Out with the old, in with the new

I'm more than ready for a new month to begin. Needless to say, I never, ever thought Thanksgiving would come and go and we'd still be in this place, not having even filed paperwork.

December has just GOT TO, GOT TO, be the month. Please Santa, it's all I want for Christmas.....

Worst Case Scenario

I've been threatening for a while to call our former case worker, who is supposedly the director of the Vietnam program. Well today I went ahead and did it. I just can't stand a lack of information and, while I didn't get a ton of it, and none of it is necessarily accurate, she at least assured me in saying that the latest people in the program would travel is likely February, just after Tet. Believe me that seems so far away right now, but it's actually closer than what the worst case scenario was in my mind. And hopefully we'll be before then since we're Bac Ninh which is moving quicker. Three more months? Today anyway, I think I can last that long, although I think Christmas will be difficult.
When Anthony and I were debating the Vietnam program vs. Ethiopia program, I knew clearly that with VN the biggest challenges were likely to be the time BEFORE our child comes home, as this program was known to be unpredictable, unstable, and downright quirky. Ethiopia would have been a smoother ride getting to our child, but our challenges would have been great upon arrival home with an older child who had experienced huge losses, in addition to other factors. Nine months in an orphanage. That's just too long. I know our Bizou will be worth this wait ten times over. I only hope we're worth it to her. And pray that we can undo any damage done physically or emotionally. Please God let someone over there love her more than life itself.

What's in a title? What's in a name?

We've been trying to think of a clever domain name for our site for a while. So many adoption journals have "journey" or "venture" as part of them, as we did at our original site. And, as with everything, I've analyzed the names to death. bizousblog? journeytobizou? busyasbiz? ourlittlegem? voyagerthroughlife? I give up, for now. I'm going with one of my first thoughts: thephorondas, a play on our family name but using the spelling of "pho" the Vietnamese chicken noodle soup that is their national dish and whose name is pronounced the same as the "Fawh" in "Foronda." So there it is. It combines our name with something Vietnamese and food, one of our great passions. You can see in the ABOUT US column where "Bizou" comes from. Beatrice is the name we have chosen for our daughter because it means "blessing" and "voyager through life," along with being my mother's middle name and Anthony's paternal aunt's name. She has both history and meaning in this name which also reflects both of her parents' heritages, as well as the culture that continues to influence Hanoi, "the Paris of Asia." We will keep her current Vietnamese name, which we love and seriously considered keeping for her entire name, as her two middle names, so her initials will be B.M.H.F. And, for the record, we don't pronounce it BEE-TRISS, like the 8th grade nun who was the bane of my brother's existence but, rather, with a subtle middle syllable...Be-a-triss. Of course she already has many nicknames in the family, namely Bizou, The Biz (pronounced "bees"), B.B., B., Baby Bea, ZuZu, and I'm sure the list will multiply once we actually meet her an her personality unfolds.

B: This is your mother.

So I met her in NYC under the Time Clock at Grand Central Station....and that is how the story begins. There are many stories to tell of your mother but what I want to tell you is more about her character than anything. She is a strong woman from a very loving mother who taught her about hard work and perseverance. She is very much a realist and holds dignity and respect for all beings she is in contact with. She has an endless capacity to love with all of her body and soul. She is about action and progress and getting things done. She is a pacifist and although she is very traditional in her values she is very much a feminist and a progressive. She holds a love of culture and art and is well traveled. She is very intelligent to the point of autistic sometimes. Professionally she has helped many families and children fight through their personal struggles as a counselor. She is always aware of the present when outside in nature. She finds joy in the simple design of life. And she is my partner and best friend.


There are many more traits I could share but it would take up this whole blog. I just want you to know that you are in good hands and you are already loved by a mother whose heart and mind is at the center of this family. Please be kind to her and love her as I do.


Anthony

First Try

The Mac site we've been using is getting harder and harder for people to load, plus we're concerned about loading photos easily while in VN, so Blogger here we come!