CrazyPhotoCat

2011-01-19T19:37:00.001-08:00

ENFP - "Journalist". Uncanny sense of the motivations of others. Life is an exciting drama. 8.1% of total population.

Take Free Myers-Briggs Personality Test

Love Without Boundries

2009-09-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

Even though we are no longer adopting from China since we have brought Katie home we still support adoption. You can help support adoption by visiting http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/ Love without boundaries helps to find homes for children with special needs and to care for their health needs while waiting on their forever family.

Green Cleaning products

2009-07-30T18:49:00.001-07:00

For a chance to win some green cleaning products go to http://danaelaineellis.blogspot.com/2009/07/eco-store-usa-giveaway.html
they even have green baby products.

Review Room!

2007-09-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

July 06 LID's are now out of the review room! YEAH!!!! Now we wait again, next step referral.(still a very long wait). One more step to Katie!!!

2007-09-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

As most of you who know me I don't often write but I have added a link on the side to my adoption journal.

I have recently returned from a MUCH need vacation to the beach. It rained some on our 2nd day but I was able to relax a lot. I sing to myself often just making up words as I go about whatever I am doing. It was nice to be among friends who love me for who I am. But reality was a hard slap in the face on Tuesday morning.

Girls Nite

2007-03-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to my friend Elizabeth's house to be include in a girls night. Mike had poker night so it worked out perfect. Several of my friends that I haven't seen in a while were also there. It was really great to catch up with them. We made pizzas. We ate and talked for awhile and then we play trivial pursuit. It is also nice to be around friends.

Tornados

2007-03-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here in Macon Georgia for the annual CEC conference (council for exeptional children). On the way here I did not see any but went through 2 counties with tarnado warnings. Needless to say I was a little nervous but I made it alive. Tomorrow I will be presenting about my trip to Japan and how I implimented what I learned into my classroom.

Compassionate Kids

2007-02-26T14:56:00.000-08:00

I started a new blog that is calle Compassionate Kids. I will relate activities that I am working on with my students that will help enable them to become more compassionate. To visit this blog go to Compassionate Kids.

Heifer.org

2007-02-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

I am currently trying to apply for another educational grant. This time to Honduras as a part of their Read to Feed program. My application is due by the middle of March and will find out if I win by the middle of April. I have been interested in Honduras ever since I sponsored a child from Honduras with Compassion. This was several years ago when I was working with some teenage girls and we decided to do this together. I will soon be purchasing the Hope basket from www.heifer.org in honor of soon to be daughter Katie Hope.

Children Reading to Fight World Hunger

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2007-02-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a wonderful Valentine's Day. After telling someone that My husband would never buy me chocolate for Valentine's, that he would buy me cards take me out to eat at a very nice restaurant, but he would NEVER buy me chocolate. He bought me chocolate, along with a bear and a balloon. Thanks sweety, I LOVE YOU! Have a wonderful day.

Long Time No Type

2007-01-26T15:39:00.000-08:00

I am sorry folks that I have not written in a very long time. Life has been very busy once I returned from Japan. I am doing great and so is Mike. The adoption is still a year from now. I think that I will get a t-shirt that says "This Time Next Year". The wait time is now 16-18 months after your paper work has made it to China. As of this Sunday we will be longed in for 6 months. After we receive our referral we will then wait another 1-2 months before we travel so as I said before "This Time Next Year". Until next time take care. I miss all of my friend who I haven't seen in a very long time. I have also started another blog for our adoption call Our Journey to Hope I know that I talk about the adoption on this sight but this one will be totally dedicated to our Daughter.

2006-12-18T16:39:00.000-08:00

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Very Brady Christmas

For you, it's all about sharing times with family.Even if you all get a bit cheesy at times.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

The Time Has Come

2006-11-10T15:02:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I will be flying out to Japan for the trip that I won from the Japan Fulbright Memorial fund. I have another blogsite that you may follow that is dedicated to my students so that they can follow my trip.

http://leaptrott.edublogs.org/

Quilt 6 & 7

2006-08-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

Today I received quilt pieces 6&7. They were from the same family. One was from our flower girl at our wedding, she was 3 then and now is in college. The other was from her parents. They were our youth pastors when we were in the youth group. I was happy to see the pieces. It put a smile on my face after a very stressful day at work.

A mailbox full of excitement

2006-08-19T20:37:00.000-07:00

Today I received in the mail two nice packages. The first one was a check from the Georgia Council of exceptional Children for $200 for a mini grant I won. The only problem is I don't know which grant it was for. I applied for one over a year ago and won only to be told they didn't have the money and took it away. I also apply for one for a divison out of the CEC. The check came with no letter and I have receive no emails or anything. I will somehow have to figure out which of the two it could be so that I spend the money for it's intended purposes. The other package was from the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund. I now know which prefecture I will be staying in once we divide into our groups of 20 from Tokyo. My host city and prfecture is Kiryu, Gunma Japan. I am still very excited about this trip. I think I will call my blog "Where in the World is Mrs. Leaptrott" It is something one of my paraprofessionals wrote down in our lesson plans for when I cover Japan. I like it. It is not very orginal but it will work for my students.

Quilt Square 3&4

2006-08-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Today in the mail I received square 3&4 for our daughters 100 wishes quilt. One from a dear lady at church. It is pink with the work love all over it and the other one is from Mike's parents with Snow White and their names airbrushed on it.

Quilt Square 3 and back to school

2006-08-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

I started back to work on Monday. Let me tell you gettin up early(between 5:30-6:00am) is for the birds. I have not minded being at work but I am extremely tired. I also receive quilt square 3 from one of my students and his parents. They haven't completed the wish card but they will eventually get it to me. I already have a full load of students. The new class that they created to help out with our numbers is not serving its purpose but that's o.k. I guess. I am just about ready for them to show up but ready or not come Friday morning they will be there.

Helen

2006-07-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

Went to Helen this weekend with a friend for a few days. Did a little hiking, shopping, looking for her a house and adopting a dog. I also took a few moments to take out my camera and took some photos. I really have missed using my "big" camera, my digtal rebel. I miss the feel of it. I have a few shots that I wished I had taken a little more time with because there are some washed out places because of all the white but I didn't really go for shooting, another day maybe.

Farewell to the Candy Man

2006-07-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today I attended the funeral of one of the greatest men I have ever known. Colonel William LeRoy Kinney died Sunday. This 94 year old man has live a long life showing others how to be Christ like. He has extended his heart to many, many people. He was like a grandfather to me. He and his first wife, Mrs. Ruthie used to baby sit me and my brother and then my other brother and sister after we adopted them. He came into my life when I was just a baby. He was known then as the “Candy Man” at church. He always had candy and hugs for us little ones and this never stopped even after I grew up and moved away. Every time I would visit Zion Baptist Church, I would go and see him and he always gave me a hug and a kiss along with a piece of candy. He even had candy at his funeral. This made everyone smile and cry. He was always willing to help those in need. He would take people to the doctors, pray for them, help out with finance, and call the department of family and children services to help others get on their feet. One lady at DFACS asked how he came to find so many people in need or how did they came to find him. A story was shared today about 2 men who showed (in the pouring rain and soaked to the bone) up after church services wanting a place to crash. The preacher asked him “What do you think?” and the Colonel said that “every man needed a dry bed to sleep in.” That night they put them up in the hotel next to the church. The men asked if they could repay them and they said if you like you can come tomorrow and stack chairs. These guys actually showed up. The Colonel stated that he could count of one hand the number of people who have paid him back. He would do this even if it cost him. Such as the time when the people he put up in the hotel stole everything from the room from towels to the T.V. He was a man who loved everyone regardless. He was an investor, not just in stocks and bond but in the lives of others. He would never take credit for the deeds he has done, but always gave credit to his father in heaven.

He also shared in the excitement of others and never forgot them. I had told him a while back that Mike and I were adopting from China and when I went to see him last month while he was very sick asked me about my China doll and when I was going to get her. I told him it would be a while. This is a man that I would have loved for my daughter to have met. I just hope that I can in some small way be able to exhibit the Character of Christ that this man has. Good bye, I love you and will miss you.

The photos was taken in January of 2006 with his 2nd wife Bobbie whom he has been married to for 10 years after the death of his first wife, Mrs. Ruthie Kinney.

WE'RE IN BEIJING!

2006-07-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

Or at least or paperwork is. I have tracked it from Atlanta, GA to Memphis, TN to Anchorage AK to Beijing China. What a trip!

So What!!!

2006-07-15T13:42:00.000-07:00

So What if I talk to Squirrels! I also take thier picture. See Peacefullness from Mike's blog for futher explanation.

We are DTC Finally!

2006-07-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

As of today (yesterday) July 14th, we are finally DTC (Dossier to China). Sorry I check my email at midnight. This has got to be one of the happiest moments yet. We can officially begin the countdown. As I said before wait time to referral is 13 months and then another month before we travel. Lets all pray that the time does not go up. I am attaching photos of the finished product.

Quilt Square 2

2006-07-14T13:09:00.000-07:00

After somewhat of a depressing week of still waiting on the final piece of paperwork before sending everything to China and logging on to the agency web site to see that waiting time to referral is now 13 months plus 1 month before receiveing our travel arrangement. The time continues to go up. Hopefully by the middle of next week we will finally be DTC (Dossier to China) and we can start counting. So something to make me smile came in the mail and it was the 2nd square to the quilt all the way from Charleston SC from Kate Heare. If you are interesting in participating please see the Need Help! from a previous post. Only need 98 more to go.

FIREWORKS!!!!

2006-07-05T12:33:00.001-07:00

Last night for the 4th we went downtown to River blast. We haven't gone to see fireworks in a while. It was a nice evening. I had a funnel cake and some cotton candy while Mike had some BBQ and beer. The fireworks were really nice but unlike what we heard about last year the music was not really there. We heard last year that the music was loud and seemed to be in rhythm with the fireworks. This year there must have been something wrong. We were very close to the truck and could not hear the music over the PA's. They sound system was working fine because we heard the announcements but that was it. We still enjoy the fireworks and relaxing under the sky trying to count stars before everything go started. I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July celebration.

Approval 2

2006-07-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

Well before the paperwork goes to China has to go to Atlanta to get authenticated first, this will take about 2 weeks then everything goes to China.

IT'S HERE!!!!

2006-06-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

Today we received our approval from Homeland Security! It took 6 weeks for this to arrive. I have faxed a copy to our agency. Hopefully on Wednesday (because of the holiday) our paperwork will be sent to China and we can officially begin the long wait for a referral. As of today the wait is 12 months. Hopefully it will not go up to much as some of the rumors that I have read have suggested. So in just a little over a year I will finally be a mother.

Birthday Blast!!!

2006-06-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

For my birthday this year, I got confined to quarters for 48 hours. As most of you know that I don't know how to be still for that long. Friday night I got a sore throat and did not feel good all weekend. I tried to go to prompt care on Sunday but my insurance doesn't cover them. So today I finally get to go to the doctor to find out I have strep throat. I have never had this before and pray that I never again will and will never wish this on anyone not even my enemies. I am sorry that I haven't post photos from our vacation yet but will try to do so tomorrow while I am sitting around. For those of you whom I have contaminated I do apologize. I did so without the knowledge of what I had. I do want to thank my sweet husband for bringing home birthday cookies and sorbet, and for fixing me a birthday punch. But I will not dwell on the bad. I am happy to be here among all of my friends. I love each and everyone of you.

Japanese Name

2006-06-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

I thought this was interesting because I am getting ready to go to Japan in November.

Your Japanese Name Is...

Moe Genji

What's your Japanese Name?

Lost Ankel

2006-06-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

Well as many of you know that I tend to be a little accident prone. I think I have an invisible red target on me that says "Hit Me!" I was playing ball on Tuesday night and a line drive caught me just above the left inside ankel. I have a bruise the size of Texas (or at least the size of a softball, maybe a little bigger.) My ankel is swollen but you should have seen it before the swelling went down. My leg looked deformed. It sort of hurts to walk. I have really bad timing because we are going to New York on Sunday and we will be doing a lot of walking. I also had an x-ray taken and should find out tomorrow if I have a hairline fracture. The doc said it just looked like a really bad hemotoma (a big bruise) but wanted to make sure there was no fracture. The only real treatment for it would be to stay off of it. ha ha.

A Sad Moment

2006-06-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

As most of you know by know that Mike and I are in the process of adopting a little girl from China. What most of you do not know is that on Thursday we were asked to become the adoptive parents are a young lady locally. It was a very exciting but confusing moment. It was what we originally wanted. Over the weekend I went to visit my parents and was doing a lot of thinking about having a newborn verses and toddler. I was having a hard time knowing which direction to take. I know deep in my heart I would not have been able to turn this baby down but I also didn't want to let the China dream go. I was trying to figure out also if we could do both but I know that would have been very difficult. Yesterday when I got home and went to my friend's house she had told me that the young lady had a miscarriage. It really bothered me, I didn't think that it should but it was like a part of me had been lost. I really had a hard time sleeping last night thinking about the baby and her mother. Below is a poem that I wrote as I was dealing with my fealings about both babies. I now know that I will go to China but am saddened at the thought of it knowing that this little life has been lost.

How do you make a decission so drast
One waiting child has now become two.
Which path to take- I do not know.
How can you leave either child who needs you too.
Oh! What to do? What to do.
One Child has been born in my heart and here comes number 2.
Oh! What to do? What to do?
How do you kow what is right?
When God has placed them both in your site.
Oh! God! Oh! God! Please tell me what's right
When both are so precious in our sight.
Oh! What to do? What to do?
Path number 1 or path number 2
Either path will leave one behind
Oh! What to do?

Immigration

2006-05-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

Today we had our fingerprints done at immigration. I will have to say it was the smoothest transaction that we have done to this date. We got there early, went in and was out in 20 minutes. So we are now one more step closer. We now wait upon approval from immigration and once we get it our Dossier (paperwork) will be sent to China

Quilt Square 1

2006-05-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

I received my first quit square today. It was from my class with all thier names on it.

Split Lip

2006-05-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of my busted lip that required 2 stiches. It's amazing how fast the body can heal. A little less that one week later you can barely tell what happened. I think that the stiches really did help because it closed up the gap in the lip and kept it from scabbing and scarring too much. This is a lovely self portrait I took at a red light on my way to the E.R.

BIG MOUTH

2006-05-12T16:18:00.000-07:00

This can be taken several ways. Most of you know that I am know for talking aka having a big mouth, but not everyone knows that I have recently aquired a physically big mouth. I'll attach photo later, It's at school on my classroom camera. Tuesday night warming up for the ball game I was tossing the ball with my team mates. I turn to say something to the girl on my right who just threw the ball, and then turned to prepare for the other girl to throw me the ball, little did I know that she had already done so, so when I turned it was there right on my face. Needless to say it busted my mouth. They asked if I was O.K. because I continued to hold my mouth and then looked down at my hand and it was covered with blood and they were saying "oh my gosh!" So, I missed the first couple of innings while I iced my mouth and waited for it to quit pouring blood. After the game I had Holly, my best friend who is an nurse look at it and she thought it needed a stich. I headed to promt care at 8:05 to find out that they closed at 8:00. I then headed to the E.R. at Doctor's and stayed there until about midnight. I ended up with 2 stiches in my lip.

On a brighter note, we got our appointment for our FBI fingerprints for next Friday, May 19th, the last day of school. I have had perfect attendance up to this point working on getting a bonus which I will now loose. I am o.k. with that because it puts us a little closer to getting our paper work into China. This process has had some unexpected delays due to life, It is still looking like we will get our daughter in June 2007.

Dossier and I 600A

2006-04-24T18:31:00.000-07:00

On Friday I mailed off our Dossier Packet (the paperwork that will eventually be sent to China) to our adoption agency to be authincated by the Great State of Georgia. Saturday, I sent in our first payment for the adoption and then mailed of our I 600A petition to (adopt an orphan) to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. So hopefully soon we will get our approval and get our second set of fingerprints done. I also want to thank all those who have already agreed to help in the "100 good wishes quilt" I know it will be very special becuase it will be from all of you, my friends and family.

WE'RE APPROVED!!!!!

2006-04-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

We are officially approved by our adoption agency to become adoptive parents as of yesterday. Sorry I didn't blog yesterday but I was busy finishing up some last minute paperwork for our adoption. We have our homestudy and follow up complete and can now send it to immigration. We are finally moving on to the next step. We still have a long way to go before we bring home our little girl but we are one step closer.

Before and After

2006-04-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before I am adding some pictures that I had taken on a previous trip to Biolxi and a few that were taken this week. The first one is of one of the casino's Treasure Island or Treasure bay prior to the hurricane. There are photos of it now in previous blogs. Notice how far the ship has been moved. The next 2 are of the Hurricane Camile Memorial and the following 3 are of the Church and bell tower.

more pics

2006-04-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

Need Help!

2006-04-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

O.K. your are probally thinking something is seriously wrong seeing how I have 2 posts within one day. But it's not that kind of help. I was thinking that I might do something for my little girl while I wait and this is where you come in. I have been reading a lot of blogs lately and there are a few traditions that are common in China. I have read about the "100 wishes quilt". I'm including some instructions that I copied from another blog.

Here's what you do:
Choose a 100% cotton fabric that you like. It can be from a fabric store, fabric you already have, or something that is special to you. (Why 100% cotton? Blends tend to be problematic - don't know why, that's just what the experts tell me.)
Prewash the fabric so it shrinks and is clean; then iron it so that it is straight enough for cutting.
Cut two squares of 100% cotton, washable fabric - use 8"x8"
Add your wish. The wish can be your own words and thoughts, a favorite poem or quote, or whatever. Place it on a 3" x 5" or a 4" x 6" card with a scrap of your fabric glued to the card. Your wish card can be as simple or as elaborate as you'd like. If you feel creative and want to decorate it, that's great too. Your wish can be deep and thought-provoking or something as simple and fun as a wish for a lifetime of great hair days. For those of you who are really into it, you can include a picture of yourself so she can see who sent her the wish.
"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." --An ancient Chinese belief

Robin, I would like to do it the way we did Kate's wedding quilt. What do you think. I'm am going to send a letter to other friend and family at a later date along with a few photos that I still have from Kate's.

I would also like for you to send in a photo of your self along with your wish card that way later I can make a scrap book for her to keep. Please do not use the name Katie at this time because we are not sure that is what we are going to name her. We are looking into finding a name that sound a little more Chinese maybe like Kim Lee or something. Lee is also a family name (Mike's side)

for the few friends who read this please comment and let me know what you think about helping me do a quilt. It's something that we have right about a year to accomplish. Do you think we can do it Robin. Later I'll post a few of the pictures from Kate's quilt.

CHOCOLATE HEAVEN

2006-04-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

Can you say, "I've died and gone to heaven" that is Chocolate heaven. I have to say that I haven't had a lot to do while here in Biloxi but I have eaten very good. All the meals but one we have eaten here at our hotel the one at the other Casino was also good and for dessert they had Mississippi Mud like my grandmother use to make. She made it for me on my 16th birthday. But back here at the hotel for lunch yesterday and today and then for dinner we ate the buffet. Lots of vegetables, shrimp, and tonight crab legs and sushi. All so good. For dessert they have fresh pineapple, grapes, strawberries, honeydew, and cantaloupe and 2 chocolate fountains (white chocolate and chocolate) I dizzled (A LOT) of both types of chocolate unto the fruit. Yummy!!! It's so good and I'm sooooo full. I am hoping that tomorrow we'll eat here one last time and I'll eat one more time in Chocolate Heaven. I told Mike that when I die and go to heaven I will have this in heaven but it gets better because I'll be able to eat ALL I want and not get sick or fat. I am also showing a few more photos that I took while here. Maybe some of us can come back and help out at a later date. The destruction is everywhere.

P.S. Did I mention that Mike's fingerprints came in yesterday and that our homestudy is ready to pick up. Oh well, I'll have to wait until Monday. We now can finally have our follow up which is suspose to be done rather quickly and then we can finally send it off to imigration requesting to bring an orphaned child into the county and then it all goes to China. YEAH!!!

SHIPPED WRECKED

2006-04-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well we made good time getting here to Biloxi. We drove along the coast because we could not check in until 4pm which ended up being more like 5 pm. It was unbelievable the destruction that remains after Hurricane Katrina. We I was going to do the "SPA" thing, only after retracing my steps about 5 times did I ask where it was only to find out that it left with Katrina. So now, Mike is playing poker and I sit here typing this blog. Tomorrow I am heading out to the beach and to take some more photos. The photos I took today are "drive by's" window rolled down camera snapping so they are not my best work but it is enough to see the destruction. We stopped by the casino that was the pirate ship and it was gutted along with the rest of the casino. The ship part used to be somewhat behind the main building so it was slightly up rooted. When I get home I'll locate some of the pictures I took the last time we were here so that you can see before and after.

The prints are in the mail

2006-03-31T20:31:00.000-08:00

Well today our homestudy caseworker called and said that Mike's fingerprints are in the mail. That means that they will probally arrive tomorrow or early next week, then we will get our final copy of our homestudy. Then we will have one more homestudy followup conducted by our adoption agency Hope for Children. As soon as that is completed we can finally send our request to bring an orphan child into the country. After about another month we will finally be able to send in our paperwork to China. Then we wait, and wait. After about 10 months we will get a referal (a picture and health description of a child that has been matched to us) once we accept and say that we accept this child we wait another 6-8 weeks before we can travel to China. So, after talking to my caseworker we figure it will be May or June 2007 before we can go and get our little girl. In the mean time I will go to Japan and put my energies into the follow up work I have to do for that (teaching, lesson plans, presentations to the communities etc.)

Watch out Japan Here I Come!!!

2006-03-23T14:40:00.000-08:00

Well as some of you know, I applied for the Japanese Fulbrite Memorial Scholarship Fund. back at the beginning of the school year. I WON!!! I will travel for 3 weeks in November to Japan where I will travel across the country visiting different schools and learning about their history and culture. It is all expense paid except for little things. I had to write a paper talking about me, how I plan to present this when I get back and my reasons for wanting to paticipate. I did it last year and was an alternate but this year I am a WINNER!!!

Need a tissue

2006-03-20T14:31:00.000-08:00

I found this online today. It was not meant to be watched by myself but I did and I did cry.

Dailymotion blogged video
Adoption1
Video sent by ludo

AN ACT OF LOVE

2006-03-14T18:15:00.000-08:00

They say "How can you do such a thing
as to leave your child on the street"

but this is what I see...
I see an act of love

You loved this child that you could not kill
you left this child for others to find

so that she could find love
in this heart of mine.

Friends

2006-03-11T19:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight for dinner we had some friends over to cook out on the grill, (hamburgers, hotdogs,and a veggie burger). This is something we haven't done in a while but I really miss it. We just sit, hang out of the deck, watch a little Sponge Bob (for the little ones) and do a lot of talking and laughing. Now that the nice weather is coming back this is something we'll have to do a little more often.

Two Second High

2006-03-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I called our case worker today and she asked me if I had any questions for her and I said yes," about the fingerprints". She said there in and I said "YES!!!!!" Then she said "only yours Mikes were illegible. He has to do them again." (We've waited over 2 months for them to arrive and I didn't want to wait 2 more) What a let down. This continues to hold us up to move on to the next leg of our journey. However, she did find out that she can have them expidited. Yeah! so we have to wait a little longer but not as long as I imagined. It's hard to believe that I will one day be the mother of an adorable baby girl! Most of you have been asking what are we planning to name her. Well at the moment and for the last several months she has been come to known as "Katie Hope" short for Katherine, but of course that could all change when we see her picture for the first time.

waiting arrival of fingerprints

2006-03-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

Well we have finished our home study it is about 99% finished except for the statement about our fingerprints which have yet to arrive. Once they arrive we'll have our homestudy notarized, a short follow up from our agency and then sent to our adoption agency and immigration requesting permission/approval to bring in an orphan child into the country. Once we receive their approval our papers will be sent to China(all of which are sitting and waiting on the finalized homestudy) then we wait some more, the waiting time is now up to 10 months instead of 8. About the trip to Atlanta, it went fine, not as detailed as I wished the training was but it was still informative. In the mean time I'll wait, and Robin and I will talk "PINK" , we'll go shopping at the Jr. League of Augusta HUGE yardsale this Saturday and She and I along with Rita and others will have a blast. Robin and I are also both registered with Tot Trade to go to their HUGE consignment sale in Columbia at the end of the month.

Preparing for the Internationally Adopted Child

2006-02-20T15:49:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we will travel to Atlanta to a meeting on Preparing for the Internationally Adopted Child. It will be a long day. Immediately after a long day of work with will go through rush hour traffic to get to the area of I-85 and 2-85 near the Perimeter Mall. The meeting last until 9:00 and then we will travel back home only to get to bed by midnight if I'm lucky. Oh well it's worth it. I think this adoption thing is going to take a little longer than we first expected, Mike's a little more ok with that than I am. I guess it will be nice to almost finish up the next school year and then take a "Maternity Leave" seeing how I have over 70+ days built up for that purpose and then have the summer off and possibly not go back and be a stay at home mom.

A Bear and Roses

2006-02-15T17:49:00.000-08:00

Yester day was Valentine's day. I have to say that I had a great one. The kids at school were great and then Mike came home with roses. We had a great dinner (rice, sushi, crab dip, squash stir fry, and salmon). I receive candy, candles and a teddy bear from my students.

Father/Daughter Dance

2006-02-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Last night was the Vineyard's annual Father/Daughter Dance. I was the offical photographer and I took lots of pictures. I also invited my father. It was a night of fun, good food, laughter and dancing.

I PASSED

2006-02-10T19:06:00.000-08:00

Yeah!!! I passed my praxis test. So now after 4 years of college and 13 years of experience I am "HIGHLY QUALIFIED!" Or should I say I am highly qualified for now until they change the rules again. That's ok. I am very satisified with my scores.

Tonight I took photos at my school dance. I painted my own background. It was fun. It was splattered painted with pink, purple, red and white. I think it looked really nice when the kids stood in front of it. I will be taking photos again tomorrow at the Vineyard's annual "Father/Daughter Dance" but I will also be dancing with my father. This is always fun. Maybe again this year I'll dance on his feet like I did when I was a little girl. The last time I did this at the dance by the end of the night all of the little girls were dancing on thier father's feet. I'll let you know more about this after the dance.

Home visit complete!

2006-02-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

Well we just completed our in house visit of our home study. Our case worker met with Mike and I together, toured our home, and asked lots of questions. We were questioned on our marriage, how we handle conflict, how we will deal with discipline, how we will handle telling/teaching our child about adoption,what kind of child do we want(healthy, with or without disabilities, etc.), how we will handle loss in adoption, what values do we want to instill in our child and many more. I think things went well. It is kind of neat to really sit down with your spouse and discuss these things. We will get a copy of the report in about a month and then we will send it to immigration, and to our adoption agency to get approval. I have to admit I was a little nervous and had lots of nervous energy and was very hungry we it was all over, so we went to SAN JOSE to eat (my favorite!!) Will update you more as things progress.

Tired Puppy

2006-01-29T18:27:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you that I am one tired puppy. I have been cleaning my house for 2 days straight not to mention on MLK holiday I spent the entire day scrubbing baseboards and floors. My house is about spotless. That is not really the point of the homestudy but it was a really good motivator to do things that do not usually get done. The main purpose is to make sure the house is safe for a child to be raised in, sure they want it somewhat clean. Clean but lived in. They understand that things will not be purfect. I love the way my house looks when it is really clean but I have a really hard time doing that considered I could place first in a "Miss Messy USA" contest. It's not so much that I am a slob but that I am a packrat. I have things that I don't ever throw away because someone special gave it too me. My friend Holly had to help me do a little throwing away. The In-home homestudy is Thursday. One step closer and many more to go.

2nd Visit of Home Study

2006-01-14T18:11:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, I had the second visit to our home study. This was my interview with the caseworker alone. I had to talk mostly about my childhood. I have to admit that I had a really good childhood. I have good memories but I have had family issues also. The visit wasn't so bad once I got relaxed and talking. Mike has his visit next and then we have one together. We still have a long way in this process but time will pass before we know it.

Test

2006-01-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

Well, I just got through taking the Praxis. I had to take this test so that I can become a "HIGHLY QUALIFIED" teacher. Don't worry about the fact that I have 13 years of experience plus a college degree and I teach students with moderate intellectual disabilities (an IQ of 55 or below) I have to be qualified to teach math, social studies, science, and language arts, even tough I don't really teach these skills I teach basic life skill. I do teach some reading but it's mostly functional words and signs. In math I teach my students how to count, tell time and count basic money. That's ok. I'll do what I have to so that I can keep my job. I'll let you know in 4 weeks how I did.

Kids with Cameras

2005-12-31T18:16:00.000-08:00

I just watch a documentary called Born into Brothels. It was very sad but somewhat inspiring. A photographer named Zana Briski went into the Red light districts of Calcutta Indian. Originally she was studying the women but eventually fell in love with their kids. She stated a photography class where she gave each kid a camera where they could photograph their lives. She also worked to get some of these kids into schools which was very difficult because their parents were criminals. She wanted to do what she could to keep them from following the footsteps of their parents. Most of the girls born in the brothels usually become prostitutes. The kids did a really GREAT job with their photographs. http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/kidsgallery/ She and others have now started this same type of project in other areas around the world. I was relieved to see that several years later some of the kids are still in the boarding schools looking forward to a brighter future. I was also sadden that some dropped out or were taken out by their parents only to go back to a future with out hope. I would recommend watching this movie but make sure you have some klenex.

Time Flies and Dreams Come Alive

2005-12-30T07:04:00.000-08:00

You close your eyes and go to sleep
you already dream of a day when we will meet
but who knows how time will fly
when one day...

With eyes so dark you lift your face
to see a smile upon my face

With joy so deep
You wonder how time can fly
That you opened your eyes
to see your dream come alive

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RITA PITA!!!!!

2005-12-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

May it be the best yet!!!

Fingerprints

2005-12-27T07:06:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday, we went and got our fingerprints at the jail. It is a pretty neat system. They do not use ink but a computer. I will now mail them to the GBI to have them read and make sure we are not criminals. We drove to appling to get them done and to have a local background check also. The local office where we have to get a letter from the police department saying that we have no local crimes. The office was closed so we get to go back to Appling to do this and both of us has to be present. You can only request your own so I can't going looking into other people's business not even my husband. I guess that is good to know that I am at least secure there. After all this is said and done we will eventually have to go to Atlanta to get fingerprinted by the FBI, but all this work is worth it because it means that one day I will be a mother.

Merry Christmas

2005-12-25T17:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all my favorite bloggers. I hope that your holidays were great!

Dear Birth Mother

2005-12-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

I wrote this poem when we knew that we were going to adopt but didn't know where. It is written for the birth mother.

Greatest Gift Of Love

What Joy-What Sorrow happened on that day
When the Gift of Love is bestowed

The Joy you give as you hand over your child
The Greatest Gift of Love you gave us that day

The sorrow that comes with such a sacrifice is hard to ease
on that day you gave your child to me

The day you decided to give this precious child
more than what you could provide

The gift you have given me is
The Greatest Gift of Love

My prayer for you is that your sorrow will one day return to Joy
because of the Greatest Gift of Love that you gave to me

You will always be a part of that Joy
when I reflect upon that precious day

I will remember the sacrifice it took
and will lift you up to the one who
Gave us all the
Greatest Gift of Love

Sonogram

2005-12-20T18:01:00.000-08:00

The child we will adopt is already in the womb and will probally be born sometime soon with in the next couple of months, that's CRAZY! It's our first sonogram! :) I found this on several other blogs from people adopting from China. I do pray for my child often just as any mother who is expecting except would. I also pray for her biological mother and family.

Sardines

2005-12-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

OK. The aquarium was nice but very much over crowded. We waited in line with prepaid tickets for an hour while those who did not have prepaid tickets waited about 25 minutes. I felt like I was in a can of Sardines. Every line was a mass of people. It is not something I would advise doing until some of the newness wears off. Mike was a little stressed with the crowd but I had him beat. I had somewhat of an anxiety attack so he went and bought me a little bottle of wine which helped calmed my nerves. I took a few pictures but we were not allowed to use flash in most place so they are not that good. I only had my small camera so I could not adjust the settings. That anxiety attack was not so bad as the one at the mall. I had to leave the building. There were people everywhere and I am usually great with navigation issues but felt like I was going in circles and there was no way out so the first exit I saw I left. Our trip was very nice. We left Augusta around 5 on Friday went out to eat at "Up A Creek", it was pretty good. On Saturday, we walked Lennox Mall, went to Phillips Plaza which is about the size of Augusta Mall. All the shops in the two places were very high dollar stores, all of your name brand places. But at Phillips plaza is were we saw KING KONG, what an awesome movie. We then later ate dinner at a very nice restaurant. The people next to us were a lot of fun they were somewhat of an older couple and the lady's sister. They were enjoying life, and we were enjoying it with them. The next day is when we took Marta to the aquarium, we waited an hour to go about 15 miles down the street. We missed the first train, and waited about 30 minutes on the next one only to go to the very next station to get off because that train was going to be serviced where we again waited for another 30 minutes on the train that was "right behind it" We walked centennial Park and went to the CNN building. The ride home was much better. We rode marta to Lennox mall and then walked back to Phillips Plaza to see the movie "memoirs of a geisha" That was also a very good movie. It when along with our lunch of sushi and Chinese food. Today we stopped at the Carter Center, and took a look at history. It was pretty cool.

OK I am going to post my first poem, it is not about adoption but its is one I wrote just before our decision to adopt and is dedicated to all the girls that I have worked with and they know who they are. It is called "Mother of None, Many Daughters"

I am a mother of none
but yet I have many daughters.

We talk-We laugh-We cry and play
and they tell me about their day.

but when the day is done
they go home to their mothers
and I to a childless home.

I love these daughters of mine
there door is always opened to my heart

I'm happy to be there
to share their lives and
would not have it any other way

Even tough one day they move on about their lives
they will never completely go away
They are a treasure in my heart

One day I'll be a mother to a child of my own and
forever will be grateful for
there lessons they have taught me

For God has put them there and used them to make me
into the best mother that I can be.

For these daughters
have brought Joy in my childless days.

Update

2005-12-15T17:26:00.000-08:00

I know that my friends must think that I never blog or when is she going to blog. I have thought about it but never seen to take the time to sit. As most of you know that Mike and I have been considering adoption. Well we have started the process. We have turned in our application and begun our "Home Study". That's just the beginning. For our home study we have to write an autobiography. This is probably the hardest part for me because I am not a big fan of writing. We will also have to have a physical, be fingerprinted locally and by the FBI. After the entire process is over there will be NO SECRETs about us. I am very excited despite all of the paper work.

Rita wants me to blog some of my poems I've been writing. As I said before I am not a great writer. Maybe one day I'll share them with you.

Christmas is almost hear a time of Holiday Cheer. I look forward to spending time with my family. Just think hopefully this time next year I will have a new addition to the family. I am going to attach some pictures of my family including one of a baby boy that we considered adopting. He is my brother-in-laws step daughter's son. She decided that it would be too difficult to let us adopt him because we were family and she would see and here him call us "mommy" and "daddy". He is cute. Hopefully we will still be able to impact his life in some way.

Tomorrow is our (Mine and Mike's) 16th anniversary. That puts us together for 19 years because we dated for 3 years. We will be heading to Atlanta for some time together. We will go out to eat somewhere nice and then we are going to the new Georgia Aquarium. I'm excited about that. I'll post pictures of that on a later date.

TTFN(ta ta for now as Tigger would say)

Adoption

2005-11-07T17:59:00.000-08:00

Today Mike and I went to an informational meeting on international adoption. It all sounds very exciting but it also sounds very scary. We have talked about going to China to adopt a little girl. After you go through a mountain of paperwork and then get your referral for a child you eventually travel to a foreign country. About 1-2 days after your arrival you get your child. The scary thought is being a first time parent in a foreign county for 2 weeks. I know that once you get there you probably do not think about any of that and you just think about your new child and enjoying your time there.

Friends Make Good Things Even Better

2005-11-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went to the renaissance Faire with my friends Robin, Rita, Elizabeth and baby Romand. I always enjoy going to the Faire but it is so much better with friends. We drove up on Friday night to Charlotte N.C. and what a trip it was. By the time we got there we were tired and silly. The next morning we got up got dressed (in costume) and went to the Faire. We were there 7 hours and it only seemed like a few. It was a beautiful day. We walked around, ate, and watched a few shows. The belly dancers were great. The weather was perfect. Things continued to get better. The trip home was fun. We talked about everything and then played word games on the return trip. We laugh a lot. They always say "Laughter is the best medicine." That was all we needed. There were no need for alcohol because we laughed ourselves drunk. Fun things are always better with friends. I do believe life is about relationships. Investing in people is a good way to ensure a happy life. I am very thankful for my friends.

Sorry Dottie, Wish you were here. We will have a girls night when you return.

San Francisco

2005-10-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

October 22-27 we took a vacation to San Francisco California. It was a really great time. Thank God the flights were not miserable like the last time. The first full day of fun was going to Napa Valley doing wine tasting. What fun that was. We stopped to eat and I had the best portabella mushroom burger I have ever sank my teeth into. After eating we decided to ditch our plan due to non stop traffic and went to an off street and try the vineyards there. We went to Mumm Vineyard where they make champagne and they had an Ansel Adams photo exhibit. It was awesome.
The next day was spent cheering the Oakland Raiders to victory.
Day 3 we packed up and headed to our hotel at Fisherman's Warf. On the way we stopped off at Cafe gratitude a raw vegan restaurant. The food was really good and so was the atmosphere. The food was great. Mike said his soup tasted like grass. However he did enjoy the place and even said that if I could prepare food like that he could possible eat this way. The flavors were good. The vegan cheesecake was the best. All of the food had name like "I am joyful" "I am cheerful" and when they served it to you they would say "you are joyful" after eating you felt good. Later that day we went to fisherman's warf and then to Japan town.
Day 4 was more time at fisherman's warf and China town where I love to shop. They have all kinds of cool things. Later that day we took a boat tour out to Golden Gate Bridge and around alcatraz
Day 5 was spent in airports and getting home so that I could go to work the next day.

Girls Night

2005-10-16T10:27:00.000-07:00

Last night, I went over to a friends house for "Girls Night". What great fun it was. It is defiantly something that I would do again. It was a night of fun and laughter. It was like being a kid again. We had dinner, cheap wine, a chick flick, and chocolate cake. It was really fun just being with friends, leaving the guy behind and watching a movie without the manly comments on how cheesy the movie is. Thanks Robin and Rita!

Change

2005-10-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Is change always a good thing? Why are there certain stipulations that we must dress a certain way or act a certain way in order to pursue certain jobs, other activities or even Christ. Why does the church say that you have to dress a certain way in order to be a good Christian. What makes a good Christian? His Clothes or His Heart? I understand and believe that change happens when we become followers of Christ but I believe it is in His timing not ours or someone else. Sometimes Christ may ask us to change our dress because it reflects our hearts but I believe the heart must come first. He may also ask us to change other things in our lives. There are times when I want to go back to my old way of thinking and say "you have got to act, dress and think this way in order to be a good Christian" because it is easier. There is another problem with that is that I truly believe that those who think that way have not examined their hearts the way they should. If they did they would realize that Jesus loves us just the way we are. He doesn't care about how we dress. He just wants us to follow after him and find a life of freedom and fulfillment in him. They would also realize that they are the ones who may need the changing. There are some awesome lovers of Christ out there and they do not all dress in suits and ties or nice dress casual and I think that is awesome. They are out there reaching others that these people are not going to reach because they dress a certain way.

People

2005-09-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

O.K. Rita I'm posting

It's been crazy over the last few weeks. Lots of kids at school, not enough sleep etc.

I am so grateful to God for changes in my life. I look back to when I got out of high school and remember who I thought I would become. I also knew what type of people who would be in my life. I am so glad I was wrong. I used to judge people because they didn't act, think or look like me. Boy was I wrong. When we started going to the Vineyard many moons ago, I realized that people who didn't act, think or look like me were really cool. I assumed by the way they look that there was no way that they could be Christians. Again I was wrong. Some of these people are some of the coolest people I know. They love God and they love those around them. After going to the Vineyard for a while we then went downtown to help plant the vineyard there and that was a very rewarding time in my life. I continued to meet people who I would not have chosen in the past to hang out with. I believe that these people probally love God and are more spiritual than the ones I would have chosen. I have learned many things from these people. I have learn true community. I have learned to be me reguardless of how I feel. If I feel like crap then I am free to tell them and not hind behind a fake smile. I am free to live life. I am free to love God with all I have have.

Up and Running

2005-08-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I have gotten through the first week of school. I am very tired and a little stressed. I am feeling a little overwhelmed. I have a total of 12 students one with a wheelchair and requires lifting. The kids are really great and I believe that it is going to be a great year if I can just get past the getting going phase.

Searching for Lost Treasure

2005-07-26T17:13:00.000-07:00

Today I went to the lake with Ira and Danielle. We had lots of fun except for the biting fish. The geese were lots of fun especially watching Danielle chase them and all of us feeding and honking at them. They squeak when they are content and hiss at you when they are mad. Well today we were doing flips in the water and my favorite sunglasses fell off and I couldn't find them. We spent 20 minutes looking for them. It was very difficult because even tough the water was faily clear it is hard to see when you are almost over your head and your feet are stirring up the dirt.
While looking we found sticks, a cell phone and eventually my glasses. We were curious to know if someone got mad and tossed the phone in the lake or if they just forgot they had it on their person and walked in the water. I always enjoy hanging out with the girls. They will keep you young.

Nothing Accomplished

2005-07-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

Do you ever watch time go by and get nothing accomplished. I would have to say that I am the biggest procrastinator in the world. I have 2 months off in the summer and only a few goals around the house but somehow never manage to get around to it. I now only have 2 full days remaining of my summer vacation and still haven't cleaned out the closets, cleaned up the junk room etc. Sometimes I get on my own nerves and get frustrated with myself. I just don't know how to get started. I just wander in circles going from room to room or task to task. Mike tells me just organize myself and do one thing at a time but I DO NOT Know how to do that either. He and other organized people just don't understand that my brain just doesn't work that way regardless of how hard I try. Now it's time to focus and get onto the task of school. I know the first day my teacher assistant will ask me if I have been taking my ADD supplements because I will have a ton of work to do and will manage to do circles around my classroom for the first 2 hours accomplish nothing.

It's About That Time

2005-07-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

It is about that time to return to work. I have to go to work on July 28th and the students return on August 3rd. I am not ready to return. I will be happy to see my students but I need a vacation. Summer was just too short and it is VERY WRONG to return to school in July. I have been very busy. I started off the summer shooting a wedding at the beach and it was lots of fun. I then had Thyroid surgery. While recovering from that I went to a conference for Assistive Technology(work related stuff). Upon returning I washed my clothes and then went on a vacation with Mike. We went to Gulfport Mississippi and then took a day trip to New Orleans. It was relaxing. After that I went to Miami on a mission trip (mentioned in previous blog) and now I have been enjoying the rest of my summer. I have hung out with some of the girls in the youth group, been shopping and that's about it. I am mentally not ready to return. I know once I get into the swing of things it will be ok and I'll enjoy it again. Pictured above is my team (Team Jamaica) from Mission Miami '05 and the sunshine yellow house we painted. They were a great team.

Mission Miami '05

2005-07-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Wow! I just go back from Miami with 12 of our youth. It was a long week. We served all over Miami through various agencies. I enjoyed the hard work but the most challenging thing for me was to drive everyday through the city. I drove 12+ hours to get there and then had to drive every day. It is not like it is around here if you miss your turn you just go to the next exit. Every exit was a new interchange another major expressway. Needless to say I got lost several times but somehow managed to find my way again. I had one of my youth on my team (Tim Barret) to become the navigator because there is no way you can read a map and drive in Miami traffic at the same time. It's kind of like our spiritual walk. We have a navigator in Christ with out him we will get lost in this adventure we call life, but it we turn to him and follow his way we will be found. There was one day that I was so tired, had a head ache, and could not think straight, I even got lost on the route that we traveled everyday and I knew the way. everything began to look the same. That day I was falling asleep standing up. Todd the director prayed for me that night for energy and the next day I felt so refreshed despite the little sleep we were getting every day. The verse in the Bible where it says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" became very real to me because I could not have done it any other way. I told Alan our youth minister that I DID NOT want to drive in traffic. He didn't even know that we were going to have to do so every day.
I am excited about the fire that was started in our youth. The theme of the camp was Catalyst. I think it did just that, it stirred up in them a desire to serve others and they are looking to see what type of things we can do to serve here in Augusta.

Screw Ups

2005-06-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

You know what I hate most in life is when you screw up and somebody holds it against you and doesn't really see you for who you really have become or the good things you have done or the improvements you've made. All they really see is the ugliness of that one moment it is as if it erases everything good and keep you from your dreams in life.

Jack in the Box

2005-05-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

I feel like a "Jack in the Box" It is like someone turned the handle and made me pop my top. A good thing. I feel like Jack who has been confined to a box for 4 months. I have been limited it everything I do. Just about 2 weeks ago I begin to sleep and my hyper personality is back. Today I got in the car with my friends and I don't think I stopped talking for 10 solid minutes. I finally realized it and apologized. They commented that they could tell I had my old self back because I was no loner grumpy. It feels good to be me.
Today my class had our Cafe for a grant I won. It went great. My kids waited on tables, bussed the tables, cooked the food and what ever else was needed. They were so cute and we were so tired and hungry when we finished. I feel like vacation time is here (of course it is only 3 more days of school with the kids) and finishing the cafe was the final release of all my tension.

Sleep or the lack thereof

2005-05-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

Sleep is an amazing thing. You do not realize what it does for you until you go without. For the last month or two, I haven't sleep good. I have taken pain medicine, muscle relaxers and the occasional sleep medication all to no avail. The pain just kept waking me up. Finally on Thursday night I only got up once and then went right back to sleep. Friday morning I felt like a new woman. I had patients, and enjoy being at work. I love my job and this lack of sleep has kept me from enjoying one of the things I love most, My Students. I have not had a lot of patients and have not taken the time to see God in them and to enjoy the little victories in life. So on Friday, I just sat and enjoyed them. I laughed with them again, sat on the floor and played with them. Friday night I slept for the first time without medication. 2 good nights that I am very thankful for. Last night I wasn't as lucky, but it was not too bad. I am hoping that I am over the hump and can see a little light at the end of the tunnel. I have 2 weeks left of school with my kids and I want to enjoy every moment I can and will try not to let the lack of sleep creep into my attitude.

19 and counting

2005-04-25T15:37:00.000-07:00

Wow! Only 19 more days of school remaining, it's been a crzy year. I can't believe we are almost finished. Up to my surgery I haven't been stressed out too much. Once I returned from surgery and spring break all I've done is to think about, write and hold IEP meetings. I'm finished!! I have 2 small meetings to conduct and a little more paperwork. I miss my kids, even though I've been there. Now I have a cafe to get ready for. I received a grant of $500 from the Jr. league of Augusta. Now we have to prepare. It's going to a lot of work but it will be worth it. I think the kids will enjoy it. I know there is not much thinking or anything deep in this blog(not that I go to deep anyway) but that's ok.

From Pity Party to Party

2005-04-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was having my self a little pity party. I was told by the doctor on Wednesday that I had 3 weeks to get my leg straight or I would have to have a third surgery. I have made good progress on getting it to bend but have been struggling to get it straight. I had a wedding to do (take photos) but was feeling a little nervous about it, not to mention that my stomach was bothering me and I was very nauseous.
I got ready for the wedding and went. We got a late start with the photos but that did not stress me out too bad. I was happy for the bride and groom, they were both in the youth group when I worked with the youth my first time around at the Augusta Vineyard. Once the wedding go going I started feeling better, my stomach finally stopped bothering me. I had a great time at the wedding. It was like a big party. So I went from a pity party to a PARTY that celebrated something beautiful.
It made me do a little self evaluation, and possibly an evaluation of others. If we dwell on our problems we will continue to get wrapped up in a pity party to the point of depression. I believe the best way to avoid that is to serve others. If we put others before ourselves then we have no time to feel sorry for ourselves and think about our problems, but if we serve others then we can find that we will get to be a part of something beautiful.
The wedding was beautiful despite all of the wind. I had a great time celebrating this union. I was surrounded by people full of love and joy. I even danced a little.

Milestones

2005-04-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last week on Thursday March 31, I was able to ride the bike backwards. In PT land I had to cheat by raising my hip and it was only one petal back and then awkwardly I would do it again. This week I worked on it some more trying to go forward which is more difficult to do. Well today at the gym my knee went forward and kept going fairly smoothly. I was as giddy as a school girl. The first thing I did was to call Mike. To me this was a small miracle. I have lots of pain at night and was told it would be summer before I was back to normal. What a long wait. Each little milestone gives me more and more hope and the courage to keep working hard.

Freedom

2005-04-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple of months I have been fighting depression with this whole knee thing. The knee is on the mend (slowly but surely). I was a little irritated at God because I felt like He did not fulfill his promise. A little over a week ago I was having a discussion on where we were spiritual. When it came my time to speak I spoke my mind. How I was on a spiritual high since the day of the accident, up to the first of February but now I was in a low. The next day after telling my friends how I was a little irritated I decided to pick up my Bible and read a little. I was actually reading the beatitudes from Matthew but it was in the message version and it spoke volumes to me. Several verses just seemed to really touch me. "You're blesses when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you these is more of God and his rule. You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you....Matthew 5:3-4. I was thinking my knee is not most dear to me what's up with that? Then later thinking it's not my knee it's me, it's my personality. The bouncy Tigger Veronica was gone. I could not just get up and go. I was dependent on others. I could not sit Indian style on the floor with my kids, couldn't crawl and chase the cat in our little game we always played or do other things that I loved to do. Being able to do those things is most dear to me. I love being able to just be my typical ADHD self and it was gone. The other verse that stood out to me was Matthew 5:7 "you're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourself cared for. I have receive so many blessing from others taking care of me, especially from Mike. He has been my "in home therapist". Let me tell you he's tough but tough in love. I have enjoyed looking into his eyes and seeing the love reflected back even tough he's causing me pain. I have been able to continue and grow in relationship with others. I was being cared for by everyone I met, rather it was someone opening the door, picking up my keys when I dropped them in the store, pushing out my groceries (something I always do), to just having conversation with people I didn't know. SO! Maybe I have received my healing but just in a different form than I was thinking. I have been blessed by this accident (who would have guessed). I have received my freedom. I no longer am fighting depression, I have found ways to overcome the challenges and still be ME! There is a freedom it that. A freedom that only comes from God.
My determination to reach a goal has never been stronger. I have been challenged to work harder on something than I ever had before. Now lets see what God has in store for the future.

On the road to recovery

2005-03-18T15:53:00.000-08:00

Well the proceedure today was WAY WAY worse than the invasive surgery. I woke up in extreme pain. After morphine and a few other drugs I felt better. I also have a nerve block in my leg. For the first time in2 months my leg is straight. but it will pop up if taken our of the splint. It is a weird feel to wiggle your toes or touch your leg and not be able to feel it. They said to expect a lot of pain tonight so make sure I take the pain killers. I am ready to be completely healed.

I talked to my pricipal and teacher assistance today and they said that special olympics was good. I am glad that it was. God provided good weather and fun for the kids.

The Adventure Continues.....

2005-03-17T20:06:00.000-08:00

Well so far I've made no progress after 3 weeks of PT. I've actually lost even more of my range of motion. I went to the doctor to see what's up. Because my knee was in the lock position for so long it decided it wanted to stay there. What fun! It's been 2 months since the accident. I now have to go back to surgery for a technique call Knee Manipulation. Here they will put me under and then manipulate my knee to make it bend and straighten. In other words they are going to force it to do something it refuses to do. This procedure will be more painful than the orginal surgery. I was told I will hurt like hell for 2 weeks and will under INTENSIVE physical therapy as if what I was already doing wasn't intensive enough. The last surgery I was at such peace about the whole thing, not so with this one. I have had lots of prayer and really appreciate all who have helped me, either by praying, waiting on me, taking me places, or lending a shoulder to cry on. Tomorrow is special olympics, and in my 12 years of teaching it will be the first one I've ever missed. I am totally bummed about that. I look forward to encouraging my kids on the one day that is set aside just for them to shine. It is always fun. I love my students and hate that I will miss it. I will be glad to get back to normal tough so that I will be able to give them 100% that they deserve. I have only been back for 1 week of full time days to turn around and miss a few more. I have left them in great hands and will pray that tomorrow will be a glorious day for them. Going to go now and eat my last bite of food before midnight.

PAIN

2005-03-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

Well today Physical Therapy took on a whole new meaning. I know call it pain and tourcher or physical tourcher. My therapist, decided that my leg and hip needed a massage because my leg was more bent than it was the last session. He asked me what was up and I said "you tell me , your the therapist".. Ah! massage Right, OH NO, that was probally the most painful thing I have experienced. But worth it right, yes if it will help my leg get straight. We I thought the worst was over, did a few more strenghtening excersizes and then we were going to stretch it, no so bad the last session, a litttle pain but not much. Well guess again. He is pulling and tugging and then he ask one of the other therapist to come over. I winced and said PLEASE tell me that the 2 of you will not be pulling on my leg at the same time. Well guess what, THEY DID! HE is pulling and tugging and she is poking and pushing my knee downward. What fun that was, I literaly came off of the table and it took my breath away but hopefully it will be one step closer to having my leg back to normal.

On our walk with Christ, we all have our time in the desert. These times are usually accompanied by pain and hard lessons but the one thing we know about the times when we feel like we are so far away from our source of hope, that these times of struggle and pain only draw us closer to our Goal of walking close to God again. So I have to keep positive and believe that I get one step closer to my goal of walking normally again.

The Babysitter

2005-02-24T06:18:00.000-08:00

Well after the fall comes the surgery and then the recovery. On Tuesday the 22nd of February I underwent surgery on my knee to repair what I had done while having a blast. The day of the surgery I was as calm and peaceful as a cucumber. I had a peace within me that could have come only from one source and that is the Holy Spirit. On the first Sunday of this month we had communion at church and Reese told us to come to the table hungry. As I sat there praying I told God that I was HUNGRY! and then I felt His Spirit say that when I came to the table I would receive healing. So I went with expectations, after receiving communion Reese asked if he could pray for me and I said yes thinking "This is it!" Reese and Mary Margaret then prayed for me while we were in line and of course holding up the line and I was excited. I went back to my seat wanting to go to the restroom and take of the brace, bend and straighten my knee and dance in the back, but not wanting to disturb the rest of the service I waited but for the very first time I was able to sit comfortably and sit still and not restless. I go up as the service end and my leg would not straighten, slightly disappointed I heard God speak again and this time he said "healing will come in surgery".
As I said the surgery is complete, I am still in pain (mainly when I get up and walk around) but it is minimal, nothing like I expected but I have been very still because of the Babysitters. I know that God has healed me. It will be complete in his timing not mine.
I know the title of the post is "The Babysitter" so let's talk about that. God has taken great care of me through his spirit and through my baby sitters. The first one has been my husband who has taken great care of me only fussing at me at times I am trying to do to much and by trying to be too independent. He worries about me and in fact came out of the shower so fast this morning when I put my crutches against the wall and they made a noise that sounded like falling. It scared him and my man was coming to take care of me. For that I am so grateful. Mike took care of me the day of the surgery and after hours. Yesterday my sitter was Sam. She is awesome, what a great friend I have made since returning to the vineyard. I had known Sam and Chris from before through their daughter Carrie but had no idea that I would be blessed with such a beautiful friendship later on. I thought Mike was tough but she has got him beat. She would not let me get up for love or money other than to go to the bathroom and If I did I would get "The Look" you know the one, the one your mother, my mother gave us when we were not doing as we were supposed to. She bought my lunch and dinner. Sam I just want to THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Today I'm trying it out on my own, Mike will come home for lunchtime, and tomorrow my best Friend will be taking me to PT (I'm not looking forward to it AT ALL) but I realize that the pain must come so that I will regain the full use of my leg so it away I am ready for it so that I can get the first one past me.
Sorry this is so long but I just want to Thank God for taking such good care of me. I want to thank my best friend and husband Mike for loving me so. I want to thank Sam for showing me "What Would Jesus Do?" by being a friend and compassionate server of God.

God at work.

2005-02-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went back to Mosaic to be a part of their 1 year anniversary celebration. It is really cool to see how God works. The church is growing and is doing great but what really got me was when someone shared their story about being adopted and how God worked out things for this person to finally meet their birth mom fifty years later. I can't do the story justice but was amazed that the adoptee who was adopted in Tenn. decided to settle in the Augusta area after retiring from the military to only be several miles from his birth mothers home. It was really amazing to hear how God was able to reunite this family after what seemed like an impossible task.

A Messed Up Body

2005-02-01T09:20:00.000-08:00

You know you never fully understand the verses in the Bible where it talks about the body as a whole and that every part is a equal as the other until you mess up one of your own body parts. The recent ski trip where I had the "Clouded Vision" I also fell and hurt my knee. I did not think too much of it at first until over the last two weeks where it continued to get worse. I went to the doctor and he said it was sprained but it still continued to get worse so I ended up in sports medicine where he believes I tore the cartlidge. GREAT! I have to have an MRI and if it confirms what he suspects I will have to have surgery. Well in the mean time, I can not straighten or bend my leg, so the rest of my body is having to compensate. I fell pain all over and not in just the bad knee. The good knee is now sore along with my hips and back. So the body must work together in order to complete it's work. So if you ever feel like you have clouded vision, or you are not important in the body let me assure you that without you the rest of the body will suffer.
After confessing my "Clouded Vision" I have found my place in the body again, even tough it is not the part I thought it was, it is just as important. I have once again found myself in a place where I can serve.

Clouded Vision

2005-01-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went to Maggie Valley to ski with our youth group. I have been struggling as to where I fit in and felt like I have lost my vision. I had some one pray for me and they said that they felt God was saying that I have not lost it but it was clouded by something. It could be sin, frustration or other things. As we continued to pray God reveled to me that this was true and I had been harboring anger. I was angry because I felt that I had been given something from God to only have it yanked away. I repented and then I heard God speak again. He gave me the direction on where to begin again to live out the vision that he has given me. Wow! what a refreshing moment.

You Are Only As Old As You Act!

2005-01-01T19:40:00.000-08:00

Last night was New Year's Eve. We had our small group party. The host group has a teenage daughter and decided to get her some nerf guns for Christmas. Then last night this group of 30-40 somethings pulled them out and had WAR!! It was a blast! There were four of us who had these play guns and we were running around the house shooting each other until we got tired and sweaty.

I do believe that I will stay young at heart for ever and that to be an adult you do not have to be 100% GROWNUP. You can still enjoy life by being young at heart.

Life in the Trauma

2004-12-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

Tonight I got a call from my paraprofessional (teacher's assistance) telling me that her husband had totaled his truck and was at the trauma unit at MCG. He's ok, they are observing him overnight because he lost consciousness. It made me reflect back to when I had my accident about 6-7 years ago. I totaled my truck, lost consciousness, had internal chest wall contusions with chest pains, and my nose, eye and forehead were sliced opened. I realized the value of life as I am sure that my friend and her family are at the moment. Despite the pain he has his life to be grateful for and his family will get to share in that life during the holidays instead of experiencing the pain that comes with a tragic loss. I can remember reflecting and evaluating my life during that time, was I doing what God has set before me? Could I make a difference in someone else's life? At the since of my accident someone stopped and asked if they could pray for me. I never saw their face, I just felt their touch and did not want it to go away. Later I tried to find out who this person was, it wasn't the paramedics from what I can remember because I vaguely remember that he had to step aside when they got there and I didn't want him to go. I don't remember what he prayed for but was comforted by his touch. I called the witnesses on the accident report and it wasn't them. They said they prayed but didn't pray over me physically. I thanked them but never got the opportunity to say thanks to the guy that prayed for me. So now, I would like to say thanks and let you know what that meant to me. It is something that I have treasured and have promised to do the same if I ever witnessed an accident.

Downtown

2004-12-19T18:30:00.000-08:00

Well, today I went downtown for a visit at the Downtown Vineyard. It was good to be back after over a year of being gone. I finally got to see Sarah's and Will's baby girl. She is cute and sweet. I really enjoyed the worship. Next time I'll have to stay and go out to eat with everyone afterwards but I had youth group at my church(Vineyard Church of Augusta). I realized how much I miss everyone down town but I also realize that I am at a point where I don't feel that I fit in anywhere. I have friends of all ages and enjoy doing things with them but have not quite figured out where I really belong. I've always felt like it was working with youth and maybe it still is. I love the kids at the Vineyard and I do feel like I am connecting there but I really thought it would happened sooner(I've been there for 6 months). I'm hoping that at the youth retreat I will develope some closer relationships with those involved. So some times I wonder what my TRUE Purpose is.

Christmas with my Family

2004-12-18T18:37:00.000-08:00

Well, today we drove up to the "Big City" of Braselton to celebrate Christmas with my family. My mom decided not to cook this year so she ordered pizza. Of course I can't eat it because I allergic to the Cheese on top, so I had salad and pasta instead. After we ate we opened gifts, at our house it's kind of crazy everyone opens their gifts all at once. I enjoy watching the kids open their gifts but it's kind of hard to do when everyone is doing at the same time. I love my nieces. They are so cute. They are 3, 4, and 5. I have a new niece who is 6, that is my brother's soon to be step daughter.
Us older kids somehow decided back at Thanksgiving to draw names. So we end up buying for each other having no clue what the other wants or needs. I drew my sister's name and gave her a scrapbook kit. I figured she had the time to do it because she does not work. She drew my name and found out that I like to collect colbalt blue glass. So she go me a blue owl because it was different, I just giggled because I've been thinking about the dead owl in my mom's freezer. So we reminisced a little bit, and finally asked mom what she did with it and she said she go rid of it. She threw it away. My mom and dad got me a really cool old camera. It was still in the box, had a roll of film, and an original battery that had a camera on it.
Then came the divinity. My sister-in-law and I love it, and as always I ate way too much of it.
I am looking forward to the rest of the holiday, school is out and I can rest. More than anything I am looking forward to hearing my fater-in-law preach his final Christmas Eve service. He is one of the best story tellers I know. I love to hear him tell the Christ Story and can't wait until one day my kids will be able to hear him also.

HOOTIE

2004-12-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

I am easily relaxed by the sounds of nature. I love listening to the critters outside in our yard and watching the squirrels run from tree to tree. I am very thankful for our home. The back yard is like being out in the Great Outdoors. Mike hates the squirrels, mainly because they kept eating a hole in the gas line to our grill and when we went to grill had no gas. Well anyway, I was listening this morning and heard Hootie the owl that resides in the trees behind our house. My friend Adam and I got to see him one day fly across the yard. He was huge and beautiful. I was listening to him hoot this morning and was taken back to a memory earlier in my life. When I was a young kid my mother hit an owl with the car. She actually took him and put him in the freezer because she wanted to get him stuffed. She never did and I wonder what ever happened to that frozen dead owl. It actually sounds kind of morbid, but I laugh because it was one of the many crazy things we did.
It makes me think of long lost friends, what ever happened to them, you may remember them from first grade, or somewhere along the way. We grow up and move on. As I think about those long lost friends I pray that God will bless them along their way and find myself smiling or laughing and wishing that I could be a child again.

Life Is Full Of Excitement

2004-12-06T17:41:00.000-08:00

Mike and I have been married for 15 years. I have always wanted to have kids and he has felt like that was not for him or that we needed to wait for God's timing. We both feel called to adopt. Since the day he has told me that he was in agreement I have been so excited. I think about EVERYTHING! What will the kid look like? What will we call him/her? When will the appointed day arrive? Questions everywhere. We are not in a hurry at the moment, we are just in the beginning stages of the idea. Even tough at times I want it to happen Yesterday! But all my friends know what a grand moment this is and they are excited over all the possibilities also.

Here Goes!

2004-12-03T15:30:00.000-08:00

Well here goes! I thought I would never do this but finally decided to give it a try.
"Mrs. Leaptrott today's Friday" as said by one of my students (according to her everyday is Friday, We could only be so lucky) and I'm so glad. It has been a good week but for some reason today I've been a little tired and grumpy. It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner, and this year I have the Christmas spirit, I want to experience Christmas to the fullest because of the great things God has done.