November 6, 2011

Chainsaw therapy

If you are reading my blog prior to adopting...know this, domestic adoption is tough.

International adoption is tougher.  Fundraising is, well, at least for us....very difficult and frustrating.

So, here was our weekend. 

It actually started on Thursday.  We got the I800A back!!!!!!!!

There was much excitement in the family and rushing around to have the copy notarized with the plans to apostille it the next day.

Friday was hectic,  which is an understatement.  This is the day that our homeschool family drives for about an hour and fifteen minutes for the children to attend classes with other children. 

Only, this Friday, I had a 6am meeting at church about 45 minutes away.  So, I woke up around 4am, left a bit after 5am, had my meeting until 7:30 and then rushed to meet my husband nearby to switch cars so that I could take the children to classes and he could go have the I800A apostilled.

I got a text a couple of hours later.  "WE HAVE A PROBLEM"

It turned out that the notary's signature was not a match at all to the signature associated with the stamp.  Thus, we could not get an apostille since their very job is to verify that your notarized paper is legit. 

So, we each drove to a middle point and searched around for somone else to notarize yet another copy of the I800A. 

SUCCESS!  We express mailed the apostilled copy to another family who is traveling to the twin's country on Tuesday.  Our form should get to them tomorrow (Monday).  They will leave on Tuesday and our forms should be in the attorney's hands on Wednesday. 

After that, our entire dossier and I800A will go to the court where the judge can set the date for us to travel and meet the children for the first time!  And, even better, after spending two weeks in their country, we should be able to bring them home with us to host them even though the adoption won't be finalized until we make two more trips.

So, I gave you all the background so you understand that the pressure is on!  And, the stress is on...bigger than ever because now we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and the day of reckoning is fast approaching.

We decided to attend a flea market over the weekend and do a yard sale fundraiser since our house is way too far out in the country to attract anyone. 

My husband and daughter (I had to stay home to take my other daughter to the SAT test) got up at 3am in order to get ready and drive there.  And, <big sigh>, it was one of the coldest days that we have seen this year and it was very cloudy and looked like it could rain.  We debated whether or not to still try it but in the end, we felt that we had so very few weekends left that we should give it a shot.

The grand total?  $52  The slot was $22 and the gas was approx $30+  So, absolutely no gain....

I could have just cried...hmmm, actually I did....today.

I finally just felt so overwhelmed and tired of being pulled so many different directions and thus completely failing at every role I have....including having faith that we would figure out how to make it work.

After I vented and cried to my husband this afternoon, I decided to.........

grab the chainsaw and cut the heck out of some wood so that we could finally warm up our big old house with tall ceilings.

I had never used the chainsaw before but I really wanted to try and this seemed like an excellent time to take some power into my hands! 

I truly should have some pics here because it would have been ummm, interesting...but a tad humiliating for me.  So, I will let you use your creative mind and picture it.

I was wearing my husband's big baggy sweats, so the crotch was at my knees.  I had on his wool socks that had been accidentally washed and dried in the dryer, so that they were felted and shrunk to the point that I could barely wiggle my foot into it.  The socks also had a bright orange stripe around the top.  Next, I had my nice shirt and sweater that I wore to church and finally my big fat winter coat.  It was attractive, especially, I am sure with the puffy eyed, I just cried out my eyeballs look. 

It was exactly what I needed!  To be outside with the family, to cut the heck out of some wood and feel cool that I was doing something I had never done before and to come inside and get the most blazing fire ever going in our fireplace and actually feel warm again.  It was just what I needed....



The children all decided that we should eat picnic style on the floor in front of the fire.  It was a great idea!

                                   We ate hearty lasagna soup.

And finished off the evening with roasting marshmallows and reading the sciptures.




Look carefully in this picture and you can see the twins picture on our mantel!


Even the dogs enjoyed the evening and were content, warm, and sleepy....




I promise to work out our November flier and get you all the details for walking etc,  tomorrow.  

Closing on a happy note....hoping that the rest of the week goes this way......

5 comments:

  1. That sucks about the flea market! I've had days like that when I've sold things on Amazon or Ebay. Once I accounted for the envelope to mail the item and the postage I realize I came out negative (not including my time!). Luckily it doesn't happen every time.

    Do you know anyone in a less remote part of town that would volunteer their house for a big garage sale? Perhaps if you could secure the location (and let friends, family and church family know about the garage sale) you could get a better return on your time and money.

    Do you have any chain restaurants in your area? Some of them (like Applebees and Panda Express)will let you do fundraisers at their restaurant. I've never done one, so, I'm not sure what the exact requirements are, but, from what I've heard you just hand out fliers encouraging people to go eat there on a designated night. That night, a percentage of people's bill goes to you. I know of at least one adoptive family that made ~$1,500 with a restaurant fundraiser.

    Sorry I can't help in a more concrete way. I'm sure you've been living and breathing fundraising for the past few months, so, it's not likely these are new ideas. :)

    I'm glad you at least got to relax in the evening in front of a cozy fire. The pictures made me wish I wasn't stuck living in an apartment (some day, a house!).

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  2. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I did another 9 miles this weekend!

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  3. Chain Saw Therapy? I'm glad you had witnesses to keep you from cuttin' down the whole orchard! I remember chopping wood with an axe, it's a good stress reliever, but really wears you out. The true reward is the toasty fire. Glad you got to try something new and I sure wish you had a picture of your chic lumberjackie outfit! LOL Keep looking UP!

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  4. So sorry about the flea market. That stinks. I know I looked into doing a fundraiser at Chick-fli-a but it is about 30 minutes from our house and I just didn't think I could get enough people to go. You only get a percentage if the people say they are there for your cause.

    Keep plugging forward my friend. Sooner of later we have to reach the end :)

    Oh, wish I could try chainsaw therapy. The only wood we have in our backyard is from when my husband took down the old playset and decided to make firewood from it. I don't think using the chainsaw on the trampoline would be a good idea.

    Katrina
    Carlene's soon to be momma :)
    www.operationorphannomore.blogspot.com

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  5. Ooooh....I like the new fundraising thermometer. And the new total!

    I was able to do 4 (chilly) miles tonight.

    Katrina - I don't know if every restaurant that does fundraisers allows this, but, the mom I know that made $1,500 was allowed to hand the fliers out right outside the restaurant. That definitely helped her increase the amount she brought in. If you get a manager in a good mood (and they're on board with your cause) you might be able to do the same thing!

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