What does Invisible Kid eat?

Emerill did a show tonight about the international foods of Queens, New York. You know, that place where The Nanny, Archie Bunker, and The King of Queens were about? I think that last Bill Cosby show, too. (Hey, my old blogger buddies better stop laughing at me right about now!) Anyway, one of the recipes he featured was the national soup of Colombia. Who would have known that there are so many Colombians in Queens, New York? (Really, stop laughing at me.)

I'm not a good cook. I like to cook, but I don't like to clean up afterwards so I don't do much fancy cooking. My favorites lately are baked ziti, grilled chicken, shrimp in garlic and oil, and anything I can pop in the microwave. Lucky Boy is a very picky eater, and he won't eat ziti or shrimp so we're pretty restricted. At least over the summer we can barbecue. I mean, who doesn't like hamburgers and hot dogs! (Well, I eat the turkey hot dogs and usually don't tell Lucky Boy, he just thinks I buy a different brand. Hee hee, you won't spill my secret right?)

OK, let's gather some recipes and see if they will actually work for my family:

1. Colombian Chicken Soup (as seen on Emeril) http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_35681,00.html
   This will not work for Lucky Boy. He doesn't eat soup and he will not touch salsa. And does anyone know what "Bijol" is?


2. Wikipedia entry on Cuisine of Colombia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombian_cuisine A bunch of fruits I've never heard of and I'm fairly sure they don't sell in my local supermarket. Another soup called ajico that doesn't seem the same as Emeril's recipe. Barbecued meat (woo hoo!). Two more soups. Another "national" dish that includes ground beef, plantains, and avocado (tonight I had frozen beef patties and frozen plantains, I guess that's similar). Cornmeal pancakes (Lucky Boy loves his pancakes!) with cheese. Something called arequipe that apparently can be eaten by itself or as an ingredient in other desserts. Good thing there are more links to a bunch of these foods!


3. Sancocho http://www.recipezaar.com/253801 Another soup, and this recipe has WAAAY too many ingredients for me. I did see a bag with frozen ingredients that said all you have to do is add cooked chicken or pork and it will be "sancocho," so I guess I can try that. I mean, I can boil water!


4. Flank steak (or substitute skirt steak) http://www.recipezaar.com/229300 I know Lucky Boy eats steak, and I know he eats skirt steak. And this recipe has a lot of ingredients but they're mostly seasoning. (But I don't know if I really want to add beer to a recipe for Invisible Kid.)


5. Ground Beef in Sauce http://www.recipezaar.com/229295 REALLY easy. I think I can actually make this one!


6. Recipes from my mom http://maelisa.home.sprynet.com/recetas/ But it's all in Spanish. ALL of it. :-(


7. Avocado and potato soup http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/americas/colombian/00/rec0002.html Yeah, another soup. I think I'll be floating away if I make all these soups.

Of course there's always pizza, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, PBJ, chicken nuggets, all those classic kids foods. Those are international, right? I mean, I know that last year I watched the kids eat salad, pizza, and mac and cheese. Invisible Kid will eat those, right? (Lucky Boy will eat pizza and nuggets, too.)

Some pictures:

Arepas - cornmeal pancakes that can be filled with cheese or chocolate.








Bunuelos - they look like munchkins (donut holes) but the recipe says they have cheese in them.








Bogota barbecue. Does that corn look burnt? It just looks like some hot dogs, piece of meat, and some potatoes.

Ariquepe, which one of the recipes says is also called Dulce de Leche (like the Haagen Daaz ice cream flavor). It says this is a popular dish in Colombia, Venezuela, and Guatemala. Strange - Guatemala seems worlds away from Colombia in my mind. (Really, my old blogger buddies need to stop laughing at me, please.)

Increasing the effort

I have a bunch of knit and crochet scarfs that I'm going to try and sell. Not "sell," per se, but more like bring in to work and ask for a donation. I used bits and pieces of yarn from leftover projects, or abandoned projects. I also inherited a lot of yarn when Lucky Boy's mother passed away, so I started to use that, too. I'll bring the scarves to work on Monday and take pictures of the ones that don't go at work and post them to this blog. None are very fancy, but every bit helps, right?

I also listed a bunch of books on Amazon. They were mostly textbooks and trade books from when I was in grad school. Considering I purchased a bunch on Amazon, I'm hoping that by listing them LOW I'll get some offers. Again, I'm not looking to make BIG money on anything, but if I sell the books I'll have more space in my house AND a few more dollars in the account.

I didn't get through the scrapbooking stuff yet, but it's still in my plans. And a sinus infection grounded me for most of the week, which is why I didn't mail any of the other things (today is a blizzard and I'm terrified to drive in any snow). Everything is in a nice little pile waiting to go to the post office, hopefully tomorrow if I can dig out.

Lucky Boy wants to go to some concerts this summer so he's putting his budget together for that. I usually go with him to concerts so he's not alone, but in truth I can take them or leave them. I think for every concert we don't go to, I'm going to put that money "in" the fundraising total. Tickets for The Police go on sale tomorrow. We saw them last year, but Lucky Boy really wants to go again. Good news - the concert is during the hosting experience so I definitely can't go, so I'll be updating our fundraising total as soon as we find out how much he spends on his one ticket. And Celine's concert, missing that will be a sacrifice so I'll definitely be adding the price of two tickets to the fundraising total. (I've already seen her in Vegas, the show is amazing and I so much would love to see her again, but I'd also love to add $300 to the fundraising total...)

Optimism

For some reason, I'm feeling pretty optimistic tonight. I hope that's a good sign.

Free to a good home

I'm just listing a few things tonight, and I'll add to it as the week goes on and I find more stuff that I really need to get rid of. It's not that anything is wrong with this stuff, it's just that I have WAY TOO MUCH of everything. I'm trying to simplify my life so that I can complicate it with more important things, like people.

1. Quilling supplies - I always had these great ambitions to make lots of quilled stuff. Cards, wall hangings in shadow boxes, embellishments for a scrapbook. It never really happened. If you've ever wanted to learn to quill (roll strips of paper), this is a great deal. I'd appreciate it if you could reimburse me the postage, but I'll even send it without that commitment just so that it goes to a loving home. The supplies include: LOTS of quilting strips, a book with some starter patterns, a circle template, and two quilling tools. Estimated cost of all these things is about $40, estimated shipping is about $8 because I can probably get it all into one of those Priority Mail bags. These supplies have found a good home.

2. Really cute outfit for a baby girl, size 6-9 months. It's a pink onesie and denim skort, with a pack of barrettes. Purchased at Walmart, probably cost around $15. Never worn, I just forgot to give it to my friend for her granddaughter and now she's outgrown it. Estimated shipping is about $5.

3. Blue dangle earrings. From the brand 1928. Dark blue square with a slightly lighter blue flower on top of it, both in some kind of crystal type thing. Very elegant, but I don't do dangle earrings. They were a gift from a friend (who doesn't read the blog). I've never worn them. They will fit in a regular envelope so no shipping!

4. Notepad with the the Eiffel Tower as a cover. Perfect for a French teacher. Never used. No idea what the shipping would be, probably less than $2.

Stay tuned for A LOT of scrapbooking stuff!!! If you're interested in any of these things, please leave a comment with a way to contact you. (Comments with e-mail addresses will not be posted on the blog, the blog is set for me to approve all comments so you don't have to worry about spammers, plus you can even leave a comment if you don't have a blog with just your e-mail address and I'll be in touch with you.)

Buscando un mejor futuro (Searching for a better future)

This video is completely in Spanish, but it tells the story of one of the kids I translated for last summer. I know this little girl. I've hugged her and played with her and she's told me her stories. She's such a sweetie and I'm glad she found her family. (She's not home yet, though.)

Childhood Regained: Urban orphans of Colombia

When you watch this video, you'll see kids who had been in the US with the same organization we're hosting through. Yes, I have actually met two of the kids in this video now that they are home with their families. (Kinda cool, huh? One of the younger kids in this video may actually be the Invisible Kid.)

Summer camp

I just realized that I need to look into summer camps in my area. I need to look into summer camps! Wow.

OK, it seems that my town has a free program, ages 6-12. Free. They have counselors, it's at a local park/playground. From what it reads on the town website, you sign up NOW and basically just drop the kids off. They don't have camp on bad weather days, since it's an outdoor program. But they also organize some trips to local fun places (that Lucky Boy and I wanted to take her to anyway), so it's not just all days at the park. Free is definitely a plus, but I'm a little curious what kind of supervision they have and what the other kids in the program will be like. I'm not too worried about the language issue, since there are many Spanish-speakers in my town. I guess I'm just taking for granted that there will always be a Spanish-speaker around when you need one.

My friends had mentioned another local program that has week-long camps. One son went to softball, and another friend's son went to soccer and his daughter went to swimming. There's a fee, but it's also run out of the local high school so it's not a HUGE fee, probably comparable to other weekly camp fees in the area. I can also ask for a scholarship, the hosting organization has a template letter for that. I'm just a little concerned with commiting to a full week (or a few weeks), without having met her or even knowing anything about her. Age? Interests? I mean, what if I sign her up for a week of swimming and it turns out she's terrified of the water and refuses to swim?

I'd really like to find a program that has 2 or 3 days a week, rather than all five days. There's another program that runs an afterschool program a friend's daughter goes to. I think my neighbor also went there, I'll have to ask her (she's now 13). I think the part-week program would be a better option for ME because it's structured, it's not ALL me, and it gives her a break rather than going all five days.

Whatever it is, we really need to get started on this NOW. We'll have a better chance of getting a scholarship if we start asking around now, and we'll probably have a better idea of what programs are available if we start visiting and asking around. It's kind of hard to plan on a summer camp when I have no idea about the child! (If we're really talking "ideal world," I'd ask my friend who has an 8-year old which camp his daughter is going to and we'd make the plans together, but then what happens if the Invisible Kid isn't close to 8?)

OWOH update

I'm really blown away by this blog event. I'm used to adoption blogs, people celebrating progress or worrying about changes in the process. I'm not used to so many comments of people saying, "Wow, that sounds neat." Since my blog is set to approve comments, I get all of the comments e-mailed to me before they are posted on the blog. At first it was cool seeing all the comments come in. I guess I didn't really expect SO MANY comments, because it seems that every time I open my e-mail I have a bunch more to approve. I shouldn't really complain, though, because all of those comments will stop today. Today is the last day to enter my giveaway raffle.

I offered first a knit hat, three shades of tan with different knit stitches so it's a little texturized. I think it's adorable, it's the second hat I made with this pattern (the first was all one color and the recipient loved it). I only expected a handful of comments, so when the comments really started to build I decided to add another giveaway. I then offered a grey hat, also a combination of stitches but this time all crochet. I actually like the grey one more (grey is one of my favorite colors). Last I checked I had over 60 comments, so let's see how many more I get today.

If you haven't checked out the One World One Heart blog (see the link below), you really need to. Click on any of the blogs in the blogroll and you'll be amazed at these things. I've made my way down about 1/4 of the entries, but I totally wish I had more time to sit and gawk at the offerings. Not only are the giveaways beautiful, but I'd really like to browse through more of the blogs to see the artists' other works, find out more about their lives, etc. There are a lot of altered artists, who combine papercrafts, decoupage, lucky finds, etc. and create beautiful showpieces with a vintage edge. I've seen a bunch of scrapbookers, which used to be one of my hobbies back when I had a lot more time. I even saw a quiller, something I've dabbled with recently but I just can't seem to get it right (I bookmarked her site so that I can copy some of her designs). I actually haven't seen any other fiber artists (knit, crochet, embroidery, etc.) yet, which seems strange to me because most of my crafter-friends do one of those hobbies also. I'm actually a member of three local knitting circles, although I don't get to the meetings as often as I used to.

I haven't entered every giveaway, although I DO love most of the pieces I've seen. I mean, really, they are wonderful and beautiful works of art and I would be delighted to display any of them in my home. But I have so much "stuff" as is, I need to find better places for all of the stuff I already have, and I'm trying not to buy NEW stuff. I did enter a few giveaways for things like journals or things I would gift away, but I'm really trying to restrain myself. I know it's "free" if I win, and for many of the raffles there are 100 comments for 1 giveaway, but I don't want to get into the purchasing-mentality. Please do not be insulted if I didn't enter your giveway, because for most blogs it was really hard to NOT comment and enter.

OK, I've relieved some of the guilt. Time to tackle the snow and ice mix...

Info meeting - success!

We went to the meeting today and it was GREAT! First off, last year's coordinator WAS there, so it was nice to chat with him and his family. At least Lucky Boy felt comfortable because we knew people; most of the other families were at their first event so it felt like we were a step ahead. Plus, we already knew the details of things like fundraising for the organization, weekend family get-togethers, and some of the rules.

Second, LB was very attentive and interested. Not that I thought he wouldn't be, but you never totally know what someone else's threshold will be for sitting in a HS classroom listening to a lecture. He didn't ask any questions, but I think that was more because we already knew most of the information. He didn't realize that the escort would stay with us for a few days, apparently he missed that when I kept asking him if he knew anyone who had an air matress for the escort this summer.

Third, we DID give in the completed application. The check will go in the mail tomorrow morning on my way to work. We can update our old homestudy, so arranging that will be the next step. I actually just planned on doing a mini-homestudy with whatever summer social worker the organization will be using, which would cost around $200, but they are recommending that because I already have a homestudy I do an update which is $600 but that would be ALL I'd need if I decide to pursue an adoption. Kinda scary, I'm taking a $400 risk by doing the update instead of the mini-version. I guess in the long run, it isn't really that much more to just collect all of the paperwork as if we were host-to-adopt rather than host-possible-adopt. I don't think I'm going to send in the immigration paperwork until after The Invisible Kid is here.

And here's a bit of information that neither of us realized before. One of the things we've been looking forward to MOST if we eventually have a child is to take her to a vacation area about 3 hours north of us. We've gone there the past few summers and we keep imagining what it would be like to actually watch a child enjoy it, to enjoy the amusement parks and everything else through the eyes of a child. Well, depending on The Invisible Kid's needs (what we estimate them to be when she arrives), we CAN take that vacation THIS summer!!! We won't plan it until she's here for a few days, just to see how she adapts and if it's the kind of thing she'd actually like, but we're really hoping it will work out. And the best part is, a friend's family has a vacation home in that area, so we may be able to go and not have to pay for a hotel.

One World One Heart

UPDATE: There were 84 comments as of 7:00 AM EST when I drew the winners. The winning comments are numbers ONE and SIXTY (taken by the Random Number Generator). I'll count out the comments later and contact the winners of both hats. This was SOOOO MUCH FUN and I can't wait to go back and read over the other blogs!
Thanks for visiting!
This looks like fun. It was started to help introduce bloggers from around the world. What you do is, offer something preferably handmade as a raffle, and then you visit the other blogs who did it and you enter their raffles. That way you get to "meet" a lot of people by visiting their blogs. I've looked through some of the blogs and I saw a lot of great, creative people.

I'm not that creative, but I'm pretty artsy. I can follow a pattern with the best of them. I don't have a picture to offer (and please, let me know if you find the cord for my digital camera because it's been missing for a while now, and I'd like to have it before the summer), but I'm going to offer a handmade knit hat. It's a pretty unique pattern (which I didn't create), different stitches so there's a nice texture to the finished hat. The hat is a combination of three different tan shades. I'd wear it myself, if I didn't decide to put it in the raffle.

There's how you enter the raffle for this unique hat.
1. Leave me a comment on this post, saying you want to enter the raffle. Please be sure to leave either your blog address (if you have a blog) or your e-mail, so I know how to contact you if you win.
2. Please enter the raffle before midnight, February 13. I will announce the winner around 8AM on Thursday, February 14.
3. Please enter so that I don't feel bad. I'm hoping to get at least 10 entries. :-) (Low expectation based on the fact that I don't have a picture, plus I'm joining pretty late in the game.)
COME ON, it's FREE to enter. And check out the other raffles linked to that site, there's some really great stuff out there!

UPDATE because I'm so excited that I already have ten entries. And those are really talented craftspeople, too! (I'm used to adoption bloggers, I don't think I was expecting NEW strangerfriends.) This is so much fun, visiting all these blogs with such beautiful things. Inspiration galore! Too bad I don't want to spend more money, because I'd LOVE to buy a bunch of things from so many of these blogs. I'm having such a good time surfing!

Another update because I've seen on so many blogs how people include their time zone. This makes sense, considering it's an international thing. So, to reinforce the idea that people in New York think the center of the universe IS New York, I realized that I should also include my time zone. All times, of course, are New York time. :-) (And I'm so excited that I have 24 comments already. If I get 50 comments, I'll add another hat, also multi-stitch with texture but this one is crochet, all grey.)

Another update because I have more than 50 comments! So there will be TWO hats in this giveaway.

What now?

I sent in my application on Friday, and got an e-mail that someone would contact me within 72 hours. I don't know if that's business hours or regular hours.... I'll try to call tomorrow, but I can't always guarantee I'll have access to a phone during work.

We're going to an information meeting on Sunday. Since we already know many of the people in the local chapter of the organization from our fundraising efforts last year (as volunteers), it's really just a formality that we're attending. We want to meet the other families who will be hosting, and of course we want to see the families that hosted last year that we already met several times. I don't know if any of last year's host children are home yet, so I'm also hoping to see some of them!

I guess the information meeting will give us more of a timeline to follow. I know that we have to get started on our homestudy and fingerprinting requirements, since that will be about a 2-month process. We will not be matched with a child until the homestudy is at least started, no matches are official until the homestudy is complete. Last year, the first few families were matched at the end of May and some were still waiting to be matched mid-June. The children arrived the last few days of June last year, which means it's possible that we'll have a month (or less) to prepare for the exact child. Since we're going for the minimalist approach, a month should be enough time to find a few outfits (maybe 4 daytime outfits, 2 bathing suits, a pair of jeans, and maybe a skirt) and a few books. I have plenty of kids books in Spanish already in my collection, but they might not be age-appropriate. Luckily, I have many friends who have books for different age-levels in Spanish. I'm also asking a friend if I can borrow his PlayStation for the summer (he's 29, no kids). And I've been collecting dolls for many years, so they are just laying around my house waiting for a little girl to play with them.

We started to make playdates for the summer, too. We have friends with girls around the same as as The Invisible Kid (TIK), so we're trying to see what things we can do that are low cost but high fun. There are some local farms with lots of animals, a small waterpark, and two of those arcade places that have rides and stuff. Lucky Boy is most excited to try the bumper boats with TIK, because there's no way I'm getting into one of those things!

The popcorn arrived today. I'm hoping to get around to ebay listing this weekend, but I said that last weekend, too.

Threw my hat in

I just filled out the application!!! It's a petition to host, which I guess isn't really the full application yet(?). But whatever the "official" status is, I'm no longer waiting to start and I've started. Right on schedule. (Three years later, but right on schedule?)

I guess the next step is the homestudy and the accompanying paperchase? Very exciting.

I'm going to spend a little bit today making a scarf, maybe two. I'm hoping to sell some at work as part of the fundraiser. I can't believe we're already half-way there! Thank you all SOOOO much!