progress

My home study is slo-o-owly coming along. I went back to the doctor for the another physical and bloodwork (the other was done last July and had to be updated) and I even sent off my I600A!! Now that's progress. Yeah, it's on now! I project that it will be finished with my home study by the end of August. Let's see if that happens!

Meanwhile, on the job front, I have applied to a few more places but there really don't seem to be as many jobs floating around as usual. I hadn't really felt the pinch of the recession or the uneasiness of unemployment until now but I am starting to get just a little, teensy bit nervous. I find out in the next couple of days if I can be hired for the preK position I applied for. It's contingent upon them actually needing new teachers and not being able to fill it with existing teachers currently under contract. If not, I do have some other options that I didn't really want to exercise, but just might.. and then there's always Starbucks; they have that great $4,000 adoption assistance benefit! And I swear, I am /this/far away from applying to doctoral programs. I've rebuffed my parents suggestion of getting a Ph.D. for years cause I'm lazy I didn't think I could write the dissertation, but I just learned that dissertations aren't required for most Ed.D. programs. I had no idea! Since both of my parents have Ph.D.s that's all I ever heard about (and I think to some an Ed.D is a watered down version, a less respected degree cause it doesn't require as much research and theory) but it sounds totally up my alley.

A friend of mine is a professor at UCLA and had lots to say on the matter and was totally convincing. I told him I couldn't imagine going to school full time with a new baby but he assured me that I could find somewhere that would offer me a full ride and that university campuses are great places for young children. I will at least look into it. Like he said, I lose nothing by applying. I can always turn it down or if it's too difficult to do next year, possibly defer. So, why not? So, doctoral programs but since I am really more interested in art-related fields I am going to see what programs there are where I can do what actually interests me.. arts education? art therapy?

Meanwhile, since I am not working yet, I have been organizing my house. Everyday I do a little something (or a lot) and it is slowly becoming less cluttered and more organized. Why do I have so much stuff?? Ridiculous.

For fun, I went to visit my old roommate (the one who got married a couple of weeks ago) before she returns to London. Look at how freakin' adorable her kids are!

I mean, seriously, could they be any cuter?!

I've also gone swimming at my friends pools; enjoyed food, folks and fun at my friend Michele's housewarming; and went to a birthday party with Andrea at a fabulous house with an international crowd. Good, clean (cheap!) fun.

inside the orphanage

While keeping within the guidelines of not showing close ups of children or pictures of children who have been matched with families, I think this is a pretty decent selection of photos. For great photos of kids without restrictions, you can leave me a comment and I can direct you to my Facebook page where we are allowed to post pictures since they aren't accessible to the public.

Playing soccer was a daily occurrence...and the kids are good!


Holding, kissing, cuddling, hugging, feeding the babies..one of the best parts of my day!


The kids did chores M-Th. here one group is sorting laundry.


A sweetie-pie having some milk.


the caregivers


This little cutie was thirsty and was clever enough to get her own water!


lunchtime


Every morning they bring the babies out to relax, bare-bottomed, in the sunshine. Adorable!


Babies in cribs in the baby house.


This was at a going away party for a boy who was leaving for America that night. They sang songs and had treats to celebrate his good fortune.


I pushed together their Bumbo seats so they could bond! :)






The compound was really nice. Even had swings!


Saying good-bye was heart-wrenching. We cried and many kids gave me gifts. Here I am with one of the wonderful girls on my last day.

Random photos from Ethiopia

Video of dune bashing

Desert Safari

While in Dubai, Andrea and I went on a desert safari. It consisted of dune-bashing, a camel ride, sand boarding (like snowboarding but on sand), riding on sand dunes on ATVs, a huge feast, henna application, and a belly dancing show. The first half was the dune-bashing. A group of us (me, Andrea and 5 Brits) squeezed into a 4WD vehicle and headed out to the desert. Our driver, Mohammed, then took the car up to full speed and went flying over the sand dunes. It was terrifying but so.much.fun.

before we knew what we were getting into

terrified! lol


posing with Mohammed


After the dune-bashing you could choose from the camel riding, sand boarding or off roading. I chose to ride a camel cause I have been dying to do that since my parents refused when we were in Egypt in 1982. I've been waiting 26 years so doggone it I was going to ride me a camel.

(the picture of me on the camel is on Andrea's camera... will post next week)

Then we went into this beautiful compound where we got some henna, had an amazing meal and watched a belly dancing show. Fun times!

on the compound

henna ~ love it!


yum-my!!

bellydancer

Desert Safari

While in Dubai, Andrea and I went on a desert safari. It consisted of dune-bashing, a camel ride, sand boarding (like snowboarding but on sand), riding on sand dunes on ATVs, a huge feast, henna application, and a belly dancing show. The first half was the dune-bashing. A group of us (me, Andrea and 5 Brits) squeezed into a 4WD vehicle and headed out to the desert. Our driver, Mohammed, then took the car up to full speed and went flying over the sand dunes. It was terrifying but so.much.fun.

in the car before we knew what we were getting into

laughing out of fear!

posing with Mohammed


After the dune-bashing you could choose from the camel riding, sand boarding or off roading. I chose to ride a camel cause I have been dying to do that since my parents refused when we were in Egypt in 1982. I've been waiting 26 years so doggone it I was going to ride me a camel.

(the picture of me on the camel is on Andrea's camera... will post next week)

Then we went into this beautiful compound where we got some henna, had an amazing meal and watched a belly dancing show. Fun times!

on the compound

yum-my!!!!!

henna~love it!