Sunday, January 24, 2010

A Long Day
Jason joined the wrestling team for the winter term. Not my favorite sport since the chance of injury is so high but he enjoys it. At the last meet he was in, he had his sternum bruised and was out for a week. He was in the tournament today and came in 3rd place for his weight division. No injuries today except for a sore nose; another child dislocated his kneecap and was taken out by ambulance.
Today my schedule was get up at 6 and get the kids in the car so we could pull out of the driveway by 6:30. Drove 1/2 hour to the tournament. Waited for the coach to get there and then Jess and I drove back home 1/2 hour. I laid down for an hour while she played on the computer and then we drove 1/2 hour again to the tournament. We watched Jason wrestle and left at 11. Drove 1/2 hour to my mom's nursing home to take her to tea which was 1/2 an hour away in Plymouth. Had a wonderful tea at All Things Tea and got a text from Jason that he was done (about 2 hours earlier than we'd thought he'd be). Drove 1/2 hour to tournament to get him, 1/2 hour to the nursing home to drop my mom off and then 1/2 hour home. All in all, I drove about 4 hours today. If it'd been highway, it'd have been shorter but it was mostly regular streets with a much lower speed limit. I'm ready for some mindless tv tonight - thankfully I have Desperate Housewives and Worst Cooks in America to watch.






















Wednesday, January 13, 2010

More Prayers Needed

The brother-in-law of a friend is a doctor and landed in Haiti yesterday morning for a medical mission before the earthquake hit. He hasn't been heard from since 2 pm. Please pray that he is alive, well, busy helping those who are hurt and will be able to get to a working phone soon to let his family know he is alive.


Update- Prayers work - he is home now safe and sound!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Addition to Pray for the Child Post

Here's a link to the mom's blog that tells her story. Be prepared....I was in tears reading it.

http://allysjourney.blogspot.com/

Keep praying....it's working!!!!! The mom has heard from a very good immigration lawyer who thinks she may be able to help.

The purple army is fighting to bring you home, Alyssa!!!!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Pray for the child

A woman I met on a message board went to another country (not China) to adopt a baby. She met the child, loves the child, yet had to leave the child because the agency pulled something shady. Right now nothing more can be said about what agency (except that it was not the agency we used) because she is still hoping that a miracle will happen and that the baby will be back in her arms (no chance of the baby being with her birth family so she's back in the orphanage). Prayer is strong and can work miracles. Please....light a candle, pray that this child will be granted a forever family. And for those of you who think "That's what happens when you go outside the US to adopt.", it happens in this country too. Every child deserves a loving home where they are cherished regardless of where in the world they come from. I look at my little girl snuggled on my bed sound asleep and my heart just breaks for this woman and her child.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

Jess and her carseat




I spend a lot (too much!) time on Rumor Queen (that won't mean anything to anyone who's never been involved in a China adoption). As on many forum boards, there are people from all over the world discussing and debating. One discussion started about the safety of winter coats in car seats and the fact that winter coats in car seats are NOT safe. One poster who says she is a child passenger safety technician (the people who do carseat checks and can show you how to properly install the seat) said that children should definitely not be wearing bulky winter coats. She said the trick to see if your kids coat is too bulky is to put her in the seat with the coat on and tighten the harness appropriately. Then, take the coat off and buckle the harness but don't tighten it. If you can get more than a finger between the strap and the child, it's too loose. If you're in an accident and your child is wearing her coat, it may compress and your child can be expelled from the carseat. After reading this, I went online and did some research. I didn't find much about Massachusetts, but I did see that Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and Texas Department of Transportation both agree with the recommendation that the poster on Rumor Queen made. So....I decided no more bulky winter coat in the carseat. My sitter thought I was nuts. She said that it was too difficult to get kids' coats off and on in the car. I like my sitter and didn't want to have to switch, so I went online and looked for fleeces that are warm. I found a heavyweight fleece at Lands End that was in Jess's favorite color and when it came, it passed the carseat trick. So, all's well.

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Something funny going on

I checked my blog and noticed that some of the words in my posts are highlighted as links. I do not do links this way so I have no idea why this has happened. The only time I do a link is if I put in the whole url. Frustrating.



10 minutes later....okay I figured it out. I downloaded babelfish so I could read an email about Jinan that was in Swedish. When I downloaded this, some ad thing got downloaded as well. I uninstalled it and it seems to be okay now.
Aggravated and Venting

Just a quick post because I'm still thinking about something from work yesterday and I know that by writing it down, it's easier to move on. And, I figure, if I can't vent in my own blog, where can I vent? I don't know how the subject started because I was working on my plans at the time but somehow they got to joking if a prostitute claims rape, is it really rape or shoplifting. I've heard these jokes from guys before but really have we fallen so low that making jokes about a violent crime against women (usually) is really funny?? I was offended and wish I'd said something but I didn't. I just don't get how people think things like this are funny; in my book, they rate up there with racist jokes which many people I know enjoy telling and I find so offensive. This is a "humor" that I just don't find humorous.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Chocolate Fondue



I got an electric fondue pot for Christmas. It is so much easier and safer than lighting sterno. Jess liked it which is nice since Mike and Jason won't eat it and I can't really make a pot for myself (okay I could, but I really, really shouldn't). Watch out boys! My baby girl is going to be an expensive date with her penchant for baked brie, poached pear and now fondue. Of course, until she's 21 (make that 31....no 41), we'll be her only dates!

Saturday, January 02, 2010

Elf Yourself
Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Elf Yourself

I know Christmas is over but I just found this (actually I think I did it last year also but I forgot about it until I came across it on someone's blog tonight).


Friday, January 01, 2010

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010



What a year! In February we celebrated Jess's 2nd anniversary of her Gotcha Day. I cannot believe she's been home almost 3 years now! Someone asked me last night if I had trouble teaching her English when she came home. Mmmm....no, her speech is quite good and sometimes advanced. When she came home at 17 months, all she understood was Mandarin of course, but children pick up languages very quickly; that is why we should be teaching new langauges way before high school or middle school. Jess knows a little ASL as does Jason which is what I used when we were transitioning from Mandarin to English as it's easier to learn. This summer I had the chance to visit with family I don't know well in CA as well as some I do. We toured San Francisco with my brother and then caught up with cousins from my father's side of the family. We also got to catch up with Sharon, Dan and Keira who were part of our adoption group. The last few months of 2009 have been difficult. My mom had surgery this summer for a twisted hiatel hernia and has gone downhill quickly since then. We don't know if it's the anesthesia from the surgery (read since then that that can accelerate dementia in the elderly), the brain bleed she has, or if this would have happened without either of those things. I'm grateful she still remembers her children and her grandchildren although the details fluctuate (she thought Jess was 6, she thinks I work where I did when I was 16) but it is painful to see how lost she is. A year ago she was living in an assisted living apartment, now she's in an alzheimers unit in a nursing home.



On a happier note, my neighbor had some people over last night and I was thrilled to go. I don't drive on New Years Eve. There are too many crazies out there. Jess took a late nap (got up at 7:30) and I took her over since Mike was working. She took a bit to warm up as usual but after half an hour, she was talking to all the adults and playing with Deb's cat. We left about 10:30 and Jess was not happy about that. She wanted to stay but Jason was at home so I wanted to get back. We saw the New Years in together with noisemakers, hats, and sparkling apple cider.


Here's to 2010!!