My Family, My Journey: Hang on Little Tomato

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Hang on Little Tomato

It has been an entire year since I started this blog! Amazing how fast and at the same time how slowly a year goes by when you are waiting for something important to happen.

A few weeks before starting my blog I had heard of blogs but had never read one, only had a vague notion why someone would write one, and I thought writing one myself would be an embarrassingly self-serving notion.

Then I connected with this person on a Yahoo Group and she sent me a link to her blog. I read the entire thing in one sitting and then started following links to other blogs. I was amazed. These women could write. I mean REALLY write. And they were writing about the things I was thinking and feeling.

When I started my blog I never intended to develop a wide audience like this amazing writer, or this one or this one. In fact I felt a bit shy about writing at all and intended to use the blog primarily to keep friends and family apprised of our journey.

But sitting at the top of the FBI list for a while has a way of increasing traffic to one's blog. If you scroll down you will see a "traffic watcher" which doesn't tell me who you are, but it does tell me where you come from so I know that most of you find me through the FBI list. And even though only a small percentage of you leave comments, just knowing that you are all out there makes this wait feel a little less lonely.

So this one is for you, my fellow adoptive parents in waiting...(wait for it...the lyrics kick in after about a minute and a half).

Hang On Little Tomato
~by Pink Martini

The sun has left and forgotten me

It's dark, I cannot see
Why does this rain pour down
I'm gonna drown
In a sea
Of deep confusion

Somebody told me, I don't know who
Whenever you are sad and blue
And you're feelin' all alone and left behind
Just take a look inside and you will find

You gotta hold on, hold on through the night
Hang on, things will be all right
Even when it's dark
And not a bit of sparkling
Sing-song sunshine from above
Spreading rays of sunny love

Just hang on, hang on to the vine
Stay on, soon you'll be divine
If you start to cry, look up to the sky
Something's coming up ahead
To turn your tears to dew instead

And so I hold on to his advice
When change is hard and not so nice
You listen to your heart the whole night through
Your sunny someday will come one day soon to you

5 comments:

The Busters said...: Congrats on your 1 year blog-a-versary! I also love the three blogs you mentioned. Looking forward to following YOUR journey!; Sunday, August 23, 2009
Journey to Jaden said...: You are almost there!! Keep your faith because God will take care of you and your wishes...you just haven't found all he is and has done so far:); Monday, August 24, 2009
Tracy said...: Yep! I found you through the FBI list! I hope you get your referral SOOOON!; Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Unknown said...: Heidi, thanks for your encouragement! So excited for Beka! We'll see, maybe this will be our week as well! Hoping its your week too! how are you holding up? Its gonna happen!!!! take care! Corrie; Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Lori said...: Thanks so much for the nice comments. I'm having fun going through your blog now. You lived in NYC, eh? That's a huge dream of mine, for at least a while, just like in the "Wear Sunscreen" song from '99. I plan to leave before it makes me too hard.

Btw, you know Pink Martini is a Portland band (we live there)? Love them, love them, love them.; Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Timeline

*PAPER CHASE/5.5 MNTHS*
6-27-08: Register for orientation with local agency
7-16-08: Attend orientation with local agency
8-19-08: Decide to adopt from Ethiopia through Gladney. Best decisions ever!
8-28-08: Attend orientation with Gladney
8-28-08: 1st Home Study interview
9-25-08: Home study interviews completed & all Gladney paper work submitted
9-30-08: CIS fingerprints
10-2-08: FBI clearance
11-12-08: Home Study report completed
11-25-08: Gladney approval
12-4-08: CIS approval
*WAIT FOR REFERRAL/13 MNTHS*
12-11-08: Wait list!!!!!!!
4-21-09: Increased our age preference hoping to speed things up (HA!)
8-29-09: Heidi's medicals updated
9-15-09: Mark's medicals updated
9-20-09: Travel Immunizatons
11-10-09: Sent in request for CIS fingerprint updates
11-11-09: Gladney calls to review our age preference
11-17-09: Gladney calls again and tells us about twin boys who *might* become available. We agree to increasing our age preference in order to pursue these boys.
11-21-09: Receive CIS fingerprint appointment
12-16-09: Have CIS fingerprints taken
1-4-10: Referral!!!!!!! 28 month old twin boys!!!!!
*WAIT TO PASS COURT/4 MNTHS*
1-19-10: Start home study update
2-18-10: CIS fingerprints cleared
3-4-10: Home study update completed/sent CIS extension request
3-30-10: File submitted to courts!
3-31-10: Received court date!
4-22-10: Received CIS approval extension
4-23-10: 1st court date
4-28-10: 2nd court date
5-05-10: 3rd court date
05-06-10: 4th and final court date! We're a family!
5-12-10: Receive travel dates!
5-18-10: Travel!
6-1-10: Home as a family of SEVEN (four humans, three puppy dogs!)

Fun Facts About Ethiopia

•Ethiopia has been around for a very long time. The country's Rift Valley is known as the cradle of humanity - fossils of the oldest known upright hominid (4-million years old) were found here in 2005, surpassing the famous 3.5-million-year-old 'Lucy', which was discovered in the same region back in 1974.

•A thousand years before Christ, the Queen of Sheba, we are told, traveled to Jerusalem where she met King Solomon, married him, and had a son, Menelik. When Menelik reached maturity, it is said he left Jerusalem and took with him the Ark of the Covenant, containing the original 10 commandments, back to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church says it still has the ark in its possession. No one else makes such a claim...

•Ethiopia's official religion is the 1700 year old Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Church. The Jews of Ethiopia, Beta Israel, are said to have been there for 3000 years. And its Muslim adherents have practiced Islam for 1300 years. Ethiopia is split religiously, with official statistics of 35% to 40% Ethiopian Orthodox primarily in the north, and 45% to 50% Muslim, primarily in the South.

•Ethiopia is the only country in Africa never to be under colonial rule, other than a brief occupation by Italy during WWII. You can visit many restaurants in Ethiopia today due to the influence of Italy during the occupation.

•Traditional Ethiopian food consists of various vegetable or meat dishes, usually a wat or thick stew, served atop injera, which is a large crepe-like sourdough flatbread made from fermented teff flour. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses a piece of the injera (always with the right hand) to scoop up the sauces.

•The Ethiopian calendar is very similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar – each have 13 months, 12 with 30 days each and the 13th month at the end of the year with 5 or 6 days, depending on whether it is a leap year. The year starts on September 11th (12th in a leap year). The Ethiopian calendar is 7 years behind the Gregorian calendar, so Ethiopia recently celebrated their millennium on September 12, 2007.

•Coffee can be traced back to the 9th Century where it is believed a shepherd discovered coffee beans in the highlands of Ethiopia, namely the Kaffa region. The Ethiopian people are very proud of their coffee and they show this in their well known coffee ceremonies. The Coffee Ceremony is a very important part of socializing in Ethiopia and to be invited to a coffee ceremony is always considered a sign of respect and friendship.

•There are multiple tribes with different subcultures and over 80 languages in Ethiopia. The Amharic language is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia and is the official working language for Ethiopia.

•Family in Ethiopia includes immediate and extended relatives, neighbors, and friends. Faith and family are the foundation of the Ethiopian culture. Ethiopians are very respectful and loving. The elderly are considered very knowledgeable and as a very important part of the family structure. Children are usually raised in a large community that includes extended family and neighbors, and siblings are expected to help take care of each other.