Passing the time

My friend Cory is right when she says in the guest book that this is the longest labor on record (I won't talk about the delivery yet!). Actually, people adopting from China in the past have had waits as long as a couple of years; we're grateful that we don't expect ours to be that bad. And a few years ago, the SARS outbreak caught some parents in between referral photos and travel, delaying their trips for many weeks. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to have a travel delay after we'd already seen our little one's picture!

While we wait, though, we've had some nice surprises. First of all, my smart and talented friend Adrienne Frank -- who creates beautiful purses by hand when she's not working full time or pursuing her master's degree -- has named a purse for me! You can see it here.

Be sure you read the cute description of "my" purse. I've already ordered two -- one for myself and one to save for Rachel. If you don't like "my" design, you'll probably find something else you'll like in her many beautiful designs.

And speaking of fortune cookies (they're all over the purse), a recent cookie contained a special fortune for me: "Be prepared to receive something special." I am, I am! I thought it was a really nice fortune because we are waiting for a beautiful child. However, because we were visiting with my family, they automatically added "in bed" to the fortune and got a good laugh. (My nephew's fortune said, "you are good with your hands").

When we went to Brentwood I took some more quilt pieces to my mother, and she showed me some from our Alabama relatives that I hadn't yet seen. We had a fun time looking through them all (but we still need more -- please send yours in if you haven't yet!!!) and figuring out how they would go together. I even cut some pieces so she can start making blocks, but we saved a some pieces to see if they would go better with something that hasn't yet come in (that's another hint!). We have more than 60 pieces so far, collected over five months' time. Yet, as I held up each one, I could tell my mother who contributed it, and I could tell her a story about that person. So please know that each piece has a special place in my heart; I am enjoying putting your cards and letters in Rachel's memory book so she'll know all about you, too.

I've also been passing the time by decorating her room. I bought some shelves and painted them and hung them up, and I have spelled out her name in colorful letters above her crib. I posted new photos of the room as it looks now. I really love the room; it's cheerful and soothing. The only thing I don't like about it right now is that it's too quiet!

A new batch of referals should be in the mail by the end of the week, so I hope to have an update for you soon on our expected timing.

Waiting and learning

Lance and I spent the morning at an infant/child CPR course, learning all kinds of skills we hope we NEVER use! It was frightening enough to practice dislodging an imaginary piece of food from the throat of a plastic infant, but if we're ever confronted with an emergency, maybe we'll remember enough of the steps to help.

Right now I feel like flying to China to give CPR to some of the folks in the matching room! The CCAA did in fact match only five days' worth of dossiers in all of March, so we're kind of stalled right now. We expect that the Sunny Ridge families whose dossiers were logged in on June 2 will get their referrals at the end of this month or first of May, which means they waited 11 months for their child's photo. If we follow that same timeline, we can expect our referral in late June, which means we'll travel by the end of August. That estimate could change with the next batch of referrals, so stay tuned.

We've all heard the saying that good things come to those who wait. We know we're going to have a very special gift to celebrate this Thanksgiving season.

Patiently yours,
Susan and Lance

Waiting for Spring

When I took Ethel out this morning I saw two robins playing in the snow. That's March in Chicago for you! The calendar may say Spring, but we had an inch of snow last night (and flurries right now). When I saw the robins, I thought of how when we started this process we expected to be traveling "in the spring." Later, we amended that to say we expected our referral information "in the spring." Well, spring's not here yet, and neither is our referral. And the news from China this week is disheartening.

The latest rumors (which appear to be solid) are that the China Center of Adoption Affairs' next batch of referrals will cover those dossiers logged in only through May 30. That means that in a full (long) month of work, the CCAA matched FIVE DAYS worth of dossiers. It makes you wonder why they can't move some of the workers from the review room (where they already are working on September dossiers) into the matching room! As disheartening as it is for those of us whose dossiers were logged in July 25 to know we're going to be waiting longer, it's much worse for the Sunny Ridge families immediately ahead of us -- their dossiers were mailed May 24 and logged in June 3. Those people expected to have their referrals in this batch for sure; our hearts go out to them.

One theory as to why China had so many applications in the months preceeding ours is that some other countries unexpectedly closed down to international adoptions, and families who were preparing to send a dossier to Russia, for example, switched over to China. One big advantage to adopting from China is that there is a central agency overseeing the adoptions and a set procedure that everyone follows. So while we don't know how long it will take, we know for sure that we WILL get a child. And we will get that referral right after the folks whose dossiers were logged in on July 24 get theirs. Someone joked that she imagined all the July dossiers sitting in the matching room covered with coffee rings, and that may be the case. But eventually we will be at the top of the pile!

You all know that I'm a "planner," so I could handle a very long wait if I just KNEW how long it was going to be! But we can't always understand God's timing. Last fall as I planted some tulip bulbs, I thought about how pretty the yard would be when they bloomed in April or so. I imagined we'd be home with the baby by then and the tulips would be a welcome home bouquet. Well, that's not going to happen this year. But the good thing about the tulips is I know they'll be a cheerful presence in our lives for many springs to come -- just as we expect our daughter to be.

Now we're making progress!

Yes, I realize I just posted last night to say we're waiting . . . and waiting, but now I have some good news! When I checked the website this morning for the China Center of Adoption Affairs, I found this update:

"The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before July 31, 2005."

Those of you who are keeping track will know why I was so excited to see this note -- our dossier was logged in to the CCAA on July 25. That means our dossier has been checked, our documents are in order, and WE HAVE MOVED TO THE MATCHING ROOM!

Sorry to shout, but this is exciting. Just knowing that we're in "the room" means we're that much closer to having our baby here with us. The last batch of referrals covered the dossiers logged in as of May 25, so they still have 60 days worth of matches to make before they get to us. So even though we're in the room, we're at the bottom of what is probably a very large stack. I still expect we will get our referral no sooner than April, but WE ARE IN THE MATCHING ROOM! We are inching closer!

We can't wait to see our daughter for the first time -- stay tuned, and we'll introduce you to her here!

Still waiting

We were disappointed last week when the China Center of Adoption Affairs updated its website to say that families whose dossiers were logged in through May 25 had been matched with their children. We're very happy for all those families, of course, but we were hoping the CCAA would get through more than 12 days' worth of dossiers in a month of matching. Even taking into account the Chinese New Year holiday, which shut down the office for a week, that's slow going.

The internet is full of rumors, of course. Some say the CCAA is likely to speed up with the matches soon, because they've just finished processing a couple of "big" months. Others speculate that the slowdown will continue -- our social worker is in that group. She told me this week that the CCAA keeps receiving more and more applications, but there are limits on how many children can be placed for adoption. That doesn't mean we won't get a baby; it just means that we will have to wait a little longer than we thought.

So we're waiting!

Our social worker speculates that with a log-in date of July 25, we could see a referral around the end of May. That would mean we would travel in July. It'll be incredibly hot, but I guess all those years in Phoenix have prepared me. I'm holding out for April, of course, but there's not a darn thing I can do about when the CCAA will make its decision, so I am learning patience.

One thing keeping my spirits up during the wait is seeing all the contributions to the 100 Good Wishes Quilt -- have you contributed your square yet? If not, you have plenty of time, and we urge you to participate! Read here for all the details.

Show us the baby!

We're starting to get a little antsy about this wait. When we began this process we expected to have our referral by now and be preparing for travel, but instead we're still at least a month (and perhaps two) away from getting any information about our daughter at all. Waiting is really difficult. Lance has even started having bizarre dreams (not that dreaming that we went to China and found out our baby was a 2-year-old boy who spoke English and was a drug runner is that bizarre, really).

Our first travel meeting didn't yield any more information about how soon we can expect a referral. The social workers are all very careful not to say anything that you'll stress over! We are getting closer, though. We learned about all kinds of things at the meeting, like what not to take photos of, how to dress, and what yuan (Chinese money) look like. We also learned that our "log-in date" is July 25. That means that when we check the internet for rumors or look at the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs' web site, we get a true idea of how our dossier is moving (creeping) through the process. It does appear they've almost finished reviewing July dossiers, so we hope to be in the matching room soon!

You can see that we've got a good start on turning our guest room into our baby's room. My friend Debi was here last month, and she helped me paint the walls a beautiful yellow (and she helped me get a whole lot of that yellow paint out of the carpet after I dripped -- OK, poured -- it there). She and I went out to buy the crib and changing table, and Lance put them together. Lance and I moved the "grownup" furniture out of that room. The latest addition is the beautiful glider my parents bought us last weekend when they were visiting. I love that chair so much that I've gone into the room several times just to sit and rock. The only problem is that makes me wish the baby were here to enjoy it!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we wait -- we know the perfect child will be matched with us, so we're trying to be patient!

It's getting closer!

We have some great news -- our adoption agency has scheduled our first travel preparation meeting for next Thursday. We see this as a sign that the agency expects us to receive our referral soon, because we don't think they'd want to risk us forgetting all the important information they give us! This meeting will prepare us for receiving our referrals and also give us some basic information such as what we'll need to take to China, what we shouldn't pack, things we can expect to do or see on the trip, cultural issues, that sort of thing. We'll have our second meeting after we get a travel date to go over our exact itinerary and other instructions.

Our travel group includes 10 other families whose dossiers were mailed with ours on July 13. We met most of our travel mates at a pre-adoption seminar we attended last fall; we exchanged e-mail addresses and some basic information then. In the succeeding months we have run into each other at events like the agency picnic or the Chinese New Year celebration, and we have exchanged occasional e-mails wondering HOW MUCH LONGER we'll have to wait! Not only will we be sharing a life-altering experience with these other families, but they'll be our support system in the years to come -- many travel groups continue to get together periodically after bringing their daughters home.

One of the reasons we chose this agency, Sunny Ridge Family Center, is because of the support they give adoptive parents during this trip. For one thing, the entire travel group will take the entire journey together. That may sound basic, but many agencies have the families make their own arrangements and meet up with each other after they arrive in China. Another thing we really like is that a social worker from Sunny Ridge will take the entire trip with us. Not only will we have someone with us who has made the trip previously, but he or she will be experienced in helping parents and their babies bond in those crucial first few days together. In China, we'll also travel with a man named Bill who is employed by our agency and lives and works in China.

Sunny Ridge wisely has us spend a few days sight-seeing when we first arrive in the country. This is to give us time to adjust to the time change and to learn more about this beautiful country where our daughter was born. After that, we'll travel to the province where our daughters are living. Often, all the referalls for one group are of children from the same welfare institute, which means we continue to travel together. If the children are from two different places, we'll split up to travel to those two provinces, with the social worker staying with one group and Bill with the other. We will spend about a week in the province, actually completing the adoption there. Then we'll head south to Guangzhou, where we'll do some more paperwork to get visas to bring our daughters home. We'll also have time for more sight-seeing, shopping, and just spending time together as a family.

You can tell we're excited, and we're eager to start our preparations. I'll share details with you as we know them. Most importantly, we should be getting word on our daughter in a month or two, and you'll be able to read it here first! So keep us (and the Chinese officials) in your thoughts and prayers as we await this news.

The photo is from the Chinese New Year celebration on Jan. 29. I WILL post photos of the baby's room, just as soon as we move some extra furniture out of there and get it arranged!

Good news/bad news

The Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs recently posted the following information on its web site:

"The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office in June 2005.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before May 13, 2005."

Our agency mailed our dossier on July 13, 2005, which means we were "logged in" in late July or early August. So the good news for us is that all the documents received in July should be in the "review room" now. That means we'll be hearing from the CCAA in the next few weeks if they need any clarification or more information on our documents. After that, the documents move to the "matching room," which is where officials will determine which specific child will be joining our family. So, for the next few weeks at least, no news is good news.

The other bit of good news is that after a bit of a slowdown in processing the adoptions, the CCAA sent out two batches of referrals in January. At the time we sent in our dossier, the CCAA was rather consistently referring children in 6 months. But the pace slowed a bit in November and December, when referrals were made less often and covered maybe two weeks' worth of dossiers at a time instead of a full month's worth. Two batches of referrals in January (with the last one covering three weeks' worth of dossiers) means it's picking up again, though, which is good news for all the waiting families. We rejoice as each child is matched with her family. And our match moves closer with each one! At this pace, we're hopeful of receiving our referral by the end of April, maybe even sooner. So that's great news!

The only bad news is that the CCAA is now shutting down for the Chinese New Year holiday, which means we won't have any more news for several weeks. But hard-working people deserve time off to celebrate with own families, and we're told that the referral pace often picks up a bit after the holiday, so maybe that's not such bad news after all.

Xin Nian Kuai Le ("Happy New Year"), everybody! The Year of the Dog in China is The Year of the Daughter in our household, and that's the best news of all.

Quilt news

Several people have asked lately if it's "too late" to donate fabric for the 100 Good Wishes Quilt. The answer is no! You still have time to contribute, and we hope you'll please, please do so! (See Oct. 15 entry for details on how to do it).

I put a new photo on our welcome page (EDITED -- I mean, right here!) to show you just a few of the fabric donations we've gotten in the last week -- you can see that the quilt will have many interesting colors and designs. In addition to the ones shown, we have received a Notre Dame jersey, the skirt to a Brownie uniform and some Star Wars fabric, just to name a few.

When you contribute, please send in a wish for the baby, too, so she can look through her scrapbook years from now and see who donated which piece. You can use your note to explain why you picked the fabric you did, if you want, or it can just contain a few words expressing hope for her future. If you go to the photo section(EDITED: right here), you'll see the letters from niece Candace and nephew Casey.

Organizing the quilt and working on the scrapbook keep me occupied while we're waiting for word of our referral. I'm touched by all the letters, and I just love seeing new donations come in. So if you haven't done your part, get busy! (I mean, "please give it thoughtful consideration.")

I was off work for two days last week while my dear friend Debi was in town helping me prepare for the baby in other ways (as well as bringing SIX PIECES of fabric, one representing each member of her family). We accomplished much while she was here -- check back in a few days for photos and news of the baby's room.

Happy New Year!

In a month I'll be wishing you happy new year again when Chinese New Year (the Year of the Dog) rolls around. Last year Lance, the kids and I all went to a local Chinese New Year celebration and had a blast. We had just turned in our application to adopt and had talked on the phone with the social worker who was to do our home study. Our first appointment was that very week. Lance and I bought sweatshirts for the Year of the Rooster, believing our daughter will likely be a Rooster, as is her big sister Lauren. We bought the kids beautiful silk jackets that they'll likely wear again this year. We want to make it a family tradition; next year we hope to go back with the little one.

The quilt squares have started rolling in, and we're really thrilled with them. I get so excited with each one! I know a lot of you are stressing about how to word your wish -- stop it! I'm not going to edit them, I promise! Your written wish can be as simple as a word or two and your signature. One friend drew a beautiful bouquet of flowers and wrote, "bloom!" Think of something you'd wish for our child and write it down, and please don't obsess about it so that it stops you from taking part in this wonderful project.

As the wait for a referral gets shorter, I'll try to update the site more frequently. I postponed this update for awhile because I was hoping to post a photo of Lance and the kids wearing their Christmas gifts -- sweatshirts with the Chinese characters for "Dad," "older sister" and "older brother." But of course I couldn't get them to wear them all on the same day until about the last day of their vacation -- and then I couldn't get them together for a photo. So maybe for Chinese New Year, huh?

Thanks for checking in, and we hope to have some exciting news before long!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

We're ready for Christmas at our house -- we have the tree up and decorated, the stockings hung, the presents wrapped, the Christmas carols playing. All we're waiting for now is children! Lauren and Brandon will be here Christmas day, but the little one won't be arriving until spring. Still, we have a stocking up for her, as you can see -- plus stockings for the four of us and the three animals. It's difficult knowing that our daughter is all the way over in China instead of here with us, but we have a feeling we'll be making up for that next year!

Originally we told you that we expected to have our referral -- that's the photos and basic information about our baby -- by late January or early February. Things in China have slowed down a bit, so now we're thinking it'll be March before we have a glimpse of her (and likely May before we travel). Our agency tells us that in the 11 years that they've been helping people adopt babies from China, the wait times have ranged from three months to 2 1/2 years! So they -- and we -- still think that a nine-month wait from our dossier being sent over until we have her in our arms isn't that bad. Those of you who have biological children had to wait the same amount of time, after all.

It's hard to tell why the wait times have slowed down a month or two since we applied, but it appears that the Chinese government received an unusually large number of dossiers in March, April and May. Ours was sent in July, so all the ones ahead of us have to be matched with babies before we get our turn. So the same number of children are being adopted, it's just taking a little longer because there are more people in line. And for all we know, it could speed up again next month for no particular reason. We'll keep you posted on what we know.

We hope you all have the merriest of Christmases and a blessed new year!

Susan and Lance

P.S -- Don't forget to send your contribution for the quilt! (you didn't think I'd forget that, did you?)

The Quilt is Under Way!

The photo on our home page (EDITED: photo now unavailable) is of the first piece of fabric for our baby’s 100 Good Wishes Quilt (see Oct. 15 entry for details on how to contribute).

My coworker Grace Aduroja gave this piece of cloth to me; it comes all the way from Nigeria. Grace’s parents are from Nigeria, too, so she wanted her contribution to be from that part of the world. She’s promised to get her good wish for the baby to me on Monday (she’s a reporter, so she has trouble writing when she’s not on deadline!)

Some people have asked if we want to use a certain color scheme in our quilt. The answer is no --we want everyone to contribute something they like, and then we’ll see what we have! The more colors and patterns in the fabrics, the more beautiful (and unique!) the quilt will be.

Members of both families are coming to our house Thursday for a big Thanksgiving meal. One member of our family is still in China, of course, but we give thanks for her all the same. We wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving as well.

Baby talk

When I say I'm taking a beginning Mandarin class, many people ask me, with a bit of surprise in their voices, "How old will this child be?" I tell them I'm not learning Chinese to communicate with the baby as much as I'm preparing for our trip next spring. I'm also preparing to raise a child who -- we hope -- will be proud of her birthplace.

Learning a foreign language teaches you a lot about the people who speak it. Our teacher, who once worked as a translator, has traveled extensively throughout China and has many interesting tales of the people he knows. He has taught us a lot about Chinese culture and history even as he makes sure we can order wine or ask where the bathroom is. He has videotapes of Chinese soap operas, newscasts and variety shows that he plays before the beginning of class each week. It's quite the education!

On the other hand, I also am learning the language partly so I can say things to the baby in the only language she has ever heard. Even though the day she is placed in our arms will be one of the happiest days of our lives, it could be terrifying for our little girl. She will be taken from the only home she has ever known, from the only people she has ever known, and given to strangers who don't look, smell or sound familiar -- and then we'll take her halfway around the world. Maybe it'll help if I can say a few things to her that sound familiar.

To answer the original question, though, we've been told to expect that our daughter will be about a year old when we travel to get her. But there is always a chance we could be referred a 2- or 3-year-old. Our social worker says the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs usually will give infants to couples younger than 46, and Lance and I are both 45. But we can't be sure of her age until we get that letter and photo -- if she is 2 or 3, it'll be too late to start learning her language! What I do know, though, is that the little one entrusted to us will be the perfect one. Lance and I both are certain of that.

If any of you are interested in learning a few phrases, you can check out this site. It has all kinds of expressions, from "are you hungry?" to "I love you," and you can click on a little icon to hear someone say each phrase for you. It's a little difficult to read the words because they have the numbers 1-4 after them to indicate the tone used for each word, but you'll have to listen to the voice anyway because, trust me, the words don't sound anything like you'll expect! (Special note to Grandpa: One phrase you might find particularly useful is, "No, you may not date until you are 35!")

Zaijian,
Susan

P.S. -- Please participate in our quilt project! Read the Oct. 15 entry for details!

"Rachel" in Chinese?

I found a web site that has Chinese translations for American names and found one for "Rachel." The internet is wonderful, isn't it? Of course, it's not always trustworthy or accurate, so I decided to verify the translation before I posted it (I was afraid I might inadvertently insult more than a billion people). I took a printout to my Chinese teacher (or "laoshi," as we call him in class). He said it's pretty close -- he read it as sounding something like "Lay-Chair." He explained that they use characters that represent sounds that are close to the American ones, but they have difficulty with sounds that they don't use (and apparently they have few words that start with our "r" sound, although they use it a lot at the end of words!). Anyway, he told me that the first character means "thunder," which I thought was pretty cool.

I only have one more class in my beginning Chinese course, but I'm planning to take the next round. It can be very frustrating because it's an extremely difficult language to learn, but I occasionally have flashes of understanding when I can actually answer a question from our laoshi. Of course, usually he's asking me a real brainteaser like my name or the date, so I wouldn't say I'm approaching fluency!

I read that it takes more than 1,300 hours of instruction to be a fairly competent Chinese speaker, as opposed to less than 500 hours for French or Spanish. Obviously, there's not time for that before we travel to China next spring, but I hope that I at least will be able to ask where the bathroom is or how much something costs.

One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt

We need your help in creating a 100 Good Wishes quilt for our daughter.

We’re inviting each of you to contribute a patch of cloth and a special wish for the baby. Your written wish -- with a small piece of the fabric attached -- will be kept in a special memory book so that in years to come our child can see how very much she was loved and wanted.

My mother will create the quilt. By sewing together the many different patches you donate, she will make a one-of-a-kind heirloom containing all the good luck, positive energy, prayers and special wishes of the loved ones who contribute.

I’ve been told that such quilts, called Bai Jia Bei, are a tradition in the northern part of China. To welcome a child into the world, relatives and friends donated pieces of cloth from something they had worn, and the expectant mother would make the quilt.

This is a beautiful story, but being a journalist I tried to research it and am having a hard time verifying it! I found many references to these quilts among people adopting babies from China in the last six or seven years, but I am having difficulty finding anything about the original tradition. I found a 50-year-old reference to a similar story, however. The book "Imperial Woman" by Pearl S. Buck describes how a concubine in the Qing dynasty, having given birth to the only child of the Emperor, wants to ensure he is able to claim the throne. She requires each of the highest 100 families in the Empire to send a bolt of the finest silk, then she commands the palace tailors to cut 100 small pieces from them and make a robe for the child:

“Thus he belonged, by symbol, to one hundred strong and noble families, and under their shelter the gods would fear to harm him."

But no matter what the origin of the 100 Good Wishes quilt, I think it will be a priceless gift for our daughter.

Here’s how you can help:

* Please choose a piece of 100 percent cotton fabric to represent your wish. The material can be from something you have worn, or you can buy it new. You can get creative and have fabric that represents something special about you (Vanderbilt logos, Siamese cats), or you can just pick a color or design that you like. Each piece should be no smaller than 7 inches by 7 inches.

* Think of a wish for the baby -- good health, happiness, admission to Stephens College, a sense of humor for her father’s jokes -- and put it on a card or paper. You can be creative with the design of your wish letter, or you can simply write out your thought on a piece of white paper. Please don’t stress over the format or worry about the wording -- what matters is that the wish come from your heart. I will attach a piece of your fabric to your wish in the memory book so that our daughter has a “key” for reading her quilt. The card or letter can be of any size up to 8 1/2 by 11 inches.

* You can contribute one piece of fabric for your entire family, or each member can contribute his or her own wish. The youngest members of your family can draw a picture or write their names on paper for us, and we will treasure that.

* Please send the materials to me (if you need our address, e-mail me and I will send it privately). I would like to have them by the end of the year, if possible (EDITED -- That meant the end of 2005, but things changed! The end of 2006 will work, too!). I can’t wait to see your good wishes.

We were in Brentwood last weekend, so Mom and I conferred on the pattern she will follow and some other details. She was honored to be asked to create this special gift for her youngest granddaughter, and I know she will make it with much love.

Thanks for helping out!

Original welcome

Welcome! We're so glad you have visited our web site!

We are now more than two months into what is expected to be an eight-month wait to bring our daughter home. Our dossier was mailed to China on July 13. We expect to receive our referral photo and information by late January, and we hope to travel in March. What once seemed like a long process is now seeming like just a blip in time.

While we're waiting, Susan is reading everything she can on adoption, China, attachment and parenting; she's studying Chinese; and she's making herself crazy researching the BEST and SAFEST baby equipment! Lance has a new digital camera, and he's geeking out on the instruction manual and practicing so he'll be a pro by the time he has to take the first photo of Susan and baby. ("Hold it! Susan, smile! Don't look at the baby, look at the camera! Hey, Baby -- this way! This way! Woo hoo! Look at Daddy!")

We have decided to name the baby Rachel. We don't yet have a middle name; we're probably going to wait and see what her Chinese name is and see if we can use it (or a version of it). Or maybe we'll just think of another name we want to use by then.

Please visit our guest book (EDITED -- please post comments when you like!), and be sure to check back here regularly for updates.