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