My Night With MOZ

(Sigh).... Morrissey.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would actually get to see Morrissey in concert. But I did!!!! Saturday night, my pal/former work husband and I swayed and bopped at The National to the most amazing, melancholy music ever created! It was like I was back in high school, sulking around in my Docs and thinking no one could ever understand me like Morrissey did. Oh the angst!

He sang his stuff as well as a few Smiths tunes. There was a lot of drama, writhing on the floor and he even took off his shirt and tossed it into the crowd. I have to say - the man looks dang good for 50! So what if it's sexually ambiguous? I am still totally in love with him! - Sarah

Almost a year old

Sometimes daddy can not believe how fast they grow.

Some Tax Tips From Newish Adoptive Parents (that's us)

I've been cheating on Blogger with Facebook recently, so I apologize for my lapse in meaty posts. I don't feel too bad about that, though, because I know a lot of you are on the FB bandwagon, too. It's digital crack, people! So that, combined with the fact that I sometimes don't speak to another adult all day, and thus my brainpower is zapped, and I'm seriously becoming less coherent. Enter Exhibit A and B (Which, btw, I still say that while she's off her rocker, there are some double standards playing out. For example, I imagine there are hundreds of parents who are allowed to take their kids home from the hospital when they have no business doing so. Can you say "Foster Care System?")

But I digress. I really DO have actual information to pass on.

Last year at tax time, Tim and I chatted about the federal adoption tax credit at length. Excluding our travel expenses, the credit would essentially allow us to recoup most of our adoption fees. We could pay off some debt and still have money leftover to stash away for a down payment on a new, larger house or perhaps even jump start our second adoption.

Tax time this year was a much more somber date with reality.

From our assessment of the laws and our dear tax advisor (TurboTax)*, we learned that you cannot claim the adoption tax credit unless your child was a US citizen and the adoption was final during that tax year. And since Nigel (and most children who are adopted from Ethiopia) came home with an IR4 Visa, he came home as a legal resident (he carries his green card in the back pocket of his onesie, yo). Now, this in and of itself is not a huge issue if your state has a speedy readoption process or you came home with your child at the beginning of the year, giving you plenty of time to complete said readoption. However, our state (Virginia) takes a while so Nigel's still not yet a US citizen, meaning we were not able to claim the adoption tax credit this year. Boo... Hiss! However, next year we're able to claim it on expenses already paid. So all will be righted.... just not right NOW. You know, when we're scraping by and counting pennies.

Additionally, because Nigel wasn't a US citizen at tax time, he didn't have a Social Security number, which is now required when you claim a dependent. So, we had to send off for an Adoption Tax Identification Number, which acts like a temporary SSN. We found this out as we were trying to file our taxes, but fortunately the IRS was quite speedy with our request for the ATIN and we were able to file in a reasonable time.

So, if your child has come home or is coming home in 2009 and you're counting on the adoption tax credit for the 2009 tax season, consider the type of Visa that your child will come home with, the time of year that your child comes home and your state's readoption process. I guess the timeless lesson here is: You can never have too much money saved away! - Sarah


***Disclaimer: Obviously you might want to consult your own tax pro. Because while I think Tim and I are a pretty smart duo, we're not the IRS.

Wow, What An Extreme Week!

Last Sunday, we got hit with tons of snow. Ok, so maybe it was more like 8-10 inches, but that's a lot for us!

But by Friday, temperatures were in the upper 70s and snowmen were dropping like flies!

Yesterday we went to a Kite Festival, where we saw kites in all shapes and sizes - including one that looked like a giant shark. Later in the day we went to the park down the street and watched two dudes practicing with their parasail-looking things... way cool!

Today, our neighbor came over to show us a snake she caught.

Then, we went for a 2-hour hike along the river.

And somewhere along the way, Nigel learned how to do this really crazy, freaked-out smile!

Let's Drill Some Wells

It's cliche, but it's true: Water is Life! We were graced with purified water for drinking and bathing during our trip to Ethiopia last summer (see above picture), but sadly, most Ethiopians aren't so fortunate. We saw children and mothers collecting water from ditches and streams, which no doubt contained harmful bacteria and parasites.

So, thanks to Lori P., bloggers across the country are coming together to build wells via Charitywater.org. For more information - as well as a more entertaining and eloquent plea - visit Lori's Web site. More importantly, you can pledge your support on her blog. We're actually making this cause our family anniversary present this year (8/3/08 is coming up quickly!). - Sarah

Financial Assistance for Adoptions

My brother, who's a CFO of a credit union, passed this along, and I thought I'd share with everyone else:

America’s Christian CU To Finance AdoptionsCredit Union Journal Thursday, February 26, 2009 GLENDORA, Calif. – Couples who need help covering the cost of an adoption can now turn to America’s Christian CU. The $500 million credit union introduced its new adoption loan program that will help prospective parents cover the costs of travel, legal expenses, agency fees or any other cost related to adopting a child into their families. Some of those costs can add up to $40,000 to the adoption process. "We consider our new product, adoption loans, part of fulfilling our mission," Mendell Thompson, president of America’s Christian, said. "We understand the unique nature of adoptions and want to offer adoptive parents our help and support as they build their family."

Teddy Afro's Breakin' Out

We're huge fans of Teddy Afro, so we were happy to hear the news that he'll be released soon. Perhaps a new record is in his future?

Word on the street is that the car accident for which he was jailed was simply to quiet Teddy, who has been critical of the Ethiopian government. In fact, four of his songs have been banned from Ethiopian TV and radio. - Sarah