The Fast Track!

All of the sudden our lives have changed. We weren't expecting any information from our adoption for several more months. Now, we've got to fast-track everything. Our to do list:

1. Finish going through our house and declutter.
2. Sell all the accumulated junk to unsuspecting garage sale patrons.
3. Get the new kids' room ready. (It'll be nice when this confidentiality agreement is over so we can use their names. We were OK with calling them "new kids" until before we actually saw their pictures and learned their names.)
4. Buy the essential stuff for our new kids (beds, clothes, car seats, etc.)
5. Get our immunizations for the trip.
6. Decide whether our "old kids" are going to Ethiopia with us. Get their passports, immunizations, etc. (SHHHH! Don't let our girls know!)
7. Make travel arrangements.
8. Do the "quick remodel" of our upstairs bathroom...again! (We never seem to be able to get that done right!)
9. Find replacements for myself for all the summer trips I'm accustomed to taking (youth mission trip, camps, etc.)

I may have missed something. I think these are the majors, though. All this will likely happen in the next 6-8 weeks in addition to our "regular lives".

More Money Miracles

If you haven't read it already, read "Money Miracles" before reading this post.

I'm usually leery of posting about money. First, it's usually boring (i.e. "our outflow for March exceeded our influx of cash by 12%...ho hum!"). Second, it feels a little bit self-promoting (i.e. "look what we've done!") Third, it feels like begging (i.e. "we need more money! WAAAAAH!!!).

I assure you that this post has nothing to do with any of the three mentioned above. It has everything to do with the goodness of God through this process.

We're on the fast-track to getting our kids (see yesterday's post). Yesterday's referral came 2-3 months before we were expecting it. That means a big chunk of money is due all at once - also before we were expecting it.

Here's the skinny: We need to write a check today for $7450. I just checked our adoption savings account online. Rhonda's last paycheck just posted. The balance in the savings is $7950!

In six months we've raised every cent we've needed for this adoption. And it's always been just-in-time! We haven't borrowed a cent!

See, this post does have everything to do with the goodness of God!

TWO MORE WAALS! WOW!!!

Today at 4:04 pm Eastern Time we received an unexpected phone call from our adoption agency.

We're parents! Again!

There are two little girls in Ethiopia waiting for their new mom and dad. That's right, we received our referral, complete with pictures in only 5 weeks! Can't say much more than that now because of the confidentiality agreement.

Life is about to get really busy. We'll likely be traveling to Ethiopia in weeks, not months.

Balance?

Rhonda's work (registered nurse) has gone crazy! Last month she changed from per diem (as needed) to part time because she was only getting 20 hours or less per month. All the money she makes goes directly toward the adoption.

She's normally scheduled to work two 12-hour shifts per week. Last week she was scheduled for Friday-Saturday. This week for Monday-Tuesday. That means she has worked four 12-hour shifts in the last five days!

Today, immediately after her 4-of-5 day run, she was scheduled to be on call (a requirement for part-timers). When I got home she was groggily (is that a word?) preparing for work. That's right, she's working tonight too...5-of-6 days. I'm not real thrilled. This is spring break week for the girls and Rhonda has been sleeping during their days.

I think this week has been hard on her. Since she works 7p-7a. It's gotta be hard changing sleep habits from one day to the next.

So we've gone from 20 hours per month to almost 60 hours in less than a week! How's that for balance?!?!

Deep Cleaning

As part of our commitment to adopt, our family made a commitment to simplify. One of the ways we're doing that is by getting rid of anything we're not using.

We started yesterday. We decided the best approach would be to declutter one room at a time. Once we start on a room, we've gotta finish it that day.

Yesterday we de-cluttered the downstairs bathroom. We reclaimed almost 1/2 of the storage space in the bathroom closet and cabinets simply by getting rid of stuff we don't use. We've got so much junk that I'm now parking my car outside of the garage! We're going to have one whale of a garage sale later this spring!

Who brought all this stuff into our house anyway?