Our Yard Sale Benefit

Whew! We had our huge yard sale on October 18th & 19th. It was a big success! We had so many wonderful family and friends that donated items for us to sell. The goal was to raise money to put in the 'baby fund' to help pay for the adoption. And that we did!

Our town home's Home Owner's Association only allows for there to be one yard sale a year and they pick the weekend and location on the complex to have it. So we knew it was coming and had lots of time to prepare.

We're so grateful to my brother and his wife. They were there bright and early Saturday AM to help us set up. (They helped us break down also. A big thank you to them!) He also had a big donation box at his work for other employees to give items. Just about every day for a week he was coming over and dropping off different items. Some that were big $ items. We're so thrilled and honored that so many people took the time to go through their homes and packed up items for us. Their support means so much to us. We also enjoyed those who stopped by to visit us and make their donations by purchasing items.

My dear husband even made the great sacrifice and parted with some of his beloved "Star Wars" action figures. Including a giant size Millennium Falcon. We made sure they all went to good new owners.

My mother who passed away in May loved yard sales. Whenever she saw one she was compelled to stop. We had many of them growing up too. A long time family tradition. I now love them too. It was my first one that she wasn't at physically but I felt her spirit there. She would be happy to know that some of her clothes and items sold well. So, she helped contribute also. I know she was excited about us adopting and will be so happy for us once our baby is home with us. I miss her and will miss her even more when the baby is here but I know she is proud of me. Even though the purpose of the yard sale was to raise money for the adoption, it was also in honor of her, because she loved them so much.

It was exhausting and our sore, tired bodies took a while to recoupe from it all. But it was worth it. It's just part of the 'labor pains' we are more than willing to go through to have our baby.

Glenn's Physical

Had my official adoption physical last Friday - my first one in many a year. I really liked the doctor, and it turned out that he was studying at Tel Aviv University the same year I was there for the overseas program, and we lived in the same dorm complex. As Thomas Friedman says, the world is flat. It's pretty small too.

I had some blood drawn, and a TB test (my third this year - the previous 2 followed a minor TB outbreak at my old job). I do not, thankfully, have tuberculosis. Nor do I have rickets, gout, dropsy, or any other 1800's diseases. My blood pressure, EKG, and lung tests were perfect. The nurse, however, had to shave a little bit of my chest hair for the EKG, and it was very itchy for a couple days. I'm still waiting on my blood test results, and in the meantime, they need me to send a sample, via US mail, of... well, let's just say I'm glad I'm not the postman that day, given what I have to "doo."

After all the in-office stuff, I went to a local imaging lab to get an x-ray done. I'd been told it would be fast, but I ended up having to sit 2 hours in a cramped waiting room with a bunch of frustrated people and several bored children. I managed to bond with one toddler who kept staring at me, and an old lady who complained loudly on my behalf. The chest x-ray itself took all of 5 minutes, and I was happy to just work from home the rest of the day, since there was no real point going all the way back to the office for a couple hours.

The overall verdict is that I'm in darn good health, but could stand to lose about 20 pounds. I'd say more like 17 pounds, given that they weighed me with all my clothes on, plus shoes, keys, wallet, and cell phone. That's hardly fair, don't you think? Either way, it's a point well taken, and something I have all the more motivation to do, what with the adoption process moving along steadily.

My one-on-one with the Social Worker

Tonight I had my private meeting with the Social Worker. (Glenn will meet with her alone next week). It was an interview about my life. She asked many personal questions about my childhood, my teen years, my parents, my brother, my friends, our pets, past relationships, my beliefs. About how I will parent our child, why we're adopting, why now, etc, etc. It was interesting and a little odd. To be telling this stranger all these personal things. But I had no problem opening up and being honest. I'm a very verbose individual anyway, so it was easy. I did get emotional when she asked "What kind of mother was your mom?" Since my mom recently passed away this last May, I felt a wave of emotions remembering how loving and fun she was as a kid. I'm really going to miss having her around as grandma to our children. She was such an affectionate woman. But I will keep her memory alive by telling stories about her for sure.

The whole interview process took an hour and a half. She was very nice but also very serious. It's odd because we did not have a conversation. She asked questions and I answered. I'm used to conversing with people. It was a unique experience. I certainly had to take a moment to think through before answering some of the questions. Which I think is a good process. I feel so confident that Glenn and I will be such great parents. So, I wasn't nervous about the meeting at all. I knew all I could do was just be in the moment, listen and answer honestly, which is exactly what I did.

I'm happy it's done because it's another step closer to having our home study complete. Another step closer to being parents.

Next up, on Saturday we have our class on Trans-racial adoption. Looking forward to it. We had a whole booklet of questions to fill out to prepare for that. More thought provoking ones too.