We’ve been lucky to meet a few people that have adopted from Ethiopia, and our new friends J & T live just an hour away.  They have a darling little girl, Z, who is just 2 1/2 and full of beans. 

When my brother and his fiancée were here visiting, they brought some injera from an Ethiopian restuarant and with their help and my mom’s, we made a sumptious Ethio feast! (See pics here.) So we invited J, T and their daughter Z to enjoy it with us.  The funny thing is, I wasn’t sure if Z liked Ethio food (she was under a year when she came to Canada) so I made some Mac n Cheese too.  Silly me!  Apparently she loves Ethiopian food, but since the mac n cheese was on the dish as well, that’s all she would eat.  Live and learn.

 The cutest part of the evening for me, was when Z decided she wanted to help Jrock with the dishes.  She was half in the sink herself, dress dripping, the cahir kept sliding out from under her and J would fish it back with his foot… pretty hilarious.  After they left, Jason looked a little tired and said “we want TWO?” but then smiled because he enjoyed himself as well.

I’ve blurred J, T & Z’s faces since I don’t have Z’s mom’s permission to post her face.  You’ll get the idea though. Pretty darn cute!!!

Here is a link to the recipes we used:

• Chicken Berbere (this was excellent!  We used berbere from a convenience store on Commerical in Vancouver, and it was the perfect flavour.)
• Chickpea Wat (stew) (very good.  Good job Mom!)
• Lentils with Berbere Spice (a good additional to the plate.  Boring on its own, but a nice contrast.)
• Ye’abesha Gomen (Collard greens.  This is J’s favorite at restaurants.)
• Ginger Vegetables (Not very good.  Pretty bland.)

T also made this tomatoe salad with diced pepperoni in it – sounds crazy, but it tasted like pizza and it was really good!

Today I joined my new Rotary Club in Kelowna.  I’m very excited to meet more people because there are several Rotarians in our club (and throughout the region) who are involved in water, cleft palate repair and education projects in Ethiopia. Here are the videos from their work last year… I can’t wait to meet some more of these people! 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CUu2dVjtqQ]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXXc5qeh_cU]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptWks08tq_o]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgWuRSuIAeI]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V296NlTF7J4]

Over the last few weeks, we were delighted to have my  Mom and Dad, then my brother B and his fiancée D visit. 

The first morning they were here, Mom kept me company all morning at the market.  My Auntie W was passing through with her new puppy Cooper, so we got to meet him in the parking lot just after lunch. 

That evening, we took Mom and Dad out to the carniverous Memphis BBQ place, and then strolled around the Kelowna waterfront.

On Sunday we took a drive up to Beaver Lake, which was really pretty.  It was a chance fo all the dogs to stretch their legs.  Hamish has a blast fetching sticks in the water.  Tori, Mom and Dad’s dog, madly proweled the bush in search of squirrels.  It was pretty cozy with 4 people and 3 dogs in a small truck, but nice to get up into the trees.

The last day Mom and Dad were here, B and D arrived.  We spent the evening cooking up a storm (with Dad and Jrock “supervising,” glass of wine in hand.)  You’ll see the results in another post!
  

In my last Rotary club, there were several members who helped install /deliver water biofilters in the Dominican.  My new club did a water project in Ethiopia this past year.  Why the focus on something so simple?  Because so many people have absolutely avoidable illnesses because they don’t have access to clean drinking water.

Here’s a nice video featuring the African Children’ Choir that talks about water and is very worth watching.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6lZatdzXg4]

By the way, the organization our club in Alberta worked with is always looking for volunteers, donations… The Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology. They do great work… AND train other organization’s volunteers as well!

Daily stats

Stats by week

I found this on another family’s blog… and wow, it’s the same needlework that my mom had on our nursary wall! 

Thinking of you, Mom!

Love, Me.

My friend Hazel wrote a great post addressing questions / criticisms that people have about adoption.  I would suspect she’s had some of the same extremists try to post comments on her blog too (you don’t see them.  I just block them.)  She did such a good job of mulling these questions over, and has such similar answers I do, I thought I would just post a link.

 Thanks, Haze.

http://forneko.blogspot.com/2007/08/just-short-post-today.html

So now that all our paperwork is done, people have been asking “how long until your kids arrive?”

Long! I hate to say.  Here is what Kidslink told us today:

• 1-3 weeks for Ottawa to authenticate our documents (probably just a week to go.)
• 1 week for documents to get to Ethiopia
• 6-9 MONTHS while we wait for a referral
• 2 months for the courts to process the paperwork
• 3-4 months for the kids visa and birth certificates to be issued
• THEN we can travel to pick them up!

So basically, we’re waiting 11-16 months.  Let’s just hope the time flies….

I am now much happier!

So I’ve decided that I am OUT OF THERE.  As soon as I find something else, I will leave this miserable job. I’ve never quit a job before, but there is a first for everything! I’ve only been working there for 4 weeks, and I’ve come home a few times in tears.  So there you go.

In the meanwhile, I have to try to muster up the energy (I find working when you don’t like it VERY draining) and get to writing (which I really enjoy.)  Can’t get a good girl down!

Rah rah!  Cheer Cheer! Go girl go! Write, dang you, write!

Last weekend we went to visit my little bro B and his fiancée D in Vancouver.  It was a really nice weekend… super to spend some time with D and also to meet her little sister J.

B is driving a ferry out on False Creek, so we watched the fireworks competition from the boat rooftops the first night.  The next day we ferried around again, to the dog beach with Hamish and Maggie, then down to Granville Island.  Unfortunately, Hamish did NOT enjoy the ferry, so he whined the whole time~ very hair-raising.  We had some awesome oysster po’boys at Go Fish! and I got the nicest picture of Maggie while we were waiting…

In the afternoon, Jrock and little B took the dogs back to the apartment while D and I went shopping – very nice to spend some time together.  Funny, I think we have a lot of the same taste!

That evening, we picked up D’s little sister and went to the Ethiopian restaurant on Commercial to celebrate their engagement.  Good food; good times! 

It’s amazing how much closer Vancouver is now – just 4-5 hours away… if the two of them end up there permanently, it’ll be nice to have them so close.

At the market last Saturday I sold out early and had some time to wander around.  I ended up buying a sling from a lady about my age who has been making them as her “job” since the birth of her first child 4 years ago.  Many people have commented how wonderful they are for bonding, and I like that one size fits all, since I don’t know how big the kids will be. Our cat Vega just loved being in the sling – she is such a lush, it was heavenly for her to be carted about!