Attitude Shift...

I felt like this this morning:





Then this helped cheer me up. So did the prospect of the weekend and a raise at work! Suddenly life doesn't seem all that bad. Pretty sure it was all the kitty though!

Bummed...

Don't know why but I am feeling so bummed today about the whole process. For some reason it feels like the adoption process is unending with fun dashes of terror about all the different things that can go wrong with the process. I feel terrible because sometimes I think its not worth it- all of the stress and waiting. Maybe it would just be easier to give up altogether. I mean we have a pretty awesome life with just the two of us.

But then I see a Mom with her children at the mall, or at the school and I think, I WANT THAT!!! That relationship, the love, even the cruddy times (sick kids, crabby, etc).

I don't know, I guess I am just confused.


Bummer...

The Promise of a New Year

The New Year has started out right! We've officially hit 18 months waiting. I celebrated by taking a girlfriend down to the US and doing some damage in the shopping malls! Keep in mind this was my friends' first trip ever to the US, so it was fun seeing her experience my home country for the first time. Not to mention clearing up a few erroneously held stereotypes she had about Americans. Seriously, do you really think there are THAT many stupid Americanos that would strap skiis to their cars in the summertime? I mean think about that,how many people claim to know someone who has seen that...is it really possible, or just urban legend that lets us feel more awesome? She was also very surprised at how good the service was in restaurants...having been told that American wait staff are rude etc etc...I mean come on, are there no bad waiters in Canada? I'm just saying...don't be a hater. I love both of my countries. And yes, I work equally hard to represent Canada positivly to my American bretheren as well. No, we don't all say "Eh", "aboot" etc.
Ok, apparently I needed to get that out...carrying on with the fun stuff... :)

Found a great pair of jeans. There is just something about finding jeans that make your butt look good that makes a girl smile. Especially since it was a size smaller than I used to wear. That's right folks, I am officially down three sizes from this summer! Zumba is rocking my world.

I teach my first official ZUMBA class on Thursday. A little nervous...I am worried people are going to be thinking "That chubby girl is going to teach me fitness?" and walk out. So my plan is just to address that right at the start of the class. I want to use a combination of humour and my own personal quest for fitness (not to mention the fact that I am the only one in our rural area with the training) to address this issue. Then blow their socks off with a fun hour!

Vanocka

Pronounced Va-noch-ka is the Czechoslovakian Christmas bread that my family makes every year. Its a sweetbread with a touch of orange and/or lemon flavor, sweetened with golden raisins or cranberries. So good at breakfast Christmas morning. Mmmm....can you smell the yummy goodness coming outta Grandma's kitchen?

What is Zumba?!?!?

Wow, I got a lot of questions about what Zumba was-well let me tell you it is the newest fitness sensation to hit Canada!!! Why do I love it? It is great exercise disguised as FUN! The motto is "Ditch the Workout,Join the Party!". You DO NOT need to be a good dancer to do Zumba. (It does help if you plan to be the instructor). Zumba is appropriate for all ages, fitness levels, and physical capabilities. In fact, the class I will take in February is to help focus myself on accommodating elderly, "differently abled", and people that are significantly out of shape.


The concept is that it should feel like a party. There is supposed to be a 70% emphasis on Latin musical rhythms, and the other 30% are various world/international including belly dance, bollywood, rock and roll etc. The Latin rhythms include merengue, salsa, cumbia, reggaeton, cha cha, samba, and flamenco.

So, if you have two left feet but would love to do a dance workout its OK to go to Zumba, it is not a dance class so noone cares if you trip over your feet as long as you have fun doing it! Check out the Zumba website for a class near you! www.zumba.com

Another One Bites the Dust and ZUMBA!!!!

Months that is. We've hit 17 finally. I can remember when our DTC was first sent out that some people were FREAKING OUT because they had hit 17 months and hadn't had a referral yet, now its pretty much the norm to expect to wait 24 months, its funny what a person can get used to. I REFUSE to let myself be depressed about this at Christmas time. I have a Christmas concert to put on, dancing lessons to prep for, and am truly blessed in many ways...

So in the spirit of being positive let me tell you about my own NEW PERSONAL PASSION. You may have heard of it: ZUMBA!!!

I LOVE ZUMBA. I love it so much I went out and got certified to teach it! And I am going back in February for another level of certification. Now you have to imagine that I am NOT a size 2, 4,6,8,10, 12,14,16....oh yeah just keep going. So there I am in this class full of petite personal trainers all taking this training, and then me. THANK GOODNESS for my dance background- i was able to pull it off! In fact, I found out that just being a personal trainer does NOT mean that you know how to dance at all!!! Thank you to all the lovely latino men that taught me how to dance when I lived in Arizona..... yum uh I mean....that was great.

And, since I have been practicing so hard at getting my Zumba materials perfected (I start teaching a class in January) I have lost almost 20 pounds!!!! Now doesn't that make a girl happy?

16 Months Down...

5-8 more months to go. I finally worked up the courage to contact our agency. These are the numbers we have been given (not a big surprise). I just needed to feel as though they knew that we were still here. As always they were gracious.

SO, April at the earliest July at the latest for that ever elusive referral.

Anyone know where I can get a poll to put up here? I think we need some kind of pool going here...