TAGGED

Aves @ Call of the Phoebe has tagged me:

Here is what she said about me:

Smalltown Girl at Stumbling on Happiness, Another wonderful woman whom I have had the opportunity to meet and travel with. She is a constant source of strength and support.

Wow, that was nice! Thanks!
I have had the opportunity to meet the fabulous Aves! Even to travel with, internationally! She is a strong honest woman with an open heart. Fun, funny, smart, innovative, positive,loving, loyal, not afraid to speak her mind. Our oldest girls, who are still at the orphanage (not for long, God willing) are from the same part of Haiti, and they are great friends. I have a feeling that they will remain so Stateside, even with the distance. And so, I believe Aves and I will remain friends as well.

When I was first looking to adopt, her blog was such a source of inspiration and information. I learned so much about adoption and other people's experience reading her blog, which I did, (and still do) every day. I am so excited that her younger daughter Ve arrived home from Haiti last week!

here are the rules to receiving this award:

You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous bloggers in a post.

You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.

You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them.

My Five Biggest Addictions:

COFFEE: A true addiction. Nothing happens in my life without coffee. It is something that I relish every morning, that first strong initial hit of flavor. I savor that first cup, first thing, with either one cream or a tad of non-fat milk. I have a few cups, and then I am pretty much done for the day. I am not a person that drinks coffee all day long. Occasionally I will have an afternoon cup. I have access to all kinds of coffee in the work that I do, but I am not a coffee snob. I like Starbucks (French Roast, my favorite) as much as I like good old fashioned Folgers or Maxwell House. I will occasionally put a shot of espresso in my cup of coffee, but other than that, I could care less if I ever drink another cappuccino, mocha, or latte again in my life.

THE WRITTEN WORD: I have been an avid reader since I learned how. We did not have extra money floating around when I was growing up, but my mom did let me belong to a book club. Oh, getting those books was the highlight of my month! I did not have to try hard in grade school to say at the top of my class, and I often had one of my paperbacks disguised inside one of my textbooks, reading as the class went on. (Sorry Aves, it's true!) I read mostly fiction until adulthood. Now I read mostly non-fiction. It's just much more interesting to me. I still occasionally pick up a good read (fiction) but if it's good I can't put it down until I finish and will often stay up all night to do so. I also have journaled since I was about 9 years old and my mom gave me a locked diary. I never thought I would be doing it publicly, but here I am! I LOVE to blog, but the really personal stuff still goes in a private journal. It's fair to say I write more than I talk.

FABRIC: I love fabric. I have more than a closet full. I love to sew although I don't have time to do it much anymore. I plan on starting again soon. I don't love the process as much as I do the finished product, but I love the act of being creative. I love looking at fabrics, and imagining what should be done with them. I think that sewing for two little girls will be fun!

APPLIED ART: I love to paint. Walls, furniture, fabric, and images. I love color, and I love playing with color. In gardening and flower arranging, beading, even food. I never tire of learning about colors and textures and how they work together or apart. I also love photography. I tend to love other people's photography more than my own. Oddly, for my love of color, I often like B&W better than color when it comes to photography, but it depends on the subject matter.

MUSIC: I love music. The right music transforms me. The right music expresses my feelings better than I could say, or even write. Sometimes the right music brings to the surface things I did not even know I was feeling. I like most music except really vulgar ugly stuff. There seems to be alot of that out there right now. I thought it was me getting older, but I have had students I like and respect tell me it's true. Modern music in this day and age is not so good. Or inspiring. Even my 15 year old prefers to listen to classic rock. I love my MP-3 when I'm cleaning house or on an airplane. I also love to sing and I love to dance. My whole family is like this, so I blame it on heredity.

OK, HERE ARE THE FABULOUS BLOGGERS I AM TAGGING!

Janet, at Adopting T-n-T
She is my fabulous friend here in my home state who has helped me in this process in so many ways. Getting my dossier completed. Practical advice about adopting, about traveling, you name it! She has a huge heart for the children of Haiti!


This Mama, at 3+3=6

I have yet to meet this fabulous family, but they are taking on the challenge of a lifetime, filled with love and wisdom. Hubby just returned from Haiti and meeting the kids for the first time. Awesome stories!

Steph, at Adopting Gyrlande

Where it all started for me. Steph was the liaison for the orphanage I am adopting from, and a good friend to the director. She has been extremely supportive of everyone in this process, having brought her daughter home 2 years ago. I have yet to meet her, but on one of my future jaunts back home to Northern Cal, I hope to!



Sarah, at The Nelsons
A woman I have not met in person but who is in the same "group" with me at the Orphanage (our paperwork, is roughly in the same place). She has a beautiful family and has always been so supportive and helpful, to me as well as to others.

Jennifer, at Journey to My Ethiopian Children

My newest blogging buddy, adopting from Ethiopia. She has two older children, and is hoping to adopt two more from Ethiopia. She is a single mom, and lives in Northern Cal in the city where I graduated college. So we have alot in common, and maybe someday we will be able to meet!

Cook's Holiday

Me and my Hostess Team

Sadly, this is a post about what's been going on at work, because it has been whats taking much of my time and energy. Every year our department does a two day event at Christmas called "Cook's Holiday" (the internal, unofficial name for the event is "Cook's Nightmare") in which thousands of faculty, staff, and retirees descend upon us for a holiday feast. It's a good time for them and alot of work for us. This year was, however, I think the best one evah! It went smoothly, and last night when I got home, I fell in the bed exhausted with my feet propped up on pillows!

Trying to get the chefs to settle down for their official picture

Three chocolate fountains!

Buffet Lines

String Quartet

Entrance

The View From the Top

(Can you believe this is a Dining Hall???)

"Ave Maria"

What's Next?

I learned an interesting fact over the week-end. The floors in my house (besides kitchen and bath) are 'heart pine', they are not oak, as I had assumed. This is a good thing, in that these floors are rare and desirable. This is a bad thing in that these floors are rare and desirable.

Back in the day, that was a pretty common floor covering around here, but now it is not. The reason the whole subject came up is because I was discussing with F and his brother the next project for this house, and part of the floor has to be patched. Finding the material is going to be a challenge. You can't buy it at Home Depot or Lumber Liquidators.

The next project is going to be a real challenge. I will write more about it as we get closer. So F asked me yesterday morning about when did I want to start, after the New Year? February or March? I agreed after the New Year, but I said January. He raised his eyebrows. I said "These kids are coming home. It could be January! It also could be February or March, but they are coming home soon!"

"Ah, February or March" he said.

He could be very right. Something crazy could happen (hope not) and it could be later than that. But M could also be correct, and she thought January. She says that barring any unforeseen obstacles, and those so often appear. But that is why I was in such a mess trying to get that paperwork to Haiti. Even though the Holiday looms, I'm hoping to get it submitted to the Embassy before they shut down for break.

We hope for the best. We prepare for the worst. We walk a tight-rope between living fully and protecting our hearts. This is the mantra of international adoption.

10 Year Dream-Come-True!

Relief! I'm all back together, with a new sink, countertop and dishwasher! Yay! I did not have a nervous breakdown, and I also got my Visa paperwork finished and SENT to Haiti.

I also got two new electrical outlets. I realized I am going to have to repaint my cabinets, at least on the face, because boy oh boy, that Whirlpool is white-white. But that's OK, it's time anyway. I'm also going to put the doors back on my upper cupboards. Not tonight though! I spent the day cleaning out all the cabinets and separating into Throw-Away (alot of that!) Goodwill, E-Bay, Keeper. So right now the inside is super clean and organized, even my kitchen junk drawer!

The guys really did a great job, and got most of it done in one day. F came back this morning and detailed it out.

It's really awesome to finally see this dream realized!

Crazy Time

Who, you must wonder, goes for a kitchen re-do right before Christmas?

That would be me.

Above, is what my cabinets/sink looked like yesterday morning. Below, is what they look like this morning.

Tomorrow, we can hope that all of this looks a whole lot like a new countertop, sink and a new dishwasher. Because right now all the contents of these cupboards and the former (ugly) counter-top items are stacked in my living room, as well as a brand new dishwasher and kitchen sink. And I'm not taking a picture of that mess!

This work was supposed to be done months ago, but a family friend is doing it, and due to both of our work/personal schedules, we have not been able to coordinate. I have had a custom countertop sitting in the warehouse at Lowe's since September. We will be going to pick it up this morning. I hope. I have this crazy fear that when we get there it will be gone, or damaged, even tho they call me every two weeks and ask me when am I going to come get this thing?!? It's a monster, I had to order 20' when I only need 12'6" because this type of counter only comes in 12' continuous, so I had to add 8' to get the seam on the less obvious end. If that makes any sense to y'all. The good news is that I'm going to use the extra---eventually, not this week-end---to create a galley kitchen, because sadly, my little old-fashioned house only possess what I am showing in the picture for counter and cabinet space. The other good news is that I am finally getting a dishwasher installed. I have lived here for 10 years and have not had one. It's been hard. I hear people say all the time, "oh, but I would rather handwash my dishes" to which I reply (in my head) "are you fricking crazy???" Full time job, single parent, little kids....no, I need a dishwasher and I've needed one for a long time, and now I'm getting it, yay! Merry Christmas to me!

I am in high anxiety mode. Usually I roll with the punches, but right now it's all getting to me a little. My job is crazy-busy right now. I'm trying to finish my Visa paperwork for the girls and get it sent to Haiti. My house is 'tore up', and I can't get USCIS to confirm an extension for my I-600 paperwork, which expires Monday. (Since they are not responding to my email I will have to call on Monday and pray I get someone!!!) When I get like this, I start worrying pre-emptively about things like my counter-top. I worry there will be a big snag and my house will look like this thru the holiday. I worry about things I have no control over, namely because they have not happened yet. And likely, they won't!

I know I need to have a little faith, breathe deeply, lighten up, and laugh a little at it all. I hate this feeling of overwhelm. Although I know from experience that breaking it all down one step at a time, and having a steady, 'can-do' attitude, goes a long way.

Christmas Tree Farm

LG and I went to the tree farm today after church and got our tree. This has been a fun family tradition for us. Last year we were out there in shorts and tank tops, but this year it was a healthy 45 degrees at mid-day. An absolutely beautiful day.

He does a great job of picking out a tree. I take way too much time. But he will make a quick decision and it's always a good one, so I just told him to go for it!

He picked out a really good one, as usual. He must be maturing, because he did not complain about sawing it this year at all. Last year, big ordeal.

Then he and the farm guy are off in the gator!Another farm guy ties it to the top of my truck after they shake it out and bag it.

$40.00 later, and we are happy campers!

Blessings

I am blessed. And I am grateful.

Life is not perfect. I have had an emotional roller coaster of a week. I have been irritated, sad, angry, incredulous, shocked, surprised, speechless and deliriously happy coming to terms with some God-plans that dovetailed into my life's perfect road map. It all feels almost as miraculous as the event pictured above. Foggy desires that were on the periphery of dreams, not even close to being pictured as a reality are suddenly reality. It's so true that God often closes one door on us so he can open another. He and I have been wrestling over something extremely significant to me for about a year. Not so much fighting; me just wanting what I wanted, even if it was wrong for my life, and wanting Him to approve it. I was not disobedient, but I kept wanting specific guidance for a certain conclusion. This has not been mild conversation. It has been heart and gut wrenching. What I kept hearing over and over was "how can I give you your true heart's desire if you will not let go of this idol?" My grip was more than white knuckle, let me just say that.

At any rate, the conclusion was dramatic and astonishing. A sensecal end and beginning. There is a spiritual teaching that states that even the smallest pebble makes numerous ripples when it's tossed into a still pond. He took the many pebbles and ripples of my life and drew them together to create perfect harmony. And someday when this story reaches it's logical conclusion, I will tell it in detail as opposed to the abstract.