you might not need your sleep aid tonight...

I guess I have just lost interest in blogging. I'm sorry. Well, let's be honest. There are very few regular readers left so big deal right? I used to spend hours thinking about my next post or reading the blogs of so many others who were living lives somewhat similiar to mine. I used to snap photos that I meant to post and sometimes did. My friends would tease me and say that they didn't want to see what they had just shared w/me on the blog and it was just a fun outlet for me. But, I have now gotten into the habit of facebooking every day and it is so instantaneous and gratifying! I loved to blog but now it has become a chore. I wish it was not so. I recently started thinking "who cares about my life anyway" when I would see how many other bloggers had tons of followers and comments and here was me with my few, sweet loyal readers?

We have been home over 15 months with Marin so my adoption is old news now. Maybe to win some readers back I could do something crazy or controversial? What should I do? Michael Jackson immediately springs to mind but I don't want to lighten Marin's skin or get her a nose job. Or get a chimp. No thank you. I cetainly don't want anyone in my house to end up in rehab like Brittany or develop an eating disorder like Lindsay, (Nope, not even me).... So dear readers you will have to take me as I am. Boring. Living a crazy life with my husband who loves me and doesn't do anything mean, my 6 kids who are for the most part really great people and my 2 dogs who are easy. I guess I have to face it: My life is great for me but it is boring for you... B-O-R-I-N-G!

So that being said, I will fill you in on my dull life and the blah things we have been doing here. Yesterday David and I hit our 18th anniversary. (anyone know the Gold-digger song?? "18 years, 18 years, she got one of your kids, she got you for 18 years..." We sing this to each other a lot and crack up at how long we are going to be "stuck" with each other now that we have 6 kids)We used some of David's Hilton points and drove to Virginia where we had a fab dinner at a great Lebanese restaurant and then watched Adventureland on pay per view. We did meet 2 gorgeous Ethopians this morning at breakfast. They were so excited to hear about Marin and we showed them her picture from our phones. It's funny because even after her being home nearly 16 months I began to cry as I talked about it with them, answering their questions. Marin's life and thinking of all she has been through is always emotional for us but maybe too it is the reality that I am going back to her birth place so soon? I have actually started looking at tickets online and I have in my hot little hands a check, (okay, it's next to me, I mean, I can't really hold the check and type now can I?), to send in soon to rsvp our spot on the trip. It is sooo exciting to think of being back in Africa. Ethiopia and maybe, just maybe, even Kenya. We sponsor our beautiful Bahati there and I am thinking when am I going to go back again? Let's do this. Let's go see him and hug him and tell him in person that I love him! Why not? Life is too short to be that close and not go, right?! Okay, back to Marin and answering the questions about her this morning. I realized that I haven't shared the latest on Marin's growth (gosh, at least I think I haven't, errr, sorry if this was in the last post!) My girl has grown 20 pounds and 7 inches since she arrived home! WOW! I would swear she is nearly 7. A very young 7 but 7 nonetheless. Kindergarden is a good fit for her though as she is right where she needs to be with her letter and number recognition and her writing and other skills... (computer hacking skills, num chuck skills... Napoleon Dynamite always pops in my head now when I use the word skills, sorry!)I have requested that she and Kieran be put into seperate classes this coming year. I think it will be better for both of them to make their own friends and have their own lives in school. They are both pretty independent and I am excited to see how it all goes.

Yep, that is all I can think to write about now. Boring old me. Will try to do something exciting and cool to blog about soon. Might be awhile...

Until then, later gators!

Where in the world has Irishopian been lately???

So sorry to anyone that might still be out there! I have just been overwhelmed with my life lately. Between the job and the fundraising I have not had the energy to sit down and post much. I know, I stink. In the hopes that someone still gives a hoot about Irishopian and the lives of those in our crazy house I am taking the time so that I can hang onto you and your loyalty!
So, it's summer. Ugh. And, it is hot. I'm sure it is hot where you are too, but I really do not like this heat. Once we get into the mid 80's I shut down. I prefer the cold really. The kids like it though and Tofu thinks being outside chasing lizards is the best thing ever. He does his best to slip out anytime there is an open door here. He will look for lizards, bugs, birds, rabbits, moles, etc. for hours. I have learned to keep a bowl of water out for him since he is out so much and won't come in for water if he is in the middle of a good dig! He is still my baby but he no longer gets to sleep with me while David travels since I have found 2 ticks buried in me after a night of Tofu at my feet. Ewww, ticks! I HATE them! Those little boogers too, the ones we in our state call the "deer tick", are sooo bad because they look like a freckle or a dot of ink or something harmless but yet it is a horrible tick sucking blood!! Anyhow, I am going to see how that Frontline works on Tofu and Martha, who recently got all her Golden Retriever hair shaved off for the summer and looks so cute!
The kids are having a decent summer so far. It is going by way too fast though. We have had a lot of kids over to swim and our 6 have used the pool nonstop. Kieran and Marin are both quite close to being done with the floaties! Yay, I will be so happy having 6 swimmers just in case someone fell in someday, God forbid. Now if we could just get my hunk of burning love swimming that would be the bomb! Poor David still cannot swim. A drawback of growing up on a farm in Ireland and not having access to pools. Some of his siblings have learned later in life but Davids few attempts at lessons have only proven that he is made of lead. He can't float and it is a bit nerve wracking for all involved!
Finlay has been working at a camp located about 30 miles away. She lives there but we get to bring her home one night a week. It has been really good for her though and I can see her level of responsibility already rising! She is babysitting with her good friend. They have 5 kids between them that they are in charge of 6 days a week. All the kids are young and Finlay adores them. But, she is missing us a lot and the little siblings terribly! Anytime Finlay gets to come home we do have a teenager get together though. It has been fun having all the kids she hangs with over to swim and watch movies. They are a great bunch of kids and I love having the house full of them! I think they will all hang out here on the 4th since Finlay gets to come home for a few hours that day.... Actually 6 of them spent the night here Friday night as we had a fund raising yard sale Saturday morning and had to load trucks at around 5 AM. They all helped me sell 8 truck loads of donated "stuff" and baked goods/waters for 5 hours on Saturday. We made almost $1000! All of that is going towards Kathi and my African trip. Today I got a bankers check to send in to the charity we are going with, Water 1st. This is the first part of the $ we need to send them. Now there is no going back!!! We have to be in Ethiopia from Jan 29 -- Feb 5 (2010), but I am going over early, probably on the 23. I want to work in Tesfaye & Wesson's school.(Tesfaye was our driver when we went to Sidama to meet Marin's dad). I want to buy uniforms, school supplies, food, etc., for the kids who go there. Most of those kids are orphaned and living with extended family members. It is amazing how far this $ will go too! We will be able to help many students and in doing that we will be helping their families too. It is just toooo amazing that we get to go back to Ethiopia!!!! We have 3 more fund raisers. A family fun day in August (that I now need to get working on -- ugh!), another Scavenger Hunt in late September/early October and a Jingle Bell Blowout Christmas party on Dec 5th. We have set ourselves a goal of $15,000 that I just didn't think we would reach with the tough year that it is but now I know we will get there! It is amazing really! God has blessed us and our efforts so abundantly! He must want us there!
Okay, gotta go let these guys swim now and then off to a bday party later. Thanks to anyone who is still around. Please be sure to say hello. I like to know you are there! Happy summer!

Wrong web address in the newspaper.

The article in the newspaper listed this address but the correct blog is:
www.theresalwaysmoretobedone.blogspot.com.
Please check it out and thank you.

Dr. King, a very smart guy

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," Dr. King wrote. "We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
I just love this quote and always have. I believe it to be 100% true but I also believe that we must all look at it carefully to understand its full meaning!
Have a good day. Promise to post photos and updates soon.

cuteness

What do I even need to say?!


Again, there are no words, well, that is not true, Beauty springs to mind.


Dancing in the car.


Get down in the back seat!


How to make a 30 minute ride seem like nothing, turn on the Black Eyed Peas baby!


This is Emebet, home almost a year now. She and Marin love each other so much!


My little flower, so happy to be on the stage!!!


Kieran singing his heart out.


This is my nephew Clark who made his first Communion last week.


Clarkie and Rory, who by the way, is making his first Communion this weekend.

Looking for business?

I have recently put a blog roll on my blog. If you would like your Ethiopian related blog to be listed just let me know and I will add you!

Aggravation & Congratulations

First off, congrats to Sara in TX and my Aunt Sooz in MD for winning the contest I held in honor of hitting the 200 post milestone on Irishopian! YAY! Big round of applause for the 2 with all the right answers!!! Whooo hooo! They will both win a very, very cool car window style cling shaped like the continent of Africa made by Valerie... Please email me your address Sara, so I can get this to you. I know you will love it! Thanks Valerie for one for me too! Can't wait to promote your efforts when everyone asks me about it!
So here I am waiting for the dishwasher repair man, ho hum. Why is it that I would love to stay home on the days when I am running around, getting all the errands done, but when I am forced to stay home due to a 4 hour window of when a repair man could show up it totally bites? There are about 798,322 things that could and should be done in this disgusting house right now. Eww. There are closets that I cannot even open for fear of smothering a child or small dog. There are porches to be cleaned, dusting to do, vacuuming(my least favorite thing ever) and dishes to finish. There are mountains of clean clothes to be put away. Actually, it's like a range of small mountains. The sad thing is is that the mountains are only mine and David's clothing since Luz handles all the kids laundry. (Yeah, I would think I was a spoiled brat too.) There has just not been a free window of time to hang them all up for so long. We just grab something off Mt Tide each morning instead of even using our drawers and closets... I forgot that I even had a certain shirt until yesterday when I had to venture into my closet for some flip flops, looked up and saw it... This would be the perfect time to go upstairs and hang up that pile. I could also get out the summer patio furniture. I could weed. I could plan something for dinner. But no, I would rather not, because I FEEL TRAPPED! Trapped by this window of time where I CANNOT even consider leaving my house for any reason!!! I think it is suffocating! Is it just me?!

More facts

In spite of its magnificent natural beauty, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with a low quality of life for the majority of its population. Ethiopia is unique among African nations in that it has avoided European colonization, except for a brief Italian occupation between World Wars I and II. The nation has had its share of difficulties, including ongoing famine and conflicts with neighboring Eritrea. Ethiopia's housing crisis is one of the world’s worst, with more than 80 percent of the population in Addis Ababa, the nation's capital, living homeless or in substandard housing.
Just copied this from a Habitat for Humanity website. Apparently they take people over each year to build a house in Ethiopia. Cool, maybe 2012?