What day is it in your world?

Since we have received the birth certificate there have been questions about Tamene's birthday. A number of people have asked if we KNOW his birthday or if it a general guess. Below is information about the Ethiopian calendar. On our calendar (US/Gregorian) his birthday is 10/11/05 (Every October 11 we will celebrate his birthday). According to his birth certificate his Ethiopian birthday (Ethiopian calendar) is 2/1/1998 - this date translates to our calendar as 10/11/05. We can guess that there wasn't a doctor there to notarize the date and time of his birth, but these children's birth mothers are generally able to accurately report the date of birth of their child.

The current year according to the Ethiopian calendar is 2000. There were millennium celebrations when the new year began in Ethiopia at 12 midnight Ethiopian Time on September 12, 2007 of the Gregorian calendar. The year 2001 will begin on September 11, 2008 of the Gregorian calendar.

The Ethiopian calendar is much more similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar having a year of 13 months, 365 days and 366 days in a leap year (every fourth year) and it is much influenced by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which follows its ancient calendar rules and beliefs. The Ethiopian calendar is always seven years and eight months behind the Gregorian (Western) and Eastern Orthodox Church calendars during September and December and eight years and four months behind during January and August. Therefore, the Ethiopians will celebrate the new millennium on September 1, 2000 Ethiopian calendar (September 12, 2007 Gregorian calendar).


Alright - trivia lesson out of the way. What's next?

I am definitely back at the blogging and the lists. Trying to make arrangements for many of the details about travel. When you are pregnant, you just drop your kids of with whatever friend or family is on the way to the hospital and then retrieve them 1-2 days later. The hubby can run home and let out the dogs while you sleep. Worst case scenario the kids miss two days of school - maybe three. This process is a little more complicated. Finding a place for the kids, and making sure they get to school everyday (I don't think it is in the best interest of my 1st grader to miss more than one day of school) is priority one. Priority two: the pets. Someone has to watch them, someone has to make sure they get their basic needs met for two weeks. From there is it issues of mowing the lawn, checking the mail. A different kind of back up is required when you are actually out of the country and potentially not reachable by phone...

Sorry to cut off the random thoughts - but I am off to test drive a mini van (Sister in Love, ZIP IT!!)