Almost Finished!

With only my employer letter and our life insurance letters left to obtain, we are nearing the end of the dossier process! I can actually mentally peer beyond the paperwork process now, and into the next stage--the waiting stage!!!! It's feeling a little more real each day!

On Saturday night we had a feast with sweet friends---to celebrate God's goodness and blessing on us all. Pictured above with us at that dinner are Shawn and Jami. Thanks for the pic, Jami! :)

nothing to do with adoption.

Today, I went to Target to buy an ironing board. The sad thing is that my husband and I are totally excited about this--we've used the "mini-board" with too-thin padding for years. While sitting on the floor. And I wonder why I keep burning myself. As you've doubtless surmised by now, I am the ultimate housekeeper. That book, Home Comforts, you know the one? That's totally my Bible. Just kidding--actually that book gives me the willies. (Sorry to everyone I know who has that book.)



On with the post.....anyway, as I was walking out to my car after buying my new ironing board, I spotted a policeman patrolling the parking lot. Not a surprise--I was sorta in the ghetto and it's not uncommon to see police presence in those types of retail parking lots. What was surprising is that he was riding a Segway. I felt really embarrassed just watching him zoom up and down the parking lot aisles. He wore a flourescent yellow safety vest and a helmet. And dark sunglasses. And he was so serious, zooming up and down, head swinging from side to side, looking for trouble. And you know when people are going really fast on Segways, they kind of have this leaned forward, odd-degree angle thing going on? I couldn't help but grin at him as he sped past me and gave me a stern look.



I'm sure I find Segways funnier than I used to......because of a magician named GOB:

Hey, Everybody!

Three things to tell ya'll:

1. On Friday night, Michael and I had the exciting opportunity to eat dinner with several families from our area who are adopting from ET, including the Fournets, and the Frey's. Thanks again for your hospitality, Fournets! It was so good to meet everybody. Funny, when all of you are adopting from a baby from Africa, it doesn't matter that you've never met one another--you automatically have LOTS in common, and LOTS to chat about. I'm looking forward to the establishment of the North Texas Ethiopian Adoptee Playgroup. :)

2. At said dinner, the Fournets lent us Held at a Distance: My Rediscovery of Ethiopia by Rebecca Haile, and Ethiopian woman whose family fled ET during the revolution in the 1970's. So far I'm really enjoying and learning a lot from the book.

3. I was tagged by my dear friend, Miss Hannah. Hannah works with inner-city kids here in our city. Love you Hannah!

Here's my stuff:

Jobs I've had:

Nanny
Salesperson, various clothing stores
Art Teacher
Middle School Literature/Poetry Teacher
PSAT/SAT/ESL Tutor (currently)

Places I've Lived:

Plano, TX
Waco, TX
Dallas, TX
*sigh*

Places I'd rather be:

Addis Ababa
Kenya
NYC
Boston
San Fran.
Texas Hill Country

Food I love:

Mexican
Italian

T.V. Shows I love:

Arrested Development
The Office
Law and Order

Movies I love:

Les Miserables
The Lives of Others
Princess Bride
LOTR
Places in the Heart
Amelie
Charade
Once
The Wizard of Oz

Books I love:

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
That Hideous Strength by the same
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
and, of course,
There is No Me Without You by Melissa Fay Greene

People I'm tagging:

Lori
Natalie

Tabitha

Homestudy--check!

Quickly, late at night, soooo tired, loooong day.....our homestudy went wonderfully well-we loved our social workers--yes, there were two, because they were observing one another for professional development. Anyway, they were both lovely. Totally warm. And we realized that one social worker's cousin was/is still the principal of the small private school I attended in high school. Did our individual interviews simultaneously, since there were TWO s.w.s! Which made the whole process even shorter. Fabulous! We really enjoyed it, honestly. Yay!


Shawn and Jami, they said they'll most likely do your homestudy too! :)

Cleaning, and I'm tired.

M. and I spent part of today cleaning/straightening for the homestudy.....

I think I've reached an "overwhelmed" point regarding adoption paperwork. Will I ever finish? Lately I'm fatigued in general, due to "all ragweed, all the time," and this bodily fatigue seems to be transferring to everything in my life. So much going on these days. One small reason (among many larger ones) that I'm looking forward to baby coming home to us is that after she arrives, I WON'T be working every night. I look forward to being a family again and actually seeing and interacting with my husband. In that vein, Michael had the day off from school on Friday and we spent pretty much the whole morning and afternoon watching the BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice." (Michael just finished teaching Jane Austen to his sophomores.) So good! Michael is SO my Mr. Darcy.