rumors of chivalry’s demise are true

Three, count ‘em, three able-bodied neighbor men stopped to say hello and see what I was up to when I was uploading a small U-Haul truck full of my storage unit contents yesterday afternoon.

Zero (zilch, nada) of them offered to help.

Had someone written a note on my back saying, “Don’t interrupt the sweating - it’s her work out”???

Gits.

My favorite had to be the gent who drives the little black Mercedes convertible. He stopped on the sidewalk and asked how I was while lighting up a nice cigarette, watching me heave a heavy box of books onto my shoulder for the climb up the stairs to my house.

Gosh, I’m doing great. There is simply nothing I’d rather be doing than hefting tons of dusty belongings and humping up a flight or two of steps.

The good news is that by the end of the day, I was completely cleared out of the storage place (no more monthly charge!) and done with my last obligation in Napa.
Also, I got to enjoy the big hit of endorphins or seratonin or whatever it was that I generated doing 5 hours manual labor.



Also good is that yesterday was the one and only non-rainy day lately, so I stayed dry the entire time.

A Snowy Open House Today

My realtor, Kathy Hoskin, had an open house for my home today. She told me that this is the first time she has ever had a "snow in" during an open house in all the years she has been hosting them as a realtor in Jacksonville. Nary a soul came until the last 1/2 hour. Any one that would brave the elements to see my home on a day like this is not a casual "looky lou". Who knows, maybe something will come of it.

Here are a couple of shots of Kathy with her signs and her car, thankfully, she has a CRV which is great in the snow. I had to take a couple of photos for you to see how big those snow flakes are.

I had driven to Ashland to have lunch and then hang out in their library for the afternoon. After a leisurely lunch, I looked out the window and realized that I had better get out of town pronto as the streets were already under several inches of snow. Ashland usually gets much more snow than the rest of the Rogue Valley. I made it back to Jville at about 20 mph thanking God that I had brand new tires put on Helga on Thursday. There are no accidents! The snow was coming down so heavily that it was hard tosee. I felt safe but was a little anxious and eager to get back home.

All is well, I have the fire going and am warm and dry. I had to sweep off Helga before I put her back into the garage as she had about 5 inches of snow all over her and I did not want it to melt all over my stuff in the garage. It was quite comical as I stood out in the driveway with a broom sweeping off her top and trying to stay ahead of the heavy huge flakes that were coming down fast.

One never knows what is coming next in our little corner of the world!

Court Date!

Happy news!! Today I got a call from the adoption agency to tell me I finally have a court date!!! Woo Hoo!!

It's February 22nd.

I won't be there, of course, but the attorney who is representing me will appear in court in Addis Ababa and ask that my adoption be granted. So please mark Feb 22nd on your calendars and pray/chant/cross your fingers that the judge will deem me worthy of adopting this little muffin.

If I'm lucky, the judge will finalize the adoption that very day.

Lately, MOST people's adoption petitions have been granted, but about 20% of the time, the judge asks for an additional piece of paperwork, or the file is incomplete, and the case is continued. So, if I am unlucky, I'll get rescheduled for a subsequent date (usually within a few weeks).

In any event, once the adoption is finalized, I will be traveling about month afterward...

Very exciting stuff, indeed.

More surprises for 1/23/2008

I was also the receiver of a wonderful surprise. I came home to find a box of posies from Organic Flowers. Inside the box were not one, but TWO dozen red roses. They were packed like the Hope Diamond. It took me quite awhile to free them from their containers. The blooms are HUGE and there are so many of them.

Here is a photo of one of my arrangements.

I had so many blooms that I chose to bring some over to my good friend Shirley White who lives at Pioneer Village. She is having a medical procedure on Monday and I was happy to bring her some beautiful roses to brighten her day.

I LOVE fresh flowers. On Sunday, I will be having yet another Open House, my "lookie lous" will be very impressed with my blooms.

Thanks dear Kate, for such a lovely surprise. It may not be as much fun as Sylvia but I love it.

Wow!!! Sylvia surprise!!

Well, someone (and I'm guessing my sister, since not many people know of my sock-monkey-mania) sent a CUSTOM-made outrageously funny and adorable "Sylvia" monkey to my office today. I LOVE her. What a scream!! Sylvia, you divine thing you.

Just in case the photo doesn't show it, yes, Sylvia is wearing a "pearl" necklace, sports a killer auburn beehive WITH a side part, and flirts with us coyly through some wicked cool cateye glasses. Sort of "sexy secretary prior to letting her hair down."



Also visible in that top pic (I realize) is my "Best Director" award from the office party that sadly I had to miss because I was in Austin, a glimpse of my PMP certification, a picture of an Avocet (we named a series of client migration projects alphabetically after migrating birds - Avocet, Bluebird, Crane...guess who suggested THAT?!), a guide to the Birds of Texas Hill Country, Kinky Freidman's Guide to Texas Etiquette, a glass of water (yes, Margaret, I am trying to stay hydrated) and my "travel porn" catalog from National Geographic describing many expeditions in 2008, none of which I can afford!

So, in sum, a whole lot of GEEK and a dash of wishful thinking evidenced here.

House Bound

Okay, it has been 9 months now and I am getting a little weary of being "house bound". As most of you know, I listed my house on May 1st and so far there have been no takers. Nary an offer has come in. It takes 9 months to hatch a baby, how long does it take to sell a house? Phil used to be amazed that I actually had a 9 month gestation period because patience is not my strong suit!

I am tired of leaving the house spic and span with polished faucets, wiped counters, clutter free rooms filled with fresh flowers and lights on all over the place. Just for once, I'd like to roll out of bed and not even make it.... what a radical idea!

The real estate news is depressing... I try not to let it get me down.

On the plus side, I have....
a great realtor who is doing a great job
a pretty nice place to live in with great friends and a wonderful community
no dire financial consequences if I do not sell right away
plenty of people rooting for me and praying for me

AND, I have a beautiful new granddaughter that I want to move to be closer to in the near future.

SO, that is my venting for the 9th month. Maybe something will be created soon and I will be on my way.

monthly update

Just got my monthly update on Miss Elsa.

Got new photos, which I can't post (see this explanation). But, she continues to be shockingly beautiful.

In other exciting news, Elsa has finally cracked the US growth charts on weight. Yay!

At almost 5 months:
She is 12.76 pounds, at the 6th percentile for weight.
She is 24.75 inches, at the 27th percentile for height.
She has a head circumference of 16.8 inches, at the 67th percentile for head circumference.

So, in sum, she's skinny, tall, and can do some serious head-butting. :-)

photo removal

I have (temporarily) removed all photos of Elsa from this blog.

I've just found out that it is against Ethiopian policy or law (not sure which) to post pictures of orphans online. That means until Elsa is officially mine (my case has successfully passed court), it is not appropriate for me to post photos of her online.

Out of respect for the Ethiopian policy/law, I have taken the photos down - but don't you worry... the MINUTE she is legally my daughter, I will once again grace you with her image!!

In the meantime, just picture in your mind the sweetest, most adorable, most beautiful child you can imagine...

Got it? Yep, that's her.

update - of sorts

I spoke to the adoption agency yesterday, and found out that my dossier and referral documents are still being translated.

This which means they haven't yet been legalized. Which means they aren't close to being SUBMITTED to court for a court date yet.

So for those of you holding your breath, you can exhale. It's going to be a while. Patience is a virtue, right?

The bright spot in this picture is that I should be getting update photos and info on Elsa either late this week or early next.

update photos!

Just got new new photos of Elsa!



*** PHOTOS TEMPORARILY REMOVED ***






I LOVE these, because she looks so happy, and because they show her little (or not so little!) personality.

small update

I spoke to the program director at my adoption agency and asked how long it would be before I find out the all-important court date (for becoming Elsa's legal parent).

She said it may be a few weeks before I know my court date - we are going into a period on the Ethiopian calendar a couple of big holidays (Christmas in Ethiopia is on January 7th, with most offices closed for the full week, then on January 19th is one of the biggest holiday events in Ethiopia, "Timket", or Epiphany). As a result, things are slowing down quite a bit.

I asked how many a "few" weeks is, and she said it could be 4 to 6 weeks (on the long side).

In more promising news, I MAY be getting some additional photos soon...

I'll keep y'all posted as I get info!