Monday night I went to a potluck dinner for Nelson - the guide for my adoption agency in China. Nelson was here for just a couple days. I have heard so many wonderful things about him and he seemed so nice. I got to introduce myself to him. He will be so important in this adoption process. I can hardly wait to see him again! I also got to see the other family in my travel group again. That was very nice.

The families that had sent their dossiers to China in July had received their referrals that morning. They were so excited. Everyone was looking at their pictures and congratulating them. And then someone pointed out that there are only two more groups to get their referrals before my group will. It is still going to be a while but when I look at it this way it seems a lot closer. I have so much to do!!!!! So I have started. I went out and bought two sets of spare batteries for the digital camera (I already had bought an extra memory card - I plan on taking a lot of pictures!) and bought a spare battery for the camcorder - now I just need to figure out how to use it! I found a baby gate I have had in the basement for years. I planned on using it when Twinkle and Boo were kittens to keep them out of the bedrooms. Well hopefully it will work better for my daughter than it did for my kitties. It only took them twenty-four hours to figure out how to climb up the thing and go over it! I am also working on my Chinese again. I got some flash cards and a workbook. I am determined to learn a little.

One of the newer parents at the potluck have taught their daughter some baby sign language and I decided that sounded like a really good idea so today I picked up a book and I am going to try to learn a few signs. It should be a lot easier than Chinese!!!