Our social worker, Bev, came for her final visit and to check out our new home on Friday. She loved the place, had no problem with the pond, and was encouraging about our chances to find a match with a child despite the tighter "competition." We expressed our fears about prospective birth parents not wanting us because we're "old and nerdy" and she reassured us, mentioning a family with a disabled parent that had recently adopted a child and saying she thought we would be able to find a child in a year or two.
She's sending us some additional paperwork to do because of our home change.
And after she left, we set up our fire-safety inspection (our last inspection of all!!) for this coming Friday morning!
So, progress is being made. We'll get to work on our "niche marketing" soon!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Another Squirrel Story
It all started when my coworker S discovered a baby squirrel on her front porch. She waited for the mom to come get it, but Mom didn't show. S didn't want to call Animal Control and had no idea what to do with the little thing herself so she decided to call our coworker D, who is famous for being good with animals (they have at least 4 species of pets in their household).
So D came over, fearlessly picked up the little squirrel in a towel, and took it home. She bought cat formula and fed her (it's a girl squirrel) with a syringe every three hours. She named the little squirrel Peapod after a squirrel on a TV show.
Little Peapod went to the vet, who said squirrels should get puppy formula, not kitty formula. Since Peapod needed to be fed every few hours, D. brought her to work in a cat carrier, along with the formula, syringe, grapes and peanuts. (Peapod loves grapes!)
Coworker M referred to Peapod as "that rat."
D: well, they are in the rodent family.
D lets Peapod climb on her shoulder (like Ralph used to do with our cats) and even around to the back of her neck. I petted Peapod cautiously, once with one finger.
We all swear D missed her calling and should work for a vet or an animal rescue place.
So D came over, fearlessly picked up the little squirrel in a towel, and took it home. She bought cat formula and fed her (it's a girl squirrel) with a syringe every three hours. She named the little squirrel Peapod after a squirrel on a TV show.
Little Peapod went to the vet, who said squirrels should get puppy formula, not kitty formula. Since Peapod needed to be fed every few hours, D. brought her to work in a cat carrier, along with the formula, syringe, grapes and peanuts. (Peapod loves grapes!)
Coworker M referred to Peapod as "that rat."
D: well, they are in the rodent family.
D lets Peapod climb on her shoulder (like Ralph used to do with our cats) and even around to the back of her neck. I petted Peapod cautiously, once with one finger.
We all swear D missed her calling and should work for a vet or an animal rescue place.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Monday, September 01, 2008
A Greenbelt Labor Day--updated!
Today was one of our city's biggest celebrations: The Labor Day Parade. There's actually a weekend-long festival with carnival rides, information and food booths by various organizations (everything from the Literacy Council to the local Bahai community). But the parade is Very Big Deal. In this New Deal city (we were founded as a New Deal program, with the coop I live in being built as affordable family housing.)
So we caught it right at the beginning, with Scottish bagpipers. Lovely music, I mean that (heard outdoors, as bagpipes are meant to be). There's a wonderful tradition of most groups throwing wrapped candies--one of our local politicians did it in a big way, throwing mini-Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
Some highlights:
The local high school cheerleaders! They did an incredible dance to a hip-hop tune: awesome moves and fine synchronization!
The Greenbelt Pride group: theme was Olympics of Marriage Equality. Husband and I gave them a huge cheer. One couple had a baby in a front pack.
Our co-op's float: theme was "It's a Small World" (without the song, I might add). Included some people in ethnic dress, including traditional Turkish clothes and a woman in a cowboy hat, star-spangled shirt, and white shorts with three European flags stuck in the pockets. "I love your American costume!" I thanked her.
The elementary school PTA had a "bookmobile" car with a Cat in the Hat bowtie on the front bumper and tall hat on the hood. Members gave out free secondhand books.
The Greenbelt Democratic Club combined with the county Obama-supporters group: They got one of the biggest cheers of all (oh, how I love living in the Great Green Successful Social Experiment instead of Redneck Republicanland!). The announcer asked, "Can anybody tell me who Obama is?" I called out, shortly before he answered, "The next President of the United States!"
Near the end was...
The Reel Lawn Mowers Precision Drill Team. They had their little push-mowers decorated with tissue-paper flowers and Christmas-tree garland. They each had a card with a letter, spelling out "KICK*GAS". And they were a precision team--"presenting arms," at the start, doing "the wave, " spinning out and making two pinwheels, and more (I even saw at least one high kick in there!"
And there were the usual fire engines (some fine-looking antique ones), Girl and Boy Scouts, politicians, the town pageant winners (poised and attractive young girls--we need one for boys!) and so on. Oh, and I almost forgot, the Lone Ranger and Silver.
Sadly, we did not bring our camera. Next year!
All in all, a great parade. Next year I wanna march with our coop.
So we caught it right at the beginning, with Scottish bagpipers. Lovely music, I mean that (heard outdoors, as bagpipes are meant to be). There's a wonderful tradition of most groups throwing wrapped candies--one of our local politicians did it in a big way, throwing mini-Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
Some highlights:
The local high school cheerleaders! They did an incredible dance to a hip-hop tune: awesome moves and fine synchronization!
The Greenbelt Pride group: theme was Olympics of Marriage Equality. Husband and I gave them a huge cheer. One couple had a baby in a front pack.
Our co-op's float: theme was "It's a Small World" (without the song, I might add). Included some people in ethnic dress, including traditional Turkish clothes and a woman in a cowboy hat, star-spangled shirt, and white shorts with three European flags stuck in the pockets. "I love your American costume!" I thanked her.
The elementary school PTA had a "bookmobile" car with a Cat in the Hat bowtie on the front bumper and tall hat on the hood. Members gave out free secondhand books.
The Greenbelt Democratic Club combined with the county Obama-supporters group: They got one of the biggest cheers of all (oh, how I love living in the Great Green Successful Social Experiment instead of Redneck Republicanland!). The announcer asked, "Can anybody tell me who Obama is?" I called out, shortly before he answered, "The next President of the United States!"
Near the end was...
The Reel Lawn Mowers Precision Drill Team. They had their little push-mowers decorated with tissue-paper flowers and Christmas-tree garland. They each had a card with a letter, spelling out "KICK*GAS". And they were a precision team--"presenting arms," at the start, doing "the wave, " spinning out and making two pinwheels, and more (I even saw at least one high kick in there!"
And there were the usual fire engines (some fine-looking antique ones), Girl and Boy Scouts, politicians, the town pageant winners (poised and attractive young girls--we need one for boys!) and so on. Oh, and I almost forgot, the Lone Ranger and Silver.
Sadly, we did not bring our camera. Next year!
All in all, a great parade. Next year I wanna march with our coop.
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