Had a fun weekend.

Tom was over. Thursday was the Camara christmas party. At first I didn't know anyone, then some of the old skool 2007 folks turned up. Of course it re-awakens my urge to feck off to Africa. Once again, I think that I should do more for Africa and stuff for Camara. However I left pretty early.

Friday was my work christmas party. I had to be in at stupid o'clock (8:00) for a fancy breakfast. Then dinner was at a Thai restuarant in Dundrum. Then we went to a pub in Dundrum, which apparently is full of dodgy pubs. Strange considering how posh it is. I stayed too late there, then it was off to PantiBar for a few with Tom and fractal_rainbow on the grounds that herself had finished another set of college exams.

Saturday afternoon a few of the Zambia folks (James, Mairead, Dee, Aideen and Dave) were up for lunch, so met up with them. Tom got to meet them in a proper setting. Afterwards we bumped into Peter and went for a coffee, which was nice.

We are busy with last minute stuff in preparation for Daniel aka Kiddo#3's arrival tomorrow. In the mean time I've posted on our agency board to find out how to say toy, Christmas, Santa Claus and stocking as those aren't on our "list" of words and seeing how 3 days after he arrives, it will be Christmas, it would be good to be able to indicate things.

We are so ecstatic. Our journey has been long and stressful, but the reward is at hand. We anticipate hurdles, but we know our goal will be reached at the end. We feel truly blessed to be given this wonderful baby boy to parent. God is good.

Kiddo #1 & #2 are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their new baby brother. I expect adjustments in the older kid department too. Making a family is a period of transition and patience. They are both old enough to understand sacrifice and the gift of love...maybe not old enough to always process the emotions they may encounter, but that's why we're here to help them.

We think it's no coincidence that our son was born in a region in Korea that is known for its artists, writers, embroiderers, and deep religious roots. Those of you who believe in god, whatever name you may address him (or her) as, you know that God does not work in coincidences, but has a distinct plan. We believe with all of our hearts, that this child is ours, was always meant to be ours, and completes a part of our lives. We look forward to continuing the journey as a family.

I find myself awash with contradicting emotions, all normal, all ones I've felt before. There's that moment when your labor pains reach a pain level that is no longer tolerable, when your brain registers with abject clarity the permanence of your decision. Joy and love fill your heart and flashing before you, you see visions of baby, childhood, adolescence and finally adulthood milestones that your child will reach. It's all one big Hallmark commercial....and then in that same instant, you feel fear, panic, absolute terror...that's the moment of "OH MY GOD! What am I getting myself into??" but you know you can't send the baby back now (and in childbirth that's all too real as you have something akin to a pot roast wedged in your regions) and you know this is a done deal.

And then, it's over. The baby's in your arms. And you KNOW you can handle it. You KNOW this was meant to be.

With adoption, it's much the same. Instead of 9 months of pregnancy, you have 1, 2, even more years for some people, waiting, filling out forms giving government offices money, sacrificing, allowing yourself to buy a few baby items to give yourself hope, talking to others who have gone through the process, feeding off their experiences to get yourself to the next marker. The next document. The next approval. You lose the tangible reality of pregnancy...all you have are a few photos, a baby doctor visit every month or every other month...you live for that email to come into your box from the agency...you cry when new pictures arrive and you realize how much time is slipping away, how much the baby is growing WITHOUT you as the parent.

But that ever-present desire to parent this baby or child keeps you going. Hope is a powerful thing. And finally, in the end, your baby is given to you and you know that everything was worth it, and that no birth or arrival happens without faith, pain, and devotion. In the giving of yourself, you gain more than you ever can explain.

This Christmas will be special for our family. I wanted to take the time to thank everyone who has given of themselves along our journey. To those who donated money at crucial junctures, to those who donated to Brittany's Hope Walk of Love in our names, to whole convention staffs FENCON!!! who allowed us a panel to discuss adoption and Brittany's Hope Foundation to fulfill our grant obligations, FenCon allowed us to have a fund-raising table along with our normal book sales, to those who have sent gifts, cards, emails, your words of encouragement have helped us find strength when we felt we no longer had any left, your words and arms have held us up when we were too weary to find hope. Thank you to all of you.

An old African saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." Sometimes, it takes a village just to bring that child home. You are our village and we thank you.

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Angeline & Christopher

Luis just texting me.

He's taking Andrew to the emergency room. His fever didn't break and it's at 103 degrees right now.

I talked to Luis earlier. He said Andrew's been running a high fever due to pain and may have to go to the hospital if it doesn't settle down. He said it HAD gone done earlier, but kicked back in about an hour ago (from when I spoke to him, which was around six o'clock.) He also said Andrew's been bleeding from his head wound more than he should, which the doctor said might be signs of hemorrhaging.

As I've mentioned, both Luis and Andrew have my home and cell, so if anything happens, Luis can get in contact with me. I just found my cell charger, so now I WON'T miss anything, even if it's an accident.

Keep Andrew in your thoughts, guys. Luis is having to fight him to stay in bed, despite his threats to use the tentacles on him (lol.)

Cool beans! December has been a kind month to me. I'm thankful. There are spoilers in the review though, so if you don't want to know too much about the ending of the book, skip this review until you finish the novel.

Snippet: "The novel is written deftly by Bohmer and she enthralls you with not only her unique mythology but also her engaging writing style. Her highly detailed descriptions of the Wood People make them both fascinating and frightening and her human characters are so developed that you feel like you know them. The book pulled me in from the opening pages and I finished it in merely two sittings!" --Fatally Yours Reviews

Read the full review at: http://www.fatally-yours.com/horror-literature/book-review-the-black-act-by-louise-bohmer/

Thanks, Fatally Yours! I'm very happy you enjoyed the read so much.


Louise xox

This is a collection of updates of things I have been doing. Twitter and Facebook have ruined me and I don't think I can stomach writing a big essay.

• Tom is awesome. Just in general. On gay male terms we've been going out 18 years. In lesbian terms we're not on our second date yet (since we haven't started living together yet)


• Motorbike has been going great recently.


• I'm definitly getting RSI, the black lung for hackers. Wrist and arms are frequnetly sore. I'm going back to the doctors tonight. I'm not sure what the medium term solution is


• Job is going fine. I changed jobs in the summer cause I thought the old company might be in trouble. Now they are letting people go


• Had a good time at the TOG Social Night last night. Lotsa geeks around, and a lot of German and talk of Germany


• Work XMas party this Friday


• Camara XMas party on Thursday, I'm looking forward to seeing some old faces.

Hello everyone,

I'm sorry I've been absent from Livejournal, but I figured since this is important news, I'd post it.

Andrew's been in a car accident, but DON'T WORRY! He's fine.

Andrew contacted me earlier (about two hours ago) saying that he wanted to clear up something before it got through the grape vine. Earlier today, he was in a car accident caused by someone who ran a red light. After being T-boned on what I assume could have only been the driver's side of his vehicle, he went to the hospital and found out he had three broken ribs. Along with this, he had to have glass dug out of his head and fourteen stitches put in to close the wound. When I talked to Andrew around five, he was doped up on pain medication, but said he was fine.

Just a few moments ago, I was in contact with Andrew's partner, who was asked by Andrew to alert people to what's happened. But since he isn't completely aware of all the social networks Andrew is on, Luis gave me permission to alert everyone of what's happened.

Again, Andrew's fine, so there's no need to worry. Obviously it'll take a while for him to heal from the broken ribs (much less his head,) but thankfully he's alive and not more seriously injured.

I've given both Andrew and Luis my home phone number, so both of them will be able to contact me should something else come up.

Send Andrew your thoughts and prayers, guys. He's going to have a rough few weeks ahead of him.

~ Kody

Meme from kelemvor. (Although I'm beginning to think he thinks I live in Catholicistan :P )

1. What's the best thing about growing up in a Catholic country?
Can't really think of any good things. A generation ago ireland was a different country. Right now it's as if the country has woken up from a massive bender with a splitting headache, has seen the damage (e.g. Ferns Report, Murphy Report, Ryan Report, etc.) and is has intentions to change.

The following are things that only became legal in my lifetime: Divorce (1996), Gay Sex (1993), Condoms (without perscription) 1985.

Of course it means Fr. Ted is a fantastic satire of Irish life. Here are some examples:

1. The Holy Stone of Clonrichert
2. The Lovely Girls Competition
3. Bishop Len Brennan and his son (another example)
4. The Dancing Priest

2. Has the euro made things better?
Dunno. It made it easy to see we're being ripped off compared to Europe. And gave the shop keepers the chance to put the prices up. It does mean there wasn't a run on our banks, so we're not Iceland Mark #2 just yet. However I'm not sure if that's a good thing in the long run.

3. What's your favourite meal to share with T?
Pizza. Usually good Italian/French Pizza. Although I tend to get defeated.
4. When's the grand house warming? :P
Lease on my place expires in Mid Febrary, so after that. Looks like Tom'll be over here then. So, yeah big old house warming then :D
5. Which would you prefer - religious power in a secular state, or political power in a religious state?
Meh, either way the power will be abused by those in power. There's enough example of either side being abusive.


And here's the obligatory viral bit...

♦ Leave me a comment saying "Resistance is Futile".
♦ I'll respond by asking you five questions so I can satisfy my curiosity.
♦ Update your journal with the answers to the questions.
♦ [Optional] Include this explanation in the post and offer to ask other people questions.

Basket Case 1, 2, 3....god I love these movies! What I really really really want are a bunch of Baby Belial dolls from Basket Case 3! So, I say to Teh Hotness...I WANT a Belial!!

Cue the Almighty Google. Google tells me "There has never been an action figure of a hot dog-loving parasitic twin, and goddamn it, there really should be. The closest Belial (star of Frank Henenlotter's no-budget classic Basket Case) ever came to being captured in plastic was as a Japanese vinyl toy promotional giveaway for the film's sequels. Japan always gets the coolest stuff."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

So I search some more. I come up with some sorry resin model that didn't do Belial justice. Then I find some chick posing a question on Yahoo answers about her boyfriend telling her there's a Belial throw pillow.

Great! So... now I find out there's a Belial throw pillow AND a cool Japanese vinyl toy of Belial neither of which I can find anywhere on the net. I can't even find photos of the figure or pillow that someone might be brazenly posting on their website or journal to tease the rest of us Belial fans with!

Maaaannn...even Ebay came up dry.

I'm now eyeing my bucket of latex...and fondly caressing a lump of clay...it's not a question of IF I can make a Belial...oh, I KNOW I can make a cute, squishy little latex Belial....I can make a bunch of cute, squishy Belial babies too...but now I'm faced with the "rightness" of making a Belial doll.

I suppose I COULD make one for my own personal use. I can't make them and sell them. That would be some sort of copyright violation. I could make a Belial of my very own and name him something else I suppose.

It would be a lot of work. Sculpting the clay Belial and making a mold of the sculpture...then pouring the latex and painting...probably more work than I have time for especially with Kiddo#3 coming soon...

But, gee whiz, Santa, it sure would be AWESOME if you popped a Belial doll down my chimney this year!