To Do

So, I have mentioned that I have been a bit depressed lately with the lack of any news on our adoption and a lack of things to do to keep the adoption moving forward. Depression, especially as it relates to the adoption process, is a funny thing because one of the best things you can do to alleviate it is to stay busy; however, when you are feeling depressed it is really hard to motivate to do anything – creating a self-perpetuating cycle of sorts. I have been having a pretty hard time doing anything other than what is required of me and sleeping lately.

In attempt to give myself some accountability and motivate myself to do things to help pass time while we wait to find out when our court date will be…and then to wait for our court date to arrive…and then to wait for our embassy appointment so we can finally bring our kids home, I am posting a To Do list on this blog. On this list are things I can (and should) do before our kids come home so that I can be a better parent once they finally arrive. While not directly related to speeding the process along, at least these things are related to the kids and/or the adoption. I am sure that I cannot concentrate on or motivate to do much of anything that is not adoption-related – it is a daily battle for me at work right now (fortunately work is pretty busy, so I don’t have much choice but to trudge along and get things done).

My To Do List:

• Sew Asegre’s and Elsa’s heavy babies
• Sew Asegre and Elsa silk pillowcases (reduces damage to kinky hair)
• Finish decorating the kids’ room
• Read adoption books (listed in case you are interested in the world of adoption reading)
1. The Connected Child: Bring Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family – Karyn Purvis
2. Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew – Sherrie Eldridge
3. Raising Adopted Children: Practical Reassuring Advice for Every Adoptive Parent – Lois Ruskai Melina (In Progress)
4. Are Those Kids Yours? American Families with Children Adopted from Other Countries – Cheri Register (In Progress)
5. Attaching in Adoption: Practical Tools for Today’s Parents – Deborah D. Gray
6. Attachment Focused Parenting: Effective Strategies to Care For Children – Daniel A. Hughes
7. Making Sense of Adoption: A Parent’s Guide – Lois Ruskai Melina
• Finish adoption training
• Research hair care products/methods
• Learn Amharic for adoptive families
• Come up with questions for the kids’ caretakers 
• Consider answers to common Ethiopian court questions
• Research additional adoption grant funding sources
• Figure out and organize a fundraiser for AAI
• Plan and plant a winter vegetable garden (gotta love living in southern California!)

This weekend includes an “off Friday” for me – working for the City I work longer days and then, as a result, get every other Friday off (not a furlough). Brent will be out of town through Monday night for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco (I can’t go because I can’t take Monday off). It should be a perfect opportunity to practice motivating to get things done on the above list and keeping a positive perspective on this whole process. Luckily it seems there is plenty for me to do. Feel free to check in on me and see how its going – your prying just might help keep me on track.