NaBloPoMo?! Am I crazy?! Yes, especially with traveling for the holidays. Am I setting myself up for failure? Oh, very possibly. But I'm gonna try anyway! Wish me luck!
Today I will leave you with two comments I got from the custodians at my school.
1. One day after school one of them was sweeping up my classroom and saw Naomi. He said, "Oh, is this your daughter?" "Yes," I replied. "She looks just like you." I just smiled.
2. Last week another custodian was in my classroom. He saw a picture of my daughter. "Is that your daughter?" "Yes," I replied. "You must have been with a very black man." Alrighty then.
Good luck to all my fellow NaBloPoMo participants!
Showing posts with label nablopomo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nablopomo. Show all posts
11.01.2010
12.25.2008
Merry Christmas!
My mom is all about traditions. At our house the Christmas traditions that have lasted to adulthood include:
* an Advent wreath. My mom puts it on the dining room table and we light the candles before dinner on the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas (three purple, one pink). After it is lit my mother or father will say "Our King and Savior draweth nigh" to which we reply "Oh come let us adore him" and then sing Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel altogether
* attending the 11pm Christmas eve service
* putting up a Christmas tree (of course)
* wrapping gifts after church, late into the night
* eating apricot horns for breakfast (a homemade pastry with apricot filling)
* having the local, commercial-free classical music station playing all day long
* opening the gifts in age order, round robin so everyone can see what everyone else got
* taking tons of photographs
* eating Christmas dinner late
* eating homemade sugar cookies from my grandmother's recipe
(other kid traditions included doing an Advent calendar, participating in the Christmas pageant, hanging a stocking at the fireplace, leaving cookies out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, moving the three kings closer to the manger until they arrive on the 12th day of Christmas...)
I am all about tradition and family and that is one of the main reasons I can't wait to have children --to pass down and start creating traditions of my own. Yet, I find myself celebrating another Christmas without a family of my own. I am extremely grateful and blessed to still have my parents here with me to celebrate (they are in their 80's) and it's nice to see other family members, but I so yearn to have my own family and start my own traditions, and holidays are a reminder of the things that I want so badly but are still just out of reach. So, like last year, I wasn't really looking forward to the holiday. It didn't help this year that with my new job we had to work all the way until the 23rd. Then I was too tired to make the drive on the 24th which meant I missed the Christmas eve service. I didn't realize how much I was going to miss it, but when I think about it, I have attended that service for almost 40 years! Talk about tradition! Then I missed the early morning apricot horns and had a bowl of Cheerios instead! You can see how it felt like any other day.
Well, it didn't turn out to be so bad after all. The drive up here was quicker that usual (the weather cooperated) and there was barely any traffic. My mom handed me a plate of apricot horns when I arrived and I sat down at the table to enjoy them with the classical music station playing in the background. Yeah, there are no kids around (my niece and nephew are 21 and 18 respectively) and yeah, I was still wistful, but we laughed and drank wine and had an amazing meal and exchanged gifts and ate hundreds of sugar cookies. I survived. It wasn't so bad... but NEXT YEAR is going to be SO MUCH BETTER! I just know it! Mark my words.. I'm going to post a link to this post next year! lol
I hope you had a very merry Christmas!
NaBloPoMo #25 theme:thankful
* an Advent wreath. My mom puts it on the dining room table and we light the candles before dinner on the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas (three purple, one pink). After it is lit my mother or father will say "Our King and Savior draweth nigh" to which we reply "Oh come let us adore him" and then sing Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel altogether
* attending the 11pm Christmas eve service
* putting up a Christmas tree (of course)
* wrapping gifts after church, late into the night
* eating apricot horns for breakfast (a homemade pastry with apricot filling)
* having the local, commercial-free classical music station playing all day long
* opening the gifts in age order, round robin so everyone can see what everyone else got
* taking tons of photographs
* eating Christmas dinner late
* eating homemade sugar cookies from my grandmother's recipe
(other kid traditions included doing an Advent calendar, participating in the Christmas pageant, hanging a stocking at the fireplace, leaving cookies out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, moving the three kings closer to the manger until they arrive on the 12th day of Christmas...)
I am all about tradition and family and that is one of the main reasons I can't wait to have children --to pass down and start creating traditions of my own. Yet, I find myself celebrating another Christmas without a family of my own. I am extremely grateful and blessed to still have my parents here with me to celebrate (they are in their 80's) and it's nice to see other family members, but I so yearn to have my own family and start my own traditions, and holidays are a reminder of the things that I want so badly but are still just out of reach. So, like last year, I wasn't really looking forward to the holiday. It didn't help this year that with my new job we had to work all the way until the 23rd. Then I was too tired to make the drive on the 24th which meant I missed the Christmas eve service. I didn't realize how much I was going to miss it, but when I think about it, I have attended that service for almost 40 years! Talk about tradition! Then I missed the early morning apricot horns and had a bowl of Cheerios instead! You can see how it felt like any other day.
Well, it didn't turn out to be so bad after all. The drive up here was quicker that usual (the weather cooperated) and there was barely any traffic. My mom handed me a plate of apricot horns when I arrived and I sat down at the table to enjoy them with the classical music station playing in the background. Yeah, there are no kids around (my niece and nephew are 21 and 18 respectively) and yeah, I was still wistful, but we laughed and drank wine and had an amazing meal and exchanged gifts and ate hundreds of sugar cookies. I survived. It wasn't so bad... but NEXT YEAR is going to be SO MUCH BETTER! I just know it! Mark my words.. I'm going to post a link to this post next year! lol
I hope you had a very merry Christmas!
NaBloPoMo #25 theme:thankful
12.24.2008
Christmas Eve
I never made it home today. Too exhausted from the week (had to work all the way til the 23rd) and had dishes and laundry and packing to do as well as to take my car to be serviced and Xmas cards and shopping... and no time to just decompress and relax and try to get into the holiday. I decided at the 11th hour to not stress myself out further and to not make the drive to Pennsylvania until tomorrow. This is my first Xmas eve ever without my family. The first ever that I didn't go to church. I thought I might but when my friend Deidra said she'd like to stop by and hang out I thought that sounded like a nice idea. She came over and kept me company while I ate dinner and did dishes and laundry and now I'm off to bed. Kinda sad and lonely really... last year at this time I was sure that my daughter would be home by this Christmas.. sigh. Well, I am blessed and thankful for family and friends and the love of God and the infinite possibilities of the New Year! So, I am off to bed so I can get on the road tomorrow for a 4 hour drive to my parent's house in the morning. Good night!
I did some very basic decorating and below is a picture of a stocking at my mantle. I have two mini stockings which I hang with a silver star stocking hanger thingy. There are no photos in the star right now (well, just the one that it came with) but next year there will be!!
NaBloPoMo #24 theme: thankful
12.23.2008
Beauty in Nature
Saw this on my ride home. Such a quiet, peaceful scene ...to balance out the craziness of 15 kindergartners over stimulated by candy and thoughts of vacation... which, by the way, I am on until Jan. 5th. Hallelujah!
NaBloPoMo #23 theme:thankful
12.22.2008
my house
It is really cold outside. They say the temperature is 23 degrees but feels like 13. There is a cold, biting wind and a hat is mandatory. I was in the office this morning when a parent called to say her child would be absent today because it was too cold to send her child to school. I thought that was ridiculous, but it really is cold. It hadn't warmed up much by noon so the kids had indoor recess and on the way home I stopped off for some soup for dinner cause I know I will not be going anywhere tonight.
I will be going home. Home. I have that option. I can't imagine living on the street. My heating system is temperamental and when I woke up this morning it was only 66 degrees in here (and not at all comfortable) but when I opened the front door to go to work, suddenly it felt pretty darn toasty. My heart breaks for the homeless who have to brave these frigid temperatures if they can't find shelter. I complain about my house (it's too small, it attached, it's not in the best neighborhood, etc.) but today there are no complaints. I am simply grateful. Extremely grateful.
NaBloPoMo #22 theme:thankful
12.21.2008
Old Friends
My good friend, Hattie, is one of those childhood friends whom you treasure. She and I have been friends since second grade. We met at church and our fathers were both professors at the same university so after we met and became friends, so did our parents. We have been talking about trying to live in the same city since we both left Pittsburgh after high school and now after many, many years we are both living in the same area and it's so fun to get together. Meanwhile, our parents still live in Pittsburgh area. But get this! Both her parents and mine sold our childhood homes and bought smaller townhouses and they are now next door neighbors! So now when we go home for the holidays we can walk over and see eachother whenever we want! Anyway, she's great. We are both teachers and both have a love of travel and dogs (she has a black lab rescue dog--the sweetest dog ever--and I am *this* close to getting my own lab) and always have so much fun and such great conversations when we are together.
Last night, I accompanied her to a cocktail party of a friend of hers and then we went to a wine bar for more conversation. We laughed as we retold the story to her friends about how we got kicked out of music class in second grade--not for our lack of love of music--but for constant talking. We literally got "kicked to the curb" as the music teacher put us out of the house where we sat on the curb until our parents could pick us up. It was funny at the time and even funnier now! Of course now, as teachers, we are getting paid back tenfold! lol
Here is a picture of us from last night. (and yes, I have on the same top as the night before!)
NaBloPoMo #21 theme:thankful
Last night, I accompanied her to a cocktail party of a friend of hers and then we went to a wine bar for more conversation. We laughed as we retold the story to her friends about how we got kicked out of music class in second grade--not for our lack of love of music--but for constant talking. We literally got "kicked to the curb" as the music teacher put us out of the house where we sat on the curb until our parents could pick us up. It was funny at the time and even funnier now! Of course now, as teachers, we are getting paid back tenfold! lol
Here is a picture of us from last night. (and yes, I have on the same top as the night before!)
NaBloPoMo #21 theme:thankful
12.20.2008
Impromptu Holiday Party
My neighbor, Allison, and I tend to talk on the phone on our way to work. With our busy schedules and her having a baby at home it's so hard to catch up, but driving to and from work is a good 30-minute uninterrupted block of time. So on Friday we were busy chatting and out of the blue she says, "Hey! Let's have a holiday party! I'll host!" So twelve hours later we were laughing and singing Christmas carols and drinking wine with neighbors and good friends.
me and Allison
Yay! Tami was there!
Allison's daughter, Tatiana (my Goddaughter)
good times
NaBloPoMo #19 theme:thankful
me and Allison
Yay! Tami was there!
Allison's daughter, Tatiana (my Goddaughter)
good timesNaBloPoMo #19 theme:thankful
12.19.2008
12.18.2008
Modern Conveniences
I'm waaaay too tired to write. I have an observation tomorrow for my job, the Kindergarten team is doing a breakfast for the staff and I have to bake some goodies, I need to do Christmas cards, I haven't eaten dinner yet, I want to hang Christmas lights, I need to do another class tonight for my homestudy, etc, etc, etc.... and my eyes are barely staying open as I type this.
So let me just say I am thankful for all the conveniences that life offers.. the internet for ideas and materials for tomorrow's observation, a frozen shrimp and veggies meal and packaged brownie mix to name a few that will save me some time tonight!
What would I do if I had to come up with an idea for my observation all on my own and bake from scratch??? I am sooo not cut out for the 1950's! lol
NaBloPoMo #18 theme:thankful
12.17.2008
my dad
he's so gentle and sweet.
one of the smartest men i know.
strong faith.
family man.
good father to us three girls.
true to his roots.
thoughtful.
great husband to my mom.
loves Snickers and pumpkin pie.
hates TV.
terrible cook- but always willing to do it.
athletic.
world traveler.
great writer.
painter.
determined.
passionate.
soft spoken.
intellectual.
caring.
love you dad!
NaBloPoMo #17 theme:thankful
12.16.2008
First Course. Check.
I just finished my first course for my homestudy! Woo-hoo! I'm thankful to be 1/5 done!
On the agency front, I had made a decision but then one of the agencies that I had ruled out called me yesterday with some new information which is making my decision a little bit more difficult. It's between two but I have some additional thinking to do. I am going to talk to the Ethiopia coordinator from one of the agencies tomorrow during my lunch hour and hopefully will know which way to go by tomorrow night... cause my (new) goal is to have my homestudy completed by the end of the year!!!
Out of curiosity, would you be more swayed by a guaranteed spot in the 2009 court year or the option of switching into domestic if Ethiopia falls through?
NaBloPoMo # 16 theme:thankful
On the agency front, I had made a decision but then one of the agencies that I had ruled out called me yesterday with some new information which is making my decision a little bit more difficult. It's between two but I have some additional thinking to do. I am going to talk to the Ethiopia coordinator from one of the agencies tomorrow during my lunch hour and hopefully will know which way to go by tomorrow night... cause my (new) goal is to have my homestudy completed by the end of the year!!!
Out of curiosity, would you be more swayed by a guaranteed spot in the 2009 court year or the option of switching into domestic if Ethiopia falls through?
NaBloPoMo # 16 theme:thankful
12.15.2008
12.14.2008
12.13.2008
Lazy Saturdays
I woke up and decided hot cocoa and pancakes were in order. I love Saturdays! :-)
NaBloPoMo #13 theme:thankful
NaBloPoMo #13 theme:thankful
12.12.2008
Bloggers and the Internet
As I sift through emails and voicemails, read up on agencies and weigh the plusses and minuses, I am reminded of how wonderful it is to have this blogging community for support. I think my family doesn't really believe this adoption will ever happen (can you blame 'em?) but even if they called me every day, they don't know anywhere near what my fellow adoption community knows about what to look for in an agency, wait times, etc.
And, boy, let me tell you, am I happy to have their input. Each agency has different take on the 'singles' issue and each has a different process. Two of the agencies have a 4-6 month referral time, two shorter. Three are Hague-approved, one is not. Two don't mind if I get pregnant during the process, two will put me on hold for a year. Two came with personal recommendations, two did not. One has a domestic program I can switch to if Ethiopia doesn't work out, three do not. Two have a long(er) history with Ethiopian adoptions and two have relatively new programs. All will let me choose gender, one will allow me to adopt two unrelated children at once, the fees vary.
It's so hard to know what the future holds, hence what exactly to focus on. But come on, this is international adoption! Even with careful planning and decision-making anything can happen at any time that would make all that planning go out the window! This weekend I will spend a few hours checking out the CDs and brochures they mailed me and then ready or not I am making a choice on Sunday night and sending in my application on Monday!
I am so thankful today for the support of the blogging adoption community and the ease and access of the world wide web. What would I do without conversations with virtual strangers, Yahoo groups and websites?! Thankfully that is not the case.
NaBloPoMo #12 theme:thankful
And, boy, let me tell you, am I happy to have their input. Each agency has different take on the 'singles' issue and each has a different process. Two of the agencies have a 4-6 month referral time, two shorter. Three are Hague-approved, one is not. Two don't mind if I get pregnant during the process, two will put me on hold for a year. Two came with personal recommendations, two did not. One has a domestic program I can switch to if Ethiopia doesn't work out, three do not. Two have a long(er) history with Ethiopian adoptions and two have relatively new programs. All will let me choose gender, one will allow me to adopt two unrelated children at once, the fees vary.
It's so hard to know what the future holds, hence what exactly to focus on. But come on, this is international adoption! Even with careful planning and decision-making anything can happen at any time that would make all that planning go out the window! This weekend I will spend a few hours checking out the CDs and brochures they mailed me and then ready or not I am making a choice on Sunday night and sending in my application on Monday!
I am so thankful today for the support of the blogging adoption community and the ease and access of the world wide web. What would I do without conversations with virtual strangers, Yahoo groups and websites?! Thankfully that is not the case.
NaBloPoMo #12 theme:thankful
12.11.2008
12.10.2008
12.09.2008
Holiday Music
I love Christmas music, especially traditional carols and hymns. The church where I grew up has a lovely Christmas eve service which starts at 10:45 pm. Near the end of the service, when it's almost midnight, all the lights are dimmed. The church, a very grand neo-Gothic structure, seems so small and intimate when only lit by the twinkling of candlelight. As the congregation sits hushed in the pews, we quietly begin singing Silent Night, with no accompaniment, while on bended knee. It can literally bring tears to your eyes it's so beautiful.Although I haven't hung a single decoration or sent a single card, I have started to get into the season by listening to some holiday music. As I type this I have The Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas Canon playing in the background from my iTunes. It is so beautiful.
So tonight I am thankful for cherished Christmas music and the memories they evoke.
(If I had the time, I'd figure out to embed a link here but I don't. Sorry.)
NaBloPoMo #9 theme: thankful
12.08.2008
I Got Nothin'
OMG--for the past two hours I have been trying to think of something to post and I swear, I got nothin' (to quote one of my students when he doesn't know the answer-heh). Truthfully, I am a bit down about the whole adoption situation. I want to sign on with another agency and have my daughter home by next Christmas-that is the goal-but I have no idea if that will happen. Tonight, one of my friends (a single mom to a toddler) said, "My mom thinks that you need to rethink this whole adoption thing. I mean, do you really want to do this? It's hard work! You need to know that it's not all fun, that most of the time you will be exhausted and stressed..." blah, blah, blah. (I stopped listening at that point). I feel bad now, but I couldn't help but snap at her and point blank ask her if what she was saying was she wished her daughter had never been born. Of course she couldn't say that and finally stop her ranting but it really upset me. (I guess I was upset to begin with so this really didn't help). I don't know, maybe I'm reaching here, but I equate it to telling a pregnant woman, 'Are you sure you want to have the child? Maybe you should go get an abortion'. No one would dare say that to a 43 year old woman, but when it comes to adoption people say things and don't think about how they come across. So after I put her in her place I went home and made some spaghetti and ate it in silence like I often do. I usually eat while reading so my house is extremely quiet. I know I should be grateful for these quiet times but really all I want right now is a rambunctious toddler running around making me laugh. (I know, I'll probably be eating my words next year looking at these days wistfully. lol).
So, in keeping with the theme of thankful, though, I have to dig deep today.
...I'm still diggin' and still I got nothin'.
OK, I got it. I am thankful for having a forum to vent my frustrations. There.
Tomorrow will be better. I promise.
NaBloPoMo #8 theme: thankful
So, in keeping with the theme of thankful, though, I have to dig deep today.
...I'm still diggin' and still I got nothin'.
OK, I got it. I am thankful for having a forum to vent my frustrations. There.
Tomorrow will be better. I promise.
NaBloPoMo #8 theme: thankful
12.07.2008
The Little Soul, Tatiana
My little neighbor got Christened today. It was a lovely service and I, as the Godmother, was proud and thankful to be there to celebrate with her and her family. The sermon, coincidentally enough, centered around being thankful. We were reminded that the apostle Paul said to be "thankful in all things". Because we can not control our external circumstances (life, death, the stock market, health, love, livelihood, etc.) we need to remain thankful for everything God has given us, regardless of circumstance. I have a lot of growth to do in that area (lol) but it was good to hear! Anyway, Tatiana was an absolute angel; it was a beautiful day.
NaBloPoMo #7 theme:thankful
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