This just in....

from China Adoption Forecast:

-*"China has 39 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 5-7 days of dossiers each month.

If China did all future referrals at the exact same speed as they did this month: 2008-12-18

Our best guess - a weighted average of recent CCAA velocities, guessing that CCAA will perform about as well in the future as they are performing now, but might return to previous trends: 2008-08-12

That's our best guess for when you might receive your referral. Just at a guess, we can suppose that the CCAA either speeds up or slows down significantly, and show you those dates. If they speed up: 2008-06-09. And if they slow down: 2008-12-20.

Since China generally sends out referrals in a batch about once per month, your referral date could easily vary +/- one month depending on whether you just get included or just get missed in a particular batch."

My Latest Predictions

Hey Ya'll!

Well, my prediction for this month was off by one day. UGH! I'm still really hoping for a September referral. Here are my latest predictions based on an average between the number of days referred in the past twelve months (6.25 days) and number of poll families (about 100).

Credit: Rumor Queen

May Referrals - through January 14, 2006
June Referrals - through January 22, 2006
July Referrals - through January 27, 2006
August Referrals - through February 10, 2006 (the large gap accounts for Chinese New Year, 2006)
September Referrals - through February 17, 2006

I am hoping that RQ puts up a new daily poll this month which will help with making my predictions through the end of the year.

If we end up getting a September referral, I will travel in mid-November to complete the adoption. Which wouldn't be a bad thing necessarily....I could take three weeks of maternity leave before Christmas break, and three weeks after Christmas break, and return to work at the end of January, 2009.

To Buy or Not to Buy?

Hey ya'll!

I need some opinions, and fast! I found this dresser on Craigslist and need to decide whether I should buy it or not.

It has three drawers on each side and shelves behind the doors. I'm thinking about how easy it would be to take the doors off and put baskets on the shelves. (think Pottery Barn here!). I would be sanding off the finish and painting it white with a high-gloss paint. So what do you think?

April Referrals

Well, what can I say? The CCAA referred through January 9, 2006. Progress, yes, but how much? Considering that 2 of the days referred were a Saturday and Sunday, not very much.

I think a couple of things happened this month: first, April is traditionally a small month for referrals - it was this time last year that the CCAA issued out the infamous 2-day batch. Secondly, I think the powerful snow and ice storms affected how the SWI's were able to send out referrals.

I'm still thinking September/October for Kaelie's referral and November for travel.

Sigh.....

Reconfiguring the Closet

One of the things I've wanted to do for a long time to the house is to reconfigure my closet. Our house is a 70's ranch style, and the closets are pretty small. I had two bars, one on each side, and a shelf. There was A LOT of extra space in the top of the closet and I just had stuff stacked on top of stuff! Anyway, with Kaelie's referral drawing near, I took the plunge and decided to go for it.

First, I took everything out of the closet! Then, I demolished the bars and shelves and started off with a blank slate. Now I have two bars on the left (one for David's clothes, the other for my shirts and sweaters), an armoire in the middle - giving me two more dresser drawers) and one bar on the right for dresses.

I'll also have two shelves on the right. I'll add pretty baskets and label for all of the "stuff" I decide to save. I've got to go through David's clothes and decide what to Ebay/Goodwill. I will a patch up a few holes where I demolished the old shelving and paint.

Hope you enjoy the pictures of my handyman apprentice Jeremy testing the strength of the bars and helping screw the bars in place. He is was a terrific helper!