Seventeen, Diecisiete, 十七, Siebzehn, Dix-sept... The Many names for 17!

Besides being the lovely number for this month's LID anniversary, here are a few other fun and interesting #17 facts.

Happy Sunshine!

• 17 is the seventh prime number
• 17 is the sum of the first four primes
• 17 is the atomic number of chlorine
• 17, in the US is the age @ which one may donate blood & join the military voluntarily
• 17, in Ireland & UK is the age which one may drive a car (Not to mention the age I had to be before getting a license of my own to drive ~ courtesy of Mom and Dad's rule :0)
  
• Seventeen Seconds an album by The Cure
• Seventeen the title of a magazine
• 17, Humbug's answer to 2 different math problems in The Phantom Tollbooth
• 17, the retired jersey number of baseball pitching great Dizzy Dean
• 17, described at MIT as 'the most random number', according to 'hackers lore'
• 17, number of guns in 'gun salute' to US Army, Air Force & M.C. Generals & C.G. Admirals
• 17, number to call police in France
• 17, a mild swear word in Swedish ("sjutton också!" ("seventeen, too!") roughly translated to Darn!

Ahhh, a beautiful site to see

What a welcomed site this was for me today!

I managed to spend a few minutes on my back deck this afternoon after spending the past 6 days in bed with a horrible case of strep throat and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a shot of this beautiful sky!

Don't get me wrong...I LOVE sunshine with bright blue skies and not a cloud in sight, But there is something special about puffy clouds set with a bright blue backdrop. Reminds me of the mid-west and I've never even lived in the mid-west, just passed through on a summer driving vacation with mom and dad in my teen years. I guess a memory I never forgot. It's good to be back among the living :-)

Babies, Babies, Babies

Okay, so I've never tried to add links to others blogs in a post before, but wanted to give it a try.

Here are a few of the newest November referrals (those who were LID Nov. 2 -Nov. 7, 2005). Amazing how young these cutie pies are; some 7 months old, one even being 5 months old, I think the youngest I've ever seen.

Hope you Enjoy!

Our Journey to Lucy
Our Journey to Paisley
Waiting for Karsynn
Waiting for Elianne Grace
Forks and Chopsticks
Our Adoption Journey
Waiting for Briana
The Amazing Journey to Karlee
Journey to Lily
A Sister for Gabe and Julian
Our Journey to Charli
Elizabeth's Journey
Fortune Cookie Monsters

I'm always asked, "Why is the wait so long?..."

Why has China slowed down suddenly, or rather over the past 11+ months? There is no one specific answer to that question but here are a few factors that play into the "unofficial slowdown":

* Fewer babies because of more domestic adoption

* Fewer babies due to urbanization/economic growth

* Baby Trafficking Case between orphanages in Hunan in 2005

* The CCAA this year took over running all of China’s orphanages not just the 200 or so that do Intercountry adoption.

* The CCAA moved offices this summer (larger facility)

* There may be a concern re “face” i.e. China was one of the fastest places in the world for ICA - potentially to be seen as a negative with the 2008 Olympics coming.

However no one really knows and no one knows how many exact applications per month the CCAA actually has. Consequently it is almost impossible to project what timelines will be.