All better! December 22, 2008

Well, that was one awful flu people!! Budder ended up joining me in the misery. I can’t remember feeling so dizzy or so nauseous for so long. Bud actually passed out in the bathroom one morning as we were trying to get ready for school/work. After that we knew he was staying home. I braved the ride in to work that day and then promptly turned around again and came home after being at work for all of two minutes. Lucky I have an amazing principal who realized that I was in no shape to be there. I don’t know what I was thinking either. 

Now we’re all home on Christmas break. Today was the first real day “off” and we spent it cleaning our house in the morning. It sounds like work, but we had a lot of fun! Yesterday was a gathering at my grandpa’s place and it was great. Lots of cousins and fun all around. We brought our Rock Band and it was a hit – my aunt was the funniest ever playing drums.  

No adoption news at all from our agency. Some families who have had contact lately have been told it will very likely be 15+ months for their referral. I’m too scared to call! If it’s that bad, I’d rather not know right now. I think I might be able to deal with it in January when we hit 12 months. By then the next batch of referrals will be here and we’ll have moved up in line to the point where I’ll make a call to check it out. Until then, I’m an ostrich – just putting my head in the sand and wishing that things were different.

Tomorrow is stocking stuffer day! I’m off to find goodies. All the gifts are long wrapped and under the tree, but I have neglected the stockings and I’m running out of time. Stockings are always hard for me. It’s a toss up. Get good stuff that isn’t junk = $$$, OR get cheap stuff, but we really don’t need it and it’s thrown out within a couple of months. So I’m up late brainstorming ideas for meaningful cheap stuffers. I’ll let you know what I come up with!

Sick and sad December 14, 2008

Hey everyone. I’m totally down with the flu. Not a little flu either. Dave and I had to leave my work banquet very suddenly on Friday night. Then I missed his banquet last night. I’m finally keeping toast down, which is a great improvement to emptying my stomach on the trans-Canada highway!! 

In addition, my good friend Jody got some very sad news this week. Their court did not get passed last Saturday and now they have to wait for a new court date in late January to try again. We are so sorry. We are praying that it will in fact pass this next time and that there is a speedy visa so that Mirtalem can come home soon. 

No news for us on the adoption front. We hear that our agency head is going to Ethiopia in January and there is an expectation that there will be referrals coming home with her. But no one knows how many. The last time they brought back a “batch” of referrals, it wasn’t very many. I’m really hoping that she can give us some insight when she returns. Some days it is so hard to know that there are still millions of children who need families, but so much red tape separates them from the families who desperately want them. At the end of the day I have to let that go. We are waiting, they are waiting. Hopefully this will be over soon.

On a positive note – We are hearing of reports of visas being issued in record times! (the visa is the last document that is issued from Kenya when you have passed court. It is the document that initiates travel to pick up our kiddies!) Some families were expecting to travel two months from now and are now furiously packing to leave within the week! What a great Christmas gift!! We pray that this continues.

Let’s hear some great news about court!! December 7, 2008

We hope that there is good news this week for all the families that had their court dates yesterday. Our family is especially thinking of Dave and Jody – we’re waiting to do the happy dance for you guys!! I think the whole Canadian Ethiopian adoptive community is holding their breath for all of the families(the ones we know about and the others who aren’t on the boards)  as we pray, hope, and wish you all a successful journey through court! 

I just posted on Jody’s site and was teasing her about hiring a spy when our court date came! The waiting for court must be a bit nutty. You’ve stared at the picture of your child(ren) for months – you have begun to bond and probably can see them in your sleep. Although the referral must be the most exciting part (tell me if I’m wrong btdt’s) I think court must be a pins and needles time. Nothing is finalized until the court declares you to be the parents. We all know that it is very very rare for family to come and claim the children back, but there is always that possibility. Then there is the worry about whether the right people show up to court with the right documents. 

Looking forward to seeing some announcements with exclamation marks this week!

 

Ethiopia Group Christmas Party December 5, 2008

Well we’re almost on the way out the door to meet our group for a Christmas party. Peanut and I made samosas last night, but I have to say they are a bit of a disappointment. I’m not sure what happened this time, but they are really greasy. I feel a bit better about it seeing I’m also bringing salad and two plates of cookies. I’ll bring the samosas, but man I hate apologizing for recipes gone wrong!

The adoption front is very quiet. A friend of mine who is also waiting for a referral said today that the adoption process is a “wilderness journey”. That is so true. – what a good analogy. Lately we feel a bit like the Israelites in the desert. It seems never ending. What we thought would be a “short” journey has stretched into a marathon with no sight in end. We believe it is still a journey meant for us. We are still excited, but road weary. Today I was feeling quite sorry for myself on the way to work. I was complaining (to myself) and working myself up about how this is so hard… and then I was hit with this sobering thought – It is nothing compared to the journey that my children’s birth parents must be making right now. I called Dave from the van and I’m sure he wondered at all my blubbering, but eventually he understood what I was upset about. Together we grieved over the loss that we can’t control, that we aren’t causing, but will happen in order for our children to come to us. 

I realized that bringing our children home will not end this grief. When we decided to adopt we signed up for a life of grieving on behalf of our new children and their  birth parents. I will think of them at each milestone our children experience and grieve their absence in my children’s lives. Adoption has stretched me and made me more aware than ever that we are ALL connected.