Take the scenic route

It's been a long week. Worked extra hours to meet a deadline on a big project. Full-on thinking all day at work every day. Pretty intense. Couldn't ride my bike because of rainrainrain and needing to shuttle papers here and there for signatures trying to wrap up the homestudy. We are almost there! I did get to ride today - it was glorious. The sides of the rail trail were bursting with wildflowers because no-one has been able to mow with all the rain.

It's July and I miss dancing myself to exhaustion at music festivals. I did get to one with my girls, and it was fun to watch them totally enjoy being social. But, I didn't get to dance a whole lot. I was going to go to Thomas to dance tonight, but no-one responded to my invitation to go along, and I decided not to spend the gas money and time to drive somewhere to dance alone. Though, remember, one time I did that I met my husband. I wonder if tonight I was going to meet a soulmate friend. Have I messed it up by not heeding the call of the accordion?

Did I mention the homestudy is ALMOST done?!?!!????

Now, we get to gather documents for the dossier and get them certified by our secretary of state. I think then they have to get certified by other people at higher levels before they get sent to Ethiopia. Oh yeah, and there is the waiting to do. Waiting for visas, waiting for translation, waiting for a court date. But plenty to do while we are waiting: learn Amharic, find a translator, get our shots for travel, remodel the house, get the photobooks up to date, make room for the kids. I had a flood in my house and a root canal two weeks ago and I am still cleaning up from that. The flood, that is. My awesome dental care team took care of the tooth and saved my gold crown in a very timely fashion.

In the middle of my ride this morning, I was trying to decide whether to turn off the rail trail to try to get to work a little faster. I remembered someone's advice to me to always take time in some way each day to take the scenic route. It dawned on me that it didn't really matter what path you take, it is all scenic if you just wake up to the scene around you. In West Virginia, it is hard to go anywhere without experiencing the beauty of trees and hills. It is truly wild and wonderful. But even if you are walking through a place of destitution, you can wake up to the scene around you and be present in it. You can smile at other people and wish them well, even if in silence. This IS the scenic route, people!

Happy IndepenDANCE Day!

Oh no! I totally missed the entire month of June!

Well, actually, I didn't miss it. I lived it full and well. Just didn't write about it. Here's a quick summary:
---Worked my scientist buttocks off, as usual.
---Rode my bike 216 miles to and from work between June 10 and July 3.
---Made up five or six songs while riding bike.
---Got re-fingerprinted THREE times... one each for the three different agencies checking out my background.
---Filled out more papers and sent them to our agency.
---Joined up with others at Jones to start preparing for Vacation Bible School because I couldn't resist the Beach Party theme.
---Visited the fam in PA to celebrate T's graduation.
---Bought J a new bike.
---Attended Z and J's wedding and signed the license.... and was on the tent crew!!! Me Jane, me STRONG.
---Prayed every day for the three children in Ethiopia that Laird and I hope to parent. They have been waiting over a year for a family, and we are trying very hard to get all the p's and q's in place so someone can hand them a picture of us and tell them that we are coming to get them soon. We have many hurdles to leap between now and then. Please hope (and pray) with us.

Oh yes... we signed with a realtor to sell the lot. Please spread the word. We need to sell the lot to avoid getting loans for the adoption fees.

This morning, as I drove with my toothache towards Thomas to spend the 4th weekend with my honey, I listened to news of Jesse Helms death and Bush speaking at Monticello to new citizens and people protesting the war. An orchestra played the Star-Spangled Banner while rolling by my windows were gorgeous misty mountains and meadows and farmland and flowers and trees and wind turbines and forest. We have all kinds of people here, don't we? What a country.



Add to my list: Bought a Banjo! Wooooo hooooooo..... it's not here yet, but I am looking forward to learning how to play Cluck Old Hen. And the Boll Weevil song. And The Roving Gambler (Raging Acorns version). And that song I heard while driving through Mon Forest written by Phillip Bimstein who was inspired by Zion National Park. When President Harding Came to Zion. Recorded by Red Rock Rondo. "300 acres I nursed all my life. Why can't they let me live here 'til I die, 'til I die?"

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