I stopped by here to see if the blog need to be updated, and I couldn’t believe it has been a year since i last posted. While a lot has happened in my personal life, nothing has happened with the Adoption. We are still waiting, patiently, and it seems that maybe another year will go by before anything happens.
As a reminder, we are LID June 26, 2006. Currently, or last I heard, China has processed referrals up to March 3, 2006. They seem to be going at about 6 days per 30 -45 days. So with that math we are looking at another 9 months before we see anything. I figure a year though just because it seems that the closer they get to our LID the slower things go since we apparently sent our dossier in at the height of China Adoption popularity.
All of our paperwork on this side of things needs to be renewed which is our goal over the next couple of months. After that, we are planning on going to Europe for a few weeks in September. London, Scotland, Belgium, and Germany. I want to round the trip out with a stop at Oktoberfest in Germany.
Last year I started my own company and I am happily building a well-rounded software development firm. My blogging habits continue, and my latest venture incorporates my love of beer. [ New Brew Thursday ] is a video podcast with me and two of my buddies were we try a new beer each week and discuss it. It is great fun. Here is my favorite episode so far. [ Stone Smoked Porter ].
Laura and I both have taken more of an interest in getting fit. Laura started first last year, and got a personal trainer to get her in shape, and last month she ran a 4K trail run in Malibu. She is looking fantastic, and I figure by the time we go to China next year, she will be stunning! I just started with my personal trainer, since I had a knee injury last year I had to wait. He has been working me like a rag doll, but I am loving it so far.
Here are some recent pics :
That is about it for now, I hope I will have more “adoption” stuff to post here soon, but for now, we are waiting, as always. 
Thanks for dropping by
–
Stephen
‘Gentling: a Practical Guide to Treating PTSD in Abuse Children’ by W.E. Krill, Jr. ,is due to be published in September of 2009 by Loving Healing Press. This is a first of its kind treatment guide for clinicians, foster parents, adoptive parents, teachers, social workers, and even judges. Here is what the early reviews say:
“Amazingly, there are precious few books that deal with PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) in children, perhaps because of the widespread misconception that it is rare among them. Well, it is not and the author, wading in a largely uncharted territory, develops an eminently pragmatic approach to the diagnosis and treatment of children with stress disorders of all etiologies (sexual and other). He observes them, listens to them and is not ashamed to learn from them.
The book is organized as a coherent and sequential collection of checklists and fact sheets: trauma signs and symptoms; child specific expressions of stress; a suggested course of treatment for abused children with PTSD and what the author calls “gentling”: a combination of gentle, compassionate and empathic gestures and firmness that convey to the child a sense of safety.
But the book is much more than the sum of the lifetime experiences of a practitioner: it offers an organized theory of stress, replete with psychological tests, guided or directed observations, and an evidence-based theoretical framework. It can be easily applied to PTSD in all age groups, not only children. And, as far as the treatment modality goes, it is bordering on revolutionary. With simple, pedestrian means the good doctor produces one therapeutic miracle after another where all the “sophisticated” approaches abysmally fail. PTSD victims want to trust and to be held. The author has a profound understanding of their plight and his empathic skills make all the difference in the world to his little patients and older readers alike.”
~Sam Vaknin, author of “Malignant Self-love: Narcissism Revisited”
“… a book that teaches an effective approach that must be spread to the professionals and families who work and live with the special children who struggle with stress disorders. As an adoptive Mother to a son with PTSD, I can attest to the value of this guide. Bill, a professional who understands our son and his difficult behaviors has configured a treatment plan through years of successful experience working with children in this field. Finally, tools we need to hand to our son’s therapist, school counselor and teacher are all summed up in one place, this remarkable book!”
~Taryn Potts
Hello – came across a beautiful animated short film titled “Juxtaposed” by up and coming animator and School of Visual Arts graduate, Alex Wager:
http://www.thirteen.org/sites/reel13/category/vote/
The film is inspired by Wager’s experiences with adoption and is currently in the running to be featured on PBS this Saturday night.
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