“Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not waiting passively until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient, we try to get away from wherewe are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later, and somewhere else. Let’s be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.”

–Henri J.M.Nouwen

Well yesterday it was offically 6 months since I have been logged into China... Happy 6 month LID anniversary to me !!!!!

Taken from Sandy, who is waiting for Chloe....
This cute recipe seems to be making the rounds on the DTC group boards:
Referral Wait Browies
Bring to boil in saucepan:
2/3 c. shortening (what we wish the wait times were doing)
5 T cocoa (in honor of the coveted brown envelope)
1/2 c. evaporated (like our hopes of having our babies home before Christmas)
milk
2 c. sugar (how sweet it will be to finally see a picture of ourlittle ones!)
Mix in a bowl:
4 eggs, beaten (what the next person who asks how long till referral will be :o) )
1 t. salt (in our wounds to hear that only 9 days of dossiers were matched this month)
2 t. vanilla (or cherry juice-a touch of red for good luck)
1 c. flour (for our little cherry blossoms waiting for us in China)
1/2 t. baking powder (I know, we'd rather be working with babypowder...)
1 c. nuts (because that's where we are all headed if we don't startgetting some good news!)
Add saucepan mixture to bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour into ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.Cool, frost,and topped with halved maraschino cherries (pretend they're ladybugs and consider it your sighting for the day!)

Frosting:
3C powdered sugar
1/3 c. butter
1 t. cherry juice
1-2T. cocoa
2 tsp. milk
Enjoy with a cold glass of milk and dream of the day we will be making brownies with our little ones!

You Might Be DTC...
You might be DTC if...
1. You have stopped stalking the postal carrier.
2. The subject lines of e-mail contain more than three !!!!
3. You begin wondering where all this free time came from since you stopped paper chasing.
4. You are subscribed to more than 6 e-list adoption groups.
5. You begin to practice squatting for the pit stops in China (squatty potties).
6. You find yourself stalking the local stores for sales on baby clothes.
7. You learn that scrapbook is actually a verb.
8. You start carrying around your 20 lb. ag of rice to get into shape.
9. Your kitchen table is continually cluttered with all your new cyber projects.
10. You know more about your DTC friends than your next door neighbor.

I just realized that around today, a year ago is when I submitted my application to get a single's slot at GWCA !