Wallace: Our Emotional Gauge

Wally, Walla, Little Man, Sweetie, Little Guy, Sweet Boy... officially known as Wallace.

This picture, that Dave took on our hike today, is Wallace at his happiest... true bliss comes to mind.

He's the youngest of our two fur children and the more emotional of the two as well. Since he was 7 weeks old, he's been incredibly sensitive and in-tune with his "humans" feelings. I'm sure to you non-dog people this sounds ridiculous, but I'm telling you; if one tear rolls down a cheek, a voice gets raised, or you even think about being upset in some way, shape, or form he is by your side, moaning and putting a paw on your leg.

The night I miscarried he laid in bed with me with his head on my stomach all night; I know he knew. Most recently he has been by my side as I stare at pictures of Little Bee with tears streaming down my face. He's always by our side and wants nothing more than to please us. He's our emotional gauge, if you will; always helps to release a little steam before the pressure becomes unbearable.

If he could talk I have not doubt he'd tell us he wants to be the center of our universe... The truth is, he and his "brother", Riley, have been for the last 7 years. We've planned vacations around them, made scrapbooks of them, let them sleep in our bed, and talked to them as if they understand.

In the past couple of weeks I think Wallace has figured out there is "something" that will soon enter this house that might change this. So far he doesn't seem to be too thrilled. Two weeks ago he ate the cover and first 27 pages of, "Raising Your Internationally Adopted Child". Two days after that he ate the cover off of "I'm Chocolate; You're Vanilla" and then two days after that he took a stocking cap we received for Little Bee out of Little Bee's room and pulled about 20 strands of yarn out of the tassel on top... Do you think he knows something is happening???

You may be thinking, "He's in for a rude awakening!" I'm sure part of this is true, but I also know Wally will quickly adapt and soon, if not immediately, after Little Bee comes home, he'll welcome the newest member of our family into the pack and become Little Bee's emotional gauge and protector as well.

Keeping Busy, Having Fun, and Breathing Deep

I've found these three techniques to be particularly effective in quieting my busy brain and coping with the anxiety of waiting and the unknown...

We found out last week that the courts will remain closed until Oct 12th and, now, the U.S. Embassy requires our paperwork be submitted 2 weeks before our Embassy date. This means we'll have to wait 8 weeks after we pass court to travel and pick up Little Bee, we were originally going to have to wait 4-6 weeks after passing court... Enter deep breathing here. So, now we think it will be more like January or February before we have our little man. Ugh. Families who have been through this before say the pain of waiting all goes away when you have your child in your arms. I'm trusting this will be so.

Thankfully Dave and I have created several projects for ourselves... Enter keeping busy. Dave's big project has been starting his own company! I'll provide more details as things progress, but it's VERY exciting and also quite stressful, and so far, things are looking good!

As for me, I've been traveling for work, hence the absence from the blog. We also bought Little Bee's crib and a rocking chair last weekend that is unfinished. I'll be finishing each of them, along with a dresser that I've stripped. The stain should be in tomorrow, so I'll have a project to keep me very busy this weekend!

We're trying to do Little Bee's nursery as green and chemically free as possible. So, we painted it using VOC Free Harmony paint from Sherwin Williams and we'll be finishing the furniture with VOC Free stain from TimerSoy. The paint was great to work with. Went on very well and didn't smell at all, so no paint high for me! I'll report back and post pictures with how the stain works out.

In our spare time, we're managing to have a lot of fun too. Getting together with friends, hiking, cooking, and planning our trip have been effective at keeping us occupied as well.

So there you have it... how we're keeping busy, having fun, and breathing deep, all in an effort to survive this difficult wait.

Pretty Sure They'll be Tasty Little Morsels

The bite of the the canning bug hasn't subsided... If anything, it has intensified...

Last Friday I canned Roasted Sweet Italian Peppers Marinated in Olive Oil and Vinegar. It was fairly labor intensive, but fun, and resulted in what I think will be some tasty little morsels of peppery goodness that can be used to add to spaghetti sauce, put on sandwiches or in salads, or as a part of an antipasto tray. I say "think" because Dave, Ann, and I tried them before they went into the jars and they were delicious, but will have to wait 2 weeks to taste the final product.

I had not heard of Sweet Italian Peppers until this summer... turns out they are very good... Much more flavorful than a standard green pepper and not quite as sweet as a red pepper.

The first step was to thoroughly wash the peppers. Our's happened to be covered in dirt from a recent rainfall so it took some soaking and scrubbing to ensure the area around the stem was clean.

Then came putting them on a hot grill to char the skin which adds delicious flavor and enables you to peel the peppers. For ideal peeling you want the skins to be mostly black, but not overly charred.... I did two rounds; The first could have been left on a little longer and the second a little shorter. So, next year should be just right!

Once they're ready, you take them off the grill and put them in paper bag, or covered casserole for at least 20 minutes; This makes the peeling fairly simple. The recipe I followed gave great instructions, however, I did not perfect the washcloth technique and just resorted to using my fingers and a knife for peeling. It was a beautiful Fall evening complete with New Belgium Hoptoberfest which made the grilling, peeling, and canning particularly enjoyable. After a couple of hours of peeling, it was time to cut the peppers into large bite size pieces, pack the jars with the peppers, a couple cloves of garlic and some fresh basil. Then came pouring a hot mixture of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, and red chili pepper flakes in each jar to fill it 1/2 inch from the top (you can get the specific measurement in the recipe I provided in the link above). The jars were processed in a boiling water bath for 45 minutes since we live above 6000 feet. I'm thankful to report that all the jars sealed successfully!

And here is the finish product!

One of the most amazing parts of this process was that I started with about 20 pounds, or about 40 peppers, which resulted in just 7, pint jars of the final product.

I also pickled 25 pounds of beets on Sunday, but will save that fusha goodness for another day.

Backyard Adventures

In our little town of Manitou Springs we have what Dave calls, "The Ultimate Stair Master". However, it's true name is The Incline. Until 1990, The Incline was a cable car route that took passengers to the top of Mount Manitou. Since then, the tracks have been removed and only the railroad ties remain, which serve as the perfect stairs for the 2,200 foot climb.

Last week, when my Aunt Annie was in town, she put us up to the challenge of tackeling it, which Dave and I had yet to do since moving here in 2007. So, on a foggy Sunday morninig, Dave, the dogs, my aunt, my mom, and I headed out for our first attempt... We made it to the Bail-Out Point which is half way...

Above, Dave is standing on level ground to take the picture... clearly I am not.

Looking up!

Looking down...

My Aunt Annie (the inspiration in doing this thing), my mom, and me... of course the dogs too...

The view from Bail-Out Point... Our little town of Manitou below...

We had so much fun that Dave and I decided we were going to try to do this little physical challenge once a week. So, on Friday afternoon, we headed out with the top of The Incline in sight. And...

We made it!

This is just one of the many wonderful adventures to be had "in our backyard".

A Smile.

Yesterday I saw Little Bee's smile for the first time and my heart melted... again. Until yesterday morning all the pictures I had seen of our little guy were serious. Cute, but serious. To see him smile not in one, but in two pictures gave me such relief. It's not that I thought something was wrong, but there's something about seeing his gummy smile and one with his tongue sticking out just a little bit that let me know he's okay. Despite the loss he has experienced and fear he has felt in his sort 7 months on this planet, he is still resilient and he can still smile.

We also got a video of him! It is 26 seconds long and I've watched it at least 10 times and am sure I'll watch it 100 more times before he comes home. It's not exactly action packed, but he blinks, reaches for the camera and kicks his legs! I'm sure it has to be strange for him having all these electronic devices shoved in his face, but one day I hope he'll be just as happy as we are to see these pictures and videos that are documenting this time in his life.

Thanks to my mom, I've also already started a little scrapbook for him. Every time I get new pictures they go in and I write him a little message... It's another thing I cherish now and hope he will in the future...

A huge thank you goes out to the families who took all these pictures and video of him while they were picking up their children... I'm so thankful they were able to hold our Little Bee and capture these treasures to tie us over until we have him in our arms.

It's Tough...

This waiting thing; it's tough... I knew it would be, but for the first couple of weeks after we got our referral it was easier to "wait" than before the referral. I had a name to say, a face to focus on, and we had made a giant leap forward in our process. This week that ease of waiting seemed to change for me, I'm not sure why, but it did.

I think about him, our Little Bee, ALL. THE. TIME.

At first I wasn't dreaming about him at night, but now I am. Last night was one of those nights where despite sleeping all night long, I woke up feeling like I didn't sleep a bit because my mind was so busy processing, processing so many different things.

When my eyes opened this morning, I reached above my head to grab my iPod that has the 5 pictures we have of him on it, the same 5 pictures I look at at least 5 times a day. I stare at them wondering what he's doing, what his personality is like, how much he's growing, and the list goes on...

I just read another adoption blog, that seemed to validate my feelings.... as she said, "I always thought it was a bit cheesy when people said they have fallen in love with a picture, but I get it." And , now I do too... I have fallen in love with this little guy, his eyes, his lips, his little fingers, and the wise look on his face. I love him.

Thankfully Dave is home now after being in Wyoming for work all week. It's always easier when he's around; he helps makes me sane.

Sorry for the choppyness of this post, but it gives you a little glimpse of what it's like to be in this head of mine at the moment...

My Favorite Part of Summer... In a Jar

Nothing says summer to me like fresh tomatoes... Tomatoes that you grow yourself or get from your local CSA are in a totally different league than those you buy from your local grocery store, regardless of where they're grown. I would eat "homegrown" tomatoes for lunch and dinner every day if I could... Well, last Wednesday I met my match. We got about 30 pounds from our CSA and that was a little more than this girl could take on before they went bad! So, I wound up canning them... therefore we now have our "summer in a jar". Now, during the cold months of winter I can pull out one of these beauties and make delicious pasta sauce or a pot of chile...ummm. Just makes me want to put on a warm sweater and make some corn bread thinking about it.

This past Spring, we decided to go in on an "El Grande" Share at our CSA with our friends, thinking "El Grande" just ment a "big share" that we could all split. Come to find out it means we get a huge amount of 7 different items (corn, basil, tomatoes, onions, etc) at various points through out the summer. Earlier in the summer we got corn (about 20 ears worth each) which I ended up freezing. Then we got a GIGANTIC amount of basil which resulted in a pesto make party that produced enough pesto to last three families at least until next summer. We still have another box of tomatoes coming, as well as Italian Sweet Peppers, potatoes, and onions; most of which we plan on preserving in some form or fashion.

I must say, I think I've been bit by the canning bug, there is something very gratifying about it and it seems to be one of several hobbies I'm picking up in an effort to productively pass the time until Little Bee comes home...