Hound-Related Interlude

Since we are the midst of having no idea what is happening with our adoption, this is a post about hounds. Why not. Here, you can see Gladwyn sharing a long stick with Jim (Captain Kirk), visiting with my parents this weekend. Jim, being a pup of 7 months or so, was initially a little overwhelming even for energetic Gladwyn (herself merely 18 months), but they seem to be sorting things out well. Jim is reportedly a beagle mix, but at pretty much the same height, and with a stockier build, than Gladwyn, I am thinking bluetick coonhound, around 50 pounds so far. Who knows (Jim was taken on by my parents, who planned to find a collie again, when their neighbours decided they would not be keeping the pup, so there is little known background on the lad). Hesper is somewhere on the sidelines here. She has not quite decided to let loose with Jim, preferring at this point to bark encouragement from a safe distance while he plays. Which is a step up from putting him in his place whenever he entered her personal space zone. At least they move efficiently through the getting acquainted phase, seeing as we are only at the end of day one. We shall see if we have to go through this again when we host Jim for a weekend in about a month, and then for a while at Christmas. Anyway, time for bed. That is all the hound news for today :)

Now We Know

We have received the sad, but somewhat expected, news that we have been waiting for regarding Ghana. It does not look like Imagine will be offering this program due to a number of significant obstacles. The email from our agency is fairly detailed, but another update will be posted by the bankruptcy trustee on Monday. We have also been informed that the agency will be calling to discuss our options with us. At this point, that likely means switching to Ethiopia, or withdrawing from Imagine. But we shall see...

If there is any good for us in this right now, it is that we received the news now, rather than a few months down the road (as we did not know how long the Ghana investigation might take) when even more time had passed. However, there are families with child referrals, and I do so hope that there are ways for them to complete their adoptions.

That is all for now. Guess it is time to get out of permanent waiting mode and into thinking and planning, and as of this moment I am not quite sure where this will lead, or even where we want it to lead. We will keep you posted.

October 31 - Weighing In on the Debate

I love a costume. I love any excuse to wear one. And since I'm over the age of 5 or so, October 31 is the only chance I have to wear a costume in public during the day (yes, it's true - I always wore a costume to work, and found a reason to run an errand or two on my way home - one drawback to working from home now - at least October 31 is a Saturday in 2009)! And, I enjoy catering to the very few neighbourhood children who take the extra time to come by our very slightly off-the-path house for candy. I also like being in costume along with other people in costume...so, every year for the past many years, I've been hosting a costume party in late October. Oh, and I decorate a bit, too, pretty much because I also love a reason to accent each season with some festive notes (just a little foretaste of the much larger-scale Christmas decorating to come starting in November)! Now, growing up, Halloween was only modestly observed in our home. We were allowed to wear wholesome costumes - bunnies, ballerinas, that kind of thing - and visit the homes of known neighbours and church members in our small town. My parents handed out candy, and we always carved a pumpkin. No ghosts, witches, or horror features at our place as kids. Now, it gets a bit tricky. I don't like to focus on supernatural elements that depict demonic influence, or on grotesque elements that celebrate mayhem and destruction. However, I've always enjoyed classic gothic horror themes in literature - some of my favourite reads, like Frankenstein and Jane Eyre, include the somewhat bizarre, and sometimes macabre even as they illustrate truth - oh, and I like a little Poe now and then as well! I also like a good pirate story - so a few pirate motifs reflect that interest . For me, this season is more about dressing up and having fun with quirky decor based on my interests. I think it can certainly be tricky (no pun intended) finding a good balance. I definitely respect those who choose not to observe Halloween at all, or who keep it limited to some cute costumes for their kids. I did a search on Christians and Halloween to see what's out there. Most of what I found is written by strongly anti-Halloween folk, but the link below stood out to me. Likely because it does a very nice job of articulating my thoughts as they stand at this point in time. I like how it honestly acknowledges various roots of Halloween, yet distinguishes between those roots and culturally relevant seasonal activities for the sake of entertainment (again, using discretion, and respecting individual differences - and I may not have worded that well, as I am of the opinion that we don't "need" to take pagan holidays and turn them into our own entertainment...if I think of a better term, I'll change it). Anyway, worth a read, whether you agree or disagree. Here it is:

http://www.wcg.org/lit/church/holidays/halloween.htm

P.S. Here is an interesting Catholic perspective - I wouldn't take the same stance on everything here, but worth a look:

http://www.ancient-future.net/halloween.html

And another interesting discussion (arguing a less pagan root to Halloween) - I'm not offering any comment, just putting some varied perspectives out there...

http://blog.beliefnet.com/bibleandculture/2009/10/should-christians-celebrate-halloween.html

Yet another one - this one I like, for the same reasons I like the first link I posted - I will admit bias, because this pretty much reflects my position:

http://www.carm.org/questions/other-questions/where-did-halloween-come-can-christian-celebrate-it

Not bad either (in my opinion):

http://answers.org/holidays/halloween.html

Where Are We Going?

We still don't know. Imagine has received the Ghana report, but there has not been an announcement yet regarding the Ghana program. Without knowing what findings, conclusions, or recommendations are in the report, we are still hoping for good news. This week, waiting for information we know is coming, reminded me what it felt like through June, knowing news of the Ghana program was imminent. In many ways, it was easier to wait through July, August, September, and the first half of October, after the agency collapse, knowing that news was a long way off.

We have tried to resurrect some sense of forward movement, and attended the first meeting of a local satellite group for transracial adoptive families. We enjoyed the people there, and plan to continue attending. We have also set up the nursery again this week, after using the space for storage since last winter as we worked on flooring and trim throughout the upstairs. It is SO nice to have our upstairs rooms in order again. What a relief!

As usual, fall is catching up with me. This is the point at which I invariably realize that Christmas is much closer than I imagined, and that I am once again a little behind schedule. Although I do have my cards pretty much done, other than address labels. And with the house shaping up again, I should be able to start decorating the first week of November. Before putting up Christmas trees, however, I should likely empty and store my garden pots and planters and things. That will be near the top of the agenda for the coming week...at least we are all ready for trick-or-treaters next Saturday!

Coming This Week???

The lawyer working on the Canada-Ghana adoption situation has submitted his report to our agency. Apparently we may hear something early this week regarding the status of the Ghana program. Hoping...