Sigh......

Once again I’ve gone all incommunicado, but the truth is, I haven’t really had much to say. It’s been a busy month & a quiet month, all at the same time. We spent the weekend of the 11th in my hometown, combining trips to the dentist, the wedding of close family friends and a fish & chips dinner at the Moose Lodge. We still go to the dentist in my hometown because he’s taken care of my teeth pretty much since I’ve had them, and Andrew really likes him too. The wedding was for the daughter (one of a pair of twins) of our close family friends. It was a huge blast from the past – I used to babysit the twins, and the daughter of other family friends, who was also there, used to babysit my brother & I. It was all circle-of-lifey. The fish & chips dinner will amuse those of you who know me (I hate fish – always have). We went with my mom & dad, and were the youngest adults there be a long stretch (the average age must have been hovering around 70). As far as I was told, there was only fish to be had, because it’s not a restaurant, you know. So it was chips & a bun & a piece of cake for me. Then one of the other ladies there informs us that, no, it’s not just fish, you can also order chicken fingers if you don’t eat fish. Oh sure, tell me that AFTER I’ve had my dinner. Regardless, it was a lot of fun, spending some quality time with my mom. She’s heading off with her best friend soon, on her trip to Medugorje & the Vatican (with a stop in Assisi), so I also helped her get some clothes for her trip. It was her birthday on the 19th, so we took her up to the Martyr’s Shrine for mass (she’s always wanted us to go to mass with her), then to lunch at a place with really good BBQ meat & butter tarts, but with horrendous service & small portions. Then we went to St Marie among the Hurons, then home. It was a great day, and my mom really, really enjoyed it. There was a special function going on at the Shrine, so it was full of people & priests & bishops. I think it did my mom a lot of good to see so many people who share her beliefs. I don’t practice the faith myself, but it also did my heart good to see it – lots of people together with a common purpose & a sense of community. And I found a stick from an oak tree with lots of acorn “hats” (tops) on it, so there is that. I call it my “stick of many hats”. I’m weird like that.

There’s only been 1 referral so far this month, which has been getting me down. The agency has signed an agreement with a new orphanage that we will be “exclusive” with, so hopefully referrals will pick up soon. As it is, it’s been rather inconsistent, so you get great months like last month, which really buoy your spirits, and then you get months like this with little or no referrals. It seems sometimes like we’ll never be a family, and I hate feeling like that.