Tuesday, January 30, 2007

DTC Second Gift Exchange

Last week we received a second Secret Buddy gift from our DTC group. The theme was 'Tubby Time'. Our buddy gave us the cutest frog towel and bath squirters. The green towel has a hood with the frog face on the corner of the hood. I actually saw one while I was in Florida and thought about getting it. So neat that our S.B. shares our taste!

Ladybug sighting: Mike just handed me a ladybug chocolate that his mom gave us for Christmas. I have a smile on my face :)

Updates.....

We've received so many squishes (quilt squares and wishes) from our DTC group exchange. Several of the fabrics have ladybugs, others are bright and cheerful, some have pretty Chinese prints and some relate to the families heritage or their wish. All the fabrics will make a beautiful quilt. Thank you everyone for adding your love and wishes to our child's quilt! I wish I could post some photos, but I'm still unable to post pictures from home.

My first monthly goal of drinking water is coming to an end. I'm going to give myself a B. I didn't drink my minimum of two nalgenes for a total of 6 days. I had set back days at the beginning of the month, during my trip to Florida, and yesterday. This gives me an 81% - assuming I drink two bottles tomorrow :) I'm not satisfied with my first goal because it was an easy one. At least a B is better than an F! We'll see how well I do next month this flossing. It's kind of a weird goal, but I really need to improve. Yes, I know I should floss everyday. It's a bad habit that I don't do. I'm lucky if I floss 1 - 2x's a week. Wish me luck!

Our black lab, boo, is recovering from a cut on his foot pad. He cut it Sunday at the new house. We think he somehow sliced it on ice or a nail. It's healing much better today. Mike is keeping Boo's foot wrapped in white gauze. Because Boo is black his white "sock" really looks cute :) We decided to call him white sock and club foot for now.

The new home is coming along well. The insulation was completed today and the siding is almost finished. Mike will start on the cabinets next week. I can't believe how fast things are going. If you finish a house in under a year out here, it's considered fast. So our five (or so) month building process is fast!

Monday, January 22, 2007

Fabulous Florida

My trip to sunny warm Florida was marvelous. My family is so much fun and Ernie's (Grandfather) Birthday was a blast. I was even able to see my cousin, Paul, whom I hadn't seen in over 20 some years! Hope to post photos later this week. The week also ended on two other wonderful notes. GO! BEARS!!! and GO! HILLARY!!! I was wishing for both and can't believe my dreams came true! I was able to catch the game at Atlanta Airport and share the experience with my hubby on the phone - he is estactic! Now if the Cubs can only show some meat this summer.....

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

FLORIDA


I'm leaving for Florida tomorrow. Can't wait. My grandfather, Ernie, is turning a young 85. It will be great to see the many family members that are traveling for the bash....not to mention a break from the bitter air!

Sunday, January 14, 2007

100 Good Wishes Quilt

Dear family and friends:

Mike and I would like to continue a Chinese tradition with our adopted child. This tradition is called "Bai Jia Bei" or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. Family and friends each donate a piece of fabric and wish or blessing to the expecting mother. It is then sewn into quilt for her newborn. Positive thoughts and energy are given to the baby through the quilt and is handed down from generation to generation. The written wish will be added to a Wish Book so our child can match the person and wish to the fabric on the quilt. If you would like to participate in this wonderful tradition, please read the directions below. Please help us network in spreading the word to other family members and friends. 100 pieces of fabric is a lot to find!

1. Chose a piece of 100% cotton fabric that you like or represents your wish. There is no color or theme. The more colorful the better. Your fabric can be new or used.
2. Cut your fabric into two 8 X 8 pieces (one for each side of the quilt). Prewash is not needed.
3. Include a small sample piece of fabric for your wish/blessing.
4. Write or type a wish onto a note card or card stock. The blessing can be a poem, quote or any words that have a special place in your heart. Don't forget to include a sample of the fabric mounted to your wish.
5. Please sign your wish and include your state, city and your relationship to our child.
6. All wishes and fabrics can be mailed to: Skubella's, PO BOX 754, Fairplay, CO 80440

Here are a few links of other quilts:

aquiltforsunshine.blogspot.com
http://www.cd2alicyn.com/web/do/site/folder?ID=144685&parent_id=144685
http://www.handsful.com/?page_id=46
If more than one person in your family would like to participate, each person may submit his/her own fabric and wish.

All fabric and wishes will be greatly appreciated for us to complete this unique and special gift.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

I've been Tagged

Hopefully this post will go through. It seems that 3 out of 5 posts I write aren't able to publish from home....very frustrating! I was tagged by Dolores, so here goes my first attempt.....

A - Available or taken? Married to my best friend and loving hubby - Mike
B - Best Friend? Read line A
C - Cake or Pie? Depends. I don't care for cakey cakes. I love mud/Mississippi type pies!!
D - Drink of Choice? Water and Odwalla and Naked Juice drinks. Margaritas are always fun too!
E - Essential item? Water & TP. I've tried to use pine cones, snow and rocks - never feels good! I'd much rather pack out my TP any day!
F - Favorite Color? Green, blue, and most recently orange
G - Gummy bears or worms? Neither
H - Hometown? 2: Morton, IL (south of Peoria) and Lakeville, MI (west of Detroit)
I - Indulgence? Ice Cream! I love holiday flavors and almost any Ben & Jerry's
J - January or February? Jan. I like new beginnings.
K - Kid's names? Isabella Skubella. Just kidding! We'll pick when we see her/his photo. Although Mike likes the nickname "zoozoo" from the holiday classic 'It's A Wonderful Life'.
L - Life incomplete without? Happiness
M - Marriage date? 9-20-03
N - Number of siblings? Oldest of 4. Two beautiful younger sisters (Alexa and Ana). My youngest sibling is my awesome brother, Larry.
O - Oranges or apples? Usually oranges.
P - Phobias or Phears? Dry water wells.
Q - Favorite Quote? I have many
R - Reason to smile? Clear blue skies and above freezing temps.
S - Season? June - September
T - Tag 4 people? Mom, Bonnie, Rosie, anyone related to me.
U - Unknown fact about me? I've hiked half the Colorado Trail mostly solo.
V - Veggie I don't like? I can't think of one.
W - Worst habit? I stuggle with biting my nails. The past few years it's been off and on. Currently it's on.
X-Rays - My last one was three years ago before I had a root canal (not fun).
Y - Your favorite food? Avacado and Mexican
Z - Zodiac? Libra

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Home Safe

After hearing the roads were closed last night, my friend and I were able to get a hotel room at the Hand Hotel in town. Super cute place! We made a trip to the store, then local restaurant. The restaurant is called the Barnside Inn. They have a Chinese menu and I ordered my regular meal of Shrimp Lo Mein and tea. The waitress, from China, knows my first name now. I guess I can be considered a regular now. Eating Chinese from a restaurant call the "Barnside Inn" doesn't sound too goo, but it actually is! After finishing our meal about 7:45pm, a couple came in telling everyone the highways were open again! What great news! Jean and I drove back to the B&B, turned in our keys and headed home. The road wasn't in the best condition, but the drifts were off the road and I felt comfortable driving at 40 - 45 mph. The house framers were able to make it home as well. I just can't image my husband spending the night with the framing crew - LOL. The rental is having well/water pump issues, so showers would've been out of the question for them.

On another note: I decided to join the rest of the world and own a cell phone. Well, I had one for a few months in college, but the bill was so high after 5 phone calls it wasn't used again. They were too big anyay. I'm hoping not to use the new phone very much because the one at work drives me crazy! I wanted to wait few more years. Knowing that it might save my life, or our child's life, has my mind changed. Now that Sprint works in most places in Park County AND at our house (This is a first, believe me!), my husband and I dove in. Mike is very happy to say good-bye to his Verizon and hello to Sprint. We both have a Fusic by LG - so cute in pink - mine, not Mikes!

Monday, January 8, 2007

Stuck in Fairplay


The wind has been so bad today, that both highways to my house have been shut down! CDOT is trying their best to plow through, but the wind is sooo fast that they aren't making much progress. It's 5:30 and the highways might not even open tonight. I would much rather be home with my hubby. At least my friend is staying at a local B& B and if I'm stuck here, l'll be sharing a room with her because the hotels are full. My husband might have to turn our tiny one bedroom rental into an Inn for our new home framing crew because they all live in Fairplay! It seems like nobody can get home tonight. Bummer. I CAN load photos at work - yippee! Here is a "calm" photo of the highway earlier this morning.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Long Cold Winter

One of my favorite books as a child was 'Long Cold Winter' by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Reading about their struggles to get through one of the worst winters she experienced as a child will always stick with me. I recall her writing about the animals they lost, that they had to stay inside for days because it was too cold, and putting blankets on the walls so the snow wouldn't blow in their home. Although one of my previous jobs required me to live outside and deal with Colorado weather year round, I've never had to deal with what the pioneers had to experience. How lucky we are for advancements!

Some of you may be wondering what the new bunny ticker is for at the top of the blog. Mike and I belong to a wonderful adoption group on yahoo. The group consists of other families adopting from China. Several of their blogs are linked to our blog. These families all sent their Dossiers to China at about the same time so we are all going through similar adoption thoughts and experiences. The October06DTC group also has many different activities you can participate in. One of them is "walking" to China. We keep track of how many miles we walk, swim, run, snowshoe and workout. Twice a month we combine our miles and apply it towards the distance to China. It will be a lot of fun to see how fast we can make it to China.

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Crazy Weather!

Due to the bad weather yesterday I was unable to go into work again. So - no photos. This is the forth time in less than a month that the weather has effected my transportation to Fairplay. I live about 30 miles south of Fairplay and must drive highway 285. This highway crosses some of the windiest sections in South Park. The weather out here has been just crazy! Wind, snow, more wind, more snow...it just hasn't stopped. Whoever predicted a mild first half of winter was a little off. (I mention this in my first or second post). To make this weather even more interesting, I got my car stuck twice! This past Monday, my car slipped into a ditch. The ditch was quite steep and I'm very thankful I wasn't going fast because my car may have flipped. Actually it felt really wierd going into the ditch. Besides loose items tumbling around in my car, it was like my Jeep was falling into a bed of marshmallows. The snow was very deep and my car landed on an angle, so I couldn't open my door. I had to climb up and out of the passenger front door. Besides a few scratches, my car and I were safe :) The seond incident happened yesterday. At first I thought I would be able to make it to work. LOL! From our house to pavement is about 4 miles. I could barely see the dirt road the entire way. As I approached highway 24, I couldn't stop the car and I slid onto the highway. Sure glad there wasn't a car coming! Then I realized I couldn't see ANYTHING beyond 100 feet due to the white out. This is when I did a U turn on the highway and headed home. I made it to the long driveway in front of the house. In the short time I had been gone, the wind had already covered my tracks, so I couldn't see the driveway. I ended up in the grassy meadow, stuck again! Luckily my hubby was home to save me :) Today we drove to Fairplay and Buena Vista. The roads are still icy in areas, but melting in others. His big truck with super winter tires did OK, but when we started to slip a few times, I definitely felt myself get tense. I don't think that feeling will go away for awhile!

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Computer issues

For some reason I can't upload anything from my computer at home.....I've tried to post things twice now and have been unsuccessful. I'll try at work tomorrow.