On Friday, Blake and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary! It is really hard for me to believe, because I don't feel like it has been that long, and I really don't feel like I have been away from high school long enough to finish college and be married for 5 years after that! Wierd.
We had a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant, Old Vine Cafe, and then on Saturday we went to my aunt's beach house.
The house was just perfect for what we wanted. Way better than anything we would have been willing to spend on, since it was literally across the street from the beach, and from the main table (or anywhere in the main room) you could watch the waves and the beach. We spent most of Saturday actually on the sand, using her beach chairs and I even went boogie boarding (again using her boogie board). But the evening and Sunday morning was inside just watching the beach come alive with joggers, and walkers and volleyball players etc.
It was just one of those relaxing, enjoying your spouse's company weekend that reminds you why you married them in the first place. Probably way better than it would have been if we had gone to a hotel because it was just us the whole time. No pets to take care of either since Roxie was in a pet hotel and the cats were fine for the weekend with extra food and water before we left.
p.s. we did both get sunburned :/
p.p.s we are bad at taking pictures, and alas, there is nothing but memories to remind us of this great dinner and weekend at the beach.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Garden and last day treats
A few weeks ago, we were able to get a whole bunch of blueberries:
Today we picked our first tomato! I can't wait for more of our green tomatoes to turn red also.
We have been eating lots of salads lately because our CSA box has given us numerous huge heads of lettuce like this one:
As I mentioned in a previous post, I was spoiled by my class yet again, but the sweetest thing is that my room mom knew my love of coffee and got most of my kids to bring in a starbucks card, thus why I have such a stack of them!
Today we picked our first tomato! I can't wait for more of our green tomatoes to turn red also.
We have been eating lots of salads lately because our CSA box has given us numerous huge heads of lettuce like this one:
As I mentioned in a previous post, I was spoiled by my class yet again, but the sweetest thing is that my room mom knew my love of coffee and got most of my kids to bring in a starbucks card, thus why I have such a stack of them!
Friday, June 10, 2011
No good, very bad etc. day
You know, the name of my blog was inspired by the book about Alexander and the day that he had, that is cute as an adult reading it thinking wow... he thought that was so bad, and it generally teaches the lesson that sometimes days are like that.
But really, some days are like that.
Wasn't too bad till I left for my classroom, and looked at the house, and decided that it wasn't just a getting used to it thing... in sunlight, it is way too bright blue. We are now THAT house on the street, the one that neighbors avert their eyes from. I called Blake... partially hoping it was just me... but it wasn't, its bad, really (the picture on the post before was taken at a time of day when it doesn't look too bad, and it actually looks pretty good at night, but in bright sunlight... bleh).
(edit- still not showing it in full brightness, but currently we are wondering if we change the white and not the blue it won't be so bad. Compare to our neighbors' houses though...)
Get to work... had a meeting that was rough. Nothing bad exactly, and nothing I want to post on such a public forum, but let's just say that it went differently than I had hoped, and I was left with a worse feeling of bleh. I worked at my classroom for a few hours, and then came home... to see the house again, and worry about what to do about it.
We have decided to fork out more money that we should be saving for the adoption and get it repainted... yes... it's that bad. Not sure how much it will set us back, but honestly, Blake doesn't even like being in public with our house at this moment. It's bad. So we went out, instead of making dinner, because we both were too bleh to cook (even though we have plenty of food) and then bummed it on the couch with a movie.
See... nothing so bad (like Alexander) but just one of those days that you are happy to see end, and hope tomorrow will be better.
On the bright side, we got our revised homestudy back, and I spotted no mistakes this time! Yay! I-600A goes out tomorrow (fingers crossed).
But really, some days are like that.
Wasn't too bad till I left for my classroom, and looked at the house, and decided that it wasn't just a getting used to it thing... in sunlight, it is way too bright blue. We are now THAT house on the street, the one that neighbors avert their eyes from. I called Blake... partially hoping it was just me... but it wasn't, its bad, really (the picture on the post before was taken at a time of day when it doesn't look too bad, and it actually looks pretty good at night, but in bright sunlight... bleh).
(edit- still not showing it in full brightness, but currently we are wondering if we change the white and not the blue it won't be so bad. Compare to our neighbors' houses though...)
Get to work... had a meeting that was rough. Nothing bad exactly, and nothing I want to post on such a public forum, but let's just say that it went differently than I had hoped, and I was left with a worse feeling of bleh. I worked at my classroom for a few hours, and then came home... to see the house again, and worry about what to do about it.
We have decided to fork out more money that we should be saving for the adoption and get it repainted... yes... it's that bad. Not sure how much it will set us back, but honestly, Blake doesn't even like being in public with our house at this moment. It's bad. So we went out, instead of making dinner, because we both were too bleh to cook (even though we have plenty of food) and then bummed it on the couch with a movie.
See... nothing so bad (like Alexander) but just one of those days that you are happy to see end, and hope tomorrow will be better.
On the bright side, we got our revised homestudy back, and I spotted no mistakes this time! Yay! I-600A goes out tomorrow (fingers crossed).
Thursday, June 9, 2011
New House color!
Well, the painting on the house finished today, and it looks so different, Blake and I are still trying to figure out if we love it... and worrying that the association might change its mind. It's bright, and its blue. We really like the color when we just look at our house, its just that at this point we are concerned that it might be too different for the neighbors etc. So... here are before and after pictures (not same angle, but its what I have for now), and if you read this... I would love to hear what you think of the color. :-)
In other news we had an interesting experience with our home study recently. We got our copies in the mail yesterday, and as soon as I could, I sat down and started reading it. It was interesting hearing an account of our lives, and reading that they believe that we would be good adoptive parents. However, it had numerous mistakes ranging from small typo kind of things (Davis instead of David for Blake's middle name, extra .00 at the end of a number, Chenille instead of Chenile), which is bad enough, but it also said that our secondary guardians for our child are Richard and Anita Schweppe, Blake's parents (!), and that we were only approved for 0-4 year olds (bad because if we accept a 4 year old, and they turn 5 during the process we have to deal with major problems because we wouldn't be approved to take them home anymore, and would have to get approved again). Worse with these two problems were that I already told them that they were my parents and that we wanted to be approved up to age 7 just in case.
So today, I called our adoption agency to confirm that these were indeed big issues, and was told that I did need to get it fixed, and would even if it was just the address being the problem. When I called our home study agency the phone just rang...and there was no answering machine. So by this point I was frustrated, and wrote an e-mail to them (which reading back later, was meaner than I meant to be) and then called one more time. The ending is good that their document person got on the phone and recorded all the errors I caught, said she would fix them, and send it back out today and was very nice about it, but it was a hard circumstance anyways.
Other news is that my summer has kind of begun! At least, my teaching is done, now I have to power through cleaning and organizing my classroom so I can be on summer for real. I'll probably post later on my class' sweet gifts (that show how well they know me :-) ) but for now, I am looking forward to more time to read.
In other news we had an interesting experience with our home study recently. We got our copies in the mail yesterday, and as soon as I could, I sat down and started reading it. It was interesting hearing an account of our lives, and reading that they believe that we would be good adoptive parents. However, it had numerous mistakes ranging from small typo kind of things (Davis instead of David for Blake's middle name, extra .00 at the end of a number, Chenille instead of Chenile), which is bad enough, but it also said that our secondary guardians for our child are Richard and Anita Schweppe, Blake's parents (!), and that we were only approved for 0-4 year olds (bad because if we accept a 4 year old, and they turn 5 during the process we have to deal with major problems because we wouldn't be approved to take them home anymore, and would have to get approved again). Worse with these two problems were that I already told them that they were my parents and that we wanted to be approved up to age 7 just in case.
So today, I called our adoption agency to confirm that these were indeed big issues, and was told that I did need to get it fixed, and would even if it was just the address being the problem. When I called our home study agency the phone just rang...and there was no answering machine. So by this point I was frustrated, and wrote an e-mail to them (which reading back later, was meaner than I meant to be) and then called one more time. The ending is good that their document person got on the phone and recorded all the errors I caught, said she would fix them, and send it back out today and was very nice about it, but it was a hard circumstance anyways.
Other news is that my summer has kind of begun! At least, my teaching is done, now I have to power through cleaning and organizing my classroom so I can be on summer for real. I'll probably post later on my class' sweet gifts (that show how well they know me :-) ) but for now, I am looking forward to more time to read.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sigh at a movie
Blake and I just finished watching a movie tonight that if it had ended a few seconds earlier, I would have said it was a great movie.
There is a ton more to the storyline than this, but here are the important parts for my sigh. The couple in the movie decided to adopt, so at the very end of the movie they do the little 6 months later thing, and you see them arriving home with a baby from China (or other Asian country) and there is a sweet little scene in the apartment.
All this made me very happy, and really identify with this couple and be so proud of Hollywood to have this ending... and then you find out that she is also pregnant!
Why?? Why did they have to do that? Wasn't it enough that they were making a family and becoming parents without also magically fixing all their infertility problems (according to the movie, they also did a bunch of treatments too, all unsuccessfully)?
I know this happens occasionally, but it is much rarer than the common myth that as soon as you adopt you get pregnant, and I am irritated that the movie decided to perpetuate it anyways, but that is not my biggest irritation.
It was that by making her pregnant, it made it like it wasn't a good enough ending that they adopted, and that really bothers me! Some people build their entire families through adoption, and it would have been great to give a nod to them instead of continuing something that is largely myth. So... sigh to this movie.
p.s. hopefully by leaving out the movie name and most of the details of it, it won't spoil the movie for you until the end, and then you know anyways, but if you have already seen the movie, you know what I am talking about.
There is a ton more to the storyline than this, but here are the important parts for my sigh. The couple in the movie decided to adopt, so at the very end of the movie they do the little 6 months later thing, and you see them arriving home with a baby from China (or other Asian country) and there is a sweet little scene in the apartment.
All this made me very happy, and really identify with this couple and be so proud of Hollywood to have this ending... and then you find out that she is also pregnant!
Why?? Why did they have to do that? Wasn't it enough that they were making a family and becoming parents without also magically fixing all their infertility problems (according to the movie, they also did a bunch of treatments too, all unsuccessfully)?
I know this happens occasionally, but it is much rarer than the common myth that as soon as you adopt you get pregnant, and I am irritated that the movie decided to perpetuate it anyways, but that is not my biggest irritation.
It was that by making her pregnant, it made it like it wasn't a good enough ending that they adopted, and that really bothers me! Some people build their entire families through adoption, and it would have been great to give a nod to them instead of continuing something that is largely myth. So... sigh to this movie.
p.s. hopefully by leaving out the movie name and most of the details of it, it won't spoil the movie for you until the end, and then you know anyways, but if you have already seen the movie, you know what I am talking about.
Letters
Dear Sea World,
My husband and I had a great time at your park yesterday, but we did have a few complaints. First, although we knew going Memorial Day weekend was going to be busier, we recommend working on the process to enter the parking lot, since it took us an hour to go from leaving the freeway to entering the parking lot, and part of that was due to people using left lanes to cut. We enjoyed getting to see the different animals, like the baby beluga, and we also enjoyed the shows.
Our other big complaint was about food. Around lunch time, every single food establishment had huge, unorganized lines, and so although we wanted to eat something somewhat healthy, we resorted to just nachos for lunch just because it was the only line that was somewhat shorter. Even so, we waited at least a half an hour to get to the front of the line because it ran out of hot dogs (especially since we didn't want a hot dog, and it shouldn't have affected the whole line that the front people were waiting for it). Also, when I got to the front of the line, I was told that it was no longer a line, and so I felt like I had to cut in front of another line to be able to even stay near the same spot in line (though they did allow it). So my suggestion is to 1- add more food places throughout the park for these busy days, even if they are just little carts throughout with a healthy choice or two. 2- It would be wonderful if it was organized so that if/when something goes wrong at a food place, that you have it set up to keep people moving through, like taking orders for hot dogs while they cook, or having a separate line for those just who want nachos.
Even so, thank you for doing a special for teachers, so that I could get in for the rest of the year free. Thank you for rescuing the animals for the pet show, and thank you that in spite of the above problems, my husband and I were still able to have a good time even with a very crowded park.
Sincerely,
Lisa Olsen
Dear Blake,
Thank you so much for being the calm voice that when I am ranting about the unfairness of the fertility of the families like the Duggars, you remind me that it is unfair also that there are kids out there who for whatever reason were not able to stay with their parents, and in doing so remind me that I can be part of fixing that unfairness instead of complaining about the unfairness of who can get pregnant and who can not.
I love you so much for that,
Lisa
Dear Students,
We only have 7 more days together in this fourth grade year, and for the last three, I am not even going to try to get education through your head, but instead celebrate the year we had together. However, Tuesday through Friday, as close as it is, I am supposed to get information through your head... so I would really appreciate it if you could put a lot of effort into trying to listen and not talk, at least for short period of time during the day. I would also really appreciate it if you could leave all drama until the summer, and just think of every child in the classroom as your best friend.
Thanks,
Your teacher
[p.s. none of these letters will actually be sent, but are just a fun way to reflect on my life at the moment.]
My husband and I had a great time at your park yesterday, but we did have a few complaints. First, although we knew going Memorial Day weekend was going to be busier, we recommend working on the process to enter the parking lot, since it took us an hour to go from leaving the freeway to entering the parking lot, and part of that was due to people using left lanes to cut. We enjoyed getting to see the different animals, like the baby beluga, and we also enjoyed the shows.
Our other big complaint was about food. Around lunch time, every single food establishment had huge, unorganized lines, and so although we wanted to eat something somewhat healthy, we resorted to just nachos for lunch just because it was the only line that was somewhat shorter. Even so, we waited at least a half an hour to get to the front of the line because it ran out of hot dogs (especially since we didn't want a hot dog, and it shouldn't have affected the whole line that the front people were waiting for it). Also, when I got to the front of the line, I was told that it was no longer a line, and so I felt like I had to cut in front of another line to be able to even stay near the same spot in line (though they did allow it). So my suggestion is to 1- add more food places throughout the park for these busy days, even if they are just little carts throughout with a healthy choice or two. 2- It would be wonderful if it was organized so that if/when something goes wrong at a food place, that you have it set up to keep people moving through, like taking orders for hot dogs while they cook, or having a separate line for those just who want nachos.
Even so, thank you for doing a special for teachers, so that I could get in for the rest of the year free. Thank you for rescuing the animals for the pet show, and thank you that in spite of the above problems, my husband and I were still able to have a good time even with a very crowded park.
Sincerely,
Lisa Olsen
Dear Blake,
Thank you so much for being the calm voice that when I am ranting about the unfairness of the fertility of the families like the Duggars, you remind me that it is unfair also that there are kids out there who for whatever reason were not able to stay with their parents, and in doing so remind me that I can be part of fixing that unfairness instead of complaining about the unfairness of who can get pregnant and who can not.
I love you so much for that,
Lisa
Dear Students,
We only have 7 more days together in this fourth grade year, and for the last three, I am not even going to try to get education through your head, but instead celebrate the year we had together. However, Tuesday through Friday, as close as it is, I am supposed to get information through your head... so I would really appreciate it if you could put a lot of effort into trying to listen and not talk, at least for short period of time during the day. I would also really appreciate it if you could leave all drama until the summer, and just think of every child in the classroom as your best friend.
Thanks,
Your teacher
[p.s. none of these letters will actually be sent, but are just a fun way to reflect on my life at the moment.]
Friday, May 27, 2011
Approved Homestudy !
So... on today's answering machine was a message that our home study was received by our adoption agency and that although a few pages didn't make it through the fax (they are taking care of that part for us with that agency), that we are approved!
That is a big step out of the way. According to our adoption coordinator, that means, bottom line, we are technically eligible for referral! (Referral is when they give you a picture and information about a child in Ghana that you can accept and agree to have that child join your family or you can decline) Now, we were already warned that this step could take months (over a year for some families) but to think that we are there... is just crazy!
When we get the sealed copy of the home study ourselves, we will send it with our I600A to immigration and there are a few more steps with that while we wait for a referral, and there is also that one last training video to watch/complete, but really, the next big step is waiting for that phone call or e-mail (probably e-mail) that says there is a match, and a picture of our child, and the chance to accept them, and make them ours!
I thought we still had to do the dossier next, but apparently you only do that when you have a match.
I have such a range of emotions running through me right now... I am definitely excited... but also really nervous... and already wondering what our time frame will be like. Will we be one of those families that in a month or two already know who our child will be? Or will we be one that sees many others get the news they are adopting first while we wait and wait and wait, and watch another year pass before a child is in our home? And there is also the part of me that I have to fight that looks at all the other waiting to adopt families as our competition... even though I am fairly sure that this is more of a first come first serve thing.
Will this be a situation like Disneyland where its okay waiting 50 minutes since you already knew that was the length when you got there, or will it be like the DMV, where even if you know the wait time, it doesn't help?
Wow...
I have heard that when you get the referral, it becomes a hurry up and wait thing where you scramble to get things together... then wait for paperwork stuff... then scramble to be ready to travel... then wait for a court date, and so on.
Side note, is that this also means that when we get the heart wrenching e-mails of the waiting kids, we are one of those people that has an approved home study that could choose to adopt one of them instead...up till now, we could console ourselves that we couldn't adopt them even if we wanted to.
So many thoughts swirling... each step seems so much closer to it being a reality. Its enough to make me want to start looking at kid stuff again, and reading about parenting and all that stuff that I put on hold when pregnancy just wasn't happening and even adoption took so long it wasn't worth getting my hopes up.
So exciting... just had to share!
p.s. just got an e-mail back from our coordinator, and she said to expect a 6 month wait at the least, because its a big program at this point. Even so... happy to get an estimate, especially since we originally weren't going to start the process until around now anyways. :-) Oh, and I just realized that those families aren't competition... they are the people that keep my spot moving closer :-D Good luck families... get matches!
That is a big step out of the way. According to our adoption coordinator, that means, bottom line, we are technically eligible for referral! (Referral is when they give you a picture and information about a child in Ghana that you can accept and agree to have that child join your family or you can decline) Now, we were already warned that this step could take months (over a year for some families) but to think that we are there... is just crazy!
When we get the sealed copy of the home study ourselves, we will send it with our I600A to immigration and there are a few more steps with that while we wait for a referral, and there is also that one last training video to watch/complete, but really, the next big step is waiting for that phone call or e-mail (probably e-mail) that says there is a match, and a picture of our child, and the chance to accept them, and make them ours!
I thought we still had to do the dossier next, but apparently you only do that when you have a match.
I have such a range of emotions running through me right now... I am definitely excited... but also really nervous... and already wondering what our time frame will be like. Will we be one of those families that in a month or two already know who our child will be? Or will we be one that sees many others get the news they are adopting first while we wait and wait and wait, and watch another year pass before a child is in our home? And there is also the part of me that I have to fight that looks at all the other waiting to adopt families as our competition... even though I am fairly sure that this is more of a first come first serve thing.
Will this be a situation like Disneyland where its okay waiting 50 minutes since you already knew that was the length when you got there, or will it be like the DMV, where even if you know the wait time, it doesn't help?
Wow...
I have heard that when you get the referral, it becomes a hurry up and wait thing where you scramble to get things together... then wait for paperwork stuff... then scramble to be ready to travel... then wait for a court date, and so on.
Side note, is that this also means that when we get the heart wrenching e-mails of the waiting kids, we are one of those people that has an approved home study that could choose to adopt one of them instead...up till now, we could console ourselves that we couldn't adopt them even if we wanted to.
So many thoughts swirling... each step seems so much closer to it being a reality. Its enough to make me want to start looking at kid stuff again, and reading about parenting and all that stuff that I put on hold when pregnancy just wasn't happening and even adoption took so long it wasn't worth getting my hopes up.
So exciting... just had to share!
p.s. just got an e-mail back from our coordinator, and she said to expect a 6 month wait at the least, because its a big program at this point. Even so... happy to get an estimate, especially since we originally weren't going to start the process until around now anyways. :-) Oh, and I just realized that those families aren't competition... they are the people that keep my spot moving closer :-D Good luck families... get matches!
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