Preparing for the Internationally Adopted Child

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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!!!!!

May it be the best yet!!!

Fingerprints

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

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

Dear Birth Mother

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.