I have never seen a lunar eclipse. I don’t know why, but, here is my first photo of this amazing celestial cycle.

Grocery shopping is so hard and simply overwhelming for me. I have no idea why something that seems SO SIMPLE for others is overwhelming for me. It could be my MASSIVE inability to make so many decisions in such a small time period.

The JUNK that are main ingredients in food just sickens me. The video that was released that prompted the largest recall of beef in US history makes me  want to become a vegetarian.

I started paying attention to the ingredients closely when Andrew had a reverse reaction to cold medicine. He became this wild child almost immediately. It was the OPPOSITE affect. The 3rd ingredient listed was red dye. I researched it and found out that his sensitivity to red dye could be related to sensitivity to other preservatives and additives in foods. So, the only option I have is reading ALL LABELS! Do you know HOW LONG it takes/?????  A LONG TIME….I feel like I am walking down the aisle and getting food that is less healthy for you than McDonald’s!

Did you know that the SAME manufacturer’s make organic food as regular food? This is what I suspect: Given that organic food is DOUBLE the cost, no kidding DOUBLE…they make the regular food crappy enough so that you don’t even WANT to eat it….then, they take out one or two ingredients and call it organic….AND THEY MAKE MORE MONEY! Ok, maybe I am a little over the top, but after a $300.00 grocery bill today (we really had no groceries in the house) I was a little annoyed!

The Ukrainian Embassy in New York called today and they are going to issue a letter of certification that I was single when I adopted Andrew!!! So, that is half the battle. Then….the Republic of Georgia embassy called and said that they had sent the items over to the court house. I called the court, they said that nothing came….so, not sure where that is…..but I will follow up tomorrow.

My vote for one of the coolest sites ever is MealsMatter.com You can make shopping lists from recipies that you choose. Simply put, WAY COOL.

I made lasagna for dinner and the boys decided that cereal was what they REALLY wanted for dinner. I was so tired by that point that I just gave in…..sound horrible, cereal for dinner….but, they were happy, I was happy….it can’t be THAT bad.

I am hoping that tomorrow brings good news about the adoption finalization, keep your fingers crossed

Anne

So, yesterday we showed the house and they called tonight and are going to RENT IT !!!

This photo of Andrew and Adam was taken when Adam was just taking his first steps and Andrew was almost 3. Their love has only grown stronger. I thank God that some how, some way, in a magical way, we all found each other….4 countries, 4 lives, 1 family.

Today we received the response to our petition to adopt the boys together and it was denied based upon the fact that they have a father’s name on the birth certificate. When the judge talked to a US State official, they both decided together that our adoption was not processed properly, and that there was a possibility that my adoption could have been issued for myself AND the fictitious father!!!!!!! This US State Official is so beyond out of line it is not even FUNNY!~ She had NO jurisdiction to even COMMENT on the finality of my ENTIRE adoption case and the judge was not given permission to talk to her about ANYTHING other than the name being on the birth certificate. So, now, the judge is saying we have to get the ORIGINAL forms that we filed for the visa’s to be issued, even though we have the ORIGINAL acceptance letters that STATE that we are not married!!!

I so sickened by this entire thing, I can’t even speak about it without crying or screaming. How can this shit be happening in America????? How can one hand not talk to the other when it is something SO IMPORTANT!

I contacted 4 “international adoption attorneys”  here in NH and have YET to find anyone that even KNOWS about single adoption internationally, ….and if it was done independently, like we did,…without an agency….forget about it……..they are beyond clueless.

I am going to try and let this go for the night and just chill out…..I hope I can before I have a nervous break down about it.

We worked on cleaning out the garage today……….between showing the house to a family that DROVE BY! The house was as usual, a mess, but, nonetheless, we showed it. I am not sure if they liked it or not, but they came back to show the husband….so, we shall see..

WE GOT RID OF THE PIANO!! YIPEE!!!!! Of course it is a strange story to go with it! The other night I was working on pulling off all the baseboards and scrubbing them and I had to pull out the piano from the wall. I noticed that the piano was FULL OF MOUNDS of dust, so I decided to tackle that tooo…..so………when this pizza person delivered pizza, the piano was basically in front of the entry way door and looked very ODD! I asked her, jokingly,  if she wanted a piano as payment for pizza and she said YES!! …(I had to pay for the pizza)….but, come to find out she is a piano teacher and one of her students could use it!! How neat is that??? SO, she came today and picked it up with a TON of guys to help her!

Anyway, long day and I am more anxious than ever about this adoption! To top it all off….MONDAY IS A HOLIDAY!! So, I can’t work on it until TUESDAY!

 If you know anyone that wants to rent a house, 3br, new bonus room, dead end street, and awesome landlords, let me know!

Anne

♥ So, on the day that we get married and during ALL of the paperwork to get the boys re-adopted by US, their same-sex parents…..this is what happens…..I think it is just amazingly neat……..

2008-02-15 US Senate unanimously passes Resolution #439 supporting Georgia’s and Ukraine’s entry into NATO’s Membership Action Plan Embassy of Georgia in the USA, Canada and Mexico   Press Release    US Senate unanimously passes Resolution #439 supporting Georgia’s and Ukraine’s entry into NATO’s Membership Action Plan   On February 14, 2008 the United States Senate unanimously passed Resolution 439 that gives voice to overwhelming Senate support urging NATO to grant Georgia and Ukraine admittance into NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP).   The Resolution, titled Expressing the Strong support of the Senate for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to enter into a Membership Action Plan with Georgia and Ukraine notes that “Georgia and Ukraine are strong allies that have made important progress in the areas of defense, democratic and human rights reform; a stronger, deeper relationship among the Government of Georgia, the Government of Ukraine and NATO will be mutually beneficial to those countries and to NATO member States; and  the United States should take the lead in supporting the awarding of a Membership Action Plan to Georgia and Ukraine as soon as possible.”

I have been trying since MONDAY to get in touch with the Ukrainian Embassy in New York and Republic of Georgia Embassy in DC. I tried to get United States adoption officials to give me the documents that I need for the finalization of the adoption, but all fingers point to the embassies directly….no US official is willing to “comment on foreign law”. anyway….I have been calling the embassies every day this week, several times a day. The phones have either been busy or I get pushed to a voice mail box that can not take messages because it is so full…”i wonder why”……hmmm…

So, today, I started out EARLY and called at 9am! THEY ANSWERED THE PHONE!! EACH OF THE EMBASSIES!! and get this……..THEY ARE GOING TO WRITE THE LETTERS of certification that I need! HOW CRAZY IS THAT???? I found the  people to give me the documents that are 100% necessary for this adoption to be completed! So, that led to a fantastic day of non-worry bliss.

Claire, on the other hand, was a WRECK. She got news that her background 100% checked out and we were “clear for take off”…..The mobility team (the relocation team that PWC contracts) came back with a lower quote…so, everything sort of fell in place all in one day.  It hit her ALL at once and she was pretty much silent for the rest of the day. She deals with things in a muted manner….I deal with things in a yell, scream, holler, and cray manner….we are SO DIFFERNT..it is unreal sometimes. Her lack of words is alarming to me, but, I am trying with every inch of my being to give her the space that she needs to comprehend the changes about to happen. She has lived in 03102 for 42 years…there are so many feelings, so many worries….I hope I can be all that I need to be for her to cope with all of this. I hope we are making the right choice.
Sometimes I feel like life is a sidewalk. There are all types of cement. Cement that is perfectly smooth and even in color, cement that is bumpy, some with rocks, some with rounded corners, some molded to be perfectly perfect…. As we travel down this path of life, our long sidewalk may be harder to walk just because of of the type of cement that was poured…but, we deal with it…and walk on. Some types of cement are bright white and maintain their color and newness for a long time, but, sometimes, the cement was not given the proper care when it was poured and sometimes not allowed to dry fully….pounding on it, and walking on it….without it being fully ready to take the weight of the world yet. Some cement ages and becomes more beautiful. The cracks allow beautiful moss to fill in the gaps, allowing for a path to walk on and natural turns at once. If something really horrible happens, under tremendous pressure cement can crack and brittle and the repair is virtually impossible. You can try to set it back in place, but, if the pressure was so immense, the foundation and stability is lost forever. I hope that our base, our foundation, and our structure will be strong enough to endure these coming months. I hope the gaps that are exposed because of sadness or loneliness can be filled in with beauty and companionship. I think knowing that you are walking on the path and protecting the path is the key to preserving your path. We are just starting to build the structure for Andrew and Adam’s foundation. Their cement has not started to harden, so we must be very careful not disturb it. Sort of like protecting hardening pudding with saran wrap on the bottom shelf of the full refrigerator….just a risk.

Enough of my cement and pudding talk…..

Today we worked on the living room and entry way getting it ready for potential renters. I have to photograph it, so it needs to look good. A friend that was over today noticed how DIFFERENTLY that Claire and I deal with cleaning, particularly, the priority of what gets done first. I 100% forgot to tell ANYONE that my goal was to be able to photograph the living room and entry way……..therefore, Claire’s attempts to de-clutter rooms that were NOT the living room and entry way just annoyed me to NO END…….and  was a lunatic. My fault 1 MILLION PERCENT!  I apologized, but, stinks that I forget that everyone can not read my mind.

My success of the day was FINALLY getting our printer that is located on the other side of the room to work with blue-tooth. Not having  all the cords running back and forth is AWESOME!  The little gadget I got to do this we purchased about 2  years ago (no kidding)…but, I just got it to work…yeah, I am a little slow

The boys got their passport photos take today. We have an appointment for Feb 22nd at noon in Boston to get the boys an expedited passport. ….it will be 100% dependant upon the info from  each of the embassays’ getting to the court, the adoption decree being issued, the vital statistics form forwarded to vital statistics, vital statistics processing the form and issuing a birth record, AND THEN>>>>>>>> the city of Manchester clerk’s office issuing the ACTUAL birth certificate!! So….we shall see. ALL OF THIS….before Friday at noon….and Monday is a HOLIDAY! hmmmmmm…..have I set us up for failure? um, maybe….but, heck………I like a challenge, right?????

 Until next time,

Anne

Ok. My day…simply an out of body experience!

7:15 am - Wake up to the sounds of the boys arguing

7:30 am - Start the “get dressed…get dressed….get dressed” campaign

7:35 am - Contractors show up to complete the upstairs construction - today the are installing the oak treads on the stairs - exciting!

7:40 am - Start the “eat your breakfast….eat your breakfast” campaign

7:41 am - Sit down and eat mini wheats with the boys.

7:45 am  - Put Andrew in time out for continuing to bully Adam (I do NOT like starting the day off with time outs!)

7:50 am - Restart the “eat your breakfast” campaign with Andrew

7:55 am - Shower and get dressed

8:15 am - Check email and start the “get on your boots” campaign

8:25 am - Leave to drop off kids a the school

8:30 am - Come back to get my ID

8:37 am - Arrive at the school late with the boys

8:40 am - 8:50 am - Claire and I talk with our friend Casey at the school. New friend, seems like a old friend….love that.

8:50 am - 9:10 am - Sit in Duncan Donuts parking lot waiting for Claire to get coffee and then Claire tries to get out of the parking lot….the WRONG way….interesting…..

9:10 am - Start driving to Pepperell, Massachusetts

9:20 am - Claire decided she wants me to spend the day with her, so we ask Holly to pick up Adam from Kindergarten and Andrew from school.

9: 30 am - 9:45am Arrive at the city clerk’s office in Pepperell, Mass and get MARRIED

9:45 am - 10:00 am - Wait in town clerk’s office for Massachusetts Marriage Certificate!

10:10 am - 10:20am - Program new GPS to navigate to Claire’s work

10:30 - 11:00 am - Drive to Claire’s work in Billerica, Massachusetts

11: 00 am - Go into Claire’s office at Bruker….meet her co-worker….in the middle of meeting her, we get a phone call from the US State Department Adoption Unit.

11:10 - 11:45 am - Have a HORRIFFIC phone call with the most unknowledgable, ignorant, unworthy person on the face of the earth! This person told us that we needed to HIRE attorneys IN UKRAINE and  IN the REPUBLIC OF GEORIGIA to prove to the judge in New HAMPSHIRE that the polymatronic name on our children’s Russian decent birth certificates are due to country, SHE REFUSED TO TELL OUR JUDGE THAT THIS WAS THE COUNTRY’S LAW!! HER JOB IS THE INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION UNIT COORDINATOR FOR THE US STATE DEPARMENT!! Simply put, I LOST MY MIND!!!!!! Claire basically kicked me out of her office with a debit card and 200 bucks cash and told me to go and shop! Not a bad ending I guess.

12:00 am - I leave Bruker alone and head for Burlington Mall

12:10 pm - I call Claire to apologize for yelling

12:15 pm - I call the court house to find out what the judge is asking for now. I found out that she is not in Hillsborough county for the day and unreachable…lovely

12:20 - 1:35 pm - Go shopping for clothing for MYSELF at Catherines….and find out that I DROPPED DOWN A SIZE!! The realization of this is SO HUGE for me! It has been at least 10 years since I was back down to a 4x. 4x is really really huge for most people, well, everyone…except me. 4x was a goal for me that I attained…and I am SO PROUD OF. It means that I can wear a brand that I LOVE “Liz & Me” which is Liz Claiborne for plus sizes. I bought BRIGHT colors and coordinated sets. I am THRILLED and ELATED that I am NOW a 4x!! 

1:45 Go back to Claire’s office and sit in the parking lot and talk with my friend Leslie on the cell phone while waiting for Claire

2:00 -3:00 Eat lunch with Claire at the yummiest Italian place on earth

3:00 pm Realize that I do not have the name of the place we are supposed to go to for Claire’s valentine day surprise…..and have no way of getting it because I do not have a computer with me

3:15 pm Have to tell Claire what her surprise is, so she can help me brainstorm a solution of finding out this place’s name

3:30 Drive back to Claire’s office to use her computer…I figured out how to contact the place, and we let them know we are on our way.

3:45  - 4:05 pm. Drive to Nashua, NH

4:15 - 6:00 pm Have a COUPLES MASSAGE!!! Side by side, Claire and I go massages by two different massage therapists! It was amazing and so relaxing!

6:20 - 6:35 Drive back t Manchester, NH. Decide to go out to dinner, but head to Walmart first to get the boys a Valentine’s day treat

6:40 - 7:50 pm - Stand in Walmart talking to friends that we have not seen in a long time. We laughed, cried, and simply enjoyed each other’s company…I love when this happens

7:50 pm - RUN out of walmart with valentine hearts in bags…and head to the Munt’s to get the boys.

8:00 pm - Arrive at the Munt’s to find out that they were happy and both playing sweetly with Abby and Maddie.

8:30 pm - Come home - both boys have melt downs because they are exhausted and have not seen us all day long

9:00 pm Claire heads out to put out the 14 bags of garbage for the trash men tomorrow morning.  Her arm hurts from her massage, so now she is icing it.

10:00 pm: Play Brain Age on the boys’ Nintendo DS, my brain is the age of a 55 year old….great……my brain is dying too!! NOT what I wanted to hear!!

OK………so, now I am here, it is 10:30pm. That was a HUGE HUGE HUGE day. My desk is a mess, I have a bunch of video I want to upload and photos I want to upload. Today was a day for the memory books….life….it is a joy, challenge, and a gift all at once.

Anne

So, we were blessed with a court date for the boys’ adoption….sort of. The court date was issued for the determination of the children’s FATHER on the birth certificate. In Ukraine and Republic of Georgia there is a law that REQUIRES any person who is adopting as a single person, to list a father on the birth certificate.  We each adopted as SINGLE people. Our home-study were each done as single people, all the fingerprinting, background info, and the INS and citizenship in the USA was authorized and approved as a SINGLE adoption. ….even though the birth certificate from the original adoptions, done in Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia, were shown with a father’s name.

The fact that we had to list a father was just “something you have to do”. Honestly, I NEVER realized it would cause such a problem, or I would have raised a stink about it when it was happening.  So, now, we are trying to re-adopt and the first step is the finalization of the foreign born child’s adoption. The judge is 100% a stickler for every law that was ever written….and that is precisely the reason that Hillsborough County is the ONLY county in NH that has NEVER granted a same-sex adoption. The fact that we are lesbians adopting is the UN-issue. …thank goodness……but, this issue of “The Rights of the Father” is unreal. We used our first initials combined as the first name of the “father”. In the adoption decree FROM UKRAINE it actually states that any unmarried person must list a father’s name “as the mother wishes”. It also states that there is a law that supports this practice.

We went to court WITH the boys and presented copies of all the Georgian laws and Ukrainian laws. The judge DID NOT accept them as enough proof. She wants a person from the US Government or US State Department to issue a statement that our documents, as she states “lean toward fraudulent”. I am appalled that anyone, particularly, a judge, would suggest that our adoptions were anything but legal, approved, and valid.

So, I tried to do what the judge asked. I stayed up until 3am and called the US Embassy in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine….and got NO WHERE! They refused to issue a statement that the country requires a father’s name on the birth certificate for a single adoption. So….I went to bed for 3 hours and got up again to call the US State Department in Washington, DC and asked for the same thing…again….Just someone, some where, that KNOWS the laws in Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia….to tell this judge that a father MUST be on the birth certificate. NO ONE WILL!!

SOOOO….now, the judge is asking for the ORIGINAL application for the I-600 form, the one that we filled out to get the approval for the adoption! We do not have the original! It is in a SEALED envelope that you must give to the embassy!!! They don’t give them back!

SO, what now??

Officially, we are supposed to be in Calgary in 19 days. We have to have the boys’ US Passports issued, rent our house, get my visa, and move, ….in 19 days! what do you think the likelihood of that happening is? um, I am thinking NOT.

The relocation is sort of at a stand still again. The relocation company required us to get 3 moving quotes on our own…then, after a LOT of time, they told us that they wanted to do their own quote. They came in, and gave us a quote that was a LOT more than the quotes we got. So…..what their solution was…..to take away ALL of our other allowances to pay for the difference!! UM>>>>>NOPE……not going to happen.

So, the idea of just leveling out after the holidays and wedding…well, has not happened yet! But, the upstairs is coming along SO BEAUTIFULLY! The floor is down, and all the trim work! The stairs are going in tomorrow! 

Accomplishment of the Week: 20 HUGE Contractor bags of stuff out of our house!!! PURGE PURGE PURGE! LOVE IT!

Anne

My friend Lisa was horrified at the fact I was going to throw out good items that “someone” in the world could use. We just HAVE to clean out the basement and house before the move…..and my brain just can’t handle ALL of these decisions! But, after the “keep or get rid of” decision….I made ANOTHER decision…..throw away or give away. This is a HARD thing for me….and it gets in the way of my progress! but…..when we filled about 7 HUGE HUGE contractor bags (double the regualar outdoor garbage bags) with items for goodwill, I realized that our excessive life may actually help some little person …somewhere……so, she was right….it is still hard though.

The tooth fairy came to take away Andrew’s very first tooth! She left 6 tickets for the Hannah Montana 3-D Movie. Andrew and Adam’s friends just HAPPEN to be at our house for the weekend to let their parents have some time away….so, ALL 6 of us headed over to the pre-teen filled movie complex on Saturday night.  The children were given ADULT sized 3-D glasses that did not even REMOTELY fit their heads….Andrew figured out a solution….he put on his WINTER hat and settle into a full dose of Hanna Montana and the Jonus Brothers.  It may be silly, but, a tear came to my eye. They were in COMPLETE bliss and surrounded by the music they love, family that loves them, and very sweet friends. I love nights like this.

Andrew is home sick today.

We found a house that we LOVE, but, it may be a bit too pricey for us as we transition into a higher cost of living in Canada. We will see…there are a TON of houses coming on the market, so I will keep my eye out to see if I can get something similar and less rent.

We have appointments for February 7th to get the boys US Passports.

We got news back from the court about the boys’ adoption. They want a HEARING to have the “father” ( in Ukriane and the Republic of Georgia you have to list father’s name on the birth certificate.  We used variations of our own names combined for the name. ) The hearing is scheduled for March 19th…we are supposed to be Canada on March 3rd…..that is a problem. SO, I will requst a sooner date. I am not sure we will be able to get it. Either way, we are going to proceed with their immigration as un-re-adopted US Citizens…..because it is just LESS HASSLE. A person from from the Ukrainian Adoption family groupI am a member of told me that adopting them in Canada is MUCH MUCH less difficult…imagine that

I am off to cuddle a little boy with a fever

Anne