Most Certainly Not

Shame, Shame. Everyone Knows Your Name

It isn't like I normally find myself watching CNN.  Sometimes, though, my TV changes channels by itself because my remotes operate all our TVs and, apparently, the neighbors have our same satellite carrier. 

Tonight, I caught a report on CNN that nauseated me.

The tears of that young boy...dammit!  What is WRONG with people?!  Here is this young boy, swimming with his friends, never imagining in a million years that anyone would confuse him with some kind of miscreant because, well, he ISN'T ONE. 

Maybe before we were in the process of adopting an African girl I would have watched this story and felt the anger of any decent human being.  Tonight, I watched this report with the heart of a mother.  I watched his little crestfallen face and could see my daughter's face. 

It's one thing to complain that there are two many kinds running amuck and that someone may be hurt or that it's too loud to be enjoyable.  Hey.  That's kids for you.  Frankly, a gaggle of kids makes me nervous.  If we paid and belonged to some kind of fancy club, I may make my dissatisfaction with the number of kids or noise level known to the manager and then, we'd have left and returned another day.  But, that's me.  I'm a nervous nelly and the noise and such rattles me.

Now, the backpeddling begins.  The country club can say whatever it wishes.  But, I find it difficult to believe that a 12-year-old boy would use words like, "...harm my children" in a normal conversation.  And, I find it difficult to believe that if a child were making up such an awful thing that he would be crying hot tears of shame--shame that, incidentally, does not belong to him.

I can't even put into words what seeing that kid did to my heart. 

M2 and I are calling it an early night because we are on a mission in the morning.  The girls' current school has a Relay for Life team.  Our PTO president (and my dear friend) signed up weeks ago to walk from 5-6 a.m. on Saturday morning.  In the meantime, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, underwent a mastectomy and began chemotherapy.  She's on day 4 post her first chemo treatment and is dragging.  She posted on her Caring Bridge journal that she was worried she would let the team down as she would not be able to walk it and couldn't dream she'd find a replacement for such an ungodly hour.

Enter M2 and this gal.  We'll do it.  Why not?  We're in town this weekend when we didn't think we would be, so it will work out fine...well, as fine as 5 a.m. can be, that is!

Lost In Translation

Where to even start?  I suppose my life falls into three major categories:  deployment, my computer and the adoption.  Let's just dive right in, shall we?

Deployment:  Nothing new.  Hubs is fine.  Getting to know his surroundings inside the wire now and scoping out where he might locate a JAG for our paperwork things.

My computer:  I went to see the IT guy at school today to find out what kind of replacement computer he recommended.  He gave me the Dell number to call because he said he couldn't imagine why my barely 7 month old machine would not be covered under the year warranty Dell has on all its equipment.  And, if it's under warranty, I wouldn't have to pay to send it in.

I called them.  Not only is my machine under warranty, I paid to extend the warranty (knowing what I know now about motherboard issues), including accident protection.  During the course of this long service call, I decided to turn on my machine so I could give them the exact error messages I was receiving.

I powered up the machine and it went through all the tragic rigmarole it did yesterday.  But, instead of stalling out, it actually went to the password screen.  I immediately typed in my password, grabbed my jump stick and copied over the two files I really needed.  Then, I downloaded Carbonite and started the back-up process.

Dell said no reason to have someone come out to see my machine unless and until it dies again.  I agreed.  I'm taking precautions, though.  I'm having a small table fan blowing on the computer as I type this so it doesn't overheat again and start warping stuff inside like people in the Dell reviews talked about.

Isn't resurrection amazing?!

The adoption:  This is where the lost in translation part comes in.  I exchanged several e-mails with my caseworker trying to pin down exactly how to re-do the income part of our affidavit of dossier (the cover sheet for all our paperwork) and the employment verification letter from the Army.  After a few replies, it hit me:

She has absolutely no idea what I'm talking about and somehow thinks my husband is earning his UPS and Army income at the same time.

I spelled out everything in a concise and simple way regarding how the Guard works normally, what happens when the federal government 'activates' a unit, who pays for what, and active duty in the Guard v. civilian job with Guard service on the side. 

She (or anyone else there, for that matter) had no idea, but understood perfectly once I explained it.  I'm glad I did because she said I would need to recreate that explanation in another affidavit of income so that everyone between here and the Ethiopian courts will understand it too.

I really hope we have front loaded all our delays here because I, honestly, am just about over the dinking around.  I feel like I'm marking time a lot, but I know we have to do all this to make it happen.

This week has flown by, but I am extremely tired.  Lots of stuff going on and lots of things requiring my attention. Things like paperwork making, bill paying, essay grading, meeting planning, workshop leading, lunch having and birthday fun creating.  Tiiiiiiiiiii-urd.

The Shizz Parade

Come on and join the parade...just watch your step!  This isn't just any old parade--it's the shizz parade!

I stopped asking "What else?!" a loooooong time ago.  I know better.  It doesn't stop someone from answering the question I'm no longer asking.

The day started with that unbearable 'what are we going to do about this adoption snafu' feeling.  To make a long story short, the rear detachment officer can sign off on the employment verification and we are going to send a corrected form to Iraq for Hubs to sign in front of a JAG.  Once a JAG notarizes it, it is considered under seal and no authentication from the Secretary of State is necessary.  We will lose some time with the mailing (especially if he can't find a printer and he has to wait for the hard copy to arrive via snail mail), but gain some by saving another trip to Columbus.  Granted, it will be days/weeks compared to hours, but it's what we have to do.  We'll do it.

I was putting the finishing touches on the contents of the employment verification letter for the Army when PFFFT!  My computer screen went black.  Lots of gobbledeegook shows up telling me it has to shut down because it's all unstable, etc.  To make a long story short (again), my computer [after $400 in costs to repair it from the Henry water debacle of May '09] had succumbed to what appears to be a well-known (albeit unknown to me until today) motherboard failure issue in this model of Dell computer.  The bad news: this would have occurred without the water damage.  The good news:  this would have destroyed all my files--so, had the water debacle not happened, I wouldn't have had everything backed up like I do now.  So, blessings in disguise, I suppose.  However, I much rather would have had the $400 I spent in May to put toward the new computer I'm now going to be purchasing.  Wouldn't you know it?  Now that my husband has his quarters squared away and his webcam purchased, I have no decent computer to use to reciprocate the picture and voice capabilities.  I'm using an ancient laptop from bygone days.

The bar exam kids are starting to lose their collective minds.  Can't blame them.  Been there, done that and remember it well.  I think I was able to help a handful of them today when they individually came in, bleary (or teary!) eyed to talk. 

And, my throat hurts.

So, there you have it!  Don't worry.  I think I've become a black hole for goofy happenings and sucky luck so if you're in my orbit, all your stuff is probably magnetized to me. 

You're welcome.

Always Somethin'

My husband reached his FOB today.  We also finally received a mailing address for him.  He has an issue with his quarters, but he is assured it will be fixed sometime today (for him, the day is just beginning).  I certainly hope so.  I don't think Skype will be nearly as interesting unless the situation is rectified. 

We were able to IM for quite awhile again tonight.  I love that.  I know we won't always have that luxury, but it's nice to take advantage of such stuff when you can!

My adoption agency caseworker e-mailed me regarding our dossier paperwork.  She asked if my husband receives pay for his Army activities.  Um, yes.  It may be a volunteer Army, but he isn't a volunteer.  Well, apparently, we received incorrect information early in the process when we were told that the affidavit of dossier only needed to have his UPS job on it.  So, that's all that's on it.  This was one of the documents that he signed when he was  here April 30 and one of the three documents I had to take to Columbus. 

I asked our caseworker if we have to start from scratch with the document.  If so, that will mean mailing him the form, having him sign it, and sending it back.  It also, likely, means a return trip to Columbus as the document that was authenticated isn't the same one now under that authenticated sheet.  Although, since the Secretary of State is authenticating the validity of the notary's status and not the information in the document, it might be okay.

Whatever the case, I'M STILL NOT FINISHED WITH THIS FREAKING DOSSIER.  Do you KNOW how big the glass of wine will need to be when this thing FINALLY is out of my hands for good?!  Seriously.  A huge ass glass of wine is in store for this girl.

Nothing else is new.  M2 and I went to our nearby library branch where I got a card.  For the next 8 weeks, we are limited to 10 items at a time.  That's okay.  M2 checked out books on astronauts and space, the Wright brothers, ocean and ocean life, choppers (the motorcycle kind), and big equipment.  She LOVES all that stuff.  I'm just glad she's showing some interest in reading and being read to finally.  She's a decent reader, but I so want her to be more fluid when she reads.  She still has to think too much as she goes.  If she could just slow down for a couple seconds and sit still once in awhile, she might be even better at reading than she is.

I'm hoping I can make it back downtown tomorrow night in time for that yoga class I've been meaning to start.  I suppose we'll see.  I need to decompress after hearing that insolent jerk Alec Baldwin toss out the idea that he may run for Governor of my state and Joe Biden saying the administration didn't quite understand the depth of the economic problems (really?  we hadn't noticed Joe) or the administration on one hand saying the stimulus hasn't had a chance to start working, so be patient and on the other saying they want to do another stimulus.  It makes my head hurt.  And, the BEST part?!  The fawning masses who just couldn't wait for him to take office STILL aren't happy because for some reason unless I develop a Messianic vision of his O-liness, they are somehow incapable of being happy their guy won.  WHATEVER!

This, I read today and loved.  It made me laugh and cry at the same time.

New Week

Another week underway!  Time has really been flying.  I have not given much thought to what happens next month when my one contract ends.  I'm having lunch with the director of that program on Friday, so maybe I can feel out if there has been any talk of extending the position.  I will want to tap into some of my other sources prior to the lunch, just to be sure I have the straight scoop.

I had the nice surprise of IM'ing with my husband for awhile at work today and then, coming home, logging on and finding he was still awake and on-line.  After awhile, I convinced him he needed to try and sleep.  He had too long of a nap today, but I told him he needs to do his best to reset his body clock and stop all this night owl stuff.  Soon enough he'll be up at nights, I'm sure, but he should try to be on everyone else's schedule.

He played rock, paper, scissors on the IM program with M2.  She even won a couple times!  I, however, did not.

M2 and I built a spaceship in the living room this evening.  I took a Flip video of her in it before she went to bed, but she was in her 'uniform' of a t-shirt and underpants, so I doubt I upload it!  I love being able to send those to my husband within an e-mail.

My husband sent me some photos today and I want to show you something.

Take a look at these men.  Obviously, as a wife, you like to think you can pick your man from a crowd of similarly dressed men with just a glance.  But, with the shadows, etc., it's hard to see who is who.  I tried looking at faces and had little luck. 

Then, I saw it.  His incredibly straight trigger finger.  Undeniably him.  He was shocked when I picked him out, but touched when I told him how.  He IM'd me, "Really?"  Yep.  Really.  I notice the details.

You can click on the photo to make it bigger. 

My man is kneeling, fourth from the left.

He's in transition now, but we're hoping to have a mailing address for him soon.  I can't wait to send him a real, live letter!  That will be something!

My dossier 'draft' made it to my adoption agency today.  My caseworker is supposed to look at it tomorrow.  I'm thinking by Wednesday I'll know if we have the green light to submit or not.  I'm excited, but cautiously so.  If I'm learning one thing it's that just when you think you're done, you're not.  Such is life and such is parenting.

Lots of stuff on the old to-do list tomorrow.  I'm sure you can relate!

Something Different

From the looks of it, I was not the only one experiencing a different kind of 4th of July.  When I wrote the post at SpouseBuzz, I figured I'd reach out and find at least a few spouses in my boat.  What I didn't contemplate, especially after the pretty okay day she had, that M2 would let me know she didn't find this July 4th sufficiently the same either. 

The day itself was goofy.  The neighbor kid invited M2 across the street to watch a movie.  Then, the two came here where I proceeded to feed them and the neighbor kid proceeded to run amok and trash M2's room. 

[The room has been returned to it usual neat-as-a-pin appearance thanks to M2's hard work.  She was embarrassed by the mess and my reaction to it and worked with her door closed to clean it].

M2 would croak if she knew this were on the internet with an "After" photo, but she can't log on by herself, so we'll leave it at that.

She did a good job cleaning it up and I'm proud of her that she takes pride in having a clean and organized living space.  I also am proud she provided me with an opportunity to put the kibosh on the neighbor kid's wheedling to 'please, please, please' come in our house.  I can't wait to say, "I'm sorry.  The last two times you were here, you trashed M2's room and did not stick around to clean up your mess.  You may stay outdoors."

Because of the rain, the cookout we'd planned to attend had been canceled, so I resigned myself to just hanging out and maybe going to fireworks if the rain stopped.

Then, my friend, Michelle, called and invited us over to share in a cookout with her husband and their two little boys.  We went and had a great time.  M2 ate TWO hamburgers and a huge slab of leftover birthday cake from the youngest son's birthday.  On the way home, we saw tons of fireworks displays getting started and pulled into a prime parking spot at the crest of a hill in our neighborhood where we could see our town's display just fine.  M2 loved it.  She talked about how much Daddy loves fireworks and which ones would be his favorites.

We went home and I tucked her into bed.  Two hours later (around 12:30 a.m.), I hear her sobbing.  M2 does not sob.  I figured her overzealous eating at the cookout had gotten the better of her and she may have a tummy ache or worse.  I bolted upstairs and found her disoriented from being sleepy, but definitely crying.

First, it was an itchy toe [cream applied].  Then, a stuffy nose [kleenex and decongestant administered].  Then, a sore ear [drops inserted].  She begged to go to the doctor.  I told her the doctor was closed, but if her ear hurt that bad, we would go to the hospital.  She said, "My ear hurts only a teensy weensy bit, Mommy" but that "I really like to go to the doctor, so can we go now?"

This is when I realized she was just super duper tired and needed to rest. 

Then, the other shoe dropped.

"I miss my Daddy!" [more sobbing]  "My Daddy is away and I want him to come back!  Now!"  [louder sobbing].

I must have held her and cuddled her and rubbed her back for two hours.  She just clung to me and squeezed.  M2 is not a cuddler, clinger, or sobber so this was very unsettling.  Not that I didn't know the little turkey had all this going on, but she handles her business and I don't push her.  She becomes VERY sullen and angry if I'm too pushy and she resists confiding in me.  I really have to take a different approach with her than I do M1. 

All I know is that I'm glad it was dark because I cried too.

In happier news, earlier in the day yesterday, the two of us saved a teeny baby bunny that Annie, the idiotic golden retriever, dug out of its hutch and carried into our enclosed back porch.  I thought Henry was pawing at a bug, and I hollered at him to stop and wandered over to the door to pick it up only to find he was trying to get a huge paw on that tiny bunny!  Horrified, I ushered them both into the house, cracked their asses with a flip flop and basically let it be known we do NOT harm baby bunnies!

I had no clue what to do.  Animal expert, Aunt Heather, was reached via cell and she advised us.  I decided that because the hutch was empty and it was POURING rain, I would pick the little guy up in a washcloth and slide him under our shed where he could be dry and away from offensive contact from animals.  When we came home from Michelle's we went outside with a flashlight and found the washcloth undisturbed but no baby bunny inside!  Hooray!  He made it!  [And, if he didn't, I will never believe differently].

Today, I missed my husband's calls first thing in the morning.  The call had been routed through the air force base so were showing up as local calls.  I was all thinking, "Who in the beeeeeep is calling here before 8:00 on a Sunday morning?!"  M2 said, 'Maybe it's Daddy!'  I shushed her, told her to go to sleep and rolled over to do the same.  I realized when I heard the voicemail later that it was, indeed, Daddy.  Oops!  Lesson learned.  He called later and we talked as long as we were allowed.  I won't hear from him for a few days, it sounds like, so I'm glad my boneheaded early morning grogginess didn't cost me the conversation later.

We also heard from M1 again today.  She is enjoying her time with her grandparents, but also misses us.  We miss her and can't wait to hear all about the fun she's having this week!

As a new week begins, I have to grow used to the idea that my baby turns 6 on Saturday.  Sniff.

To Inspire Your 4th

We strive to keep the 4th of July mindset year-round.  Remembering our foundation, honoring those who went before and looking far enough ahead to recognize the need to protect our children's future. 

Bankrupting our kids before they are out of diapers is not the way to do it.  If my kids want to live like the French, they can move to France when they grow up.

I saw Karl Rove on Fox and Friends this morning discussing a family he featured in an article in the Wall Street Journal.  It was impressive enough just hearing the short version on Fox and Friends.  The article itself provides even more detail.

It's a little gift from me to you on our nation's birthday.  Open it!  Don't leave me hanging.

And, here's a little bonus link for you found just now on Facebook.  And, because we don't live close enough for me to entertain and feed your child for the entire day (as I'm currently doing for my neighbors--who, as far as I know have been snatched by aliens), I give you these cute Schoolhouse Rock memories.

The First of the "Not the Same" Weekends

Ah, July 4th!  How we love you here at Fort W.  But, alas, without our fearless leader, King of the Grill, I'm afraid we're in for slim pickings tomorrow.  We've been invited to a cookout and will likely go (although, if I remember correctly, we may want to eat beforehand).  We've also been invited to a fireworks display and will likely go.  However, the forecast says rain and lots of it, so we may not have anything to go see anyway.  If things go to crap, I'm not sure what we'll end up doing as I have a hard time creating fun on days that just ARE supposed to be that way. 

We've had movement in the adoption world today.  I'm hoping we will pass a major milestone early in the coming week.  I'm also hopeful we will beat the court closure in Ethiopia.  Some rumors are floating around that the court will not close this summer, but I'll believe it when I see it.  Two families in a group that I exchange e-mail with passed court this week and it's super exciting to live vicariously through them.

Oh!  Remember me telling you about the family whose older child's homecoming had been delayed because of stupid bureaucratic red tape in relation to TB testing and the CDC?  She will be united with her family in a matter of days!

In other news, I spoke to my husband today.  I know he stands in line for soooo long to make those calls.  I hope I am able to make them worth it for him.  After a bit of talking, I can usually say something that will make him laugh.  Not that self-conscious "I wonder if anyone hears me" laugh, but the laugh that I miss in this house each day.  Hearing that laugh ties with hearing him say he loves and misses me.  It is magic.  He also calls at odd hours for him so I try and leave him feeling happy, missed and loved so he can go to sleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.  I know replaying our conversations in my mind helps me drift off to sleep at night.  I'm really proud of myself that it has been nearly two weeks and each of our conversations have been positive.  I'm doing really better with that so far.

I have other things I want to talk about, but not tonight.  Narrowing down ideas for the content of an upcoming post content that will be political in nature. 

For now, I'm celebrating small victories and not sweating the small stuff.  One small victory?  Finally deciding how to spend my $15 iTunes gift card credit.  I purchased Prince's "Ultimate" album for $16.99 (or a couple bucks once my credit was used).  28 songs, 2.6 hours of music...all Prince. 

Mama's happy.  Or, is that "Delirious?"

Drained

This will be a quick post because it's 10:00 and I'm drained.  M2 is in bed and I am too.  Just need to blog so I don't ruin my streak on the second day of the month.  We just finished watching Toy Story after an evening of chocolate covered strawberries and a good dinner of baked chicken drumsticks.  Yum!

The adoption paperwork becomes ever more convoluted.  If I could explain it to you, I would, but I'm hoping it will work out by the beginning of the week and that I will not have to sue anyone.  Although at this point, some people are deserving of a good lawsuit and a yanked license.  I do know that the adoption agency is doing everything it can to help and I like that.  I also know that some referrals came back from Ethiopia with the directors, but I don't know if my daughter's is among them.  Pray it is so or doing all this paperwork isn't going to mean much.

We still have chance to make the court closure.  I'm still hopeful.  I won't give up, even if we don't make the court closure.  It's just hard to imagine not making it now that we are soooo close.

Talked to my husband today.  He's tired.  He's also 'assed up' because they keep having to sit and listen to repeated information over and over.  Of course, if those guys listen to these lessons anything like they listen at home, it bears repeating, in my opinion.

The Magmeister and I are ready to snooze.  More tomorrow.

It's July 1st and I'm Not Sweating

The weather has been brilliant the past couple days!  I am sitting in my dining room with all the windows open and I'm quite comfortable in my jeans and sleeveless shirt.  In fact, I'm betting it's only around 68 degrees inside now.  If it would just rain, I know my headache would feel better.  It has been itching to rain for days, but nothing real yet.

Today, we visited our state capital to see the Secretary of State.  Not her, really, as much as her office lobby.  We had our Affidavit of Dossier and General  Powers of Attorney authenticated so that we can put the paperwork in a bundle and send one set to the East Coast and another to the West.  M1 was so cute.  The lady manning the front desk was using a HUGE stamper on some paperwork of someone ahead of us. 

M1 asked, "Is that her?" 
"What?"  I replied.
"Is that Jennifer Brunner?"
"Uh.  No."
"Oh, well, I thought it was because she has that big stamp."

Later, when the office person returned my paperwork with the fancy authentication document stapled to the top, M1 said, "Wow!  Did Jennifer Brunner sign that herself?!"  Big Stamp lady giggled.  I had to explain to M1 that Jennifer Brunner is busy with important stuff like playing ping pong with our county election board over whether or not our State Speaker of the House has violated residency requirement rules and how best to drag her feet to avoid making sure that voter fraud didn't ruin a perfectly good election in '08.  I kinda felt like Big Stamp lady might have done a better job anyhow.

After our quick visit to the governmental offices, we headed down to the opposite end of the street to visit COSI. 

COSI sits directly across from the warehouse memorial coliseum where I took the bar exam almost a year ago.  I think I had hives for a second.

With the military discount, it cost less than $20 for the three of us to spend the afternoon at the center.  The girls and I had a TON of fun.  I took some photos before my camera batteries died.  I then relied on the Flip.  I'm too tired at the moment to pull any video or stills from it, but I will.

One display takes you from a street in 1800's to a street in the 1960's.  LOTS of vintage things for the kids to try their hand at...my parent's washing machine and dryer were in the appliance store!  They also had a TV studio set up with a camera that fed into a TV (that had a picture on it that was so not HDTV and I was all nostalgic seeing that soft image).  There were four or five buttons on the anchor desk and when you pushed it, the 'control room' told you to stand by and a five second countdown started, then a cue to read the teleprompter.

M1 took to it like a fish to water and read a very difficult bulletin dealing with the Bay of Pigs.  I giggled to myself when she tripped over the word "Colonel" and yet pronounced "Guantanomo Bay" without hesitation.  She could definitely give impish Katie Couric a run for her money.  At 10, I think M1 looks a bit more mature than Couric and would likely have more credibility on any number of topics.  And, her feet actually touch the floor when she sits in the anchor chair.

M2 liked the "Gadget Cafe" best.  You wear goggles, for one.  And, for two, you "order" science experiments which you conduct.  I especially loved it when the baking soda/vinegar experiment splattered all over me.  Predictable (it isn't like I didn't know what would happen), but I expected to be able to deflect it.  Nope.

Okay.  Gotta go unless I want to miss my window to post on the 1st of July!  Photos and updates tomorrow!  Pray I finish this paperwork!!