Weekly Funnies

I've noticed on other blogs some cute idea's...picture of the week, quote of the week, phrase of the week, etc. I've decided to copy this idea a bit and just add funnies...It could be a photo, quote or whatever.
My funny for the week is from my 9 year old son. We were listening to the radio and I was singing along as usual. E says "Is this song from the 80's?" My reply in surprise, "Yes! It actually is!" E: "I thought so cuz you know all the words!" Ummm. Yeah. Gotta love the 80's!

Anyway, I better update that our fingerprinting went off without a hitch. It is a very smooth process that entails very little...no fanfare, no beating drums, not even a security gate to pass through and empty the contents of my purse for a guard to rummage through! There is a guard type person who does greet at the front and processes the paperwork, gives additional paperwork to complete and then directs you to the people in the back who do the fingerprinting. It's a very small "office". They give you a number and call you one at a time, or two in our case. My husband was #25 and got called back first. Then I, #26, went with a very friendly lady and got complimented on how good my fingers were for printing! I kinda chuckled at this since I've been working outside so much lately...without my gloves...and my hands look like they could belong to a 90 year old farmer! So, now, we continue to wait for our coveted I171h.
Court closes in Addis Ababa on Aug. 6th. They will not see adoption cases for approx. 3 mos. This doesn't concern us since we are most likely at least 3+ months away from even getting a referral. But who really knows???
Drubek

Close call

As you know, we are going for our fingerprints tomorrow morning at 9am. Since Andrew travels out of state (Oklahoma) each week, there are definetly those times when his flight is delayed or cancelled for whatever reason. Usually it's weather related (tornado's, thunderstorms, etc). His flight connects in Denver so there are times when it's too icy or snowy...usually because his connection has come from further east...Chicago, etc. Then there are times when it's delayed or postphoned due to mechanical issues. It's always an inconveniance for us. We love being together and want our daddy home safely, so delays or changing iteneraries is never fun.
BUT, something as important as FBI fingerprinting for your adoption and then the flights are delayed and ultimatley cancelled, it's down right nerve wracking!

As we watched flight 419 get pushed back later and later (due to the California wild fires), Andrew had the United guy do his "usual" run down on all possible flights back to the Pac NW. Long story short, he was able to get on a flight to Seattle. It just landed a few minutes ago and Andrew rented a car for the 2 + hour drive home. (Flights from SeaTac to PDX don't run after 8pm, I guess).

So, we'll both be getting fingerprinted in the morning afterall...with one very tired hubby! Good thing it's our prints and not some kind of brain scan. (No offense honey!)

Oh, and I just got a United update. Flight 419 is now supposed to depart Denver to Portland at 2:13am. Thank you God for getting Andrew into Seattle. He'll still end up walking through the front door after 2am, but at least he'll be HOME!

Drubek

Honey Do List (not Honeydew)

For the longest time I couldn't figure out what a "Honeydew list" was. The first time I ever heard it was from our realitor, Massoud. He is persian so I figured it was a cultural thing. I'm sure there is honeydew melon in Iran, right? But I just couldn't figure out what it had to do with errands and chores. Ok, so I'm a little dense at times.

Well, each year Andrew and I have the "Honey Do" list from you know where...it consists of getting our property ready for the main event...our annual fireworks party! We aren't really picky people when it comes to clutter. I mean, c'mon, we live in the sticks. We have a couple of old out buildings (makes for a great dog kennel) and an old barn (that's not old enough to be classic) plus one really old Mercedes collecting rust by the barn. There are stinging nettles and blackberry bushes surrounding the property on all four sides so who needs a nice looking fence?

And, for our friends who come out for this party, they're only here to see one thing and that is Andrew's pyrotechnic display of glowing lights and fire! (Oooh, awwwwe!)

But, for the sake of spring cleaning, here is a run down of some of the chores we hope to accomplish before our more sophisticated friends and family show up:

• Clean scum out of koi pond/add UV filter to keep scum away


• do a 'dump run' with our utility trailer (not so fondly called the weeble wobble)


• put down some bark dust to give a tidy appearance to the weeds poking up through the rose garden


• wash windows just in case someone actually comes indoors


• mow field (so we can actually see the show!)


• put up that lattice thing at the end of the porch so the dogs & coons can't run under and hide no more! (Or so the dog won't chase the raccoons, possums, cats, etc. under there no more...)

Ok, that's 'nuff for now. There is more but I will spare you all. But seriously, I am proud of where I live and who we are. I just like to poke fun at our little piece of heaven here. Really, I do consider myself a hick with style. You can find me outside weed whacking the nettles in a great pair of boots!

Drubek

Our Stories Our Songs by Deborah Ellis

African Children Talk About Aids (By Deborah Ellis)

Poverty

• The 200 richest people in the world have more money than the poorest 582,000,000 people combined.
• One-sixth of the people in the world are malnourished.
• Between 1985 and 2000, over 7 million African farmers died of AIDS.
• Most African countries pay up to three times more on international debt repayment than they do on health care.
• Hunger weakens the body, making it vulnerable to illness. This makes it harder to stay strong if someone is HIV positive.
• HIV infection rates are rising among African American and Hispanic people living in poverty.
• Living in poverty forces people to make unsafe choices in order to survive or feed their children.
• Most of the 42 million people with HIV/AIDS live in countries with a lot of poverty, 29 million in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• It costs more to care for and bury someone with AIDS than most rural African families make in a year.

WE'RE INVITED!!!!

We are elated! We have had our FIRST milestone in our adoption journey where the government has made the first step in the paperwork process. We received our "invitations" to get our fingerprinting done. We will be fingerprinted this Friday, June 27 in Portland. Andrew's letter came on Friday and mine came on Saturday. This is so exciting because after our fingerprints are processed, the next document the CIS will issue is our I171h...the Gov. approval to adopt. Then, our dossier can be sent to Wa. DC and Ethiopia!
We really feel a part of this now!
On Sabbath, we had some friends over for lunch and we got to see how busy a toddler can be. He LOVES cabinets and getting into them. Yep, I did...I thought "I'm gonna be SO busy with two little ones!" But the feelings of worry and fear do not out power my excitement and joy at becoming a mommy of babies/toddlers all over again!

Drubek

"Where I'm From"

I am from fresh mown grass, from QuelQues Fleurs and home town parades.
I am from the old white farmhouse on the small hill overlooking the Territorial Days grounds.
I am from the lilac trees, the alfalfa hay piled high in the barn.
I am from family chores and fun in the outdoors, from Teal and WC and my sisters three.
I am from the crazy and surprising, horseback riding and barrel racing.
From being told I was found in a garbage can and someone had poured catsup on my head to make me have red hair. (The only truth to this is yes, I’m a redhead).
I am from Adventism. A historically rich and fascinating denomination, we believe in the Bible as God’s word to His people.
I'm from Hamilton, MT. with ornery sisters who delighted in torturing me. From wishing I was really an Ingall's with Ma, Pa and Laura. From homemade bread and strawberry rhubarb pie.
From the mother with 13 siblings, who shared a bed with four sisters…some of which pee’d the bed, the father who was the family clown and always has to be right, and the sisters who don’t see each other or spend time together even though they know they should.
From the old hinged box in my living room where the family pictures are so old they have turned yellow. Pictures of those I can't even name. The china hutch that holds the family Bible which dates back to 1863, with locks of ancestor’s hair and pieces of a dress that somebody wore the last time their loved ones saw them. Names like Elliot that I never even knew yet named my son the same. This is where I'm from.


Where are YOU from?? http://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm The template is on this site. It's a fun little poem to write about your history. A great way to take yourself back in time and remember a few things you may have allowed yourself to forget.

Enjoying the misty morning!

On the jet boat havin fun! Woo Hoo!

I just got these pics to upload. Blogger was giving me a bit of trouble for a few days. But here are some pics from our annual camp out. It was a fun time as usual! Remarkably, we even got a little sunburnt!

Drubek

Annual camping trip

Over Memorial Day weekend, we spent our annual camping trip down by Bandon, Oregon. The weather was somewhat warm (the air was chilly, though) and we all had a great time. This time we left the tent at home and tested out a yurt. It was GREAT being able to roll in after dark and not worry about setting up a tent! Upon checkout, it was also a treat to break camp and not have a tent to clean out, take down and try to fit back into that bag! (Somehow the tent always seems bigger than the bag!)
We took a jet boat ride on the Rogue, seeing a lot of wildlife (several Bald Eagles, deer, fish, many different types of birds, sea lions, Harbor seals, etc). The kids had some fun play time on the beach and of course, we all enjoyed s'mores around the campfire.

Drubek