Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo

So, clearly I'm a terribly unreliable blogger and I don't expect anyone to read this as I'm sure the three of you who cared have moved on to other things in your life. However, part of the reason I don't post is because my life if pretty boring and there are already a gazillion mom blogs out there which leaves me with not much else to write about. I'm not sure how exciting it would be to read about what I do when I'm not momming, which is usually gesso-ing canvases or reading InStyle. Those are not very interesting.

However, we had some excitement here the other day so I thought I'd share. On Monday night, I fell down my basement steps and broke my tailbone. Or my ass bone as I prefer to call it. I was talking to my sister on the phone and was heading downstairs to paint. I had the phone on one hand and a brush in the other and apparently my brain was switched to off. As I took the FIRST STEP, my heel slid off the edge and down I went. And went. And went. And went. AND WENT until I crashed into the gate we put at the bottom to keep Mia from escaping. It was very Monty Python and hilarious despite my injury. This is what my sister heard:

me: blah, blah, blah....OHGODOHGODOHGODHJLFHJKLHBJHLSGVFUF...thud, thud, thud, thud...static...........CRASH!

small pause

Jeff: Um yeah, we're gonna have to call you back. Amy just fell down the stairs.

As soon as I landed, I knew it was not good. I had a stabbing pain in my rear and couldn't do more than roll around the floor moaning. The kids thought this was all really entertaining and gave me a big round of applause. I'm sure they also thought my tears were from the joy they were bringing me but I digress. Jeff helped me back upstairs and onto the bed where I had to lie as still as I could for about an hour because moving or getting up made me super nauseous and felt like someone was actively trying to stab me to death via my tush. We were going to head to the ER, but after self-diagnosing on Webmd.com (editor's note- do not do this) I learned that they don't do anything for this anyway so I decided to save the co-pay. I iced it up and took 3 ibuprofen. It's been 4 days now and it still hurts so badly I cannot drive. This is SURPRISINGLY PAINFUL. I finally broke down and called the doctor today and as the internet confirmed, there isn't anything they will do but tell you it's very painful (spoiler alert) and that it can last A LONG WHILE. Fabulous. She heard Mia blabbering on in the background and said "oh I hear a little one there! Ooh, this injury is hard with a baby." When I told her I had not one but TWO toddlers, she paused and then said she would say a little prayer for me.

That was not very reassuring but as I have learned, she was correct in her secondhand fear. My children have taken on the characteristics of two sharks who have just smelled the blood of an injured seal in the water. Guess who the seal is. They have both decided this is a PERFECT time to practice their climbing, jumping and tantrum skills. They know I can't move quickly or grab them since I can only bend about 20 degrees and they're taking full advantage. When Mia doesn't want to go where I need her to go, she now throws herself down like the cops just got here and laughs and laughs and laughs. That way I can't reach her. Crafty little thing. They're also climbing up and jumping on the furniture and I can't really stop them. TRAITORS. Max keeps asking me if my butt hurts and when I tell him yes, he then will demand several things at once, none of which I can do easily. Yesterday he wanted the sprinkler so after spending 15 minutes trying to get it set up without bending down or hurting myself further (impossible), he played for a whopping 8 minutes before he demanded to go indoors. CUT ME SOME SLACK, BRO.

Anyway, that's the excitement. A broken ass. That's what constitutes as excitement around here. That's sad.

IS THIS THING ON?

HELLO BLOG WORLD! I have no time to pee let alone post on here, but I thought I'd throw some new pictures at'cha, including some from Korea that I meant to post but didn't. Mia's doing well overall, getting bigger and taking a few steps on her own. Max has turned into a total Three Year Old child and has developed the mouthy attitude of a 15 year old which is as magical as you imagine it to be.

Mia can't believe Elton John is in her house.
America, WHAT A PLACE!

YO, Whaddup.

This face is how Max feels about having a sister.

This one with the hat again.

This picture is PURE JOY.

On to Korea......these were supposed to be up by now so it's old news but whatevs.

This is a man-made stream that was built in the middle of the city.
It's amazing and you can walk for miles looking up at the buildings.
I wish we could have seen it in spring.

That's MRS. EMPEROR to you.

Just to tell you how cold it was, that lake was frozen totally solid.

This is one of the very few, like single digit few,
pictures of Mia with us in Korea. Rough time.

Comment Hub

Hello from Seoul!!! I'm not trying to beat a dead horse but wanted to remind you again to visit www.howtomakekimchi.tumblr.com for travel updates. There doesn't seem to be a way to comment on there so if you HAVE to say something, leave it here!

Adoption Update - The Final Countdown Edition

So, we leave this week for Seoul and beginning Thursday, you can follow our adventure at my new tumblr. WHAT THE HELL IS A TUMBLR, you ask, and why is there no "e" in Tumblr? Well, it's like a cross between Twitter and this blog. I think. I don't know anything about Twitter so I'm taking someone's word for that. Let's just say that it's just like this blog only shorter posts and more pics. The situation with the missing "e?" Well, I don't know why there is no "e." Moving on.

Go here:

www.howtomakekimchi.tumblr.com

I'm still learning the site myself and I'm not sure how the comments and stuff work so you'll have to bear with me. We're going to try to document as much of our trip as we can so I hope you all enjoy it.

Adoption Update - The Final Countdown Edition

WE GOT THE CALL!!!!!!! WE GOT THE CALL!!!!! WE GOT THE CALL!!!!!!!

So, they called this morning, just before 11am to tell us she's ready to come home. Yah-HOOOO!! We have to wait a few extra days because of the Lunar New Year celebrations so we won't be leaving until next week but still WOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Once I collect myself I will give you all the details but for now, THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!!!

Adoption Update - The Final Countdown Edition

So, I called the visa center this morning and...... they see her picture!!!!!! This means she has had her passport issued (I'm 99% sure, at least) and when we got Max, they called us THE DAY AFTER his picture came into the system.

HOLY. CRAP.

Now, the timelines are kind of screwy right now with the backlog and everything but suffice it to say, we could get our travel call AT ANY TIME.

AT ANY TIME, PEOPLE.

I'll update any news I get so stay tuned!!

Adoption Update - The Final Countdown Edition

So, since our news on Friday, it's been a little crazy and exciting around here. As you all know, we weren't really expecting to get any more movement on our file for another week or two and then another few weeks of waiting after that, so to have not only movement, but an approval for our permit is AMAAAAAZING. It's both scary and nice to have a couple of weeks worth of waiting behind us. Here is an update on where we stand (and Connie, if you read this and I'm wrong, please correct):

- our EP (emigration permit) has been approved which means she's been given the green light to leave the country

-she has a visa physical scheduled for this Wednesday (1/26) and that will ensure she is healthy enough for travel. There is always a slight chance of delay at this point but she just had a physical a week or so ago and is totally healthy so I doubt it

-there is a packet of info called a P3 that has to be returned to the National Visa Center here in the US. This contains ALL her paperwork and is the last step before............

-TRAVEL CALL!!!!!! This can come pretty much anytime after her visa physical. Seriously. Some people get their call two days after, some a week, some a couple of weeks so there is no way to know at this point. I told Jeff that beginning Thursday, we need to be prepared for that call at any time. I'm guessing it'll take about a week, but the EP's usually take a few weeks to go through the approval process and we had ours approved in 13 days (the group after us was done in 9) so I think things are going along wiki-wiki (that's Hawaiian for fast, ya dig?). They have a backlog of kids that need to get home so I wouldn't be that surprised if we get the call next week. OMG!!!

Obviously I'll keep posting as we get new info and as an added bonus, I've started a Tumblr (don't worry Jan, I will explain what this is), which is like a cross between a blog and facebook, so that when we're in Seoul, you can read updates and see pics as they happen. I'll provide the link to the Tumblr soon. Unfortunately I can't update this blog on my phone and don't know how often we'll be able to get to the laptop so I can do the Tumblr on the go. I'm also going to revisit my Korean language lessons and start making lists. LOTS OF LISTS. What to bring, what to say, what to buy, what to do, etc. We were in such a newbie fog last time that we didn't really get to enjoy the fact that we were going to such a kick ass city so this time we're going to spend a couple of days shopping and sightseeing before all hell breaks loose!

IT'S ON.

HOLY CRAP

WE HAVE EP, PEOPLE!!!!!

They apparently left our name off the notification list in error.

OH MY GOD, WE'RE GOING TO KOREA VERY SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Picard and I have lost patience

I am so frustrated with this situation right now. We did not get our permit submitted as we had hoped and as I had patiently waited for since OCTOBER when they ran out. At this point, I don't know when we will, maybe weeks maybe a month. Either way it's way longer than we had thought and I'm just so done with the process and the agency and everything in between. I've tried to stay optimistic that we'll somehow magically get some good news but at this point I'm just defeated. Ugh.

The wait continues......

So, it's now January 5, 2011 and we've been PATIENTLY waiting nearly 6 MONTHS for Mia's paperwork and I'm going to go clinically insane if I don't hear anything soon. I read that there have been a batch of emigration permits submitted, but we don't know if one of them is for us. I will continue to update as I get info (or cry if I don't get any) so stay tuned (unless you have a life, in which case, carry on.)

Look, we've been waiting so long Picard up there grew a damn beard! LET'S GET ON WITH IT ALREADY.