While We Were Waiting

Referral Announcement and Blog move

2010-09-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

Introducing Zhuang Lu He

Born February 7, 2010

Residing in Yi Feng SWI

in Jiangxi Province.

We hope to travel in November to bring Zhaung Lu He home. Her American name will be Audrey Lu He Nuckels.

And now that we have our referral we are moving to a new blog site too ... which is

Bon Voyage for Sandy and Richard

2010-09-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

So after the monk chanting and Hanging Garden viewing we walked the block down to the Wine Cellar for Sandy and Richard's Going Away Party.

This picture shows John walking next to Bow Tie Cafe (our new coffee shop!) very cute and new sign.
Bow Tie Cafe is right next to the Wine Cellar.

Early scene at the Bon Voyage Party.

The honored couple. Oh my gosh how we are going to miss these two.

Jim, Linda, Richard and Chuck.

Candid picture of previous with addition of Kim Curran.

Richard and Sandy being serenaded.

... and their serenader.

Hanging Garden @ Holy Cross Church

2010-09-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

At 4 today we are going to walk up to Holy Cross to see the Hanging Garden.

Pictures inside were not allowed so here are promotional picture and outside building:

Besides being the best public art project I've seen in Cincinnati since my return here three years ago, Shinji Turner-Yamamoto's Global Tree Project: Hanging Garden at Mount Adams' old (and otherwise empty) Holy Cross Church is so contemplatively beautiful it should be permanent. But that would create a problem - - one of the two trees suspended by wires in the middle of the former sanctuary is alive and needs care and watering. (It's the one on top.) The Japanese-born artist, who lives in Cincinnati and also has a concurrent exhibition, Disappearances, at Contemporary Arts Center, has devised a watering system, a jewel of technical invention. But he could still use your prayers. To that end, Sri Lanken monks from the Ohio Buddhist Vihara will chant on its behalf from 3-6 p.m. Saturday and Japanese monks will chant at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free; parking is available. The church is at 1055 St Paul Place. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could find worthy art projects for our other empty inner-city churches and sanctuaries? For more information, visit http://www.globaltreeproject.org/ -- STEVEN ROSEN

The bon voyage party for Richard and Sandy was from 4-8 pm. We decided to check out this exhibit before going to their party when the Buddhist monk was going to chant at 4 pm and both of us were glad we did.

Are we in?

2010-09-23T15:20:00.000-07:00

Today I received our weekly "Program Update" from FTIA China Team (which is Betty). The interesting part relative to us:

We've been told that the next referrals for China will be sent out next week. The CCAA has been closed for Moon Festival from 9/22 - 24, so chances are they wouldn't make it to the US until later in the week at the earliest.

According to Chinese friends Moon Festival is similar to our Thanksgiving.

On another topic, last night I went to a Mt Adams Community Life sub-committee meeting at the Bar & Grill. Topics included recapping Cinema in the City (a success), Halloween on the Hill (new plans which sound fun) and the website. About 14 people attended and man am I impressed with some new neighbors (less than 1 year on the hill) and their level of involvement.

Today we all received a preliminary copy of the Halloween on the Hill Flyer along with map of the candy corners: NEW THIS YEAR ... Trick-or-Treating made easy! Be sure to hit all the Corner Candy Distribution Sites along Paradrome, Hatch and Pavillion Streets. Trick-or Treat is from 6:00-8:00 om and the party continues at TAP & Go! Parade begins at 5:30 on Guido Street and end with Costume Contest at Monk Fountain. Contest ages: 0-2; 3-6; 6-12; 13 and up. The Candy Corners have themes too: Pirates (Paradrome & Wareham), Fairy Tales (Wareham & Hatch), Superheros (Bevedere and Hatch), Vampires (Fuller & Hatch), Witches and Warlocks (Carney & Hatch), Gangsters & Flappers (Pavillion and Fuller) and Famous Entertainers (St Gregory and Jerome).

Firmstone Manor Septemeber 17 and 18th, 2010

2010-09-20T05:51:00.000-07:00

The quote at the bottom of this sign: " Life is made of ever so many partings melded together." Charles Dickens Great Expectations

This picture in front of Firmstone with Barbara and her dogs China and Snoopa + Spot (the white puppy) she was watching this weekend. China is named for the country because it is one of her favorites. And of course we talked about our impending adoption. Barbara has only owned this house for 8 years and oh my gosh does she have an interesting story. Starting with the fact she was born in a POW camp in Germany. Buying this inn and restoring it is her retirement job from an exciting but stressful government career. She is an amazing cook and oh my gosh the renovations she has accomplished.

At this point you still are not even in the house yet.

The front hall.

The dining room. Really terrific stencils and nothing is overdone like in so many Victorians.

Quirky solarium hot air balloon hanging from the fan in the solarium.

Gazebo off the solarium. There was a wedding the day before we arrived and one next week too.

Barbara made all the drapes and they are just stunning!

Blurry picture going upstairs but it shows the interesting ceiling.

On the railing at the top of the first set of stairs.

View of the room we stayed in, the Firmstone, from the bed.

And looking up.

And this picture, from the bathroom in our our, shows some of the creativity used in this renovation. See the drapes...

... they are covering a pipe in the corner.

And this picture is a random room on our floor which fortunately the door was wide open.

Amazing ceiling!

Odyssey Race in Virginia

2010-09-20T04:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend we traveled to Virginia to run in a trail race in Douthat State Park. Proceeds from the race benefit veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since the park books up a year in advance and we only decided to sign up for this 11 weeks ago we stayed just outside the park at The Firmstone Manor, which was so wonderful it needed a separate blog entry.

We arrived at Firmstone Manor around 3:00 Friday, met Barbara and her dogs China and Snoopa and then went to the park to check it out a little and check in for the race at 5PM at the Discovery Center.

This is the Boy Scout fire pit in the Discovery Center area which was also the start and finish for the race. Douthat seems to be particularly kid friendly with lots of monthly activities for children. We think we may stay here for future trips to Richmond after Audrey comes home.

This picture shows the first 2oo feet for all the races. And it is really deceptive in illustrating what any of the courses were like since the trails were hardly flat and much more narrow.

This picture better illustrates what the trails were like. Both of us were thought it was more difficult than we had anticipated.

We did not see this salamander but apparently they have them.

They also have fishing areas designated just for children under 12.

John's race started 1 1/2 hours before mine. So after he took off I had to take my tote bag back to the car. On the way I saw a woman wipe out on one of a trail. Although I did not bandage her up I think in a way my first aid training may have helped. I was the first one on the scene, got help before I could get back from our car with our First Aid bag and I recognized she was going in to shock (she started shaking) and yet did not freak out. Her knee that was cut the deepest was also the one she had knee replacement surgery on as well.

Minutes before my race started I learned that the 5 mile route was actually 5 1/2 miles. I ran it in in 1 hour and 9 minutes. I listened to my China CD candidates playlist on my ipod while I ran. Ironically the song Celebrate Me Home came on just when I got to the lake which was the last 1/2 mile of my race. John finished in 3 hours and his race was also longer than a 1/2 marathon. The other 2 races were marathon and ultra marathon (40 miles) and about 160 total participants.

Lunch with the Reds and the Nicolas Family

2010-09-17T04:57:00.000-07:00

So we thought it was fun to have lunch with some of the young players for the Reds this week.

The tall guy on my right is Logan Ondrusik. The guy on John's left is Chris Valaika.

And the we found out (via email and then C-Span) that President Obama visited the Nicolas' this past week. Amazing.

Almost there

2010-09-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

We are in our 10th week of training for the race this Saturday in Douthat State Park. John is running a half marathon and I'm running 5 miles. The plan right now is to leave early enough Friday so we have enough time to see the park.

And possibly a bit of what we are in for on Saturday. The elevation is our biggest concern.

Douthat is supposed to be beautiful and somewhat historic as well.

Then there is the mystery of our B&B, the Firmstone. I'm thinking it will be great or creepy.

We are also getting so close to our referral too! At the very least we expect to hear rumors this week. Last week I spoke to Betty, our international coordinator, and she assured me she knows how to reach us via cell phone. It has been an interesting couple of weeks relative to our adoption and the state of Ohio. This included emailing a request to Governor Ted Strickland. I asked him if he could request our criminal background check (b/c this wait is so long & our last one expired) be processed in less than the quoted 95 days. It was done in less than 2 weeks. I sent emails to everyone which also resulted in one member of congress even calling the consulate in Guangzhou. Which was overkill.

We have also re-connected with the IAC and pre-paid for Dr Staat to expedite review of our referral so we can tell our family as soon as possible. Then we will let the neighbors know and plan a referral party.

Completely off topic ....this picture is of the roses I cut at 987 this morning after I snaked the upstairs apartment's tub. I did not have time to trim the thorns and leaves and get to work at a decent time so I just shoved them in this vase on my way out the door. It's different but I kinda like it. And they smell wonderful.

The Paper Boy

2010-09-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

None of these pictures do it justice but this stunning painting is hanging in our 3rd floor stairwell as of tonight. We are just "trying in on" until the end of the year ... but hopefully we will make this it's permanent home.

The setting is from the Covington, KY side of the Roebling bridge on a foggy morning from a turn of the century paper boy view.

Labor Day 2010

2010-09-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend the weather has been unbelievably nice. Unfortunately, for me, I had to work all day Saturday as we are receiving holiday merchandise on top of regular fall fill ins and a huge Fall bulb order. Fortunately, for me, one of my co-workers brought 2 of her 3 daughters in to work on these orders. She said the 3rd daughter would come in Monday to finish. This is not the first time they have helped me out and I hope to buy all of them a thank you gift when we are in China. These next 2 pictures of close ups of Rudbeckia and Pansy in our window boxes off the kitchen.

Our Monday morning spinning class was cancelled because of Labor Day but we went to the gym to work out anyhow. We have just 2 weeks before the Douthat Race (John = 1/2 marathon and a 5 mile for me).

So after the gym we swung by the new neighborhood coffee shop, Bowtie Cafe. Yeah the coffee is good! This cafe seems to have a lot of potential to be an interesting place.

Then we worked in the garden. This next picture was taken after John cut the grass and I sucked up the leaves with the leaf blower. I also cleared the bed with the spent Rudbeckia. It's a little early to do this but I did it just in case we have a referral party this month. I think this party will more likely happen in October.

Here are some of the fall bulbs I have purchased from Krohn on Saturday. I'm kinda bored with Apeldorn tulips and only planting odd tulips species from now on. This red one is Couleur Cardinal. I also bought this Sorbet blend.

And then I'm going to plant these naturalizing tulips where the Allium were next to the lamppost.

These dwarf Iris, Harmony, bloom really early in spring and were good for us so I bought them again. I will plant these in front of the tulip beds.

For the front ceramic pots I bought these Heavenly blends of Hyacinth, daffodils and muscari. I've got one more ceramic pot to buy a blend for in the courtyard.

Cheetah 5K @ Zoo

2010-09-05T06:31:00.000-07:00

This morning I ran the Cheetah 5K . This was my first race in decades. I've been getting ready for this race for awhile but was concerned I was not ready for the hills. And they were tough. But I'm happy with my time. Which was 30.25 minutes.

I really liked my cool number.

Next race, with significantly more hills, in 2 weeks in Virginia is a 5 Mile trail run.

CPR and First Aid Class

2010-09-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Today I completed Infant, Child & Adult CPR/ AED and First Aid courses and certification. It was a good class and I am glad I completed ... just hope I never have to use this knowledge. They gave us these laminated Skills Cards which the Red Cross instructor told us can be helpful if someone reads while another person performs in case you are freaking out. One of the things I learned is the average 911 emergency arrival time is 8 - 10 minutes. This class taught how to handle the emergency until the professionals arrive. I'm thinking about taking Common Childhood Illnesses from the Red Cross in October. Fortunately this class is geographically more desirable as it is in Hyde Park. The classes I just completed were in the northern suburbs. RQ thinks we might hear early rumors next week. We are braced for a 2 day batch ...

Old friends

2010-08-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

This past week I had one of those experiences when you get together with an old friend you haven't seen in a long time and it is like no time has passed. Sweet. Last Thursday morning I answered the phone thinking it was a call for John as the caller id showed a California number. After a little hesitation the voice on the other end said "bertie do you know who this is?" Well I didn't but it had been over a decade since we talked. It was one of my favorite shoe vendors of all times. Brad Finn. We used to call him the Cary Grant of the shoe industry because he is just the most charming man. Ray and I worked with him when we were working for Mercantile (which for me was 1992-1999). We had a lot of fun back thenand made a lot of money for our respective companies. So when he called Brad was in Louisville and driving through Cincinnati on his way to DSW in Columbus and had time for coffee or lunch. I asked if he wanted to come to our house for lunch (which as luck would have it was extra clean since we had a homestudy update interview the previous day) and that I would call Ray to see if he was available. Ray was off Thursday so it worked out perfect. Plus this way Brad got to meet John. Brad is now a grandfather to 2 adorable children (boy and girl) from Ethiopia. It was really special to catch up after so long. I took a longer than usual lunch but was able to make up for it by going in Saturday. Update: Today (9/2/10) John and I received a thank you note from Brad. So sweet. Also rumors today are that CCAA is matching right now!

Just 3 days left

2010-08-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

From our agency's website: August 17, 2010 CCAA updated their website to show the most recent referrals went for families with LIDs of May 15,2006. Since FTIA's next LID group isn't until May 16, 2006. This makes the current wait time approximately 51 months from time of LID to time of referral. FTIA's next group of LID: 5/16/2006 & 5/18/2006.

Friday the 13 in Mt Adams

2010-08-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

Tonight while we walked up to Mt Adams Deli to order a pizza we heard and then saw this bag piper walking up and down St Gregory. Neil Bortz has hired a piper to play Friday nights in the summer and it is quite enjoyable. Tonight is also the last movie night at Seasongood, movie is Wait Until Dark. John and I are skipping as it is too dang humid.

Here is the sign for Bowtie Cafe a coffee shop, etc which is opening next week. One of the owners is a Bengal linebacker whose name is Dhani Jones. Dhani also lives in the neighborhood, has some travel show and is Ambassador for Project Smile.

A picture of the Mt Adams Deli. While John's pizza was being made we went up to the Wine Bar.

And then after we went back to pickup his pizza... there was Dhani Jones (back shorts, grey shirt). I'm pretty excited for this shop and hope the coffee is good!

Sounds to Words Class

2010-08-13T04:40:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to another IAC class at Children's Hospital. This one was Sounds to Words: Making the Connection. Helping Your Preschooler Develop Pre-Literacy Skills. Both John and I thought it was a really great class. This one was taught by Sister Sue who was hired by the IAC last November to be their School Intervention Coordinator. The IAC was able to fund hiring Sister Sue with money raised at the Passport to Forever fundraiser last year. It is pretty cool the IAC choose to add this position and as far as anyone can tell Cincinnati's IAC is the only one in the country that has this kind of position. She does not like to call herself a school advocate because that title generally relates to issues involving a lawsuit. The only way Sister Sue seemed a little not nun-like was in her confidence in her ability to get schools to make changes so children get what they need to learn. John and I felt we both learned a lot. She covered current research on reading development. What skills children need to develop in order to read and which skills have proven to increase probability of enjoying reading. She also covered tools, many free and online, that help preschooler develop pre-reading skills. Plus we actually got to know who she is in case we need to hire her in the future. Also interesting were the other families we met in the class last night. It was a really small group just 3 other people. One couple from Dayton have a 5 year old son adopted from Jamaica whose name is Javon and sounds like a really cool kid. The other one was a father, lives in Lebanon, mother was at home with their sick 2 1/2 year old daughter adopted from Taiwan named Annaleise (or something like that). They were not surprised when I told them I had never met anyone with children from either of these countries. Javon's parents said they adopted him because of mission trips they took to Jamaica and it is an understatement to say it was not easy. A little heartbreaking too. Annaleis's dad said Taiwan is currently shut down but he said they expect it will open up again in the next year. They had almost exact opposite concerns for their children, gave interesting perspective and clearly adore their children. Javon's parents, who are also parents to bio kids in the 20's and 30's, said their adoption was the best decision they ever made. Sister Sue asked them to give us advice. Javon's dad said the highs you will experience will be incredible and so will the lows.

Rain barrels are installed in our garden

2010-08-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

We bought this 55 gallon rain barrel, recycled pickle barrel at Park & Vine last week for $100. Botanics Joe installed it over the weekend. So here's how our new water collection system works: The runoff from the roof travels down our newly installed downspout to this 100 gallon water tank under the steps. On a side note that "great stuff" I used to plug the holes in the stone wall to prevent carpenter bees from residing there looks terrible. I really have to do something about that before fall.

The overflow from the 100 gallon tank then runs through this tube attached to the fence and down to the pickle barrel. We think we will paint leaves on the barrel. Maybe next spring.

And we will put a soaker hose off the pickle barrel to empty into the hosta bed.

Cooking for Baby

2010-08-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

Last month I bought this cookbook based on some really terrific reviews. Some of the reviews that were particularly appealing to me : "lots of ideas", "simplicity of recipes" (yeah! ... I am not a cook nor do I particularly enjoy cooking) and it also provides quantity recipes with freezing instructions. This book covers from birth - 7.

Right now the rumors are out there that we might hear about referrals this week. We are cautiously optimistic but keep thinking it will be next month. Oh it would be lovely to be caught off guard and need to step up our preparations.

So with all this in mind I bought the following items online this morning before church.

These labels stay on plastic but the writing (soy based) comes off in the dishwasher. Sounds a little too good to be true but it also was not terribly expensive.

Which is not true about the other thing I looked into this morning, business class flights to China. They are around $3600 each but oh do they look like they are worth it. I don't know if we could get them on the flight home but I'm still going to pursue this for the flight over.

John's Birthday 2010

2010-08-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

Today I bought playhouse tickets for John's birthday. Although I don't think he reads my blog I'll publish after his birthday. Anyhow, here are the shows I purchased tickets for:

In early September we are going to see High.

PIP synopsis:

Movie and stage actress Kathleen Turner stars in this extraordinary world premiere that opens on Broadway after its run in Cincinnati. Ms. Turner plays the tough-talking and formerly hard-drinking Sister Jamison Connelly. Working in a church-sponsored rehab center, she reluctantly agrees to sponsor a defiant 19-year-old drug user and soon becomes convinced he is keeping a secret that is vital to his recovery. As she struggles to unlock the mystery, she begins to question her own beliefs. This powerful and gripping adult drama explores truth, forgiveness, redemption and the real courage it takes to change."

Ironically, my Cincinnati cousin texted me this evening to see if John and I wanted to see this play with her, her boyfriend and her mom. We may try to go to dinner before the play or somewhere afterwards with them.

At the end of September we have tickets to The Understudy.

This play was written by a local author, Theresa Rebeck and here the synopsis:

bitingly witty and entertaining look behind the scene of the acting world. The understudy gets no respect. The stressed-out stage manager wants him fired. The part he wants is being played by a second-tier action movie star (paid only $2.3 million per picture!) trying to be a "real actor." Their madcap rehearsal exposes all that's brilliant and ridiculous about what really goes on backstage.

Towards the end of October we have tickets to see You Can't Take It With You:

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this American comedy is pure fun. Combine the delightfully eccentric Sycamore family and their daughter Alice with her fiance Tony and his rich, straight-laced parents. Add in a dinner party on the wrong night, and the result is a wildly funny clash of family values in which fireworks erupt - literally! A light-hearted romp about love, family and what's really important in life.

So I believe we will see all of these plays before we travel to China. Right now I think we will get our referral in September, John thinks October, and I bet we travel in November while he's thinking December.
The 4th play we have tickets for (that I won at movie night) are for The Piano Teacher on Friday February 18, 2011. We can always trade these or give them away if think it is too soon for a babysitter. Anyhow here is the description:
The sweet, cookie-loving Mrs. K is the perfect picture of a caring grandmotherly piano teacher. When she decides to look up some of her old students, Mrs K unleashes a dark secret she can't quite understand. Featuring award-winning actress Dale Hodges in a tour-de-force role as the unwitting Mrs K, this cunning play artfully blends past and present to explore the mystery and unpredictability of memory and the human heart.
"An effective chiller, Julia Cho (playwright)has constructed her play with a keen sense of suspense."
The last play we have tickets for is The Pavilion.

Synopsis: Twenty years ago, Peter and Kari were the perfect couple - high school sweethearts and very much in love. When Kari got pregnant, a panicked Peter fled town. Now, at their high school reunion, Peter wants to win her back. He's still in love with her, but ... is she still in love with him? As the night progresses, Peter and Kari spin a tale of what-might-have-been with what-could-be. By turns poetic and comic, romantic and philosophical, The Pavilion has been hailed by critics as "an Our Town for our time."

I bought the seats early so we could get seats with ample leg room for him.

I also bought him some travel accessories (ones he told me he wanted) as well as a Reds video he wanted and a Red 2010 stat book.

There is a baby in our crib!

2010-07-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

She's not our baby.

But it was nice to see our crib in use.

This cute baby is the 10 month old daughter of my niece who along with another niece came to visit this week.

She is such an easy going baby as the flash probably was a little startling but fortunately A did not complain. I was pretty excited about seeing what a baby looked like in our crib and didn't think about the flash.

The next couple were taken with my phone right before we left for the Zoo.

It was warm and although the parking lot was packed when we arrived around 2 the zoo was certainly not too crowded. Of course most of the animals were fairly lethargic at this hour but the Zoo is always entertaining.

One of the parrots outside the reptile house.

The new silverback gorilla who according to the exhibit sign was sitting in his favorite spot ... by the waterfall.

There was only 1 polar bear out when we were there.

A (being held by her Aunt K) seemed to like the petting zoo the best. Specifically one of the goats.

That is one friendly goat too.

Baby A and her Aunt K in our living room. This picture was taken the morning we were heading out to Jungle Jim's which is a unique mega grocery store on the north side of Cincinnati. Both of my nieces like to cook, have worked/ currently work in a grocery store and had heard about this store so they wanted to see it. Although we did not see them, the History Channel was there the day we went to Jungle Jim's. They were filming for a segment that will air October 29th on Modern Marvels. Besides being huge (285,000 sq ft floorspace which is 6 1/2 acres!) and it is loaded with quirk. For example, below are some pictures of the entrance to their "award winning" to their bathrooms.

Between the Men's and Women's "Rumpke" door entrances is an "exact copy of Henry VIII's 16th century privy reconstructed from historical photos, feel free to snap your photos sitting on the most private seat of Henry VIII's."

A & K in the "Sherwood Forest" section which is a part of the huge international zone. A is looking up at Robin Hood's stash in the ceiling (see below).

And here are some sweet pictures of John and A. The funny thing is how much A looks like John's sister when she was a baby.

Blue eyed cuties.

14 DAYS!

2010-07-14T05:41:00.000-07:00

There are 14 less days in front of our dossier at the CCAA waiting to be matched! Now we only have 6 days in front us.

We took off more days than are left!

Technically they only matched 5 dossier day because 4 of those days were weekend and the other 5 were a holiday (Golden Week) in 2006. So the next referral(s) could have a lot of dossiers to match for ones received during the holiday. RQ took an LID poll which she will be analyzing and posting soon which should be interesting. She is estimating approximately 50% attrition rate. John and I are trying to maintain cautious optimism but there is no way to not be encouraged. My parents are following more closer now. Here is the entire conversation I had with my dad when I called with this news:

ME: Dad, do you have your calendar?

DAD: No hold on it's in the kitchen.

DAD: ok

ME: Mark off to May 10

DAD: Oh wow. That is really big.

Here are some pictures of dossiers waiting at the CCAA.

The links left until our LID.

Here it is again the before July referral shot. The blue links were April 27-30. We were only expecting CCAA to finish April this month.

But the matched through May 10, 2006. I remember what I did on that date. It was the day I mailed our finally completed dossier to FTIA. I can still remember just feeling relieved walking out of Kinko's that day. Our dossier was then DTC (date to China) on 5-12-2006 and LID on 5-18-06.

Right now I am so busy with work at Krohn (inventory recaps, POS downloads and holiday buys as well as an apartment turnover on the 25th. Additionally our fingerprints expires next week on the 27th and our I171H on December 12. USCIS has once again changed I171H renewal process so I've been on the phone with social workers quite a bit as well. It's ok to let your fingerprints expire but not ok to let your I-171H expire and we just don't have any way to assure our travel dates so we are renewing.

We registered for Odyssey Trail Running Rampage Half Marathon today

2010-07-02T11:20:00.000-07:00

John is going to run the half marathon and I will be running the 5 mile race. We have 11 weeks to train and have posted a copy of Runner's World 10 week half-marathon training program to the front of our refrigerator. A description of this race from their website:

Run along a series of trails that take runners through this beautifully scenic wooded hills and highlands of Virginia's Douthat State Park, set in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains in the western part of the state... with steep uphills and fast downhills as well as stretches that run along creeks and waterfalls, and take the field of runners along brief stretches through Rhododendron-covered tunnels that unfold along the trails inside the 4,493-acre park.

Douthat State Park is on the National Register of Historic Places because of the role it's design played in the development of parks nationwide. It is one of Virginia's original six parks and it opened on June 15, 1936. The establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), during FDR's administration, provided the estimated 600 men who lived here and developed this park between 1933 and 1942. Since reservations for lodging in the park book up 6 months in advance, this year being no exception and the fact we made these plans at lunch today, we made reservations at a nearby B&B. We are staying at Firmstone Maanor in Longdale Furnace which is 13 miles from the park. We have never been to this town but drive past it when we go to Richmond. This picture below (c. 1890) is of the house from the front gates. The house was completed in 1873, a year before our home.

A little history from the B&B website:

Longdale Furnace played a significant role in the development of industry in the South, the Civil War, the development of the railroad and even shipbuilding.

Harry Firmstone This quiet mysterious bachelor who seemed to be more suited to creating magnificent gardens than running iron work changed Longdale from a tiny hamlet with a couple of hundred residents to a town of 5,000 in the late 1800's.

Shiploads of materials and furnishings were brought over from England to build Firmstone Manor. The mansion had 23 rooms, a carriage house, a greenhouse, gazebos, several cupolas, even a swimming pool. Flower and vegetable gardens were surrounded by acres of perfectly kept lawns. 163 varieties (of trees) were documented, 8 gardeners were employed and the mules used for cutting the lawn wore felt boots so not to leave marks on the lawns.

The front of the house.

An upstairs landing.

And this is the room I reserved for us called "The Firmstone". The furniture is original and supposedly was Harry's bedroom.

We have a crib in our home!

2010-07-01T05:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at noon the crib was delivered.

It was heavy (160 lbs) so we asked the driver to leave it in the alley and we brought it up in pieces.

But it was really easy to put together. I did it as John was working.

It took only 12 screws and it was assembled.

Ta da! Placed this way we can see baby in bed and vice versa.

Based on seeing the crib in this room I came up with a new plan for clothes storage yesterday. A somewhat crafty project which at this point I'm not sure will work at this point. Our plan is try to keep the room decor minimal. This was recommended in our IAC (int'l adoption center) that we took at CCHMC (Cin. Children's Hospital Medical Center). Dr. Joy said when a kid has lived in an institution like an orphanage they can become easily over stimulated from too many things. I remember Dr. Joy saying many kids who lived in orphanages for awhile find mobiles really disturbing.

One of the 3 boxes delivered.

This crib was made in another country where I would like to adopt a child.

Last night was Mt Adams 1st "Cinema in the City" of this season

2010-06-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

The 2nd summer movie night series started tonight in our neighborhood. These are free movies that are shown at Seasongood Pavillion. The Park Board donates the space and neighborhood Civic Assoc secured about 16 sponsors.

We were fortunate that the humidity was considerably lower last night.

In my opinion this is the best movie of this year's series. The other 2 are: American Graffiti (1973) on Thursday July 22 and Wait Until Dark (1967) on Friday August 13th.

After dinner we walked up to Celestial so I could pull money from the 5/3 atm to buy raffle tickets at the movie. While there we saw that the adjacent Rookwood's deck construction has progressed nicely.

The design looks contemporary but still reflective of the history of this building.

The architectural firm is the same company as the architect who designed "Casablanca", the house adjacent to our garden. There is some rich history about that house too but I don't think it is appropriate for a public blog, even an unknown one.

From Celestial St we walked the 4 blocks down Ida Street to Seasongood Pavillion where the movies are shown. This next picture of movie night @ Seasongood is from last year as I did not take many pictures this year.

First thing we did when we arrived was purchase raffle tickets and pool passes. I bought 16 raffle tickets for $20 (and I was a winner!) and John bought our $10 each pool passes.

A little history about the pool: Mt Adams pool is managed by the Cincinnati Recreation Commission. The CRC like every division of the City of Cincinnati is feeling the pinch of budget cuts. Specifically CRC is under pressure to close pools and rec centers. In the last several years the Mt. Adams Moms have taken an active and so far successful role to organize our neighborhood in efforts to save the pool. In fact the Mt Adams Civic Association is trying to raise funds to re-model the pool house to use it as a community center.

This next picture is probably 5-6 years old. Anyhow the kid in the yellow shirt, Jack F. was last night's raffle announcer. When he called my winning Playhouse tickets I guess I concealed my excitement too much as Jack announced I should show a little more enthusiam as I walked to the stage to get the tickets. The other raffle prizes were Reds tickets (we have 20 game pkg), fishing lessons (I don't even know anyone to give this too) or a big screen tv (same as the fishing lessons).

The last time I went to the Mt Adams pool was July 17,1999. I remember because it was the day JFK Jr. died. I heard this news at the pool when I took visiting nieces and nephews there. By the way I also remember these nieces and nephew were unimpressed with the shallow pool but they were also not toddlers.

Although we have bought pool passes for the last 6 years we have never used itin that time. We fully expect that to change next summer. Along those lines here are a couple of pictures from the CRC's pamphlet which features Asian kids on the cover and index.

And that $10 pass buys access to a lot of rec centers and pools in town. So the movie started about 9PM. I've seen it before but for me it was fun to watch again for the scenery (French Alps and Paris), the clothes (Givenchy) and the 2 main characters.

Love the 3/4 length with gloves and the many pill box hats she wore as well. This movie came out in 1963.

Walter Mathau, James Coburn and George Kennedy were also in this movie.

Picture #3-5 were from Charade.

Hike around East Fork Lake

2010-06-20T16:54:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday John and I drove out to East Fork Lake to hike the trail he is going to run in a race next month. Below is a picture of the shelter built in 2008 in memory of Matt Maupin. Also a picture of Matt Maupin who died at age 21. For most Cincinnatians he is the face of the soldiers killed in the Iraq war. He was captured after his convoy was hit by rocket propelled grenades in 2004. His parents kept his missing status in the press and a huge yellow ribbon campaign in his name developed all over town. His body was recovered in 2008. This shelter was built by the local community and his high school friends that same year.

An Eastern Box turtle that was the path we were hiking.

You can't see it in this picture but a B-52 flew overheard while we were on this 2.5 hour hike. Lunken airport offers these flights to the general public ... something John is interested in doing in the future. This is the type of plane his father flew in when he was surveying in Europe after WWII. This year we gave each other Mother/Father's Day cards. Or more accurately "last one without baby" cards.

Our new patio

2010-06-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

Update Thursday June 24, 2010: I did not think the landscapers would be back until the water barrel was delivered, but I was wrong. When John got home from his run this morning he told me "the boys are back". I immediately walked out to our back deck and was surprised to see the edging had been installed!

They also leveled the space under the steps where this water "barrel" will be installed.

Update Monday June 21, 2010: The patio furniture was delivered this morning! This will make it slightly more awkward to apply the sealer but not a big deal.

Over the weekend I bought this clock which also tracks temperature and humidity.

I hung the clock this morning as well as filled in the holes on our stone foundation with "great stuff foam". The landscapers pointed out that we have carpenter bees burrowing in this wall.

It doesn't look pretty but we will sand down and someday get our whole house tuck pointed. I kinda felt bad for the bees trying to get back in, possibly for their babies. May be risking bad karma but it certainly helps protect my home.

The before picture (less the rotted out railroad tie bed borders).

First the layer of limestone mix was added for weed prevention.

John and I decided to go patio furniture shopping at this point. First we went to Frontgate Outlet and then Watson's. Surprisingly, we found what we wanted at the 2nd stop.

The name of this set is Como, made by Parker Jones. We like it because it seems like it will compliment our deck railings and patio "street" light in both style and color. Oh and the fact it is affordable and low maintenance was good too.

The manufacturer's description of this set is "timeless blend of yesterday and today, retro and contemporary". But what sealed the deal for us is the fact the chairs are stackable.

We delayed delivery for one week to insure the landscapers are finished. Next is a picture of how far they were the day we made the above purchase.

The landscapers laying the pavers on top of the leveled sand.

Pavers set ready for edgers to be set and sealer applied.

We are happy with the way the tumbled bricks add an antique look. We also like the pattern the different sizes form.

A 100-gallon rain water barrel is going to be installed under the steps. Overflow will still be piped underground as apparently 100 gallons tank can fill up quickly from roof run-off.

It was nice the landscapers could use the pet door to run electricity from the basement.

We had the pet door installed in May 2007 for Lucy. She didn't mind wearing the door sensor (blue thing on her collar) but refused to use the door. Lucy expected us to open doors for her. She was not shy so letting us know when she wanted out was no problem for her.

I found it so odd she would let you hang anything off her neck. Man do we miss that quirky cat.

While the landscapers were here for the patio they also replaced the perennial/ vegetable bed tier! Yeah no more pea gravel (like walking on marbles). The stone edging is a also a huge improvement over the metal border kept lifting.

A big reason we did this project now is because we still rent the apartment on the first floor and can take 1/3 of the cost off in taxes as improvement for rental property. We think we will keep renting the 1st floor apartment for the next couple of years but just don't know how adding a baby to our home might change that plan. This is also the reason I want to re-model the first floor bedroom in the next couple of years.

Ordered a crib today

2010-06-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

Today I ordered this 4 in one convertible crib. It should be delivered at the end of the month. A convertible crib was something we knew should be important as our baby could be 18 months + by the time she/ he comes home. This last referral there were quite a few boys referred and at least one blog I read the parents were surprised and had to redecorate their nursery. Ironically I received 2 monogrammed bibs the day last referrals came out. I still only have a hat box of clothes which seems a good plan for now. So here is the crib:

Close up picture of the beadboard. We have a lot of beadboard on the 3rd floor so this looks planned. I'll buy the changing table, and hopefully the armoire, if I like the crib. Almost certainly I'll replace these knobs.

Today we attended SCPA's Open House

2010-06-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

This morning John ran in the Redlegs 5K and I worked in the garden. We had talked about walking downtown to SCPA (School for Creative and Performing Arts) open house but did not have enough time and almost skipped it entirely. I'm so glad we did not. What a fascinating building and interesting school. SCPA is a magnet arts school and part of the CPS (Cincinnati Public Schools). This aerial shot is from Wikipedia's page on the school. Wikipedia describes SCPA as "one of the oldest and most prestigious art schools in the US". According to this site there are about 350 art schools in the country but this is the first one to "incorporate full range of art studies with complete college-preparatory academic program for elementary through High School." The building is 5 stories and takes up an entire block of Central Parkway. The L shape building has mostly academic classrooms in one wing and arts in the other. The circle at the point of the L are where the theatres are located. This building has 3 theatres. The smallest one, seats 120, is in the basement is called the "Black Box". The biggest theatre seats 750 and has a hydraulic lift for the orchestra pit. The next biggest theatre seats 350 and has state of the art acoustics. Interestingly the theatres seat more than their gym. A little history about this school. Pictured below is building SCPA is moving from which is on Sycamore Street. The school almost closed in 1996 after an unsolved arson and other personnel scandals. Erich Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops Maestro, is credited with working with the community to build and finance this school in it's new location. Over $31 million was raised in private contributions and the building is named for the late Erich Kunzel who died of cancer in September 2009. Kunzel wanted to bring SCPA to Over-the-Rhine to help re-vitalize the city. The school originated in 1973 in this building on St Gregory Street in Mt Adams. This is the old Mt Adams Public School which now is residential condos.

SCPA's largest theater (I copied from their site.)

The Lunchroom.

View from the 2nd floor looking down to lobby entrance.

These student areas are in the corner of the L on each floor. The gymnasium.

Pictures from the art rooms.

One of the upper class man dance studios.

Photo of student dancers.

Since I finally asked if I could take pictures half way through the tour I wanted to go back to the Kindergarten rooms to get a few pictures before we left.

The staff was getting ready to lock up but a very nice man let us look around a few minutes.

The playground for the Kindergartners and 1st graders. That is Carew Tower in the background. Turns out the guy that let us take another peek was the principal, Mr Flowers. Really nice guy who told us they have 1350 students. In order to get your pre-schooler enrolled you need to apply a year in advance and there is an interview process. I read online that of the 1700 who apply approximately 60% will be asked to audition and about 250-275 ultimately accepted. The school is free to CPS students but open to students outside the city. If you live outside the city tuition in 2007 was $6400 in state and $9654 out of state. Approximately 10% of the students are tuition paid and some are international.

Below is a picture of the kindergarten room. These rooms have their own access to the playground and bathrooms in the classrooms. You can also see the camera in the middle of the room (in all classrooms) which is monitored in school main office.

The lowered sink to accommodate little kids.

This is a picture of the Gift Shop which apparently is run by Parent Volunteers who also have a dedicated meeting space adjacent to the store. It seemed like there was a lot of parental and we had at least one grandparent tour gude who was so proud of her family's connection with SCPA.

The Lobby.

Just outside the front doors looking down Central Parkway at Kroger Corporate Headquarters.

The temporary sign for the building name.

SCPA is also a significant partner for the World Choir Games which are going to be held in Cincinnati in July 2012. The event is the largest choir competition in the world and was formerly known as the Choir Olympics. It is held every 2 years for 2 weeks. Over 5,000 choirs from 90 countries compete in 300 events. Over 1/2 of the 200,000 + participants are children and young people under 25. This will be the first time the World Choir Games is held in the United States. The next host is Shaoxing, China July 15 - 26, 2010.

Planting sun perennials today

2010-05-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

The clay soil in our front patio bed clay soil was removed and replaced this week. All we needed to do was buy mushroom compost and some more sun perennials. So after we loaded up the uncompostable yard waste John and I headed out to Evans and Burger Farms. We ended up making 2 trips as we bought 8 bags of mushroom compost, 9 bags of pine fine mulch and:

3 tomato plants
9 Salvia Sensation Rose
3 Echinacea Pink Double Delight
5 'Alaska' Shasta Daisy

Burger Farms & Garden Center entrance.

The tomato props we bought. On our 2nd trip we found these tomato props which we like a whole lot more than the bamboo ones we bought on the 1st trip. Particularly like that these wrought iron ones finials match our fence finials.

The final product planted. We were too tired and hungry to spread the pine mulch today so we plan to do that tomorrow.

In March I had purchased 6 Dinnerplate Dahlia's and 6 Peonies.

We planted the Dahlia's in and around the blue pots.

The Peonies.

These may take a couple of years to bloom but are supposed to be relatively easy care.

The Echinacea (or Coneflower) were a little pricey but they are doubles and have long lasting pom-pom like flowers.

Finally we bought these tall (approx 36")Shasta Daisy which we planted against the house.

View from the 2nd floor bedroom.

Update: Sunday morning May 29, 2010

I got up early this morning to mulch thr front perennial bed, do 2 loads of laundry, update this blog and now I'm going to walk to Krohn to input yesterday's sales #'s. The Gift shop has beat India (last year's Butterfly Show) and a good chance of exceeding China (2 years ago)! Plans for the rest of the day include: church, then off to Rahn's for windowbox flowers (the bulbs I planted last fall were a complete failure) and then a Memoiral party this afternoon. My cousin Barb (who moved to Cincinnati, got an invitation (from a patient) to a big party @ Highland Towers and the hostess told her she could bring us too.

Celebrating Birthmothers

2010-05-01T17:01:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I attended an adoption event with this local group. It was touching. This annual event seems a good way in the future to honor my child's birthmother. It was also thought provoking in several ways ... including one that I find surprising about myself. Here is how today's event was described:

Cincinnati area network of families touched by adoption offers a free and open to the public event Saturday May 1 from 1 - 3 PM. Recognizing and honoring adult adoptees and their birth mothers, adoptive mothers, and birth and adoptive grandmothers.

What I also learned at this event was that since 1990 the Saturday before Mother's Day has been celebrated as Birth Mother's Day. It is meant to be a way for adoptees and adoptive families to honor birth mothers.

Patti, an adoption social worker with 20+ yr experience and adoptive mother, facilitated this event. She is quoted on the website and said at the beginning: "This event is to honor the triad of adoption: birthmothers, adoptive mothers and the adopted child". When I registered I let Patti know that I was a prospective adoptive parent. She surprised me how quickly she was able to guess the name of our homestudy social worker. I had read about this event in the paper and did not know this group was started by Adoption Connection, our homestudy agency. We do not know as much about Adoption Connection (they were recommended by our original HSSW Cheri) and are our 3rd agency due to consolidations and closings. The program did not get started until 1:30 to allow time for everyone to get there. After signing in at the registration table I joined the nearest table of women. Seated there were an adoptive mother and her 30 year old daughter who is also a birthmother and another woman who I never found out anything about. A few minutes after I joined their table the adult adoptee/birthmother asked me what my adoption story was. I did not go into much detail just stated the facts that we are close, expect to adopt this fall, have been waiting 4 years and when asked told them we were going to China. This is the part where I was surprised. First there was a slight gasp and somewhat stunned looks at my mention of the length of our wait. That part I am sure I am not exaggerating. I'm also fairly certain they were communicating why not domestic? This birth mother/adult adoptee (who btw is 30 years old) asked me "why I had not gone online to find a child to adopt". Then she passed me a picture of the daughter she gave up for adoption and told me about the child's (Emma) adoptive family as well as her own mother, by adoption, seated next to her. I told her Emma was beautiful (which was absolutely true) and basically said nothing else. There was no way I could have explained our adoption choices. The thing that surprised me was nothing said or implied offended me or even made me feel uncomfortable. That would not have been the case 4 years ago. I know I would have been fine at that table however Patti the facilitator must have picked up on something as she came over and said she wanted to introduce me to a few people. It was kind of her and I did get to meet some interesting women ... including a fascinating woman named Christine who adopted twice from China. So at 1:30 we (about 30 total) sat in a big semi-circle. The group consisted of about at least 5-6 birthmothers, adult adoptees and adoptive grandmothers each and the majority I would say were adoptive mothers. We raised hands to define the sub-group we were in and although technically I do not belong to any Christine, seated next to me, said that for as long as I've waited I should raise my hand. Also odds are our baby is born by now. The event started with poems being read from the programs we were given. Here is one example written by the mother of this child. My Little Baby

by Nada H.

I close my eyes and breathe you in

Enraptured by the touch

and the softness of your skin

Forever in my heart

A love so amazing

My little baby

You bless our lives through God's design

Before you were born, baby you were mine

And I can't imagine my life without you

Baby, mommy knows that one day

You're going to want to know

from where you came

A different kind of mommy

with a different name

She did the best she could do

Don't you ever doubt it

we can talk about it

You're going to have hurts

that I just cannot fix

With a there, there now

and your mamma's kiss

But my baby,

I can promise you this ...

I'll always be here for you.

I close my eyes and breathe you in

enraptured by the touch

and the softness of your skin

You're so amazing.

Following the poetry there was a votive candle ceremony. Then randomly people started telling their stories and pictures. The honesty was impressive. There were not many dry eyes in the room.

Sunrise this morning

2010-04-27T05:29:00.000-07:00

After Urban Iron class this morning I took this picture because this morning's sunrise was amazing. But since I took it with my phone, through a window reflecting the class lights and looking over a parking look it doesn't exactly prove this point. But the way the downtown buildings looked reminded me of one of the photo's we bought in Key West last month for the baby's room.

And relative to adoption... if the current trend continues the next set of referrals should come out next Monday.

Saturday walk in Spring Grove and the city

2010-04-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we went to Spring Grove, John to run the course for a race coming up soon and myself just to walk. Spring Grove is easily the prettiest cemetery I have ever seen. When I first moved to Cincinnati I thought it was so strange that people went to a cemetery for their wedding, graduation, etc pictures. But Spring Grove is different ...as well as historical. The landscape architect who designed it, Adolph Strauch (1822 - 1883) is buried here. It was somewhat of a fluke that he even came to Cincinnati but this city certainly benefited that he did . Strauch designed Mt Storm, parts of Eden Park and Spring Grove. His naturalistic style and rolling views were considered cutting edge at the time. I don't think he fared well with Park Board politics and left his position acrimoniously. But still he is buried here. There are many other famous people buried here including:

Salmon Portland Chase (1808-1873) US Senator, OH Governor, Cabinet Secretary during Lincoln's Administration, US Chief Justice
Powell Crosley (1886-1961) Cincinnati Red's Owner and automobile dealership owner
Andrew Erkenbrecher (1821-1885) Cincinnati Zoo founder
Bernard Kroger (1860-1938) Grocery store founder
Charles Fleishmann (1835-1897) Yeast manufacturer
William Procter (1801-1884) and James Norris Gamble (b1836-1932) founders of P&G

as well as many Civil War Generals and lots of baseball players.

Another famous person buried at Spring Grove is Nicholas Longworth (1783-1863). The thing that surprised me Longworth's headstone is that it isn't old and is relatively modest. This Nicholas Longworth (there were many with the same name in this family) was one of the wealthiest Americans in the 1860's as well as Cincinnati's first millionaire. When he died he left an estate worth $10M. He was many things in his lifetime, including lawyer, land owner and viticulturist. In 1830 he bought the Taft house on Pike Street and I believe this is where he lived while he cultivated his land today known as Mt Adams, one of his vineyards.

People are still buried in this cemetery today. Several years ago John and I took a walking tour and the docent said a mausoleum like the one in the background of this picture cost $1M.

Not a great picture but it was a sweet scene of a family feeding a swan.

Saturday I had a noon hair appointment downtown. It was a gorgeous day and I had time so I walked. This picture is of the bronze cast map at the top of Immaculata and also the route I took to walk downtown. You can't see it in this picture but it outlines in red the route the Catholics take on Good Friday when the "pray the steps".

The Taft Museum from Lytle Park. Starting May 9th (I was corrected in my comment attached)the Taft is free on Sunday's. This may be a plan for us after church this summer. Lytle Park look towards the new tallest building in Cincinnati, the Great American Building at Queen City Square. The "tiara" is supposed to be placed on this building next month. Supposedly the architect, Gyo Obata, got his tiara design inspiration from a photo of Diana, Princess of Wales. Total cost for this building is around $322M and over 1/2 of this 41 story building will be occupied by Great American Insurance Company. According to US Senator (and former OH Governor) George Voinivich (June 2008, Cincinnati Enquirer) this building will stimulate economic growth in our city and also guarantee people will want to move and stay here too. Well I hope so but to me that seems like a strange way to state this buildings importance and impact. Also kind odd timing considering what happened economically in the fall of 2008.

So back to my walk downtown and little bit of Cincinnati history. This blue door is the entrance to the Literary Club and is right across the street from Lytle Park on Fourth Street. It is believed to be the oldest literary club in the country in continuous existence.

The ship outside the Western-Southern building.

The University Club clock with the Reds stadium in the background. My appointment was at noon so I had some time to wander around downtown.

There were some tourist hiring the carriages. I am glad we have kept some of our skywalks but there has been a trend to get rid of them. Some people think they are unattractive. But if we hopefully get people to come downtown again I think we will like ways to move pedestrians around traffic again.

Here is a headline I saw on the street yesterday. It is also what I believe will be one of the things that will bring people, particularly younger, to Cincinnati and get them to stay. Oh, this has been divisive topic in our town but I will go on record (on my rarely read blog) as being all for it.

Mix of old and new architecture.

Irises on Baum Street on my way home.

And the goldfish bath plug I bought for Audrey from the Contemporary Art Center gift shop. I hope it doesn't creep her out but if it does we will use it in our bathroom.

I'm also thinking about buying it for the conservatory gift shop as we have some $ open with this manufacturer and resembles a koi which can certainly pass for Japanese themed product.

In the Garden this morning

2010-04-17T05:12:00.000-07:00

These sweet little pink tulips are almost in full bloom! The next picture is of the multiple tulips which I am anxious to see bloom too.

This morning I've decided to only plant the unusual tulips for next spring. So at the end of spring I'm deleting all the apeldorn's. The main reason is the apeldorns leaves are too big which stunts the muscari growth but also because they are a dime a dozen.

The Asiatic lilies really like this bed and have a nice long bloom period. That rotting old cross tie border is not long for our garden. Hopefully only a couple more months. Another Asiatic lily picture.

I love this shiny red tulip. I generally like the jewel tone color plants the best.

This morning I saw the first blooms coming in on the Lily of the Valley. I'm happy to see this plant spreading.

The azaleas are coming along nicely. Usually this plant is full bloom around Derby time.

I do not know why I like Solomon Seal but I do. It seems to be establishing itself well on the hosta slope.

What is this plant? It can't be some squirrel transplant because it is coming in in 3 strategic spots. Also it can't be caladium but that is the only other plant I remember planting in this bed. I hope it is not resurrection lily as that and the daylilies are becoming somewhat invasive. The daylilies are multiplying so fast they bloom less because they need to be thinned so often. Last weekend I build a limestone border to keep them out of the perennial bed.

New daffodil for Spring 2010 in the Black Eyed Susan bed.

This candy tuft has been a good border ground cover for the patio area. We have had many trial and failures in this area.

Yesterday Botanics Joe stopped by with patio paver samples. Here is what we choose. Tumbled brick in red and grey tones. There will also be varying sizes. We still have not finalized the pattern that will be laid.

Also yesterday I ran to Home Depot to get sponges for the Butterfly feeders @ Krohn after my mammogram appt. While I was there I checked out the patio furniture department for ideas. Hopefully we will find something at a good price at the end of the season ... and just in time for a referral party!

This pergola at Home Depot, although it has an unattractive cover, is close to the garden room idea I would love to have in the patio. Not a bad price either.

But we will probably go with a huge offset umbrella similar to this one.

Butterfly Show 2010 Japan

2010-04-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

Update Friday June 18,2010: I had to be at work early to receive a big order, 860 units, of cacti and succulents. Fortunately the 18 wheeler delivering this product arrived before we opened.

I was also lucky Mark was working Friday as he is the only employee who can operate the fork lift. Pretty good workout and I also got sunburnt. I spent the rest of the day checking in and pricing this order on the back dock. But before this delivery I finally added my wish to the shinto wish wall. Next picture is an explanation of the wish wall.

I attached my wish (2nd row from left, top) so I'd know where it was located.

The Krohn Conservatory 15th annual Butterfly Show 2010 opens tomorrow. This first picture is this year's poster on my desk. New this year are: new entrance, 3 show changes and beetles from Japan.

This next picture shows one of the many butterfly sculptures scattered in the park. The Park Board started this last year and I think it is great.

This year Japanese lantern entrance. Next picture Japanese water garden accessory along the entrance path that goes through the tent and around the side of the building to the newly installed pergola. This year visitors will enter through the desert room.

The tea house in the show room.

The Japanese Lantern. The sign next to this explains :"The earliest lanterns came to Japan from China via Korea along with Buddhism in the 6th Century. Stone lanterns were used as votive lights at temples and shrines."

This flower is Clivia and many people inquire about it. Unfortunately it takes forever to bloom and is as far as I can tell impossible to find for re-sell in the gift shop.

One of the glass butterfly feeders made by Neusole artists that we sell in the Gift Shop for $10.00. Last year we sold 600 units. I hope we can beat that number this year.

The horticulturists and volunteers started releasing butterflies this past Thursday.

This is a picture of the showroom while in progress. The hort staff only had 2 weeks to convert from early spring show to B-fly.

The Good Wishes railing. Visitors are invited to write their good wishes or prayers on a paper, fold it twice lengthwise , place it in the box to be added to this Good Wishes Railing.

The lobby and exit from the show.

MAYC

2010-04-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

Last night we went to Teak for dinner. Since we have had our windows open for the last couple of weeks and yesterday was a very warm day, in the 80's so we decided to take advantage of other people's a/c. We did our usual which was split an appetizer and an entree which last night was chicken satay and yellow chicken curry.

So after dinner we decided to stop by the Wine Cellar to see who was around and what is going on. The Wine Cellar is sorta everybody's living room and the source for neighborhood happenings. There are some regulars that even seem out of place if they aren't seating in the usual seats. Same is true with church. Anyhow when we walked in last night we saw a few people wearing leis. Seemed sorta festive but not terribly out of place. Then more people poured in wearing luau outfits and leis. First we saw Rob and Mindy who were trying to convince us to come to Sunday night Karaoke (fundraiser for Pilgrim). Then Chuck and Kim came in, followed by Paula and then Richard. Well soon the topic changed to Key West (where we had last seen Chuck and Kim) and then the topic of why we are not members of the Yacht Club. They were all coming from Monk's Cove next door and this month MAYC Luau event.

A little background on this neighborhood social club from their website: http://www.mtadamsyachtclub.com/.

About Us - from the beginning

When 3 guys sit around, have a drink and shoot the breeze, one never knows what may happen. Why, even a yacht club may come about! That's what happened in the winter of'01-'02 when Richard Boyd, Chuck Curran and Cliff Wahl (the three stars in the burgee) started talking about how cool it would be if Mt. Adams could have a yacht club for the few boat owners who live there. They made Chuck go out and buy a boat. Then they realized we didn't have any water or piers in Mt Adams (except for the fountain on the corner of Pavilion and St. Gregory) and that's where the slogan "Pierless in our Own Time" was conceived. So the Mt. Adams Yacht Club idea grew, was incorporated in the State of Ohio, and in June of '03, and organizational meeting was held....

Papers were almost immediately filed with The Yachting Club of America, a yacht club association. Our "home port" would be The Wine Cellar and Mike Ferguson joined immediately. Thanks to Lee Robinson, we now have a ship's bell by the front door Members supply burgees from reciprocal yachting ventures and these burgees can be seen hanging from the walls of the home port, aka, the Wine Cellar in Mt Adams.

The red, white and blue burgee, 2nd visible one from was the one John and I exchanged with the Venice Yacht Club several years ago. We were not the least bit surprised when the Venice manager said he had never heard of MAYC. No comment either about the picture of a ship over a hill on the burgee either.

Yet we never joined. Our reasons were we aren't joiners, don't need another social excuse, are going to be parents soon, etc. But that changed last night when our friends filled out the form and we mailed our signed application (the commodore, his first mate and a founder) today. Does not really make sense but there you go.

RQ's Projections Update

2010-04-13T05:35:00.000-07:00

Rumor Queen posted this projection update today. Last week China Adoption Forecast updated their forecast for our LID from 11/20/10 to 11/12/10 referral projection. CAF's rationale is China is matching on average 3.5 days / month and we have 31 days. I think we will get a referral in September and travel in November. Sooner would be fantastic. International adoption had some incredibly sad news this past week with the reports that a 7 year old boy was sent back to Russia with a one way ticket and a note by his adoptive mother. The adoptive mother lives in Tennessee and apparently close to Vanderbilt which has an IAC that could very probably have provided the support / help needed. It is heartbreaking to think how this will impact this child and future adoptions. I believe this will change adoption education requirements. The IAC courses we took were optional but we thought important and reassuring. On a completely unrelated topic the pictures below (taken with my phone this morning) are of 2 new tulips that bloomed in our garden overnight. The first one is in the patio area. The 2nd one is a lily flowering one in the perennial bed.

Working in the Garden

2010-04-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

Today was another gorgeous April day and so even though I need to pull a lot of financial information together this afternoon, I worked in our garden instead. John and I are close to finalizing plans for the patio pavers (brick pattern). We hope to have a referral party this fall and a functional patio will be fun for this party. I adore these snowdrops little green drops on the tips. Bonus that they perennialize! Tulips are my favorite flower and I think the geometry of this one is fascinating.

Our south facing garden means we get our blooms later than usual. So we are just now getting the Easter Egg colored tulips. Many of our still have not yet bloomed.

The Viburnam smell heavenly right now.

The Azalea I planted today. The azalea Lucy's old mommy's gave us died (not surprising as it was a gift to her from a florist) so I replaced it with this one from Rahn's.

Stewartstonian azalea planted. I believe the only noticeable difference with this azalea is the darker colored leaves. The other 2 azaleas that are already established.

The Lily of the Valley look like they are spreading this year.

Plumbago (planted today), hopefully this ground cover spreads quickly, next to coral bells.

Hostas coming in on the slope down to grass area.

Jack in the Pulpit is spreading nicely.

The brunnera in bloom.

Brunnera with glass butterfly feeder. This picture does not do it justice.

Looking up at the slope from the garden section.

I planted 24 3" plants of ground cover in the perennial section today.

And in the last bed (adjacent to the fence) I weeded, added soil amendment and planted 12

3" plants of ground cover Pink Chablis

I really hope this information proves true for our garden. Particularly the CARE: easy.

Rumor Referral! 1st Monday of the month again!

2010-04-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

Per Rumor Queen looks like CCAA (who is soon to be CCWC) has matched throught March 17, 2006! This is a nice trend that referrals are coming the 1st Monday of every month. This gives us more reason to hope for a 6 month wait! Today we went tothe Reds Opening Day (v St. Louis) with our friends Statz and Molly. It was a lot of fun even through the Reds lost. The weather was really great. Statz and Molly are 5 years away from being empty nesters and joke that we could switch houses nin 5 years to take advantage of the Wyoming school district. It was a sold out game (40+ thousand people) and of course the Reds lost. The Great American building which will be getting it's crowning tiara at the end of this month.

Hinkle garden has really never looked so lovely. These pictures do it no justice but were taken on a walk over the weekend.

Eden Park Mirror Lake.

And the Gazebo.

The power lines were removed on St Gregory street last Thursday. Huge improvement.

The Bradford Pear in bloom on Fort View outside our 2nd floor bedroom.

Another view a little closer to the window.

I love that the neighbors advertise what is happening with their flags. This one on the neighbor across the street (the bagpiper brit who is an investment banker) was up when we returned home last Saturday from Easter lunch with my family in Bloomington.

Easter Morning in our garden

2010-04-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

This morning before church I took these pictures of our garden with my phone. Because our garden faces south our garden blooms later. The Jane Magnolia just started to pop yesterday.

The Daffodils in the perennial section and courtyard are in full bloom.

I can believe I did not notice the brunnera coming in on the slope until this morning.

Scilla is starting to perenialize.

Snowdrops.

I wonder if this is the Solomon Seal.

Tulips should bloom in a week or so.

Babar's USA

2010-03-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

The attached video I filmed while we were in Key West visiting the Custom House. Laurent de Brunhoff, Babar author for the last 60 years, and his wife live in Key West during the winter months and this exhibit runs from February - June. According to the Gift Shop staff the author is a genuinely kind man who offered to autograph all the copies of the Babar USA books. We bought one for Audrey.

I loved Babar when I was a child and also mispronounced my whole life ("bar-bar"). I particularly liked this book for several reasons: the unique photos as discussed in the above video, the contemporary elements, the parents encouraging observations on vacation and the different culture views of Americans.

RQ's next referral prediction

2010-03-04T04:59:00.001-08:00

RQ was spot on last month but this prediction seems overly optimistic.

China forecast is still predicting our referral for 11-20-10.

So for now we predict September 2010.

March 1, 2010 referrals

2010-03-01T14:53:00.000-08:00

The CCAA referrals arrived today and this month they matched 6 days! It was great to rip April 6 - 11, 2006 links off today. When I woke up this morning the first thing I did was reach for my black berry to see if there were any RQ updates. I was surprised to see new information and knew then it was going to be a fun day. Before noon April 11 was confirmed in Denmark but there was still some hope for the 12th. This lead to some hilarious texting between John and I. We are cautiously optimistic and will need to know next month's result before we invest in believing this trend is true. As of 6:30PM tonight RQ has not published her BABIES post. But I saw at least 2 referrals that are 6 months old babies! Yes!! This is a new trend that has been in happening in the last several batches! Tonight there are so many very happy families in disbelief and I am looking forward to reading their stories. This may have to wait until I'm on vacation at the end of this week. Over the weekend I bought this hat and mitten set at The Spotted Goose. I just felt so good about Friday's rumor I could not resist. The Spotted Goose is next to Aglamesis where I was picking up truffles for a family dinner party Saturday night. Oh, they were a deal and will be so cute on our little girl.

Good Rumor Friday

2010-02-26T05:52:00.000-08:00

Rumor Queen's post this morning:

11th and 12th
February 26th, 2010
I'm seeing rumors of the 11th and 12 floating around now.
Some told me privately that the agency saying the 9th has backed away from that statement.

After that RQ goes on to say she still does not have enough info to rank these rumors above an R2.

But if this trend proves true, then we are on the charts (just barely) for a referral in June or July.

In this next picture John is pointing to our referral link for April 12, 2006. Hopefully very soon we will be ripping links off to that date.

And another picture without his hand. April is represented by purple links and May is pink. Our LID is May 18, 2006

Maybe we will travel here this fall. If our adoption follows the regular route we will start in Beijing and end in Guangzhou. In between travel will depend on where our baby's orphanage is located.

5 Year Plan: 2010 - 2015

2010-02-22T16:13:00.000-08:00

We started a new 5 year plans (which has a few items rolled over from the previous one)

1. Patio pavers -right now we are thinking brick, preferably tumbled. We hope to do this project this summer which means we need to talk to Joe after our Florida trip in March.

2. New box gutter for 987 porch. This is not critical yet, but I just noticed this recently and might be a problem before the end of this year. 3. New windows for 987 1st and 2nd floor. This is going to be costly and will probably not happen for at least a year. 4. Storms for front windows at 413 & 415 O Another future project. 5. New windows for 1006 3rd floor ( 7 big windows total). Probably the last of the 3 window replacement projects. Tax credits will help with these projects which should make them a priority but probably cost prohibitive. 6. 987 porch and railings will need re-painted. I should really do this either this summer of fall. 7. 415 kitchen - new cabinets and move stackable washer/dryer out of kitchen to den (which has adjacent bathroom plumbing). This is at least a year off as this apartment will be turning over this coming Monday.

No time between tenant move-in and move-out which means I might be up all night Sunday cleaning. That could make for a really fun week for me as we have family coming for dinner and a play this Saturday and leaving for Florida vacation next Friday.

8. We have 1 stove, 2 washers and dryers and 1 furnace that are on borrowed time in our apartments which probably will need to be replaced in next 5 years. 9. 987 kitchen floor needs to be re-done. Based on how the tiles are holding up I think the sub-floor is not good. 10. Complete re-model 1st floor 1006 apartment bathroom. Below are 2 inspiration pictures for this re-model. The 1st one shows the beveled subway tiles that we want to use because it is a small bathroom. The next picture is the shower stall we want to install. This last project is not a priority for the immediate future, but the floor is showing it's age, it needs a new window and better venting. We are not sure if we will still be renting our 1st floor apartment in the next 5 years but we are starting to plan a re-model for the time we next turnover tenants. The average tenant stays in this apartment for 2.5 years and the current tenant has been in since July 2009. We plan to do this re-model the way we want our future bathroom to look as someday that is what it will be. Below is a picture of the current tenant's bathroom. She choose the jade green color for the walls. Although I'm not really in love with the green I really like her style overall, including this shower curtain.

So we will remove this claw foot tub but save it in the basement for a future re-model.

The thing I'd love to splurge on in this bathroom is radiant heated floors. this might be possible as the basement is below.

A laundry shoot would be great and as much storage as we can get would be a priority too. Our future bedroom is this current tenants kitchen. To convert this kitchen to a bedroom will not be terribly difficult. The cabinets and plumbing will need to be ripped out and a small door added. There is a reason the dishwasher is portable and the cabinets have not been updated in this apartment.

"Keeping Your Cool Could Save Your Life"

2010-02-18T16:34:00.000-08:00

This was the lead in for a story Dr. Richard Besser (ABC news) did about a week ago. This topic was in the news because former President Clinton had a heart issue at the time. So the report started with the explanation that because stress can lead to increased blood pressure it can be a contributing factor to strokes. Also stress can cause memory loss. Apparently when stress hormones spike it damages brain cells which impairs your ability to remember. However the interesting part was the strategies he reported that doctors at Duke University have created for their heart patients. I've thought about this a quite a bit this week. According to the Duke doctors they have advised their patients to ask themselves 3 questions when they feel they are getting angry and/or stressed about a situation:

Is this important?
Is it reasonable for me to be angry?
Can I modify the situation?

If the answer to any one of these questions is No you need to find a coping method to move on. For instance concentrating on something else, breathing, walking away, etc.

This is not the example given in this segment but one John came up with when we were talking about this report was ...a tree falls on your house. The answer to the 1st question would be yes for most people. Very possibly yes for #2 as well, but for the 3rd question has to be no.

This kind of advice also reminded me of a podcast from Babies and Moms (and Shelly's motto) which was "get used to it, get over it and get on with it."

February Plays

2010-02-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

Today after we finished shoveling snow for the umpteenth time John asked if me if I wanted to try to get half price tickets to a play. Sounded good to me so he called and tonight we are going to see The Fall of Heaven. The Playhouse description from their website: "Tempest Landrey, a street-wise young man living in Harlem, unexpectedly finds himself at the Pearly Gates. When Saint Peter orders him to hell, the quick-witted Tempest refuses to go. A technical loophole forces heaven to send Tempest back to Earth with an angel in tow to keep him out of trouble. The resulting battle of wills takes an intriguing look at good versus evil and what it means to be human. Then on the last Saturday of this month we are going to see How? How? Why? Why? Why? with my Aunt Becky and cousin Barb. I'm hoping we can have them over for dinner before the play but have not made these plans with them yet. Anyhow here is this plays description: "Popular NPR humorist Kevin Kling performs his play exploring the difference between the trip you plan and the trip you take in life. He says trauma can't be cured, but it can be healed - and Kling's method of healing is laughter. In recounting the events of a debilitating motorcycle accident, Kling uses great skill for riveting and hilarious storytelling to examine how tragedy can positively define a person's life."

"Stealing" St Patrick in Mt Adams

2010-02-14T15:25:00.000-08:00

On my way to show one of our apartments on Oregon Street I saw men in kilts and other tell tale signs that today is the day the statue of St Patrick would be "stolen", a 34 year old tradition for the Catholic Church (Holy Cross Immaculata) in our neighborhood.

So when I got home I asked spouse,, who was assembling his file cabinet, if he wanted to go to Crowley's to watch the parade. Fortunately for me I married a fun man who was willing to drop a project for this event. As I am typing this blog entry and watching Olympics pairs ice skating d he is upstairs assembling his file cabinet right now.

Here is how Wikipedia describes this tradition: "Each year in February members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians knock on the (Immaculata) church door and ask permission to remove the statue of St. Patrick. The Priest invokes the intercession of St. Patrick and with bagpipes leading the way the 6' statue of St Patrick leaves the church and starts a Mini Parade through Mt Adams."

Some background history: Immaculata Church (1850) traditionally served people of German descent. In our neighborhood you can guess who were the original owners of the old home because the Germans generally built brick homes and the Irish built frame.

Next picture is of spouse in Crowley's which is across the street from Immaculata so this is where we went to wait to watch. We were about an hour early and this scene changed completely an hour later.

A picture of Spec's Crowley (another post) the original owner and quite a character.

The bagpipers heading down Fuller Street (picture taken from inside Crowley's). I didn't have time to run outside by the time we heard the bagpipes play but I caught them on their way back to the church. Father Marty in the green robe between the white robed alter boys.

The 6' tall St Patrick Statue being "stolen". Bagpipers and Hibernians.

An exterior picture of Immaculata

Interior of Immaculata.

Grotto

Sometime in the 1890's the population of Mt Adams warranted another Catholic Church. So the Irish Catholics dedicated the old Observatory in 1895 and established Holy Cross Church. Here is an interior and exterior shot.

And just for comparison here is our little Protestant Church, Pilgrim Chapel which was dedicated in 1888.

So now it is 8PM and our neighbor Nancy just stopped by to return my coin purse that I accidentally left at Crowley's. I had no idea I was even missing this item until I opened our door to her holding it and asking me if I was missing anything. My coin purse has my license, AMEX, ATM, insurance card, $35 and change. I guess I was more interested in taking pictures than my personal belongings.

Trip to Ikea

2010-02-13T16:08:00.000-08:00

This afternoon we went to Ikea to get a file cabinet for John, bedside table for me and a new mattress for the 2nd floor bedroom. Ikea has a mattress promo and is the only store I know of that you can buy just a mattress and not have to buy the box spring too. While we at Ikea we got some inspiration for a kitchen re-model we plan on doing to one of our apartments sometime in the next 5 years.

I really like these frosted glass cabinets and the pull out pantry would be beautiful and practical.

We thought these drapes were just interesting. And here is the mattress brand we bought that is being delivered tomorrow afternoon. It was reasonably priced ($480), can be turned over and has a 25 year guarantee not to "dip" in the middle. We spent the extra $70 for delivery and take away our old mattress that only lasted 8 years, can't be turned over and dips in the middle that we bought from Macy's.

We spent about 2 hours @ Ikea and about $822 today. Happy Valentines Day from us to us.

1st Decade

2010-02-11T17:41:00.001-08:00

This calendar is February 2000.

The month I met my spouse.

A decade ago.

I'm not certain (and neither is he) but we both think it was Saturday February 12, 2000.

So tomorrow we are going to celebrate by going to the View (not the City View, but a new restaurant in Walnut Hills) and then off to the cellar to catch up with neighbors. Going out to dinner Friday night is pretty routine for us.

But we will also be celebrating what we think is a decade since we met.

Here is that story.

December 1999 I bought (with some generous help from my parents) my dream home. Which is now our dream home. I rented this property ( 2 apts) for the first 18 months. To this day we still rent the 1st floor. Anyhow I had a party to celebrate this purchase in February before the first 2nd floor tenants (a vet and her 10 year old triplets) moved in.

It was a dinner party for 28 people. I did not know spouse but he came because my friend Maureen invited him. She did most of the cooking for this party. Ray and Guy helped me bring in tables and chairs since I was having a dinner party in an empty apt. Oh I remember the dishwasher had issues the morning of that party which fortunately for me Richard was able to fix. Thinking about that now I can't believe how much of a catastrophe I thought it would be if I had to clean those dishes by hand. Geez.

Anyhow it was a great party. John was my Euchre partner and I had the most amazing hands dealt that night. That really should have been my sign. But I was having too much fun being hostess to notice. John's "gay-dar" was way off that night too. Which is somewhat amusing. That night becuase of the way Ray and I bickered he thought we were a couple. Ray who arrived and left with Guy and was his typical self that night as well.

Well quite a bit has happened in the last 10 years. John and I started dating after that party. That April John was transferred to Hampton to work at Langley. It is an understatement to say he had the better job but we both knew we wanted to live in Cincinnati and more specifically Mt Adams. John moved back (quitting a great and stable job) to come back 18 months later. We have been married for 7 1/2 years and to this day live in our dream home and ..........we are now waiting on our dream girl to arrive. We believe we will see her picture and know some information about her in 2010 and would love to believe she will be home this year as well. But if not 2010 we believe early 2011.

March Trip

2010-02-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

We booked our trip to Florida in December when Delta had really great deals and we knew we needed to be there for an annual condo meeting the 2nd week of March.

We didn't really make any further plans (no Reds pre-season games as they have moved to Arizona). I even told my boss that I could probably visit a free trade vendor in Sarasota because I would have lots of time as we are going to be there 10 days and I'm sure John will work part of the time. Well, as of yesterday we added a side trip to Key West and it is entirely likely I won't have so much spare time.

We are going to Key West. 1st time for me. John been there several times but not in the last decade. I texted Ray for suggestions yesterday and got the funniest voice mail response from him, beginning with "You know I don't text..."

So we are going to take the Key West Express (170' boat) from Ft Myers to Key West (3 hour trip) which cuts the trip in half. We are staying at the Duvall Inn on Angela Street.

Picture below is where breakfast is served at our b&b.

We reserved the Caroline room... I love that sleigh bed. For the longest time I wanted this style of bed for our home but spouse is not crazy about the style. Complimentary bikes may be handy as we won't have a car.

This is Duvall's resident rooster Jack. There were many travel advisor comments and pictures of Jack, less so of the resident dogs. So after we made our reservations last night we did the typical Mt Adams Friday night: dinner in the neighborhood followed by catching up with the neighbors at the cellar. Caught up with Tim and Nancy, Kurt and Caroline and Chuck and Kim. Interestingly Chuck and Kim are going to be in Key West the entire month of March so now we plan on meeting up with them. Kurt and Caroline own a home in KW and may be there as well.

RQ's defends optimistic stance

2010-02-05T06:37:00.000-08:00

Under the heading "A picture paints a 1000 words" RQ posted the chart to the left, I'm assuming she did this based on the 20+ comments challenging her predictions entry for this month. Today's chart shows highlighted by color the # of days referred (1st column) and # of LID's (collected from her polls) for the last 12 referral batches. Her stance is the # of LID's goes way down SO in theory CCAA could refer more days which if true would supports RQ's predictions below:

China Predictor is still saying 12-5-10 for our LID.

But, if RQ's analysis is right, which also hinges on the belief that CCAA is referring based on capacity, we could get our referral in June or July and possibly travel in August or September! We won't start believing this unless March referrals go to April 11th, a 6 day referral month.

Such a roller coaster.

Hamsters in India

2010-02-02T04:33:00.000-08:00

This past August our friends and neighbors Ken and Megan Milar and their 3 children Braeden (5), Teagan (3) and Rowan (18 mths) moved to India. Ken works for P&G and this move is supposed to be for 18-24 mths. To say Megan's facebook updates about life in India have been interesting is an understatement. Yesterday's comment from Megan was about a present she got for her daughter Teagan's 3rd birthday this month. A hamster. The attached picture is not great but the most current one I have of Teagan. The Milars came home for Christmas (36 hour trip) this past December and their kids were in the Pilgrim pagent. So back to the hamster. Megan update read "just bought a hamster for Teagan's 3rd b-day. Man delivered it to me at a bus stop in Delhi. Oh the things a mother will do ..." This morning I looked up how far Delhi is from the little town they live in. To Delhi and back this trip was just over 300 miles! One of Megan's friends comments to this update was " If I wasn't living in India, I would think meeting someone at a bus stop for a hamster is a little sketchy :)" Teagan had been suffering from pet withdrawal. She could not sleep because her "pet hamsters" (torn-up-tissue) needed real cereal. That is when her parents decided she needed something real.

Winter Blues

2010-02-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

It seems like everyone I know has the winter blues. I'm pretty sick of the weather as well, especially the gray skies.

This morning I was woken up a few minutes early my buzzing blackberry. The message was from someone in our May DTC group: " it seems that April 5 is the cut-off this time." Then her e-mail got progressively gloomier. Rumor Queen confirmed at noon today that the CCAA referred just 2 days this month. We will probably hear this news from our agency this coming Friday.

After we worked out this morning, John and I went to Koka, our neighborhood coffee shop. I ran into our neighbor Karen who asked about our adoption. This annoying wait makes answering this question difficult without sounding like a complete idiot. Briefly explaining where referrals relative to our date sounds close but really it isn't based on how slow referrals are coming. And each month we always think the speed up is bound to start.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Virginia because John's Uncle Estil died on Sunday. Estil had been sick for a long time and there is some consolation in the fact he died at home. Estil was married to possibly the nicest person I've ever met, John's Aunt Pauline.

So tonight I worked late as we won't get back home until late Thursday night. Because I had my camera and because the conservatory looks so cool at night I took the following pictures. The Bonsai room with the shades drawn. The Fern Room without the misters on. In the next picture you can barely see Tammy (night staff) taking a picture of the Tropical Room. She got her camera when she saw me taking pictures.

So when I got home my sweet husband had made broccoli stuffed chicken breasts and mashed potatoes for dinner.

Today we also received a package from Nancy with a very nice condolence card for Lucy. My favorite part of her letter was "I know how much you both loved Lucy. She definitely had quite the personality. She reminded me of the Bette Davis of the cat world - she instantly became the "star" of any room she entered - and she never failed to delight her audience!"

Nancy also sent this candle and picture. It is a Jewish tradition to honor the remembrance of a loved one who passed by burning a candle on the 1st anniversary of the loved one's passing. The name on the candle literally means "year's time". It is kinda funny because John and I privately joked that Lucy was Jewish.

Nancy also sent this Rudyard Kipling print she had framed because it reminded her of Lucy. We think we will put it in the baby's room. The Jungle Book was one of John's favorites as a child.

Lucy

2010-01-12T04:44:00.001-08:00

This picture was taken the night Lucy moved in with us, January 27, 2007. It was also the last night she ever slept in that pet bed. Lucy surprised us with how easily she adapted to living with us.

Lucy loved to spend time outside and especially loved time in the garden.

We are both devastated by the sudden death yesterday of our sweet 12 1/2 year old cat Lucy. Last night was difficult. This morning I called off sick but plan to go to work tomorrow. My eyes are almost completely swollen shut and it is difficult for me to concentrate. I'll go in to work tomorrow and the rest of the week.

As far as the stages of loss I would say because of how fast the end came we did not spend a lot of time on denial. We made it through guilt pretty seamlessly (although I wish I had known she needed to pee before the vet arrived). Lucy let us comfort her in the end. She wanted us to hold her and she did rest in our arms. We did not go through anger either. We think her vet, Dr Lawrence and the hospital staff did all they could and thought it particularly kind that both called to check on us. In regards to the bargain stage of grief to be honest there is some quilt involved in the question of "would the outcome have been different if we had taken her to emergency care hospital Sunday?" The hospital vet seemed to not think so and I choose to believe him. I guess based on the stages of death we are depressed. John's is unique to mine as this is his first experience with the loss of a pet. I read depression can be described like being in quicksand. The recommendations I read regarding dealing with depression is while it is not a good idea to distract yourself from grieving to the point of denying or ignoring it is important to not get caught in it's energy zapping downward cycle and losing touch with reality. So I'm going to do some laundry this morning and if I can get my swelling down I'm going to workout this afternoon. John is out for a run in the park with his buddies right now.

Lucy came to live with us 3 years ago (her previous owners had a baby with allergy issues) when she was 9 1/2 years old. Her sweet spirit added a lot to our little home and here are a few things I will remember about how we loved her:

how easily it was to get her to purr;
how much she loved people, tolerated dogs and did not like cats;

how smart she was
how well she communicated what she wanted but was not hard headed
how she taunted indoor cats with her bell

how she drank with her paw
how she "kneaded" us
how she would just hang around us in whatever room we were in

how she "pranced" and "shimmy'd" for treats and/or affection
how in the morning we could call for her and she would saunter in and jump into bed with us and adore getting her head and chin rubbed;

how she roll around in John's workout clothes after they had dried to "get his stink"
how she would lay on her fake mink blanket and sleep while John worked and then tap him around 3 Pm needing a little attention
how she liked to be walked into the 2nd floor bedroom after breakfast for her morning nap
and how much she appreciated our doting love for her.

Here are a few quotes from http://www.homevet.com/ under the How to Cope with the Loss of a Pet article I read this morning:

"A pet may come to symbolize many things to each of us. It may represent a child, perhaps a child yet to be conceived or the innocent child in us all."

"You do not need anyone else's approval to mourn the loss of you pet, nor must you justify your feelings."

Be happy and/or thankful that you are blessed to be someone who finds joy in the companionship of a pet.

"This is an opportunity for emotional growth. Your life was and will continue to be brighter because of the time that you shared with your pet. The is the best testament to the value of your pet's existence."

New Year's Eve @ Nuckels

2009-12-31T05:30:00.000-08:00

This last day of 2009 has already been "exciting" and it is only 8:30 am. Despite not sleeping well last night I willed myself to wake up at 5 am to go to the gym for Urban Iron class (weight training). Our gym is on the 2nd floor and ironically the only way to get there is by elevator. So this morning I got stuck in the elevator with my class instructor and an ultimate marathon couple. In Sesame Street lingo.... someone was not like the others. Anyhow, the situation got a little more interesting when the elevator emergency operator could not find our location to help us. Fortunately the front desk staff got us out and up to the 2nd floor via the other elevator. Also different today was there were only 12 people in class (about half as many as usual) which allowed our instructor more individual time to critique our form. Yikes.

So how I think my day will go at Krohn today... well the thing I'm looking forward to most is entering the final sales numbers. As of yesterday we were up +17%! Besides that and the fact we are ending with clean inventories we also brought up the average $ sold up. My boss and I were both pleased the Motawi tile sales this season. Motawi was new for us in November. Hopefully today I will be able to work on placing the balance of approved spring orders and work on recaps next week. When I couldn't sleep I started thinking about how different corporate politics is from non-profit which was also when I realized that I have worked with the park board longer than any other employer in my life. Also when I add the time I worked at the Zoo I'm close to same number of years working for a non-profit as I worked in corporate positions. The only other job I had prior to all this was waitressing for one semester. In some ways I was rather like Private Benjamin. This still seems crazy to me as I really had no clue what a job was like prior to graduating from college.

Tonight John is making pasta with jomama sauce and meatballs for dinner. Afterwards we plan on watching the 2nd half of a biography documentary on Truman, part of The Presidents series by American Experience. This PBS series was a Christmas gift from my parents this year. The series covers biographies of ten 20th C. presidents (T. Roosevelt to H. W. Bush) and it is fascinating. John and I had to take a couple days off after watching 2 nights on FDR because it was so thought provoking.

Who knows if my day will be anything like I expect, but one thing I'm fairly certain is that I will be in bed well before midnight. Just like last year.

Holiday on the Hill

2009-12-25T08:23:00.000-08:00

Due to winter storms we stayed home for Christmas this year. I took this picture of the neighborhood tree at the St Gregory Piazza the day of the Egg Nog Jog, Saturday December 19th. That was the day we were supposed to be heading to W. Virginia to see Nancy and Dan and stay overnight in Lewisburg. The 12" of snow that fell on W Va and VA changed our plans. The big round silver and gold ornaments were personalized fundraisers for the garden club in 2005. Many of these ornaments were destroyed in a big windstorm earlier this month. I assumed ours was one of the crushed ornaments. But on our walk home I saw one of these ornaments laying in Kath Huneman's flower pot and was surprised when I picked it up to see that it was ours! And it is intact. I'm keeping it at home.

Luminary Night was Sunday December 13th.

We missed the Reingdog Parade this year as it was the weekend we were in Bloomington celebrating Christmas. This next picture is Pilgrim Chapel Sunday December 20th. The McBreen Family was the Holy family for this years pageant, last year it was the Milars. New this year was the addition of the "friendly beasts" which were all dogs dressed as cows, camels and even a dove. This was in memory of Shad who died in June and started the tradition of bringing your dog to church. Some people might think this is irreverent but I do not and it is one of the things I love about this church. The dogs even had their names and owner's name as well as role they were playing mentioned in the church program.

The pageant parade. Christmas Eve Candlelight service started at 7 PM. We are lucky to have CCM students play and this night we had an excellent violist, pianist and organist. The acoustics are pretty good in this little chapel and so beautiful at the end when the room was only lit by our candles for the final songs.

This morning we made a fire in the kitchen and had lemon blueberry homemade pancakes.

Mt Adams Luminary Night

2009-12-14T05:03:00.001-08:00

Last night was Luminary Night in Mt Adams. The Garden Club sold luminaries (a deal @ 12 for $10), the neighborhood restaurants had specials and the kids lead a sing along at the fountain. John and the neighbors walking up to St Gregory.

The guy with the tripod at the top of the stairs is our friend Duffy. He is hoping to have enough pictures to publish a M.A. photography book to be published this coming spring.

We were lucky we ran into him as my camera's batteries died and he gave me a couple.

Because John was wearing this shirt we got a complimentary appetizer at Teak. Ida Street and our church, Pilgrim.

And a very dark video of the children singing.

Projections

2009-12-09T05:51:00.000-08:00

This is RQ's referral projections that she posted earlier this week. John won't even go down this path ... but here's my thoughts.

Based on the small column (which I don't think has happened in 2 years) we could expect a May/ June referral and to travel in July / August 2010.

One of our minister's wives (we have 4 ministers not a polygamist minister) predicts our baby will come home in October. She has been consistent about this prediction for awhile, including last weekend when we ran in to them at the Wine Celler.

Hessler's Dance Studio

2009-12-06T05:52:00.001-08:00

This is a picture of 1033 Monastery or the building we usually call Hessler's Dance Studio. This interior shot is current.

The view out these windows looks out at downtown Cincinnati all the way to Music Hall and Cincinnati Museum Center. Doris Mary Ann Kepplehoff (from nearby Evanston neighborhood) whose stage name was Doris Day was a student at Hessler's.

Tyrone Power (1914 - 1958) was also a student at Hessler's.

as was

Vera-Ellen Rohe (1921 - 1981) Below is an interesting article from the Winter Edition of Mt Adams Grapevine HILL YES! Who is Doris Kappelhoff?

by Jim Steiner

"The one story brick building at 1033 Monastery Street near the corner of Monastery and St Paul is an interesting part of Mt. Adams history. As the story goes, it was built by Maria Longworth Storer (granddaughter of Nicolas Longworth and also founder of Rookwood Pottery) in the 1890's to house French lithography students.

Lithography was a new medium, and Maria was a cutting edge lady so she wanted to jump on the other artists. Unfortunately, the students never occupied the building and Maria's plan died. Fortunately, the building didn't. In 1904, its neighbor across the street, Holy Cross School rented the building and used it as a commercial school.

When students finished the eighth grade at Holy Cross, they went to work or attended a secular high school. The two year commercial school allowed students to get further training in business courses to prepare them for office jobs if they didn't choose to go to high school. The commercial school was taught by nuns from the Sister of Charity who lived in a convent at 1113 St. Gregory St. The school was closed in 1927 at the behest of Cincinnati Archbishop, John T. McNichols who began directing the archdiocesan assets toward the establishment of four year parochial high schools.

In the late 1920s, the building was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hessler who ran the Hessler Studio of Dancing. The studio was the premier venue in the region for singing, dancing and acting instruction. It attracted students from the greater Cincinnati area and was the place where Doris Kapplehoff, Vera-Ellen Rohe and Tyrone Power went to get expert instruction.

Doris Kappelhoff, a Cincinnati native, became famous as Doris Day, a prominent film and TV star and popular singer. Doris Day is still living and works at promoting her favorite cause, animal rights.

Vera-Ellen Rohe, a Norwood native who shortened her name to Vera-Ellen, also became a Hollywood star and appeared in many movies. Her most enduring role was in the classic movie, White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney. She also starred with Fred Astaire in Three Little Words and Gene Kelly in Words and Music where she did a famous dance sequence to "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue".

Tyrone Power, his real name, was also born in Cincinnati and attended Purcell High School in Walnut Hills. He was a classically handsome leading man and played in many swashbuckling films, including The Mark of Zorro his most well known film where he starred with Basil Rathbone. Power was also a leading man in many Broadway stage productions. He was first divorced in 1948, an event which was frowned upon by the priests at Purcell High School prompting them to cover his 1931 graduation picture in black.

The Hesslers built a beautiful rock garden behind their studio and opened it to the public. They also loved their new community and were very active in promoting events and businesses on Mt. Adams. Mr Hessler was a very close friend of Vera-Ellen and maintained that friendship even after she became successful. He frequently visited her in Hollywood and said that despite all her fame she still treated him as she did when she was a young girl. The Hesslers closed their studio in the 1940's.

The building again changed hands in the 1950's when it was purchased by artists Carolyn and Bill von Stein. Carolyn was a painter but got into art restoration to make money. Among her many projects were restoring the paintings at Immaculata Church in 1982, and repainting Our Lady of Lourdes statue, also at Immaculata, the same year.

She and her husband painted a Mt. Adams Landmarks mural on a large wall at Holy Cross School lost when the building was torn down.

In the summer of 2006, I attended a party at Carolyn's. She had a jazz trio playing her her front garden, people elbow to elbow in her studio, food and an open bar for all attending. When I finally made my way through the crowd to her (she was in a wheel chair, on oxygen and balancing a martini on her knee), I asked her what she was celebrating. In her typical straight forward fashion she replied that she wouldn't be around much longer and wanted to go out in style. She passed away ten days later at age 83. Carolyn and Bill had no children, so the building was left to a niece who sold it to another artist.

The fate of the building is again in play as it's currently for sale. Hopefully, someone will buy it and keep it alive.

Thanks to Allen Bernard for contributing to this article. Other resources were the 1931 souvenir book of the dedication of the Ida Street Bridge and the archives at holy Cross-Immaculata Parish."

Jim Steiner's articles in our neighborhood paper are always interesting and this one certainly was not an exception.

Last night after dinner John and I randomly found White Christmas on AMC. Even though I've seen it several time I watched the whole thing again because of my new interest in Vera-Ellen. John bailed at the part on the train where the 4 main characters start spontaneously singing about snow. I like musicals. I also think V-E was an amazing dancer. One of our neighbors up the street, Kath Hueneman (who has lived her entire life on the hill) actually remembers Vera-Ellen. Kath told me that V-E was her older sister (who played the piano @ Belvedere for the silent movies in the 30's) contemporary and knew her much better than Kath did. Apparently every costume (including the nightgowns) that Vera-Ellen wore for this 1954 movie had a high neckline because she was battling anorexia which made her neck look old.

It seems the fate of this building is no longer as "in play" as when Jim's article went to press since this morning I saw it's MLS status is pending sold. The list price of $330,000.

Only Purple & Pink Days Left As Of Today

2009-12-02T06:34:00.000-08:00

RQ's R5 report this morning is March 2006 is done. This means European agencies have received referrals this morning. Although it is only a 3 day month (represented by green links in the next picture) at least March (rumored to be a big month) is over! Come on speed up in April (purple links) and on to May (pink links).

Painted floor project November 2009

2009-11-30T07:33:00.000-08:00

This was our inspiration picture for our 3rd floor bedroom paint project in November 2009. This idea came from a June 2009 article in This Old House. According to the article this project (assuming 10-by-10 room, our room is bigger and was certainly not in perfect condition) "Time: 3 hours per day over 3 days and Difficulty: Easy to moderate. Calculating the pattern requires some math, but the painting is a cinch". I don't think this description is entirely accurate and I am sure I could never get the crisp lines that Karl did if I tried this myself. This next picture shows some a general idea of the steps involved. Next are a couple of pictures before John and I cleared out the room. As seen in these pictures we had never tried to coordinate much in this cluttered bedroom so this was a good opportunity to delete many things as well.

The moving dolly John purchased for this project helped us to be able to clear this room in 3 hours.

The dark brown test paint on the walls was there from when we were considering a different plan. In the end we went with a similar wall paint just slightly more yellow than before.

This is how the floor looked on Sunday November 29. Still some squares to paint (you can see on the left side) and the final urethane coat still to be applied. Karl painted the walls on Monday and was about 3 days into the floor part when this picture was taken.

Home again

2009-11-29T11:35:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving we had more than usual to be thankful for as my mom's recovery (neck injury almost 12 weeks ago) is progressing well. We heard this good news on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I went to Bloomington early to go to my mom's neurosurgeon appointment and to help prepare the Thanksgiving meal for 22 people at my parents house on Thursday. After being gone for an entire week it was nice to come home. While we were away some of our long planned projects have started. Karl has almost finished the 3rd floor bedroom paint job. We found a note from him saying that he will be back tomorrow AM to finish. Just a couple floor squares need to be painted and then it can be urethaned. John and I are looking for a solid red rug for this room. Demolition of the sidewalk has begun as well. We aren't sure but it looks like the plumber did not get to the front downspout but I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Jim was hoping to start pouring on Tuesday. I am so happy this is well under way as I expected this would be a Spring 2010 project.

We got home around noon and Angie (pet nanny) was here taking care of Lucy. Apparently so many people have been around that Lucy never got lonely. Arranging for the pet nanny was unnecessary for this trip however when I made the appointment we did not know the contractors were going to start this soon.

Since we got home early enough John and I went to Findlay to get dinner for tonight (mahi mahi steaks) and the rest of the week.

Pre-made pastas and sauces help with a really simple mid week meal.

Lukens Fish Market.

The outdoor flower and produce sellers are not at Findlay on Sunday ... but there was a man playing the sax.

Anniversaries

2009-11-16T12:34:00.001-08:00

Today is our 7th wedding anniversary. We have dinner reservations at the Cincinnatian's Palace Restaurant. I've been there only once before for a business dinner a decade ago when I worked for Mercantile. It is a wonderful restaurant.

November 2009 has a lot of interesting anniversaries.

Here are a few:

40 years ago Dave Thomas opened his 1st Wendy's restaurant in downtown Columbus, Ohio right across the street from the Ohio Secretary of State office. I know that location because I had to go to Columbus to get Ken Blackwell's seal on our adoption dossier paperwork in 2006. Anyhow, our recent economic downturn lead to this flagship restaurant's closing last year.

Sesame Street celebrated it's 40th anniversary this month with special guest First Lady Michelle Obama.

November 9th, 2009 was the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. I can not believe it has been 20 years. I was living in Dayton at the time of this event.

This black and white picture was taken on November 20, 1961 (exactly a year before I was born) and is of East German construction workers building the wall which started in June of that year.

The Berlin Wall coming down prompted the Velvet Revolution (November 16 - December 29, 1989) in Czechoslovakia which was a non-violent revolution that overthrew Communist government in that country. This picture shows protesters holding flowers up to the police. A friend and I took a trip to Eastern Europe in November 1992. We stayed in Prague with a very sweet local woman. I remember how proud she was of her little (and immaculate) home, the strength of the dollar at the time and how much the locals liked Americans and despised Russia. The same was true in Hungary. Unfortunately I lost my journal (along with the many addresses of some interesting people we met) on an overnight train on this trip.

50 years ago today the Sound of Music opened on Broadway. This was the first theatre movie and one of my all time favorites.

80 years ago the Museum of Modern Art in New York opened (building on the left behind the Plaza Hotel on the right) 9 days after the stock market crashed. The next picture shows the MoMA today.

100 years ago Orville (left) and Wilbur (below) Wright founded the Wright Company in Dayton to manufacture commercial aircraft. They moved their company to Columbus in 1910.

You might be adopting from China if ...

2009-10-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

you know that I-600 & I 171 aren't highways ...
you've been expecting a baby for over 3 years ...
you understand that it's 2006 in some parts of the world ...
you've "paid for" 3 citizenships, but never brought anyone into the U.S. ...
you know that waiting for China has nothing to do with Macy's or dishes ...
your homestudy is followed by a number (i.e. #3 or #4) ...
you never know how many days next month will have ...
you know that babies come in batches ...
you've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime ...
you look twice when you see a lady bug ...
you're more interested in what will happen in April 2006 than April 2010 ...
you know people who understand when you talk about 2 day months & 5 day months ...
your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years ...
you know who the Rumor Queen is ... AND ... you don't know who she is ...
you know that forecast don't have anything to do with the weather ...
you've waited so long, they re-checked your fingerprints to see if they changed ...
when you speak of "that time of month: you're talking about CCAA updates and referrals ...

18. You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all you heart. I found the above "you might" list on the following 3 blogs... not sure if any are the author: http://www.journeytogracie.blogspot.com/ http://www.findinglilygrace.blogspot.com/ and http://www.youaremyflower.blogspot.com/ Based on what I have read or learned in classes here is my list of you might be anticipating travel to china for adoption if...

you try not imagine the season you will travel
you are hoping for exit row seating but not expecting it
you expect to be stared at
you expect scary traffic, pollution and squatty potties
you expect chairs not tall enough for you (or 6'6" spouse) to sit straight legged
you expect to be tired but will need to remember not to drink the water
you plan on packing hallway appropriate sleepwear
you anticipate making friends with travelmates experiencing same/similar milestone
you anticipate exploring one of the wonders of the world even though this is not a tour trip
you appreciate your type A tendencies are greatly diminshed
after 3 long years, you now believe packing light for the trip over may not only be possible but preferable
you hope to visit your childs orphanage and her finding spot but not banking on either
you know you really need to kick up your exercise routine NOW
you pray your baby and travel group babies will sail through the medical check
you try not to engage in "magical thinking" re: referrals ... but
you know the red stamp is all powerful

Last night's film @ Carnegie

2009-10-22T16:58:00.001-07:00

Wednesday evening John and I went to the Carnegie to see Getting Home a comedy drama presented by Cincinnati World Cinema.

This is the second CWC art film we have seen based on the Chinese proverb "a falling leaf returns to it's roots". Traditional Chinese belief is a deceased body must be returned to his/her birth village so the body does not transform into a "hungry ghost". This custom is complicated by the fact it is illegal to hand carry a dead body. This 2 hour subtitled movie is based on a real incident in 2006. In the movie 2 rural middle age migrant construction workers in a big city promise to transport either's body if they should die while they work away from home. One dies in a work related accident and the film then becomes somewhat of a road trip while the other friend carries his dead friend to his home near the Three Gorges mega-dam.

This movie was a drama / comedy but based on the reaction from the Chinese ladies seated behind us it is safe to say John and I missed some of the humor but definitely not all. Anyhow, the film did confirm Asian values/themes we have read or seen in other films including:

the value of friendship;
mother's greatly depriving themselves for the comfort of their children; and
family shunning "imperfect" (disfigured or diseased) family

and then some other realities that were new to us:

wealthy rural people sometimes fake their own deaths to find out who really loves and respects them;
construction companies sometimes will cheat rural employees by paying them in counterfeit money;
some unscrupulous highway restaurants overcharge patrons and use thugs to extort payment; and
there is an effort to crack down on the seedy blood banks that will buy blood from even the infected.

The film divides people rather neatly into 2 types: one that has empathy for others and the other that is self interested and generally portraying the rural poor in the first type and new rich in the latter. One other thing you have to overlook with the film is that the body never decays, but overall quite thought provoking.

The other Chinese art film based on the "falling leaf" proverb that we rented a couple of years ago was The Road Home. In this movie a middle aged engineer returns to his birth city after his father has died. His mother insists the son hand carry his father's body from the city morgue to their village. The son does not want to but after listening to his mom tell the parents love story he agrees to her wishes. Most of this film tells how the parents met and fell in love in the 1950's when she was a farm girl and the father was an older teacher sent to her village by the government.

Another film we saw 2 years ago at the Art Museum was The Blood of Yingzhou District. This was a 39 minute short documentary that won an Oscar among many other international and humanitarian awards in 2007. This film was about the effect of AIDS on orphans in Anhui Province.

Pictured below is the Director Ruby Yang, a Chinese-American documentarian who founded the Chang Ai Media Project with a mission to promote AIDS understanding and prevention. This film follow a year in the life of 6 children orphaned because of AIDS. Some of the children were infected and some were not but all were shunned by being associated with this disease.

The name of the little boy in the cap above is GaoJun. He was infected. His heartbreaking story was briefly uplifting when he was adopted by two HIV positive parents and he blossoms under their loving care.

The picture of the 3 Huang children were orphaned because of aids but not infected themselves. They were ostracized by their neighbors but succeeding in their studies providing some hope for their future. The 3rd little girl was infected and rejected by her family. Her name was NanNan and it was heartbreaking how excited she was to be a flower girl in her sister's wedding even though her sister would not disclose her condition to her in-laws and was conflicted about affiliation with NanNan.

The good news about this film is that it may be at least partially responsible for changing attitudes towards AIDS. Four of the children in this film were invited to visit Premier Wen Jiabao on World Aid's Day December 1, 2006.

The director of this documentary was also the editor of a fascinating PBS series we own by Bill Moyers from 2003 called Becoming American: The Chinese Experience. We learned a lot from this series including the 3 designations Chinese Americans often categorize themselves:

ABC - American Born Chinese;
FOB - Fresh off the Boat; and
Twinkies - yellow on the outside and white on the inside.