Summer BBQs

I had a fun-filled weekend of BBQs.

Saturday, I attended my co-worker, Saffron's, BBQ with her boyfriend's family. They are such a sweet family and they invite me frequently to BBQs. They had a 4th of July BBQ last year and I was the token American. This weekend they had a Swiss themed BBQ because they have Swiss family members that were in town.

The best part of the BBQ was the bouncey castle as they call them here. Takes you back to childhood parties!

Sunday I attended another BBQ with my home group lunch. There was a great mix of people and a group of American students that are on a mission trip. (I've been hosting two of the students this past week). We had a great time with good food and fun people. There was water fighting, ball games, hand games, and cute children.

I took four really cute pictures ... but for some reason my phone did not save them :( sad day.

I'm loving the BBQ season!!!

Cambridge

Today for work, I visited Cambridge for the first time.

First, I have to say, I LOVE being on trains in England. I always feel like I'm going somewhere exciting and new. So to have an Americano in one hand and a train ticket in the other, I'm a super happy girl.

I took the train from Canterbury to London and then walked 5 minutes between two train stations: St Pancras and Kings Cross for those of you that know London transportation. Then, I went from London to Cambridge. I made it just in time to catch the "express train" which was like 45 minutes straight - no stops - between London and Cambridge = BRILLIANT!!! I arrived 30 minutes earlier than expected.

I decided when I was in London for like 20 minutes total today, that I am starting to understand why the Lord does not have me living in London. I think if I lived in London, I would never leave England. I LOVE London. I love the atmosphere. I love the hustle and bustle. I love the underground. I love the diversity. I love the travelers. I love the sky line. I would even say I like picking the black boogers out of my nose due to all the smog - but that may be taking it a little too far. Typically, I love most things London! I even had a quick chat with a backpacker from California in the bathroom - love that!!!

So, again, my insight today was that I don't live in London, because I would never want to leave and I know the Lord has different places planned for me in the future.

SO....moving onto Cambridge.

My taxi drivers today were fantastic and hilarious!

I picked up my first driver at the train station. He told me he was born and raised in Cambridge. He had no clue where I needed to go though with the address I gave him, so he pulled out the map. When he located the place, he asked me why I wanted to go there. For confidentiality reasons, I dodged the question. We talked a little about where I was from and he found out that I had never been to Cambridge before. He asked me if I was sure I wanted to go the address and suggested that I should visit the town centre, Cambridge colleges, and go punting instead. He even decided to take a different route so he could show me some of the sites. He then asked me where I from again and after I said Texas for the second time and he started singing the Dallas theme song! HILARIOUS!!!! He talked to me all about JR, Sue Ellen and the gang. All I could really contribute to the conversation was that I hear they are making a new series - he was excited about that though. Before he dropped me off, he suggested again that I have 'my friend' take me punting on the river before I go home. What a cool guy.

On the way back to the train station, I had a Turkish taxi driver. He, too, was interested in where I was from. After I told him Texas, he reminded me that George Bush is from Texas. I agreed. He said he met a lot of tourist and he says that sometimes the tourist from Texas tell him that George Bush is from Massachusetts?!?! Then he asked me if there were any wise people in Texas? "excuse me, I don't understand the question?" He said that he wondered if there were any wise people in Texas because they voted Bush for governor and president. I laughed, told him that many people from other states voted him president two times in order to dodge the question. He was pretty funny. I was thankful to him because I booked my taxi to the train station, but I told him I was super hungry and asked if he had any recommendation near the train station. He told me about a Subway -- so I said YES PLEASE!!!

The Subway worker from Pakistan thought I was Canadian ... not sure why ... but he did!

Today was a good day! I wish I could get out of Kent more for my job! :) I recently tried to convince my District Manager she should send me to New Zealand for an assessment ... but she told me it would not be cost effective and instead suggested I write a letter. I jokingly questioned her commitment to safeguard children ... HA!!!! Hopefully, I get to go somewhere else exciting in the future!

Tonight I have hitchhikers sleeping in my backyard.

When my housemate, Karen, got home at about 9:30 pm tonight, she walked in with a big smile on her face.

--"HANNAH, I picked up two Czech Republic hitchhikers tonight at the petrol station. They are really nice girls. Would you mind if they stay in our open bedroom tonight?"

I guess she could tell by my wide-eyed glare that I was not feeling too keen about this request.

--"They could stay in the back garden if you prefer? Or they can go up the hill to the field to sleep. I haven't told them I'm asking you if they could stay here."

After I asked her if she realized how crazy she sounded, I told her I wouldn't mind if they stayed in the backyard.

She told me not to worry, one of the them is a Christian. HA!

We let Anna and Petra inside to use the bathroom and brush their teeth. I got the opportunity to say hello to both normal looking girls.

Now, they are sleeping in my backyard. Karen said they have a tent, but when I looked outside, they are in their sleeping bags on the grass ... hmmm.....

I feel really guilty about not letting them stay inside the house. I mean, we currently have three open beds. But, there is just something a little scary about letting "hitchhikers" stay inside.

Later, Karen gave me a little more details. She said she saw them getting out of a lorry when she was at the gas station about an hour away from the house. She waved them over and asked where they were going. They said Dover and she said she was going to Canterbury. They got in! Apparently, they are two university students that are doing a bit of traveling for the next few weeks. ---- There is something a little creepy about hitchhiking rides in lorries if you ask me. Karen said they are going to try to hitchhike another lorry ride across the English Channel on a ferry. I guess you can't just walk on the ferry???

Tonight, my mom would be proud of my choices .... but, again, I feel a little bad.

On the bright side, there is a music festival, Lounge on the Farm, that is happening in Canterbury this weekend. I can hear it outside my window ... so at least they have some tunes to put them to sleep!

Goodnight, Anna and Petra - I hope you enjoy our grass ... :/

Adoption

Today I had a discussion with a coworker about adoption. It ended with me again feeling frustrated about the adoption culture in this country. It seems that adoption is basically an after thought - if it is a thought at all.

Some questions I'm pondering from our conversation ...

Why do people here only consider adoption after they tried ages to have a baby naturally or through IVF?

Why would it be better for a dually heritage child to be placed with a couple with one person who is dual heritage (even if they are not of the same heritage as he child and potentially different sides of the world) rather than a white couple?

Why is it looked down upon to have a child that it not the same color as you?

Why do people think you are strange or a "better person" if you would consider adopting as a first choice rather than a last resort?

Why would you put a Christian couple at the bottom of the stack because of your own bad experience with religion?


I am passionate about adoption. The adoption culture here is unexplainable and I struggle to articulate my thoughts about it clearly.

Rightfully so, there is a big push on matching a child's identity as closely as possible. But at the end of the day, the child is being given a new identity with new parents because there was something about their biological parent's identity that was not meeting the child's need (in the cases I deal with at least). Shouldn't we trust the new parents to shape the child's identity and provide them an understanding of their birth identity - even if the couple does not reflect that identity ....


This new guy was sent to sort out the adoption crisis in England.


Here is a link about the changing law for mixed race adoption that I found.

I do hope and pray there is change in the adoption mindset the future...

Organization

I would like to think of myself as a sensibly, organized individual. I like the fact that things have places and I like for the things to be in their designated places. I am one of those weird people that color codes my closet in length order (or wardrobe in England) and I even line things (like books, boxes, bottles) in height order.. I'm not too OCD about these desires, because on occasion, my life does look like it has been hit by a tornado and everything thrown everywhere. But on most days, I like things orderly.

Organization seems less than possible in my current job. I feel like at times I can't keep my head on straight. I am the Queen of To Do lists, but nothing ever seems to get marked off nor does the list ever seem to shorten.

I have over 1000 emails in my work inbox 60 of which haven't been read. I have many hand written notes that need to be typed and thoughts in my brain that need to go down on paper.

I have GREAT ideas about how to bring organization into my work life, but I lack time to implement this structure and feel like I would NEVER get caught up to make it work well. OH MAN....

Sadly, this does roll over into my personal life as well. I want to scream when I think about looking at my home email account. I have many emails that need responding, but well....I "just can't be bothered" (a frequently used English saying" to type anything else or think in general at the end of a long working day.

So, I apologize if you are awaiting an email response from me. I hope to one day respond to you, but please know that I have read your sweet message and am very thankful you have sent it! :)

I think I need a personal assistant. Any takers? Anyone want to move to England to help me stay organized!

"Good morning this is Hannah. Hi this is Hannah. How can I help you, this is Hannah."

Today was a duty day. :(

AYI YAI YIAYI was I busy.

I spent the entire day taking and making phone calls. I didn't even leave the office. How many calls did I take/make today?

FORTY ONE! That is 4 - 1 !!!! Holy Moly!

When I realized it was going to be one of "those days," I quickly opened a word document, put on my head piece, and gave my fingers a little stretch. Ready.... set..... go!

Call after call .....I listened, typed, responded, typed, made quick bandaid decisions typed and moved on to the next issue.

....after call after call after call all the way to 41. I actually think it may be over 41 calls, but at the end of the day I counted my word document and only had written down 41.

I spent the final hour and 45 minutes copying and pasting all of the call notes on our computer system and processing and planning problems.

WOWZERS I'm glad I'm not on duty everyday.

Recipes!

Hi Friends/family!

I am on a cooking kick where I am really enjoying cooking dinner these days. It is also an attempt to domesticate myself for the future! The only problem is, I don't know what to make besides the few recipes I have up my sleeves.

I would be super grateful for YOU to email me (h.r.daugherty@gmail.com) your favorite dinner time meal recipes.

YUM!