Meet the New Spa in Town

I visited a korean spa for the first time — “Spa World”. It was strange but good. The “bade” or the large heated pool with lots of jets was wonderful. The nude ladies took a little getting used to (as did all of the tattoos). After a few minutes, I didn’t notice it because we were all “dressed” the same (in fact, a girl got in with her swim suit and there was a contingent of Korean aunties who were quite upset. They won =-)

After spending a lot of time in the water (I could live in that pool), I put on the issued uniform (It is orange. I felt fleetingly like I was putting on prison garb.) and tried the myriad of sauna room.  They were all connected by a great room that was filled with mats and people lounging around (included folks on laptops). Plus, there were TVs and a snack bar. The best analogy I can come up with is like going to the beach for the day… people were reading, chatting, eating and intermittently headed into the different sauna rooms (e.g. the gem room, the red clay room). Really, just hanging out.

All in all – a great use of $35. Not a luxe spa, but a fun and relaxing experience. Had a brought a book with me, I probably would have stayed there for hours. It was very clean and friendly.

http://www.spaworldusa.com/

 

So… its been a while.

It has been a long time since I have posted. Wow.  Holidays… friends…. job changes… so much going on!

So, where are we with the adoption? Back to paperwork. Our fingerprints are expiring (again).

China had referred babies through April 3, 2006. There are 122 days worth of dossiers in front of us. Best guess? 18 more months.

 

Hawaii 5-0

A little bit of trivia. Hawaii is celebrating their 50th anniversary of statehood this year.

The Big Island vacation was great. The island is very different — barren lava rock to rainforests. We stayed a week at the lovely and interesting Hilton Waikola Village resort. It is massive:

• Three hotel towers
• Three pools
• Ocean fed lagoon
• Dolphin pool
• Many restaurants and bars
• Tram and boats to traverse it

We could have never left the resort. In fact, there were a few days that we didn’t. It was great to lay by the pool or the ocean and just relax. When we finally decided to head out we found waterfalls, black sand beaches, snorkeling, a rainforest and volcano.

Pics are posted here: Big Island Photos

 

It has been a while…

It has been over a month since I posted anything… time is flying by.

Too busy…. too little sleep.

So, I am posting this from LAX. We are on our way to Hawaii to celebrate our 10th wedding anniverary.

To relax… to catch up.

Aloha!

 

Welcome Home Little Ones

Referrals have been made through March 24, 2006 : http://chinaadopttalk.com/2009/08/21/babies-26/

 

Where Does The Summer Go?

It sounds so cliche – but, as I get old, time seems to move faster. I can hardly belive that it is the end of August. What have we done? My first response is “not much”. But that is never true. We vacationed, relaxed, spent time with family and friends. In fact, I had the oppurtunity to reconnect with two cousins (from different “sides” 0f my family) that I haven’t really spent any time with in almost 20 years. It is almost feels like that as life speeds up, it also has found time to slow down and allow for reconnections. It has been a good summer. I hope yours was good too.

 

Welcome Home…

 

Babies have been referred through March 22, 2006. Want to check out all of the new parent blogs? Click Here

For those of you keeping score at home, there are 134 days between March 22 and Aug 3, 2006…

 

face 2 face

Billy Joel and Elton John

I am not much of a concert goer. Last night, we went to the Billy Joel – Elton John ‘face 2 face’ concert at Nationals Park. It was the first concert at the Park and it went fairly well. Except for Eltons’ piano malfunctioning and he stormed of the stage. Billy took over and they rearrange the concert…. after that is was pretty flawless and a lot of fun.

 

Here We Go Again

It is that time of the year… home study renewal!  It is beginning to feel like its own season. This years paperwork-palooza started with a whimper. Our homestudy caseworker forgot about our appointment. After waiting 45 mins, I called her office. She tried to reschedule. I said no. So, 35 mins later she was on our doorstep and we had the typical 20 min homestudyappointment. Next on the list — Drs appointments.

 

What Have I Learned?

Over the past several weeks, many people have asked about our adoption. The most frequent question is “what do you do during the wait?”  That answer is easy — what we did before we decided to adopt.  We go to work, go on vacation, read books, hang out with friends… you get the idea.

What no one “asks is what have you learned?” I have learned to be patient – very, very patient.  I am ‘Type A’.  I like things to be on schedule (well, my schedule) and fit into my plan. Many people have told me that I will have to change when the little person comes home. While I understand that (not sure how much I accept it), the adoption process has forced me to become patient. One life lesson down… hundreds of more to go.