5 months waiting

When I originally started this process, I believed I would have a referral between now and July. Things have changed, the Ethiopian courts have slowed down, how CHS moves families through the process has changed. It's not a huge deal in the long run, just difficult being patient and waiting for something that I have wanted all of my life. But, isn't it SO American to want everything RIGHT NOW! Since waiting, I haven't had any vacations. No extra days off work. I am looking forward to our families' week vacation at the lake in July. I am so used to planning my next trip, it is a bit depressing to not be planning ANY trip. I have more than enough miles to get me anywhere in the world and back, but no vacation time in which to use those miles. Well, truly, I do have LOTS of vacation time... I'm just saving it for my FLOA. I would like to have income for those 3 months that I won't be working. How excited am I about having 3 months in a row off!!! I think, in the past 19 years, the most time I have had off of work is the 5 weeks I spent in Australia the first time. That was a great trip! Anyway, yes, I am still waiting. CHS's estimate is 2-4 months until referral. My estimate is 4-7 months, most likely 6 months from now. Some days I say, "how can I stand it???". Other days I just say, "it's out of my hands; enjoy the wait". Yes, I have started to buy baby girls clothes. No, I don't have a choice between boy/girl, but hope for a girl. I'm mostly buying garage sale clothes, so will donate the girly items if it's a boy. I'm also looking at taking a long weekend to do a women's camp at the Y camp by Ely. I haven't been to that part of the BWCA and would also like to see the Wolf sanctuary there. It is a weekend full of outdoors paddling and hiking, indoors yoga and reading. But, I would probably use 1-2 PTO days (sigh..). At work, our new imaging center is open. I will hopefully be caring for the first couple of patients. I'm excited. Just a little something different to do at work (who says you can't teach an old nurse new tricks???). I'm also looking at buying a share in a local CSA (community supported agriculture). I found a farm that actually sells single shares, and not just a family of 4 size share. The good things about it are that I would have access to great produce, be supporting a local farm. The negative would be that I would need to drive out to the farm once/week to pick up my veggies.

I know I haven't posted much the past few months. Sorry for such a boring blog! No pictures, no good stories;(. I should be sharing all of the great info I am gathering about Ethiopia and its culture. If you are interested, check out "A Walk to Beautiful", a documentary about fistulas in Ethiopian women that was aired on public tv. Here is a link to watch it online:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/beautiful/program.html