turned off

I am just "turning myself off" to adoption stuff right now.....i have to. My husband hasn't really said much but last night he came and hugged me and said " I really thought we would hear something this week?.....what is going on?"
Me too- and my mind is frustrated, my heart is frustrated, my body is frustrated, my spirit is frustrated.

Its johns 40th bday next Saturday.....i have work to do for school, need to help my intern plan his weeks of teaching and have a conference on Friday....i am putting myself - full-force- into all of that and just going to be "turned off" to adoption for a while.

*sigh*

still standing.......still

I emailed our agency and the head of the Africa program still didnt really have encouraging words...but replied

I apologize for my tardy reply. So far, we have not had any cases investigated by the Ethiopian courts. Neither have we had a court case re-scheduled. We are hoping to get some updates on the court schedules in the coming days-week. We have staff on the ground who are looking into it. I have no reason to believe that there is anything awry. There will always be negative and alarming rumors on the internet. Thank you for checking in with us!

At least it is something.
Work is good....school is good...Gabe and John are good.......so i can't really complain

standstill

court dates from EThiopia seem to be at a stand still
so my blog is at a standstill


This week was hard for many reasons

sleeping in

sleeping in ....by the Postal Service- one of my favorite songs these days. Tomorrow i actually do not get to sleep in after over 9 days with no work and noplace to be until 10am ish (two conference days). Today i took gabe to Edventure- a staple of amusement here in Columbia. I found myself obsessed with wondering which child is closest to S's age/size. I cant place how big a 2.5 year old is....he will be 3 in Aprilish....damn bad measurements from the last report still had the same height/weight from last July....
I played around with the camera
First- Gertie's doggie mug shot...she is always guilty of something (phone pictures are kinda sucky- be warned)
Then some from Edventure

Gabe fun:



Trying to get Sidetracked

I had a good deal of time off with the snow/ice storm and as mentioned before, it was hard not to ponder and obsess about when our court date will be. I did go to a great conference that energized me about teaching and education and also started my night classes for this semester. So I hope to be nicely side tracked with everything else so that i don't continue to obsess. School and the workshop has reaffirmed that pursuing further education with Curriculum and Instructional Development is something I love and should continue. I also look forward to finally seeing my students after a week and a half....so I am doing some work at home while the kids go visit John's dad way out in the sticks :) I have had enough cold and ice and do not feel the desire to go cut firewood and walk through the woods right now....

Still home....still antsy

well i *thought* i would be back at work today but that didn't happen. School was cancelled again and at this point I can see no reason why. I feel it would have been much better to have a delay- the ice is GONE! and was gone in time for delayed start. This will mess up grades and midterms PLUS i will be at a conference tomorrow and Friday. So I wont see my students until next Tuesday (MLK day is Monday)...yikes. Oh well. Leave it to me to complain about *not* going to work hehehehe. I tend to be the over-worker, over extender and over-doer...just my nature. So, three days inside with no work- has gotten me antsy. And I have made it a resolution to no longer be the "over-doer" once S is home and things calm down.
 With being cooped up in the house, I have been reading some boards about Ethiopian adoption, which has gotten me more antsy. It seems many families with other agencies had several expired/old documents with their dossier presented at court in Nov/December and they did not pass court the first time. This has created a backlog of cases being reheard this month and next. Maybe that is the reason so few court dates have been given for Feb and March?? Delays caused by other agencies who did not make sure all thier AP's documents were within a year/18 months old. Why did these agencies fail to make sure thier documents were in order??? With their cases being rushed to be reheard it has caused so much frustration for other families who are waiting longer.
UGH. Theres not a whole lot to be done on our end besides wait....and save $/fund raise....and of course school/work. I still feel distracted- but i guess thats to be expected. At least when i am at work I dont feel like a vulture, hovering over my email all hours of the day.

snow and ice stir crazy

well we had today off from school/work and tomorrow too. Today b/c of nearly 4 inches of snow (unheard of here) that really stuck to all roads and such. Then nearly 2/3 of an inch of ice on top of it all...its really odd...this thick ice-shell on top of the snow.
So i have been here all day- reading and hanging with Gabe. I finished up a grant application that we are being reconsidered for- cross fingers and such :) we have some repairs to do on the back of the house and our $$ can't go two places at once. Still no word on court- boo hoo. That makes me even more stir crazy. I have a busy week, even with the snow days. I am working from home tomorrow, then a regular school day Wednesday- start of my night class, then Thursday and Friday i start a educational leadership program done by the State Dept, another night class Thursday too....lots going on to take my mind off of the wait for court....adoption day for pups on Saturday, and I may be taking the young lady who i mentor....but it will always be lingering *when will we go to court?!* please let it be in March

inspired

This is a non-adoption post. Yesterday Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone and movie "Waiting for Superman" visited Columbia SC to speak with people involved (or interested in) our Eau Claire Promise Zone. I became involved inthe education committee three years ago that began organizing this project. It has really been taking off. I wish i stayed more involved - but two jobs and grad school plus family have gottenthe best of me.  We are so lucky to have Daniel Canada, the brother of Geoffrey, and his son (Geoffrey's nephew) who teaches Social Studies in this area. I have known his nephew from teaching in-services and the like. I am super excited about so much support from our city council/mayor and USC....the "pipeline of support" is beginning with 0-5 years old so that they begin kingergarden on track. I hope to be involved and would def love to research these initatives for my doctorate. I live right in this areas...the zip code 29203 and the "beefed-up " Head Start programs and such will be wonderful for S when he gets home! http://promisezone.org/

Disgruntled

Well even accoridng to the conservative estimate from HOLT we should have a court date in March...but NOPE, not yet, anyway. Several families got March 8th for a court date- but not us ...more frustration. But at least i know S is already in Addis b/c he is at the Mother Teresa Center- Mission of Charity. Many families are now being told thier children arent being moved until right before the embassy dates. So many changes in the last 7 months...such a delay in referrals. The ET is coming to a crawl. It is for good reason, so that the government has more regulation over the international adoption system. However, it is causing some heavy hearts with adoptive parents.

Its Potty Time

Hehehe thi sis what i got S for the new year....hes 2.5, not sure how potty trained he is (although i did get a picture of him on a baby potty as they showed me his surgery scars on his feet)

found at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MW8EK2/ref=ox_ya_os_product

To My Little Boy

We learned about you this year, April 8th 2010
We asked and were chosen to be your parents this year, June 2010
We received so many smiley adorable pictures of you April-December 2010
We shopped for you and planned for you and told others about you July- Dec 2010
In 2011 you will become part of our family
In 2011 we will discover more about your culture and country
In 2011 we will leave you for a few weeks, which may be the hardest wait of all, but we will be back
In 2011 our hearts will swell to encompass the love we have for you
In 2011 we will take help make a family for you, but in the process you/we may feel sadness about leaving the group of wonderful caregivers you already knew.
In 2011 you will gain new family, friends, language and experieces
We are extremely excited to have you to look forward to.
We are happy to leave a very stressful 2010 behind...but do remember some great times with our family and friends.