Meet the newest member of the family

Stormy is the newest member of the family. She joins Kayla, Reba, my Pomeranian, and me. We got her to be a guard dog as someone tried to break into our house while we were home a couple of weeks ago. She's been nothing but sweet and funny since we got her, though. She's a one-year-old retired show dog and is absolutely lovable. Today, she is Houdini because she's managed to bust through the little dog's doggie door and through her wire crate (I still have no idea how she managed that one).

Still here

Life has just been, well, life for the past few weeks. Kayla and I are doing great. Things seem much more relaxed since our finalization. I took care of all her vital records and her name change. It's still hard to believe sometimes that this girl is my child. We have come a long way.

Kayla hung out with her friends on Halloween night and I got some much-needed alone time. I've been doing some freelance writing in my spare time, mostly at night, and so far it's going pretty well. I hope this can be a good part-time income for me.

We had major flooding here last week and part of my fence is washed away. It seems like it's alway something to take care of but it could have been a lot worse.

I dragged Kayla to see Michael Jackson's This is It this past weekend and she was so embarassed by my dancing in the seat. It was hard not to! She said she saw more Michael Jackson in the movie than she'd seen her entire life.

Other than that, we've just been busy, busy, living life.

I'm now officially a mom!

We had our finalization hearing yesterday...finally, after all this time. It went well except the DHS attorney forgot to get Kayla's consent in writing so we did not get the adoption decree yesterday but it's supposed to be filed today. We should be receiving it in the next few days. Kayla thought she would get away without having to testify but she ended up having to to give consent and I think it was good to have her say it out loud.

My parents were there and as it got closer to time to leave for the courthouse, Kayla got more and more excited. And there was a very noticeable sense of relief from her afterwards. We all went out and celebrated with Chinese food afterwards. It was definitely a momentous day in my life and I'm so proud to be the mother of this little girl...well, I guess she's not so little anymore.

Almost time

Tuesday we go to court for our finalization hearing. Kayla and I went shopping yesterday for her a new dress to wear and she's really starting to talk about it, so even though she won't say it, I think she is kind of excited about it. My parents are coming up to go with us to court Tuesday and then we'll go celebrate with dinner afterwards. I got Kayla a couple of gifts (a leather jacket she's been dying to have and heart necklace and earrings). I couldn't decide what to do so decided to go with one meaningful gift-the necklace-and the jacket is something she will think is "cool."

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy this rainy, cold Sunday and spend time with my daughter.

The sun will come out....

I'm exhausted. We've had rain for two weeks here. I finally saw the sun today for the first time in I don't know when but rain is forecast again for tomorrow. I don't know how much more of this I can take. It greatly affects my mood.

Kayla and I are heading into the home stretch with our court date. She doesn't really like to talk about it much but she's never liked to talk about her feelings. I'm just hoping deep down inside she is okay with everything...or at least somewhat okay. If she's having feelings about her own family, it's hard to tell. Our communication is much better these days, though, than it was this time last year. She tells me her grades as soon as she gets them, even if they're bad. She talks to me about her friends. And on a good day she'll talk to me about the guys she likes. We went to her school's open house last week and I got to meet her teachers. She's doing well so far this year in school. She's taking Spanish and Algebra, both which our high school level classes.

As for me, I'm trying to take advantage of all the time she is at dance class to do some things for myself. Go to the gym, meet friends for dinner or coffee, and I've also started dabbling again in some freelance writing. I used to freelance years ago but then life got in the way and I'm hoping I can get some extra money doing something I enjoy. We'll see where it goes. Life is definitely an adventure now. No two days are the same. And even though I'm constantly tired, I wouldn't change a thing.

Remembering 9/11

I can't believe it's been eight years....this day will always get to me. I was in my first week at a new job in Washington, D.C., one block from the capitol. We thought our city was being bombed and when they finally figured out it was planes and one was heading for the capitol we were told to evacuate immediately. Outside it was utter chaos with everyone trying to get out of downtown D.C. Traffic was in a gridlock and cars were honking their horns. People were screaming and crying on the sidewalk. A couple of co-workers and I got on the subway and headed to Maryland. It was eerily quiet and we all held hands and prayed as we didn't know if someone was going to try to blow up the subway or not. I haven't felt fear like that ever or since and I hope I never do. It is a day I will never forget.

We have a date

October 6 is our finalization date. I can't believe it's almost here after all this time. I'm trying to think of some things to do to celebrate that special day...does anybody have any ideas?