Randomness of the day

I realize that many of you love fall. I know the weather starts cooling off and the days are crisp... but the leaves... they are my nemesis. Luckily my oh so handy brother in law put gutter helmets on my gutters last year so I don't have to worry about them, but the yard is piled high.
I was only able to spend 1an hour and a half raking today. I raked up 8 - 30 gallon bags of leaves and I still have at least that many - probably more - left on the ground.
Yep that's a nasty ol' blister I earned raking those leaves. I'd still be out there raking out from under the massive mound, but I had to quit because I ran out of light and have to run to mah jong - it's mah jong Monday.




























I was finally looking through some of my mom's yarn stash today and guess what I found...
some of her UFOs. The first was a cute little baby blanket that she crocheted. The bag it was in was from Mary Maxim - her favorite place to order from - it was postmarked 1978! I'll bet she intended to make this for a co-worker, or one of my older cousins. The blanket is completely finished other than being pieced together. I don't crochet, but can either learn or find someone
who does that will finish it for me. It's so cute. Unfortunately mom was into acrylic yarn - ever practical and it needed to be able to be easily washed and dried or she wasn't into it.








The other little gem that I found were these cute little booties - the pattern handwritten by someone other than her was with them. I think all they need is a little string with pompoms that you would tie around the ankle to help keep them on.














And lastly, poor Leo - what a goof. He has an ear infection and keep shaking his head and walking around with it tilted to the left. Tough to get a picture of, this was the best one.
It's not that I don't have compassion for the guy, but he's always so dramatic! If he gets hurt he'll cry like there's no tomorrow, if I accidentally step on a paw - he'll limp for a half hour - only when he thinks I'm watching. - not kidding he's a drama queen!
I know, I know, this ear infection hurts.. luckily I have drops left over from the last one so he should be good by morning. Poor guy!

Is your mama a llama?? How 'bout an alpaca?

This weekend was the annual open house at the alpaca ranch. My friend is a gentleman farmer - his wife became interested in alpaca's and now has over 100 head. They are adorable, gentle animals. Each year they have an open house where you can come feed, pet, adore the animals and shop her alpaca finery. I brought two of my friends with their daughters. It was sweet.
(Click on the photos if you want a better look at those amazing alpaca faces)

E and a baby alpaca - it's only a few weeks old.







E surrounded by the sweet animals








This alpaca, Isabella, was bottle fed. She took a strong liking to my friend, D., I think it's because they have the same hair color (Isabella is a suri alpaca which gives a beautiful silky fiber)





Paco, what a funny-looking guy - but a sweetie. (Have you read the book The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell? This is the picture I have in my mind of how the creatures on the other planet look.)












And the little darlings, E & L - plotting their next adventure with the barnyard animals.







And, as promised...
Leo and Lannie with their new doos. The smell so good right now - that only happens about 5 days every 2-3 months after a fresh groom.
If you're wondering what the little pouches are on their collars, it holds all their tags so they don't make noise. I can't stand the jingling sound of their tags - especially at night, so this was a great solution.

another one...

Today is another LIDversary ... 18 months. Jeez, that's a long time and possibly at least that long ahead of me (please.. Mary, mother of God, let that be wrong!)
I try to not think about it, but truth be told, I think about being a mother, whether my daughter's born, why I chose to start this process just as things came to a screeching halt.. everyday. I think about it all everyday. And, because of my big mouth and the nature of my job (each month I rotate between 3 different sites) I get asked about my adoption everyday - not kidding, every single day. I truly wish I hadn't been so excited about it in the beginning and would have kept my big mouth shut, then at least the (well-meaning, I realize) yay-hoos wouldn't ask me every.single.day. how it's going. The only days I'm not asked, are on my days off. Today I had a dentist appointment...you guessed it, the receptionist, dental hygienist, and dentist all asked...I do have a big mouth! Ah, well, I guess they care.... No wonder I hole-up with the poodles so much...they don't ask! As far as they're concerned, everything is perfect...except I keep the chicken jerky out of their reach, and I make them walk around the neighborhood on a leash... other than that, things are perfect.

Speaking of the poodles...
Here are the latest from the dog park.. we were there last weekend, it was a beautiful day. they always have such fun there - they get to just be dogs and run and sniff and swim and chase sticks... we went in the early afternoon, but the light was strange, the sun is so low so early and it sits so far to the south that the shadows are long - getting photos is an interesting challenge. Here's a few...

BTW - they were groomed today. Now they are sweet-smellin' soft, and fluffy - not so scruffy poodles. pics of the new doos soon...

December 8th

That's how far CCAA managed to match. And, while 8 days is better than 3, or 5, it's still disappointing. Honestly, each month is disappointing - not surprising - because everyone involved in Chinese adoption knows it's slow going - but definitely disappointing. There have been thoughts of a potential speed up as CCAA matches families with LIDs in Dec & Jan. 8 days doesn't seem to support that theory.
On the good news front. go check out Jiangli! She's one of the lucky Dec LID families!