Todd and I spent ALL DAY today (Sunday) working on the 15 pages of narratives that each one of us had to write as a part of the home study. I will turn those in when I meet with the social worker on Friday. One of the hazards of the home study: cramps in your hands from writing so much!
We are making a lot of progress. As mentioned: cleaned a ton last week. Did the fingerprints & mailed the ones into the Ga Crime folks Friday... got Todd to sign the coverletter for the one for the FBI and will send that tomorrow. These two documents are the ones that take the longest to process: 6 - 8 weeks, but they can be expedited if needed. We got our criminal background check done on Friday also -- all clear. Another hazard of the home study: wearing fingerprints off of your fingertips by cleaning so much! Seriously. The person at the police department taking our fingerprints didn't seem so concerned.
We're going to continue to clean tomorrow & Tuesday (New Year's Eve & New Year's Day. It's a good time to do it anyways.... before folks come over for soup night.) There's a few other forms that we need to fill out (only 1 - 2 pages each. easy!) and we'll need to set up doctor's appointments for physician's statement of health. The cats will get updated vaccinations tomorrow as well. I think that's about the jist of it.
On a side note, we are getting SO much positive response from the networking cards that were in our Christmas Cards... and great feedback on the website. I fixed the pages today that had glitches and made a couple of other tweaks. We feel pretty good about it and are happy with it overall.
Got more "New Year's" Cards to do -- and more networking cards to go in them. Still have a hundred or more to do. Wow....... it's a big big job. I should run. Candice
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
After Christmas
We had a busy holiday. This was the first time that Todd or I had ever missed Christmas in NC and NJ. We have SO SO much to do regarding the home study / creating an adoption network (spreading the news with our friends & family - basically) / finishing our website!!!
I've only finished 88 Christmas cards (I have to hand-deliver about 45 of those today around the neighborhood). There's about 200 more to go. Seriously! Christmas cards are always a big thing to do anyways (never this many)... but with adding a "dear family & friends" letter and a couple of post card-sized enclosures has made it an even bigger job. So..... if you haven't gotten a card yet from us -- please know that it's on the way -- we just have a few extra steps to getting them out.
The website was really the big hold-up on getting the cards out. I have been working day & night to finish it. There were also several pages that glitched -- so I had to re-do some of the pages. (There are still 2 pages that I have to re-do and a group of letters that Todd is scanning today (we scanned them previously, but couldn't find them on either computer or our memory sticks)).... so - if your letter isn't up there yet - it will be.... and it is VERY much appreciated! Again: just running a little more behind than normal!
The priority over the next 2 - 3 days is to finish the Christmas cards, get our FBI fingerprinting done, and to begin filling out the home-study paperwork. I think that will take us through to the new year, then we can begin working on the agency applications.
We are going full-force on ALL avenues (personal adoption network, agency adoption, and the random opportunities that come through our adoption consultant). We feel that we're working hard now... but it will pay off SOON!
__________
On another (non-adoption!) note: we had a nice Christmas. After cleaning all weekend, Todd worked hard on Christmas Eve to make his mom's lasagna recipe. He also made creme brulee for dessert too... then even did the dishes!! My mom came to town earlier that day and we all went to see a play (the Christmas Carol) at a neighborhood theater a little north of where we live. It was definitely a small / community theather, but was nice. (Then we watched a musical version on TV when we got home... which was much higher-budget!!) We finished the day with watching "It's a Wonderful Life" and working on those cards into the night. Mom helped address some of the envelopes while I tried to personalize or write a short note in each one.
One thing I'm amazed by: the bravery of the children who were in the play. It's so impressive to see them up there performing for strangers and family. There was one little girl who was distracted by someone in the crowd (she kept looking over and smiling to someone at one side of the audience).... but all of the others were in their game. It was not the best production we've seen by any means (a few of the actors were nervous and stalled on their lines or sounded like they were reading... and some of the adults and children who had singing roles weren't so polished or always on key) but I'm so glad we went to support a local production!! It was small, personal, and nice overall.
On Christmas day, we received a package from Todd's mom with her decorated sugar cookies and a few gifts inside too. I'm so surprised that the Post Office delivered it that morning, but they did! We all opened gifts... laid around the house a bit... did some more Christmas cards (of course)... and then started cooking. I haven't ever made Christmas dinner and was a little intimidated -- so I ordered a package from Publix. It was economical and pretty easy. Well, the turkey breast still had to be cooked like a real turkey. But, the mashed potatoes / gravy / stuffing required only to be heated up & put into a dish. Mom brought & made home-grown green beans. I made Todd's mom's sweet potatoes and also made a "light" chocolate fudge pie. We invited a neighbor over who had a pre-cancerous disease / had been through a bone marrow transplant and chemo a few days before Thanksgiving. He & his father came over for dinner b/c he could not travel and be with his family. We had a nice dinner and conversation.
After running a load of dishes & cleaning up a bit, crashed.... hard! (well, did a few more cards, of course, THEN crashed!)
This morning (Dec 26th), we went back into production mode and printed up a bunch more letters and enclosure cards. This is what I'll be working on the majority of the day. Remember -- your card is on the way. ; - )
Oh yeah: Did I post the website? It's up and running -- and -- we're quite pleased with it!! Check it out: http://www.candice-and-todd.com/
Have a great rest of your holiday.... Candice
I've only finished 88 Christmas cards (I have to hand-deliver about 45 of those today around the neighborhood). There's about 200 more to go. Seriously! Christmas cards are always a big thing to do anyways (never this many)... but with adding a "dear family & friends" letter and a couple of post card-sized enclosures has made it an even bigger job. So..... if you haven't gotten a card yet from us -- please know that it's on the way -- we just have a few extra steps to getting them out.
The website was really the big hold-up on getting the cards out. I have been working day & night to finish it. There were also several pages that glitched -- so I had to re-do some of the pages. (There are still 2 pages that I have to re-do and a group of letters that Todd is scanning today (we scanned them previously, but couldn't find them on either computer or our memory sticks)).... so - if your letter isn't up there yet - it will be.... and it is VERY much appreciated! Again: just running a little more behind than normal!
The priority over the next 2 - 3 days is to finish the Christmas cards, get our FBI fingerprinting done, and to begin filling out the home-study paperwork. I think that will take us through to the new year, then we can begin working on the agency applications.
We are going full-force on ALL avenues (personal adoption network, agency adoption, and the random opportunities that come through our adoption consultant). We feel that we're working hard now... but it will pay off SOON!
__________
On another (non-adoption!) note: we had a nice Christmas. After cleaning all weekend, Todd worked hard on Christmas Eve to make his mom's lasagna recipe. He also made creme brulee for dessert too... then even did the dishes!! My mom came to town earlier that day and we all went to see a play (the Christmas Carol) at a neighborhood theater a little north of where we live. It was definitely a small / community theather, but was nice. (Then we watched a musical version on TV when we got home... which was much higher-budget!!) We finished the day with watching "It's a Wonderful Life" and working on those cards into the night. Mom helped address some of the envelopes while I tried to personalize or write a short note in each one.
One thing I'm amazed by: the bravery of the children who were in the play. It's so impressive to see them up there performing for strangers and family. There was one little girl who was distracted by someone in the crowd (she kept looking over and smiling to someone at one side of the audience).... but all of the others were in their game. It was not the best production we've seen by any means (a few of the actors were nervous and stalled on their lines or sounded like they were reading... and some of the adults and children who had singing roles weren't so polished or always on key) but I'm so glad we went to support a local production!! It was small, personal, and nice overall.
On Christmas day, we received a package from Todd's mom with her decorated sugar cookies and a few gifts inside too. I'm so surprised that the Post Office delivered it that morning, but they did! We all opened gifts... laid around the house a bit... did some more Christmas cards (of course)... and then started cooking. I haven't ever made Christmas dinner and was a little intimidated -- so I ordered a package from Publix. It was economical and pretty easy. Well, the turkey breast still had to be cooked like a real turkey. But, the mashed potatoes / gravy / stuffing required only to be heated up & put into a dish. Mom brought & made home-grown green beans. I made Todd's mom's sweet potatoes and also made a "light" chocolate fudge pie. We invited a neighbor over who had a pre-cancerous disease / had been through a bone marrow transplant and chemo a few days before Thanksgiving. He & his father came over for dinner b/c he could not travel and be with his family. We had a nice dinner and conversation.
After running a load of dishes & cleaning up a bit, crashed.... hard! (well, did a few more cards, of course, THEN crashed!)
This morning (Dec 26th), we went back into production mode and printed up a bunch more letters and enclosure cards. This is what I'll be working on the majority of the day. Remember -- your card is on the way. ; - )
Oh yeah: Did I post the website? It's up and running -- and -- we're quite pleased with it!! Check it out: http://www.candice-and-todd.com/
Have a great rest of your holiday.... Candice
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Todd's going to kill me..... I elfed him.
This link will only be good for a week or so -- but it IS cute.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1716161318
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1716161318
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Things could be moving very quickly!
Monday, we turned in our final edits for the book to the consultant. They turned the comments around really quickly... later that afternoon. Todd was in Asheville / I was at home freaking out about all of the things we'd have to be ready for once our book was done & we were on "the market."
On Tuesday at 4, a message pops up on my screen from our adoption consultant: We've got a potential birthmother situation for you. Are you interested? Todd was out of town, but we finally hooked up & decided around 5ish that we were goingto go for it. Our book was not done, so we finished it Tuesday night around midnight & ran up to Kinkos to print, assemble, then Fed Ex. We just sit and wait to see if we're picked. It's a crazy process. I don't know if she (the birth mother) is shown 3 or 4 profiles.... or 5 or 6.... but, I don't think it's too many profilebooks. I hope something stands out in our book that separates us from the rest.(Our book looks good - it's different than any others we've seen - if I must say so!) who knows!!! I guess if we don't hear anything by mid-feburary, it's not meant to be (she's due in feb and she is allowed to take as much time as she needs to decide, understandably).
There seem to be some nice similarities in her background & family to ours. And - she seems very healthy, so that's a plus too. We aren't getting our hopes up too much, though, b/c it's not guaranteed.
We had our meeting with the social worker. I really liked her. She's funky & cool. It was way more casual than I thought it would be. I go to meet her the Friday after the new year and Todd has a meeting with her in our home the following Friday. (She has a total of 3 visits -- and one of them has to be in our home so she can check it out.)
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at work, I was writing a proposal for an environmental education grant to work with public & private schools. If we get it, we'll be helping them to come up with ways to incorporate green building features into curriculum. Should be kinda cool. I'm excited about it / would love to get the grant.
Friday I had a slow day. Worked a short day. Finished some Christmas shoping before & after work... then, worked on the adoption website some on Friday night (after meeting with our mentor student at the pizza joint on the square). Worked on it most of the day Saturdayday too... I freaked out b/c something wasn't working right (I was trying to upload it witht he wrong program). Once I got the right program up, it worked GREAT. Check it out: www.candice-and-todd.com I'm SO exicted that it's pretty close. There's still letters to get in there and a couple of pages to fix that had a glitch.
It's done, I'm happy. The end.
I'm going to crash. Good night.
c
On Tuesday at 4, a message pops up on my screen from our adoption consultant: We've got a potential birthmother situation for you. Are you interested? Todd was out of town, but we finally hooked up & decided around 5ish that we were goingto go for it. Our book was not done, so we finished it Tuesday night around midnight & ran up to Kinkos to print, assemble, then Fed Ex. We just sit and wait to see if we're picked. It's a crazy process. I don't know if she (the birth mother) is shown 3 or 4 profiles.... or 5 or 6.... but, I don't think it's too many profilebooks. I hope something stands out in our book that separates us from the rest.(Our book looks good - it's different than any others we've seen - if I must say so!) who knows!!! I guess if we don't hear anything by mid-feburary, it's not meant to be (she's due in feb and she is allowed to take as much time as she needs to decide, understandably).
There seem to be some nice similarities in her background & family to ours. And - she seems very healthy, so that's a plus too. We aren't getting our hopes up too much, though, b/c it's not guaranteed.
We had our meeting with the social worker. I really liked her. She's funky & cool. It was way more casual than I thought it would be. I go to meet her the Friday after the new year and Todd has a meeting with her in our home the following Friday. (She has a total of 3 visits -- and one of them has to be in our home so she can check it out.)
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at work, I was writing a proposal for an environmental education grant to work with public & private schools. If we get it, we'll be helping them to come up with ways to incorporate green building features into curriculum. Should be kinda cool. I'm excited about it / would love to get the grant.
Friday I had a slow day. Worked a short day. Finished some Christmas shoping before & after work... then, worked on the adoption website some on Friday night (after meeting with our mentor student at the pizza joint on the square). Worked on it most of the day Saturdayday too... I freaked out b/c something wasn't working right (I was trying to upload it witht he wrong program). Once I got the right program up, it worked GREAT. Check it out: www.candice-and-todd.com I'm SO exicted that it's pretty close. There's still letters to get in there and a couple of pages to fix that had a glitch.
It's done, I'm happy. The end.
I'm going to crash. Good night.
c
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Here's what we're up to regarding adoption stuff:
Todd's in Asheville today for his project meeting and we were corresponding last night. I thought - since it was all mapped out here - that I'd throw an excerpt into a blog so our few friends who are reading this know what we're up to (in terms of process).
* within next few days: finish the edits to the profile book AND the website, meet with social worker (19th) to begin home study process
* dec 22nd - 29th week: send out 2 - 300 (belated) christmas cards with adoption announcements / networking letters [todd work on card printing & cutting. candice work on christmas cards]..... clean house & finish small projects around house (crown moulding / closet door / repair drywall in closet / paint ceiling infront bedroom) re-assemble art studio, clean out spare bedroom)..... send book to print shop / run one copy as "proof"..... once approved, make multiple copies
* over new year's: assemble 8 - 10 profile books (ask AIS to verify #), continue home study paperwork, begin applications with adoption agencies..... continue with small projects and cleaning. prepare for social worker "surprise" visits! (hopefully no earlier than 1st of Jan)
* january: finish homestudy paperwork, apply with 3-4 adoption agencies..... continue with small projects and cleaning. early january - purchase clothes / diapers / carseat / etc etc. (make a "take on the plane" package of necessities for a baby)
I started to assemble an excel spreadsheet of everything. (homestudy requirements,app fees, agency fees, estimated medical & lodging for birth mother, estimated airfare / lodging / car rental for us for 2 - 3 weeks in another state, and - whatI'm really getting nervous about - getting the necessary goods for maintaining a baby the first few weeks 'til we get back home.
WOW. it's all starting to set in that it could happen soon.
* within next few days: finish the edits to the profile book AND the website, meet with social worker (19th) to begin home study process
* dec 22nd - 29th week: send out 2 - 300 (belated) christmas cards with adoption announcements / networking letters [todd work on card printing & cutting. candice work on christmas cards]..... clean house & finish small projects around house (crown moulding / closet door / repair drywall in closet / paint ceiling infront bedroom) re-assemble art studio, clean out spare bedroom)..... send book to print shop / run one copy as "proof"..... once approved, make multiple copies
* over new year's: assemble 8 - 10 profile books (ask AIS to verify #), continue home study paperwork, begin applications with adoption agencies..... continue with small projects and cleaning. prepare for social worker "surprise" visits! (hopefully no earlier than 1st of Jan)
* january: finish homestudy paperwork, apply with 3-4 adoption agencies..... continue with small projects and cleaning. early january - purchase clothes / diapers / carseat / etc etc. (make a "take on the plane" package of necessities for a baby)
I started to assemble an excel spreadsheet of everything. (homestudy requirements,app fees, agency fees, estimated medical & lodging for birth mother, estimated airfare / lodging / car rental for us for 2 - 3 weeks in another state, and - whatI'm really getting nervous about - getting the necessary goods for maintaining a baby the first few weeks 'til we get back home.
WOW. it's all starting to set in that it could happen soon.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Birthday Weekend...
I meant to blog on Sunday (Dec 9) when we got home from our weekend away but I didn’t – so I’m doing it on the ride down to work Wednesday morning and finally posting Thursday (Todd was driving – don’t worry).
I wanted to say what a nice weekend we had. Todd took me to Chattanooga (about 1 ½ - 2 hours north of where we live). I didn’t know ‘til about an hour away where we were going – so it was a surprise almost all the way to the event. He wanted to take me to see penguins for my birthday. Plus, I like the Tennessee aquarium more than the Georgia aquarium (long story why)… and we haven’t been since the penguins got there. It’s a smaller aquarium and it’s not really that crowded, so you can get more up-close and spend more time in front of particular areas. Plus, they have the most magnificent display of sea dragons and leafy sea dragons…. which are some of my favorites to watch swim. They have a great big puffer. Love him too. And – they have a cool jellyfish exhibit that we’ve seen several times, but always enjoy. (I crawled into this bubble that they have (for kids, probably) that sits inside the aquarium -- we have a photo, too, of us with the penguins, but it's not on my computer / I'll add it to the next blog.)
After we left the aquarium, we walked around the river a bit until it started sprinkling. We hopped in the car and headed to our next excursion – to go to the B&B that he had picked out. The area it was in wasn’t so great, but the B&B itself was very nice. We hung out in their common room (a giant living room with several different seating groups) we chose a space near a fireplace and worked for several hours on the website & the profile book. (Todd worked on one – I worked on the other.) We went to a nice dinner at a restaurant in a giant stone house just down the road. It was a national historic register home and there were placards on the wall with stories of Al Capone / mob money coming through the house.
The next morning, we went downstairs and ate a hearty breakfast, worked on the website and profile book a bit more, then headed to a nearby town. We went there b/c we saw some etchings on the wall of several buildings in this town (which was largely made up of a college campus) and we saw something of interest to check out. We drove around the town and campus a bit, but couldn’t find what we were looking for ‘til we were about to give up, then saw an area for theology buildings…. we headed in the direction and found it: a chapel that looked like it was designed by Faye Jones (famous church & chapel architect). The doors were unlocked. The facility was empty, so we went in. And – a placard on the wall there said, indeed, it was designed by him! We were thrilled b/c we’ve never been in one of his buildings / experienced his architecture. It’s a bit dated (although it’s not old), but the space is quite nice. Todd snapped a ton of photos. Satisfied with our find, we hopped in the car & headed back home.
I ended up going to the top of the street to check in with an event that I was participating in (as a ghost participant). The art event I usually participate in was that same weekend. But, since Todd had planned such a fabulous weekend, I asked that I not work this show. I did not make new products – only repackaged things I had left over from a previous show. I moved a little bit of merchandise, but not much. That’s ok. My priorities were in check this season: work on adoption things… and spend a nice quality weekend with my husband who took the time and effort to plan a great (surprise) event for me.
It was perfect. ; - )
I wanted to say what a nice weekend we had. Todd took me to Chattanooga (about 1 ½ - 2 hours north of where we live). I didn’t know ‘til about an hour away where we were going – so it was a surprise almost all the way to the event. He wanted to take me to see penguins for my birthday. Plus, I like the Tennessee aquarium more than the Georgia aquarium (long story why)… and we haven’t been since the penguins got there. It’s a smaller aquarium and it’s not really that crowded, so you can get more up-close and spend more time in front of particular areas. Plus, they have the most magnificent display of sea dragons and leafy sea dragons…. which are some of my favorites to watch swim. They have a great big puffer. Love him too. And – they have a cool jellyfish exhibit that we’ve seen several times, but always enjoy. (I crawled into this bubble that they have (for kids, probably) that sits inside the aquarium -- we have a photo, too, of us with the penguins, but it's not on my computer / I'll add it to the next blog.)
After we left the aquarium, we walked around the river a bit until it started sprinkling. We hopped in the car and headed to our next excursion – to go to the B&B that he had picked out. The area it was in wasn’t so great, but the B&B itself was very nice. We hung out in their common room (a giant living room with several different seating groups) we chose a space near a fireplace and worked for several hours on the website & the profile book. (Todd worked on one – I worked on the other.) We went to a nice dinner at a restaurant in a giant stone house just down the road. It was a national historic register home and there were placards on the wall with stories of Al Capone / mob money coming through the house.
The next morning, we went downstairs and ate a hearty breakfast, worked on the website and profile book a bit more, then headed to a nearby town. We went there b/c we saw some etchings on the wall of several buildings in this town (which was largely made up of a college campus) and we saw something of interest to check out. We drove around the town and campus a bit, but couldn’t find what we were looking for ‘til we were about to give up, then saw an area for theology buildings…. we headed in the direction and found it: a chapel that looked like it was designed by Faye Jones (famous church & chapel architect). The doors were unlocked. The facility was empty, so we went in. And – a placard on the wall there said, indeed, it was designed by him! We were thrilled b/c we’ve never been in one of his buildings / experienced his architecture. It’s a bit dated (although it’s not old), but the space is quite nice. Todd snapped a ton of photos. Satisfied with our find, we hopped in the car & headed back home.
I ended up going to the top of the street to check in with an event that I was participating in (as a ghost participant). The art event I usually participate in was that same weekend. But, since Todd had planned such a fabulous weekend, I asked that I not work this show. I did not make new products – only repackaged things I had left over from a previous show. I moved a little bit of merchandise, but not much. That’s ok. My priorities were in check this season: work on adoption things… and spend a nice quality weekend with my husband who took the time and effort to plan a great (surprise) event for me.
It was perfect. ; - )
Saturday, December 8, 2007
all better?
I know my last blog wasn't the greatest. But - I'm happy to report that I'm feeling a lot better. I had a month or two that was blah. I talked to someone a few times and realized that the process of leaving fertility / moving to adoption felt like a failure to me.... and once I was able to verbalize that -- I realized that was (quite frankly) dumb. There was no reason I should feel that way. So, I snapped out of it. Seriously. It was that easy.
I was talking to someone last month about how they were in a fog when their mom was going through illness and death. And, a few days ago, I looked at how hazy things were for me over the past couple of months -- how I was just going through the motions of work and life.
I feel, now, that I'm back on my game.
Speaking of which - I have a lot of catch-up that I'm doing these days. The art show that I participate in is this weekend. Because of the 2nd job that I feel that I have (working on adoption profile book and website)... I haven't had time to make anything. That's ok, though, because I had a lot of stuff left over from the last show. I ended up re-pricing / merchandising / re-packaging some things and took them to the show site.
I am not actually working at the show 'til Sunday afternoon. Todd planned a trip for us this weekend -- a surprise. (I'm not sure where we are going. I'm thrilled b/c he's never planned a trip before!)
I should get ready. Pack for who knows what?! (It's actually going to be warm here - 70 degrees, I think.) We're oinly going an hour or two away, so it may be quite similar.
Later. C
I was talking to someone last month about how they were in a fog when their mom was going through illness and death. And, a few days ago, I looked at how hazy things were for me over the past couple of months -- how I was just going through the motions of work and life.
I feel, now, that I'm back on my game.
Speaking of which - I have a lot of catch-up that I'm doing these days. The art show that I participate in is this weekend. Because of the 2nd job that I feel that I have (working on adoption profile book and website)... I haven't had time to make anything. That's ok, though, because I had a lot of stuff left over from the last show. I ended up re-pricing / merchandising / re-packaging some things and took them to the show site.
I am not actually working at the show 'til Sunday afternoon. Todd planned a trip for us this weekend -- a surprise. (I'm not sure where we are going. I'm thrilled b/c he's never planned a trip before!)
I should get ready. Pack for who knows what?! (It's actually going to be warm here - 70 degrees, I think.) We're oinly going an hour or two away, so it may be quite similar.
Later. C
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Tryin' to get through
well, i haven't written about this before... but i am having a bit of a hard time making the transition from the fertility treatments to the adoption process. books / literature / etc says that this is a sort of loss - grieving an unborn child. i felt this at first, then suppressed it with diving into work and stuff (even adoption stuff -- throwing my self right into it). but, for some reason (even though i'm still busy with work) i'm having a hard time with it again.
i started to see a counselor to talk to about it. never been to a counselor before. it's my yoga teacher who i'm seeing. i think her "real" profession is counseling (she's got all sorts of letters & titles behind her name) but i've always liked her from yoga (moreso than other yoga teachers who's classes i've taken) and i'm comfortable with her.
i may not write too much here b/c it's not private. i do have a positive attitude for the most part, but when i'm down... i'm down... and i don't want to convey that in my blog b/c it's not representative of how i feel. just know that -- sometimes -- it's tough.
c
i started to see a counselor to talk to about it. never been to a counselor before. it's my yoga teacher who i'm seeing. i think her "real" profession is counseling (she's got all sorts of letters & titles behind her name) but i've always liked her from yoga (moreso than other yoga teachers who's classes i've taken) and i'm comfortable with her.
i may not write too much here b/c it's not private. i do have a positive attitude for the most part, but when i'm down... i'm down... and i don't want to convey that in my blog b/c it's not representative of how i feel. just know that -- sometimes -- it's tough.
c
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
last weekend's post... MAJOR website progress!
I didn’t get a chance to blog after the last two weekends, but I need to. We’ve made SO much progress! Todd built a fire in the fireplace and we worked on adoption stuff ALL day Sunday (11th). We watched a tutorial on the website program we were going to use. We then tinkered around with a web template that I had found the previous weekend and we actually made 2 pages! It took a long time, but that’s ok…. After we figured out how to get it from the computer to the world wide web, we then stopped in that effort and focused on some homework that we had from the adoption consultant: making our profile book.
We wrote an opening statement. Next: a blurb about our lives together. I wrote down how I feel about Todd. He wrote down how he feels about me. We continued with how we envisioned life with a child. We wrote a blurb about family and friends. Then we wrote a blurb on our parenting philosophy, why were we live is a great place, and closed with a statement back to the birth mother. That took us into the night & we crashed shortly after.
All-in-all… it was a great day. We made a lot of progress and we got to do a little soul-searching to boot. Once the website is ready to roll, I’ll post it. An official “launch” party of sorts.
We wrote an opening statement. Next: a blurb about our lives together. I wrote down how I feel about Todd. He wrote down how he feels about me. We continued with how we envisioned life with a child. We wrote a blurb about family and friends. Then we wrote a blurb on our parenting philosophy, why were we live is a great place, and closed with a statement back to the birth mother. That took us into the night & we crashed shortly after.
All-in-all… it was a great day. We made a lot of progress and we got to do a little soul-searching to boot. Once the website is ready to roll, I’ll post it. An official “launch” party of sorts.
And -- since I didn't post this earlier - I should go ahead & report on what I did last weekend. Fri & Sat (16th - 17th) I was at my mom's after a work trip in NC. There were 20 pages worth of text that we had for the website... but I actually put it into pages. Todd & I designed & made the first two pages. After that, it was a breeze to make the others.
Granted -- there will need to be edits and photos -- but it is such a relief to have work to show for all that we've been thinking about doing! yay.
Gotta run. We're headed down to my dad's for Thanksgiving.
Later.
c
Saturday, November 10, 2007
saturday morning
i'm determined to have a great day today... last saturday - i was in a funk.
not much is progressing, honestly, as i've been working a lot. but, last night: a little glimmer of hope. todd watched some of the website tutorial with me. he's way more into computer stuff than i am - so i'm really going to be relying on him to help. i surfed a lot last saturday looking at sample websites. i downloaded the template for one i liked. now - with the software that our neighbor eric has loaned us - we need to learn how to modify it... then go one step further and actually upload it. i've got the content pretty much ready to go!
stay tuned. hopefully you'll hear screams of joy soon with the successful making of our site.
ps - a little more progress, i suppose: got a few more pics together. dinner out with friends last friday night & dinner out with a couple of girls this past wednesday. todd w/ pigg on the couch and todd playing golf (yesterday - his structural engineer that he hangs out with took him to play and took pics of him in his backswing!) ahhhh.... the photos are coming together.
over and out. c
not much is progressing, honestly, as i've been working a lot. but, last night: a little glimmer of hope. todd watched some of the website tutorial with me. he's way more into computer stuff than i am - so i'm really going to be relying on him to help. i surfed a lot last saturday looking at sample websites. i downloaded the template for one i liked. now - with the software that our neighbor eric has loaned us - we need to learn how to modify it... then go one step further and actually upload it. i've got the content pretty much ready to go!
stay tuned. hopefully you'll hear screams of joy soon with the successful making of our site.
ps - a little more progress, i suppose: got a few more pics together. dinner out with friends last friday night & dinner out with a couple of girls this past wednesday. todd w/ pigg on the couch and todd playing golf (yesterday - his structural engineer that he hangs out with took him to play and took pics of him in his backswing!) ahhhh.... the photos are coming together.
over and out. c
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The meeting went well
We were over-prepared for our meeting with the adoption consultant. Todd & I completed all sorts of forms -- which aren't due yet. That's ok. It will come in handy. Our instructions weren't clear, so I was stressed about filling out all of the forms we were instructed to download.
Some of the pictures that we liked -- they weren't so into. Some of the pictures they were into weren't our favorites, but that's ok. We'll still make the book our own. I really want to use excerpts from the great letters that we've received so far. One of the profile books we looked through had letters included. The adoption consultant said that was because it was a single person and that they needed a little something extra. We're going to pick a sentence or two from a few of them and find a place to include them.
We've paid the consultant a bit of money... but we'll save some bucks by designing the book & doing all of the photoshop stuff ourselves. Our schedule: get some more photographs of my family (I'll be in NC in two weeks and in Fla the following, so I should round it out). Write the verbiage & email it back / forth to the consultant so that they can edit it. Once we're done -- she will go ahead & put us in the pool of candidates! I think we can finish the book by the end of November!
Our next step: start the home study. This is something that you HAVE to do to work through an agency. She gave us a folder of information on a social worker that she likes and thought it would be a good fit because she just moved her office to Marietta from Douglasville. We'll begin that at the beginning of December. The consultant said that was good b/c we'd get a jump on the slew of people who want to start it in the new year.
We learned something by reading through all of the materials: to go with independent adoption, you don't have to have a home study done. We're going to pursue both -- just to see what yields faster results.
I guess that's all for now. 1 - work on Lifestyle Profile. 2 - complete Home Study. We'll have a handle on both by the end of the year. yay!
I'm going to crash (early). We were up late last night / early this morning to work on this stuff. G'night.
Some of the pictures that we liked -- they weren't so into. Some of the pictures they were into weren't our favorites, but that's ok. We'll still make the book our own. I really want to use excerpts from the great letters that we've received so far. One of the profile books we looked through had letters included. The adoption consultant said that was because it was a single person and that they needed a little something extra. We're going to pick a sentence or two from a few of them and find a place to include them.
We've paid the consultant a bit of money... but we'll save some bucks by designing the book & doing all of the photoshop stuff ourselves. Our schedule: get some more photographs of my family (I'll be in NC in two weeks and in Fla the following, so I should round it out). Write the verbiage & email it back / forth to the consultant so that they can edit it. Once we're done -- she will go ahead & put us in the pool of candidates! I think we can finish the book by the end of November!
Our next step: start the home study. This is something that you HAVE to do to work through an agency. She gave us a folder of information on a social worker that she likes and thought it would be a good fit because she just moved her office to Marietta from Douglasville. We'll begin that at the beginning of December. The consultant said that was good b/c we'd get a jump on the slew of people who want to start it in the new year.
We learned something by reading through all of the materials: to go with independent adoption, you don't have to have a home study done. We're going to pursue both -- just to see what yields faster results.
I guess that's all for now. 1 - work on Lifestyle Profile. 2 - complete Home Study. We'll have a handle on both by the end of the year. yay!
I'm going to crash (early). We were up late last night / early this morning to work on this stuff. G'night.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Quick post with thanks and pictures
I am at work, so I have to post a quick blog. No – we haven’t had our appointment yet w/ the adoption consultant, but I wanted to say that I was freaking out b/c we needed a slew of photographs to take to our first appointment and – you know us: we love taking pictures of buildings, but of us and other people?! So, I was nervous.
I asked a few friends for some shots to include (of us and of them) and they CAME THROUGH BEAUTIFULLY!!!! I was so touched when I opened my email to find gobs and gobs of great pictures (and some scary ones – uh, Cindy, I won’t be including that “goth” picture from Halloween a few years ago!) THANK YOU for stepping up to the plate, finding pics, scanning pics, etc. It is so helpful – and is so great to know you are there for us through this!
Todd and I have been filling out the questionnaires / writing the narratives that we’re supposed to be doing. Man – this is a lot of work so far! ; - ) I know it will all be worth it, though!
On a side note, we had dinner last night with Shelli… our neighbor who’s awesome, but is moving to Gulfport. They bought a house and closed on it a few weeks before Katrina hit. It was destroyed, but they’re slowly rebuilding (and living in a FEMA trailer in the meanwhile). The movers came to her house yesterday and she was cleaning it the rest of the afternoon. It was so strange to go in there & see empty rooms. I guess it’s sinking in that our good friend is really leaving! But, we’ll have a great spot to go visit. (Todd designed a new house for them on the existing structure & utilizing the majority of the walls and such… but – Shelli’s husband, Scott, is a contractor and he changed it. TYPICAL!) kidding.
Finally – and I’ll wrap – I also got some photos a neighbor took at Girl’s night at our house last week. I’m only including the costume of Crazy Candace… and some of the goulish foods (Eyeball Salad -- and Eyeball (turkey meatballs in the background. More descriptions of the costumes and food are in the last blog.
I asked a few friends for some shots to include (of us and of them) and they CAME THROUGH BEAUTIFULLY!!!! I was so touched when I opened my email to find gobs and gobs of great pictures (and some scary ones – uh, Cindy, I won’t be including that “goth” picture from Halloween a few years ago!) THANK YOU for stepping up to the plate, finding pics, scanning pics, etc. It is so helpful – and is so great to know you are there for us through this!
Todd and I have been filling out the questionnaires / writing the narratives that we’re supposed to be doing. Man – this is a lot of work so far! ; - ) I know it will all be worth it, though!
On a side note, we had dinner last night with Shelli… our neighbor who’s awesome, but is moving to Gulfport. They bought a house and closed on it a few weeks before Katrina hit. It was destroyed, but they’re slowly rebuilding (and living in a FEMA trailer in the meanwhile). The movers came to her house yesterday and she was cleaning it the rest of the afternoon. It was so strange to go in there & see empty rooms. I guess it’s sinking in that our good friend is really leaving! But, we’ll have a great spot to go visit. (Todd designed a new house for them on the existing structure & utilizing the majority of the walls and such… but – Shelli’s husband, Scott, is a contractor and he changed it. TYPICAL!) kidding.
Finally – and I’ll wrap – I also got some photos a neighbor took at Girl’s night at our house last week. I’m only including the costume of Crazy Candace… and some of the goulish foods (Eyeball Salad -- and Eyeball (turkey meatballs in the background. More descriptions of the costumes and food are in the last blog.
Fun time was had by all. 
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday before the first adoption consultation....
It's been awhile since I've posted.
Went out of town again two weeks ago. This time - to Charlotte, NC. I have one more work trip this year (a 3 1/2 day tour of NC) and then that will be it for travelling. I really need to talk to the folks at my office about no more trips after the first of the year. According to people we've talked to about adoption, we could get the call that a birth mother is in labor & we need to get on a plane that night!
I don't think I'll get out of teaching classes, but I will ALWAYS have to have a back-up person in the wings in case we get THE call. I can do project work from home -- I'm not worried about that. It's the out-of-town teaching (especially to places that require non-transferrable airfare) that has me concerned.
I hosted girl's night last Thursday. We had a great time. Several people dressed up (I was a cat -- pretty tame, really). A pregnant neighbor's belly was a pumpkin. Another neighbor was a little devil. But - the most creative costume of the evening -- donned by Crazy Candace. Yes, there's another Candice on the street (she spells her name with an -ace). She was a trashy bride -- wearing a wedding dress, torn up black hose, one of those crimped wigs, and makeup running down her face. She was coming onto Todd & some other guy that he was doing some work with in the home office. It was pretty funny. I made eyeballs (turkey meatballs with olives stuck in them & tomato sauce drizzled over)... someone made eyeball salad (button mushrooms, cheese whiz, and olives set in a bed of lettuce), green potatoes, a witches brew housed inside of a real pumpkin, a beef stew housed in another pumpkin, a spiderweb cheesecake topped with a rubber spider, and my locally-famous witches fingers cookies. (They're sugar cookies dyed green with food coloring, shaped as a finger, an almond for the finger nail, and red decorator gel at the other end (like blood). We had a great time!
Friday, Todd's mom came into town. She's carpooling down to Florida with a friend of hers who has also has a home in Maine. We had a great dinner Friday night, went to the art museum on Saturday & to a Japanese restaurant that night, then went to a play and to another nice dinner on Sunday. We had a pretty serious adoption conversation Sunday night. I downloaded the instructions from our Adoption Consultant... and we have a SLEW of homework to do before our meeting on Thursday!! Luckily, I asked Todd's mom to bring down some photographs -- which she did. I just talked to my mom tonight & have asked her to start going through some, but I doubt that I'll have any of our family in time for the meeting. The consultant wants 30 - 40 pics and a bunch of written stuff. Luckily, I have a bunch of written verbiage already. Maybe we can use some of it? I wish I would've gotten the homework earlier! It was emailed Thursday afternoon. I didn't get it 'til Friday, but wasn't able to download it 'til the weekend. There's about 100 pages of stuff to go through.
I suppose I should go & do some homework. I'll write more after our appointment Thursday.
C
Went out of town again two weeks ago. This time - to Charlotte, NC. I have one more work trip this year (a 3 1/2 day tour of NC) and then that will be it for travelling. I really need to talk to the folks at my office about no more trips after the first of the year. According to people we've talked to about adoption, we could get the call that a birth mother is in labor & we need to get on a plane that night!
I don't think I'll get out of teaching classes, but I will ALWAYS have to have a back-up person in the wings in case we get THE call. I can do project work from home -- I'm not worried about that. It's the out-of-town teaching (especially to places that require non-transferrable airfare) that has me concerned.
I hosted girl's night last Thursday. We had a great time. Several people dressed up (I was a cat -- pretty tame, really). A pregnant neighbor's belly was a pumpkin. Another neighbor was a little devil. But - the most creative costume of the evening -- donned by Crazy Candace. Yes, there's another Candice on the street (she spells her name with an -ace). She was a trashy bride -- wearing a wedding dress, torn up black hose, one of those crimped wigs, and makeup running down her face. She was coming onto Todd & some other guy that he was doing some work with in the home office. It was pretty funny. I made eyeballs (turkey meatballs with olives stuck in them & tomato sauce drizzled over)... someone made eyeball salad (button mushrooms, cheese whiz, and olives set in a bed of lettuce), green potatoes, a witches brew housed inside of a real pumpkin, a beef stew housed in another pumpkin, a spiderweb cheesecake topped with a rubber spider, and my locally-famous witches fingers cookies. (They're sugar cookies dyed green with food coloring, shaped as a finger, an almond for the finger nail, and red decorator gel at the other end (like blood). We had a great time!
Friday, Todd's mom came into town. She's carpooling down to Florida with a friend of hers who has also has a home in Maine. We had a great dinner Friday night, went to the art museum on Saturday & to a Japanese restaurant that night, then went to a play and to another nice dinner on Sunday. We had a pretty serious adoption conversation Sunday night. I downloaded the instructions from our Adoption Consultant... and we have a SLEW of homework to do before our meeting on Thursday!! Luckily, I asked Todd's mom to bring down some photographs -- which she did. I just talked to my mom tonight & have asked her to start going through some, but I doubt that I'll have any of our family in time for the meeting. The consultant wants 30 - 40 pics and a bunch of written stuff. Luckily, I have a bunch of written verbiage already. Maybe we can use some of it? I wish I would've gotten the homework earlier! It was emailed Thursday afternoon. I didn't get it 'til Friday, but wasn't able to download it 'til the weekend. There's about 100 pages of stuff to go through.
I suppose I should go & do some homework. I'll write more after our appointment Thursday.
C
Friday, October 12, 2007
Meeting at DFACS
At our group meeting with the adoption consultant Monday, some people spoke about their orientation at DFACS and said it was pretty horrible. We had an appointment last night... and thankfully, the meeting wasn't as bad as we thought.
It doesn't really sound like that little 2 year old girl that's in foster care will really be a viable option -- after learning about how to go through the process / how to go through foster adoption. The mail thing (if she's available for adoption) is that she's in another county.... and our county DFACS office places children in our county only. They say that they rarely cross counties. So....... we're considering the adoption (but not the foster program). I know me. I can't have a kid in the house then send them back to a home where their original parents were abusive or negligent. There's 21 hours worth of classes that we might be eligible for in January -- but our profile will be pretty narrow on the type and age of child we are looking to adopt, so they may choose to train more flexible foster / adoptive parents. We'll see.
I'm crashing early. We're getting up early to pack & go to an out-of-town wedding.
g'night.
It doesn't really sound like that little 2 year old girl that's in foster care will really be a viable option -- after learning about how to go through the process / how to go through foster adoption. The mail thing (if she's available for adoption) is that she's in another county.... and our county DFACS office places children in our county only. They say that they rarely cross counties. So....... we're considering the adoption (but not the foster program). I know me. I can't have a kid in the house then send them back to a home where their original parents were abusive or negligent. There's 21 hours worth of classes that we might be eligible for in January -- but our profile will be pretty narrow on the type and age of child we are looking to adopt, so they may choose to train more flexible foster / adoptive parents. We'll see.
I'm crashing early. We're getting up early to pack & go to an out-of-town wedding.
g'night.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Adoption Consultant
Todd & I went to an "Adoption Consultant" presentation with 7 other couples and a single woman. I was such a skeptic going into the presentation. My attitude going into it: We've already spent so much money on fertility stuff.... how come we'd want to pay this person to consult us -- when she doens't actually work for an agency or place adoptive children?!
She made a pretty good case for why to hire her, though. The way she works... she helps you make a profile book (I think that's what they're called).... these are the books that agencies hold onto & show prospective birth mothers so they can decide to choose you or someone else. We were going to make one up -- so it's probably good to get advice on this. Also, she's got links with all sorts of agencies across the country. She says that her clients are called on more often because they're "informed" adoptive parents and are less trouble than someone without the help of a consultant. And - she walks you through the whole process. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
She had a financial person there too. They explained about ways to pay for adoption... we were about to redo our home equity line of credit after the renovation work to the house. Sounds like we should increase the amount & put it on there. ugh. those payments are already killing us! or - there are loans.... like car loans that you can pay off in 60 installments. or - there are legal ways for parents to make gifts to a child and their spouse. the other thing mentioned: tax credit up to eleven grand back on what you spent which will help some eventually. (can't be claimed on taxes 'til after the adoption is finalized by the courts... about 6 months after you bring the baby home -- the agency who places it has the right & will occassionally check in on you. once they determine the baby is safe, they file the paperwork to transfer full parental rights to the adoptive parents) THEN, you can do the tax stuff to offset a portion of the cost. this part was upsetting (the financial part b/c it seems so unattainable). Susan - we may have to talk more about your financing ideas!!
we figured that it would be good to have someone work with us along the way. she has insight into which agencies are good (not just have good marketing materials). she knows which ones have little to no application fees so you can get in on multiple agencies' radar. she knows which agencies to pair you up with in terms of what type of children or what type of arrangement you want with the birth mother. i guess, all-in-all, there is a benefit to her services. we have a meeting with her november 1st. after the homestudy -- it could happen then... or could go longer. she said that, really, it goes as fast as the adoptive parents want it to happen. 99% of her clients from last year had a baby within 12 months. some had them before the home study was complete (she says she has "ways" to get around that).
guess we're going to go for it.
c
She made a pretty good case for why to hire her, though. The way she works... she helps you make a profile book (I think that's what they're called).... these are the books that agencies hold onto & show prospective birth mothers so they can decide to choose you or someone else. We were going to make one up -- so it's probably good to get advice on this. Also, she's got links with all sorts of agencies across the country. She says that her clients are called on more often because they're "informed" adoptive parents and are less trouble than someone without the help of a consultant. And - she walks you through the whole process. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
She had a financial person there too. They explained about ways to pay for adoption... we were about to redo our home equity line of credit after the renovation work to the house. Sounds like we should increase the amount & put it on there. ugh. those payments are already killing us! or - there are loans.... like car loans that you can pay off in 60 installments. or - there are legal ways for parents to make gifts to a child and their spouse. the other thing mentioned: tax credit up to eleven grand back on what you spent which will help some eventually. (can't be claimed on taxes 'til after the adoption is finalized by the courts... about 6 months after you bring the baby home -- the agency who places it has the right & will occassionally check in on you. once they determine the baby is safe, they file the paperwork to transfer full parental rights to the adoptive parents) THEN, you can do the tax stuff to offset a portion of the cost. this part was upsetting (the financial part b/c it seems so unattainable). Susan - we may have to talk more about your financing ideas!!
we figured that it would be good to have someone work with us along the way. she has insight into which agencies are good (not just have good marketing materials). she knows which ones have little to no application fees so you can get in on multiple agencies' radar. she knows which agencies to pair you up with in terms of what type of children or what type of arrangement you want with the birth mother. i guess, all-in-all, there is a benefit to her services. we have a meeting with her november 1st. after the homestudy -- it could happen then... or could go longer. she said that, really, it goes as fast as the adoptive parents want it to happen. 99% of her clients from last year had a baby within 12 months. some had them before the home study was complete (she says she has "ways" to get around that).
guess we're going to go for it.
c
Monday, October 8, 2007
community service, carnival, dinner w/ friends, party, website action, hanging out in the pond...
Did a lot this weekend:
We did our neighborhood street clean. We had a small crew but made a big find. There's an area behind a gas station where homeless people are living - have been for a long time. There was an "urban campsite" where a "tenant" living under a magnolia tree behind a gas station was squatting. There were clothes and a carboard bed, but hanging out from underneath the cardboard were all sorts of papers. Legal papers from a bunch of different people. So - we were trying to figure out if they were the homeless person's or if they were stolen. We asked a cop to check it out. I feel like our cops are so in-tune with what's going on. We described where the site was & he thought he knew who the guy was / he said he'd check it out. Don't know what happened, but I am curious!
After that, Todd worked on a project in the back yard - putting stone under the hammock to clean up the area. I went to a carnival. Another community service event, however, a fun one! I'm involved in a couple of different organizations... one at the city level & one at the community level, but both are affiliates of the Keep Georgia Beautiful program. Our county group held a carnival for the volunteers. There were all sorts of games (a water-gun shooting gallery, a cake walk, a dance contest, a pig run with wind-up pigs, putt putt, bowling, etc). I was in charge of face painting. It was fun.
Later that night, we went to dinner at a friend's house... the couple who we went to Italy with. They made us some marscapone pizza and some pear / gorgonzola pizza. It has been a year since we went to Italy with them. Afterwards, we went to an "intern house" party to see a couple of people off -- people who work at my office & who are moving on to new jobs.
Much of Saturday was play. Sunday was all work. It wasn't so bad, however. I started the day working on a couple of pages of our adoption website. I had tinkered around Saturday morning with it. (I got an "inspiring" email from Todd's friend, Bob, out in San Fran who we went to school with. He studied architecture, too, but has been in graphic design & computer stuff ever since school. I think he read my mind -- I was intimidated to start a website b/c of the media -- I'm unfamiliar with it. SO TRUE!) So, I just dove in and figured out a little bit of stuff. I encounted a glitch in the program / crashed / lost one page... but I have 2 so far. Now, I have to figure out how the heck to link them -- and to actually post it on the site. The website builder is an external program / it will have to be uploaded somehow. (Baby steps!)
After getting tired of tinkering on the computer, I put my efforts to use out doors. We had some of the stone left over from the hammock project (we brought a total of 1 1/2 tons of stone to the house on Saturday thanks to the use of a neighbor, Orie's, trailer!). This stone is a mini split pea gravel. In the pond, we had regular-sized pea gravel along the stream and in the bottom of the pond. I was never that fond of it b/c it didn't look too natural. So...... I placed several hundred pounds of mini pea gravel gently into the stream and pond handful by loving handful (as to not hurt the fish) . UGH. Admittedly, I didn't finish 100% of it before dark. I have about 50 lbs of stone left to do today. Both of us are really pleased with the results, though! It looks way more natural than it did before. (Wonder if the pond guys will be upset with us?)
Todd cleaned out the stream with a wet vac (sucking up all of the scum) last weekend. Sunday, he did the pond. There's so much icky brown water coming out of the bottom... but that stuff is oh-so-good for our plants! We're in a total watering ban right now - so we're saving all of the gray water (or in this case brown water) that we can. Barbara, our neighbor across the street (who is an avid gardner) didn't think we should NOT landscape this fall as originally planned; she encouraged us to use our shower water to keep the plants alive. Ok. I'm the "sustainability" consultant. How come we weren't doing this already?! Duh. Todd & I have been taking showers with a bucket in there so we can capture some of the water (especially that coming out of the spigot when waiting for the water to warm up). Barbara's going to give us a bunch of plants from around her pond later this month or next month, so this is a fabulous suggestion!!!
I should go. I wanted to report on the little bit of progress made on the adoption website. Also, we have an appointment today with an adoption consultant. I'm sure I'll have more to write about after that. -- c
We did our neighborhood street clean. We had a small crew but made a big find. There's an area behind a gas station where homeless people are living - have been for a long time. There was an "urban campsite" where a "tenant" living under a magnolia tree behind a gas station was squatting. There were clothes and a carboard bed, but hanging out from underneath the cardboard were all sorts of papers. Legal papers from a bunch of different people. So - we were trying to figure out if they were the homeless person's or if they were stolen. We asked a cop to check it out. I feel like our cops are so in-tune with what's going on. We described where the site was & he thought he knew who the guy was / he said he'd check it out. Don't know what happened, but I am curious!
After that, Todd worked on a project in the back yard - putting stone under the hammock to clean up the area. I went to a carnival. Another community service event, however, a fun one! I'm involved in a couple of different organizations... one at the city level & one at the community level, but both are affiliates of the Keep Georgia Beautiful program. Our county group held a carnival for the volunteers. There were all sorts of games (a water-gun shooting gallery, a cake walk, a dance contest, a pig run with wind-up pigs, putt putt, bowling, etc). I was in charge of face painting. It was fun.
Later that night, we went to dinner at a friend's house... the couple who we went to Italy with. They made us some marscapone pizza and some pear / gorgonzola pizza. It has been a year since we went to Italy with them. Afterwards, we went to an "intern house" party to see a couple of people off -- people who work at my office & who are moving on to new jobs.
Much of Saturday was play. Sunday was all work. It wasn't so bad, however. I started the day working on a couple of pages of our adoption website. I had tinkered around Saturday morning with it. (I got an "inspiring" email from Todd's friend, Bob, out in San Fran who we went to school with. He studied architecture, too, but has been in graphic design & computer stuff ever since school. I think he read my mind -- I was intimidated to start a website b/c of the media -- I'm unfamiliar with it. SO TRUE!) So, I just dove in and figured out a little bit of stuff. I encounted a glitch in the program / crashed / lost one page... but I have 2 so far. Now, I have to figure out how the heck to link them -- and to actually post it on the site. The website builder is an external program / it will have to be uploaded somehow. (Baby steps!)
After getting tired of tinkering on the computer, I put my efforts to use out doors. We had some of the stone left over from the hammock project (we brought a total of 1 1/2 tons of stone to the house on Saturday thanks to the use of a neighbor, Orie's, trailer!). This stone is a mini split pea gravel. In the pond, we had regular-sized pea gravel along the stream and in the bottom of the pond. I was never that fond of it b/c it didn't look too natural. So...... I placed several hundred pounds of mini pea gravel gently into the stream and pond handful by loving handful (as to not hurt the fish) . UGH. Admittedly, I didn't finish 100% of it before dark. I have about 50 lbs of stone left to do today. Both of us are really pleased with the results, though! It looks way more natural than it did before. (Wonder if the pond guys will be upset with us?)
Todd cleaned out the stream with a wet vac (sucking up all of the scum) last weekend. Sunday, he did the pond. There's so much icky brown water coming out of the bottom... but that stuff is oh-so-good for our plants! We're in a total watering ban right now - so we're saving all of the gray water (or in this case brown water) that we can. Barbara, our neighbor across the street (who is an avid gardner) didn't think we should NOT landscape this fall as originally planned; she encouraged us to use our shower water to keep the plants alive. Ok. I'm the "sustainability" consultant. How come we weren't doing this already?! Duh. Todd & I have been taking showers with a bucket in there so we can capture some of the water (especially that coming out of the spigot when waiting for the water to warm up). Barbara's going to give us a bunch of plants from around her pond later this month or next month, so this is a fabulous suggestion!!!
I should go. I wanted to report on the little bit of progress made on the adoption website. Also, we have an appointment today with an adoption consultant. I'm sure I'll have more to write about after that. -- c
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Hi. It's me. Finally!
Been travelling again. Went to Savannah for work. That's one of my favorite places b/c Todd & I met there....went to school there.... lived there.... and got married there. I went for a walk by the place we were supposed to get married (the gazebo in the square) and the place we actually got married (the attic of a beautiful historic house). It rained on our wedding day, and I was certain that it wouldn't so I didn't have a back-up plan. Todd & his groomsmen rearranged the furniture up in the attic of the house & we were married up there. Ahhhh.... great memories!
The classes that I taught with co-worker, Kelly, went great. We had two good crowds and Kelly / I taught well together (even though we hadn't taught together before). We went to a party at a restaurant downtown Wednesday night (it was held in conjunction with the Savannah Music Festival).
On Thursday night after class, I got together with Carla - a former classmate from college. We met at a Greek restaurant in Bluffton (nearby town) and talked for hours and hours... catching up. (Oh yeah - I ordered octopus.... it is quite a bit different than what I'd normally order, but it was so good!) Carla and I hung out in college, but honestly - after our talk last week, I've felt closer to her than I have before. I'm so glad we met up.
On Friday night after class, I went to the Jazz Fest in Forsyth Park and caught up with a girl I used to work with in Atlanta. It was a very social week all-in-all.
Got up early Saturday morning & headed home - while my co-worker Kelly stayed the weekend. I'm actually glad I came home. I was sick all weekend. No place like the comfort of fluffy comfy bed when sick. (Apparently I picked up a bug or something while in Savannah.) But I still LOVE that place.... and look forward to going again soon.
I took adoption stuff with me to read / research / write some more thank you notes for great letters we've gotten... but I didn't have a chance to do that while in the low-country. I'm at home from work today & will tackle some of that and try to catch up. Speaking of which... I'll go for now so I can make some progress.
Later. c
Thursday, September 20, 2007
I'm getting behind in my thank yous...
I haven't blogged in awhile. A lot has happened this week. Yesterday and today, we got 2 great letters. One from a former employer, Don. Absolutely stunning writing. He is perhaps one of the most sincere and caring people that we know. Also, we got a really fun & cute letter from Tim & Vanessa with baby stickers all over it. (I think Vanessa had something to do with the decoration!)
We received - in the past week - letters from Carolyn, who I participate in an art event with as well as from a co-worker Ruth Ann, my Aunt Sandra, our friend Sara, Sara's husband Mike, and neighbors Jacqueline & Daniel. We have a couple emailed to us too - one from Milli & Scott (former co-worker of both of us and her husband who we've gotten to know over the years) and Karla & Steve - my 2nd "family" growing up. They were my next door neighbors and their children were like brothers & a sister to me. Also, Steve married us!
Each letter is distinct. Some identify similar traits (which must mean those are true!) Any time we get a letter and read it... it helps a bit. We definitely feel this missing piece in our lives (that a child will one day fill) and these letters of support help ease the emptiness.
I talked to my friend Susan today who blogs too.... and - duh - she told me how to post pics. It's so easy. Why didn't I notice it before?! I don't know if I can go back and add pics to the blog... but here are some things that I wanted to post previously. A pic of my favorite shoes mentioned earlier, my favorite slippers that I "must" wear as soon as I get home, and of our pond and plants.
I do have more (serious) stuff to write about that, but I'm going to run for now.
c
c
Saturday, September 15, 2007
It's been awhile since I wrote...
Not much has happened with the family stuff since I wrote last.
I've had an unusual month or two. I went to Alabama for work... the following week, I went to Asheville with Todd. This week, I went to New Bern NC for work. I'm in town next week... then I go to Savannah for work. I'm in town for a week, then I'm in Charlotte for work. I'm actually a little tired of travelling already!!
My co-worker, Marisa, and I had a good time in New Bern, though. It's a cute little historic sort of-coastal town (it's just inland of the Outer Banks & is on a convergence of rivers that come together. It was the first town in NC... and it is the birthplace of Pepsi). We went for the AIA (American Institute of Architects) conference. We flew up on Sept 11. Got there mid-day & had a great lunch (seafood, of course). Marisa slept all afternoon. I laid out on a bench by the water & read for awhile. Then, I took a walk along the river's edge (they have a public area built out there). There was a red & white bi-plane doing flips in the air & diving towards the ground / pulling up before he got too close. (I HATE THAT!!!). It was getting dark, so I woke Marisa / we grabbed a couple of apps & ate at "the deck" a restaurant connected to our hotel... and we did work on our Presentation for Thursday.
I loved our hotel room. We were on the bay overlooking the marina. We were the adjacent building to the conference center. Everything was walk-able. We got up early / did the full-day training on Wednesday (which went really well) / then came back to the room to chill a bit. Marisa slept & I went for another walk. It was kinda funny - I ran into several of the students from our class that day. It was like I was living in that small town / knew a lot of people I saw on the street. I came back to get her so we could go grab dinner. The people at the conference recommended that we go to a restaurant called the Chelsea. We had a fantastic meal (calamari salad... bbq shrimp... salmon). We walked home in the rain & worked until 2 am!
I got up early on Thursday & went back to "my bench" to work a bit on the powerpoint we were giving. It was a new ppt for us, so we worked a lot on it. We walked to breakfast, worked on the ppt some more. We finished preparing at the conference center & then delivered a successful presentation. Lots of great feedback / good comments.... and encouragement from various students. We were walking through the trade show & we almost felt like celebrities. People giving us thumbs-up and waving and wanting to come up to talk to us. Neither of us have had such a great reception (It was a bit of an ego boost, admittedly!)
We went back to the Chelsea for a late late lunch and then flew back home. It was raining when we got back to the airport.
It was a really busy week -- but that's ok. It kept my mind off of the waiting for Roberta to call back with info on the foster care child.
I've had an unusual month or two. I went to Alabama for work... the following week, I went to Asheville with Todd. This week, I went to New Bern NC for work. I'm in town next week... then I go to Savannah for work. I'm in town for a week, then I'm in Charlotte for work. I'm actually a little tired of travelling already!!
My co-worker, Marisa, and I had a good time in New Bern, though. It's a cute little historic sort of-coastal town (it's just inland of the Outer Banks & is on a convergence of rivers that come together. It was the first town in NC... and it is the birthplace of Pepsi). We went for the AIA (American Institute of Architects) conference. We flew up on Sept 11. Got there mid-day & had a great lunch (seafood, of course). Marisa slept all afternoon. I laid out on a bench by the water & read for awhile. Then, I took a walk along the river's edge (they have a public area built out there). There was a red & white bi-plane doing flips in the air & diving towards the ground / pulling up before he got too close. (I HATE THAT!!!). It was getting dark, so I woke Marisa / we grabbed a couple of apps & ate at "the deck" a restaurant connected to our hotel... and we did work on our Presentation for Thursday.
I loved our hotel room. We were on the bay overlooking the marina. We were the adjacent building to the conference center. Everything was walk-able. We got up early / did the full-day training on Wednesday (which went really well) / then came back to the room to chill a bit. Marisa slept & I went for another walk. It was kinda funny - I ran into several of the students from our class that day. It was like I was living in that small town / knew a lot of people I saw on the street. I came back to get her so we could go grab dinner. The people at the conference recommended that we go to a restaurant called the Chelsea. We had a fantastic meal (calamari salad... bbq shrimp... salmon). We walked home in the rain & worked until 2 am!
I got up early on Thursday & went back to "my bench" to work a bit on the powerpoint we were giving. It was a new ppt for us, so we worked a lot on it. We walked to breakfast, worked on the ppt some more. We finished preparing at the conference center & then delivered a successful presentation. Lots of great feedback / good comments.... and encouragement from various students. We were walking through the trade show & we almost felt like celebrities. People giving us thumbs-up and waving and wanting to come up to talk to us. Neither of us have had such a great reception (It was a bit of an ego boost, admittedly!)
We went back to the Chelsea for a late late lunch and then flew back home. It was raining when we got back to the airport.
My *FAVORITE* thing about the trip: the fish popping up out of the water. Were they going for bugs just above the surface? That made me smile every time I saw it. Once or twice I saw a fish pop out 3 or 4 times in a row. That's talent!
It was a really busy week -- but that's ok. It kept my mind off of the waiting for Roberta to call back with info on the foster care child.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
I feel like I should "document" what we do. Last night: went out after work last night with Todd's co-workers 'til about 8, then drove a short ways away to a gallery in town to visit an exhibit of a former co-worker who's a photographer now. Then, Todd & I grabbed a little bite of food before coming home. We had an interesting discussion:
A former neighbor -- who's adopted 2 children told us a few weeks ago about a woman who has a child in foster care... but she cannot take care of the little girl anymore. She wants to find a family for the girl b/c she doesn't want her to go back into the system. I believe she's 2 years old. At first, Todd said he'd prefer to start our family with an infant. I've been thinking a lot about the situation lately / he & I talked about it last night. He said he had been thinking about it lately too.
I think we're going to at least talk to the lady andget more details. It's not guaranteed, but we were actually discussing about HOW THE HECK would we go ahead & take this on?! Honestly, I don't think we could afford it w/out working.... could I work from home? would the foster mother be willing to watch her during the day (we could pay her / it may ease the transistion?) would a two year old be sad about leaving her foster home? would she bond with us? we figured that we could fix up the room real quickly. it just needs some crown moulding and one piece of shoe moulding. technically, the ceiling needs to be painted, but we could do this later (i was thinking about painting clouds on the ceiling in there & that may take awhile). what about furniture. what do 2 year olds need? could she use the double bed we already have in there? (we could just find a cute bed spread?) are 2 year olds potty trained? walking around? what about baby-proofing issues? clothes - i think i could figure out, but what kind of toys would we need to supply her with? when would a kid start going to some sort of school? pre school at 3 or 4? we don't have 9 months to plan... so i'm a little freaked out!
I emailed our neighbor & asked her to put us in touch. I'll call later too - when it's a decent hour. I'll write more later once we talk to a couple of folks.
I may actually go back to sleep. Woke up real early thought I'd blog a bit to get some stuff out of my brain.
Candice
A former neighbor -- who's adopted 2 children told us a few weeks ago about a woman who has a child in foster care... but she cannot take care of the little girl anymore. She wants to find a family for the girl b/c she doesn't want her to go back into the system. I believe she's 2 years old. At first, Todd said he'd prefer to start our family with an infant. I've been thinking a lot about the situation lately / he & I talked about it last night. He said he had been thinking about it lately too.
I think we're going to at least talk to the lady andget more details. It's not guaranteed, but we were actually discussing about HOW THE HECK would we go ahead & take this on?! Honestly, I don't think we could afford it w/out working.... could I work from home? would the foster mother be willing to watch her during the day (we could pay her / it may ease the transistion?) would a two year old be sad about leaving her foster home? would she bond with us? we figured that we could fix up the room real quickly. it just needs some crown moulding and one piece of shoe moulding. technically, the ceiling needs to be painted, but we could do this later (i was thinking about painting clouds on the ceiling in there & that may take awhile). what about furniture. what do 2 year olds need? could she use the double bed we already have in there? (we could just find a cute bed spread?) are 2 year olds potty trained? walking around? what about baby-proofing issues? clothes - i think i could figure out, but what kind of toys would we need to supply her with? when would a kid start going to some sort of school? pre school at 3 or 4? we don't have 9 months to plan... so i'm a little freaked out!
I emailed our neighbor & asked her to put us in touch. I'll call later too - when it's a decent hour. I'll write more later once we talk to a couple of folks.
I may actually go back to sleep. Woke up real early thought I'd blog a bit to get some stuff out of my brain.
Candice
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
3 more letters...
The weekend was a blur... drove to Asheville Monday / stopped in Hendersonville for the "Apple Festival" and bought a peck of apples (2 bags worth) -- what ever that means! But we took some to our friends Tad & Ashley (and their son Brenner). The next day, I hung out with a girl name Amy (the wife of the structural engineer for Todd's project) and her kids, Julia & Johnathan, at the Arboretum in Asheville. It's basically a big public garden. I got some good ideas for our back yard.... sorry Todd.... it will cost us, I'm sure. I did some work on the back porch at the Bed & Breakfast while Todd was at his project meeting -- which was very relaxing. We got home late last night from Asheville.
But, I was so pleasantly surprised to get more letters! In fact, we got three today. Pretty cool, really. I was telling a friend, Sara, how "therapeutic" this is -- to get such great words of encouragement from our friends, neighbors, and family. We got a letter from a former co-worker - Milli, a current co-worker - Ruth Ann, and a friend / travel companion - Mike. In fact, the latter was really touching, for I feel that Mike knows us very well. We've travelled with him & his family to the mountains on several trips and they let us stay with them in Italy last fall when he was working out there. We have become close with him, his wife Sara, and son Aaron. They just had another baby (about 2 months ago)... and... should we be lucky enough to adopt soon, I'm sure that their boys will grow up playing with our kids.
Oh - I thought of one other interesting thing that happened recently: I'm working on a side job -- a renovation project at a neighbor's house. Their daughter REALLY wants to be an architect and go to the same school that Todd & I went to. I think she's 9 -- which is impressive that she's that into colleges already. The cute thing is that when I go over there, she does sketches of bubble houses and beds that slide out of walls and stuff. She's very creative -- and her mom gave me the sketches she did today.... I guess I'm supposed to incorporate them into the plans for their kitchen & bedroom renovation? I like encouraging her to sketch and think of new ideas. Also, I gave her a project & a book to do the project in -- to photo document the state of the current house / then document things as the renovation takes place. I need to check her "before" pictures to make sure she does them!
It's 11:00 pm. I'm going to scoot. I don't think I have anything interesting going on tomorrow. That's ok. I need to settle down a bit & get back to normal.
C
But, I was so pleasantly surprised to get more letters! In fact, we got three today. Pretty cool, really. I was telling a friend, Sara, how "therapeutic" this is -- to get such great words of encouragement from our friends, neighbors, and family. We got a letter from a former co-worker - Milli, a current co-worker - Ruth Ann, and a friend / travel companion - Mike. In fact, the latter was really touching, for I feel that Mike knows us very well. We've travelled with him & his family to the mountains on several trips and they let us stay with them in Italy last fall when he was working out there. We have become close with him, his wife Sara, and son Aaron. They just had another baby (about 2 months ago)... and... should we be lucky enough to adopt soon, I'm sure that their boys will grow up playing with our kids.
Oh - I thought of one other interesting thing that happened recently: I'm working on a side job -- a renovation project at a neighbor's house. Their daughter REALLY wants to be an architect and go to the same school that Todd & I went to. I think she's 9 -- which is impressive that she's that into colleges already. The cute thing is that when I go over there, she does sketches of bubble houses and beds that slide out of walls and stuff. She's very creative -- and her mom gave me the sketches she did today.... I guess I'm supposed to incorporate them into the plans for their kitchen & bedroom renovation? I like encouraging her to sketch and think of new ideas. Also, I gave her a project & a book to do the project in -- to photo document the state of the current house / then document things as the renovation takes place. I need to check her "before" pictures to make sure she does them!
It's 11:00 pm. I'm going to scoot. I don't think I have anything interesting going on tomorrow. That's ok. I need to settle down a bit & get back to normal.
C
Saturday, September 1, 2007
A whirlwind week...
Since I wrote last... a lot has happened. I went to a meeting in Alabama (haven't been since I was a kid. Actually parts of it (the northern part as we were heading into Tennessee) were quite beautiful. Sounds weird, but we drove through Chattanooga Tennessee to get to our destination in Huntsville Alabama. I was meeting with a bunch of Army folks for work. One Army person from Atlanta rode with us... the rest came from NC & Illinois. The first night we got there, we drove around the historic part of town. They have 3 districts. It's much nicer & larger than I expected. We had 2 days of meetings & then drove back Wednesday night.
Thursday night, I went to Dave & Buster's with my girl's night crowd. What a fantastic place. We ate dinner, then played games for a few hours. (My favorite thing right now to do there is to play this interactive video game that simulates you in a boxing rink. You have these gloves on which must have sensors in them... and it shows how you jab the guy on the computer screen. My friend Renee did SO good!! I think she burned over 300 calories b/c her game dragged out for 3 or 4 rounds! (I only made it to round 2 this time, but the first time I did it, I kicked A.. too!) We played for tickets at Skee Ball, a horse racing game, and at basketball... our friend Courtney got an Elmo for her little girl and Karen got a frog for her son with all of our combined tickets.
Friday, I had another out-of-office day -- but at least locally. We held a green building charrette for an architecture firm in town. It went well - maybe one of the best ones we've had? So... by the end of the day on Friday, I was tired from the travels earlier that week & from the all-day presentation. But - I had a nice treat that night. I had previously scheduled a massage Friday night. I've only had one before. This one -- was at the house!! The masseuse set up at the far end of our bedroom - in front of the open doors overlooking the pond. (That was my idea... and it was great - it was so relaxing!)
Today (Saturday), Todd & I ran some errands and went up to the square. There was an Art in the Park festival. We bought a print from a local painter. Also, I took some old boxes to contribute to the kids area -- as our group organizes an event where kids paint them to look like buildings & they lay them out on roads which have been drawn on a big white tarp. It's pretty cute. One day, we'll be able to take the kids through the sand-in-the-bottle making area... and the big bouncy house... and the face painting. One day.
Tonight, we went to a wedding & saw a bunch of people we used to work with. It was outdoors & the weather was gorgeous (finally). One of the couples we know were talking about their next trip to Cumberland Island. I blurted out "can we go with you next time?" and they said YES! yay. i'm so excited. i've wanted to go there for quite some time, but it's a little intimidating. (It's very wild... there are horses that roam the island. There's no civilization on the island (well, I think there may be a litte in one part - but not where you camp out at). So... I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to go with them. They've been the past 4 or 5 years with their 2 children.
Tomorrow, we're going to a Braves / Mets game. Monday - Labor Day holiday - we're driving to Asheville in the morning & are planning to meet some folks in a neighboring city for the local apple festival. Tuesday, I'm planning to go to the Asheville Arboretum with one of them & their kids.
All in all - good times this week.
good night. C
Thursday night, I went to Dave & Buster's with my girl's night crowd. What a fantastic place. We ate dinner, then played games for a few hours. (My favorite thing right now to do there is to play this interactive video game that simulates you in a boxing rink. You have these gloves on which must have sensors in them... and it shows how you jab the guy on the computer screen. My friend Renee did SO good!! I think she burned over 300 calories b/c her game dragged out for 3 or 4 rounds! (I only made it to round 2 this time, but the first time I did it, I kicked A.. too!) We played for tickets at Skee Ball, a horse racing game, and at basketball... our friend Courtney got an Elmo for her little girl and Karen got a frog for her son with all of our combined tickets.
Friday, I had another out-of-office day -- but at least locally. We held a green building charrette for an architecture firm in town. It went well - maybe one of the best ones we've had? So... by the end of the day on Friday, I was tired from the travels earlier that week & from the all-day presentation. But - I had a nice treat that night. I had previously scheduled a massage Friday night. I've only had one before. This one -- was at the house!! The masseuse set up at the far end of our bedroom - in front of the open doors overlooking the pond. (That was my idea... and it was great - it was so relaxing!)
Today (Saturday), Todd & I ran some errands and went up to the square. There was an Art in the Park festival. We bought a print from a local painter. Also, I took some old boxes to contribute to the kids area -- as our group organizes an event where kids paint them to look like buildings & they lay them out on roads which have been drawn on a big white tarp. It's pretty cute. One day, we'll be able to take the kids through the sand-in-the-bottle making area... and the big bouncy house... and the face painting. One day.
Tonight, we went to a wedding & saw a bunch of people we used to work with. It was outdoors & the weather was gorgeous (finally). One of the couples we know were talking about their next trip to Cumberland Island. I blurted out "can we go with you next time?" and they said YES! yay. i'm so excited. i've wanted to go there for quite some time, but it's a little intimidating. (It's very wild... there are horses that roam the island. There's no civilization on the island (well, I think there may be a litte in one part - but not where you camp out at). So... I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to go with them. They've been the past 4 or 5 years with their 2 children.
Tomorrow, we're going to a Braves / Mets game. Monday - Labor Day holiday - we're driving to Asheville in the morning & are planning to meet some folks in a neighboring city for the local apple festival. Tuesday, I'm planning to go to the Asheville Arboretum with one of them & their kids.
All in all - good times this week.
good night. C
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Saturday the 25th.
Todd went to Pennsylvania this morning. His Aunt's husband passed away earlier this week & he's meeting his family up there. My best friend from college & her mom came down from South Carolina today. They wanted to come see the pond. Cindy wrote a really wonderful birth-mother letter. She & her husband, John, asked Todd & me to take care of their son last year after he was born - if something should happen to them. She wrote about that in the letter and it was touching!
Tonight, my friend Cecilia came by & brought her daughter Cristina over. Cristina is 7 3/4 years old. She and I hung around the pond and IN the pond for awhile playing with the fish. Then a hawk swooped down. (I saw one earlier today with a squirrel in it's talons.) Cristina & I set up a barrier around the pond with chairs so that the hawk couldn't swoop down and get the fish. We're inside now watching High School Musical and playing with the cats. Cristina asked if I could be her aunt. sure!
I should go.
Tonight, my friend Cecilia came by & brought her daughter Cristina over. Cristina is 7 3/4 years old. She and I hung around the pond and IN the pond for awhile playing with the fish. Then a hawk swooped down. (I saw one earlier today with a squirrel in it's talons.) Cristina & I set up a barrier around the pond with chairs so that the hawk couldn't swoop down and get the fish. We're inside now watching High School Musical and playing with the cats. Cristina asked if I could be her aunt. sure!
I should go.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Some more letters
I need to write and request some more letters of support (the effort I did last weekend didn't cover all of my family... some people got the request / others did not... so the ones that didn't get letters think that I didn't want them to write something up on our behalf. NOT TRUE!) I'll send out 3 or 4 more tonight to make sure I've got everyone covered.
But - I really post on the blog tonight b/c I got in a few more letters today from friends. One from the neighbor's girlfriend, Connie, who we've known for several years... and two letters from a life-long friend, Susan, and her husband, Chad. One was to me from her. The other was to Todd and me from the two of them. Susan was one of the first people who we told that we were pursuing adoption -- and she's been so excited and encouraging. She's the best!
Later. C
But - I really post on the blog tonight b/c I got in a few more letters today from friends. One from the neighbor's girlfriend, Connie, who we've known for several years... and two letters from a life-long friend, Susan, and her husband, Chad. One was to me from her. The other was to Todd and me from the two of them. Susan was one of the first people who we told that we were pursuing adoption -- and she's been so excited and encouraging. She's the best!
Later. C
Sunday, August 19, 2007
the end of a busy weekend...
It's Sunday night & we're winding down. We had a busy weekend!
Saturday, I volunteered at a Teacher's Supply Storehouse event -- a place where businesses donate left over products / supplies... and teachers can come "shop" for free stuff that they can use in their classroom. I hadn't ever gone before & I wanted to check it out. It's a neat concept / a great way to use items that can't be recycled. Saves them from going into a landfill. I had a neighborhood planning meeting, we ran errands, then we cleaned house for a little while b/c we had company coming over Saturday night.
Paul & Roberta, former next-door neighbors came because we asked to talk to them about their adoption experiences. They adopted two children: one a boy who's now 8 years old and a girl who is 4. They started out at an agency and ended up getting both children through independent adoption. (Much like the couple who we talked to a couple of weeks ago.) I think it helped us become more resolute about our decision to "cast a wide net" amongst friends, family, colleagues and get the word on the street that we're interested in adoption... see what happens... then go through an agency. Also, they said something nice, too, about how they feel about their kids. They don't think about the fact that they didn't have the kids on their own. They actually "forget" that the kids are adopted. They're theirs through and through. (The pond & fish were a real hit with their kids.)
When we got home from dinner, we noticed that a neighbor had dropped off a letter. A young couple who lives around the corner from us - who have a toddler - wrote a beautiful letter for us to put on the website. We enjoy hanging out with them / they're a fun couple... he flies for a living & is out a lot. We hope to spend more time with them (Karen & Brandon) and their son as the years go on. Maybe our kids will play together one day?
This morning, we had people over for brunch. A couple of other architecture couples, the twin sister of one of the architects, and all of their kids (4 plus one infant). The sister, Naomi, and I have become close over the years because she was going through IVF right before I was and we talked a lot (although she lived in Michigan at the time). She has a beautiful daughter as a result of her IVF procedure... but she told me today that she would consider adoption rather than go through the medical stuff again... because "now" is the part where you get the love from the child and it's the most rewarding. I thought that was nice to hear. The kids played baseball, bocce, ran around the yard, swung in the hammock, and - of course - ran around the pond and stream. So far, kids LOVE it! We had 10 - 12 dragon flies buzzing around today. It was the most we had seen so far.
Finally, the weekend came to a close with a tour of the house and dinner up on the square with the parents of a friend of mine from high school who died in a car crash our senior year. I've kept in touch with them ever since and about every year or two, we get together to catch up, but we write and send emails to one another a lot more often. They hadn't seen the house or pond, nor been to our great little square. Joyce & Danny also brought over a really touching letter for us to put on the website.
All of this support from friends, neighbors, co-workers has been great. It seems that we feel a little bit better about our decision every day. It IS the right thing to do!
(Side note: We love our house... especially when it's clean!)
Goodnight, C
Saturday, I volunteered at a Teacher's Supply Storehouse event -- a place where businesses donate left over products / supplies... and teachers can come "shop" for free stuff that they can use in their classroom. I hadn't ever gone before & I wanted to check it out. It's a neat concept / a great way to use items that can't be recycled. Saves them from going into a landfill. I had a neighborhood planning meeting, we ran errands, then we cleaned house for a little while b/c we had company coming over Saturday night.
Paul & Roberta, former next-door neighbors came because we asked to talk to them about their adoption experiences. They adopted two children: one a boy who's now 8 years old and a girl who is 4. They started out at an agency and ended up getting both children through independent adoption. (Much like the couple who we talked to a couple of weeks ago.) I think it helped us become more resolute about our decision to "cast a wide net" amongst friends, family, colleagues and get the word on the street that we're interested in adoption... see what happens... then go through an agency. Also, they said something nice, too, about how they feel about their kids. They don't think about the fact that they didn't have the kids on their own. They actually "forget" that the kids are adopted. They're theirs through and through. (The pond & fish were a real hit with their kids.)
When we got home from dinner, we noticed that a neighbor had dropped off a letter. A young couple who lives around the corner from us - who have a toddler - wrote a beautiful letter for us to put on the website. We enjoy hanging out with them / they're a fun couple... he flies for a living & is out a lot. We hope to spend more time with them (Karen & Brandon) and their son as the years go on. Maybe our kids will play together one day?
This morning, we had people over for brunch. A couple of other architecture couples, the twin sister of one of the architects, and all of their kids (4 plus one infant). The sister, Naomi, and I have become close over the years because she was going through IVF right before I was and we talked a lot (although she lived in Michigan at the time). She has a beautiful daughter as a result of her IVF procedure... but she told me today that she would consider adoption rather than go through the medical stuff again... because "now" is the part where you get the love from the child and it's the most rewarding. I thought that was nice to hear. The kids played baseball, bocce, ran around the yard, swung in the hammock, and - of course - ran around the pond and stream. So far, kids LOVE it! We had 10 - 12 dragon flies buzzing around today. It was the most we had seen so far.
Finally, the weekend came to a close with a tour of the house and dinner up on the square with the parents of a friend of mine from high school who died in a car crash our senior year. I've kept in touch with them ever since and about every year or two, we get together to catch up, but we write and send emails to one another a lot more often. They hadn't seen the house or pond, nor been to our great little square. Joyce & Danny also brought over a really touching letter for us to put on the website.
All of this support from friends, neighbors, co-workers has been great. It seems that we feel a little bit better about our decision every day. It IS the right thing to do!
(Side note: We love our house... especially when it's clean!)
Goodnight, C
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tuesday Night
I got home late tonight - I went to Katy's house to have dinner / see her 2 year old son.
He started out shy, but we played for awhile & he warmed up. He's a really cute kid. (He really liked my kitty-cat shoes, too... he'd walk around meowing.)
So, I have a little time to check emails - and I got a couple of really nice, encouraging emails as well as a great voicemail on the answering machine. (We sent out more cards and emails over the weekend.) Oh - and we got our first card today to scan onto the website. (Thanks, Kelly!!) I'm excited to get this effort rolling. I have an offering from a neighbor to help set up some WYSIWYG website stuff -- and was told it's better / more creative than using HTML. Thanks Eric!!! I can't wait to lay this thing out / come up with a look. And - our friend Bob, in San Fran offered to help with some web stuff too. I think with Eric's technical help and Bob's creativity... we should have a great site. I should start "storyboarding" it soon. I'll post a link at some point.
We are really touched so far by people's willingness to help (in writing letters / sending encouragement / offering to assist with web stuff). It feels like there's a big group of folks who WANT us to become parents! yay.
goodnight.
c
He started out shy, but we played for awhile & he warmed up. He's a really cute kid. (He really liked my kitty-cat shoes, too... he'd walk around meowing.)
So, I have a little time to check emails - and I got a couple of really nice, encouraging emails as well as a great voicemail on the answering machine. (We sent out more cards and emails over the weekend.) Oh - and we got our first card today to scan onto the website. (Thanks, Kelly!!) I'm excited to get this effort rolling. I have an offering from a neighbor to help set up some WYSIWYG website stuff -- and was told it's better / more creative than using HTML. Thanks Eric!!! I can't wait to lay this thing out / come up with a look. And - our friend Bob, in San Fran offered to help with some web stuff too. I think with Eric's technical help and Bob's creativity... we should have a great site. I should start "storyboarding" it soon. I'll post a link at some point.
We are really touched so far by people's willingness to help (in writing letters / sending encouragement / offering to assist with web stuff). It feels like there's a big group of folks who WANT us to become parents! yay.
goodnight.
c
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Biomimicry & Chihuly
Todd worked all day today (Saturday)... so Connie (a neighbor's girlfriend) and I drove up to north GA mountains to go to a pond store. Todd & I were there last weekend for my company retreat / checked out the store & found a sale on Lotus plants. We have been wanting a lotus for awhile. The leaves have this coating on them that repels water. You can drop a handful of water on a leaf and it will hold it & eventually tip over / spill out. It's fun to play with.
Ok. Here's something that I think is absolutely AMAZING. Scientists are studying the Lotus leaf to learn how it repels water so well. They are applying this information to products (Georgia Tech researchers are making a coating for solar panels so that they don't get dirty or scummy and eventually degrade the ability to collect solar energy. This technology will be applied to building glass so that building owners won't have to hire window washers to scale up high-rise buidlings to clean windows. I bet that eventually car paints will be made out of this coating so that you don't have to wash them?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_effect
There's a movement called Biomimicry that studies nature to emulate properties (check out http://www.biomimicry.net/ for information.) The Lotus leaf research falls into that category. Scientists are studying geckos feets because they're stickier than anything else. Some carpet manufacturers are looking at using this technology to make carpets stick to the floor without using adhesives. So so cool! Check out the biomimicry website if you can. You won't be disappointed!
The Lotus plant that we bought today will have a yellow bloom on it when it eventually flowers. We also bought this Arrowhead plant that has graceful stems. Todd says that I like it because it looks like a Chihuly (blown glass) piece of art. Honestly - it does. It looks sort of like this one's stems: http://www.chihuly.com/ikebana/garden009.html
I'm rambling, but one of our FAVORITE art exhibits was the Chihuly "Gardens in Glass" exhibit that we saw when we travelled to Chicago. Ever since then, we've been huge fans of his plant pieces. (the baskets & bowls are cool, but the plant pieces - set amongst real plants and flowers is absolutely breathtaking. Check out one of his garden exhibits - if you ever get the chance.)
One last thing that we bought today: a set of 4 little kids chairs -- those old-timey school chairs. I have a thing for chairs (Todd says we have too many)... but they're really unique and I got the set for 20 bucks. I will probably paint them & stick them in the kid's room around an art table or something. (one day!)
I'm going to run. I'll check back in a day or two.
C
Ok. Here's something that I think is absolutely AMAZING. Scientists are studying the Lotus leaf to learn how it repels water so well. They are applying this information to products (Georgia Tech researchers are making a coating for solar panels so that they don't get dirty or scummy and eventually degrade the ability to collect solar energy. This technology will be applied to building glass so that building owners won't have to hire window washers to scale up high-rise buidlings to clean windows. I bet that eventually car paints will be made out of this coating so that you don't have to wash them?) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_effect
There's a movement called Biomimicry that studies nature to emulate properties (check out http://www.biomimicry.net/ for information.) The Lotus leaf research falls into that category. Scientists are studying geckos feets because they're stickier than anything else. Some carpet manufacturers are looking at using this technology to make carpets stick to the floor without using adhesives. So so cool! Check out the biomimicry website if you can. You won't be disappointed!
The Lotus plant that we bought today will have a yellow bloom on it when it eventually flowers. We also bought this Arrowhead plant that has graceful stems. Todd says that I like it because it looks like a Chihuly (blown glass) piece of art. Honestly - it does. It looks sort of like this one's stems: http://www.chihuly.com/ikebana/garden009.html
I'm rambling, but one of our FAVORITE art exhibits was the Chihuly "Gardens in Glass" exhibit that we saw when we travelled to Chicago. Ever since then, we've been huge fans of his plant pieces. (the baskets & bowls are cool, but the plant pieces - set amongst real plants and flowers is absolutely breathtaking. Check out one of his garden exhibits - if you ever get the chance.)
One last thing that we bought today: a set of 4 little kids chairs -- those old-timey school chairs. I have a thing for chairs (Todd says we have too many)... but they're really unique and I got the set for 20 bucks. I will probably paint them & stick them in the kid's room around an art table or something. (one day!)
I'm going to run. I'll check back in a day or two.
C
Friday, August 10, 2007
I ended up sending out some letters to people to ask if they will write a letter on our behalf. I mailed out 6. Emailed out about the same. Hand-delivered about 8 to neighbors.
Already, I am bowled over by some of the emails and calls that I've gotten already. We are so lucky to have such great friends and neighbors.
Already, I am bowled over by some of the emails and calls that I've gotten already. We are so lucky to have such great friends and neighbors.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Hi. I thought that I'd start up another one of these blogs. It's been 5 or more years since I did this the last time. Back then, we were just beginning the quest to start a family with fertility stuff... and we let a few people in on the blog (family, mostly) to keep up with our daily news. Unfortunately, that whole process didn't work for us (we tried a lot of stuff off and on for the past 5 years) and we decided last week to begin the process to pursue adoption.
We've talked briefly with a couple we know who have adopted and the main point of advice that they gave us: don't be shy about letting people know you want to adopt. You need to put yourself out there. So - this may be a good forum for that. We'll see.
We haven't done a lot of research yet. I've been reading a book which seems to be really negative (I think I'm going to stop reading it) and I've been reading some things on the web.
Last week, we met a couple at a dinner % concert who were talking about adoption so we dove into the conversation. They gave us a couple of websites to check into. Admittedly - I haven't checked the website on their agency yet. (I don't think I'm ready to look at agencies right now.)
Tonight, we just got back from the home of another couple who we didn't know but was also really open to talking about adoption. I found Julie's contact on a website that I was searching around on. She offered to pass along some information and talk to us / answer some questions. Since she lived close, we decided to go ahead and set it up. She and Mike were very informative and told us a bit about their experiences with independent adoptions, working with an agency, working with an adoption consultant, and working with an attorney. I walked away with a stack of papers about an inch high... and I have a list of "good" books to read. (She suggested that I burn the negative book I was reading... which I will likely do!)
I'm planning on working on a flier and a website so that we can get the word out. I could probably contact 300-500 people to cast a wide net for us and be on the lookout. Todd could probably contact another 200 or more people. If you're reading this blog -- you'll likely get the email or the flier that we'll want you to distribute to prospective birth parents you may know, school principals, councelors, baby-related medical professionals, etc. Stay tuned for that important document & link!
Already, I have a great line of support. My childhood friend, Susan, is making it her mission to help us get this done. She's already sent me some great websites and some data from a social worker that she knows. (Can you imagine the flood of info we could potentially gather once we cast that net? It's overwhelming and incredible -- just thinking about the potential!)
Well, I'll stop rambling. I should crash now & get some sleep.
Goodnight.
-candice
We've talked briefly with a couple we know who have adopted and the main point of advice that they gave us: don't be shy about letting people know you want to adopt. You need to put yourself out there. So - this may be a good forum for that. We'll see.
We haven't done a lot of research yet. I've been reading a book which seems to be really negative (I think I'm going to stop reading it) and I've been reading some things on the web.
Last week, we met a couple at a dinner % concert who were talking about adoption so we dove into the conversation. They gave us a couple of websites to check into. Admittedly - I haven't checked the website on their agency yet. (I don't think I'm ready to look at agencies right now.)
Tonight, we just got back from the home of another couple who we didn't know but was also really open to talking about adoption. I found Julie's contact on a website that I was searching around on. She offered to pass along some information and talk to us / answer some questions. Since she lived close, we decided to go ahead and set it up. She and Mike were very informative and told us a bit about their experiences with independent adoptions, working with an agency, working with an adoption consultant, and working with an attorney. I walked away with a stack of papers about an inch high... and I have a list of "good" books to read. (She suggested that I burn the negative book I was reading... which I will likely do!)
I'm planning on working on a flier and a website so that we can get the word out. I could probably contact 300-500 people to cast a wide net for us and be on the lookout. Todd could probably contact another 200 or more people. If you're reading this blog -- you'll likely get the email or the flier that we'll want you to distribute to prospective birth parents you may know, school principals, councelors, baby-related medical professionals, etc. Stay tuned for that important document & link!
Already, I have a great line of support. My childhood friend, Susan, is making it her mission to help us get this done. She's already sent me some great websites and some data from a social worker that she knows. (Can you imagine the flood of info we could potentially gather once we cast that net? It's overwhelming and incredible -- just thinking about the potential!)
Well, I'll stop rambling. I should crash now & get some sleep.
Goodnight.
-candice
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