Happy New Year!

Ni Hao! Happy New Year! January 26th welcomed in the Year of the Ox. Could this be the year for Sophie and me to finally become a family?

It has been a busy 2009 for me so far. I've decided it's time to finally finish getting Sophie's room ready. It's been serving as a storage room so I'm getting rid of things I don't need and finding new homes for the rest. Luckily no painting is needed. It was a baby's room when I moved in and the walls are a nice shade of pale green and yellow. It matches very nicely with the Classic Pooh bedding and decor I bought back in 2004!

I don't normally make resolutions but I have made a somewhat informal one to take better care of myself. I'm trying to eat more healthy, am drinking more water, and have even added trips to Lifetime to my schedule. I actually made it there 8 times in January which is a record for me (and will earn me $20 off dues in a future month). I think I do feel better in general so maybe more water and exercise is good advice.

I was not affected by last week's round of layoffs at Target but am saddened for the people I know who were let go. Keep your fingers crossed that the economy improves and keep on shopping at Target! My job should be safe unless the economy and Target's sales continue to deteriorate. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

I have some upcoming events I'm looking forward to. My sister-in-law's birthday was Tuesday so we're hoping to celebrate with dinner and a movie this weekend. Valentine's Day night will be spent with my single moms' group and their cute children. I'm very excited to see everyone again. My nieces and I will be getting together soon to put together 30 Easter baskets for the local foodshelf. I started doing this three or four years ago and I LOVE collecting all of the goodies for them. I especially love how my nieces like to help put these together for other children who might not get one otherwise.

I'm hoping to get away in March for a mini-vacation. I've wanted to go to a spring training Twins game for awhile so maybe this will be the year. Fort Myers and the Sanibel Island area of Florida sounds lovely right about now.

Lastly, I'm hoping to get started on Sophie's 100 Wishes Quilt. Thanks to everyone who has submitted fabric and your wish. There's still time if you want to partcipate.

Latest Timing Update:
There were rumors last month that things were finally going to speed up and then they matched 2 days worth of applications. That was a let-down to say the leaset. They have matched through March 2 so there are now 56 days until my LID. If they match 5 days/month, we're looking at another year. Six days per month will give me an early Christmas present of early December referral. Seven days per month will bring a referral in early October. Let's hope we're on a minimum trend of five days.

Now that I remember my password, I will try to post more often :-). Take care