Happy New Year

We spent New Year's Eve at home... invited a few friends over, although from the spread of food we set out, it looked like we expected an army! After a couple hours of eating and chatting, we gathered 'round the dining room table for a game of "Wise and Otherwise," then a round of "Quiddler" which everyone seems to enjoy.

Update on the adoption paperwork...
- Fingerprints are done
- I got my health forms all filled out (I had a full physical last summer so that was easy); Calvin is scheduling his physical exam
- Reference letters/forms sent to our friends
- Employment verifications done
- Misc other acknowlegements, waivers, etc.

The most daunting remaining tasks are the autobiography and home profile questionnaire, which ask a lot of questions about our childhood, adolescence, adulthood; what we learned and experienced with our parents; how we plan to discipline children; etc. It's a lot of stuff to think about and then try to write in an elegant fashion. Finally, we have to take some good new pictures of ourselves, create our birthparent letter (which I'm calling "the brochure") and get that printed on paper and on the web. We'll have a link to that as soon as it's up for the whole world to see.

It's going to be an exciting year! We're working on a couple of trips in the meantime to enjoy our final days as a carefree couple. In Feburary, we'll probably spend a few days in Florida; I've got a day-long meeting in Miami, but then we'll probably drive up to Orlando and spend a few days playing there. Later in the spring we're thinking of another weeklong trip; can't decide when or where yet, but leading contenders are New York & Boston, England & Spain, or Japan.