Nothing has gone as expected. Noah could not be released from the hospital when we arrived on Monday. They did bring him to Wanna from the hospital for us, as he had to be in person to apply for his passport. He was sick and I could tell. I was sad, because he was sick, but also because it meant I had to wait to have my baby. It was really hard watching the other two families get their beautiful babies while we had to wait. I don’t know how I got through but I did. As I sit here and hold Noah as he sleeps, all the hassles and heartache have been worth it.

The Ethiopian passport experience is absolutely amazing and tedious and time consuming. It is so hard and frustrating not knowing the language. I did not see Noah at all on Tuesday, he was still in the hospital and we decided it would just be too hard to go and see him and then have to leave him again at the hospital. It is not a hospital I would ever chose to go to and it was hard knowing my son was there.

Ethiopia and Addis are a place of stark contrasts and I hope to get to do some exploring, but the bureacracy has been all I have done. Hubby, my brother and mother-in-law are on an adventure today to the Blue Nile Gorge, I can’t wait to see pics and video, I am sure it will be amazing. So it is just Noah and I today going to the Embassy with Nate and maybe to the hospital and then to our agencies compound, as hubby and I will be staying at the Volunteer house for a few nights since our trip was extended and the WHO is having a huge conference this week, there are no empty rooms at the major hotels so we are crashing with the volunteers, which will be an experience. I just wanted to post to those of you who I know are interested, that we have our son and if all else fails, today I will be taking out his IV needle. Those of you waiting, please prepare for the unexpected. But also know this is the absolutely most amazing thing in the world and I would do it all over again to have my son.

Stay tuned. Our adventure is no where near over yet.

Well, here we are just a mere 2 hours until we have to leave our house to begin our journey. We are packed, we have money–cash and traveler’s checks. We have meds for us and for the baby. I have most of my sanity yet none of my nerves intact anymore. I am sitting on pins and needles, but still have a few small items to take care of before we leave, finish the dishes, hide from our housesitter the 2 baskets of clean laudry that are yet to be folded. That will just have to wait until we return.

My brother left yesterday but missed his connection in London as his plane was late and you have to go through a second security check point when you transfer flights–it took him nearly 2 hours. So, he will be on our flight with us tomorrow with us from London to Addis assuming that our flight leaves chicago on time. So much to worry about. But we will get there and knowing that our embassy appointment will probably not be this weeks, takes some of the stress off of when we arrive.

Thank you those of you who have gone before and have imparted on me such wisdom that has allowed me to overprepare for this trip. I take with me the knowledge and support that you have all sent via the wonder cyberwaves that end with me. I will email with progress to those who I know are interested or those who have helped and provided me with the support I have needed to feel comfortable–being relative–as a first time parent.

A note to Teeny–Noah looks forward to coming to visit and play with you…Noah’s dad looks forward to seeing you canoe and boat 🙂

I will see you all when we return. Til then, this show is dark.

This was not the phone call that I was expecting today. Our little Minow was taken to the hospital today for a respritory infection and Gail wants him to stay through the weekend. Which means that Gail will most likely not get all of his paperwork filed at the Embassy on time for our appointment on Wednesday. They would like us to postpone our trip one week. We can’t. My brother left today and my MIL who is traveling with us is unreachable–she is on an Alsakan cruise. So we are still going. He should be out of the hospital by Monday for us to get him then, and we will stay another week. Of course this is difficult because now we have to be gone 2 weeks, we will have to board the dogs that much longer, find someone to feed our cats and fish that much longer, and have to pack that much more stuff–not for us, but for the baby. I can’t even think now. I was not prepared for this. I am happy that hubby plans to stay with me, I don’t know that I would want to be by myself.

The agency rep assured me that Minow is okay and that it is common during the rainy season for little ones to get respritory infections and need to be rehydrated. I don’t know where to start now with more preparations. I need to push the house cleaning back, I need more cat food, I need more dog food, I have so much to do, but I can’t leave the house until I hear back from AAI and know what is up and that we can get a place to stay. I just want to cry but can’t focus enough to even do that….

I wanted to post today, but wanted to stay away from the whole preparing to leave stress, because there really isn’t anymore to say about that. So thank you Heather for a topic to ruminate on. Oh, and if there is the random “t” missing, it is because my “t” key has broken and fallen off. I use my laptop way too much. Anyway, on to the topic and what and why I write.

I started writing when I was a preteen. I wrote silly poetry that my goodness had to rhyme regardless. I wrote then to deal with the tortured feelings I had. I did not have an ideal childhood and it hasn’t been until recently that I have really looked into my childhood and examined the effect it has had on me. I am a reader and always have been. Reader spurned me onto writing. I loved writing. I started writing the above poetry but what really got me started was my 7th grade drama class. We had to keep a journal and had to write in it every day. During this time my life sucked. I didn’t want to write about what was going on in my real life at home, so I made up a life. It was great and my first real experience with fiction. I know that my teacher probably knew, but I was bitten by the bug to write and I haven’t really stopped since.

I wrote my first novel at 16–which explains why my grades sunk my jr. year. That novel is still sitting in my filing cabinet upstairs, it was a great exercise but it is obvious that a 16 year old and inexperienced writer wrote it. I have started about 15 novels since then. Some are close to complete other just fall off into the abyss of unfinished genius. I have been working on what will be my first real attempt at writing and seeking publication. It is still in the infant stage of development, but I do know that it will be a trilogy–a story of 3 women brought together in an institution through different circumstances, but they are surprisingly similar. I have been working on this in my mind for years. I have always considered myself a writer and I love to create worlds and people. I do get consumed when I am writing and the characters live with me and I can hardly think of anything else. I have not been able to dedicate much time to writing with the adoption, but hope to.

Writing is my life line. It is what makes me who I am. It defines me. So, thank you Heather for the topic, I really appreciate it.

It sure doesn’t sound like long when I say it that way. Considering 16 of those hours will be used for sleep–or at least for lying in bed staring at the ceiling dreaming of the baby–that doesn’t leave me much time to do everything else that I need/want to get done. I need to de-clutter a little since we are having our house cleaned while we are gone. I need to finish packing, finish organizing the baby’s room, etc.

I have goose bumps and can barely think long enough to do anything…