BLOGS

This one, going private at the beginning of March.

www.kes44p.com will stay public

CHANGES

If you're reading this you've done well to find us again, back at the old address.

This blog is staying but will be going private next month, so please comment or email me if you'd like an invitation in, if we're 'virtual' friends please include a reminder of how we 'know' each other or the link between us, thanks!

BLOG CHANGES

I will be changing the blog soon, contemplating a domestic adoption I need greater privacy.

This blog will continue but with less identifying information. I'm not totally sure of the changes but they will be happening, including a name change, I know there are readers who regularly G**gle the current name to find the blog - it shouldn't be so easy to find us in future - SO NOW IS THE TIME TO BOOKMARK THE SITE!

TECHIE HELP PLEASE

*UPDATED* Hurray, I've done it!!

Last week I was fiddling with bits on the blog and I managed to change the Posting page to an updated version. A week on and I don't like the new compose page, I can't find the spellcheck button and the photo upload isn't so convenient, but I can't find the way to change the setting back - can anyone help?!

MAKEOVER

This blog needs a makeover, more than I am capable of doing. Can anyone recommend a service that will do this for me? TIA.

A NEW YEAR, A NEW START

I wonder how many readers have already guessed what's been happening in our life . . . I won't be adopting from Thailand any time soon, I have started the process to withdraw my application from Thailand. Why? It's a grey area, wrong impressions, misinformation - I believed that I would receive expedited referral in 9-15 months from papers being received in Thailand, it now seems that this was never the case and that I would have to wait my turn in line, in a very long line. This would mean waiting far longer than anticipated and changing the nature of my family, Alice waiting years for a sibling and having a much larger gap between my girls than I would choose. Not what I want for me or my family.

I had a very revealing day at the end of November, it felt like the clouds should have parted and a ray of sunshine should shine down on me - a new perspective on the past and the future. It was a momentous, life changing experience.

So what now? I've already applied to be considered for a domestic adoption. I'm hesitant to share my expectations over timings, I need to be reapproved for adoption and I've already had plenty of experience of adoption timings taking far longer than anticipated - I don't want to 'count my chickens'.

Maybe 2010 will be the year of Little Sis, not necessarily her homecoming, maybe her birth or even conception?

All of this is one of the reasons for not much blogging and now with the possibility of a domestic placement I need to consider the future of the blog and how safe it is for my family.

POST

There's a new post on the private blog, it says the same as an email I sent yesterday ('This might be a surprise').

PRIVATE NEWS

Finally, finally, there's news on the private blog, no baby, nowhere near baby, but lots of thoughts.

If you think that you'd like to read then please ask for an invite, but please don't be offended if the answer is no!

MOJO

. . . no mojo, low mojo but not enough to post, FB's quicker!

However I really value the family chronicle that this blog has become and as I wait for another baby I want to remember what we've been doing in recent weeks (just in case she was born recently, unlikely, but just in case!)

Monday 19th - I worked, Alice was on the beginning of her Half Term
Tuesday 20th - a day at home together before I left Alice with Nana and T at home while I went to spend the night with my pupils at a residential centre
Wednesday 21st - home in time for M*sicbugs
Thursday 22nd - day at home preparing and packing (with a large supermarket shop too)
Friday 23rd - drove to Norfolk
Saturday 24th - Festival of Thankfulness in Norfolk with lots of other Chinese adoptive families and friends
Sunday 25th - more of the same
Monday 26th - drove home!
Tuesday 27th - day out with D, A and baby D at the community farm
Wednesday 28th - quiet day, unpacking etc
Thursday 29th - Circle Adoption Group walk at Dyrham Park
Friday 30th - met with Grandad and N for pub lunch just south of Hungerford
Saturday 31st - soft play with D and A over lunchtime, Halloween party in the evening at a friend from nursery's
Sunday 1st - church, lunch in Machen to celebrate cousin D's 60th
Monday 2nd - training day
Tuesday 3rd - Alice back to nursery
Wednesday 4th - M*sicbugs
Thursday 5th - bangers and mash at D and A's and watched low noise fireworks!
Friday 6th - nursery again
Saturday 7th - another nursery party at a different soft play centre over lunchtime
Sunday 8th - lots of cooking and a quiet day at home
Monday 9th - work
Tuesday 10th - nursery and a bag!

There will be more details about some of these days, but I'm going to back date the posts to get them in the right places!!

STILL WATCHING THE STATISTICS

90th country - Estonia, I think!

BLOGGY PLANS

I'm going to shuffle the blogs!

This blog will continue to be the main blog and I'm going to edit and then import most of the posts from the private blog. Then I'm going to start using the private blog again. I've edited the readers back to family and friends from reality and to virtual friends who I have contact with or were Autumn Dreamers. If in doubt I deleted readers unless I recognised who they were from their yahoo profile or email address, if I deleted you and I shouldn't I apologise (make contact and I'll rectify the situation) I'm happy to add more readers but you must be a friend - real or virtual. If you don't have my email address just click on the photo of Alice and I at the top of the right hand column and that should automatically open an email!

If you're not sure if you're a registered reader, click here and find out!

Why am I shuffling? I want to share some more sensitive things about the adoption process and maybe some more photos of Alice.

MAY'S BLOG LINK - WHICH PHOTO?

Comments please - (just refer to photos as numbered from the top) which one would you use?

EUROPEAN INVASION AND A MYSTERY SOLVED!

Apparently a French Y*hoo Group have been 'talking' about me and someone linked to my site! I noticed a lot of visitors from France and more than usual from Belgium and Switzerland. It's a forum for Single Parents - so they're either admiring my beautiful daughter or laughing at my atrocious parenting!! (And thanks to those new visitors who took the time to comment and explain.)

PS - who's the daily reader from Bangkok? Please leave a comment or email me!

THE MYSTERY IS REVEALING ITSELF

. . . a little too slowly!!

Apparently a link to my blog was posted on a forum.

Now, could someone please share the link to the forum!!

SUDDEN INFLUX

. . . of visitors in France.

Someone please leave a comment, I'd love to know why there are lots of you around today!

MISQUOTED AND CONSIDERING PRIVACY

I've been publicly misquoted on a UK adoption forum and I don't like it. Facts were taken and repeated out of context. There are 2 solutions as I see it:

• Swallow it and carry on as normal.
• Go private

At the moment I'm considering my situation, but don't be surprised if I go private. Leave a comment if you'd like to be invited in.

BLOGGY HELP NEEDED PLEASE!

I want to add a button to my sidebar for readers to be able to email me.

I've seen a button on other blogs that just says 'Email Me' and when you click on it it opens a new email with the destination email address filled in, where do I find it? I've already searched in Layout, Add a Gadget and I can't find a simple form.

44000 HITS

. . . but we seem to be stuck at 88 countries!

GOOGLE SEARCHES

The Feedjit tool shows how people arrive and leave the blog, where they are, how they find the blog and where they go afterwards. Look here! It's quite interesting, particularly visitors who come through Google and the searches - mostly 'Adventures with Alice' (that's fine as long as I don't change the name!), more worryingly 'filled her wellies' seems to be effective too.

HAHA, I'M BAAAAAA-ACKKKKKKKKK!!

Cleared my cookie history (which is probably going to cause chaos with the rest of my surfing) and now I can log in again!

In case you didn't go to the other blog - you didn't miss much, only 1 real post which I will try and import!!

Hoorah.