So we’ve been acting as our own general contractors for the renos, and so far, so good. 

• All the locks have been changed and doors fixed.
• Our windows are all ordered and should be installed within 6 weeks. 
• The electrician is coming by next week to punch a couple of holes in the wall to put in new overhead lights (not the biggest thing in the 40s! and service where we are putting the new stove and oven.  He’s also replacing a fire-hazardy fuse box.
• Jrock and I are heading off to IKEA to by a new fume hood and two base cabinets for the wall oven and drawers under the new gas range. 
• We’re ordering the new appliances next week from Trail… 6 burner gas stove, here I come !
• I’ve ordered all our new fixtures from the US – a great company called Schoolhouse Electric. I also picked up two chandeliers – one for the dining room and one for the bedroom – here locally.
• Jrock has ripped the high cabinets off the walls in the kitchen and the countertop comes off this weekend.
• Jrock’s mom and stepdad are coming out on the 20th… and dear E is going to frame in a new pantry for us.
• The tiles are ordered and the tile guy is booked. (Jrock did a trade for his services – it’s a funny story.)

Now to do…

• Get the fridge in so we can measure the completed counterspace and order the countertops.
• Paint the whole house.
• Get the “Bath Master” in to take our clawfoot out to be reglazed, and for the plumber to install the new vanity and gas to the new stovetop.
• Build and install shelving in the living room and famil room.

It’s coming along, anyway……

My sweet friend A who is about to have a baby herself in the next month, sent us our first baby gift last week!  Thanks A!  It was the nicest thing to get in the mail!!!

Love me.

Last weekend we attended Part 1 of the transracial parenting workshop held by the Adoptive Families Association of BC.  Thanks for a great workshop, D and O! We met families who are adopting or have kids home from China, Ethiopia, the States and even the Ukraine.  That in itself was worth spending the day in a workshop… but here are some other things we learned and thought about resulting from the workshop:

• Jrock: I think the biggest thing that had an effect on me, is that in transracial families, parents can go out by themselves and just blend – but kids are always looked at when they are out and about, and are always exposed to that public scrutiny.
• Nicky: I found it very interesting how people who’ve adopted black kids from Canada and the US try to connect them with their heritage.  For us, we will connect our kids as best we can with the culture and food of Ethiopia… but these families, with kids descended from Jamaica and generally “Africa” try to connect in a general way to Africa – but not necessarily to US or Caribbean Canadian culture.  It was really interesting for me to think about.
• Jrock: Other thoughts?  It’s a long wait for China!  And the adoption process can be extremely frustrating for some people -
• Nicky: Yes, I think talking with people about other countries confirmed that Ethiopia was the right choice for us.  It was also really nice to meet another family that I knew from on-line and first met in person there. 
• Jrock: One of my thoughts is that in our short time in Ethiopia, we are going to have to gather as much information as possible about the country… which can be difficult, but is really important.
• Nicky: We talked a lot about the difference between heritage (the traditions, food, history of a place and people) and culture (the dynamic and evolving way these things are integrated into daily life.) What I tried to bring up, though, was the difference between race and heritage.  Just because a person is brown, or pink or purple, doesn’t mean they share the same background as other brown, pink or purple people.  They share skin colour – and the influence skin colour has on their daily life.  But people of different races can share a common heritage and participate in a common culture.  Anyway – I like thinking about these things – how we will integrate our kids’ Ethiopian heritage, as well as our Italian, German, etc backgrounds, into our family’s culture.

Thumbs up from both of us! To find out more aout the workshops AFCBC puts on, click here.

Our first get-together for the Okanagan Chapter of Families With Children From Africa!  How exciting!!

Saturday, October 27th, noon – Kelowna
OKFCA Family Potluck BBQ in Osprey Park
Bring your outside toys -there is a playground and ball dimond with lots of room for games at Osprey Park on the corner of Osprey and Richter (enter off Pandosy Street) in south Kelowna.

We’ll go rain or shine – there is a picnic shelter as well as a OKFCA member’s house just down the block if we need to warm up or move inside.

Please email okfca@hotmail.com to sign up for the potluck lunch.

Earlier this week at out Rotary meeting we had a UBC professor visit who studies happiness.  He told us that there were many things we could do to increase how happy we are – excercise, have a hobby we enjoy, nurture relationsionships, pay attention to our spirituality, volunteer and act kind to others, and count our blessings. Today is Thanksgiving, and I think it’s entirely appropriate to post about all the things I’m grateful for – or at least a beginner list. And even as a generally happy person, it’s a great way to start me off to a happy day!

I am grateful…

• for a wonderfully kind husband who is my true partner in life, and who has given me this wonderful gift of children;
• to my parents for having the foresight to send me overseas again and again when I was a teen, and for nurturing such an open home with always enough spaghetti for anyone who is visiting;
• for my cats, who give me a laugh every breakfast as they tear about the room wrestling, and my dogs, who give me unconditional love and cuddles whenever I need it;
• that I’ve never lacked for a roof over my head and food to eat (even that brief period during university when I subsisted on Mr. Noodles;)
• for all the birds cackling and singing away outside our new house;
• that I got divorced from husband #1 – life would not be this good… it was one of the best things that ever happened to me;
• for my dear family – my sister who is one of my closest friends, my brother-in-law who I respect; my brother who is such a delight, my newest sister(in-law), my mom who is so excited with me about her grandkids, and my dad who I turn to for advice and friendship all the time;
• for my best friend who I can share anything with and understands me better than anyone else;
• to be born and living in peaceful Canada;
• for the gifts I have and the career opportunities life has put in my path;
• that I’ve had the gift of getting to know my grandparents as an adult, and the loving influence and proper British manners of my other Gramma as I was growing up;
• that I got through my Master’s degree and redirected my life because of it;
• for my amazing network of friends that mean so much to me, in Calgary, Edmonton, Gifhorn, Berlin… and for Jrock’s best buds, who are the nicest guys;
• that I’ve got to travel as much as I have and for all the influences that brings to my home.

That felt good! Even this short list – What a blessed life I have.

Tonight, to celebrate Thanksgiving, consider counting your blessings instead of sheep, as the Irving Berlin song goes… you’ll enjoy it, I guarentee it. 

Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)

Irving Berlin

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds

If you’re worried and you can’t sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings

Poor Jrock.  He always wanted this car – a Subaru WRX. It was his dream car, and he thought he’d keep it forever, until…

…my two dogs came along, and spread their hair all over the seats when they were riding along. And then there was the incident of Maggie scraping the back window tint off with her claws when a menacing-looking cock-a-poo parked beside us at the 7-11.

So, like all great sportscars once owned by single men, this one too shall fall.

Let us mourn the loss of freedom, speed and care-free-ness. Good-bye WRX. We will miss you.

(Hello sensible family mini-SUV.)