A Fax With Wings...

I was just thinking of this story earlier today and thought I'd share it with all of you. This happened back in January and well it's just funny - read it. I promise it will make you chuckle. And we all know we could use one right about now.

Little background - my boss was having a meeting all day at an offsite location and I had requested that this place fax me their menu, so I could pre-order some food. Well, the fax wasn't coming, so I called back a few hours later to remind her. Here is our conversation.

ME: Hi, this is Dawn calling to remind you to please fax me that menu so I can order food for tomorrow.
LADY: Oh, I'm so glad you called because we have a problem.
ME: Ok – what is the problem?
LADY: Well, I only have 1 copy of the menu, so I can't fax it to you because then I won't have my copy left.
ME: (shocked and stunned that she just said this…I sit there in silence)
LADY: Hello – are you still there?
ME: Uhhh…yeah
LADY: Yeah, so I'm sorry I can't fax that to you.
ME: Umm…when you fax something it doesn't go away, it just sends a copy.
LADY: Oh, I don't think so. I mean, I'll try it. But I don't think so.

So, I had to just hang up right there because I was about to bust a gut laughing. Does she think that when you put something into the fax machine that it grows wings and flies over to the person?!?! So, there is your little laugh for the day.

I did eventually receive the fax about 5 hrs after our conversation. TOO funny!!

Adoption Benefit...AMAZING!!!

Ok, as I said the other day...our friends and my mom planned an AWESOME fundraiser for us last week. They had bingo, beautiful gift baskets and a 50/50 raffle. There were 100 people there on Thursday night. It was an amazing feeling to look around the room and see all of our friends and family there to support us. There were lots of people there that don't even know us. We are very overwhelmed by all of the love, support and generosity.

As most of you know, our #'s right now are #6 for a boy and #9 for a girl. So..the first game of bingo that night...first number called was #69. I was thinking wow - that's cool those are both of our #'s. Second number called was #9. Wow - alright now I have the goosebumps - very cool. Third number called was #6. Ok, the tears started coming at this point. SERIOUSLY?! How cool is that!! Everyone in the room was amazed - VERY cool little story!!

Again, thank you to everyone who came out to support us. And thank you to my very best friends and mom for all of your hard work on putting this together. We are forever grateful...

Here is a little slideshow that Tim put together of the event. Turn up the volume - there's a nice little song to go along with it! :)

Speechless...

Tim and I just got home from our fundraiser. We are absolutely speechless. We are so overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and generosity from people! The night was AMAZING!! THANK YOU girls for putting this on and thank you to EVERYONE who came to show us support. We cannot thank you enough...from the bottom of our hearts we thank you.

I'll post more about the event this weekend. Tim and I are pooped and off to bed - we are exhausted!

Love to you all,
Dawn & Tim

Single Digits

We are now in the single digits on BOTH lists! This makes us VERY happy!! I'm doing a happy dance as we speak!

For a BOY...



For a GIRL...

So Cute

My little cousin wrote this sweet letter to my aunt last night. She is undergoing chemo treatment right now for breast cancer. She woke up to this note sitting on her computer. So precious...

Friends

Ok, I know I always say how I have great friends, but I REALLY do. This group of friends and my Mom have organized a fundraiser for Tim and I. Neither Tim or I are good at asking for help. We would have never asked for any help financially for our adoption expenses. So, this is a huge blessing for us! The group got together last night to put together gift baskets, make signs, and wrap up some details. Here are a few pictures.

These are some of the gorgeous gift baskets they put together!!

And here is the flyer that they did.

We are very excited for Thursday!! Thanks again to all my friends (and mom)!!!

Today, I had coffee with my new friend Karla (Hi Karla - if you are reading this). Her family is adopting from Ethiopia (with Gladney) and just relocated here from Texas. She is the first person I've met in town here adopting from Ethiopia. She is very nice and I'm looking forward to having an "adopting friend" here in town. I'm also working on getting a group started for Southeast WI. So, if anyone out there reads my blog and lives around the area and has adopted, or in the process or simply just thinking about it - PLEASE let me know and I'll add you to the list!

Ok, now I'm off to continue moping around the house because it's Sunday night. Does everyone else get super depressed on Sunday nights? Tim and I get pretty pathetic on Sunday nights. Blah.

TAG - I'm it!!

Ok, I've been tagged by Autumn & Margaret - so here I go. Here are 7 random/strange things about myself. I could probably do like 100, but we'll just stick to the required 7.

1. I often say that certain things should be "illegal". My #1 thing that I think should be illegal is waking up when it's still dark outside. I'm sorry, but that's just not right. Come on people - let's make that a law, ok? Mullets...well that's a close second.. I have a whole list - but we'll save that for a future blog.

2. I have a large patch of grey hair in the back of my head. I've always had it since I was a little girl. I dyed my hair once in high school and my grey patch turned purple. Safe to say - I've never done that again.

3. I'm a picky eater...a really picky eater. Growing up my brother and I were allowed to have 2 foods that we didn't ever have to eat. Mine were mashed potatoes and steak. Yes, I know those are most people's favorite foods. I'm weird...I know.

4. I'm 27 yrs old and I still run up the stairs when I come up from the basement...JUST in case a weird man is chasing me.

5. I love wearing sweats and a t-shirt. As soon as I get home from work everyday - the work clothes come off and the comfies come on.

6. I won the spelling bee in 4th grade. I LOVE spelling still. I almost always notice when people mispell and it really bothers me and I want to correct them. But, I don't...but I really really want to. Well..I do to Tim all the time and it bugs him

7. I carry chapstick with me everywhere I go. If I don't have chapstick on me I'll freak out.

Ok...that wasn't so bad. So...I'm now tagging...

Jody, Kristi, Erin, Karen, Kristin, Christin, Renee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So...the adoption education class today went really well. A bit of information overload, but all in all it was good. We really enjoyed the speakers and sessions that they had. Lots learned!

Ok and I just have to tell you. You know our crazy squirrel issues, right? Ok..so in our local newspaper this week there was an article on how this squirrel attacked a man outside his home!! He had three 1/2" deep scratches. A police officer came to the scene and the squirrel came back and started chasing them again. The police officer ended up having to kill the squirrel. He gave it a beat down with his baton. Ok people - now you know I was not exaggerating! We have crazy squirrels in Southeast Wisconsin! Watch out people...

Slacker? Yes...I am

Ok, so I have been very busy and have been slacking - sorry! Ok, so what have we been up to? Lots! First of all...Oprah was great!! The show aired on Monday and if you looked closely you saw my 4.3 seconds of fame. The camera was panning the audience and everyone has a normal look on their face and I have this huge smile plastered on my face like a major cheeseball. There wasn't a funny joke or anything like that...nope just me being giddy because I was at the Oprah show. Haha...oh well. AND I must say that I did make eye contact with Oprah and I think I could tell what she was thinking. "Hmmm...that girl looks fun - I think I want to be her friend". MOVE OVER GAYLE!! Yeah - maybe not, but I'm kinda hoping for a phone call from her. So...all in all it was a fun experience.

Then over the weekend Tim and I did lots of projects around the house. We have to convert our office into a nursery. So, Tim built a new shelving unit in one of our closets, did some major cleaning, moved the desk out, etc etc. We made some good progress, but still more to be done. I've also moved to a new job at work - so things have been pretty hectic and I've been working some extra hours. And tomorrow Tim and I are headed to a Adoption Education class (it's mandatory through our homestudy agency). I'm looking forward to that because it sounds like we'll be discussing some good topics and we'll also get to meet other families. One of the families that we'll meet there is on the siblings list with AGCI - so that will be nice. Then we have our fundraiser next week that our friends are pulling together for us - I can't wait!! As far as adoption stuff...not much to report. I think we are #11 and #12 - hopefully we see some more referrals come out soon. And hopefully some families make it through their court dates so that they can go and pick up their children - there are soooo many families wanting to pick up their children SO bad!! Some have been waiting since June!! Ugh - I can't even imagine. So, please say a little prayer for those families. Well, seeing as I have to get up in 5 hrs I should probably try and get some sleep. Good night!

Numbers Numbers & Oprah Scoop

Ok, so we got our OFFICIAL #'s from AGCI today, but I know that they aren't necessarily accurate because there were some referrals given out this week that aren't reflected in the #'s we were given. So...the #'s that we were given are #15 for a girl and #11 for a boy. I know that there were 3 girl referrals given out and 1 boy referral given out this week. They do not make the change in the #'s until the referrals are officially accepted and that takes a few days. So - I think we are #12 for a girl and #10 for a boy. I'm very excited that we are close to being a single digit. I don't know why, but in my head that is a BIG deal!! So, when I think we are a single # - I will be doing a little happy dance here in WI.

Ok, onto my Oprah news. I heard back from the staff today and got the dillio. So, the first thing everyone keeps asking me is how in the world did you get tickets. I've tried calling for years and have also sent emails - nothing worked. Then Monday night I just thought I would try again, so I sent a little email and badabingbadaboom....THEY CALLED ON TUESDAY!! The other popular question has been who are you taking. Now, I know many people that would love to go, but there are only 3 other tickets. My friend Jenna was a given. We've always had a pact that we would take eachother if we got tickets. Then of course I have to bring my mom - cause well she's my MOM. Then there was the last and final ticket.... I asked Tim if he was interested. Now it's not something he would necessarily admit, but yes he does watch Oprah with me. No, not everyday but probably twice a week. He said that he would feel bad going when he knows that my friend Debra is a huge fan. He said that she would appreciate the ticket way more than he would. So...there you have it. That's my little Oprah Show crew. The show is being taped on Friday. We have to be there no later than 11am (but people stand in line early) and will be there until 4pm. Ok - you want to know the topic, right? Well, it's not the IDEAL topic, but hey I'll take it. It's a show called "Can you afford it" with Suzie Orman. I mean I guess it could be worse...it could be one of the book club shows or a show on erectile dysfunction. You laugh, but that would be my luck. I actually like Suzie Orman, yes sometimes she can be quite mean...but I like how she is very direct. And I'm sorry but if you are going to go on National TV and tell the world that you have $90k in credit card debt and act surprised that you need to sell your house...then you need some harsh reality. Now, I just need to figure out what to wear! They said no beige or white. They told me that they would tell us the air date on Friday, so I'll let you all know when I find that out. I'm off to rummage through my closet.....

I'M GOING TO THE OPRAH SHOW!!!!

My friend Jenna and I have tried for YEARS to get tickets to go see the Oprah show and we never get through the phone lines. But, guess what?!?!? I GOT TICKETS TODAY!!!! I'm SOOOO excited!! I don't know details yet because I'm still waiting for one of the staff members to call me back...so I'll post tomorrow when I have more details. WOOHOOO!!!!!! What am I going to wear?!?!?

P.S. no, I don't have official #'s yet, maybe tomorrow. I think I have a good idea of what they are, but I'll wait to hear what AGCI has to say.

Infertility Sucks

For those of you who have dealt with infertility and those that haven’t, I think we can both agree that infertility sucks. I’m often asked about our infertility and I have no problems discussing it. Tim and I tried to conceive for almost 3 years. They were the hardest 3 years of my entire life. Infertility consumed my thoughts every second of everyday. Everyday it seemed to get harder and harder. Everyday was a struggle. I woke up in the morning and went to sleep at night with the same thoughts everyday…”I’m not pregnant”. The 5 million pills a day surely didn’t help either. I had anxiety, insomnia, emotions up the wazoo, hot flashes, you name the symptom…I had it. Towards the end I was literally choking the pills down everyday. One of the hardest things was hearing that both of my sister in-laws were pregnant. You have no idea how hard it is to love someone so much, but find it so hard to be happy for them. It’s horrible…I hated it. I wanted nothing more than to share in their happiness with them, but couldn’t. I couldn’t find it within me. I felt so selfish, but didn’t know what to do. I do not miss those days at all. When Tim and I made the decision to adopt – all of that depression went away. We could not be happier with the decision that we made. If it took 3 years of super hard times to get to this point…then it was worth it. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. So, for those of you who know someone dealing with infertility – here are a few pointers. I had amazing support from family & friends, but let’s face it, they don’t always know the right things to say. I know that everyone had the right intentions, but when you are SO sensitive when you are dealing with infertility. Here’s my advice.

DON’T ask someone constantly “when are you going to have a baby?”
I got this question ALL the time. I admit I too would ask others the same question in the past. But, don’t do that anymore. We did not share our struggles with everyone for quite sometime, so when people didn’t know we were trying they would ask all the time. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs “I’M TRYING – LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!”

DON’T expect them to attend a baby shower
There is nothing worse than going to a baby shower. I avoided them. Not because I wanted to be selfish, but I knew that was not a healthy situation for me. The point of a baby shower was to celebrate with the mother and that’s not something I could do.

DON’T think you have to tell them in person that you are pregnant
When I would hear of someone close to me being pregnant – it was a hard time. The initial reaction is not a pretty one. I needed my time to be upset and cry and deal with it. I didn’t want someone to call me or tell me to my face because that would not allow me to react. I preferred to hear it from my husband or get it in an email. It gave me space and time.

DON’T tell them to relax and stop trying or “it will happen”
That’s just nonsense. There is nothing more in the entire world that I wanted than to be pregnant and when someone would say this to me – it just irked me. And the worst one for me personally was “oh – don’t worry – it will happen”. No, it might NOT happen. Please don’t tell me it’s going to happen when you don’t know that. As you can tell – it clearly didn’t. Again, let me say I know people mean well, but whatever you do – don’t say that to someone.

DON’T say “As soon as my friend ‘so and so’ adopted, they got pregnant”
There are many adoptive parents that have not gotten pregnant on their own. There is no guarantee that anything will help someone get pregnant. And it also sends the wrong message for the adopted child as well.

DO let them know that you are thinking of them and are available if they ever want to talk
I didn’t want to talk about my situation all the time. So if they bring it up – then that’s the ok to talk about it. If they don’t – just leave it alone.

Do acknowledge the man in the relationship
I think often times people would show sympathy to me, but forget about Tim. Tim was grieving and struggling as well. So, when someone would send him a note to tell him that they were thinking of HIM and if there was anything he needed. That was nice.

So, ok I’m really not trying to preach here. But, hopefully if you haven’t dealt with infertility – you will find this helpful. And if you are dealing with it, then please know that everyone is different and deals with things in their own way. You are allowed to have the feelings you do and you are not selfish. You have to protect yourself. Again…I had great support from everyone and still do while we are in this process. And I must say that I have the best husband in the entire world. Tim was awesome through the whole process. I was an emotional mess for a long time and he put up with me and loved me through it all. It wasn’t “my” problem, it was “our” problem. I was very surprised to hear the divorce rates for couples dealing with infertility. I found that it did the exact opposite for us. It brought us so close and strengthened our relationship so much. Ok, I’m done now – I promise. Yikes, sorry this was so long! And let me say again, we are VERY happy with where we are at right now. We feel that this was the plan all along, we just had to go through that mess to get to this point.

Good Night.