Saturday, January 30, 2010

Good Morning!


I am in a silent house, at 8:56 am on a Saturday. This is very abnormal. The dog is out, the girls are at a dance convention, Matt is sleeping and the cats are napping. Even the chicks are quiet. Maybe because it is soooooo cold.
I should be at Home Depot already, but I am not motivated enough and I have a lengthy to do list. What else is new?!
I am also a dismal failure at finding good graphics online now that I am not using Incredimail anymore. And back when all the computers blew up, I lost all my very sacred clip art I had so dutifully saved from my Incredimail stationary. What is a girl to do?

Still for all my grousing, Life is humming along pretty good. Olga and Stephanie checked in and I will have a long conversation with Rakieta today. So all daughters, birth and adopted are accounted for. I can't always say that. The Kalinowski Family is in a place of completion. So many dreams and goals finally can be moved to the done pile. It really feels good. I also feel really blessed. Right now it seems the folks from above are working pretty hard on us. I can feel beings around, but more tangibly, I can see the results. Thanks everyone.

Well, I need to get my butt out of my chair and start my day. So adios for now. I'll check in later.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Paperwork Blues

Today I get to cook for the snack bar and then I get to sit and do paperwork most or all of the day. Did I ever mention how much I hate paperwork?? I am a social butterfly.
I do not mind sitting for a couple of hours weekly on the normal household stuff, but I really hate lengthy, monotonous stuff like filing, income taxes, G&G's final passing paperwork, Rakieta's embassy paperwork, you get it.....
Unfortunately, I am finding the older and more established we get, the worse this paperwork issue is getting. Good thing I have more patience now than when I was in my 20's.
Anyway, I have a plethora of monotonous stuff today. I hope there is decent stuff on tv to listen to while I suffer through my tasks.
Upside, I don't feel overwhlmed with all this any more. So all my weeks, months, and years of sitting here getting things under control one piece of paper at a time and not going out to play is finally paying off.
I am getting pretty close to being ready for the rollar coaster ride of going to Burkina Faso once again and the fast paced frenzy of our production this year which is "Circus."
Now to just get the house completely repainted before things get too busy once again.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Damp, Michigan Winter Weather

Today it was a high of 37*. Yet, my body aches, my nose is a little runny and I have flem in my throat. I haven't taken off my extra sweater all day. Did I mention the sun hasn't shone all day? Welcome to southern Michigan's damp, dreary weather. Seriously, if it was 20* and sunny, it would be much more pleasant.
But at least all the ice is almost melted. It was a little rough getting around all week and a bit dangerous.
Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 40's and rain. I don't mind as long as it doesn't turn everything to a sheet of ice once again.

Becoming a Middle Aged Woman

This is something I think about every time it is made obvious and yet it just creeps up on us women sort of silently.
I am no longer a young mom or a mom with young kids. I was a relatively young mother. I was 21 when Merry was born. So I have been parenting for 25 years. Add to that the fact that I was the oldest of 6 kids and you could say I have been mothering my whole life. Needless to say I am quite competent at it and it just comes second nature.
However, most of the time I am not running around with kids in tow anymore. I get to enjoy the old days when I am with our African girls, the nieces or even the dance kids. But a lot of my life is spent mentoring in a way that is a little more hands off. I don't think it is as fun as the dragging kids from here to there days, but it just kind of happens naturally and it is rewarding too.
What I have found is that my world is pretty huge. The amount of people, especially young people, who consider me one of their VIPS is large. Way larger than when I was so busy parenting.
I never thought this part of my life would be as nice as it is turning out to be.
But I am as excited as ever when I get the chance to deal with the stress, noise and activity of "momming".

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tapping fingers on Counter..............

I have a lot of things I want to say about a lot of things. But, I can't make my mind still enough to write coherently so here I sit tapping my fingers on the counter.
Things seem to be plugging along in my world. My own family is doing well, has many blessings and makes me give thanks many times daily. Unfortunately the state of affairs in Michigan is not so fortunate for everyone. Times are still really tough. However, I think we may have gently turned a corner. It may be people are just used to their new reality and fighting back, it may be that people have paid off enough bills that they are a little more optimistic, but it also seems that the shops are finally getting their heads above water a LITTLE. In other words, production is a long way from where things were even 5 years ago, but things no longer seem to be plummeting at the speed of light. I really hope so as so many families really need the relief.
I am mailing a large quantity of stuff to Africa in advance this time. The whole flying experience is getting more and more stressful. I just don't want to deal with having to dump a suitcase and all it's contents because we go into a high security situation and they change the rules on us mid trip. So I shall be mailing everything this time. Now if the postwoman from Hell would just stop giving me so much grief.
My 2nd season of the Dead Zone just arrived. I can't wait to crack it open, but I have to finish monster Quest 1st. The dvds are really good because they have more info on each episode that what gets shown on TV.
So far no baby chicks from this batch. I think the eggs may just have been too old.
Well, I will sign off for now. I have a lot of work to do.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Haiti


The pictures and videos are starting to reach the rest of us and it is very grim. Haiti was already a very corrupt, violent country where most of the people were really suffering. And it was a violent suffering. Burkina Faso, while poorer still, is a peaceful country with loving people. A lot of the Haitian existence is a Hell. There are tons of people from other nations already trying to help.........but the corruption.
Please prey especially for the children in the orphanages whose adoptions have been completed but have been sitting for YEARS waiting on both governments for passports and visas. Now that this has happened, they may never be processed or the paperwork will have to be resubmitted to wait years again. This is very expensive, time consuming and in some of the childrens' situations, the documents were lost during the last political upheaval. Seeing the devistation and loss of life there is truly gut wrenching.
Good places to donate to: Red Cross, Doctors without Borders, Project Medishare.
www.wjr.net has a link you can use. WJR is the big Detroit Talk Radio station. For those of you out of the area, it is the station Ernie Harwell always announced Tiger baseball on.
Also www.rainbowkids.com has a list of links to groups already in the country working with the orphanages. The list gets a thumbs up from me. Very well established and reputable organizations.
Thanks to everyone who is reaching out.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Pray for Haiti


What a mess! These people need our prayers and anything else we can help with. Haiti was rough enough before. I can only imagine the agony these people are facing.

Dead Zone

This is my new favorite show. I never thought I would be a Steven king fan, but...........
This is a really good show.
Helps me keep my spiritual, psychic side balanced. I haven't been so attached to a show since I discovered Charmed all those years ago.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Long Time, No Post!


It seems like forever since I sat down and wrote, answered any e-mails or commented on anything. It was a very necessary hiatus. I wish I could say that I was rested and relaxed. No I am not, but I feel way less stressed out than I did the last time I checked in.
The paperwork is about half done. Advice-Make sure you have many, many original copies of the death certificates. We had 10 and ran out. But some are slowly coming back to us now. Also try to know what you are dealing with before the passing if possible, even if you can't legally have conversation with the agencies/organizations. By knowing what we had to deal with it made the mountain at least crossable. I can only imagine the stress and nightmare if we had no idea what we were trying to complete for Lee and Adele. I had spent approximately 1 1/2 years working with her on getting her affairs in order prior to the end. While things were not perfect, it was much better than had I had to start at the beginning after they passed.
In the meantime, Rakieta's leg is just about done, the dance show was a huge success as always, another batch of chicks was hatched and the holidays were especially sweet this year. Thanksgiving choked everyone up as we passed the Cold Duck around in memory of Gramps, but things are getting back to normal now and everyone who knew them in their last months can laugh and recall lots of silly, goofy, happy times. That is how it should be.
Once I spend at least one quiet week I will begin to plan my trip to Burkina to be with our girls. They are chomping at the bit which is to be expected. This time the weather should be much more pleasant for me, the Michigander. The plan is to get Rakieta's documents up to date, work on sewing, get computer skills under control and of course, just have fun and see everyone!