Daddy's Girl

Ever since I have been small I have loved being with my dad. Perhaps it started when I was little and he would take us into town on Saturday mornings to run errands and get a treat. If he worked on cars, I liked to hold the lamp and find tools for him. If he was building something, I tried to help him find the screws and hold the washers in place, and he made me feel useful because my fingers were smaller than his and I could reach into tricky spaces. He has always had skills that I admired and I always kind of wanted to learn them from him but I never did. For some reason I didn't want to be too much of a girly girl, even though I totally am.
My dad didn't really teach me his skills because I hardly stuck around to learn. He would sometimes get impatient with me or with his project and that was my cue to leave. (Along with basic skills, my vocabulary was stocked with four letter words!) I still find huge satisfaction doing projects with him. In fact, a couple of months ago I even helped him install speakers in his jeep and I felt so proud.

Well, now I am the "technical director" of our spring production. I am basically just making sure the kids don't chop off a finger with a saw, but I have also been trying to get involved and help them build stuff (except that I have NO desire to even touch a saw). The other day they were putting together a small staircase and I thought I would pick up a power tool and help them along. Bad idea! I couldn't, for the life of me, control the cordless drill. I have even used drills before! The kids shook their heads and gently took the tool away from me. I decided then and there that I am okay with the inability to build a staircase! I guess I should have stuck around my dad a little longer and just embraced a new vocabulary. (I'm all about vocabulary...right? I AM an English teacher.)

We Are Approved...

This past week we received the news that we are now certified to become adoptive parents. The approval process itself was an ordeal as we faced a family emergency with our caseworker, a cancelled approval meeting, a message that said that we could not be approved until May, another message that said that we could be approved with a letter from the State Board of Education, us calling everyone and their dog trying to get that letter, finally getting that letter, and then, on Wednesday, us finally getting the approval pending a background check that clears in late Apr/early May. Needless to say Shawn and I are very excited about this news. In fact, we want baby shopping this week in search of a crib, a travel system (car seat/stroller/hand warmer/phone all in one easy fold up package), and even some outfits and home decor. We also were able to watch conference with our family and hang out with our friends.