Things that have made this week WINNING!

- Realizing we have three weeks left here, and reconnecting with old friends. Not that Ive ever really lost touch with them, but the reality of actually being able to plan things again ... its pretty freaking nice. Well still be a bit away at Stewart (a few hours give or take, depending on how fast we go!) but the reality is .... we can do it. We can NOT miss everything important. We can bring our child around the people who know mommy and daddy from yesterday, today and tomorrow. And we can do it in the Georgia sunshine. So the Army (today at least) is winning.

-Speaking of ultimate wins, little John or Elisa (we arent hiding our names at all, I guess because they are family names so anyone can steal them, Im still using them  - none of my cousins will birth before me, so Im winning at getting the name as well) has a best friend / boyfriend who is about 6 month older. His name is Devin Rien and he was born yesterday evening :) He is amazing, and my best friend sent a picture in which she looked like a supermodel .5 seconds after giving birth. Id hate her if I didnt love her so much. Bitch. (but baby is perfect, and possibly will be a baby model because he is SO cute). So Dana is winning at everything today.

- Starting our birth plan is winning as well. For those of you that dont know, we will be doing a natural birth. Im not sure if well do it at the hospital just yet, as I need to get settled with an OB in Georgia (nothing like switching mid-pregnancy!). If I feel that our OB can be trusted to carry out the birth plan we want in a hospital, then Ill be okay with it (the hospital in our town DOES have a birthing tub and midwives, praise God). If not, then well have to look at our options for a home birth. I know everyone thinks Im crazy, and I am a little, but I want things to be as natural and as healthy as possible. For me, that includes as little drugs/medical intervention as possible. I know labor hurts - but its a hurt for a purpose. My body is meant to do this, and I want to feel all the wonderful things that come after a job well done in labor. So Im winning at that, plus at being totally masochistic.

- Its sad to leave, in a way, but its wonderful to know that we did it. I feel like we really made it here (AKA we took Washington, made it our bitch, and are now moving on). It wasnt without its bumps in the road, but in the grand scheme of things its been such an overwhelmingly positive experience. Weve spent the last few weekends having goodbye dinners with some of our great friends that weve met through the years, and its good to know that you had people with such love for you ... even when you didnt know it. As well, I sent out my farewell letter at work to the folks Ive built the program with over the last year (the school districts, the GAL's , ect) and gotten such wonderful responses and thanks for all of our hard work and the working relationships weve built. Over and over they told me that we (Meg and I) took a program that was failing miserably and have implemented so many new things to turn it around. I also got emails from the head administrators of the court who recognized the work Ive put in. Granted, what I did wasnt hard - just required common sense and a L-O-T of patience, but its always nice to see that youve done a job well. And that people recognize that.

There are still more things to come - my work baby shower "But its a BABY .... shower ...." (named after a favorite quote from one of the funniest CASA's), my friend shower (which will gather together some of the greatest people Ive been privileged to meet over the last four years and put them all in one room ....) ... and then of course we head to Michigan, get our "gender scan" done there with family, and have my family baby shower. And THEN, we drive to Savannah, meeting babies Gracie, Caleb and Devin along the way! Its going to be pretty fantastic. And definitely winning.

(This post brought to you by Charlie Sheen)