Gerber Daisy Update

In case you weren’t around on March 9th, the day of the demise of the hot pink Gerber daisy, please go back and read that blog.  Today, March 28th…. I am STILL patiently awaiting the second bloom on the hot pink Gerber daisy plant.   In the past 19 days, it has come this far:

I predict another two weeks.  These flowers are the S L O W E S T…. ever!  But do not be dismayed.  Here is what else is blooming in the backyard at present:

Bougainvillea!  The lame gardener’s sure bet in the desert.  You can hardly kill these vines!  They provide such a delicious burst of color on the block wall.  Phoenicians have taken fences to a new level…. six foot block walls around every blinkin’ yard in new housing developments.   It’s quite private, but ugly without flowers.  And the next flower is nameless…. at least in my head at this moment.  Mom?

And I saved the best for last.  We planted sunflowers!  I love their sunny faces!  We planted them in a huge pot, and with Murphy’s Law, they opened facing the wall and not the house.  So I had to go turn the massive pot…. almost pulled something in my back.  Good grief.  Only one is blooming but there are six more to follow.  They are so happy!

Enjoy the lovely weather!

November 3rd has Come and Gone {sigh}

If you have followed our eternal adoption saga, you know that I’m a tad sad today.  November 3rd is the last day of the year 2009 that a referral call can be received from Bogota… and your child can be home by Christmas.  Our call did not come today.  This will be Christmas #3 without our baby girl looking wide-eyed at her first glistening Christmas tree, or having a family to gather with and sing carols in a strange language, or making Sugar cookies in the shapes of stars, candy canes and snowmen with sprinkles.  I don’t know if I can stand to put the baby ornaments on the tree this year.

When I think of the life Zaza is most likely living right now… down in Colombia… it makes my heart sad.  We pray for her every single day to be cared for, warm, fed and loved.  I know it will be the shock of her life to leave all that is familiar to her… food, weather, friends, home, caretakers, clothes, smells, Spanish, songs and games.  I’m glad that we stay in Colombia for a month to get used to each other in her surroundings.  But I honestly cannot wait to shower her in love and kisses.  To bring her to her own home and show Zaza her darling yellow room with the purple bed.  Her very own room!  With butterflies, dragonflies, flowers and the sun painted in bright colors and glitter dancing around the tops of her walls.  Her own curvy mirror to look in, comb her black hair that is just like her daddy’s and admire her beautiful clothes.  I can’t wait to hear squealing in our home again, high-pitched laughter and giggling.  We haven’t had princess tea parties in many years around here.  And dancing.  Yes, we will dance with Zaza.

We started a unit with the boys today on patience and plant growth.  As I read the definition “patience is waiting without complaining” I realized why God planned for us to start the unit today… Nov. 3rd.   I plan my homeschool year in early June, when I wasn’t aware of the Nov. 3rd cut off date.  And of course it would be patience out of all the character traits that it could be.  HE knew!  So we planted grass and flowers and herbs and vegetables today.  Of course I thought of doing all this with Zaza by my side making a mess next year.  I pray she loves gardening even half as much as I do.  We’ll have great fun together with the dirt, water, seeds and rocks.  I’ve been eyeing the little gardening gloves, rubber boots and color coordinated kid-sized garden tools at JoAnns.  I LOVE those!  A must have.

The courts in Bogota are closed from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15th, so there will be no action at all until after that. {sigh} The good news of Nov. 3rd being over is that the holidays are spent focussing on the family that is here, the few years we have left together, and making memories that will last. 

I read the book A Seed is a Promise today…. and it is, whether it is an actual plant seed, or the seed of a child born in your heart.  It is a promise.  A promise that will come true… if we have patience (and wait without complaining!)

Patience is a V-v-v-virtue

My patience has been tried and tested many times throughout the years, especially when I met and fell in love with my husband.  He’s on his own clock (Indian time) and it runs about 5 seconds slower than mine.  With 22 years of marriage I have slowed down and he has sped up… but never will we be on the same time frame.  Just when I thought I was done getting my patience tested with my dear husband, our dear son Keeve was born.  He is even slower than Rick…. but like his father, worth waiting for.  For goodness sakes, the kid used to take a breath in the middle of “O  –  K!”  What in the world?  Just when I thought I was done getting my patience tested with my dear son, we took a road trip to Lake Tahoe from Phoenix, AZ., a 771.3 mile trek.  Can I just say that I LOATHE road construction! 

Getting out of town was like pulling a jack rabbit’s teeth.  First a stop for a necessary book  from the Christian book store for a reading assignment for son #1.  Then a necessary stop at Old Navy because their flip-flops are two-for-$5 for our daughter. Then came a necessary stop at Costco for gas.  Then a dark parking lot stop for a quick change of clothing for moi.  THEN Rick decided he needed his back-up driver to take over.  Sheesh.  We weren’t 12 miles from home, after 72 minutes, making our first driver switch.

It should have been a large red flag to me that road construction signs started in Phoenix.  They continued ALL the way to the cabin.  Seriously, June 10-17 is road construction week across I-10 and up the 395 in California.  There were miles to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep (take me back to high school poetry with Mrs. Clark) where one lane of the two lanes was blocked with cones…. for no apparent reason.  There was one particular 12 mile stretch where I was the third car behind the little old balding man, Mr. Fudd,  in his pristine butterscotch pudding colored 1972 Toyota Corolla who was out for his 40 MPH Tuesday stroll on the 75 MPH highway.

“Am I not being a patient person?” I started pondering.  “Am I supposed to be learning a lesson here at 40 MPH on Hwy 395?”  Considering that we just passed TWO years, SIX months, THREE weeks and TWO days of waiting for our little daughter from Colombia, I assumed I was a patient person.  However, Mr. Fudd brought out the worst in me.  I never said anything out loud.  OK, that was a lie.  I spewed a few turtle, molasses, snail and growing grass comments under my breath.

Tonight as I pray for the 3, 857th time for my son’s spouse, I will add an extra emphasis on her virtue of patience.  She will need it her whole married life, as I’m finding out I do.