Everything I Haven't Posted About

Life happens, and sometimes my time and motivation for writing is compromised. Here is some stuff I've been meaning to write about but haven't...

1. THANKSGIVING. Yes, you read that right. All those months ago, I had the privilege of learning how to make a Korean dish called jop chae from a friend. Unfortunately, I didn't write the recipe/process down, so we just might have to do it all again. Which is totally cool with me, because it was GOOOD! 

I brought this dish to our Thanksgiving celebrations, and the people who tried it were pleasantly surprised! Or at least they were being polite. Either way, it was a fun way for me to introduce something from Alex's birth-culture to our family. I also brought some (store bought) Korean cookies which people seemed more apt to try! We got them from this place, only 15 minutes from our house:

2. We "sent" our second care package! Really all this means is that we brought our second care package to our agency where it will sit at the bottom of the pile until someone with enough room in their luggage takes it to Korea for us. We have no idea when it will actually get there, but I'm really hoping it will be there for his first birthday (coming up in a couple of weeks!). Here is what was included:

Except that this photo was taken awhile ago, and I decided to take out the hat/mitten set because by the time they get there, it will be spring... or summer! They were too big anyway and will fit him more perfectly next year. Also, the pajamas are for a 12 month old... hopefully they will fit! Sigh. 

3. Our social worker retired last week, and now we have a new one... supposedly. It's been a week, and I have yet to hear who our new social worker is or will be. I'm told that "at this point in the game" who our social worker is doesn't really matter. All the grunt work is done, and we are, as you all know, WAITING to travel. 

4. Ryan and I took up a new hobby: piano! We bought a very nice keyboard with weighted keys and began taking lessons a couple weeks ago. We both have a musical background so we've been able to move pretty quickly so far. It's great because it's something new that takes our minds off of everything else in life. Whenever you have to concentrate on something in order to do it, it's the perfect distraction. I wish my homework was also a perfect distraction, but there is much to distract me from that! Like this blog. Oh yeah, I have a paper I need to be working on. Imagine that. 

5. We requested a "first birthday" update. We have been told that we are allowed to request two updates during our wait, and this will be our second. However, we have also been told that we technically can request more than two updates but that doesn't mean Korea will provide them. So, I will be requesting more updates in future. If we get them, we get them, if we don't, we don't. 

6. My new coping strategy seems to be working fairly well so far. Ryan and I are making a point of going out on random, unplanned dates (although we realized the benefit of making reservations last Friday as we restaurant-hopped trying find a wait under an hour... haha, always waiting for something these days!). We are also beginning to plan some trips. Vegas is booked. Others are in the works. We don't want to plan too far ahead, just in case, but we think we can pretty safely plan two months ahead (or less, of course). Vegas is in May. We'll plan for June in April. 

So that's the gist of it. Currently, I am just trying to make it through my classes. They aren't difficult, per se, but my focus level is at an all-time low. Papers and assignments are taking at least 2-3 times longer than they normally would. Don't even get me started on the readings. What readings? Haha, my classes end in April! WOOT!