Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I've updated the masthead (?) of the blog, as I'm playing around with different spellings of my to-be daughter's name. What do you think? Wren? Wrenn? Renn? I'm not sure. I see the name much more often than even last year, when we chose it. And here I thought I was being unique. You know, growing up I was never able to find any of the "name tchotkes" with my name on it (at least not spelled correctly) - like pens or pins or pads of paper. Why shouldn't my daughter have the same experience as her mother? Heh - I'm not bitter.....

Another change is that as of next week, I'll be doing my same job but out of another location. Right now I have a 45 min commute using the never-all-that-busy toll road. Now I'll be taking the main highway (one of the busiest in North America) the whole way. I've never driven that particular stretch of that highway so this should be interesting. I've worked out of the "new" office before, but not for the last 6 years. Well, it may not make my life any easier, but it's an adventure, that's for sure. It's not the end of the world, which you would have thought if you'd seen the way some of my co-workers reacted. Sheesh. On the this-news-is-awesome front, my co-worker that I have actively despised since the day she started has quit!!!! Best new eva.

Last weekend my parents came for a visit. Some close family friends from Australia were visiting, and they brought them down our neck of the woods to show them the sights in Toronto, and for a visit too. It was so good to see someone from "home", it was like we'd just left yesterday. We took them up the CN Tower (wow, has that gotten expensive!) and for a drive to some of the prettier areas of the city. It was the Toronto Indy weekend, so some of the roads were closed, but it wasn't too bad when we were there. We could even see the Indy cars practising & hear them from the top of the tower, it was pretty cool. Anyway, all that to say that it was great to see some Aussies again.

One last thing - there's been 5 referrals so far this month! That's awesome! We may just become a family some time in the next decade!

Have a good weekend everyone!

The huntress

So, last weekend Andrew & I were out in the backyard one morning, pottering around the yard & garden. Willow was out with us, we let the cats outside when we are there to supervise them. Anyhoo, she was stalking bugs & fluffs & whatnot, as she is wont to do, when all of a sudden I see a flurry of activity & hear an almighty SQUEEK! Ladies & gentlemen, Miss Willow caught a mouse! My wee kitty is a mouser! She dropped him on the ground & kept stepping on him, then looking at me for guidance, like "What do I do with it now?".Considering how much of a pain in the ass the mice have been garden-wise this year, we are rather proud of her. She didn't kill him per-se, and she didn't even break the skin. I think she must have crushed his poor little chest, as he passed away soon after the attack. We wrapped him in paper-towels & put him in the bin. The next morning when we let her out again, she went straight to the spot where the mouse had been. She's a clever cookie.

A referral, close to home

On this day, of all days, someone known to my family has received the referral they've been waiting so long for! My mom's former physio therapist & his wife received a referral for an almost 3 year old boy. There have been another 2 referrals this month as well, so we are 3 steps closer to Wren. Good news!!!

A year in the life

So, this time last year I got a phone call from one of my friends that's also adopting from Ethiopia through the same agency as us. Her words sent a chill straight to my heart - the agency has gone bankrupt. We didn't know much in those early days, all of the sordid details started coming out in the days & weeks to follow. But even before the news hit the papers, a group of fine folks were mobilizing, gathering together & refusing to take no for an answer. And here we are, a year later, still on the road to our daughter. Right now, and a lot of times in the past year, the road seems too long, too full of obstacles, too much to bear, but we've got to keep our eyes on the destination. There have been many families who have received referrals since the phoenix rose from the ashes, and they have their kids home, in their arms now. Our turn will come, I just have to keep believing.

Finally some good news!

After 2 long months, referrals have started up again! Well, only 1 referral so far, but that's more than we've had in the last month & a half, so I'm not complaining! So congrats to the new family, and here's to many more families being made this month! Finally we're headed towards the top of the list (well, I estimate we're about #88 or #87 now. I've honestly lost track. Thank God we have some good news to talk about with our adoption friends on Thursday when we all meet up for wings.

Mah porch

Happy belated Canada Day, everyone! We spent this long weekend (July 1-2) with family (my parents & my brother & his family), which is how it should be, I think. On Canada Day itself we had a BBQ (burgers, hot dogs, roaster veggies, etc) and Evie showed off her mad walking skillz to us. She's really walking well, but when she wants to get somewhere in a hurry she crawls at the speed of light! And she's at that stage where she's into everything - a little annoying but it's really showing us what we need to babyproof.

On July 2 we got to installing the new aluminum porch railing. My dad took out the old wooden railing before we even got home on the Wednesday, so we were able to paint the pillars on July 1, so we were all ready to go on July 2. It took us the best part of the day to get all three sides of the railing installed, but it looks awesome!

Before



After




July 3 my parents went to visit my brother & then babysat Evie while her parents went out. Apparently she likes to bang on the bathroom door while you are in there, and shout at you. Not sure why - the mind of a 15 month old. Andrew & I stayed home & painted the front door (red - it looks great!) and moved some plants around.

July 4 we went out for brekkie, my parents went home, and we got more plants at the garden centre. And we found out that we have a matching set of mice - one for the back garden & one for the front (which we found out when Andrew spotted a pint lily flower sauntering through the garden by itself). Jerk mice. I hates them.