Time flies when your mind's wheels are spinning. Sorry to not have posted much lately. We've been pretty busy, and I think I've just had too many different things on my mind to sit down to one topic. Not all bad, not all good, really just a thousand different thoughts about life both locally and globally. I'm thinking a lot about you guys still 'stuck' out there. From someone who knows some of that pain in our past, I am deeply sorrowful with you. Some of you just have hit a snag in the process, and some have just been treated in a way you could have never imagined, and some have experienced both. I am praying for you. God is teaching you lessons (like them or not), and He does have a plan. Know you will not be the same person you were before these experiences, and that is part of it. I am praying for all of you. Even my friends who are at home. I'm finding out the lessons keep coming, even if they are different. Sorry for a strange post. Like I said, my head is spinning in circles almost faster than I can keep up of late. I mainly wanted you all to know you're still being thought of often. Hopefully I'll make my way back here again soon. The kids (and us the parents) are doing well. Thanks for dropping by. -T

Politics...

I've never been big on politics. I do try to vote at each opportunity, and try to do so in a reasonably informed manner. I do still think that is important. However, the more I've tried to learn this year about the presidential race in particular, the more I remember why I've never been too interested in it. Honestly, part of me just sees it all as such a waste. Lots of what I've read makes me think we're looking to choose a high school who's who rather than choose a national leader. Everything always seems to come down to the different parties focusing on who can win (i.e. who is more popular) than who will do the best job. Doing a good job seems to have so little to do with it in picking someone. It's just who is more popular. The money it takes and the money raised and spent just really makes me sick. I think one month one of the big 3 raised over 30 million just in one month. All this while there really are so many in our country have so little. And not to mention people literally starving to death every minute across the world. What exactly is accomplished by all that money spent on stupid advertising that I personally could care less about anyway. How much lasting good could be done with all that money?

I know personally, and I bet for many of us, it seems like the main inspiration for voting is to choose the lesser of two evils when it comes down to it. We dislike one candidate more than we do the other so we vote against that one, rather than for anyone. Can I (anyone) really get excited about that? Is that what is supposed to make this such a great country? When did we learn to just settle for such mediocrity? How can we learn to demand more?

The world's slowest librarian... and other things...

I guess you could say it was one of those days in some ways... so many good things, and then so many just wierd things, too. J- did great at daycare. Work was fine for mommy and daddy. We even got J-'s Social Security card today, sort of. As if to just assure us of our government's inefficiencies even as another branch impressed me, the post office ripped his card almost in half. Oh well. We know we'll get a new one when we change his name, so no biggie.
Then tonight, since I didn't want to leave J- in a church class after his first full daycare day, I left early and decided to make a run to the library with him to pick up a book I had on hold. Now, our family loves our library, and the kids and I visit probably at least 4-5 times a month. However, tonight's quick visit just to get the one book and a couple Backyardigans for the kids to watch tomorrow if necessary turned into an over 30 minute ordeal. I had a fine on some movies and didn't have much cash, so rather than wind up with none for the rest of the week, I was going to just use my debit card, which they take. She messed up the total, and then no one there seemed to know how to do a void. They had to apparently search the place for the manual and took forever. (I just used my cash after all). Then checking out my stuff (while someone else did the void), she left stuff off and had to check me out three times to get the total 4 items I had checked out. Again, oh well... I do have to credit my wife for noting the irony in the book I was checking out, though. Don't Waste Your Life. (I wonder if there's anything there about choosing the wrong librarian and losing 30 minutes.)

Since I mentioned littering not too long ago...

What is it about smokers? Is it not enough for them to make the air around them unbreathable? Do they have to trash up the ground around them, too? I daresay that I rarely get in the car to go somewhere of any distance at all that I don't see some smoker tossing a cigarette out the window. Look out at the next stoplight you come to, and see if lots of the litter there isn't cigarettes. They're in parking lots, too. It's just gross...

A risky post...

because I know there are lots of 'Hague-haters' in the adoption world right now. I'm probably not a lover of it myself. I certainly think Guatemala's implementation of it (more appropriately the lack thereof), is tragic and sad. However, from much of what I've learned and researched, the U.S. implementation of the Hague really seems in intent to have a lot of elements to actually protect children, birth parents, and especially prospective adoptive parents, who previously really had no protections. And please realize that though the two do affect each other, they are absolutely separate in application. Is it perfect? No, I'm sure it's not, but neither am I. If you haven't noticed, I do have a few sidebar links that are actually pretty informative regarding this, including one directed specifically to PAP's.

What I really wanted to post about tonight though, isn't exactly that. My thoughts tonight are more to if anyone might be considering another adoption in the near future. I think they can probably apply regardless of how you feel about the Hague itself. If you do think of adopting again, I might encourage you to take a look at the list of currently approved providers as a start. I only know one of them firsthand, and they aren't perfect either, but I do respect them greatly. I say this about using the current list for these reasons. (A bit like my analogies of old). Let's consider their accreditation in light of your considered adoption. Lots of agencies not on the list right now might say, well, it was so expensive. Heads up, so is your adoption, and if they aren't willing to shell out the resources when it's in their own best interests, are they for you to help your adoption happen? How about there was just so much paperwork and info required. Again, if they can't handle it timely for themselves, how thoroughly and accurately are they going to review your box of paperwork you have to submit for your adoption? We just didn't have the staff. Well, will they have time for your questions, or will that have to wait, too? We didn't even get the requirements until a few months ago. Shouldn't they be out there seeking out what's up constantly, keeping up with any changes, and getting that info in the right hands? Or do you want to get stuck somewhere in the process because they didn't keep up and were always waiting on someone else to advise them of the changes? Maybe they have too many offices to get finished. Is that what you want, a risk of misinformation between so many folks?

I guess all I am saying is that the ones that are on the list by now, at least in theory, might be the ones who really knew their stuff, worked quickly, and did whatever it took to make sure they were where they needed to be when they needed to be there. Admittedly, it was their interests they were looking out for and not yours, but perhaps what I'm saying is they at least seem to have the capability to transfer that determination to your case.

I'm in no way saying there aren't other good ones. I must say my experience jaded me to the point I question if there might be ANY great ones. It's really just something I was thinking...

Feel free to grill me if you disagree. I like trying to see different sides of an issue, whether I always agree or not.

That's one expensive litter campaign...

I'm not sure how you feel about illegal immigration, or the big fence, but I have to say that the last line of this article sort of cracked me up.
Essentially, they're considering waving all the environmental and other similar laws to build the border fence, and saying the fence will actually be good for the environment because illegals are littering the landscape as they sneak in.

I guess it's a good thing the Indians didn't think of a fence like that before our ancestors got here isn't it.