Half-way with Canada Adopts and some info on my country

copyright: istockphoto.com/cosmonaut

I have finally written my "Dear Birth Mother" letter for Canada Adopts and have paid to have some advice from their professional writer.  I hope it isn't all back to the drawing board!!!!  I have never liked writing because of  experiences in high school English classes, except for one teacher who was kind with his feedback.  He really liked a piece of writing I did about my grandfather and urged me to keep.  It is funny how things like this come back to at the strangest times.  I have the piece somewhere, maybe at my parents, and now want to find it.  This'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack.  Guess what I will be doing when I am home for Christmas!  I spent a long time tonight trying to upload the photos.  I am looking forward to getting my profile up and then I can add another puzzle piece to the home study piece. 

I did receive some information on my country on Friday but want to talk to my adoption worker this week.  I think she is very busy as she has her clients plus those she took on when my worker went on medical leave.  I am hoping to talk to a family in Ontario that recently adopted from this country. 

It's too late to do my physio exercises!   I'll do double tomorrow, I promise.

The "4" email

 copyright: istockphoto.com/Likhitha

In a previous post I mentioned I was sent this email several years ago.  The email had seven questions that each had four answers.  Many of them work for me, a couple don't, including the first one: "Four Jobs I have had". I haven't had four jobs outside of education.  All my work through university was child related; day camps, nannying, babysitting, tutoring etc.  Now this doesn't make for very interesting reading at all!    So I have taken this old email from February 2007, yes call me a pack rat, and made some changes so it works for me.  The email ended with the directions to delete the sender's answers, put in your own and then send it to a whole bunch of people you know including the person who sent it to you.  The theory is that you will learn a lot of little facts about those people you know.

So for something different and off the topic of adoption, as I am still waiting to hear something, anything from my local agency about my country, here goes! 

Things you may not have known about me:

4 Places I have lived:
Wantage, England
Ferney Voltaire, France
Geneva, Switzerland,
Quesnel, B.C., Canada

4 books I've read recently:
Mamalita by Jessica O'Dwyer
Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somoya Gowda
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles by Hala Jaaber
* presently reading: A Princess Found by Sarah Culberson and Tracy Trivas

4 Authors I enjoy: (I've added this one)
Nicholas Sparks
Cathy Glass
Torey Hayden
* children's author: Jean Little

4 movies I enjoyed watching and would watch again:
Father of the Bride
Pretty Woman & Erin Brokovitch
The Blind Side
Titanic

4 of my favourite foods:
lasagna
chocolate raspberry pavalova (Nigella Lawson)
homemade smoothies (I love my new Magic Bullet)
English Christmas cake - Katie Stewart, Times Cookery Book

4 Places I would like to travel: (I've added this one)
Hawaii
Australia & New Zealand
Alaska
African safari

4 places I would rather be now:
-  a beautiful beach with soft sand and a warm ocean with gentle waves
- walking in the snow with friends, or playing with kids in the snow
- curled up in front of the fire with a good book and a big mug of tea
- England

4 Childhood memories: - I added this one but it is hard to narrow down
- my ninth birthday, my mom organized a surprise party after being telling me "No" to having a party
- the birth of my sister
- day trips to London with my dad (Hamley's, the Science Museum, Madame Tussauds, London Zoo, HMS Belfast)
- getting a homemade doll's house from my English nanny and grandad

I am going to sign off as I want to make some oatmeal, white chocolate-chip, cranraisin cookies.   I certainly don't need them, but oh well!

Going for the gold!

It has been really nice to have a four day weekend.  Thanks to a former boss, my school district had an extra day off like we did at Thanksgiving.  Despite putting my back out sorting groceries in the trunk of my sister's car,  I have finally reclaimed my bathroom. YES!  Everything, towels, toothbrush, bath mats etc has gone back in.  Around Thanksgiving there was a major leak and it has taken a month to get it fixed, plastered, and semi-painted.  The advantage of renting a place, I haven't had to pay a dime.  The disadvantage of renting, I am dependent on somebody else to get around to fixing it.

I am going for gold!  I looked at the packages again on the Canada Adopts website and decided since I am single I need to work a little harder to sell myself and so more pictures might work.  The Gold option also allows me to rewrite my letter once and replace up to five photos.  I have gone through a lot of photos and had an extremely kind former parent, now friend, send me some.  My cousin's wife is also looking for some.  Thank you guys!   I have chosen the two photos for the profile pages and have eight for my 'Photo Album'.    I have tried to pick pictures of me in a variety of settings; alone, with immediate family, with extended family, outside, at work, on holiday, and have two with children.  There is one with my cousin's daughter on Willow's Beach and one with a friend's son in London.  Thanks CS for letting me post the beach photo.  When my profile is up, I will make a link from here.  The matches I have heard about seem quite random, so because I don't know what the connection with a birth mum will be I have to make sure I include as much as I can in my letter.

I have my first comment!

Thank you Shauna!  You are the first person to comment on my blog and I was so excited to see it tonight.  I have made a little bit of progress today in that I paid my agency for their services to be on Canada Adopts.  I now have to decide which level package (bronze, silver, gold) I would like to purchase.  I have decided not to pay the extra for a video and will most likely go with the silver package.      

 

copyright: istockphoto.com/Andresr

Now I can work on my profile and 'Dear Birth Mum' letter.   I will let you all know when I am up on the website.  Fingers crossed that a birth mum decides I am a worth investigating, and then maybe a match.  Who knows, for one family the match happened overnight!   Some of the connections I've heard about are ones that I wouldn't have thought of, so it is a bit of a challenge to try and describe myself  in 1,000 - 1,5000 words. 



 My adoption worker says she is still waiting for information from the first agency about information on my new country. It has been almost a month and I've got this feeling it is going to be at least another month before things move forward on the international front!  I am trying to stay positive but so want to make some progress.  While we wait, I have asked her to look into the discrepancy between the ages of the child I am eligible to adopt and the length of stay required for the second trip.  3-4 weeks is fine, but 3 months is a long time to be away from home!

This blog seems to have a mind of its own tonight as it has been a challenge to put the photos in!  Here are two more.  The first photo is a clue to my country.  The second photo fitting with my puzzle theme!

copyright: istockphoto.com/lilly3



copyright: istockphoto.com/scibak



On one of the blogs I am following the writer decided to pass some time waiting by following yet another bloggers's posting challenge.  (Click here for details)  I'm not sure I have the time to do this like Lisa did, but did find the print out of a former colleague's email entitled '4 things about me!".  It was one of those chain emails but a totally harmless one and one I thought I could share in a future post.

What a week!

copyright: istockphoto.com/RuthBlack

A big thank you to the many people who have offered me support this week.  A friend of a friend for her connections in getting me a second opinion, the niece of my neighbour's boss who shared the story of her amazing adoption through fostering, my friend D for sharing her family with me again on Wednesday night - I can't wait for December 1 - Happy Birthday M&C, the author of 'On My Way Again' for sharing her story and offering advice, and my good friend and neighbour for sitting with me this morning and supporting me.  But this isn't all!  Thank you to some very special colleagues, you know who you are, for your support, TLC, encouragement and understanding this week, and as always my friends who I talk to you on the phone and who are following this blog.  I keep saying that when this is all over in whatever shape or form success winds up taking, there is going to be one big party and you are all invited.  Now I would like to be able to say the two words above to my local agency!   Last week I asked for a meeting for this week but I have had no contact with them.  It is getting pretty frustrating!  The process right now feels very much like this!

copyright: istockphoto.com/DNY59

 Oh, how I would like some direction.  I sent an email to my agency today requesting that I would like to move forward with the domestic part of my journey by registering on Canada Adopts  I am rounding up photos to try and post for my profile but still have to sit down and write my 'Dear Birth Mother' letter.  The birth mum I heard speak in September had a lovely saying for what adoption is.  The picture below kind of explains it.

copyright: istockphoto.com/kycstudio

To sign off tonight, I 'll share one more picture from  istockphoto.com   I think it is quite relevant to the adoption process.

copyright: istockphoto.com/esolla