A milestone I missed

When your children are older when you are adopting them, you accept that you will miss many milestones in their lives. I missed their *first* Barbies! Yes, I sent them, but I could not be there when they received them. Oh well, I wanted them to have one, even if the Barbies were destined to be put away in the closet. Which they were, for safekeeping after these photos were taken.

I am so grateful to another PAC mom for taking these things to them and for the pictures!

A Nashville Wedding

Who says you can't find love later in life?

Mom and I traveled to my cousin's near Nashville over the week-end for my aunt's wedding. We were supposed to leave early in the day on Friday, but I had to take my Jeep in for an oil change. Then she presented me with a pair of dress pants for altering that she wanted to wear at the wedding. I thought she only wanted them hemmed, so I thought, no biggie even though they were lined. Turned out she needed the waist taken in too. Georgette fabric underlined with fine flannel, in addition to the regular lining! 4 hours later (!) I was ready to take the dog to the kennel, then finally, and we hit the road at 5:30 pm for a 4.5 hour drive!

The wedding was at the house on Saturday. My cousin's wife Wendy put the whole thing together, because otherwise, they would have done nothing fancy at all, and Wendy wanted her to have her day. Auntie had eloped at 17 the first time around. She had 6 kids, and has put on multiple weddings for her own children (which I have been part of many times) so on this day, so many years later, and thousands of miles away from our birth homes, we celebrated love again.

And expanded our family

We celebrated a happy day! I was proud of Auntie, she is 73 and snagged herself a 61 year old! Way to go!

Sadly, on Sunday, we had to say good-bye. At least for now!

Do What You Must

You will be happy to know, I have abandoned my hillbilly ways, and my front yard is back to normal. I'm sure my neighbors are relieved!

Over the past 10 years, my mantra has become "sometimes you just do what you have to do". Sometimes I find I have to accept things I really don't want to. Like a really old toilet sitting in my front yard.

Yes, it goes against everything I believe in!!!!! But my schedule was absolutely packed with previous commitments on Monday and Tuesday, and the landfill was not open on Sunday. Plus I had to arrange for a truck since there is no way that stuff was going to fit in my Jeep.

So here is how I arranged for the truck. My ex-husband's truck. I asked him if I could use it for Wednesday and he said yes but he would be out of town. However, since his wife would be at home, she could relinquish it to me. However, he forgot to tell her about this. Until I called and left a message for her yesterday morning. Then she called him and got the news. So she was not really a happy camper when I arrived. The truck was in the back yard full of mulch. I had to watch the babies while she went outside and unloaded and brought the truck around.Did I mention it was raining? The 6 month old screamed and screamed, and I was determined to make that STOP which I finally did by finding a hanging mirror and showing her to herself. She got so fascinated she immediately quit the screaming, and then I became her friend. There I was, walking around the house I used to own with my ex-husband's baby, with the other eye on the toddler.

So, I finally get the truck, drive back across the county to my house, and load the truck with the toilet and everything else that went along with it...sink, vanity, rotten lumber, etc. I get my mom in the truck and we drive across the county again, then south to the landfill. I am soooo happy to unload!!!! Then we drive back to drop the truck off, and my mom pretty much insists on meeting the new wife, (new to her, they have been married 8 years!) so we go thru all that. She then has to see the babies and check out the house of course. Finally I get her out of there, and I get back home, in my Jeep, with my mom, to a debris-free front yard.

Sometimes you just do what you have to do!

At the "O"

A short time ago, one of our visiting moms from the PAC group came up with the idea of taking laminated photos of ourselves/families @home and attaching them to the kid's beds so they would have the
continual reminder and assurance of their forever families during this (long) wait.

Another visiting mom took this picture last week-end of the finished project. It took me a minute to realize the laminates on these beds were of me and my son! Then I realized the items in the center were the photo albums I sent in August, and I was really happy about that because I know how difficult it is to hang onto personal items there.
I feel like I live and die by these pictures that come back from Haiti. A glimpse into our children's daily lives, as we wait for them to come home. And I am soooo grateful for the parents and friends that make the effort to take them and post for us!

My Almost Finished New Bathroom...And Moms

I have not posted in over a week, mostly due to time constraints. Work has been more of a bear than usual. My mother is arriving today from Boise for a 2 week visit!!! And for the past two week-ends, I have been having my ONE bathroom completely gutted and redone. New subfloor, tub, surround, new toi-toi, new pedestal sink, new fixtures, new paint, new tile....whew, did I forget anything??? I was planning on being completely done, but alas, I still have some painting and tile work to finish. I also have a yard full of rotten lumber and bathroom fixtures that I cannot get hauled until tomorrow! My mom has not been down here to visit me in 11 years, I'm sure she will be real impressed with that! WELCOME mom!

Meanwhile, on the adoption front...I was a little worried about Lovely, in her latest pictures she had on some of the same clothes she wore the last 2 days I saw her. During the summer, they were fine on her but in the latest pictures, they are literally falling off. I also noticed an orange tinge to her hair that I had not seen before, and that was worrying me. I finially called Marie last night and asked her if Lovely had been ill lately, and I told her my worries. She said oh, no no, and then went off on a long explanation that I did not understand a word of, so I just said uh-huh. I did get the no she had not been ill part though.



See, I can be a neurotic mom from thousands of miles away, as well as right here at home!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBdJ2aCXBRA

Please enjoy the video, this was taken by a visitor about 10 days ago. It really gives you the feeling of being there, and how the kids all clamor. Except Widmina. She is, as usual on the side lines. Which is exactly where she was the first time I laid eyes on her. Bless her sweet little heart. And Lovely's dress is falling off. Maybe just a growth spurt?

Nature Walk

I decided to get away from the chaos that is my life this week-end, and take the little dog out to the local nature trail and lake this morning.

After the bridge, the turtle and the ducks, we got to the botanical garden

Then we veered off this nice garden path and got lost in the woods. Which was OK with me because I knew I couldnt really get lost, that I'd find my way out eventually. It was fun, for a minute I was transported back to my childhood when we used to run wild all summer in the mountains of Northern California.

Then my day dream was shattered by the awareness of heavy traffic from a 4 lane highway not too far in the distance, and I knew for sure I wasn't lost!

My son now considers these kind of outings pointless and boring, at least with me.(It would be different if his friends, or his "girlfriend" suggested it) So I have to force them on the dog, but he's OK with that! We hiked around for over an hour. I found myself looking forward to the day when I have my girls here, and we can go out and do these kinds of things together. I will make sure we do it often...before they turn into teenagers!

Please Participate

In Haiti, malnutrition is a major issue, especially for children. It is difficult to get food in many, many cases. Drinking water generally has to be transported, then (hopefully) treated. Parasites lurk particularly in the water, and infect many children. The parasites rob the children of their ability to absorb nutrients from the meager food they receive. This is one reason in Haiti that you see skinny little bodies with distended bellies, kids with orange hair, and an abominably high mortality rate for children under 5 years old. The saddest thing is, parasitic infection is treatable.


Aaron Jackson is working in Haiti to help these children, and CNN is featuring him in their "Heros" feature for December. Please go to this link and vote for him


http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/cnn.heroes/


if he is chosen, he wins a $25,000 award that goes towards funding this project.



Click here to see his video


http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2007/09/11/heroes.aaron.jackson.cnn



Please help the beautiful children of Haiti, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere!