The Latest From Haiti

News about files is mute for now, with Karnival in full swing. But we did get the latest pictures today, from our traveling moms!

We also received some photos of the kids in class and the teacher. The teacher is a new developement at the "O". He's been there a few months now. I noticed a big improvement with the girl's skills over Christmas, in just the short time he has been there. He is also teaching them English!

My Blog, The Musical!

Over the past 10 days, I have spent a great deal of time creating a slideshow for our facilitator to take to Haiti with her. The purpose is to show the kids our lives here at home. I showed some of that, but because I have traveled there twice in 6 months, and because I know my girls love photos not only of themselves, but also their friends at the "O", I included those photos too. The other reason S. asked for videos/slideshows is because she is hoping to take a road trip to one the the villages that many of our children come from, and she wanted something to show the birth parents. She asked that we not include pictures of our things, "houses, rooms, etc" however I did a bit of that because it was inherent in telling this story, and I don't think anyone is going to get too excited about a Christmas tree, I saw quite a few of them in Port-au-Prince last month. I also don't think the Haitians are going to think I am rich when they see my house as I definitely do not live in a McMansion! (I call it "cottage living"... instead of upgrading to a newer and bigger house this year, I spent my money on adopting these two girls.) At any rate, many of the pictures on this montage have been on this blog at one time or another, hence my title today!



I have not been feeling real creative or motivated in the blogging department lately. I have discussed this feeling with a few other moms on our group, and I see that we fall into similar funks over similar reasons. One thing that throws me off is when I am expecting progress in an area of my adoption, and I am waiting, waiting, waiting for the news. I hate it, but it robs me in some inexplicable way and it's hard to write. I feel very flat. I know I'm not "supposed" to let it get to me, but on some level, it sure does. The other thing is that both times I have come home from Haiti, I have kind of hunkered down within myself. Initially I am so high when I get back I think I can take on the world, but reality crashes in pretty fast. For me, it has everything to do with leaving my girls behind. I find I do not suffer alone in this. Some other moms have expressed the same.



Two things have helped: getting alot of necessary work done around the house, and working on this project. I am not real computer savvy, so it was a challenge. It is 13 minutes long. It says it's eighteen minutes, but it's not, that was some extra music that got stuck way out in cyberspace that I could not get off the file. Like I said, I am no genius!

Waiting For Some Big News

I had big plans to get alot done this week-end in terms of house projects, but that did not happen. I did make some gift bags for the girls, and sent them to a mom that is visiting later this week. I also made them some photo albums of our visit and sent those too. I also worked on a slide-show of both of my visits and life here at home for our facilitator to take with her when she leaves next Sunday. I fussed over that thing all week-end. Now I just need to burn it! I hope it all comes together because it needs to get to California before it goes to Haiti.

There has been some file movement in our group! A bunch of people are out of parquet, but we're still waiting on some more to come out. Some people have been in for a long long time. No rhyme or reason there, but all movement in Haitian files is good movement! 2 kids are out of ISBER that were submitted at the same time as mine. So the rest of us are patiently waiting... (Yeah right! LOL!) Well, it's good to know we're just about there. Congrats to everyone that progressed!

The S. Family published their pictures the other day, and they had taken this one of the girls and I. It's a very bad photo of me, but we are having fun, so that is the important thing. Remember, I had been bitten on my eyelids, and I had not even had my cold shower for the day, to add insult to injury. Sigh. It's very difficult to look good in Haiti, and I'm over it
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I hate to say this, because there are fellow bloggers out there REALLY suffering right now, but it has been very cold the last few days. Low temps, and then the wind chill throws it down another several degrees. I'm not used to it being 12 degrees outside. It's very decieving because it has been crystal clear and beautiful outside.

I got yelled at by a grumpy old man and almost dropped the camera while taking this picture because I didn't park far enough off the side of the road to his liking, and he had to get in the shoulder to go around me. Out in the middle of nowhere on a 1 lane road.

It doesn't look cold, but I'm freezing in this vest and had to change into coat, hat and gloves before we went to the park.

I let shorty (not his real name) run around the baseball field. I tried to get him to run around the bases but he would not cooperate! Overall, it was a great week-end, I enjoyed having an extra day off from work. And my house projects are still here, waiting for me ...till next week-end!

At The Dome

Our event for the State Legislature went off without a hitch, but it was long day. It was good to get away from the routine and do something different.

Ice Sculpture

The most famous bulldog in the world....

Poor Uga VI looks like he is getting old. But he has had a good run, and he is a good dog! He is so patient here, taking hundreds of with the state legislatures and interns.

If you don't know about Uga click here http://www.uga.edu/gm/902/FeatUga.html

More Water

Yes, I'm a little obsessed with this topic. This was in the paper today.http://onlineathens.com/stories/011608/news_20080116073.shtml

I'm still getting a water barrell.

Don't get me wrong. I am trained to conserve water. When I first moved here and people just let water run out of the tap unheeded and oblivious to it, I would just FREAK OUT! It took along time to accept that water was something we had here in overabundance. So different from the American West. This recent drought has opened alot of eyes. Most folks around here won't take water for granted anymore, and that is good. What has been difficult for me is watching the local and state government do nothing about it for years, seeing it get worse and worse, then all of a sudden restricting beyond reason, out of fear, and initially with no warning. And, no plan! The lack of foresight boggles my mind. The thought of not at least a few flowers was driving me to despair! But...

I'M GETTING A RAIN BARRELL!

And, I'm determined to have some flowers next spring and summer!!!

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I just went out and took this picture...it's snowing! Not too often does that happen around here. The bad news is that it is supposed to turn to sleet/ice by morning, and we have a big event in Atlanta at the State Capitol tomorrow. That should make things interesting....

Drought Solutions?

I continue to be frustrated with the handling of the ongoing drought here in the Southeast. Still no outdoor watering allowed. Also no car washing or pressure washing allowed either. You are not even allowed to use grey water from your house for outside watering! So for most people it goes to waste because most are not going to collect it at this point to flush their toilets, which is what the county "suggests" you do. Meanwhile, it's been raining quite a bit this winter.

Local resevoir, today

Same resevoir last fall

I have refrained from planting anything. Or even planning my garden, my January ritual. And it is driving me crazy. Apparently this is more than one of life's small pleasures for me. I bought these pansies in a fit of rebellion the other day. And they were difficult to find. No one is selling flowers. Or seeds. The forecast is for another dry summer, and of course there is no way to know. I can't help but remember that "they "forcast a very busy hurricane season for 2006 and for 2007 (after Katrina) and it never materialized. But, we don't know, and we have to conserve or risk running out of drinking water. And, I am not the only rebellious gardner I know. People are planting, with the eternal optimism required to be this sort of person anyway, that we will get enough rain to sustain us this year. Then today in the paper I saw this:Make Your Own Rain Barrel

Woo Hoo!!!! I feel like a new woman! I'm going to try it next week-end. Or go out and buy one. Meanwhile, I'll be looking thru my seed catalogs...

The Concept of Adoption

Until that fateful Sunday 14 months ago, when I had what I call my "adoption revelation" I never thought much about adoption. To me, adoption was about other people. I was not for it or against it...it just did not have anything to do with me. In fact, I did not even know that it was a concept that some people are for, or are against. I know differently now, and I know where I stand on it.But that is not what I am going to write about today.

On that day, I began my immersion into the concept of adoption as we know it, and there was no turning back, and my life has not been the same since. I know it will never be the same. It was like a gigantic wake up call, and every day a new door opened or a new page was turned, and I saw things and learned things that I'd never seen before. I became very aware of the world outside my box. It was without a doubt one of the best things that ever happened to me.


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After that I began seeing the concept of adoption in other areas. I'm not talking about pet adoption. (Why do they call it pet adoption, when it's really pet rescue???? I mean, the chances are good that the pet will be eventually euthenized if it does not find a home, I think that qualifies as a rescue!) I began to see alot of talk in Christian circles about God's adoption of us. This confuses me because I already thought I was God's child, that is how I was taught. But some people believe that because we are sinners, that when we accept Jesus Christ, we become part of God's family. Thats when we are adopted. I realize this is an analogy, and an interesting one. It is another concept of adoption. This is when we connect our heart with the heart of God.

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It occured to me the other day that I have lived in the South now for 25% of my life. That is a big chunk for a native Californian. Long before the other day, however, the South had become my adopted homeland. Somewhere in the pain of homesickness and the joy of new discovery, my heart connected to this place, and that is how it became my adopted homeland. I have known this for years now.

Webster's New World dictionary says: 'adopt' v. 1.take legally as one's child 2.take as one's own 3.choose or accept



Funny, I dont see anything about the heart in there. It sounds so dry! Unless you are talking about 'adopting' a law, which is dry stuff anyway! Now I can't imagine the concept of adoption without the heart. I can't imagine the concept of adoption with out love ( with the exception of an 'adoption' of a law). Webster talks about commitment, he talks about choosing, he talks about legality, but he does not capture the concept of adoption.


Hmmn...so maybe I spoke too soon, maybe it's not just pet rescue. I know that day, years ago when I brought my puppy home from the pound, she was already in my heart. I drove to South Carolina and back two days in a row to make that happen!