Excerpt from Scott Simon

I was reading in a book by NPR's Scott Simon (from Weekend Addition) about his adoption experiences. He and his wife went to China. I didn't read the whole thing as most of the book was about other people's adoption experiences but I really liked the way he described the process of getting approved to adopt. I hope I don't get arrested for plagiarism but this is from "Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other", by Scott Simon.

"No single hoop that we were asked to jump through was onerous or ludicrous. Criminals should not adopt children. neither should drug addicts, excessive drinkers, abusive spouses, louses or tax cheaters. But the overall effect of all the questions and test can be oppressive, especially as months roll on with no word of a child. Most of the documentation that you have to complete expires after twelve months, for reasons I respect (over the course of a year you can get sick, go broke, or get arrested). So when the wait that you were told might be six to nine months goes past twelve, you have to complete new forms (and pay new fees) all over again. Grrr, grrr, grrr. Its' not the cost (though that pinches), or the time (though that grinds). After a while, it's the sheer galling indignity of being asked to prove, pay and prove all over again that your a worthy parent."

So true, although we were never told it was likely to be 6 to 9 months. They told us to plan on 2 to 3 years. Every agency is different.

The Dreaded Christmas Letter

So far this blog has been a fun learning experiment but now the Christmas cards are going out...and we are finally announcing to the our friends in general. I'm a little nervous. Now I need to start keeping it up and trying to make it entertaining.

Cool Tools

Ever driven a mini excavator? Ezra has. We dug out the hill in our front yard and installed cage walls with rock in them... Well, there are a few cages yet to install, but the digging was a lot of fun! Neither of us knew what we were doing yet but we soon figured it out. Lucky for me, Ezra was concerned for my safety so he brought me his own hard hat to use while operating the equipment. We ended up hauling away some 6 yards of dirt to the recycle! Come this next summer we'll be ready to plant a garden in the terraced landscape which should be beautiful!