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It's a mighty big world. Better have a sister to hold you.
"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Ferris Bueller
Philippians 4:4
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Loading ...Archive for July, 2008
Sick
This weekend, Julia threw up for the first time since she’s been in San Antonio. I hardly had time to think about her. Another family member was ill. And – being the devoted mother that I am – I was more worried about him.
Remember Keith got me a Roomba and a Scooba for Christmas? I love them still. In fact, Rachel asked me, “Mom, if the house were on fire, who would you save first?” I just leaned over and patted the cool, shiny metal of my dear Roomie, quietly recharging on his docking station.
But this weekend, Roomie hiccup’ed. He would vacuum for a moment, then quit. What was wrong? I racked my brain. I faithfully dump his dust catcher and scrape off his little filter with every use. His cleaning brush had only a few strands of hair wrapped around it, as I’d used a knife to saw that rope last week. I knew he was fully charged. Tearfully, I cradled him in my arms, then laid him gently in Keith’s lap. Keith’s hands disappeared inside as he told Roomie to “cough.”
Look what Keith found packed in Roomie’s poor “innards” -
Hair, dust and I-don’t-wanna-know. This funk didn’t come out of his filter or his dust catcher. This mess was jammed in poor Roomie’s tummy.
Joyfully, I returned Roomie to his appointed rounds. But no. He still wasn’t well. So Keith did some reading on i-Robot user boards and discovered another possible cause. Alas – surgery was in order.
Now Roomie was ready to get back to work. Finally! And what a fine job he did, sucking up all the pond dust and other mess that accumulates on our bedroom floor, even though the laminate looks “clean.” I ask Roomie to vacuum about every other day. He doesn’t whine or roll his eyes or sigh or escape to the bathroom. He just gets to work. No wonder I love him so.
Roomie seems fine now. Whew! I was so worried.
p.s. Oh yeah. Julia seems fine, too.
Posted in 
See, world?
When we met Guanna-to-be-Julia in February, 2006, she told us she liked dolphins – amazing, since she’d never seen a real one, and also since Lois has always been fascinated by them. When we returned to her in May, 2006, we brought a dolphin necklace for her and each of her friends. Shelley and John picked us up at the airport, bringing her a stuffed dolphin to clutch on the eye-popping 20-minute drive to her new “dom,” where her sisters anxiously waited to meet her.
It didn’t take Julia long to realize the billboards, tray liners, TV commercials, etc. were telling her there were dolphins in San Antonio. After a local author read his book about Sea World to her school last year – she was hooked. “Mom, we need to go there.” She’s asked at least once a week for more than a year to visit Sea World.
Monday, I finally took Hannah and Julia to Sea World. Seeing her face there reminded me of taking two-year-old Rachel to see Barney at the Natural History Museum in Houston. The looks were of joy and wonder – I couldn’t help but be happy, too, even with all the “whale spit” on my clothes.
Open mouth. Clasp hands. Wait a moment and point excitedly crying, “Look! Look!” Shamu is the big draw at the park but the dolphins absolutely captivated her.
We feed the Sea Lions enough fish to make me glad I’d visited the ATM. Julia and Hannah barked to each other for awhile afterward. Me? They’ll tell you I bark all the time.
Afternoons routinely break 100 degrees here. Yeah for the wave pool!
New dolphin googles, anyone? “Mom, these are cool.”
The child is fearless. In addition to all the water stuff, she and I went on Journey to Atlantis, and she did the 15-story drop, 65 mph Steel Eel roller coaster by herself. As in alone. As in neither of us wiith her. I promised God in 1998 that if he would let me off the roller coaster I was on at Fiesta Texas, that I would never ride another. Promise intact to date.
So this is how an eight-year-old former resident of Children’s Home #47 in St. Pete, Russia, came 6,000 miles to splash the day away with dophins and whales native to seas from the four corners of the globe.
See, world? You’re getting smaller all the time.
