The Catch Up - Adoption Focus

Hey there.

Well, we are on our way to parenthood. Hopefully. Maybe. That is to say we took the first step and went to an international adoption orientation meeting at Spence Chapin. Clarisa drove down after work and I managed to get out of work and schlepp it over to 6 E. 94th Street just in time for the start of the session. We were one of the youngest couples in the group, which figures. It seems that for a lot of people, adoption is the last resort and not the first, like it is with us. In fact, we decided a while ago that we just did not want to go the route of IVF and hormone therapy or what have you. If it happened for us, great. If not, keep knocking boots and hope for the best. Of course, we haven't had any luck and as times gone on adoption just kind of entered into our conversation as something we want to do. Like sfumato said, it's probably going to be the best thing we can do with our lives and that is pretty exciting.

The people at Spence were well spoken and gave a thorough overview of the program - outlining the basics of the process involved with of each country they work with to include time, costs and requirements. Each country has it's own peculiarities and pro's and con's that may or may not make the program that country offers a good fit. From what we learned at the meeting, it looks like our two best options so far are Guatemala or China. Neither are perfect, and no program really is. The requirements vary, the stability of the programs vary, the wait times vary, the fees vary, the age of the child varies, the quality of their environment varies from orphanage to foster home and of course the experiences there vary greatly as well. The available medical history varies as well. A lot of damn variables and one big leap of faith.

Two families were there at the beginning of the meeting to talk about the process, what they went through and answer questions from the group. Coincidentally, one family had adopted a girl from China and the other had adopted a girl from Guatemala. Of course, the stars were the kids - both of whom were just adorable and remarkably patient over the hour they were there.

So, Guatemala or China. China or Guatemala...

Guatemala - the kids are in foster homes, not orphanages and they get monthly medical care. There also is a medical history of the birth mother. The process is pretty smooth, albeit a bit random at times.

China - the kids might have been in a foster home, but probably not. There is no information on the birth mother. Medical care is good and the process is pretty structured and you go through the process with a group of other adoptive parents from Spence-Chapin. Evidentally, there's a hotel over there that is just chalk full of adoptive parents there to take home a baby and lot's of support.

I have no idea how we are going to weigh all of that and come up with a decision. I'm sure at some point it will just occur to us what is right for us and there we'll be.

P00F!

One more thing...

Thor's BJJ comment got me pumped up a little about BJJ, MMA and all things grappling. That said I started perusing and I found this - a clip of Royce Gracie UFC highlights - just look at how he dismembers and submits everyone. Wearing a gi no less - which should be a big handicap. Take special note of any dickhead that thinks he's a kung fu master and tries to throw a kick. It does not end well.

http://webzoom.freewebs.com/jiujitsu/Royce%20Gracie%20Highlights.mpg

The Catch Up

Hey all. Got some stuff to talk about so here we go:

We've decided to adopt. Right now we have no idea about anything except that we've made the decision. We'll be better informed after we go to an orientation meeting at Spence-Chapin later this month. More than likely our future son or daughter will be from eastern Europe (Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria et al). Basically we want a healthy kid - maybe even siblings. We figure siblings might be the best way to go. Something like a one year old and a three year old maybe?Like I said - we have no details except for the fact that we've decided to move ahead with this. It's way to early to say anything other than that and that we are jazzed and eager to get the process going.

That said we're probably going to look to switch jobs and re-locate to a more kid friendly environment. Where that might be is up in the air as well, but I'm pretty positive it won't anywhere like, oh, Bedford Hills or Scarsdale or Chappaqua. The idea is to move and take the cash from this place and get a bigger one somewhere outside of the raised ranch for $650,000 range. We'll see.

Other than that things are going pretty well. New Years was spent with some friends in Hyde Park - other than a death defying drive through a blizzard on the trip up AND to pick up some pizzas later that night it was pretty calm. We hung out, played guitar a bit and noodled around with our "nephew" Zack. With the guitar, I'm still at the point where I just know a handful of material but I do know lot of variations on the 12 bar blues and that's always a blast.

Let's see, what else is up - a quick recap:

Last weekend, my parents came down for dinner to celebrate my birthday. I cooked up some chicken marsala a la Tyler Florence. I've decided to take Black and White Photography II at the School of Visual Arts. Work continues to not be very satisfying and eating into way too much of my time. In the meantime I'm thinking about what I would really like to do and where I would really like to be. I also bought a PSP. The commute goes MUCH faster now that I have Burnout Legends and Virtua Tennis to occupy my time. I also bought Bob Dylan's autobiography, Chronicles. So far it's an enjoyable read and interesting to hear Bob talk about himself and his influences. One things for sure, I had no idea he was so well read. I'm not surprised, but I had no idea that Bob Dylan would ever tell me he thought Balzac was hilarious.

A short post

I was told that sometimes my posts get a bit long.