Scooter’s Happy Birthday

Wednesday, April 30

Last Sunday was Scooter’s birthday. He is fourteen years old and acts like he’s a kitten. He is Lola’s boyfriend and the welcome wagon when the ladies come over for Bible Study on Wednesday nights. He’s been a part of my life for ten years. There is not enough I can say about how much Lola and I love Scooter. He’s a comedian, a stoic and a glutton all in one. He’s a good listener, a warm fuzzy pillow and gives great massages. He adores Lola and keeps an eye on his best cat buddy Boo Boo to make sure Boo is comfy and receives a fairly basic ear and face grooming every now and then.

Scooter is a scaredy-cat when it comes to loud noises, thunderstorms and things that go bump in the night. He loves to explore, loves to play and loves to eat.

For his birthday, Scooter got a can of soft cat food. He enjoyed it VERY much. We also found his leash and harness (which I had tried to use on him many years ago to take him for walks outside, but once the harness was on, he would lay down and refuse to move. The cat I had a few years previous to Scooter was happy to have a leash and harness and went for walks every day. I had hoped Scooter would have the same desire, but apparently not) and Lola insisted that we try it to see if Scooter would like it now. We put it on him and carried all 20+ pounds of him outside and put him on the ground. He flopped over on his side like a beached whale and refused to budge. Lola and I agreed that maybe if we spend 5 minutes a day with him wearing the harness outside he’ll figure out the correlation between harness=fun outside and after a week or so he might be more receptive to the idea.

So here’s a toast (with root beer) to Scooter, the awesome cat!

Six-Month Visit

I received a telephone call the other day from a woman at the adoption home study office advising it was time for Lola's six-month update visit!! Wow, time really does fly!! We have been scheduled for a visit on May 13. I was told by my adoption agency that I have to make 3 sets of 6 photos of Lola so the Russian courts can see how she's doing. Unlike some of the paperwork I had to do for the adoption, I think this part will be fun!! I can have Lola help me choose some photos or if she wants we can take a few and show the courts the progression of time - - from Dec 2007 up through May 2008.

The other night we ordered pizza and got out the game of Monopoly, which was one I acquired from one of the ladies in my Bible Study group at her garage sale. When we opened the game we found we had no dice....we looked all over the house to see if perhaps another game had some dice, but no luck...then Lola said, "Oh, Mom! We use cards, ok?" So we got out the playing cards, took the jokers out and I must say I actually prefer using cards to dice anyway...it's less chaotic to the playing board if we have houses and hotels on the properties!!

Bearing that in mind, I received a letter from Lola's school (in Spanish, no less - -apparently they don't look at her record closely enough to count her as an individual by observing that she is not Spanish...) indicating that I am to appear for a meeting with some panel today at the school regarding Lola's 'below grade level performance'. Someone please tell me how a child that has just received a report card four weeks ago with Math - B, ESOL - B, Science - B, Social Studies - C, General Music - A, Phys Ed - A, and a smattering of S's for satisfactory can be performing below grade level??? I may be biased, but I think Lola has done quite well for only having been in school for eleven weeks!! Yes, I was a bit incensed by this letter and even insulted by having to fill out some ridiculous four-page survey asking me, basically, if my child had been dropped on her head when born, if she has had any run-in with the law, and if I could pinpoint the problem as to why she is having difficulty in school. WHAT DIFFICULTY?? She is a child from Russia who is trying to learn English!! Give me a break!!

The Tooth Fairy

Saturday, April 26

Lola had been bothered for about the last three weeks with a loose baby tooth. She had been wiggling and pulling and wiggling some more and just couldn’t get it to release. Finally after all the wiggling and a couple weeks’ time to allow it to loosen a bit more, she finally coaxed the tooth to come out last night. I tried to convince her about the Tooth Fairy, but she just laughed. I told her at least put the tooth in a sock under her pillow and maybe the Mama Tooth Fairy will give her a dollar in exchange for her tooth.  She was ok with that, but upon finding the dollar in the sock the next morning she seemed worried about where the tooth had gone. I told her it was in a safe place and would never get thrown away. She was happy I valued her tooth as much as she did. After all, it’s the first tooth she has lost in America!!

Winter is OVER!!!

The first group of my perennial flowers in the front yard are out and they are fabulous! Lola and I took some photos yesterday. I just had to share!! Spring has been quite late in coming this year. However, as usual in Georgia the seasons go from winter one day to summer the next, and that was more than welcome!!! We can hardly wait for the swimming pools to open!

Another Observation

Thursday, April 24, 2008

After having found my long-lost friend Dave the other day living happily and remarried in California, I was driving to work this morning and began thinking about all the people I know who are living statistics of divorce. Dave is one of them, as well as a very large majority of my group of friends…

The question in my mind is: why is the divorce rate steadily increasing? Some stats I have found indicate that in 1980 the divorce rate was 6%, in 1990 it was 8%, and in 2000 it was 10% ! Is it due to our society becoming ever so much more accustomed to ‘fast’ this and ‘disposable’ that, to the point where it has crossed over to how we actually conduct our relationships? Our food must now be fast, our babies now wear disposable diapers, we now have the convenience of speed dating, quick banking, doc-in-a-box and quick weight-loss diets. I wonder if there are studies being conducted on this...it would be interesting research.

Perhaps that’s why I have not tied the knot yet. I don’t want to live my life in the fast lane when it comes to personal relationships. I don’t want my feelings to become disposable and meaningless.

Bullies Part 2

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Lola announced that yet another little girl in her class has been heckling her. This particular girl says nasty things to her and displays the middle finger. I asked Lola if she had told her teacher. She said no, and I already knew that. She is not one to tattle on another child. After some thought, I told her maybe she should go to her teacher, show her middle finger and say innocently, “Ms. G, what does this mean? Jasmine just showed it to me.”

1) Lola would not get into trouble for tattling by being an innocent party in asking what it means, and
2) Jasmine would be found out and appropriate action would be taken.

…hey, it’s worth a try…

The Juggling Act

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

I have a confession to make. I am feeling rather guilty about not spending as much quality time with my guy, Chris, as I did before Lola. Ok, I do know that’s normal and she is at the stage where she needs a mama 24 hours a day. Don’t get me wrong, I so very much enjoy all the fun we have together, and literally BASK in the role of new mother, and at times I am so happy in it I think I’ll explode! But there is something to be said for spending at least a little quality time with the man I love. We may see each other for about 10 to 30 minutes a few times a week after Lola and I come home from school and work in the afternoon (my house has become his ‘temporary office’ for now until he finds a new location for his business) but it’s usually a quick hello and how-was-your-day-kind-of-thing and then Lola and I are off on some new adventure and he’s either off to a business meeting or Bible Study group. Chris and I used to have some really amazing conversations about all kinds of things - - he’s very well-read and quite fun to talk to. He really loves Lola and her sense of humor and he admires her creativity. That is one of the many things I find so attractive about him. He’s too amazing to neglect, yet my daughter needs me full time at this stage and I need her too. I pray every day that he remains patient with me until I get this juggling act perfected to everyone’s satisfaction (if that is possible). Perhaps God will help me find a path through this.

Lola is not quite as keen about having a bond with a male figure as much as she desires one with a female. That is quite understandable, as the numerous people at the orphanage were, for the most part, female. She told me the other day that Chris treats her like a little girl (I didn’t have the heart to correct her and tell her that she IS still a little girl and I want her to be one for at least a couple more years!!) and not a young woman. The strange thing is, I do see the two of them interact and she appears to be having fun with him at times… maybe all I need to do is give it time.