Earth Hour

It's time to turn of those lights off again to mark Earth Hour 2009:

Saturday March 28th at 8:30 pm

Hit a Nerve!

I was really shocked earlier this week when I heard about a CBC article on international adoption called "Buying Babies".

You can find the article here. Lots of people have posted their comments below the article. I was really upset that a respected and publicly funded news source like the CBC would portray adoption in this way. Below is the comment I posted;

When I read the title to this article I was taken back. Come on CBC, I thought you were better than that! I have always been a big fan of our publicly funded CBC and have always thought they provided quality journalism where issues are looked at from all possible sides in a very academic, respectful, and dignified way. I am very disappointed and it is unfortunate that because of this article my opinion of CBC has changed.

I hope you stop to think about the damage this type of blatant stereotyping can have on real people’s lives. Running a section on adoption called “Buying Babies” makes adoption sound like a trend, like buying the latest handbag that you just had to have. You have done a disservice to adopted children by publishing this because it creates for the general public a completely inaccurate picture of this aspect of an adopted child’s life story. "Buying Babies" makes it sound as though all international adoptions are trafficking children when the vast majority of people adopting have spent a lot of time and energy finding agencies that are completely legal and ethical. The reality is that orphaned children exist in this world and they should not be viewed as products that have been mass produced to be sold. They are real people with stories and feelings that deserve to become members of loving families. To have the national news suggest to these children that they were “bought” by their parents, like someone “buys” a pair of shoes, is very disheartening.

Adoption is a very complex process and the safety of children’s rights must be protected. For this very reason many adoptions take years, and to ensure the safety of the children there are many checks and balances in place which do have a financial cost. Being a parent is expensive regardless of who you are and how you choose to build your family, biological or otherwise. All children deserve to have loving families and families are created in a variety of ways. Anyone who has spent any time learning about international adoption would have been insulted by the title of this article. It seems silly for us to have to educate a respected news source who should have done their research better before going to print.

I thought CBC was a valuable source of news, not a source of bias and uneducated opinion aimed at groups that represent a minority of the Canadian population. What a huge disappointment!!

International Women's Day - Funny Video

Today (March 8th) is International Women's Day. Women need to have a voice, and I hope that 2009 is a year where women are recognized as important contributors to their communities all around the world.

I posted this video last March, but I get such a kick out of it I wanted to post it again. It cracks me up every time...I love the picture they show of information trying to enter a woman's brain - haha.

Canada Reads

I was having a bit of a pitty party tonight and had a big long post written up but I decided to delete it. The short version is we are both feeling a bit numb, discouraged and grumpy about the uncertainty of our lives. Tonight we had a fight about a fork at dinner time (I brought one to the table, Matthew said it was his, I said it was mine, he said I took it from him, I stood firm that I had it first). We ended up fighting for about five minutes and then had a good laugh at each other about how ridiculous we were being. I think we just needed a way to vent our frustration, we also need a holiday!

On a different note "The Book of Negroes" (called "Someone Knows My Name" in the USA) won CBC's Canada Reads today -wooho! I posted about this book earlier this year and it was by far the best book I have read all year. I know I have recommended a few books on this blog but if you read any of them I hope you pick this one up. So if you are waiting for a referral and wanting to pass some time this book would be my suggestion.

PS. it was my fork first (just had to sneak in the final word). hehe, I can grow up now.

Lucky 7

Well I don't really know if there is anything "lucky" about reaching 7 months when we know the wait times continue to grow for a referral, but we will try to stay positive. It has now been over a year since we started the whole process last Feb (we started our homestudy in Feb 2008).

.

So trying to keep busy we went to see this movie last night. I would give it five stars - great movie. I recommend everyone watch this one, it is a real story of courage and hope.

I also just finished taking a Afro-Caribbean cooking class with some friends in London who are also adopting from Ethiopia. So this was dinner tonight...

Jerk Chicken and Jerk Potatoes

Jerk marinade:
½ cup ground allspice (pimento)
½ tsp. grated nutmeg
2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cooking oil
3 tsp. sugar
1 cup thyme
1 tsp. black pepper
2 cups escallion (green or spring onions)
1 cup chopped onion
4-6 scotch bonnet peppers (or habanero)
½ cup cooking oil
3 cups white vinegar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup soy sauce
Directions:
1. Cut chickens in halves. Rinse in limewater, drain and season with garlic.
2. Blend all the ingredients for the marinade together in a blender.
3. Pour mixture onto seasoned chicken and leave to marinate for about 2 hours or overnight.
4. Light barbecue grill, put on chicken halves skin down and keep turning to prevent the chicken from getting too dark.
-Can be served with additional jerk sauce.
-With this recipe we had enough for two plates of chicken and potatoes (and enough marinade left over to put some in the fridge for another two or three meals).

this one wasn't from the class but was something new we tried to make. We always order these when we eat out at an Indian restaurant - Yum!

East Indian Mango Lassie

Put the following in a blender:

1 ripe mango
1 cup of plain yoghurt
1/2 - 1 cup of milk, 4 tsp sugar
A few leaves of fresh mint
4 ice cubes (you can add a tiny bit of orange juice as well)

Your Children

I am sure some of you have seen this quote before but I wanted to share it on my blog as well, I really like it and agree with the message. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself.

They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

.

Kahlil Gibran

My Fathers' Daughter

I just finished reading this book on the weekend and I really enjoyed it. It is a memoir from a woman who was adopted from Eritrea as an infant and raised by a white family in England. It is her story of going back as an adult to Eritrea and finding her birth family and trying to make a connection to her culture. A very good read for anyone adopting, it was interesting to hear her perspective...
I came across an audio interview with her as well and it can be found here if you are interested:

http://www.wpr.org/hereonearth/archive_090115k.cfm

This is also one of the books for the Online Book Club - Eyes on Books

Husband Gone Mad!

A cup of coffee can't be that hard to make right??

This is Matthew's newest hobby...

It starts with a look at his stack of notes. Hmm will he use the Ethiopian coffee or the South American? Will he roast for 20.29 seconds or 20.35 ? Glad to see our Imagine Adoption paper is being put to good use - haha.
The green beans

The crazy husband

Don't let the smile fool you...I am telling you, you start talking to him and if he misses the "first crack" you are in big trouble.

The Roaster


I hope you can read the fine print - it is too funny!
"Caution of the fire and burn,
Prohibit the approach of children and pets,
keep watch during the roasting,
keep away the inflammables"

haha - I think it should say keep away the flammables..


Blow away the chafe


I will try not to kill myself on the fan hanging off the lawn mower so you can cool your beans.
hehe..hey Matty shouldn't you move the pink stuff, what the heck is that?


Grinding

Tamping

Watching the time...every second counts

Miss Silvia at work (that's the coffee machine)

Matthew holding his shot up to the Gods.

Ahhh..finished! Now that was easy (NOT)...haha

His Idol - Barista Luigi (-:

Black Gold

A film preview you can watch if you are interested in coffee, fair trade and Ethiopia.



http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/

Next post - my husband's crazy coffee obsession!

This and that

Last weekend I met up with Matthew in Toronto. He is an elementary school teacher and part of his job is being the librarian. On Thurs and Friday he was at a librarian conference (I know, sounds like it would have been wild - haha). But he picked up some very cool books from Another Story Bookshop (they are located in Toronto - but I think you can find most of these on Amazon as well) for a Black History Month Display at his school. The books are shown above and they are all kid's books. How cool that they have books about Obama for kids. The black Heritage one in the picture is about the Canadian experience - very cool as well. The ones on the left are for younger kids and the ones on the far right are simple novels for older kids. Growing up I don't remember seeing these kinds of books in my school, what a neat find.

I was talking about finishing the book "Three cups of tea" a few posts back...well isn't this cool they have a children's version of the novel (top right) and a version for younger kids (top left picture book).We went to the "Another Story Bookshop" after so I could check it out and I was in heaven! So many books on social issues, diversity, different cultures and customs - for kids and adults. Above are the ones I picked out and bought. The Nelson Mandela one on the right is a book of African Tales for Kids, the book about becoming a Canadian was also very neat. 'This is the dream' was my favourite find. Checking out the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Go Raptors Go!! ... they lost )-:

Matty keep those ears warm - don't forget to wear your ear bags!! haha
Can you spot the CN tower?

Jeremy Fisher
Hannah Georgas - I hadn't heard of her until the concert. Sounds a little like Feist.

Check out her songs here: www.hannahgeorgas.com