I'm not going to lie. Lately I feel like the ground is shifting under my feet. When I started this blog, I promised myself that I would not sugar coat things and that I would write honestly about the good, the bad and the ugly. So be forewarned, this posting is not about the good.
[The pictures don't really have anything to do with anything, but aren't they cute?]
The past few weeks can best be lumped into 3 categories: annoying technical/credit card problems, anxiety about moving to North Carolina and anxiety about the adoption. I guess there's always the on-going fourth category: concern about my mom (who is doing "ok" but dang it, I really, really, really hate that she feels so sick and tired).
First, the annoying technical/credit card problems (and I will try NOT to make this a rant). I got home from Atlanta last Sunday night. On Monday morning, I turned on my laptop and it promptly crashed on me. Big crash. I had to ship it overnight to my IT guy in NC and do my best working on Tony's laptop. But then my backup crashed. What? Who does that happen to?
Tuesday morning I had a message from my credit card company about suspicious charges in Los Angeles. Long story short, Edvard Montevosian stole my credit card somehow and the cops caught him in the act. Yes, we had the charges reversed and yes, the credit card company cleaned up everything lickity split, but how annoying is that? You've heard about people putting scanners in ATM machines and gas station credit swipe machines...here's a TIP from Sergeant Suttles: Use stalls that are closest and in view of the attendant.
Later in the week we received our TRAVEL APPROVAL to pick up little Anna from China. The problem was, they wanted us to travel on August 30th instead of the first week of Sept like we were hoping. It turns out China has a host of holidays, festivals i.e. office closures in September so they don't do trips in September. OUR problem is my mom was going to watch Ryan but obviously can't any longer and Labor Day is not a good time to find people to watch Ryan. Auntie Patty, my sister, lots of people are going to be out of town. After a brief meltdown, Tony and I went to lunch and talked out the possibilities.
We got the babysitting figured out, got our consulate appointment and our official travel dates of August 30th. Now I'm working through the intricacies of Delta's reservation system. I've been hoarding mileage for this event and I thought we had enough miles for me, Tony, Joy (who will switch places with Tony half way through so Tony can come home to Ryan and I don't have to fly home by myself with a new 18 month old baby from China...yikes!). After literally hours on the reservation system, I realized with horror that 2 year olds DON'T fly free on international flights and a mileage for a one-way flight for Anna is just as much as a round trip. Now I have 440,000 Delta miles which is a lot, but not enough for 4 round trip tickets. We could possibly pay for part of a ticket, but honestly, the entire adoption expense, the upcoming medical procedures and the upcoming move, have me worried about the outlay.
And that is where I'm at at this point. At one tearful moment with Tony, I told him it's too hard. Even if everything works out, what if Anna has severe medical issues that we don't know about and aren't covered by insurance? What if we can't get all her medical issues taken care of before we move in November? What if we can't find someone to rent our house in Utah? What if....
You can see the state of mind I'm in. I even broached the subject of not going through with the adoption. With mom's cancer, with moving to North Carolina in November, with everything else, it just seems too much to bear at times.
But then I see little Anna's face in my mind and I know the answer. Tony also talks me down off the ledge and assures me that we can do this. But that is the problem. I know WE can do this, but there are a whole lot of factors (medical insurance) that weigh heavily on me.
So that is the state of affairs in the Smart Family home. But we do feel fortunate - we have a handsome little boy who loves his mommy and daddy so far and are adding the most adorable little girl into the mix.
I think I might have had a bit of an anxiety attack yesterday (I need to google symptoms) where I just felt sick to my stomach and it hurt like I imagine an ulcer would feel like. But it was no match for a heartfelt prayer.
So I feel better, but I do wish the ground would stop moving!
Some images of our showroom in Atlanta. As you can see, we've added some color to our upholstery line!
I love the chandeliers in the image below - they would look so festive during the holidays.
And for those who read the recent post about marigolds for Margaret, you can see some of the flowers we typically have in our showroom. They are beautiful, but they ain't no marigolds.
Ryan has always been a cuddly baby but lately, he'll randomly say, "mommy hold me". And of course I love to oblige. That has to be one of the best things about motherhood - cuddling your little one.
So the other day, we were having a cuddling moment and I was rocking him in my arms and we were talking about garbage trucks and elephants - still his two favorite subjects. It was one of those moments that I try to lock away in my memory and recall when I'm traveling and away from home.
And then Ryan stopped mid-sentence and looked deeply into my face, reached up and pointed at my nose and said in his cute little voice...mommy, you have spiders in your nose.
Apparently I need to add a nose trimmer to my Christmas list this year.
So with that little gem, I bid you adieu as I travel to Atlanta for another show. In the meantime, may your nose be spider-free.
Warning: In my opinion, there is no full frontal nudity in this video. there is however, a pretty clear view of a baby bum. Apologies if that offends you...I think it's pretty cute.
We haven't "officially" started the potty training, but we did go and buy a big-boy potty several weeks ago. Auntie Patty doesn't think Ryan is quite ready so since we don't know any better, we're waiting for her to give us the green light. And really, if the truth be known, I trust her motherly instincts more than mine.
But whatever motherly instincts I DO have, tell me he's close. For example, he's no longer terrified of the regular potty whenever we flush it. And once in a while he wants to give it a go. Most of the time he just sits for a few seconds and declares "it's not working" and then he gets up. But today, he kept telling me he had to go pee pee and so we ventured off to visit the frog (aka the big boy potty). He sat forever and was really trying my patience because he wouldn't sit still - he wasn't peeing but he kept insisting on staying put while being as active as a little boy sitting on a toilet can be.
If this video is any indication, we might be in for the long haul whatever that means.
post script: by the time I had taken this video, we had been sitting in the bathroom for a VERY long time so my patience was worn THIN. And the reason why I keep asking him what he's doing is because just a minute ago, he said in the cutest little boy voice: I'm sitting on my big boy potty like a big boy! So much for trying to recreate cuteness.
note: this blog posting will be much more interesting if you google: Margaret Russell
A couple of weeks ago I had to go to New York for a couple of days for an event at our showroom. Of the many showrooms in the New York Design Center, our showroom was chosen by Architectural Digest to participate in their annual "AD LOVES" event. We were ONE of SIX showrooms in the entire building and they actually made the other showrooms close their doors during the event. It was a huge honor and kind of a big deal!
We have a brilliant stylist who does his magic on all our showrooms and he came to NY the week before our event - which meant the showroom looked fabulous, but the flowers he purchased a week ago did not. Said brilliant stylist left simple instructions: go to the flower mart and spend about a hundred dollars per vase and beautify the showroom. We were in a bit of a rush getting the showroom ready for the big event so my boss (who is also the president of our company) went out and bought marigolds and beautiful blue hydrangeas.
And then we tried to talk each other into doing the flower arranging. We threw out every sterotype we could. My boss claimed the Japanese girl (me) surely should be able to arrange flowers. I claimed that the two gay guys in the room would do a much better job! In the end, I lost the the proverbial arm wrestle and the task fell on the Japanese girl. My mother tried to teach me many life skills, but I don't recall flower arranging being one of them. So with all the creativity I could muster, I grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped off the rubber bands holding the stems together, cut off the celophane wrap and literally plopped bunch after bunch into the vase.
The hydrangeas looked fairly passable, but the marigolds, well, they did their very best to perk up the showroom with their bright orange blossoms, but alas, even marigolds have their limits.
I self-consciously moved them from the front to the back of the showroom and then when my boss walked to the back and started laughing uproariously...well, that did nothing to boost my flowerful ego.
The clock struck six and our guests started to file into our showroom. The AD Loves event is basically a glorified open house with invited guests visiting each of the six showrooms. The crowning event is when Margaret Russell, who, if you followed my google suggestion, you know is extremely well-known in my industry (understatement), comes through your showroom. I hoped she would overlook the flowers which were usually such a highlight in our showroom.
As she walked towards the back of the showroom, I walked towards the front. David accompanied her while I escaped. And then after a respectable visit, she moved on to her next destination and David told me the line of the night:
Said Margaret Russell to David: I love your marigolds.
