15 months

So I have not been consistently posting our waiting time over the last few months, but I have not forgotten – haha (like that would be at all possible). So we are now at 15 months waiting for a referral (and 20 months since we started the whole process). But the surprising thing is that I don’t feel as stressed about it now as I did just before the bankruptcy happened. Why? I don’t know. Maybe you get used to the waiting after a while and become numb to it, or maybe it is just because I feel more confident now knowing that really good and hardworking people are doing their best to get the agency up and running. Whatever the case, I am looking forward to watching the next few months unfold.

Halloween Haunt

We went with some friends to the Halloween Haunt at Canada's Wonderland on the weekend and it was a lot of fun (and very scary). It is from 7-midnight and addition to all of the rides they also have a bunch of haunted mazes where scary clowns and monsters jump out at you! Ahh!! "Don't touch the monsters and the monsters won't touch you" is what we were told....ahh good words to live by. hehehe

Food Inc.

Here is a must read book and must see movie.

A few months ago I was out for dinner with Matthew at a restaurant and he ordered a big steak. When he only managed to eat about half of it so I suggested he should try to finish it out of respect for the poor cow. He got a little grumpy and said he would not be able to finish it for sure now because me pointing out how a cow had lost its life for his meal had grossed him out. Maybe I had crossed a line, but when I thought about it after it struck me as strange that we have become that far removed from what we eat that we don't even want to think about what it is that we are eating half the time.

It then started to occur to me that I know very little about the food I eat, where it comes from, how it is produced, and the impact my food choices have on the animals involved, the people producing it, my health, and the impact on the environment. It was surprising to me that I know so little about the food I eat because eating is such a big part of my life and something I have to do every day. So I did some searching and found this book. It is really good and looks at the implications of our food choices from a number of different perspectives.

I feel that I am just at the very beginning of what will now be a long process for us to improve upon our diet for the sake of our own health, and because of the impact our choices have on the environment etc. We have already started to cut back on our meat consumption, buy more "free range" products, and have started to pick up more organic items. One of the best tips in the movie is not to forget the power we have as consumers and to think of every item that gets scanned at the grocery store as your opportunity to place a vote.

Funny - Diamond Shreddies

This has to be the funniest marketing campaign I have ever seen. Check out the new diamond shreddies, you can ever vote on their website for what you prefer: diamond vs. square. (heheh)

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

ok, here is where I come clean and let you know what a geek I am (-: I enjoy watching the occasional TED talkes online (they are online lectures on a variety of subjects from some pretty smart people). In fact the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" started as a lecture by Al Gore on the TED talks website. I came across this one today by a Nigerian woman. It is a little long (18min) but I think worth watching for those of us with an interest in Africa and how people from Africa are perceived here in North America. She talks about stereotypes and how they form when you have limited exposure to the stories (good and bad) about a people.

I know that 3 years ago if you asked me what I knew about Ethiopian people I would have been caught in the same trap and my answer would have been "poverty". What a shame because there is so much more that they have to be proud of that is largely unknown unless you go searching out the information for yourself. So based on my own personal mistake, I can definitely appreciate how ignorance changes your perception of the world and the people in it. And when you recognize your own ignorance it is a powerful thing because it opens up a world of possibilities and wonder to you that you didn't even know existed.

TED talk Summary:

"Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding."

One Week

Just wanted to share the name of a really good Canadian movie we watched this week staring Canadian actor Joshua Jackson. It is called "One Week" and is the story of a man on a road trip across Canada who is trying to find the meaning in his life after finding out he has cancer. Lots of Canadian scenery and references. Worth checking out!

Just Imagine

I copied and pasted below a post from MP Glen Pearson's blog Sept 30, 2009. A big thank you to him for standing by our families and making sure the government heard our concerns!!

Just Imagine

Months ago, families attempting to adopt children from Ethiopia received the shattering news that the adoption agency they were working through was declaring sudden bankruptcy. Most of us recall the pain reflected in the faces and comments of the prospective parents and our hearts went out them. Their hopes were finished.

Except they weren’t. From the ashes of deep despair emerged a collective effort that turned tragedy on its head and produced hope when people believed there was none. What is remarkable about the collective effort of these parents-to-be was that they kept themselves together when anger and frustration could have split them in numerous pieces.

Imagine Adoption, and the moving story surrounding the parents, has been alluded to a number of times in this blog. I’ve written of the first meeting my wife and I had with them and how they constructed a plan in those earliest moments that hatched a truly remarkable story of how citizens who organize, share the burden, skillfully express their honest emotions, and arouse their talents can in the end even make government move with alacrity and compassion.

Under the adroit influence of a steering committee, the hopeful parents engaged media, community partners and politicians from various domains and successfully gained support for their efforts. And then just today, the news: “An international adoption agency that collapsed this summer, stunning hundreds of would-be adoptive parents … was moved out of bankruptcy yesterday” (London Free Press).

I’m not sure any of us can really understand the sheer heights these parents climbed, not so much to overcome obstacles, but to get to their children. They turned their collective grief, not to anger, but to faith and endurance. When it seemed all was lost, they could never accept that news because that meant the children in Ethiopia had lost as well. It just wasn’t good enough … and so they organized and prevailed.

Working with government, creditors and a bankruptcy firm, they succeeded in forming a new board of directors, along with an advisory board. Moreover, each family had to pay another $4,000 each to make it work. And it did. Starting at this moment, the board will hire two full-time workers and a part-time worker. At this rate, most of the adoptions will be completed.
I concluded an earlier blog on these inspirational parents by saying, “If only Ottawa worked like this.” That was just speaking of the spirit of cooperation shown by this hardy group. But now that cooperation has reaped its reward, showing us all once again that if citizens can overcome such obstacles with such cooperation and dedication, our own politicians could surely learn some lessons. I can honestly say they have taught me much, but more importantly have given me hope for what is possible.

We live in a strange world where a sports figure, who can masterfully move a small round ball into a cup on the green can be asked to dine with presidents and prime ministers. Self-serving and self-absorbed entertainers gain immediate access to the halls of power. What are we thinking? The kind of people who should be extended the red carpet into Parliament are people like these parents. They are neither masters of the inconsequential nor purveyors of their own self-image. Instead, they are what we should all emulate. Their secret of power and success was their humility and belief – the very things in such short supply in our nation’s capital these days. Well done. Enjoy your kids.