Passing the Time

Along with many other waiting families, we were hoping to receive word of the arrival of our Letter of Seeking Confirmation (LOSC aka LOA) before the Chinese Spring Festival or New Year of the Ox celebrations began because
the Chinese Adoption government office (CCAA) closes for a week or two during this time.

We watched. We waited. But no news came. Now I suddenly find that soon the CCAA will be back at work and we can begin again waiting for that magical letter to arrive, and it should be soon for us. You can view our counter in the right hand column to see how many days we've been waiting since our dossier was logged.

Meanwhile, I have found a unique way to pass the time and to actually enter into a time warp so as to bypass the disappointment of not receiving our LOA before CNY. I've been quite under the weather with fever and infection. Not feeling up to much at all. After trying several medications, I finally ended up in the hospital and they had some tricks up their sleeves, which finally have me on the way to recovery.

Poof! A couple weeks have passed. What is this waiting people complain about! LOL! The same thing happened to me during our wait for Cami. It must be my "labor". A friend who was adopting at the same time commented that I never seemed to be bothered by the wait. I confessed that being sick has a way of putting me into survival mode and time moves differently.

I'm sure someone out there understands what I'm talking about. Today I'm happy to be healthy and looking forward, into the days of Delilah dancing into our home. Good health is such a gift and I will spend my life helping it be the birthright of as many children as possible. I hate to think of anyone suffering ongoing pain and sickness if there is something that can be done to help them. I know there are limits to how many children I can help by finding funding for surgery or nutritional formula, but I will do as much as I can, and for someone, I hope, it will make a difference.

On What I'm Doing Here......

Joseph Campbell wrote, in "The Power of Myth", the following:

I even have a superstition that has grown on me
as the result of invisible hands
coming all the time..

Namely, that if you follow your bliss
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while,
waiting for you.

And the life that you ought to be living,
is the one you ARE living.

When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.

I say, Follow Your Bliss
and don't be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn't know they were going to be!
----- joseph campbell

The Backpacks Came!

I ordered matching backpacks from
Hanna Andersson
for Cami and Delilah to have in China.
They turned out to be even nicer than I imagined.
The fabric is soft and slick.
It appears to be waterproof and easy to wipe clean.
Lots of room inside too.
Cami is taking her job as big sister seriously here.
She arranged the backpacks on the floor for the photograph.
I also found these cute dotted velour hoodies
at Hanna Andersson.
You can see from the sizes that I'm still counting on
Delilah being just a wee bit smaller than Cami.

Donation January ~ Altrusa

This month's collection of coins and change yielded $40. It was a good month. I think with the holiday shopping being done, there was more change laying around my house. My husband has gotten a good habit going of bringing his change from work straight to the collection box.

I decided to send the money to Dr. Peggy Gurrad and Altrusa Foundation. This group works with orphanages in Jiangxi and that is the province Cami is from.

Here is a snippet from their website. I'm really interested in learning more about the Hugging Grannies. We asked that our donation be used for formula, or whatever need was the most pressing.

You can read more at www.altrusa.ws

"Currently, efforts are being focused on 24 orphanages in the Jiangxi province. Altrusa contributors are sponsoring 180 school tuitions for orphans, 279 children in foster care. We've brought our staff of Hugging Grannies up to a total of 53, to provide additional nurturing care for infants and pre-school activities for the children who remain in the orphanages.

Another major focus of our organization is to bring life-saving surgeries, physical rehabilitation equipment, badly needed medical aid, vitamins, warm clothes, bedding, equipment, toys and learning materials to the children in these orphanages."

Joy and Sweetness

Red Thread China Care Package

The day after Christmas, I began to plan a care package for Delilah. I contacted my friend Ann, at Red Thread China (www.redthreadchina.com)and asked if she could put together a pajama package for Delilah. (My family will laugh because I practically live in pajamas! What else would I send? LOL)

Ann works quickly and is great about communicating every step of the way. She called the orphanage and asked for updated size information. As it turns out, Delilah might not be the "little" sister! She is almost as big as Cami, and Cami a healthy girl!

As a result of the phone call, Ann received new pictures of Delilah to share with me. I was so excited. I really wasn't expecting such a surprise.

The package I ordered from Ann at Red Thread China was very reasonably priced. It included, as you can see below, an adorable pair of pajamas, a warm blanket, a little doll, candy for the foster family, a disposable camera, a photo album with pictures of us labeled in Chinese, and a translated letter. All this, along with the shopping, packing and shipping.

Ann is an angel! I hope to meet her when we are in China this time.