Friday, April 29, 2005

Coffee

Coffee originated in Ethiopia!  It is referred to as buna.  Buna, an important word.  Buna ... my first "Ethiopian" word (not sure exactly what language).  According to my travel book, there are some nice coffee rituals in Ethiopia ... where the green beans are roasted right before they are ground and brewed ... yummy!   Other interesting Ethiopian facts and tidbits:  The flag has three horizontal stripes, green at the top, then yellow, and finally red.  The green symbolizes the fertility of the country, yellow the religious freedom and red the lives sacrificed to protect the nation. 

 

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Getting going

Just a quick update.  I e-mail the application coordinator at Children's Home ... asking about the status of my application and then inquiring about what class I might get into.  She responded quickly (within 2 minutes!), saying that she was sending out the invitations for the May class today (weird huh?), and that I will be in the May class!  This is good news because it's after this weekend that I get assigned my social worker and start my home study ... things are going to start moving towards the end of May. 

Stacy

Sunday, April 17, 2005

A pigeon/baby connection

Well ... I've finally found a way to make the two subjects of this blog connect .... pigeons and adoption.  Today we got rid of pigeon messes and picked up a crib.  Kind of weird to have a crib even though I haven't even gotten through my home study yet, but it was an opportunity to have a free crib, and I took it!  I figure, if something doesn't work out with the adoption, having a crib won't make me any more disappointed then if I didn't have a crib.  Now on to the pigeons ... little cuz' Tyler hopped up on the roof and scraped/sprayed those pigeon nests down ... we scrubbed down the steps and as of 8:30 tonight, there was no signs of pigeon activity.  I am not convinced that this is going to "stick" and will be keeping my eyes out for signs of their return.  I am still waiting to hear from Children's Home Society as to the date of my PAC class weekend, which will either be the 3rd weekend in May or the 3rd weekend in July.  After this class weekend, adoption updates will be coming faster ...Happy spring  Stacy

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Pigeons

Well, I came home after spending four days away, and the pigeons are now trying to create a twig nursery on my front steps ... yes, I came home to a nest building factory.  The advice: spray WD-40 on their area ... I swept away the nesting material, got out the old ladder, wobbled my way up the ladder, sprayed the one nesting area, wobbled my way down.  Next day:  the twigs had been re-dragged up to the WD-40 area ... the pigeons are taking over ... the pigeons are taking over  ...

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Break is over

Well, my spring break has come and gone.  I actually got less sleep then when I am working!  I was catching up on e-mail and decided to go looking on the Children's Home Society website.  I found an Ethiopia forum, people asking and answering questions about the adoption process etc.  It made me so excited.  I found out that the process is still moving FAST.  If I can get past the income fear (the fear that I don't make enough money to qualify), I think that this adoption will happen really fast. It seems like people are getting referrals about 2 months (or less),after they finish their dossier and the baby is ready to travel within 2 months after that. So what does that mean in terms of timing for me??? Well, I am guessing I'll take this class in mid May or Mid July ... my homestudy and dossier should be finished within two months after that class so If I take the class in May, I could travel in November or December ... and if I take the class in July I could travel in Feb or March ... Of course this is all just educated guessing. Also the people answering the forum questions are reporting that their babies are very healthy and well adjusted.  The health problems they've encountered are mild and treatable.  Whew ... I am glad I read that forum, now the trick is to not get obsessive about checking the forum. 

stacy

Saturday, April 2, 2005

Spring break!!

Lots of good things about today ... 1. got together with Sara who just returned from 2+ years in Thailand, Peace Corps.  She's here to stay now. We had an afternoon of catching up/story telling .  It's nice to have my friend back.  2. It was the first day of spring break. 3. Becky sent a copy of the reference letter she wrote about me for the adoption ... she made me sound pretty cool.  Always nice to read nice things about oneself.  This is making me SO ready to get on with the next step of this adoption process.  I just can't wait for this to happen and it's causing a lot of anxiety to be at the mercy of others during this stage of the process.

PIGEON UPDATE (i was just reminded of them, as I hear their evil warbles outside my window) ... My dad read that you can deter the pigeons by spraying their roosting area with WD-40 ... ok, it's not the violent pigeon genocide that I feel like, but it sounds like a viable alternative.  I will attempt this on Sunday and will keep you all posted.  

Speaking of violence.  I saw my first Lacrosse game on Friday night ... it was SO COOL.  I will NOT be taking my baby to a Lacrosse game .. baseball yes ... Lacrosse no.  I did discover that I get into the smacking and fighting that seems to come with the game of Lacrosse.  It's sometimes disturbing to learn new things about yourself.   I did temper the violence of Lacrosse with stopping to hear Phil Heywood play some good and peaceful guitar music at a coffee house later Friday night ... by bedtime I felt very balanced.