Nooooo!!!

This. Better. Not. Be. True!!!!!!!
http://notw.typepad.com/showbiz/2007/11/britney-spears.html

Monday's Ramblings

Who's not working Thanksgiving? Me! Our work sent out an e-mail...."we highly encourage you to work and would appreciate it, but it's not mandatory". That means they will only receive speech therapy 4 times this week.

Quilt update: I called the lady making our quilt at least 5 times last week asking her to return my call. I called this morning from the phone at work...quess what...she picked up. She appears to have not been picking up when I was calling before!!! I'm suppose to get the unfinished quilt back from her Wednesday. We'll just have to find someone else to quilt for us. I'm tired of Baby Bella's quilt being held against it's will.

Us vs. the Hotty Toddy's

Yesterday, LSU played Ole Miss. Our good friends, Barry and Amy, are Ole Miss fans, so we all watched the game together. To not rub salt in any wounds, I won't post the score of the game; however, LSU has still lost only one game this season. :) Here's a pic of the guys watching the game on Brian's Christmas present:

It's the back of their heads, but you can tell who is who just by looking at their clothing.

They're Here!!! They're Here!!! (again)

We got our second set of fingerprint appointment notices today. Another fine example of the organized LA USCIS office.

They're Here!!! They're Here!!!

The fingerprint appointments are here!!!!!!!!!

However, since this is our adoption journey, it's not happening smoothly. We're scheduled for Dec. 6th at 9:00 (T) and 10:00 (B) in Jackson, MS. Here's the hitch: Brian is suppose to be in Dallas for a CenturyTel staff meeting. This is one of the biggest days of the year for Brian and him not being there is not good.

Here's how my afternoon went: I called Brian and excitedly told him we received our notice and then became stressed when he told me the dilemma. I spent the next 45 minutes trying to reach someone at the USCIS office to see if we could reschedule. Since it only took 3 1/2 months to get the fingerprint appointment, I was sure they'd be more than happy to accomodate us (this was typed very sarcastically). Also, since a phone number is attached to the fingerprint notice, you'd think you'd be able to talk to someone....you'd be wrong. I gave up trying to actually talk to someone and e-mailed the immigration officer we're working with explaining what was going on and asking if we could reschedule. Since LA USCIS has such a high reputation for customer service, I knew she'd more than happy to help (also typed very sarcastically). Then...wonder of wonders happened...the immigration officer called me at home and let me know we could go in Dec. 12th to be fingerprinted. Plus...she was friendly. Plus...she said to try to walk in on Nov. 30th since we're going through Jackson that day. I called Brian and let him know the news and shared how nice the immigration officer was. Here's a perk of Brian's job....Brian's boss had Mary Landrieu call immigration and put in a good word for us. It does pay to have friends in high places, doesn't it?

Brian's boss did tell Brian he could use the company plane and fly to Jackson to be fingerprinted and then fly back to the meeting in Dalls if we had to be there on Dec. 6th. Since she's willing to lend the plane for a fingerprint appointment, think we could get it for an adoption trip????

Holiday?

I heard today was a holiday, but I couldn't tell....I was at work. Since I work in the medical field, I'm aware I will not get holidays like other people. I understand. However, my job is trying to get all the therapists to work Thanksgiving and Christmas! Our patient care is regulated by Medicare, and Medicare recognizes these two holidays. The compromise is that we were told we didn't have to work the holiday, but needed to work the Sunday before or the Saturday after. Oh please!!! Who's going to work? All the therapists where I work have decided to "buck the sytem" and we're not working. Stay tuned....

Another adoption hurdle has appeared.....I'm having an extremely hard time getting the lady working on Bella's quilt to return my phone calls. For some reason she's avoiding us and giving me stress. Could one simple step on this journey go smoothly????

The USCIS Saga Continues

If you're not familiar with the headache we've been experiencing because of USCIS (aka "immigration"), read October 2nd's post before proceeding....

Here's the latest in our neverending USCIS Saga:
While we were on vacation, we received our receipt for our fingerprinting fee. It was dated 10/10/2007. I decided if we still had not received our appointment by Nov. 10th, I would begin contacting USCIS again. Well, today I received an e-mail from the immigration officer. She stated she's trying to process our paperwork, however, she can't because she cannot locate our fingerprint report. THAT'S BECAUSE WE'RE STILL WAITING ON HER TO SCHEDULE OUR FINGERPRINT APPOINTMENT!!!!!!! Plus....we have to send her another letter regarding this is a renewal for our paperwork!!!

We have to be re-fingerprinted and given approval by LA's government to adopt a child from another country and bring her to LA. (We're basically asking permission to bring an illegal immigrant into the state.)

In case you're wondering, no, it's not just us. I've contacted a family in Algiers who will be adopting with us and they've been waiting since July to have their paperwork renewed. However, this is only "normal" in LA. Our friends in NC have submitted paperwork, been re-fingerprinted and received their renewal paperwork from their state goverment. All this was done within the time we've been trying to get scheduled for fingerprints.

I just sent the Officer the requested letter (I was allowed to e-mail this one in) and the receipt # of our fingerprint fee. Maybe by 2008 we'll actually be fingerprinted!

Girl's Day & Shopping

I took a much needed "relaxing day" and spent it with a friend and we Christmas shopped. We started the day at Starbuck's and proceeded to Antique Alley in West Monroe where their Holiday Open House was being held. After Antique Alley, we hit P*aul Mich*el and Ko*l's. It felt good to get a start on my Christmas shopping. The goal is to be finished by Thanksgiving. We'll just have to wait and see how that turns out. :)

Geaux Tigers

Geaux Tigers, Beat Bama!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6108192989309070612

We Won!!!

We won!!! We won!!! SCC Championship here we come!!! LSU 41, Bama 34.

4th Quarter

Are penalties good? If so, we're doing phenomenal. We have 15!!! Currently....LSU 27, Bama 34.

Halftime

Look below...see the happy, relaxed couple??? They're gone!!! LSU is losing 17 to 20 at halftime!!! We could have been tied...but our field goal got blocked!!!

27 Minutes to Go!

27 minutes to the big game! The two Smith's in the house are all pumped up and dressed out for the game. All that's missing is the littlest Smith.

Game Day!

The mood is lifting from this house because it's game day! LSU football is big in this household, especially today. I went to Brookshire's this morning to pick up "football food" and about half the customers in the store were dressed in LSU clothing. Our fingers are tightly crossed for the Tigers to win. Geaux Tigers!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwvfHmU6kiw