Lots of Astronauts?
Legs of Ants?
Little Old Apricots?
Lasting Outer Armor?
Lilliputians on Amoxicillin?
No, no - it's Letter of Seeking Confirmation of Adopter!
Wait, what? That can't be right... That'd be LOSCOA!
Whatever it is, I have it in my hot little hands, and it means we're that much closer to getting Zinnia home. We've signed it and we're sending it to our agency and mailing our I-800 tomorrow, and then we'll wait not-so-patiently for our TA -
Taco Aerospace Travel Approval. Cool, huh?
If you think that's nifty, how about this? We have some dear friends who moved away from our town several years ago, and it just so happens that through some crazy twists and turns, they are also adopting from China, also a child with Down syndrome, also with the same agency, and also at the same time. They received their LOA too, and our agency has told us we'll probably travel together! We're all pretty danged excited.
So remember that nice weather we had for Halloween? Yeah, it's gone. Our dogs are enjoying snow for the first time, as is one of the speech pathologists I'm currently supervising (she's from the Philippines so it's all new to her). I don't have a picture of her frolicking in the snow, though I'm sure she did - she strikes me as a frolicker, but here's one of the dogs. I can't get enough of their cuteness!
On Saturday, our kids had their voice and piano recital. Our teacher is great, and all the kids did a nice job. Unfortunately the camera wasn't rolling when Beck played, so we made him play his piece again at the end of the recital. He happily obliged, but now that the recital is over, I hope I never hear that particular rendition of Jingle Bells again. Like as long as I live. Bless his heart, he practiced, but oy - I just can't.
Yesterday, I had an MRI on my shoulder so my doctor can determine whether I need surgery. I TOLD my doctor I am EXCEEDINGLY claustrophobic. My first MRI almost landed me in the funny farm. I insisted on sedation for the second. I managed. So based on experience (no sedation=bad, sedation=good), I asked for the good stuff again. I was prescribed diazepam, and dutifully took it 30 minutes before my appointment. As the time approached, I started to get worried that I wasn't feeling any differently. The rad tech told me I should have had 10 mg, 1 hour prior, so she tried to slow things down to allow the medication to kick in. It didn't. I'll jump ahead a bit here to tell you that when I got home, I looked at the bottle and saw that I was given was one milligram. One.
Anyway, we tried to get me into the tube, and I lasted about 10 seconds before sheer panic set in. I was extricated quickly, and commenced sobbing/apologizing for my irrational behavior. The tech suggested I come back later for full anesthesia, but I couldn't bear the thought of this already expensive procedure (remember that $15,000 deductible of ours?) becoming even more so.
So, I asked the tech to call my husband over from his office. He came right away, and I asked him to give me a blessing. He did, and as he spoke, I felt peace and calm wash over me. We went back in, and even though I had some serious reservations, I was able to do it. 30 minutes I spent in that mouse hole. I feel panic just thinking about it. But I did it because God blessed me to be able to stand it. Cool, huh?
So today we had something fun happen. Two missionaries showed up at our house to make dinner. For real! They made fry bread that Elder M (right) learned to make while serving on a reservation. We topped them (the bread, not the missionaries, although that would have been funny) with chili, lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream. I wish this would happen more often. ;)
