November 23rd, 2008
Wow. Today was a busy day. I finished the picture album for court. I did the first part of the book exactly like the one we left with him in July and then added pictures of all three of us from trip one. Oh yeah…in the first half of the book, I also added pictures of aunts, uncles, and first cousins. Read the rest of this entry »
November 22nd, 2008
Wow. Time is flying. I can’t believe we leave in four days! I’ve been so busy getting things ready, I haven’t had much time to breathe. The big to-do items are done…we have our tickets, visas got here on Thursday, and I only have one more medical document to collect. Phew. However, my to-do list is still really long:
The list goes on and on.
All of the emotions I’m feeling right now are wacky…excited, scared, nervous, excited, extatic, hopeful, eeek. I kind of feel like I’m on a rollercoaster.
There is another family who will have court the same day we have court. Hopefully we’ll be able to connect with them. It’ll be nice having other people going through the process to talk to.
Anyway, not much of a post tonight but, I’m trying to get in the habit of writing because this will be our primary method of mass communication while we’re gone. Woo hoo.
November 13th, 2008
Yay yay yay! Yesterday, the day before my birthday, we recieved our court date. We’ll be leaving for Russia on the 26th….the day before Thanksgiving. I’d say this year, there’s boatloads to be thankful for.
This wait between trips one and two have been exceptionally hard. Once I met him, he seemed to be all I could think about. I am so excited that we’re almost together as a family that I can barely see straight.
Now that we have dates, I was concerned that the wait would get even harder however, time seems to be flying by as we try to get all of our travel arrangements, documents for the trip, and packing done. Lots to do. Lists to make. Weeeee!
Anyway, hopefully updates on the blog will be much more frequent now that I actually have something to write about…yay!
September 11th, 2008
We know that most adult learning in the enterprise is informal. You know…all that stuff you learn with you’re casually talking to other people at the coffee maker, at the vending machine, over lunch, or whatever. We also know that we have a lot to learn from each other. So, I’m working on ways we can make learning more social and collaborative. Just think of it…we’re all working together to create learning and sharing. It’s fast and up-to-date, it’s informal, and it’s always just-in-time. We’re working together, around the globe, to solve problems. And, that knowledge can be shared with new employees, growing offices, or whoever needs the information. And, that information can constantly change because we’re building it together. Anyway, I’m having trouble making my case. It seems that as soon as I start talking about social networking or the collaborative web, people start giving me the following arguments:
The list goes on and on. I don’t even have to mention those things, the examples pop into their heads automatically. But, what I’m trying to get across is that, by using Web 2.0 (collaborative and social tools that make the web “writeable” and that helps connect people to people and information instead of just people to information) we can connect people and get them sharing their knowledge. See…I still don’t think I’m getting my message across.
Here’s the thing: change. Change seems to be happening more quickly all the time. In learning, how do we keep up with the change? Plus, there’s so much stinking information, how do we get what we need when we need it? I think that the tools that the collaborative web gives us is the way! But, it’s difficult to get people on board who aren’t necessarily passionate about technology. Heck, for me, it’s not even easy to get people on board who think they ARE passionate about technology.
Now, I think back to the introduction of computers, or to email, or to any new technology in business. Was it this hard to help people think of ways the new technologies could help them do their jobs better? I’m beginning to think not. But, like I said, it’s finally occured to me why that could be!
I don’t know this for a fact but, email primarily started in the business world. So, there were no barriers to people thinking that email could help them do their jobs better. However, in the realm of social, collaborative web environments, everything started as a purely fun thing. Facebook, twitter, myspace, etc. - friends keeping up with their friends about what they’re doing, what they’re listening to, what restaurants they like…whatever. So, I think trying to help people see how the social web could help us meet the rapid pace of change is difficult because their first thought is, “but that’s only for fun, not for work.” Not something email had to over come before it could take off.
I read an article yesterday that suggested you spend your time on “passionates” and forget about the non-passionates. Will that work in business? Is it as simple as finding out who your workers are that are passionate today about collaborative technologies and building your business network with them. Will it rub off on the others?
If that’s how it will work, how do you convince the budget-makers that this collaborative stuff is not just for finding out who’s playing scrabulous now or who wants to send you a piece of flair? How can you make the case and help people forget about the facebook/myspace fun and see the benefit collaborative, social tools have for business?
Help!
September 2nd, 2008
Okay, I’m stuck. At work, we’re looking at ways to get people “connected.” Here’s a personal scenario to illustrate what I’m talking about:
My old office was right across from the coffee maker. This is a great place to be when you’re new to a company! Just by being across from the coffee maker, I met a ton of people when I was new to Weston that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. One of those people I met through coffee is Rabi. At the coffee maker, we talked about completely non-work related stuff like dogs, family, where we’re from, etc. In the process, I learned more about what Rabi does at Weston and he learned what I do at Weston. Time passes, and I feel like Rabi is my friend. I also know what Rabi’s strengths are and I can see how he can be a resource. Now, skip forward about a year or so. I’m working on a project for our 2010 Vision. I remember that Rabi worked on the global team and could help me make a better product if I can tap into his knowledge. So, I go and ask Rabi for help. Because we are friends, he agrees to help me on a different level than if I would have asked for help had the relationship not been there at all. Because of his help, the video project I’m working on took less time to create because I tapped into Rabi’s resources instead of starting with a blank slate.
This scenario could apply to any project. If an office needs to grow into a certain area, it would most likely be more successful if the office has resources and experience to tap into instead of learning the ropes all alone.
All right, that’s the goal. Here’s what’s making my head hurt… How is it that we can build relationships and get to know people when they are a zillion miles away? To answer the question, I look back on my Internet communities and the communities other people I know have built or are building.
1 - My very first experience with social networking was with Prodigy. Yup, I’m showing my age here. But, I have to start with this one because I haven’t been part of very many communities like this one. On prodigy, I went everyday to a chat room called “The Bar.” At first, I didn’t really know anybody but, over time, I felt like I knew them like a family. How did we do that? I mean, we werea group of 50 or more people who didn’t know each other from Adam but we still managed to become close enough that we “gathered” at face-2-face gatherings a few times a year. What did we have in common to make this connection? I’m not sure. So, the facts about this relationship is that we were spread out all over the place, had only “The Bar” in common, and became close through online interactions.
2 -Next, let’s look at social networks. For me, the people I’m closest to on Facebook are the people from my past…high school classmates, sorority sisters, people I work with who I already knew. I have people on my friends list who are “new” friends but, I’m not as close to those people and, as a result, don’t interact with them as much.
3 - All right, now let’s move to FRUA. FRUA is the Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption group. We have a fairly simply bulletin board where we gather to ask questions, share experiences, learn from each other, and talk about goofy stuff. I didn’t know any of those people before I joined the group but, I feel like I know them and could get support from them if I needed it. We have the experiences of going through international adoption in common. That’s our common thread.
Now, I also know that there are people who build friendship much like I did with people at “The Bar” on Prodigy…they completely don’t know each other but they are playing WoW or some other game, they all have something in common.
4 - I’ve tried to build new relationships with groups of people like I did with “The Bar” on facebook and haven’t been successful. I’ve tried it from two angles….one: by joining groups that are around the common interest of instructional design and two: by crazy stuff I have in common with other people like dogs, or connecting every thought in my head to a song. This isn’t working for me. I find that I’m easily distracted from these groups and lose interest. It doesn’t help that we really don’t have a dialogue with each other like we did in “The Bar” so, maybe that’s the issue. Anyway…
All right…what if you’re trying to help people build connections where the only thing they think they have in common is the company they work at. How do you get them to build the informal relationships (like Rabi and me or WoW people) so that, when it comes down to business, they know who to go to for help or at least are part of the network so they can get connected to the right person?
Think about the people you connect with online. What’s the common thread? Is it because of a past relationship that your online connection stays lit? Is it a relationship that you built online? How did that work? How do you keep it going? What keeps people’s interactions sustained long enough so they can develop a “friendship” so that they feel like they can go to each other for help and support? I know it can be done online…I’ve experienced it with “The Bar” but, I think I’m missing something. How, how, how can we replicate “The Bar” at our company that is spread out all over the world so that we can have a network of people who know exactly who to go to and when?
…or, am I just having a patience problem?
August 26th, 2008
I got home from work today completely expecting the CO documents to BE HERE!!! Yeah…no. Once again they’re not in the mailbox. I am getting so frustrated. I just want to know why I sent off for documents from three states…Idaho, Georgia, and Colorado…on the same day. Since then, I’ve gotten the ID document back and have sent it for an apostille and got that back…two weeks ago. The GA document is even better. I requested the document, they sent a letter back to me requesting more information, they got the document out of archives, they sent it to me, I sent it to be apostilled, AND I’ve gotten that apostille back….all before I’ve heard a peep from Colorado. Here’s the funny thing: I payed the fee for Colorado to expedite the process and get it back to me quick. HA HA HA. GA and ID didn’t have that option so, I just did those standard. Thank goodness I expedited CO, who knows when we ever would have gotten the documents. Gah! So anyway…everybody think happy thoughts that the CO documents will get here.
Okay…here’s my social experiment story. When I request documents, people that I work with are kind of cold..just doing their jobs, not particularly happy or helpful. I mean, they’re not mean or anything, they are just cold and distant. Well, yesterday when I went to get our stuff from Chester County, I decided to take a different approach. I took P’s picture (P is now E) with me. Actually, I took three pictures. One of me and E playing piano, one of E and R looking at something, and one of all three of us.
I stepped up to the counter and explained who I was and what I needed. The response…no emotion on faces, helpful but nothing above and beyond or special. So, I explain that R and I are in the middle of an International Adoption in Russia. I take out the picture and tell them that this is our family that you are helping bring together. Wow…what a difference. Immediately the smiles come out. Everyone in the room gathered around to see the pictures. They all get excited and jump to help. Quickly! It was amazing. Then they start to tell me their stories about the people they know who are going or have been through an International adoption. I left there with my documents (not just one but three!) in less than 30 minutes and I believe that everone in the room was energized by the whole ordeal. Everyone was happy and helpful and I think they may have even seen where they made a difference in my life and the lives of two others.
So, now I’m on a quest. How can you do that with everything in life? Connect with everyone like that so that all of life is pleasant and meaningful? Yup…that’s my quest.
August 23rd, 2008
Today was a beautiful day but I didn’t see much of it. It’s been paperwork day at the Petosky house. Since I’m only waiting on the Colorado documents to arrive in the mail right now, I figured it’s a great time to get all PA documents together. Today, I got all of our PA documents ready to get notarized. Holy cow…there are a lot of them. Luckily, they weren’t hard or anything just time consuming to create. Unluckily, PA has the most expensive apostille cost ($15.00 per document) and we have the most PA documents to apostille.
Anyway, the other OCD thing I did today is created the spreadsheet for the Dossier Part II documents so I can keep organized…
Yay me!
I figure we’re about 3 weeks from having all paperwork done. Cross your fingers.
August 22nd, 2008
Every day, I hurry home in anticipation that more documents will arrive in the mailbox.
Every day, there’s nothing there.
Every day, I walk away with hope for tomorrow.
That’s all I have to say. 
August 12th, 2008
Well, today has been extraordinarily wacky. I’ve reconnected with one of my most favorite teachers from high school, an incredibly good friend from college, and lots of old friends who make me think of the good times we had with music in college. It’s kind of a weird feeling reconnecting with a lot of these people because I feel like “old, musical Janice” has returned or is peeking out, or something. It’s just great to reconnect with so many good friends.
On the frustration side, I’ve finally started getting documents back for our dossier part 2. Unfortunately, of the four I’ve gotten back, only one has been usable. So, the Idaho document is on it’s way back to ID for its apostille. We also got back our background check. But, the chick who notarized it forgot to stamp it with her notary stamp so, I sent it back to her today to fix. That’ll be an extra week of waiting on the mail. I also got a letter from GA saying that they don’t accept checks…only money orders for vital records. Okay, that’s one’s my fault for sure. I should have called first. So, I’m frustrated…mostly about the notary who forgot to stamp our docs. I wanted to send her a picture of P to tell her, “This is the litle boy who is counting on us to be back soon to pick him up!”
Finally, the day ended with one of my favorite things. In Colorado, I drove about 10 miles or so on I-25. It was always very crowded with traffic and mean people. Here in Pennsylvania, I get to travel to work through farm land and horse pastures most of the way. There’s one little place where I cross over a one-lane covered bridge into a little bitty town with a mill and a little pond. There are a million ducks who frequent the pond on a daily basis. Across the street from the pond is a wetland area where there’s also a stream that feeds the pond (and turns the mill). Well, the ducks like to go from the wetlands to the pond. I absolutely love it when I have to stop and wait for the ducks to cross the road. They are just so carefree and easy going. In another life, I want to be one of those ducks. It’s jsut so beautiful to me to watch them cross the road.
I know…I’m dumb. Â 