WOO HOO.........

The WONDERFUL, AMAZING, FANTASTIC news we’ve waited for 2 years to hear finally has happened!!!!!!!


Vicki, the lady who greeted us at Walmart over 2 years ago, has FINALLY secured some low-income housing and can move out of the DUMP she is currently forced to call home.

Within the past month she has been approved for disability, SSI payments and now with this blessing of a new home. She is feeling so very blessed!

Miracles were flowing for Vicki – we learned that almost no one gets approved for disability & SSI the first time around, but she did (she is now netting more than she made working full-time at Walmart). She applied for housing at a nice complex where we were told that within the past 4 years only three units have been available because people just don't move out of them. She put her name on the list one day, the next day a unit became available and 25 people on the list in front of her did not want/need the apartment. Consequently, she is moving into a fresh, beautiful apartment the 1st of August. Amazingly, she can even take her dog that has been deemed a working dog to help her fight her depression!

She got a checking account for the first time in her life (she is 56 yrs old) and I’m helping her manage it. She is doing things for herself – appointments, doctor’s visits, making phone calls, etc. – sometimes people just need to believe they are worthy and have someone else believe in them before they can believe in themselves.

I’m so overjoyed with everything that has happened in her life over the past couple of months. You can flip back several pages here on my blog to see photos of her house and one of her -- seeing the depth of the misery she was obligated to call life...

This is the best part – she is giving back! She is finding people in need and helping them by giving them things she won’t need when she moves, etc. AWESOME!

Thank you to everyone who helped out with Ms. Vicki…. Your deeds do not go unnoticed!

One more thing – we need help moving her on the

first weekend of August….

Let me know if you have a truck and are available.

Blessings,

j

Buddy's scrapbook

This was one of the projects we did while my mom was here visiting for Easter. We made a 20 page scrapbook for our dog! Turned out really cute.

Spring

How wonderful to have G'ma here! We all love it SO much when she is with us.
Attached are some pix from her visit as well as a few from Mim's b-day last month and her art show at her pre-K.
We tried to simplify things for our Easter dinner and ordered everything from Cracker Barrel - YUM!
Happy belated Easter, y'all.

at Mim's Art Show

Our favorite Labradoodle! :)

Easter dinner for 6 from Cracker Barrel - $41 - can't beat it!

Finally here!

It took most of the day, but Gramma finally made it to good ol' Georgia!
There was a snow storm in SD last night, so the plane was covered w/ ice & snow and while it was being de-iced, the de-icer machine broke down. All was finally fixed after 2 hrs of sitting on the plane and she made it in only a few hrs behind the original schedule.
We L O V E having her here! Can't wait to fill our week w/ fun & memories!

HOT

Yesterday afternoon the bank posted the temp. as 91 degrees....!
I complained all winter about the chilliness, but this is kind of ridiculous on April 1st!

Adoptive Parents...

You Know You're An Adoptive Parent When . . .


1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.

2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.

3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

4. The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.

5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption. (In fact, I stole this article from one of them!) :)

6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's 'real' parents.

7. You have ever been 'pregnant' with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth.(2 years!)

8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.

9. You have ever taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you just met. (Okay, we've never done this, but we did #8 twice, so we still qualify.)

10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.

11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.

12. You know what the word 'Dossier' means, and you can actually pronounce it!

13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life.

-Author unknown

Random thoughts

-I think this new blog template is pretty cute!
-Lovin' almost every sandal here... especially this one.
-Can't wait to finally go to the GA Aquarium during Spring Break.
-My mom (my personal decorator) just got me this for my newly finished kitchen wall. Can't wait to get it. Tryin' to keep things simple and bird-like in my new kitchen.
-My baby turned 5 last week; feeling very melancholy about how they are growing up so fast.
-Xian's MS band did better than any former band in his school at competition the other week; scored all I's. :)
-SO very anxious for my mom to come visit us for Spring Break. In addition to the aquarium, we'll shop (IKEA), go to 'Alice in Wonderland', work in a little photo shoot w/ her & the kids, and enjoy a wonderful week together.
-Would LOVE to go to Spain this summer w/ Xian to visit our exchange student, Ricardo... we talked w/ him the other night. Flights are outrageously expensive.
-Almost done w/ our ktichen - painted & glazed cupboards, newly painted walls, still need to reupholster chair cushions and get window coverings made. Need to find bird material :)
-Next project is our bedroom - repainting all furniture a cappuccino brown and making a padded headboard. Would love to incorporate this print.
-So anxious & excited for more of this spring weather… it has been such a dreary, lonely winter.

Mr. Obama = a symptom

From Neal Boortz:

This quote has been swirling around the Internet. While we are unable to verify who said it, the message is all too important ...

"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency. It will be easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to an electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails us. Blaming the prince of fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The public can survive a Barack Obama. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."

Just remember, folks ... elections have consequences.

New shots

Took the plunge and had my very first photo 'shoot' w/ the girls the other day... I did MANY things wrong w/ the 208 pix I took, but managed to get a few cute ones.

Almond Eyes by M.R.K.

My mom's newest passion is writing. I always knew she'd be good at it and she seems to have found her forte' - short stories.

This is the latest one she wrote about Lil’ & Mims… isn’t it lovely!

-----------------------------------------------

ALMOND EYES

          I peered into the crib and looking back at me from a little round face were beautiful almond eyes.   This was my first introduction to my new granddaughter, newly arrived to South Dakota from South Korea.   She was eight months old and fearless.   She had been placed in a foster home immediately after birth and now had arrived at the home of my daughter, her husband, and 8 year old son.   They were thrilled, apprehensive and enthusiastic to have her adapt to her new home.   They named her ________. 

           The all-new surroundings, new faces and new smells did not appear to upset her resolve.   She adapted immediately.    She was somewhat apprehensive when it came to me.  Perhaps she had not seen anyone with white hair before and it startled her.   It took several visits and gradual introduction to bond a relationship. 

           Two years later, a new set of almond eyes arrived, this beauty given the name of ______ (also known as ____).    She came with fear, grief and the saddest face I have ever encountered in a child.   She was in mourning, having just been removed from her foster home consisting of two parents and three children.    She had bonded with them and was in deep anguish.   The only person she would have anything to do with was my daughter and even she could not always console her.   She cried incessantly, could not sleep without someone beside her and generally was very despondent.  Pictures of her at Christmas with the rest of the happy family told the entire story.    It took more than a year and a half for her to finally conform.    My son-in-law tried everything he could to bond with her, but she would have nothing to do with him.  

           Four years later, both of these beautiful little girls are well adapted, happy, exuberant and smart.    They are very different from one another, but they are sisters nevertheless.    Their past is forgotten.  They are completely bonded to their mother, father and brother.   It is hard to remember what life was like before their arrival.

Vicki update

I’m so pleased to be able to have a positive Vicki update. Although nothing major has changed yet, it looks as if there will be some positive upcoming changes soon, hopefully!

I’m taking her to the SS office on Monday and God-willing, she’ll get approved for disability payments & SSI. She has been approved for food stamps, too. She is getting her last 2 months of electric bill paid by a local outreach organization. Her car payment is WAY overdue & will be repossessed soon, but a fellow biker friend of ours is going to let us buy a car from him for her (cheap!) which ultimately means that Vicki won’t have a car payment!!!! YEAH!

She is taking so much ownership & responsibility for her issues which is so impressive to me and makes me so happy. I give her a ‘To Do’ list once a week or so and she immediately gets going on it.

In the last 3 days she has been blessed by 3 different random people giving her $100 each. She is brought to tears as she tells me about this! So amazing! She is saving every penny of it to see what she will need in the future if and when she can move.

Housing is the one problem that remains. She is getting on various lists of public/subsidized housing, but the wait lists are long and her slum landlord now wants to raise her rent!!!! Outrageous!

Since she still lives without a TV or radio, I gave her a stack of old magazines… you would have thought I gave her a bar of gold. If you have any that you can donate to her, please let me know and I’ll come get them - books, too.

Keep praying.

Don't shoot the messenger...

from the AJC 2/11/10...

1 in 5 Georgia schools is suspected of tampering with answers on the state standardized tests.

More than half of the state's (GA) elementary and middle schools had enough suspicious erasure to cause concern.

69% of Atlanta's elementary and middle schools are likely to undergo formal investigation.

a little more

good news for Vicki…….

I’ve been diligently searching for a different place for her to live. The list for gov’t housing is super lengthy and she can’t even sign up ‘til 3/24/10. There is just limited availability of cheap, decent housing here. She has a dog, which is an issue.

She hesitantly informed me last week that in addition to the chipmunks living in her walls, there are rats IN her house that come out at night and eat the dog food……  what exactly do you say to someone who has to live like that?

Yesterday she called and had a renewed optimism in her voice. She said that out of the blue she thought about an old, long-lost aunt of hers (thru her previous marriage.) She remembered where the lady lived and went to visit her. They sat in the living room for hours catching up, drinking tea and listening to gospel music. Then Vicki was thrilled to have chicken & dumplings offered to her for dinner! Best of all, this lady offered Vicki the opportunity to move in with her. The aunt, Hazel, is 80+ years old and lives in this house on her own… the company they could be for one another!!!!

Please pray that this pans out for Vicki… I just do not know how many more doors she can have slammed in her face!

more on Vicki...

Got a nugget of good news for Vicki today…

YES, her Dr. (awesome guy!!!) will sign off on her disability paperwork. 

YES, she is on permanent medical leave from Crawlmart (without getting paid, though). YES, she got a new script to try to help w/ her tremors.

Dr. explained that the average time for disability payments to kick in is 2-5 YEARS and that is after it has been denied 3 or 4 times!!!!!!!!!!!! What exactly is she supposed to do for that long w/ no income? Some of the red tape in this country is unfathomable!?! The Dr. suggested getting a disability attorney, but even that may take time and who knows if they’ll even take her case (I’ll call them, regardless.)

Continue to pray for miracles, please!

troubling times... The Vicki Saga continued

Recap & Snippets of Vicki’s recent past…

-Still terribly shaky – tremors are out of control… hard to say which is worse, her tremors or her depression (she's maxed out on her depressions meds).

-She spent Xmas all alone in her little rat trap of a house (harsh, but true) not because we didn’t offer to have her here, she just didn’t want to “interfere” with our day??!!

-Continues to live in the sickest, most disgusting squalor you can fathom… bugs are back w/ a vengeance this time, scum landlord won’t do a damn thing for her. She didn't have water for one entire week during our recent freeze.

-Turned down for food stamps – apparently one needs to make less than $10/yr!?!

-Turned down for Medicaid???

-Continues with no health insurance yet needs extensive medical care

-I found her daughter on FB, but she is unwilling/unable to help her out in any way?!

-Her regular Dr. (a saint, which will see her for $40/visit) referred her to a neurologist & a MRI. I took her to the Neurologist yesterday and he fortunately told her she doesn’t have MS, but because her current tremor meds give her terrible, staggering side effects, he has “no idea” what to do w/ her and is pawning her off on Emory for trial tests… in my novice opinion, Emory = MONEY! Money that she doesn’t have.

-Walmart insisted she take a medical leave of absence, but until there is a diagnosis from the Emory Dr, no one will officially declare her disabled, so she had Z E R O income. Walmart won’t let her come back ‘til there is a release and she can’t get the release NOR the ‘disabled’ label ‘til she goes to Emory.

-When home, which she is full-time now, she sits within the 4 walls of her “house” with ABSOULTELY nothing to entertain herself with. No TV, no radio, no music, NOTHING. IF you know of someone who could hook something up for her (Tony has tried already and couldn’t), please let me know.

-2 mos. late on car pymnt - probably just a matter of time 'til it gets repossessed.

-Please pray for God to work miracles in her life.