Thoughts and Emotions

I leave for Guatemala in 5 days and am so happy that I'm going to be with my baby girl again. However, I'm feeling many other emotions today as well and while it would be easy to blame it on the rain (we've gotten a lot of rain since last night), this is much more about all the things happening in my life right now and all the things happening around the world.

When we began our adoption journey, things looked promising that Lili would likely be home with us during this Holiday season. However, as you all know, that didn't happen. With all the changes taking place with adoption in Guatemala, the process has continued to become slower and slower. At this point, we hope to have Lili home sometime this Spring, but the truth is that we just don't know when she's coming home. We have no reason to believe that our case won't continue to be processed, but we just don't know how quickly that process is going to take place. This makes me feel sad, frustrated, and nervous.

Dave stopped at Starbucks on his way to work this morning (which has nothing to do with my emotions today) and here is the quote printed on his cup.

“My cousin in Tibet is an illiterate subsistence farmer. By accident of birth, I was raised in the West and have a Ph.D. The task of our generation is to cut through the illusion that we inhabit separate worlds. Only then will we find the heart to rise to the daunting but urgent challenges of global disparity.”
Losang Rabgey, Ph.D.National Geographic Emerging Explorer and co-founder of Machik, a nonprofit helping communities on the Tibetan plateau.

By accident of birth I too was raised in the U.S. and have opportunities available to me that so many people in this world don't have. One of those opportunities is freedom to vote. The U.S. is at a turning point. We've watched our economy continue to fall, gas prices continue to rise, the job market is getting worse, we're still dealing with all the problems in Iraq and our reputation as a country has been marred. However, those of us who live in the U.S. are fortunate to live in a country that allows us to cast a vote for the person we want to see run for president. Later in the year we will then have the opportunity to vote for the candidate that we want to see in the White House. Today, the voters in New Hampshire have the opportunity to cast their votes and let their voices be heard. Go Obama!!!! And next month I will have the opportunity to cast my vote. Go Obama!!!!! I want to encourage everyone in the U.S. to register to vote and to participate in the political process. Go Obama!!!!! I feel excited and energized by the prospect of major change on the horizon and to know that one day Lili will also have the opportunity to walk into her local polling place and cast her vote gives me a feeling of pride.

I could go on today about all my thoughts and feeling on various topics, but I fear that many of you would become bored, so I'll end this post today by saying once again, "Go Obama!"