This post is going to be more cheerful than the last one, I promise. I am actually feeling a bit better, although life is still nutty and will remain nutty for a few more months, anyway. I'm also taking some positive steps to improve my outlook on life.
I did suggest to David that perhaps we could put off having him run track this spring. That would free up some time. He was more than agreeable, particularly since he's been having some especially fearful thoughts about the upcoming track season. Will didn't start football until his 8th grade year. He wanted to do it in 7th grade, but that was the fall that I was pregnant with Sam and we didn't know what was going to happen as it got closer to delivery time.
We may be delaying the adoption, as well. I've got really mixed feelings about that, to be honest. There is a huge part of me that wants it done NOW. I'm anxious in every way to make the girls totally and completely ours, although it's hard to imagine that there's anything that could make them feel more ours than they already are. While they are completely free for adoption now, I am finding that the wheels still continue to turn slowly when it comes to the legal end of things. We have yet to hear from our adoption worker, other than a brief email a couple of weeks ago letting us know that the procedendo had come through and we could now proceed. And yet - we haven't. Then, I heard from a third party that our adoption worker had commented that perhaps we (Paul and I) ought to consider waiting for the adoption until after July 1. That's Ellie's 2nd birthday and in our state, if you adopt a child over the age of 2, you are entitled to a monthly stipend from the state. It's really, really tempting, particularly when I think that we could use that money and be debt-free within just a few short years. But yet - we never got into this for the money. I do believe that God will continue to provide for our needs without help from the state. But what if this stipend is God's way of helping us get out of debt? Being debt-free would definitely help the girls - all of us, of course. So, we shall see. As slowly as things are going, it could end up being after July 1 before we'd even get into court anyway, even without us requesting a delay.
We had our taxes done a week ago and found out that somebody (I'll leave it to your imagination to figure out who) already claimed the girls on their taxes! I was just dumbfounded at the sheer audacity. It's thievery, plain and simple. I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with DHS on Monday and collected a number of different stories. I don't think anybody in that dept. knows what the person in the next cubicle is doing or saying! Fortunately, this guy who did our taxes is also an attorney. He did some research for us and drafted a letter to the IRS on our behalf. We can't e-file now, but will have to submit taxes the old fashioned way. With this development, I'm not sure how long it will take to get this sorted out or get our refund check. And it looks like this attorney will be doing the adoption for us, which is nice. That's one less thing we have to find. It also occurs to me we're going to need legal services in a couple of years - less than that, actually - when we have to file for guardianship of Ben.
Speaking of Ben...yesterday his life skills class had a Valentine's Open House for his room. Just this year, the school started a "life skills" room where Level 2 & 3 (the neediest) sp. ed students learn practical life skills. All of us were able to attend and it was so cool. The kids greeted us, got our food, poured drinks. We watched a video that showed how the boys spend their days. All kinds of staff were popping in and out and they were taking pictures of the boys' families. It was a good reminder to me to see just how valued Ben is by the staff and students. He presented us with this metal cut-out of his hand that he had made. It's shaped into the "I love you" sign - so cool!
We leave this Thursday evening for our trip...maybe. There's a big snowstorm moving into the state on Thursday, so I'm trying to tell myself that I need to be flexible! If we have to postpone the trip a few weeks, it will be ok! But I hope we don't have to. I'll be so sad! I had a nightmare one night this week that it was one hour before our plane was due to leave and I had not finished packing. I woke up with my heart pounding - it was so real! So the very next day I started packing, more than a week before I needed to! So now I'm tripping over suitcases in our too-tiny bedroom. But at least my nightmare won't come true!
Paul got my counters up this past Thursday, which also happened to be Valentine's Day. I told him I was so pleased, that I didn't need him to do anything else for me for Valentine's Day! Right now, he's putting up some of the brick mold, which also makes me happy!
I had a complaint last week on the city sign last week. I put up the announcements on the sign and when we don't have anything to announce, I will put up a quote for people to read on their way in and out of town. The latest offering is this: "A good scare is worth more to a man than good advice." It's actually been up for several weeks. And then last week some resident complained that the sign was "sexist." Sexist? I'm guessing they think I'm picking on men. What's that old saying - "you can't fix stupid" ??
Paul almost blew up our house a week ago tonight. He installed a new water heater and went to light it. All of a sudden we heard this big bang from the basement and Paul yelling. Will ran down to see what the problem was and then lit upstairs, dashing under the kitchen sink for the fire extinguisher. That definitely aroused my curiosity, to say the least, so I went down in the basement. Paul stood there, stinking like crazy because he had just burned off the hair on his hands and part of his eyebrows. A huge fireball had erupted out of the heater and he thought the house was a goner. Holy cow...His forehead has been a little tender all week where he used to have eyebrows, he says.
Will is loving his new job, which is a good thing. I've told him repeatedly (because I keep forgetting I already told him) how my grocery store years in college were always my favorite. I loved working in a grocery store because of all the different customers.
The other day he commented to me that he thinks he'd like to get married in the month of October. He said that's because that's during football season and that would put him in a good mood (like getting married wouldn't put him in a good mood?). I asked him what he would do if he married a woman who expected to do things other than watch football on her honeymoon. He looked and me and said in a "duh" voice, "Well, Mom - I won't be marrying anyone who doesn't love football as much as I do!"
David was struggling with his math the other day and finally sighed and said, "I sure hope I can be the kind of missionary someday who doesn't need to know a whole lot of math!" Hah! I have known since David was Sam's age that he's headed for full-time ministry. Lately, David has been talking about becoming a foreign missionary someday (I was thinking more along the lines of him being a pastor here in Central Iowa, though!).
Well, I need to get these kidlets fed. It's Saturday night and I've got a whole list of pre-Sunday chores to complete before I get to fall into bed. But a week from now? Who knows what kind of romantic and exciting Saturday evening I'll be having? Or maybe we'll just be snoring away in our hotel room, which would also be really nice!
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