As I lay awake...

After a long day of getting things ready to go...Ariel has completed the girls room and Aunt Aimee has painted the ceilings with clouds, I have done laundry, packed, put the new Harry Potter in my carry on bag, and bought Off. Last night, we watched the Cave episode of Planet Earth (we watch one every Sunday, they are amazing) and then Ariel and the boys slept in the tent in the backyard, and I lay awake thinking. A lot. I should have written them down but this is what I can remeber thinking about....
Our plane is going to crash into the Atlantic
The boys will get bubonic plague while we are gone
We will get bubonic plague while we are in Ethiopia
Ariel's brand new laptop and beloved camera will be stolen in Rome
We will get in a car accident on the way back from the airport
There will be a huge earthquake in WA when we are gone
We will get in a car accident in our taxi in Rome
The girls are going to scream for the entire 31 hour flight home
The boys and the sister's wont get along
The boys will never forgive us for leaving them for ten days.......

The list goes on and on. I think I should stop thinking so much.

It came in the mail today...

As I said in my previous post, I have been in a state of worry and fear over our imminent departure to Ethiopia. Then this came in the mail. This is a picture of 'The Sisters' as we have taken to calling them, getting their gift packages from us. Those are their photo albums we sent them of our family and house. Would you look at those smiles? Those are my daughters. I don't know if anything could be better.

In other random news for the day, Ariel ordered his long awaited laptop for his business - and I get a free IPOD Nano in the process.

I also tried an experiment with the boys. I tend to be extremely cranky around dinner time. The kids are usually wild and I get very annoyed in the process of cooking. Tonight, I tried including them in the process - I was making Cauliflower Dum (from Mangoes and Curry Leaves). Isaac helped add all the ingredients to the sauce and Elias pressed garlic and then onions through the garlic. The difference between the two boys is hilarious - Isaac is exactly like me and can't concentrate on anything for six seconds without jumping to the next actvity. Elias, in contrast, merrily spent a half hour pushing garlic and onions through a press with great concentration. I am definitely going to try and cook with the kids more in the future. It is definitely worth the time.

Countdown

We are now in a countdown for the last week before we leave -I find my mood has suddenly changed. I have gone from pure excitement to being down right scared. It doesn't help a lot that many of my patients at work bombard me with "Four kids. That's insane" until I actually begin to think it is. One of my favorite sayings ever is "One must do what one fears". I hope this is no exception - We are so incredibly thrilled to be bringing these girls into our family, I certainly don't want to let a little fear get in the way.
The truth is, however, that Ariel and I have no idea what it is really going to be like. I figure the best thing is to just jump in and be ready for whatever comes. I have been to Uganda before and lived in an orphanage in Mexico, so I think I have some understanding of what to expect. We will be staying at Ritmo house, which is run by the orphanage there for adoptive families. We will be in Rome for three days and Ethiopia for five. We have reservations at hotels, our planes tickets our booked, the girl's bedroom is almost ready.
One thing that has been the last couple days is looking at other blogs of parents who have been there - they pretty much universally declare it is the most amazing thing they have done in their lives, and that is very encouraging. If we could only somehow manage to eliminate our eight hour layover at Washington National coming back from Ethiopia, I might be down right optimistic.

Snow day

One of my favorite parenting stories of all time comes from David Sedaris. I cannot tell you how often I think of his retelling of the snow day home from school, when midway through the day, his Mother lost it. She bundled all five of the Sedaris siblings up, threw them out, and locked the door. They stood outside the house for awhile, watching their Mother drink a glass of wine. Eventually, they tried to convince their youngest sister to lay down in front of a car, in order to be let back in as well as to punish their mother for her banishment.

My Immune system is ready

Tuesday Ariel and I had the great privelege of getting six immunizations each. While it is not as bad as getting Yellow fever, polio, or meningitis, it is still rather depressing. Especially when I think that it cost $900 - and isn't covered by insurance. It hurt and made me feel pretty sick the next day - but now it is all done. I will have something to hold over the kid's heads next time that I take them in for their shots.

Today is much cooler than it has been all week - so we have all been enjoying a fun day of going to the park and eating popsicles. Tomorrow I am not working, so we are all heading out to the Wynoochee River. Ariel's family owns ten acres along the river - there is a covered dining area, a big stove, and outhouses. Ariel and I got married there. We are going out in the evening to sleep on the beach...after eating enough S'mores to make myself sick. It should be perfect, except I really am going to have to take either Contraceptive Technology or Pharmacology (my current text books for school) to justify the night away.

We are going to Rome..

and it is going to cost less to go for a weekend in Rome on the way to Ethiopia than it cost for Ariel and I to get our six immunizations today (each). We were hoping to find tickets that allowed us to have a short layover, and today our travel agent told us she had found some for just a bit more than the straight shot was. I am trying to hold back and not use as many exclamation points in my blog writings, but this time it was hard. Anyone have any suggestions for places they loved in Rome? I understand that Rome in August is going to be very hot, and crowded with tourists and is a terrible time to visit because all the Romans are on the coast enjoying their European vacation pay - but I can't be too picky.

We have a date!

We have an official embassy interview date of August 8th. This means we will be traveling to Ethiopia (via a weekend in Rome, hopefully) and picking up the girls by August 5th and returning home August 11th!! It also means that I will be missing my friend Nar's wedding, but I think she will forgive me.

It's 90 outside!

Things I do not like to do when it is hot:

• Exercise
• Garden
• Laundry
• Cook
• Study
• Take the kids to the park (no shade!)
• Run Errands

Things I like to do when it is hot:

• Drink Root Beer Floats
• Sit in the Shade
• Nap next to a fan

Hero Worship

When I grow up I want to be Rory Stewart. I read his books, The Places in Between and Prince of the Marshes last year and was thoroughly impressed. I especially liked The Places in Between, his account of his solo walk at 27 across Afghanistan, in the winter. I didn't know much about him until I read an article about his life today.

He is just a fews years older than me, but has led the kind of lifeI have always been very envious of; an upper class Scotsman he was raised all over the globe, attended Oxford, worked for the British Foreign Service and has been employed as a writer, diplomat, tutor for British Princes, and a daring adventurer. Now he works in Kabul trying to help Afghani's restore a bit of their city and countries former architectural and cultural glory.

I have had to come to terms with the fact that I simply am never going to be a British upper class adventurer, but I can still indulge in a little wistful thinking, can't I?