Musings of a Whimsical Realist

1. The “Brilliant Negotiator”         Item A, listed at $50             B.N. “What is lowest price you will take?”          Me. “Make me an offer.”         B.N. “What’s your BOTTOM LINE?”         Me. “$45"         B.N. “Will you take $40?”         [Face Palm] 2. The “Car-Less Buyer”         Item B, listed for $5         C.B. “I LOVE this item, I really want it, but I don’t have a car.  I am trying to                  find a ride.”         Me. “Okay, let me know.”         C.B. “I can meet yo...

It has taken me longer than usual to get my energy back post-school-year.  I think the heat we’ve been dealing with (and some unusual humidity at times) has something to do with it.  But I am getting my feet back under me and heading into the busy July weeks! So, for a fun coincidence (and not the first!), the date of my last blog was May 14th.  Unknown to us at the time, May 14th is our Logged In Date (the day China officially received our dossier)!!!  So while I was updating everyone about our progress, even more progress was being made.  From there, the dossier headed into the translation room. Our dossier came out of the translation room a little over a week ago AND . . . China requested more paperwork regarding my medications.  Thanks to some amazing help from friends, that information is ready to submit and will be heading out (electronically AND via snail mail) tomorrow.  As far as we can tell, this is the last piece of the puzzle for LOA and on...

We are 2-and a-half-weeks away from Summer Break!  Which is absolutely critical because this mommy/homeschool teacher is just about done in!  I thought that LAST semester was crazy, but this one took home the gold. On the adoption front, we are learning how true all of the warnings were that nothing works on our schedule and definitely not quickly enough.  But we are making steady, tortoise-like progress.  April and May have continued to be intense on the fund-raising front.  Garage Sales #1 and #2 have occurred, bring in a combined $1,762.00.  Thank you again to everyone that has donated items to and shopped at the Online Sale/Garage Sales!   It has been a substantial blessing to us!  We have also submitted several grant applications with more to go. On April 29th, WE RECEIVED IMMIGRATION APPROVAL!  It only ended up being about 2 weeks earlier than I had estimated, but that one page of official paperwork was a beautiful thing!  We...

Somehow I feel like I lost a month . . . seriously, where did March go?  I realize that I haven’t blogged in forever.  I’ve barely posted on Facebook.  But blogging about our adoption journey is important for many reasons, including my wanting to remember this process and share it with Sibyl when she is home.  So time for some catch-up! January 2015 saw us waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the home study process to move along as well as finishing collecting our dossier documents.  On January 22, all of the original dossier documents were mailed to our agency!  You know that feeling you get when your tax return has been submitted (and you are getting money back)?  That feeling times 10!  We also got 3 precious new pictures of Sibyl on January 5th and the disc with the original pictures/video from August 2014 PLUS pictures and 1 minute of video that we hadn’t seen.  It is such a treat to get to see her sweet face! Original Dossier Doc...

[The following was an oral presentation at our fundraising event on February 28, 2015.] On January 7, 2013, I posted my first blog about adoption.  I shared about how I first heard of the plight of little girls in China during a high school presentation and how at that moment, I felt the calling to adopt a little girl from China someday.  In that first blog, I wrote: “The Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu said ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’  This is my single step – my declaration that 2013 will see us doing mountains of paperwork and making life-changing decisions and trusting God for financial provision to bring our next daughter home.  She may already be waiting for us or she may yet to be born, but she will be known even in her birth mother’s womb before I have the privilege of knowing her and holding her close.”   Unknown to me at the time, Sibyl’s mother was 8 months pregnant with her, my next daughter. When Hubby and I started ...

When traveling in a new land, it helps to know the lingo.  As we have found ourselves immersed in the adoption culture, we have learned a new language of sorts.  A prime example is my posting of this picture of our original dossier documents ready to mail: On my timeline, I explained what it meant.  In my agency’s adoption group, I simply stated what it was.  And on my timeline, lots of congratulations!  In the group, it launched a full back-and-forth discussion full of lingo.  A cultural coming together.  One of my comments read: “ I love chatting with people who are in the adoption culture. It's like not having to explain a foreign language! ” One definite blessing of the internet during this process! For those of you who are traveling this road with me but occasionally feel like you are reading a foreign language, I want to explain what some of the "road signs" mean.  #1 - An alias.  You know our little girl as Sibyl, but that i...

As we have begun 2015, the year in which we will bring home our next daughter home from China, I find myself reflecting on the process thus far.  How far we've come since last spring !  I began tentatively looking into adoption agencies and soon found myself in the whirlwind of finding Sibyl and moving forward with our official paperwork.  So as I pause, here are some of the thoughts and blessings we experienced. 1. Finding Sibyl!   She was the 7th file that we tried to review and only the second file that we got to review.  We had to go through the pain of returning a file for another sweet little girl and trusting that we would be led to our next daughter.  This is a highly personal and individual process that all of our new adoptive friends on FB have also had to go through. 2. The blessings that have come in financially !  Several direct donations and quite a few "tips" on items that we have sold are all greatly appreciated!  We have se...