July -- 6 Months to Go! (woohoo)

OK - it is mid-July. Not much has really happened.....well. First off, I have been off work since June 10 -- and loved most every minute of it. I had to go to training for 3 days in Colorado Springs in late June, and 3 days in Dallas --- but other than that, just been hanging. I go back to work (actual work) tomorrow. Gonna be busy catching up. I was in office last Friday and my to do list was a mile long....guess I will spend the next month catching up.

I had surgery on July 1. That was not fun. The healing part has been longer and harder than I thought. Mommy Dearest came to stay with me for a few days. That was so much fun. This woman who takes 2 naps a day wants to go to Ukriane with me.....she better start weaning herself of those naps and get some pep! Needless to say, 4th of July was uneventful for me.

No adoption news. Have a friend in Ukraine right now and after 4 weeks, she does not have a referral for a child. This is not good and not encouraging to me. They showed her very unhealthy kids. (I will leave it at that) It has been such a strain on her. She has her last appointment tomorrow -- we are hoping it goes well. It is such a scary thing. Sometimes I ask myself "why are you doing this". Probably one of the most stressful and emotional things I have ever done. One reason so many problems right now is the restructuring. Maybe it will be better by December when I am there. I did hear from my facilitator that on December 30 everything will shut down for 2 weeks in Ukriane. SO, I will have to find something to do or just wait around. My appointment is Dec. 27 --- so who knows what will happen.

I checked on direct flights to other European cities from Kiev and there are plenty - as well as some African cities. So, since mother has never been outside the good ole USA --- I am thinking we will venture out to see some of Europe. Our choices will be Athens, Greece; Riga, Latvia; Sofia, Bulgaria; Stockholm, Sweden; and Warsaw, Poland. If Linda will relax a little -- I will try to get her to Tripoli, Libiya or Cairo, Egypt. We will see.........

We will be leaving for Ukraine on December 24.....may or may not hang out in London for a day. Haven't decided yet. If we are having so much down time --- may just cirlce back and go later.

Oh yeah -- my house did not sell. The buyers backed out because I would not vacate in 9 days. There was no way I could because of the trip to Colorado Springs and surgery. So, they wanted to take possession by July 1 -- there was no way for me to do that. I have thought about doing some remodeling on the house and keeping it if it does not sell by late July/early August.

Well, that is the July update. Maybe August will be more interesting. Please keep me in your prayers and my adoption. I firmly believe that is what it will take to bring home a healthy toddler girl!

Jennifer

Jennifer at the Taj Mahal - Agra, India 

St. John USVI

Lazy Days of June

Not much is happening in June....well, I am sitting around waiting on the people who submitted an offer on my house to decide if they like the counter-offer. I am guessing since it has been 3 days, they don't much like it. I love my house, and it pains me to sell it --- but I need more room. What - with all my stuff, a dog and a kid. I need my space! : ) Anyway, my realtor decided to do an "open house" today, but nobody showed up. He forgot it was Father's day. Oh well....

As you all can see I am trying to play with this blog thing to learn how to post pictures. I posted one I took this week in St. John, and one from India in January. Do you all want to hear again how awesome India is? What a cool place. If you ever get the chance to go -- GO. You will never forget the place. It has been months since I have been back -- and I miss it at times. Don't get me wrong, it had it's moments. The poverty wore on me quick. I have never in my entire life experienced something so life changing. I have never seen poverty or such horrible social injustices any where else in the world.

I actually took 7 days off of work. That is a first in a long time! But, I got the ole use it or lose it memo (vacation days) -- and they decided I could not carry it over to the next year (that being the work year - so as of 9/30) I still have 5 more days to use before then, so I guess I will just have to plan on going somewhere cool. On my list --- Thailand. I hope I can find an airfare cheap enough to go -- as I was heartbroken at not being able to go in May because of the wreck.

Speaking of which, I am on the mend. Had an MRI (I will get back to that in a minute) and it came out all clear. I will still be having surgery on July 1 (just in time to ruin my 4th of July weekend)....Wish someone would have told me about the MRI -- oh my gosh -- I cried like a baby. The guy thought they'd have to restrain me -- I kept hitting the panic button telling the guy the table was moving in closer and was about to have my head in the tube --- he kept telling me the table was not moving...whatever. I am way clausterphobic.

I went to St. John for a week this past week. Found a cheap airfare, used hotel points, and got myself a cheap vacation and a sunburn from hell. I did nothing but go from my room to the beach every day. It was nice, but now back to reality.

While I was gone, a lot happened in Ukraine. Since they got a new President in January, he is making a lot of changes. So, as of June 15, they will not accept dossiers (paperwork to request a child) for 2 months. I am told this will not affect me since I have been approved and have a date. But, Ukraine (UA) is trying to make things better for the orphans -- and they think a "foster care system" like the US will be great. (is anyone laughing yet?) One thing they are tossing around is for people who take kids in UA (adopt them) they will give them a monthly payment for their care.....great. We all know how this works, the people take the money and don't care for the kids. Especially in a country where the average annual per capita is the equivalent of $2460. Also, children will now be offered to UA families first -- not a big change there. There seems to be a stigma that the kids in the orphanges are "untouchables" of sorts. Anyway, the goal of the new system is to keep as many kids in UA as possible before they are offered to foreigners. Ho-hum --- let's see how much this changes before I actually go in December. Provided that does not change.

My friend Stacey Parker left today (she lives in Atlanta) for UA. She is hoping to adopt a toddler girl. Her appointment is on June 22. We have been counting down the days since she got her notice in late January. For those of you who pray, if you can say a little prayer for her on Tuesday night -- that would be awesome.

On a much more side note, I just slammed my ankle into the side of my desk and am in excrutiating pain. So, I will stop here now. I won't even bore you with the countdown number of days until it is at least double digits! : )
Happy Fourth of July to all.

Appointment Date is Known

Well, today I am starting a blog for my adoption to find my daughter. I received my appointment date on May 19 via FedEx from Ukraine. That date is December 27, 2005. Not exactly the July to September date I asked for --- but I am dealing with many unknowns. I am very blessed to at least have a date as many people are still awaiting dates and submitted their paperwork months before me.

All of my paperwork expires (how is this for timing --- December 27, 2005)! I was looking at my submitted dossier today and saw that -- then cracked up laughing. What an interesting occurrence?

For those of you wondering, I have requested a 1 to 3 year old girl. But that is very hard to find in Ukraine. Seems everyone is looking for that age and gender. For some reason, there is 1 girl for every 4 boys. Why does no one want the boys??? I ask myself that all the time -- it seems sad. I am just as guilty. I don't want a boy, as I am single, and I think it would be too hard to raise a boy without a constant male role model in his life. Plus, my heart's desire is a little girl.

Another thing, I have sent a letter to the NAC (Ukraine National Adoption Center) and pleaded for an earlier date so that I do not have to re-do all the paperwork. The cost is roughly $2000 --- but my little princess will be worth it if I have to re-do.

My house has been on the market for 6 weeks now, and I have had 3 offers. None that we could settle on. So, I at least have time to get settled in a new house before Princess arrives. Hopefully the house will sell soon enough. I have located several houses I like. 3 in Plano and 2 in Firewheel. We'll see how it all turns out once I sell the house.

I am slowly getting over the May 6 car accident. For those who do not know, I was coming home from the airport in my car service, minding my own business in the back seat (not wearing a seat belt) when we were side-swiped and rear-ended. Won myself a trip to the ER. I broke the passenger side window with my head (concussion), crashed on my butt (slightly fractured tailbone), and messed up my mouth pretty bad. Still limping a little, have a permanent dent in my butt, have bad headaches; but am functioning. I am now a proponent of back-seat belts. EVERYONE --- WEAR THEM!

In the meantime, to keep myself busy (as if the job doesn't busy me enough), last October I became involved with Life 2 Orphans (L2O). It is an organization that was started by some women who adopted children from Ukraine and saw firsthand the horrible conditions in which they live. I am the coordinator for all vocational programs. These programs help to support children once they leave orphanages. Currently, they are released at 16 -- to the streets unless some kind souls choose to help them find a job or get educational training. L2O also helps kids within the orphanages. We seek sponsors to send care packages to kids so that they will have a little light in their lives. It makes such a huge difference. I pray every day that I find my child at one of the orphanages we happen to support - because at the baby orphanages we have programs for feeding the children. Rather than me rewriting what we do --- take a look at Life2Orphans.org. We are growing by leaps and bounds. If anyone wants to help out -- let me know.

I will try not bore everyone over the next 7 months, but will periodically update to let everyone know how things are progressing. I decided to make the blog in pink, to represent my search for a little girl. My main facilitator's name is Vlad. From what I hear, he is the best. So far, he has proven himself from what he can control. Let's hope he delivers in December.

I will update periodically until I get ready to leave for Ukraine. Then, I will try to update daily or as often as I can while in Ukraine. It will be below zero freezing weather, what else will I do?

With that, I will sign out!

Jennifer