The Walker Blog: April 2010

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

Posted by Cat's Litterbox | Bulls Baseball, Update on life | 9:30 AM

Planet Earth Celebration 2010

Last Saturday we went downtown to the third annual Planet Earth Celebration. It was another wonderful event and we had a great time. This year we were stationed at one of the waste stations- not the most glamorous job, but it was fun. Cathy was quite impressed by how much Steve knew about composting.

We are very excited for our upcoming trip to Michigan and Indiana. It's been almost five months since we saw Cathy's family, and it's been seven months since we've seen Steve's dad and Sue Ann. We're looking forward to spending time with our nephew Alex, who will be receiving his First Communion next Saturday, and our niece Lilyanne. We'll also be celebrating Mother's Day while we're there, since we won't see Cathy's mom on the holiday this year.

Cathy is currently tracked out (she's super excited). She is excited to read on her Kindle and get some sun (but not too much), and plans on taking a day-trip with some friends to the beach over track out.

Steve is speaking at NC State this upcoming week. He'll be talking about what Burt's does in regards to sustainability. He's excited to share his passion and knowledge with others.

No news on Tadpole... the people that Cathy works with are planning a baby shower for her on June 16th and we're hoping to have heard something by then! We are still getting gifts from friends and family and are so appreciative of their thoughtfulness and support!!

We are going to see Wicked today at the Durham Performing Arts Center. Cathy is more excited than Steve is-- but we'll be meeting some friends for lunch and then heading over for the 2pm showing.

We attended the Spring Training Showdown at the DBAP a couple weeks ago and watched the Durham Bulls take on their affiliate Tampa Bay Rays. The Bulls lost, but gave a good fight! We went to our season opener last Sunday and watched the Bulls close out the series against the Norfolk Tides. The Bulls are currently on a seven game winning streak!! We have excellent seats this season... a little closer to the field.

Well-- that's it from us for now. We'll be in touch!!
Thanks for reading-- leave us some love!!
The Walkers

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

Posted by Cat's Litterbox | Adoption, Update on life | 6:38 PM

We are on the CAS website!!! Definitely check out our profile!!! We are on the bottom of the first page!! We were placed on the website this past Wednesday (April 7th). We are super excited and cannot wait for whatever happens next!!

We had the Wake County Teacher of the Year Semi-Finals Reception on Wednesday night. We went with Cathy's principal and her IRT (Instructional Resource Teacher) and had a nice time. They called each semi-finalist up and gave them a keychain that says "2010 Teacher of the Year" and then announced the finalists.

Cathy was not one of the 12 finalists that they named, and while there was a bit of disappointment, she was proud nonetheless. She would have had to do an interview with the committee of 20 people- which was a bit overwhelming to her. She was just honored that her fellow teachers had chosen her as the Oak Grove TOY.

There are more than 9,000 teachers in the county and of them, there were 190 named as Teachers of the Year for their individual schools. Of those 190, Cathy was in the top 24 which is something to be very proud of. The group of 12 is made up of a lot of middle school and high school teachers (only five elementary teachers) and several men and minorities.

We received another package for Tadpole Walker this week. Cathy's friend Andrea (from Phi Sigma Pi) sent us some goodies and we were pleasantly surprised with her gift. We have quite a lot of things for Tadpole and our collection keeps growing. We don't have any bottles or safety things, and very few clothes, but hopefully those will come when we get matched.

Anyway- it's been a beautiful weekend here in NC and we're both doing well. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we wait for Tadpole. As they say, the waiting is the hardest part.

With love,
The Walkers

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

Posted by Cat's Litterbox | Adoption, Life Update, Work | 11:05 AM

We are on the waiting list!!! YAY!! We went to Charlotte yesterday to meet with Doris and spent about two and a half hours talking with her and sharing more about ourselves. It was a great visit and the best part was leaving the three Adoptive Family Albums and Expectant Mother letters with her! We should be on the CAS website in about a week or two.

Things are going well for both of us at work. Cathy has the Semi-Finals Reception on Wednesday for Wake County Teacher of the Year. She'll find out if she has been selected for the Finals (top 12 teachers in the county) on Wednesday night and she's already nervous about it. She had her observation at the beginning of March and didn't really get any feedback (positive or negative) about her observation. She wrote about it in her blog, so if you're interested in getting more information, definitely read her blog.

Steve is getting excited for the 3rd Annual Planet Earth Celebration with Burt's on the 17th of April. We'll be going downtown and volunteering, though we don't know what we'll be doing this year.

Steve is especially proud of recent accomplishments at work. His hard work and determination has helped lead Burt's to being a 100% Zero-Landfill company! That means that everything that they use each day is diverted to other places, and NOTHING goes to the landfill!! This is quite a feat and Steve is very proud of his effort, but also proud to work for a company that is able to do what many are not!

This weekend (tomorrow) we have our first Bulls game of the season. It's not the regular season yet, but we're going to the DBAP for the first ever game of the Bulls versus the Rays! A Minor League team versus their Major League Affiliate team!! We are going to cheer loudly for the Bulls and are excited for the forecasted 80 degree day tomorrow!! What a great way to spend the weekend!!

Last night we celebrated as we watched UD (University of Dayton) beat UNC (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill) in the NIT College Men's Basketball Championship!! It was a great game and UD won 79 to 68!! It was a HUGE victory and Steve was especially excited. When on Earth would UD ever have the chance to play a power-house like UNC??? And then to win... it was amazing!! Steve wore his UD Basketball t-shirt to work today and proudly took his UD Flag that Cathy's parents bought him last year for Christmas. He is definitely soaking up the win!!

That's about all the news for us for now. We'll keep everyone updated on things with the adoption for sure. We were told that it could be very soon that we're matched, or a while. It's all a matter of what God has in store for us and we're asking for plenty of patience... and all the prayers that we can get!!

We've had several people ask about our registry (we're not having a baby shower), so we thought we'd put it out there again. We posted it a few months ago, but if anyone is curious about it here's the link again: http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/baby/2JQYX39EHGS21.

We'll write again soon...
:)
The Walkers