REFERRAL!!!!!!

Finally!!!!! I have referral for a six year old boy!!!! I can't believe it has finally happened!  I am very very happy and also very relieved.  Relieved that I can put the "wait for a referral" part of the journey behind me. 

I have know for a while that I was close to receiving a referral.  I just had to wait for the next meeting which was difficult when I knew good news would be coming.  My agency phoned me on Friday, May 20 to let me know that the Matching Committee had met and that we would receive the documents on the next Wednesday.  Wednesday evening I got the news that I had been matched to a six year old boy.  All the documents were in Spanish but my case worker's native language is Spanish so she translated the documents for me.  Of course I accepted and my acceptance letter was sent that evening. 

Oh, I am just so happy!!

Immigration Update

Today I received my papers back from immigration.  The first step is to confirm that one parent is a Canadian citizen.  I received a letter stating that I met the qualifications and that I had to now fill out the second set of papers and one other short form.  I am not sure exactly when I do this: now or once I have a referral.  The second set of papers need to go to Guatemala.  This process took 14 weeks in total which is much shorter then the 20 I was told originally.  I am glad to have this step out of the way.

Little area of hope

This is my little area of hope.  It contains a few things of interest to me that remind to stay positive during this adoption process.  It started with the BELIEVE stone that I bought when Nepal was at a stand still due to a lack of a Minister.  I then added the vase of pussy willows that Ali and I picked last year on a very warm day in February.  There are small shells from Mexico that Ali added and she also contributed small stones and a glass sun.  At Easter she gave me the painted rock and I added a shell off our local beach.  Of course lately I have been putting flowers from the adoption trees here too.  The Buddha I bought in Nepal last year and there is a small angel that a friend gave me years ago. 

The most interesting item here is the carved stone.  It is from Honduras.  Last year at work, I met a man who had spent two or three years in Honduras in the fifties when it was undeveloped.  There were hardly any roads and no electricity.  His job was to establish banana plantations and during cultivation, they turned up hundreds of broken carvings.  He gave me this small piece.  I am sad to say that he died last week so he won't get to meet my son.  I was lucky to meet him and share in his stories.  Hopefully, his little carving will bring me some luck. 

A Mother's Day Weekend Get-a-Way

A couple of months ago I signed up for a yoga retreat without realizing that it was Mother's Day weekend.  But what a wonderful treat for Mother's Day especially since I went with my Mother.  The retreat was in Honeymoon Bay which was only 40 minutes from my Mother's but seemed like it was a world away.  The room was lovey and the beds had huge big cosy quilts.  The food was fantastic and all vegetarian.

We started with a Yoga class at four on Friday followed by a great dinner and then Relaxation Yoga (my favourite on a Friday Night).  There were two more classes on Saturday with free time in the afternoon which my Mother and I spent in the hot tub and sleeping.  I never get to sleep in the middle of the day so this was a real treat.  Sunday we had walking mediation to the lake and more yoga.  I got home in time to spend the afternoon with Ali. Ali brought me this statue which was very appriopriate.

Surprisingly, I was not that stiff after spending 10 hours doing in Yoga in one weekend.  I am lucky if I get to do 10 hours of yoga in one month.  The classes were well paced and still provided fun and challenging poses.  And we went to bed so early that I was well rested.  It was a wonderful weekend. 

What to do when you need money

Sometimes a girl just needs some cash.  Especially when you have your heart set on purchasing an ip*d and you only have 2 dollars.  So, my suggestion was simple.  Save your allowance and earn some extra money by doing some jobs around the house.  I was not about to spend over $200 on an item for a seven year old that would probably be lost in the first week. 

Yesterday, Ali came home and decided that she was going to start a business picking up dog dirt from other people's yards.  I think she got this idea from my parents who pay someone to do this dirty deed.  The problem with this plan, besides the fact that I didn't want her hands near any dog dirt, was that I would have to go with her from house to house and I would be the one who ended up doing the work.  And since I don't like picking up in my own yard, I wasn't about to do it in someone else's.

Today, Ali decided we needed to have a garage sale.  I explained that Saturday would be a good day and that we could advertise and gather together some items to sell.  Ali did not want to wait until Saturday and half hour after our conversation, I looked out of the window to see this.....

Ali's garage sale.  Just after six on Wednesday evening.  She is holding a sign that says "Garage Sale.  All items $5.99 each".  Unfortunately, she didn't have any sales.  Maybe she will go back to saving her allowance instead.

Taking care of the Dog

Ali has been really helpful lately taking care of our dog Daisy.  He has been bathing the dog with the hose and combing her out everyday even though the dog is perfectly clean. 

And she has been walking the dog up and down the street.  Today she took her for a bike ride which was a bit difficult because Daisy wants to run faster then the bike.  It was a good effort though but Ali decided that walking is easier.