Nurture

I work as a... um...what's the Politically Correct term again...oh yeah, School Nutrition Services Employee(in other words, I'm a Lunch Lady). I like the job because it allows me to be off work when my kids are off school and the hours are great. The pay is not, but I'll take the good with the bad. One of the other things I really like about it is that I get to interact with the kids. I love kids. I should have been a teacher but didn't always make wise choices and one of those was not going to college.

Today I was at an elementary school and I got to work on the serving line. I love to watch all the kids come in and listen to them interact with each other. Sometimes they are too hilarious. Today when the First grade came through the very last kid in the very last class was a little boy who had obviously been crying. Of course, the first thing we asked him was if he's ok and, of course, he said yes. With his little bloodshot eyes and swollen red face. About this time his teacher came in, had a little heart to heart with him, took off the little guys glasses, gave him a tissue and helped him wipe his eyes. It was all very sweet and I was so impressed with said teacher.

"So what", you might say, "teachers handle these types of situations every day." And you would be right. The difference today was that this teacher was male and when he came back around the line and saw this little boy crying I fully expected him to take him by the shoulder and tell him to buck up and get over it. He did take him by the shoulder and they had a little "man to man", I don't know what was said but I know that the young man got himself together and was able to get his lunch and go on his way. I just can't get out of my mind the gentle way that the teacher helped him to dry his face and go on. I guess you could say it "warmed my heart".

Families Needed

As you may be able to tell this is supposed to be a blog about our adoption of a baby girl from Vietnam, however, here lately it's been about whatever the crazy woman who lives in my head feels like at the moment. That's because we are making NO progress on an adoption, from anywhere. After all the stank that went down with the agency we were going to use we decided to just sit back and see what happened and whether or not adoption from Vietnam would even continue. As we gave it some time we started thinking more about a special needs adoption. We had thought before that we would be willing to adopt a child that may be passed over otherwise. Since we have been trained as Therapeutic foster parents and I have experience working in the school system and our church with Special Education students we're pretty sure we could handle a variety of issues.

With all that said my problem is that I have been checking out all the Waiting Child lists that I know of and so many of these children are in China and Korea and we are not approved to adopt from either. I hate it because every list I see the majority of their children are from one of these two places and I just keep thinking if they didn't have such strict requirements perhaps a lot of these kids would have families by now. I understand the desire for the children to have the best life possible but what I can't figure out is how can being a couple years over 45 make you an unfit parent or how can being over a certain body mass disqualify you to be a good parent? These children are living in orphanages and the care they receive may be better than in days past but it's not anything like having a family that you know is yours forever. A little extra weight, a past bout with depression, being older or any of those other minor issues isn't going to make it less a family.

We still have plans to adopt, we are just not saying we are adopting from "XYZ" and I'm trying not to put a timeline on it. I know..."Good Luck with that!"

HUH?

I was just sitting here watching the news while I surf around and I think I just saw a bunch of people in a Metro station in their underwear. I live near DC and I know folks can be nuts but I didn't think that many were that nuts!

Did I really just see what I thought I saw or do I seriously need to put my little delusional tail to bed? Boy howdy!

Does this mean we're related?

I saw this on someone else's blog and just had to make my own. Curiosity always gets the best of me.



I'm ok with a couple of them being dudes only because one of them is Johnny Depp and I heart him so much!

Outside the Touch of Time

"To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time." Clara Ortega

Today we spent a few hours hanging out with my Great-Grandma. She needed someone to fix the phone line that runs to her bedroom and I wanted to get some names of ancestors to start doing some genealogical research. She's an awesome little lady who will be 90 years old this June. While we were there she fixed us a wonderful lunch, which of course included fried apples because she knows I love them. She followed Hubby up and down the stairs showing him what needed to be run where and why, and dug around to find me all her lists of names and dates of relatives that have been long gone, some of whom she still remembers.

While we were sitting, just she and I, talking and reminiscing together she shared how it bothers her to think that soon she could be the only one of her generation left. She was trying to explain to me how she feels like she will be alone. She will be 90 and her only sibling left, a sister, will be 93 and is "failing". I think the quote above puts into words the feelings Great-Grandma was trying to convey to me today. . They are the only two left and even though she has lots of children, grandchildren, greats and even a few great-greats, it's not the same. Now I think I have a better perspective on what she meant.

Birthday Pictures

That last post kind of depressed me but my birthday was actually a very nice day. Not spectacular but nice. My husband baked me a cake, from scratch. My youngest started insisting about two weeks before my birthday that he had to. So, that's what they did. I was so impressed and they really did a wonderful job.






I am loved!

It's a New Year

Yesterday was my birthday, I turned 31, and today is the first day of the New Year. Christmas has come and gone, and I'm sitting here wondering why time flies now that I'm grown. I remember when I was 10 and I wanted to be 13, then I was 13 and wanted to be 16, then 18..... and then at 19 I had a baby and ever since then my life has just flown until now I'm sitting here tonight trying to figure out how I got to be 31already and have two practically half grown kids. It's bewildering and almost depressing.

I think one of my resolutions this year is going to be to enjoy my kids more and cherish my time with them. I think way too much lately of how they will someday, in the not so distant future, be grown and gone. Am I the only one who gets a little nervous at that thought? I want to make sure that they are ready, that they know how to make good choices when that time comes. That's what we all want for our kids, right?

Where's the sense in that?

Did everyone hear about the little girl in Florida who was removed from school by police for bringing a knife to school in her lunchbox? Read the News article if you haven't.

I understand in this day and age that seeing a knife in the school can cause concern but I still can't help but think that there was serious lack of good judgement shown here. Every article I found specifically stated that she did not threaten anyone or brandish the knife. I noticed the police said that it was school policy that they be called because the knife was considered a weapon. What makes a steak knife a weapon? Wouldn't it be at the moment that it was used in a threatening way? Which it was not. All she wanted to do with it was cut the steak that she had brought for her lunch. Why couldn't the knife have just been taken from her, her parents called and she talked to about why you don't bring steak knives to school?

I don't see any common sense reason this child should have been transported from school in the back of a police car and now have the threat of felony weapons charges hanging over her head. Were the teachers hands tied by rules or did they just see what they perceived to be a weapon and go overboard? I'm not sure I'd be happy with either answer if I was that child's mother.

Blame it on Harry

I started reading the Harry Potter books just recently. I can't believe I waited this long! I have plenty of friends who told me all along how good they were but because I had been led to believe by the Church that they were evil, I was not about to get too close.

These books have got to be the furthest thing from evil. In fact they are all about Good triumphing over Evil. And, no, I don't just say that to make myself feel better.Voldemort, Harry's enemy, is obviously a parallel to many evil forces throughout the ages, including Hitler and Satan. Harry as the one who defeats him is an obvious parallel to the Savior. As to the accusations of the books teaching children witchcraft. Um, no. There are no mini-magic lessons hidden in the margins of the books. Magic is done but I don't think I'm going to be able to wave my wand at my sink tonight and watch my dishes wash themselves. Unfortunately.

The church that we used to belong to had good intentions I think. They just wanted to protect us from anything that would lead us away from God. And they felt these books had the potential to do that. I don't think the pastor ever read a page of even HP1, he just heard from other good pastors like himself and spread the word around. The problem I have now, looking back, is that we as Christians need to open our own eyes and make our own INFORMED decisions. That means knowing what we are deciding on with information in hand. I don't even know the stance the pastor at our new church takes on Harry, and that's ok with me. I'm sure there are some at this church who allow HP and others who don't, and that is their own personal choice. It shouldn't be dictated by the church and if you choose to do otherwise you are a "bad" Christian. That's not how God operates and it's not how we should either. Unfortunately sometimes I think that's the impression we gave. We can't tell people, "It's all about a relationship with Jesus", and then once they are in the church throw a bunch of rules at them that they have to conform to. That's not to say that we get saved and then run wild doing what we want. That's where the Holy Spirit comes in, it's His job to guide us and our job to listen to that guidance.

It is about a relationship with Jesus and I believe He's just fine with my relationship with Harry.

Pure and Undefiled Love

I had to share this video. I found it on the blog of someone that I read and it touched my heart. My heart wants to adopt every child that needs a home. I know why and someday I'll have to post about all of that. But tonight I just had to share this. I hope that someone else will be touched and decide to adopt, from where doesn't matter, the age and sex don't matter. Those things are all personal for each family. Adoption is too wonderful for just a few to experience. These children need to be loved, they need to know they were wanted and that there is someone who is going to always be there for them.

It's been said before and is so true. EVERY child deserves a family.