For some reason a few days ago, I was reminded of a pillow I made for Amy for a Christmas present in 1998. She would have been almost 11 years old. Considering the fact that she never, ever participated in Christmas or birthday celebrations, at least not until we absolutely forced the issue, I know my enthusiasm for giving her anything at all was waning, much less to consider making something. I used to sew for my kids all the time, before ADN took over my life.

When she packed up her 11 garbage bags of stuff and moved out a couple... more

I received a phone call from Amy today! “Hi Mom!” It took me by surprise, to say the least. At least she started with a greeting… When Tommy calls, he starts with, “Does a yellow shirt match blue pants???” That was the actual beginning of a phone call from Tommy not long ago.

Anyway, apparently Amy is making dinner for her “host” family tonight. And she is making Potato Chip Chicken, a family favorite. She wanted to know how long to bake it and what temperature to set the oven. I’m quite glad she is preparing dinner for them.... more

I’m dead tired tonight after another long, non-stop day. Julie, our foreign exchange student, is doing a PowerPoint presentation at school tomorrow, “All about me”. Beth needed pictures of scenes for something she is doing at school. So I scanned postcards of China and scooted over to the drug store to run prints, and then scanned pictures of Julie for her to use in her presentation as well. Beth rode her pony after school; I grabbed a few groceries, dealt with housepainters and discussed lightening up the paint going on the... more

Not only did I have a chance to meet good friends while I was traipsing all over Illinois with my family, but I also saw my cousin Trina and her brand new baby boy. We piled Trina and her two sons into our car and headed out for lunch yesterday.

Trina’s two-week-old son started fussing very soon after being strapped into his car seat and loaded into our car. The cry of a newborn, angry baby is a cry one doesn’t forget. He was very angry, and he wanted what he wanted when he wanted it! And of course, Trina couldn’t do much for him while he... more

Although I am still very much processing the events of the day (which I am detailing in my Adopting a Sibling blog), I thought it was about time I provided an Amy update.

My husband co-signed an apartment lease today, although he paid six months worth of rent (using money she has earned this past few years) in advance. She is supposed to save an additional six months worth of rent. We are still potentially liable if she trashes the place (above and beyond her deposit) or someone gets hurt due to her negligence, but the financial lease obligations end in six months.

For the past almost two weeks Amy has been living with a friend.... more

This morning I presented a workshop at the local Juvenile Justice office. There were not too many folks there, and it was difficult to gauge their reaction to the material I shared. However, I have long since learned one never knows when a seed planted will bear fruit. If just one family… probably an adoptive family…finds their child in the custody of one of the folks who attended today, maybe that adoptive family will receive support or services they might not have had access to before today.

Today’s attendees... more

After determining what classes Julie would like to take, the counselor and Julie disappeared into the building a couple of times… once to voice-test Julie for choir placement, and once to find her classrooms and her locker. When they returned, I asked the counselor if I could take pseudo-senior pictures of Julie for inclusion in the yearbook, since she had missed the summer senior portrait opportunity. To demonstrate my photographic capabilities, I pulled out my Palm Pilot and showed the counselor the pictures I had taken of... more

I mentioned how grateful I was that the mom who was providing a place for Amy to stay Sunday night seemed nonjudgmental about the situation. It made a difficult situation a little bit better.

However, I was wondering what kind of reception I would receive at the high school when I arrived to enroll our foreign exchange student. Apparently prior to investing any effort into finding a place to live, Amy decided to visit the high school and discuss her plans to graduate. (Just to recap… she lacks 1.5 credits to graduate. She completed about 60% of one online course and she has until mid-September to finish it. She would then require one full credit hour of English.) It is my... more

Amy loaded her worldly belongings in her friend’s van about one hour before my husband, Beth and I left to go to the airport to pick up our arriving foreign exchange student. The timing was a bit weird, sort of planned and sort of not…

Once we realized in June that Amy was not going to finish high school by August, and therefore not enter the Navy, we gave her a two month period in which to execute her departure. This past weekend was chosen because we wanted the drama completed by the time Stephanie left for college and our foreign... more

The caveat to Amy confirming the acquisition of this apartment is that she must get a letter from her fast-food employer stating she will be working full time and what she will be getting paid. Because she won’t start this position until September, and probably because she didn’t tell the manager what she really needed from him, she has not acquired this letter as she promised her dad she would.

Tomorrow when she is asked to leave this first night’s respite, she is planning on showing up at school and informing one of last semester’s teachers... more