Almost That Time Again

OK, so we're finally going to get referrals into December '05. I've calculated our referral to happen most likely around May/June, IF CCAA can refer 8 days each month. Obviously I hope it's sooner than that, but I really doubt they'll be able to speed up. This means it would take 3 + months to refer December, and about 4 months to refer January. I'm still kicking myself about letting our referral letters during our homestudy take 2-3 months. If our deadbeat friends didn't lag or flake out on us in returning their letters of recommendation, we'd have been LID at least a month sooner. Well, I guess there's nothing we can do about it now. No one could of foreseen the landslide of a slowdown.

In random news that's unrelated to adoption:

Our neighborhood is getting to be quite the daytime soap opera lately. We live in what's called a "detached condo". Our house is still considered a condo, but we all have our own attached garages, yards and no one shares any walls. Our streets are very narrow and there are no sidewalks in front for people to walk on. There has always been a rule that kids aren't allowed to play in the streets in front of the houses due to too many cars, etc. Well, there are quite a few families who let their kids play in the street, ride bikes, play ball, etc. The HOA decided to reiterate these rules since there are some young children who shall remain nameless who run amok, mostly unsupervised. One of the moms approached me yesterday and wanted me to sign a petition for our HOA board protesting these rules, and how "we had no notice". I did my best to skirt the issue since I have no intention of signing any sort of petition. These kids DO run around wild, without the real room and safety to do so. I told the woman that actually this rule isn't new, it's always been around, just not needed to be enforced. The HOA did send out a letter saying they were going to re-visit the kids playing in the streets rule a few months ago. In the HOA's very infrequent newsletter they have brought the subject up at least twice.

Then she was mad that they took out a tree (in the front-owned association) "without telling her". I told her that they did send a letter saying that there would be tree trimming. She wants to get a bunch of us together and storm the monthly board meeting. Since she's a renter, I'm not sure they'd even let her present a petition, but maybe.

Now I'm no fan of our HOA, but I agree due to the configuration of the streets, it's really not safe for the kids to be out there. A few months ago, I opened our garage to leave, and there was a kid on a bike that happened to be riding on our driveway (the driveways are very small, around 3 feet from curb to door), and I almost nailed him unknowingly. I mentioned this to our neighbor as a concern, but she didn't respond. I've also come home to the neighbor kids cutting up some food or plant item on our driveway. They tend to leave their bikes, trikes and skateboards out in the street, and sometimes trash or other toys. We do have a really nice park within 1/4 mile that's perfect for kids of all ages to use. It's too bad there's no space because the kids playing together really fosters a nice sense of community. I like hearing the kids out at play.

The mom who was complaining said she was the only one who got a letter about her kids playing in the street. She thought it was one of the other moms who ratted her out. I guess the other mom drove in one day, and honked at her child on his bike. This scared the child and he fell off his bike. The person who honked had words with the other mother then the next thing you know they're getting this violation letter from the association. I told the other mom maybe they should suggest to the HOA that they remove the "Tot Lots" play areas. They haven't been cleaned in years and I've never seen a child use them. I don't know if they're big enough to use for any other purpose, but it might be a positive suggestion.

Anyway, no one has approached me since yesterday and I hope I don't have to deal with it again. I'm not good dealing with conflict and will shy away from it whenever possible.

On the "Fires" front, most of the big fires in our county are out now. I think they expect one of the big ones to be 100% contained by tomorrow, not out completely, but contained.

Each year, DH (my Kiwanian guy), conducts a food drive and this year everyone has been so incredibly generous! It took 4 or 5 cars and trucks loaded with bags and bags of food. The local food bank was thrilled and surprised to receive so many bags.

Our neighbors will not go hungry. Thank you everyone who donated!