These are the thoughts of a Texas transplant in West Michigan who makes his living as a newspaper reporter by evening, and a struggling novelist by day.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

after the adoption day came

things or blogs gend to be in clusters when i write about things. sometimes it's about my dad, sometimes it's nonsense and more recently it's about our pending adoption.

the adoption case worker, amy, came over yesterday afternoon, promptly at 4. it was down to business, pretty much. she took a tour of the house, checking out each room, backyard and basements. she made sure we had smoke detectors on each level. she was fine with the house, except we need to get a carbon monoxide detector and lower our hot-water temperature (it's 142 F and needs to be 120 F at most).

amy was quite impressed with our self studies. dawn was afraid we'd not put enough info on them, but amy said they were some of the most thorough she'd seen. that was pleasing because we want to be honest about stuff.

there is still a bit more paperwork to sign. no big deal though. we have to take some online cpr or first aid course. agin, no big deal.

one of the biggest things, though, is we have to finish our bathroom. it needs to be completed before we get signed off on it. i think we'll get everything else done and work on the bathroom. it'll be the final thing amy checks off her list to do.

there is still no timeframe for the adoption. it depends on many factors from our ok to who's available for us. so we'll just have to be patient until that time comes.

Friday, April 24, 2009

the big day

we spent this week tearing up the house and gathering stuff, only to throw away a lot of it. we did spring cleaning and the house is all the better for it. it looks more organized.

was spring cleaning the only reason for the clean up? not really. the bigger reason is the adoption case worker comes in, well, in about 16 hours. nervous? i guess so. why be dishonest about it. i know there will be some inspection of the home and pets, maybe, but there'll also be conversation about us. and why not. we're the ones adopting. it's a little scary when someone is delving into your life, marriage or childhood. but it must be done to move forward.

we're confident about it and i am really looking ahead. to be parents is something i never thought about until a few years ago. certainly the excitement was there when dawn got pregnant. since the miscarriage, my wanting to be a dad has never left. i feel it's time in my life to do it.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

adoption

it's been a hectic time at the house. we got a call earlier this past week that the papers from the state were in and all of our papers were in, so the adoption case worker said she can do a home visit.

it is exciting and also brought home the reality of it all. i mean, we know we've wanted to do this for a long time and have been slowly working toward it, but now that we've got a home visit, it all came home with a jolt. it became real as some friends have said.

it's certainly a great thing. if all goes well here, we'll have another visit some time soon and then hopefully get our stamp of approval for adoption. then it really begins.

it was the best news we've had in awhile. certainly spring break vacation was crappy and contributed to much discontent. we discovered in the process of pulling out drywall that we have carpenter ants in the insulation. it postponed a project that should have taken a day or so. so that meant calling an esxterminator. now the ant problem is in check. the day after the discovery of the ants, our computer acquired a virus. that really set up back. having to possibly pay nearly half of the cost of a new computer to get the old one fixed didn't sit well with me. so after we mulled it over, we bought a new one (a year earlier than planned). i'm reallky pissed off at the jerks who deliberately invent viruses and cause harm to innocent computer users. and then the big one. on good friday linda called and gave me bad news. our cousin had killed himself the night before. he'd shot himself at his home. well that put an end to the spring break and sealed it with a stamp of sadness. it was unexpected. i feel for his parents.

so i must keep thinks in check and remember and be grateful for the things and people in my live. something we tend to overlook the good for the bad and focus on it until the bad invelopes us and makes us bitter. peace and love.