt so bad that I wasn’t even trying!! We had a little chuckle. I put it in some cold water to help with some of the pain and rinse it off – Darren wanted to help me so bad, but I wouldn’t let him. I’m such a control freak.
We cleaned it out with peroxide and then wrapped it up. He got me to the couch, elevated my foot and got me an ice pack. It was still bleeding though – we changed the dressing several times over the next couple of hours, and I was worried that it wasn’t going to stop bleeding. It was still hurting so bad that I was crying again, so Darren got me some ibuprofen and asked if I wanted a shot of whiskey, which I gladly accepted. It helped take the edge off a little bit, and then he put some blankets underneath the table top and finished sliding it into the kitchen so that I could see it – so sweet.
When the bleeding still wasn’t stopping, we finally got some nail glue and put it on the toe, wrapped it in a wet dressing, and I finally fell asleep – slept on the couch, and so did Darren (partially because we didn't get the bedroom put back together either!).
On Saturday morning, the bleeding still hadn’t stopped, and Darren was thinking we should go to the walk-in clinic. He decided to call his buddy, who is also the athletic trainer at the school, first to see what he thought. He told us it wasn't surprising that the toe was still bleeding – said it was a very vascular area of the body and that there was probably nothing the doctors could do but to cauterize it and that if we could deal with the bleeding by just keeping the foot elevated and putting pressure on the wound, a trip to the doctor was probably not necessary. So, I’m a gimp right now, and 48 hours later, it is still bleeding (not as much though). We did get some of that “New Skin” antiseptic liquid bandage to put on it, and that seems to be helping some in controlling the bleeding, but I’m still frequently changing the bandages.
What really stinks is that Deanna (Darren's sister), Regan (our niece), and I have been planning a girls day out for months to celebrate Regan’s 18th birthday tomorrow. I don’t have any shoes I can wear except for my Crocs, and they are stained with paint, so I purchased a horrible-looking pair of shoes at Target on Sunday afternoon, and I'm going to take one for the team!
Well – that’s my sad story! Needless to say, it wrecked my plans for our entire weekend – we took the time off and didn’t schedule anything so that we could get our house put back in order. There’s not a single room that’s put back together right now except the formal living/dining room. Darren, however, saw the bright side - we got some down time and hung out more than I planned. I guess it will get there eventually, huh?!!
Say a prayer for my toe - I really don't want to be hobbling around for too much longer. I have many things to do!!
Monday, April 6, 2009
We Painted the Baby's Room!!
Darren and I finally cleared Peyton's room out (no more footall room!!!) and painted it on Sunday morning. It's really pink right now!!! Kind of looks like a pepto-bismol bottle threw up all over the walls, but it's just because the rest of our house has the brown tones, so the pink is a little silly looking to me right now! BUT - it is going to look amazing once we get the furniture, bedding, and decorations all put up. We are going to decorate it in pink, brown, olive green, and white - I'm going to add eggplant to the mix now too. Wish me luck in finding bedding and accessories with all of those colors! We looked this weekend and found some that were just okay - we're going to have to continue the search until we find the PERFECT thing. Good thing we have a year to keep searching!
In addition to painting, we picked out furniture for the room. The crib is on order, but the dresser was in stock. It feels so strange that we are actually preparing her room! We are both so excited that it's getting close enough that we feel like we can get excited.
You should have seen Darren when we started painting - he was so excited to put the first stripe of paint on the wall. It was cute........ I love him! Although, I did ruin "the moment" by copping a bit of an attitude when my tape job started lifting before I had time to seal it with paint for that perfect line around the trim work. I got over it and made up so that we could have a good time painting our daughter's room. We can't wait for her to be part of our family!!
In addition to painting, we picked out furniture for the room. The crib is on order, but the dresser was in stock. It feels so strange that we are actually preparing her room! We are both so excited that it's getting close enough that we feel like we can get excited.
You should have seen Darren when we started painting - he was so excited to put the first stripe of paint on the wall. It was cute........ I love him! Although, I did ruin "the moment" by copping a bit of an attitude when my tape job started lifting before I had time to seal it with paint for that perfect line around the trim work. I got over it and made up so that we could have a good time painting our daughter's room. We can't wait for her to be part of our family!!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Colorado A Little Mixed Up!!
So, the winter here in Colorado has been so dry with spring-like weather at times. Now that spring should be here, we are finally having some winter weather? What's wrong with this picture? I normally like the snow, but when it's time to be spring, it's time to be spring!!! I guess March is one of the snowiest months, but seriously? After an entire winter of such mild temps? Okay - I'll stop now. But who's with me on this?!!
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