Labor Day Weekend/Gladney Application

Great 4 day weekend! My cousin, Chucky, was in town for a wedding and stayed with me one night. It was great to see him and hang out a little bit. When I used to live in LA one of our favorite things to do was grab breakfast at S&W in Culver City. So the first thing we did when he arrived was go out for breakfast. We had eggs and toast and sausage and grits at Mike's Kitchen in Takoma Park (my S&W substitute--better selection but more expensive). Then the next morning I decided to cook breakfast! For those of you who know me, you know I don't like to cook but I am acutely aware that I won't be able to continue my five-plus-meals-a-week-out single-gal-schedule when the bambino arrives. With this in mind I have been trying to cook more meals at home. But, sadly, I suck at cooking. Well, let me clarify... I can cook; I mean I can read so I can follow a recipe but I don't enjoy the process (especially if just cooking for myself). And "real" cooks don't need cookbooks, right? But since I was cooking for Chucky it was more fun. I made blueberry pancakes and sausage and cantaloupe. Yummy! He seemed to enjoy it. He prefers down-home, greasy, full-fat, buttery food but ate every bite of my whole grain pancakes (which I served with Earth Balance *butter* and sugar free syrup) and turkey sausage. I thought it was good anyway!

On Sunday night Chucky, Nicole, Deidra, Reisha and I went to a party on the rooftop of my friend's condo. The views of the capitol and the monument were spectacular. Here are some pictures from that night. (though none of the view) Just trying to have some single girl fun before it comes to a screeching halt when my daughter arrives!





Meanwhile, I downloaded the Gladney paperwork and the I-600A. The I600A is the application for advance processing of orphan petition required by USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration). If I had filed that this summer I would have saved myself a couple hundred bucks cause the fee just went up last month. Oh well, what's another $200 at this rate? And I needed that extra time to think about things anyway so it's all good. Meanwhile, though, can I just tell you that the Gladney application is lo-o-o-o-o-o-ng!! I filled out some of it today at work. My co-teacher saw what I was doing but didn't ask about it. Some people at work know I plan to adopt (I mentioned it last year) but I'm not talking about now. I don't want to be asked over and over again if I have gotten a referral. When it comes closer to the date I will just wear a cool adoption shirt like this one:


And finally, if you haven't heard... Halle Berry is pregnant! (got to keep up on my celebrity gossip!) That baby is going to be gorgeous cause she and her model boyfriend are hot, hot, hot!