Now what?

This post is for you Dr KS!
In a phone call yesterday she said "well, you caught the lion. what now? are you going to blog about what's next?"

I guess we don't really know what is next. Unless everyone wants the weekly details of which pieces of paper have been moved and signed by whom, nothing really happens until we have a court date. According to my deeply scientific calculations gathered by intensive evenings of blog stalking, it appears that people receiving referrals in Aug/September didn't have court dates until late December. Hmmm. That would mean travel in early Jan and home mid Jan.

Again, very deeply scientific.

In the meantime, this is what is up: We painted and furnished our office and did some other random house repairs. When I say "we," I think you might know what I really mean. N returns to work (school) on Wed, and I have started some new tasks in my current job. In addition to anxiously awaiting our departure for Ethio, we are looking forward to Labor Day camping, fall canning, camping with kids from my work, running a half marathon, participating in a wedding, coaching the first ever cross country team for N's school and Canadian Thanksgiving (supremely better than "real" Thanksgiving because all of your friends can come over since it isn't an American holiday!

That's that.

We have caught the lion!

"When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion". (Der biyaber anbeussa yasser)
---Ethiopian proverb (Amharic)

We were repeatedly told that the adoption of Y would not work.
The Sisters at Asco prayed and worked so, so, very hard for her.
We made two trips to Ethiopia.
Her smiling face and insane antics kept us going.
You all walked with us and thought of us.


We have caught the lion!
"The" letter has been signed, sealed and delivered. We received the news about 20 mins ago!

What are the next steps:
The letter will be sent to the regional authorities who are actually below the authorities who wrote the first letter. (One week)
Paperwork goes to Gladney in Ethiopia (One week)
Gladney gives us the referral of Y (this is laughable to us, really)
Court date scheduled
Once we pass court, we will fly to Ethiopia. (Maybe November??)

Yippie!

So Very Deep

Not since the Mefloquin induced madness of 1995 have I had as many crazy dreams as I have had recently. What appears to be happening is my mind processes 99 million things during the day and then barfs it up when I sleep at night. Last night's was a real doozy:

N and I have been thinking about starting to create Y's room. With the impending *good* news of next week coinciding with some vacation time off, it seemed a lovely time to make Y a space. What says cheap and cute like Ikea?

We are also still trying to get that letter that is really important for Y's situation.

I dreamed that Ikea had the power to write the letter, but they did not do it. I think I woke up wondering if I should consider Macy's as a second source. Things that make ya go "hmmmm."

In other news, N is home, DC was bitchin, Teddy Afro is out of jail and Addis Ababa University FINALLY has a female professor!

Triumphal Arrival, Tragic Departure and the Faux Ethiopian Photo Shoot...

I head to DC in the morning (which is a mere six hours away and two more dirty rooms left to clean,but whose counting?). I look forward to a joyous reunion with N as he will be arriving from Ethio after five glorious weeks. We will stay in DC for a few days hanging with our good pals Nicki and Mesfin. Nicki and I worked in Ethiopia together. She, the lovely urbanite to my village inspired life. We had some good times. She shared the joy in my engagement and I watched in awe as she fooled everyone into thinking she was truly Habesha. (See? You thought so to, right? Nope----) We are so thrilled to be able to attend a baby shower for them while in DC!

N's arrival means a sad good-bye with Y. I haven't yet talked to him, but I know that it will be tough to leave when it feels like we are on the cusp of change. Inshallah, right?

Enjoy a couple of photos that are hilarious (to us) circa 2007. Every good Ethiopia home has a photo book. When you look inside you see some lovely photos such as these. Focus on the guys picture (I couldn't upload the BEST one of Nicki and I!)

Peace out!

No need for speed (And the creek did rise!)

Relax my readers!

News will not be coming today.

Or tomorrow.

Or next week.

Perhaps in two weeks.

Our man has decided to extend his annual vacation by two weeks and thus cannot write us the ever important letter.

Whatcha gonna do?

Lord willing and the creek don't rise...

...we should have some news by Tuesday regarding the present "paperwork issues" related to our darling Y. Trying hard to not get my hopes up, but seriously, how do you do that?

Here are this week's juicy tidbits on her ever emerging cuteness: N informed me that she is left-handed. Good to know. She will join the likes of Barack Obama, Oprah, Ringo Star and other left-handed wonders.

N said that Y decided to draw a family picture this week. She scribbled some stuff on paper and ran around screaming that her mother was Rahel and her father was "you" for N. Sigh. As cute as this is, it is a bit sad for this stage of our journey. Obviously she has been told more than we would have liked her to know, but I also honestly believe that she deeply feels a connection and longs for family.

My real feelings right now? I have a good vibe. I really do feel like we are going to get positive news this week. I even debated about posting this because we have had so many false alarms. But ultimately that is what this blog is for; the whole journey thing. Sharing with others what is really up; both the good and the bad. For now, I am thinking it's gonna be good. For reals this time.

Lessons Learned

Just back from a three night trip to the Land of Enchantment visiting family! It was a lovely break and a nice rest from what has been a super busy and exhausting (but great) summer season. While visiting with my sister-in-law, three crazy-cute nephews and my super cutie niece, I sadly learned that I am totally addicted to coffee/caffeine and unable to function (ie: play endless games with the kids) unless I have it. I am so sorry to say that I made three trips to the 'Bucks for my fix. Sad. So sad. N would shame me if he found out. (Lucky for me the Addis phone network is pretty much a bust and we haven't talked much).

I also learned that running in a high altitude in the New Mexican sun is much harder than running in Chicago. This should have appeared obvious to me, but I ventured out several times anyway. (Public Announcement: I WILL run a half marathon in October. Stay tuned for how well I do/don't train for said race) I needed the exercise to justify the next lesson learned:

I really can't live without tortilla chips for more than a day. I even brought my favorite green bag version (a Chicago speciality) under the guise of "sharing with the family", but I think it was really more for my own outrageous consumption needs.

Finally, I learned that everyone should get a vacation. Since I had one, why should I be so sad that the guy in Addis who we are super dependent upon for a signature keeps taking leave when we need him most? Maybe that was the hardest lesson learned.

Summary: A little self reflection, a little exercise, a little junk food: Life is good; summer is grand!