17 Months and No Closer

Yesterday we were logged in 17 months, but yet we are only getting farther away from a referral. When referrals came out in October I checked the China Adoption Forecast  for our expected date of referral - Nov 25, 2018. It is now Dec 28, 2018. With the numbers of files going down because of people pulling out you would think things would speed up, instead China is just referring less children so things stay the same. This year was also the first year that China didn't have referral for two months, Febuary and November. Swin Flu was the excuse in Febuary, but November had no real reason given,  just a few rumors of reasons why. I wonder what 2010 will bring.

DS' UUUGGGHHH!

I was called in to sub in my regular grade 5 class this afternoon, which I was very happy about. The kids are all very nice, a bit chatty but all around good kids. Problem - DS games. No, they are not playing them during class, I have had very little problem with that, they are losing them, or they are getting stolen. The kids are leaving their games on or just inside their desks or lending them to someone else and they are going missing. 3 different children on 3 different days in the last month have lost games and this makes them very upset, parents too. The poor little boy today turned a very bright shade of red just before he started to cry.
These games are expensive, between $20 and $50 depending on the game, I don't understand why parents let the kids bring them to school or why the school hasn't put a stop to them being brought to school. I know kids will sneak stuff in regardless of parents and school rules, but it would stop most. It's frustrating when the kids are so upset because their game is gone, no one knows anything or can find it, and all I can say is you shouldn't of lent it out or brought it to school in the first place. I feel bad for them but what else I can do.

Snow!

Yesterday morning when I got up we had no snow on the ground, this is what it looks like this morning. 38cm of snow fell yesterday, now it looks like a winter wonderland. Personally I don't like the snow and cold much but I have to admit it is pretty, everything is so clean and white. Maybe I'll be able to get some nice pictures later to post.

It's Finally Here!

Aunt Reina sends me a birthday gift every year, This year it was late. She mailed it on the 12th of November but it only arrived here yesterday. Gotta love snail mail. Usually I get facecloths because Holland has the best facecloths, They are like rectangular mitts. I've used them my whole life and won't use anything else. Right now I think I have enough to do my grandchildren so I asked her to slack off on the facecloths for a while.  So this is what she sent me this year, isn't it cute!  It's a dutch toilet paper and toilet brush set, and dutch oven mitts, pot holders and a tray. I love the little boy and girl kissing, they're adorable.

Work has been going ok, no more full weeks since the beginning of November, but I am getting some days every week. I had 57.5 hours during November, which I am very pleased with. (A full school week is only 25 hours.) I can't be too greedy and expect 5 days a week every week right? February, March, and April are the months with the most work so things will only get better.

My mom is doing good too. Healing up well, and no radiation needed, which we are all very happy about.

Happy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I decided to make cookies this morning, with no calls for school I had nothing else better to do.  Plus my sister and her boyfriend are coming for supper today since it's my birthday.  The cookies turned out pretty good. The dough didn't stick together very well, but once it was cooked it was fine. There use to be a cookie place here called Treats, they had an all day cookie I loved, and that is what these cookies taste like.

Here's the recipe -

Happy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

- 2 cups unbleached flour

- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/2 tsp.salt
- cinnamon to taste (optional)
- vegan chocolate or carob chips - put in as many as you like
- 1 cup raw sugar (turbinado #1, sucanat works too but sucks up a lot of the moisture)
- 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup water

Directions:
VERY IMPORTANT-make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. It will work if they're not at room temp but it works MUCH better if they are. Also while your oven is pre-heating put the cookie sheets you are going to use on top of the oven so they get preheated as well. Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon (if you choose). Add chips. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a medium size bowl mix vegan sugar and oil. Mix it well. Add the vanilla and then add the water. Mix it well. Add the wet to the well in the dry. Mix it well but be careful not to overwork it. Add more chips if you need to. Spoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Put them in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes and then flip and rotate the sheets.(top to bottom,and 180 degree rotation) Bake another 4 minutes and check them.

The cookies are done when they seem a little bit softer then you want them to be. They will harden up some as they cool. I usually go in two minute increments from here untill they get to where I like them.

Take them out when they are done and move them to wire cooling racks. If they split or come apart when you try to remove them let them sit on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring them to the racks.

These cookies have come a long way, lots of time and tasting spent on getting them to where they are now. Vegans and non vegans LOVE them. In the words of my 6 year old son-Mom, you're the greatest because you know how to make the best cookies. Enjoy and let me know if you have questions. Sweet travels.

Serves: almost two dozen

Preparation time: 15 mins? -10 to 12 cooking time

Why Everyone Seems to Ask

This is the question I have been getting from all my friends and family when they find out I've gone vegetarian. I don't say anything about the vegan part of it since I get enough strange looks now. We went to dinner at my mother-in-law's house Sunday, who now refers to me as a hard case, and my sister-in-law and her boyfriend were there. What a look I got when they found out, I had to check to see if I had sprouted a second head or something. She was completely bewildered that I wouldn't want to eat the turkey, which I personally never like much anyway. Then I got the "why?"

So why have I decided to stop eating meat and animal by-product you ask.  There are a number of reasons actually.

First, I do feel very bad for the poor animals and the way they are treated, it's cruel. 

Second, We have a lot of health problems in our family, cancer and heart diease being the big ones. Both my parents have had heart attacks, my father had  a stroke and didn't even know, we only found out when the autopsy was done after he died.  This is definately a much healthier way to live. Cholesterol can't clog up my arteries if I don't eat it, right?

Third, and my biggest reason came from a documentary I saw one night. I couldn't sleep so I got up to watch tv, the only thing on of interest was a documentary about the beef industary here in Canada. That was two years ago, and it turned me from beef. It was always in the back of my mind that this is happening with chickens and pigs too, so I finally said that's it, no more, I am finished eating meat.
The documentary was done by CBC so I trust that it's true and acurate. It looks at what happens to the cattle, what they are feed, the drugs they are given, and how it affects us. It was absolutely disgusting, but I am so glad I now know.

Here's the link if you are intersting in watching it. It is broken down into five parts about 9 minutes each.
FrankenSteer 1 of 5

FrankenSteer 2 of 5

FrankenSteer 3 of 5

FrankenSteer 4 of 5

FrankenSteer 5 of 5

So is all that reason enough, it was for me.

Everything Is Good

My mother came out of her surgrey pretty good. The doctor said they got it all and it was clean all around. She won't know for a few weeks if she will have to have radiation or not. We are hoping she won't.

I had a great day at school on Friday. Besides being in Special Ed. it was games day in my class. So my 2 - 4 kids at a time would come in and play a word game if they were suppose to be there for reading, or a math game if it was a math class.  Pretty easy day.  An even bigger bonus was the Olympic torch. We brought the whole school out after recess to see the torch as it passed by. I think I was just as excited as the kids to see it. I got some pictures on my cell phone but now they are stuck there. I have no cable to transfer them to my computer, nor do I have internet access to email them. Maybe when I get enough keeper shots on my phone I'll have to scrape up the ten dollars to pay for a month of internet access.