Friends

I have lots of friends. I really like them, I do. And they know me pretty well. In particular they all mostly tease me about being cheap. But I'm sure they see my other fine qualities as well. Sometimes.

But I have one friend in particular that is the kind of friend everybody needs at least one of. The kind of friend that honestly thinks I am WAY more awesome than I could ever hope to be. That's my friend Jilly. That cheesy photo is from her Bridal "tea" a few weeks ago. See my friend Jilly just got married (finally). And she told everyone that we couldn't buy them gifts. Nope. We had to MAKE them! Oi vey!

So I came up with the absolute simplest thing I could think. Everyday cloth reusable napkins (she's kinda granola and they like that greenie stuff). So what do I do? Well I tell my mother my idea of course. And she proceeds to go to the fabric store, buy the fabric and pre-shrink the fabric. I generously donate my time cutting it into squares and pulling the threads off the edges. Then mother dear hems them all all leaves them at my house freshly ironed and folded in a nice handmade wood basket a few days before the wedding. (Speaking of people everyone needs in their life!)

This was a few weeks ago. But today I finally talk to Jill on the phone and she tells me how impressed she is the I WOVE fabric to make her the napkins! Ha! Are you kidding me, you actually think I created fabric out of thread, on a loom? Uh huh. Sorry, I'm not that awesome, but thanks for thinkin' it.

Everybody needs a friend like that!

Census

It's 9:15 and the Census worker just left. That was weird. And kind of painful.

And no, I was not naughty and delinquent in filling out my form. My parents were :)

March..The Unblogged

Oy vey, it's almost May and I have all these photos...from March, but nothing from April. It's been bad. There was St. Patrick's Day...with a parade.

And we said goodbye to Gigi.
This is what children do during funerals...this and sneak way too many cookies and sodas while the adults are distracted.

Then Easter, of course.

And a little daytrip to Seattle.Is he not the epitome of Seattle right there? Coffee, stocking cap, fourteen layers of clothing... We hit Pike Place Market (mmm...bought some berbere and curry) and went to the Science Center with Grammy, Papa and Aunt B. We like that place, much better membership than the dang FIG. We have a membership to both, and have used the one that's 120 miles away 4 times and the one 2 miles away all of uhhh, zero. But that's another post :)

I'm a slow learner

I have a confession to make. I don't seem to be able to understand basic parking regulations, or at least remember them when necessary. You see, every single time I take a day off (like a vacation day for no particular reason) I get a parking ticket. Every. Single. Time.
I'm a big dummy.
I blame it on the fact that I only go downtown on evening and weekends (and holidays), when meters are free. Therefore, it seems beyond me to put money in them on a regular old Monday afternoon.
This is an expensive lesson to learn so slowly.

Picking up Chicks

Ahh, just in time for Easter, the Grandparents got the kids cute little chicks. We named them Nugget, Drumstick, Roaster, Omlet, Gravy, Colonel Sanders and Benedict. I told Christian the first time he slacks off on feeding/cleaning/egg collecting we'll just start eating them. Uhhhhh, no. Actually they belong to Mom's roomate and are moving to Alaska in May. My poor father is brokenhearted. He really thought he was finally gonna get his guinea hens, but alas Jenna has to run off with some boy and dash his hopes. I, on the other hand, am totally bummed to see my eggs float away on the ferry. I can't lie...I considered spiriting a few away to my backyard. If it weren't for our psycho squirrels it might even work.

Dear Friends

I'm sorry for trying to carry y'all around by your necks all weekend. Apparently I think you're all a bunch of dolls :)

The Trouble with Monkeys

An interesting conversation this morning. Ashi was literally hopping across the bedroom floor saying "eee eee Aah Aah" and Christian and I were joking that he was our little monkey boy. At which point Christian joked that he thought Ashi was half monkey. Uh oh! I explained to Christian that even though we sometimes call Ashi a monkey boy because he is such a crazy climber, and silly too (just like we called Christian that when he was this age), we might not want to say things like that around other people because they might think we are saying something mean about Ashi's brown skin. Christian totally got it (yay- because that could have sucked to explain). He thought we should think of another animal to call him that isn't brown. His suggestion: a chihuahua :)

Meltdown

What a day! It was really, really lousy. And also not so lousy. And then really nice.

First, I opened up my mail from yesterday to discover that the hospital had sent my account to collections because my pathetic insurance company (eh hmm, BCBS of Utah) can't get off their asses and pay the damn bill(s). When I called them today, they had the "missing info" RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM and thought it should be taken care of pretty soon. Yeah, that's really helpful for my credit rating. Thanks dipwads!

Then, my fabulous HR department let me know they made some errors on my deductions this year, and would need to make an extra $600+ deduction from my December 25th paycheck. Merry Christmas!

Next, I decided there would be no better way to spend my lunch break than applying for Ashi's Social Security card. The government is being run by morons, it is frightening. I provided the listed 3 pieces of ID FOR MY TWO YEAR OLD. I had his WA birth certificate, US adoption decree, and immunization record. The chicklet at the counter insisted she had to see his Ethiopian birth certificate, Ethiopian adoption decree (yeah never mind they are in Amharic) and his green card.
ME: Please tell me why you'd rather see the foreign documents?
Chicklet: Oh, because these US ones aren't proof of age or birth because he wasn't born here.
ME: (thinking: Bull Shit they aren't! And by the way) the Ethiopian ones aren't in English.
Chicklet: We have a translator.
ME: I don't see Amharic listed here.
Chicklet: Well the translators are contacted over the phone, we just call and they'll get whatever language we need.
ME: (thinking: I'd like to see you translate an Amharic DOCUMENT over the phone Dummy)

So I run home, and bring back more paperwork. This time I provide:
US Birth Certificate
Ethiopian Birth Certificate
US Adoption Decree
Ethiopian Adoption Decree
Immunization Record
Green Card
and for good measure, his Visa and Passport.

8 forms of identification. Which is quite a feat for any two year old child!

You know what happened then? Well Miss Mensa 2009 had a problem with the fact that his name was not the same on his Ethiopian and US documents. It didn't seem to matter that his name change was documented in the Adoption Decree. She actually was arguing with me that he couldn't have a SS card in the name on his US BIRTH CERTIFICATE! I did not think many nice thoughts about this woman as I drove back to the office.

So I go back to work. Which isn't exactly my favorite place in the world these days. Year end is always the worst, it's when we get our most recent accounting of how much crappier next year's benefits will be. As if our current insurance plan isn't bad enough, next year we'll be moving to an UNsurance plan with a $10,000 deductible and NOTHING covered until you hit $10,000. Umm, no thank you. Last year they just plain took several days of everyone's vacation time and restricted how we could use it. And if you might happen to need FMLA or maternity leave, well good luck to you. You may have 2 weeks unpaid, but after that you lose ALL benefits until you've been back for 3 months. It's a damn expensive LOA, trust me I know.

But, as a token of gratitude, we did get our bonuses today. While they are triple last year's- it is absolutely nothing compared to the lost Health Insurance. Me thinks they are trying to pacify the masses. It's not really working.

BUT...it is my birthday today. So I got Vietnamese food, cake, flowers, camping gear, and my own personal elementary school Christmas Program. So all is right with the world again. Okay, it wasn't really my own personal Christmas Program, but between the cookies at school and the cake at home my kids passed out in their respective sugar comas as soon as I put them in bed tonight. So it was sort of a gift :)

Holiday Catch-up

Last night was the Christmas program at church. Christian did such a wonderful job singing, he remembered all the words and motions to the songs- he looked awesome up there. Ashi sat patiently for the entire show, he really enjoyed it and even "sang" a bit. And when he saw his brother he kept exclaiming, "Bubba! Bubba!" and pointing at him. It was really adorable, he couldn't believe that his very own Bubba was up there on the stage.

These photos are from Thanksgiving, but they needed to be posted. Christian headed off with Grammy for a ride. He looks so grown-up, doesn't he?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... The house got eerily quiet, and I went off in search of a little Ashi boy. Look who I found playing in the driveway! He put on some boots, let himself out, and even shut the door behind himself. Stinker.

At least he put some boots on :)

Actual Art

This was an incredibly sweet shower gift from my dear friend Elizabeth orchestrated at the Orphanage Shower we had back in February. She actually let the rest of us work on it too, but she made sure to only supply us with carefully selected (and coordinated) supplies to keep us from screwing it up. She dropped it off at Ashi's Adoption Day party so I could put the photos on. I think I'll change a few out- but at least it's done for now! I have so many cute pieces of canvas art hanging on my walls all of a sudden. That ploy of dropping off a CD of my adorable children at TOM sure paid off!

Things that Made Me Scream Today (silently)

1) My insurance company denying Ashi's claims for the last set of labs because "we do not cover medical tests for routine physicals for work, school, sports, camp or insurance approval". Yeah, that's it. My two-year-old was getting an HIV test for his new life insurance policy. Morons. I have spent so much time on the phone with my insurance company over the last 7 months that they don't even ask for my ID # anymore.

2) My internet service provider overcharging me by $15 4 months in a row. Followed by me contacting them each month, complaining, being credited and getting it in writing that it wouldn't happen again. Guess what? It happened again.

3) The Mommy Wars. Why do we do that to ourselves? I've never participated myself, I have more at-home mom friends than working ones, so I think the whole debate is just dumb. Last night at the PTA meeting I was greeted by one of Christian's teachers (also a parent of a student), "Hey Erin, It's always so good to see you! So this is where your son goes to school all week." Okay, it totally wasn't meant to be cold and nasty like that might look in writing- but seriously? Do stay-at-home moms really think work-outside-the-home moms LIKE missing out on EVERYTHING their kids do during the day? I come to the PTA meetings, I spend HOURS cutting out and assembling learning aids at home, I write notes to the teachers and I read everything that comes home in his backpack. But no, I can't drop him off or pick him up because I work 8-5 on the opposite side of town. I really don't need to feel guilty about that, I've got enough guilt to keep me busy for a while.

Then this afternoon (I took the day off) the same person asks me if I think it's harder being home with Ashi all day or working, because her friends tell her it's easier to go to work. I think I might have actually scoffed at her. While yes, it's a lot of work running around after the kids all day, it's not like you aren't getting all kinds of other stuff done too! And the company is way more fun than the people at the office! I said, "For me, work days are harder, because when I get home after 5 I still have to clean the house, do laundry, have meaningful interactions with my kids, get their homework done and obsess other everything I missed all day long. When I'm home that's all done by 5 and we can just relax in the evening." Geez- let alone running errands, grocery shopping, paying bills (which I obviously did today given my first two points), cooking actual food... Can't we all just cut each other some slack? I would never tell a stay-at-home mom that they've got it easy, because they don't. I don't know anyone who has it easy- that's just life.

For the Love of Injera

Last Sunday we went to the Ethiopian Family Potluck at Bloedel. Numbers were low this time around, alot of families with the flu and whatnot. I tried to get some photos, but the boys are pretty much a sweaty blur the whole time. I did get some good time in visiting with a few families, including L's mom who is the only mom in the county that truly shares my opinions about the Health Department. Those be some colorful e-mails.
There was so much food left over, that we got to bring home a pile leftovers, including


INJERA! Which sure makes for a happy boy!

Who has very silly big brother sitting on a tiny potty.

I never, ever wanted to own such things. Those disgusting little plastic potty thingies. But having both bathrooms upstairs (seriously! Who designs a house like that? Men, that's who.) has necessitated the purchased of them. Where they generally reside behind a locked gate, because they tend to get used as hats.

Which is really too gross to think about since they were "previously loved". But speaking of previously loved, looky looky what I got off craigs.list for forty bucks! 45 Avent bottles! Charissa sent out an update last week that Hannah's Hope needs bottles badly. Shauna leaves next week to get her little Maeve, and somehow she's going to figure out where to stick all these puppies (I'm thinking she should probably start packing pretty soon- but she's a bit delusional with glee and is occupying herself with other things). Which is cute!

This and That

Ashi got another set of molars last week. Current tooth inventory 18.
Christian lost another tooth at school last week, the first kid to loose one at school this year. Current tooth inventory 20.

Ashi's new words:
No Way!
Asher
Sure
Shoes
Head
Nose
Neigh (the horse says)
Meow (the cat says)

Last week Christian had got all 22 of his spelling words right! Including:
Spider
widow
bear
bare

Ashi has decided that he needs to sleep with Christian's frog. And he would really prefer to sleep in Mama's bed too. He's a persistent little bugger, at least the last two nights he sure was. Would not lay down in his bed, fell asleep in my arms 3 times and woke up yelling "no. no. no" with a death grip whenever I'd stand up. And just pointing, pointing, pointing at my bed. Yes cute, and sorta not. Tonight he went right down with BFF (Best Friend Frog) and lamby. I can live with that.

Christian scored two goals last week at his last soccer game, and keeps telling everyone he's signing up again next year. When he scored one from over ten yards out he was all Mr. Cool about it, like oh yeah I scored a totally awesome shot., whatever :)

Lost in Translation

Ashi's birthday present came today. It's something really cool, well it's a cheap foreign knock-off of something really cool (because, as I'm so often reminded...I'm cheap). And it's missing at least one crucial part.
Here are the stellar "Directions" included, with the non-existent assembly instructions. I'm almost positive they were written by Yoda. Pay special attention to all the wonderful benefits of this particular product on the Fourth point! Ten bucks to anyone who can identify this amazing vehicle that is suitable for flinty flat land plays.

And I quote:
Frist' Application method: Boards latter two grips the steering wheel, about rotates mays then to move, if must accelerate the travel, should cause the body about to rotate with the vehicle, maximum speed each second may amount to 2.88 meters.

Second' Uses the place: This vehicle is suitable for the living room, the square, the plot, the park, the healthy body activity area, the amusement paradise, the young garden and so on the flinty flat land plays.

Third' suits the age: Above three years old the child uses.

Fourth' functions and affects: If every day normally exercises, both enhancement ossein, muscle and ligament, and the enhancement digestion and the immunity function, enhances the memory, promotes the child intelligent health to grow.

Fifth' This vehicle characteristic: This vehicle needs not electrically operated and the oil can install, then can freely move, is the green and the environmental protection healthy body entertainment product.

Warning' 1) the child in plays when please in the adult accompanies a sick person to provide nursing care under uses 2) Forbid in the key communication line, the pitch. Do not play on uneven or road surface and so on in security. 3) When use sits lies in before the trailing wheel center, prevents retroversion. 4) Before the use please inspects the fastening and the components is whether reliable, if has becomes less crowded or fails, please fastens. Don not lets the child put in the entrance plays, guards against swallows into.

So there you have it. a toy that will promote the child intelligent health to grow AND is the environmental protection healthy body entertainment product all rolled into one! Score one for the mama!

Any guesses???

Overheard at Our House

"I demand that you stop bleeding immediately. I am not taking you for stitches." ~ bad mommy
Why must my children bleed so much lately? It's disgusting.

How is it possible?

How can it be possible that this little Ethiopian is too darn hot and sweaty to fall asleep tonight?

Sure, it's still 86 in the bedroom. But that should be nothing for him, right? Apparently not. He's seems to have adjusted to the Pacific Northwest already. It got up to 96 today- I know that sounds really lame to most of the people reading this, but it's actually an all-time record. And we get like 60% humidity to go with it. Our average temp this time of year is 72, and AC is almost non-existent around here. Well, except for at my office...where I've been wearing a sweater all week. I have to admit, I'm loving the chance to put on my swim suit after dinner and play in the sprinkler with the kids. I cannot remember ever having the urge to run under the hose, in the shade, at 7pm. In fact, it's so dang hot I don't even care about all the construction workers milling around the construction site behind the house while I frolic in a bikini. Now that's just sick isn't it?

Hey Auntie!

See those two lumps on my head?

For the record...I totally did not deserve them. You have a meanie grump of a doggie, and I am not appreciating her very much right this minute.

But I love you...

And I can't wait until you come visit me. Now, don't you go feeling too bad about my little head wounds (even though you know I scar easily and it is right there on my precious little face). No, don't you worry your pretty little head.

I'll make you pay come August. Then it's just you an me sister.

(not exactly) A Starving Little Ethiopian

Look at that belly busting out of his pants. They're so long they have to be rolled up at the bottom, and yet the middle just can't stay snapped. We're not big fans of jeans around here, which is too bad because he looks adorable in them.

I can sleep on the plane, right?

So yes, it's almost tomorrow, and I'm still up. Maybe I should have figured out how to use the video camera more than oh, three days before leaving. Probably could have emptied all the memory cards before now too (but you just never know when you need to take another photo for the blog!), and does it really matter that my reading material for that hideous plane ride is "Parenting your Adopted Child"? Yes, probably should have finished that up sometime in the last four months, but there were blogs to be read! I have organized my "to do" list carefully, mapped out my errands to perfectly fit into my lunch breaks and tallied up all free hours between now and Thursday noon. Yep, I can definately get it all done. Because afterall, I can sleep all I want on the plane, right? No, never mind. I still need to finish learning to speak Amharic, all I've got so far is "ca-ca" and "a-wad-a-hallow", hmm, probably won't be putting those together into the same sentence. (That would be roughly translated into "poop, I love you")

9 Days to Go!

Nine more days, and everything is just about ready to go. The tickets are bought, the hotel reserved, the birth family letter written, the bags packed, the donations ALMOST packed, and the time-off at work... well I hope I still have a job in May :)

These colorful packages are the "surprises" C gets to open everyday while I'm gone. Two of them are clues to go find a hidden treasure. I want to write him a note for each day too, telling him what we'll be doing that day (while he's sleeping actually).

We will be leaving on Thursday the 5th (after I work a half day because I LOVE my job). And I say "we" because my Mom has decided to join me. Misery loves company, "A" can scream at us both! I am soooo glad to have some company on the trip, that's a long ol' plane ride. Especially on the way back home with the antsy toddler. And it will be a blessing to have someone else to hold the camera a bit!

We're flying Seattle to London, where we have a 24 hour layover before flying London to Addis Ababa, arriving in the wee hours of Sunday morning. We'll head back early on Friday the 13th, and land in Seattle around 10 pm that evening (with 4 hours in London on the way back).

The C man will be hanging out with his Auntie B, getting thoroughly spoiled and most likely sleeping with his feet in her back (showing the love, the boy needs his snuggles Auntie).

My favorite quote of the day, from C "Mom, life is kind of confusing." Deep thoughts buddy!

Random story: Last night I came home with some donations from co-workers for the orphanage. One of them was a Rubik's cube. C saw it and immediately said, "hey cool, a Rubik's cube." I had no idea he knew what it was. He asked if I would mix it up for him, so I pulled it out and turned it about 6 times. "Here ya go, I'm cooking dinner." I kid you not, he brought it back solved in 90 seconds! "Mom, I'll mix it up for you now." Let's just say, it is still "mixed" and will be going to Africa that way.