The highlight of this weekend was going to my 1st Hawkeye football game with Jason. We were given some great tickets so we are on the 40 yard line about 7 rows up...and best of all, they won! We ran into some old friends there, which was also a lot of fun. And while back, we also got to spend some time with family. We always love going back to visit and it's great when we can see so many people in such a short time.
Before we left we also received the rough draft of our Home Study report. We made some revisions and sent it back to our Social Worker on Thursday. She now has to send it on to our Agency to approve...I would expect us to receive the final version by the end of November. I hope earlier, but not getting my hopes up.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Final Home Study Complete!
Last night I had my individual home study and all of our meetings are now completed. I am very happy about how quickly they went. Our social worker said that she should get the draft to us this week to look over and approve and then it would probably take a month to get the final report back to us (it has to go on to another two or so people to be approved before we are sent the final report). I have added a timeline down the right hand side of the main page so you can see what all we have left to complete before the anticipated travel. It sure seems like we should have a lot more steps completed by now, but it takes a long time to collect all of the needed paperwork. Thankfully the paperwork portion is almost complete and I only have a few more things to get notarized.
On a side note, Jason and I will be back in Iowa on Oct 30 to go to an Iowa football game...and currently as I type, he is outside of the Phillies vs Giants game trying to scalp tickets. :) I hope he gets in so he can have some fun time before he flys to Houston tomorrow.
On a side note, Jason and I will be back in Iowa on Oct 30 to go to an Iowa football game...and currently as I type, he is outside of the Phillies vs Giants game trying to scalp tickets. :) I hope he gets in so he can have some fun time before he flys to Houston tomorrow.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Amazing Story
I really loved this story. I heard it on the radio on my way to work two weeks ago and then the next weekend during our Life Group class. So I thought I would pass it along. I wish I could say that I would have done the same thing...
But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.
He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.
"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says.
As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."
The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing this?'"
Diaz replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me ... hey, you're more than welcome.
"You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz says.
Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.
"The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi," Diaz says. "The kid was like, 'You know everybody here. Do you own this place?'"
"No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz says he told the teen. "He says, 'But you're even nice to the dishwasher.'"
Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"
"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teen said.
Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. "He just had almost a sad face," Diaz says.
The teen couldn't answer Diaz — or he didn't want to.
When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you're going to have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."
The teen "didn't even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says. "I gave him $20 ... I figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know."
Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen's knife — "and he gave it to me."
Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch."
"I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world."
Produced for Morning Edition by Michael Garofalo.
March 28, 2008
Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.
He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.
"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says.
As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."
The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing this?'"
Diaz replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me ... hey, you're more than welcome.
"You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz says.
Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.
"The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi," Diaz says. "The kid was like, 'You know everybody here. Do you own this place?'"
"No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz says he told the teen. "He says, 'But you're even nice to the dishwasher.'"
Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"
"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teen said.
Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. "He just had almost a sad face," Diaz says.
The teen couldn't answer Diaz — or he didn't want to.
When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you're going to have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."
The teen "didn't even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says. "I gave him $20 ... I figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know."
Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen's knife — "and he gave it to me."
Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch."
"I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world."
Produced for Morning Edition by Michael Garofalo.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
#2 and #3 Down!!
Today we had our second home study meeting at Cracker Barrel. The meeting went good (as far as I know) and I am very thankful for Jason as he answered all of the hard questions. Each meeting is making me realize there's a lot about parenting that I have no idea how I will handle! I guess we'll have to figure it out as we go! As a nice addition to the meeting Jason had his individual meeting following dinner. I've tried to get him to tell me the hard questions so I can be better prepared, but he won't spill them. My individual meeting (and our final meeting) is on Tuesday after work, so I hope that I can get something out of him before then. I'm sure it'll be ok though. So considering that our last meeting goes as scheduled, we will have all of our home study meetings wrapped up in a record 11 days! After that I think it will take about a month to get our final Home Study report back. On a related note, some good friends of ours are in Russia this week meeting their son for the first time. We are so excited for them and I can't imagine when it will actually be our turn. Unfortuntely you can't bring your child home with you on the first trip anymore. Our friends in Russia have to make three visits and get to bring their son home on the last trip and we will have to make two total visits.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Home Study #1 Down
We had our first Home Study visit today and it went well. I was a little nervous but thankfully she came over at 10:30 so I didn't have much time to be nervous this morning. Most everyone knows I like to get my sleep. :) Our social worker, Vickie, was very friendly and made the meeting go smoothly. Even Lupe behaved. :) We basically had to answer questions about why we wanted to adopt and from Ethiopia, how we would communicate to others and our child about their adoption, and other issues related to the process. The meeting ended with a tour of our home.
Until now we had only had email contact with our agency, so actually meeting someone in person made it feel a little more real. I have a feeling this is going to make me more excited and unfortunately less patient with the whole process, but I hope not. We have our next meeting already this Thursday evening, so we are hopeful that we can get through the Home Study process pretty quickly!
Look for an update at the end of the week!
Until now we had only had email contact with our agency, so actually meeting someone in person made it feel a little more real. I have a feeling this is going to make me more excited and unfortunately less patient with the whole process, but I hope not. We have our next meeting already this Thursday evening, so we are hopeful that we can get through the Home Study process pretty quickly!
Look for an update at the end of the week!
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