Rough Roads ahead, did you say banana and my failed career as a used car salesman?

Well with the beginning of school, life has been crazy.  Z has shown some real improvement with his behavior with his new teacher which makes me, like every mom, feel good.  I think we all fear those tantrums or difficulties may be the sign we have the next baseball game streaking crazy person on our hands, but it looks like we are taking a turn for the better.

N is doing well in his PreK and I am working on trying to help him survive his ADHD.  Some days are better than others or at least more entertaining.  Overcoming a pair of mismatched socks, accidental tooth paste ringing the bottom of the toilet or asking the lector at church if he said bananas, is easier to handle than calling 911 from your friend's house on the one night mom gets out in a week.  

He is super excited about the French exchange students we have for two weeks and loves to focus on the "way they speak English wrong" thank goodness they are understanding, He was excited that one of the boys is brown like him, but he told me he wanted him to be his sister.  I am glad he is still excited about her arrival.  

We celebrated our two year anniversary of the boys adoption this month with Oreos because mommy has a twisted sense of humor.  Although the Haitian process is only about 6 months for us so far, it already seems discouraging.  My hopes had been with a completed homestudy from the county to go off of, the Haitian homestudy would have been completed in a month, but I am not so lucky.  Almost two months later, I just received a call that the social worker is coming out to ask a few more questions while she waits for more forms/paper work to arrive.  I was prepared for the process to take a longtime in Haiti, but not in America. Guess God is giving me a peek at what is to come.  

I have completed a few fundraisers and taken on a few more since this is the only thing I can put my frustrated energy into at this point.  I broke even with the t-shirt sales but have a bunch left over that as I sell will be profit.  I had an overwhelming response to Ambit during my first 30 days and was able to sign up 14 customers, since then it has been lagging.  I am hoping as people start to see their heating bills coming in and look at how much that 2-3% guaranteed savings on their supply charges will be, more will be interested in signing up with Ambit.  I was sure I could get 15 customers of both gas and electric to get free supply for myself and use the money to put towards my adoption.  It seemed like a win-win for everyone to me, but I didn't think about the fact that people can be nervous about change, especially change that seems too good to be true.  I am hoping to hit that magic 15 to start putting the savings towards my adoption in the next few months.

I am currently involved in a scarf sale and have taken on a second job doing direct sales.  The scarves have gone over well.  They are made by a lady in Iowa who is also saving for her adoption from Haiti.  We spilt the ten dollar profit: five dollars goes to her fund and five dollars to mine.  I figure every little bit helps.  I read somewhere that if you gave birth and your child could not leave the hospital unless you paid your bill in cash, you'd find a way.  I try to think of this when my fundraisers do not pan out as well as I thought they might.  I am clearly not meant to be a used car salesman as I struggle to sell things and have even had a hard time getting people to book parties for my direct sales business, but I am trying my best to "get my baby out of the hospital debtors prison."  

I hope that as I bug people to participate in these events, they feel free to say no if they are not interested or cannot afford to help.  Taking ten seconds to consider whether they could buy something as a gift, trust me to save on their energy, or throw a party means a lot to me and will mean the world to my daughter someday. 

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If you wish to help with the exorbitant cost of adoption, please consider signing up, shopping, or donating.  

SIGNING UP

I currently am signing up people for Ambit Energy, a Better Business Bureau A+ company as well as a recipient of the JD Power and Associates Award for customer satisfaction, which guarantees savings of 2% a year or 3% for my PA friends.  Although the rate is variable, they cannot do sudden huge hikes in the cost because they guarantee you the percentage savings for your state and will send you a check for the difference if it costs more.  Their hikes would have to be aligned with your current provider.  Most people in my area are saving between 5-6% which averages about 125.00 to 150.00 a year.  I get a kick back for signing people up which I can put in my adoption fund, and if as a consultant I get 15 people to a sign up by September 20th, I get the supply portion of my gas and electric bill free for the year which I can also put into my adoption fund.  There are no fees, contracts, or any catches.  It is a win-win for both of us.  Your gas and electric service company does not change either.  You still call NYSEG or National Grid or your PA company for help, and they still send your bills.  Message me if you are interested as lots of my friends have already been saving through other consultants and I want to hit 15 by September 20th.  

Here is the savings of my friend's dad over an 11 month period.

Here is my website for more information if interested, but please contact me too: 

http://finnertyadoptionfund.myambit.com/rates-and-plans

SHOPPING

I have a store front at Just Love Coffee Roasters where people can buy coffee.

https://justlovecoffee.com/about/beneficiary/finnerty/

I am also selling adoption themed t -shirts I designed myself for 20.00.  I shirts still available with the tree, Captain America logo, and words.  

 and selling chevron scarves with words screen printed on them for 20 dollars which I earn 5.00 on that I will be taking orders on through October 31st. Message, call, or text me if you are interested in either.  

DONATING OR SHOPPING

I am currently raising money and selling items through One Mission Fundraising.  This is both a crowns funding donation site as well as a site that sells gifts for fundraising.  So people can choose to shop or just donate.  

https://onemissionfundraising.com/fundraisers/finnerty-family-adoption-fund/

DONATING

Anyone who just wants to make a donation by writing a check, and not have a portion of it go to fees for the One Mission Site, can make one to my agency on my behalf.  Because they are a non-profit, the donations can be written off on your taxes.  If you are interested, checks, that have a post it note attached with my name on it or a note accompanying the check with my name, can be made out to and sent to:

EAC Inc.

Attention Tina Fell 

12608 Alameda Drive

Strongsville, OH 44149

Thank you for any help you can give!!!