a little and a lot

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

You Say It Best, When You Say [EverythingAllAtOnce]

Hello, citizens of 2010. This deadbeat blogger is back on the scene.

Want a jumble of what we've been up to in the past month?
Too bad...you're getting one anyway...

Oh the joys of treating your dog-children like people-children.
One of our Christmas morning traditions is to let Moses loose on the wrapping paper and boxes when our gift-opening shindig is over. He never disappoints. Entertainment for at least half an hour is guaranteed.

I took your advice, bloggy friends, and started making small purchases for our baby. (See, I'm saying "our baby" too. I've been making large strides in the last month!) This was a purchase we made on a December 26th visit to the Pottery Barn Outlet. I know all my non-Memphian friends are so jealous that I live across the street from this rare treasure of a store, but my little Memphian self too often takes it for granted. Not this day--we bought stockings for $6 each! (And the store was EMPTY--I absolutely love our small city!)
I say stockings in the plural because Nick and I had a hilarious little conversation
in front of the shelves that went a little something like this:

Jesse: Love it. This is so cute.

Nick: Agreed. Let's check out.
Jesse: Wait...um...
Nick: ??
Jesse: Well, don't you think our kids should have matching stockings?
Nick: What kids?
Jesse: Well, if we have more than one kid, I think the stockings should match.
Nick: Ok.
Jesse: So how many kids do you want?
Nick: Umm...I don't know. How many kids do YOU want?

And thus, the conversation unfolded in a hilarious manner. We ended up buying 3 stockings, in case you're curious. I decided if we have a 4th kid, we'll just have to have a 5th & 6th so we can have another trio of matching stockings. BAHA!

We also got another steal of a deal on this day, but more about that later...

A decade ago, on the eve of the year 2000, I spent my first and only New Year's Eve away from Atlanta. (In Auburn, Toomer's Corner to be exact, with a kajillion college students jam-packed in an intersection with lots of noise and no countdown. Lame-o. War Eagle.) Every other year before and since, we have celebrated in the Atl with a scrumptious seafood dinner.
Check out the size of these King Crab legs my dad brought home this year!
The big pieces were as large as chicken fingers!

The above picture has consumed my life since the week before Thanksgiving.
(I feel like this picture is the equivalent of seeing a picture of Belize in July and not "getting" the immense and overwhelming heat...because it just doesn't translate on film. Y'know?)

My original goal was to have the dossier sent in by the end of the year. If you know me and goals, we are BFFE's. I am all about a goal, especially when it's in December. (I have been teased in the past for cracking down on those old New Year's resolutions in December before the year expires--the way I see it, I have the entire year to try to complete my resolution. Who cares if I didn't drink 8 glasses of water for the first 11 months of the year? I "completed" my goal by the year's end and that's what counts, right? ha.)

Back to the dossier: I was a paperwork maniac. Let me also mention that I am in absolute organization-love with our international adoption agency. They sent us a folder with a list of the 20-something items we needed to compile our dossier. Behind the list was a SAMPLE of everything needed. AAI knows how to rock a dossier. And so do I. So here I am, the week before Thanksgiving, rocking it out at the bank, the Sheriff's office, the doctor's office...I am a document-scanning wizard...a collection queen. I imagine a medal being placed around my neck that says: "Fastest Dossier Compilation. Ever." After our Thanksgiving travels, I'm on the mission to wrap everything up and cross the finish line,
which means dropping it in the holy grail FedEx dropbox.

[Here is the sound of screeching brakes.]

It had never occurred to me that I was finishing everything too fast! My poor husband was working on his final project, term paper, and studying for the final exam for his very last grad school class the week that I raised my fist a la Julia Child-esque and said "Tadaaaaa!" (I know, I am a jerk.) So after a family meeting, we decided to put the dossier on hold and focus on the December tasks at hand. Nick was already overwhelmed with finishing school and our bank account was feeling a little fatigued with our recent/future travels and Christmas gift purchases.

It was at this point in time that I shocked myself. Let me rephrase: The Holy Spirit shocked me. I felt that peace. The kind that is outside of one's realm of knowledge. I am the type of person who likes to finish a project once it's started. And here this "Project of All Projects" was sitting on my desk and instead of feeling freaked out, I felt...fine. This will happen when it happens. And come to think of it, I have never felt ants-in-my-pants-I-just-can't-take-one-more-second impatient about this process at any point in time. (Thus far.) I praise God for that, because I know that he has called us to this. That He is present with us as we take this journey. That His Spirit is calming my heart and (mostly) my mind.

So we set this deal that after our trip to Atlanta for New Year's,
we would finish up on the dossier and send it in towards the end of January.
And that is what we did.

We mailed this puppy out last Friday.
It felt almost as good as crossing the marathon finish line.

(This is actually not the VERY end of our paperwork adventure, but the rest is a cake walk. Kind of. Right?)

So back to the deal of a steal from PB Outlet.
I got this desk for $100.

(Rolling chair from Ikea for $25!)

I have to give you the back-story on the desk:
I saw it a few months ago when we were browsing for fun.
I told Nick, "This is my desk." He said, "We'll see."
I went back to visit the desk a few days later and it had sold.
I asked if they had any in the back.
The employee said no, but he gave me the name of the desk
and told me I could call every few days to see if any came in a new shipment.
I called about the Riley desk. Every day.
The PB Outlet employees laughed at me in the break room. I'm sure of it.
I gave up.
And behold, the day after Christmas, with baby stockings in hand, I spot the desk.
Nick is not so sure. It is $350. That is more than we had saved for a desk.
Pleasepleasepleaseplease. I'll do the dishes for a week. Just kidding. A day. :)
During the financial negotiation, a man walks up in a cowboy hat.
He says, "Excuse me, but that exact desk is on the other side of the store and it's a lot cheaper."
I tell Nick to check it out. I'm not leaving my desk. It could be a trick.
Nick comes back and says lo and behold, the same desk is over there.
I ask the employee about it and he says that the Riley desk just changed manufacturers.
The lower-priced Riley desks were made from the old manufacturer and they have to get rid of them.
They are brand new, never taken out of the box.
Oh, and all office furniture is an extra 25% off.
Thank you, cowboy man...wherever you are.

Riley desk is perfect because
(1) it already has a name,
(2) it has a portion underneath that slides out on wheels, making the desk larger,
and (3) it has a powerstrip on top and one plug that goes from the desk to the outlet.
Perfect desk for a tight-fitting office space.

Which, by the way, just recently moved to my bedroom.
My office and Moses's crate are now in our bedroom, thus freeing the nursery to be baby's dog-hair-free (yeah, right) and play-area safe haven.

Itty bitty homes call for creative measures. Can I get a what?what?
(To the left of where I'm standing in the doorway is an antique dresser, the closet, and my bedside table, with a stretch of rug between the bed and the dresser where the dogs like to lay while I work.)

Since my last post, I am definitely feeling like an almost-mom. I've been reading up on parent-lit and I now know the current safety regulations for cribs and car seats. We now call the old man-room/old office the new nursery. I know what I want to put in it and (mostly) what I want it to look like. I am fully aware of my numbered childless days and have been basking in the freedom of going to a last-minute movie, a baby-sitterless dinner date, or just staying in on a cold, rainy day and reading a good book under a blanket. "Just you wait," people say. Yeah, I know. I am. Waiting. :)

4 comments:

Kristy said...

I love this catch up post! I am itching with excitement for you!

Tesney said...

Get to know your FedEx guy...he is your friend throughout the adoption process. :) We set up an account there...yes, we use it that much.

Jesse Faris said...

I'm with ya, Tesney! Our account has been quite busy with activity the past few months! (Sure does make it easier, though--I even have a stack of FedEx Express envelopes in my possession as well. Just print the label, drop it in the box!)

McKinney Madness said...

I'm totally feeling you on the stocking thing... they have to match and if I were in your shoes I would have done the same thing! Kudos to you! I also love how you used snapshots for each of your pics... looks like a picnik redo... am I right? I'm so excited your papers have been turned in! Not too much longer now!!


Adopting Rhet: Click on the timeline above to read more