I have several (SEVERAL) colleagues at work who have become pregnant, had children, and even returned back to work post-parental leave since I have started the adoption process. A few more people are returning in a month and fully expect that I will not be here. Surprise! Still here! One of the new parents who is back (as the father, he only took a week or two off) is a first time parent. He is one of the electricians for our building, and was *so* excited to be a dad! His wife is Chinese so we had discussed Chinese lessons (he is afraid of his daughter's skills surpassing his within a year!), discussed parenthood, etc. He came over and told us the day they were having a baby shower for he & his wife, so I ran home at lunch & put a little gift together to take over. He and his wife had a little daughter about a month ago. The next time I saw him he was just beaming with happiness. Pride, laughter, surprise, excitement- it was all there. Whenever I see him I ask if he has a new photo on his phone, and he often does.
Today I was waiting to cross the road to go to the gym at lunchtime and he was on the other side waiting to cross over. As the light turned & we passed each other, he looked at me with this HUGE smile on his face and said "My daughter slept in my arms for 3 hours last night!" I could not have looked at the sun and seen a thing brighter and happier than the look on his face.
This warm feeling just spread all over me. There are people who were destined to be parents. There are people whose lives were just waiting for them to be ready. I hope that they always remain in awe and wonderment at the amazing experience of becoming a parent.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
In less than 2 Weeks...
I was thinking about time today. How fast things can change, how long we wait for the changes.
Most particularly I was thinking about the changes that are coming to my life in the next few weeks.
In less than 2 weeks, Cindy will be home & our little Village will have a little one running the show. Our dynamic will change, but I'm certain it's for the better. We have waited so long for this, now in less than 2 weeks, it's really happening! Cindy & Maggie are coming home!
In 2 weeks, my college friend's younger brother is coming to stay with me for a few months while he job searches- I'm getting a temporary roomate. I have not had a roomate in maybe 9 years! This is going to be an incredible change! It's only for a few months, but it's certainly a big change!
In 2 weeks I will have sat through an adult adoptee panel discussion. I will have had time to process their views and comments and hopefully to balance some of the more unhappy adult adoptee blog views I've been reading.
In less than 2 weeks the door to my new shower will be installed- giving me 2 full bathrooms in my house. I have never owned a house with 2 bathrooms. *this* is a big deal.
In less than 2 weeks the bird-disposal guy will have come & installed bird-deterring-spikes on the knee braces under my house and the pidgeon problem I've been living with for the last 4-5 years will suddenly become a thing of the past. I had no idea it was so inexpensive or I would have done it 4 years ago.
In less than 2 weeks, March referrals will come out, and I will find out if my estimated referral month should be pushed out to November, instead of October.
Maybe it's just that life is busy now. But it certainly feels like it's rushing at full speed suddenly. It's amazing the differences you can see in 2 weeks.
Most particularly I was thinking about the changes that are coming to my life in the next few weeks.
In less than 2 weeks, Cindy will be home & our little Village will have a little one running the show. Our dynamic will change, but I'm certain it's for the better. We have waited so long for this, now in less than 2 weeks, it's really happening! Cindy & Maggie are coming home!
In 2 weeks, my college friend's younger brother is coming to stay with me for a few months while he job searches- I'm getting a temporary roomate. I have not had a roomate in maybe 9 years! This is going to be an incredible change! It's only for a few months, but it's certainly a big change!
In 2 weeks I will have sat through an adult adoptee panel discussion. I will have had time to process their views and comments and hopefully to balance some of the more unhappy adult adoptee blog views I've been reading.
In less than 2 weeks the door to my new shower will be installed- giving me 2 full bathrooms in my house. I have never owned a house with 2 bathrooms. *this* is a big deal.
In less than 2 weeks the bird-disposal guy will have come & installed bird-deterring-spikes on the knee braces under my house and the pidgeon problem I've been living with for the last 4-5 years will suddenly become a thing of the past. I had no idea it was so inexpensive or I would have done it 4 years ago.
In less than 2 weeks, March referrals will come out, and I will find out if my estimated referral month should be pushed out to November, instead of October.
Maybe it's just that life is busy now. But it certainly feels like it's rushing at full speed suddenly. It's amazing the differences you can see in 2 weeks.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Lucky # 13
Never thought I'd say that...but I might as well think of every month as a lucky month... to make the months go a little faster...so here we are, 13 months since log in...and minimum 7-8 more to wait...
The exciting news today is that right now it's about 10:30 in the morning in Nanchang, China, and Cindy is just hours away from meeting Maggie for the first time.
We the waiting aunties are on pins and needles with excitement, I can only imagine the feelings that Cindy is going through right now!
Friday, March 23, 2007
Adult adoptees
I've been reading blogs from adult adoptees lately and some have been quite shocking. I just found one last night from a adult Korean adoptee and it's quite interesting, she addresses the differences & points out "inadequacies" in her upbringing, but not in a way that makes you feel she is bitter, which is nice. Some of the ones I found last week were extraordinarily bitter sounding (one person went so far as to say that adoption should be made illegal and that it was "buying babies", yikes!)- which were really a little unnerving. As I process all of the information I have been reading, I think the key to remember is that regardless of how families are formed, there are good parents & bad parents. The good parents are going to be good regardless of whether their children come to them via adoption or from their bodies, the bad parents are going to be bad as well.
I wonder if sometimes it's easier when there is a larger issue in your life like adoption, for someone to say "I had a really bad experience, adoption is a bad thing" and connect the bad parents to the adoption experience. But how often do people speak up and say "I had a bad parent, my parent should not have been allowed to give birth to me."- not so much. Maybe there is a sense of entitlement to protection with an adult adoptee- a well deserved sense I would say, that why would a social worker decide that *this* set of bad parents would be a good choice to raise this child, when clearly they are unfit to parent? That's a fair complaint- and based on my exposure to social workers over the last year and a half, and the descriptions people have given of their various social workers, it's easy to think of them as "godly" people who make the best decisions all the time.
Truthfully, they are only human, and they are doing a job. They are getting paid to give you a homestudy and determine if you are going to be a good parent or not, but most times, they want their cash, and they are going to say "good enough" because....why? Good question. Maybe because they recognize that adoptive parents are examined from every angle left right and center and they want to give them a little leeway. Maybe because they themselves are religious zealots and so are the adoptive parents. Maybe because they themselves had problems with depression and so did one of the adoptive parents. There are a thousand reasons that a bad parent might get a passing homestudy. And sometimes, the behaviors that a parent exhibits as a parent, are not obvious in a homestudy or in the limited contact that the Social Worker has prior to the adoption. And coming back to context- we live in a society where 80-90% of the kids in the foster care system are NOT eligible for adoption. Why bring this up? Because it shows how our system repeatedly looks out for the parents, giving them a 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance to 'figure it out" before realizing how much the parents (biological parents I might add) screwups have affected the children. So if we consider that 90% of the time (maybe more, I'm not sure) these social workers are working with families who have had children removed from the home or are on the verge of having them removed from their home, most adoptive families probably look downright angelic comparitively. And in a job where they see family after family screw up their kids & they meet a family who says "we'll do anything for this child" and they are beaming and have the baby room all ready.....outward appearances point out that compared to the families they see nearly every day, this family seems perfect. I'm not a social worker and I'm not defending social workers who make choices that turn out poorly for adoptees. I'm simply thinking outloud to try to understand this a little better, and understand why these decisions are made.
I think that adoptees absolutely deserve to feel a sense of entitlement to having a good parent approved to become their adoptive parent. I feel bad for the adult adoptees who have had bad experiences. I just finished re-reading Elizabeth Kim's memoirs "Ten Thousand Sorrows" about her adoption experience. It was shocking. There was not a single page that was not shocking and appalling. Yet it's a book I read once and now have read again and will probably read again. It is a vivid reminder of what happens when people get to extremes. In her case her parents were religious fundamentalists. They told her over and over again how bad she was. Please tell me how can a 3 year old be bad when they've just watched their mother be killed, spent a year in an orphanage locked in a cage-like crib, and after one day in their new home they are not bubbling with laughter? This was a terribly tragedy of an upbringing, and this woman spent years coming out of it. She probably still is.
The fact is, there were families like this 30 years ago when Korean Adoption was beginning, and unfortunately, there are still families out there like this now. I hope that there are very few experiences like this now. I hope that I can raise my child with a value of self, love of her birth country and her adoptive country, and a love and respect for life and families, all families- her first family, her foster family if there was one, and her new adoptive family. I intend to bring culture to our lives in the way I live it now, speaking the language, celebrating the festivals, cooking the food, at the same time we are living the American culture (or my rather more liberal version thereof, sans TV, sans McDonalds, sans SUV...). She will have two names- her chinese name and an american name- she will be named after my Grandmother- so she will share in my family heritage as well as her Chinese heritage and we will embrace them both as major parts of our lives. Am I going to get it 100% right? I highly doubt it. But I intend to spend my life trying to do the best I can- learning as much as I can from the experiences of adoptees who came before her, and watching what my daughter needs, so that we come up with our own combination of the 'right' amount of everything. I hope that when she grows up she can look back and say- "you gave me balance" and feel good for the experience.
I wonder if sometimes it's easier when there is a larger issue in your life like adoption, for someone to say "I had a really bad experience, adoption is a bad thing" and connect the bad parents to the adoption experience. But how often do people speak up and say "I had a bad parent, my parent should not have been allowed to give birth to me."- not so much. Maybe there is a sense of entitlement to protection with an adult adoptee- a well deserved sense I would say, that why would a social worker decide that *this* set of bad parents would be a good choice to raise this child, when clearly they are unfit to parent? That's a fair complaint- and based on my exposure to social workers over the last year and a half, and the descriptions people have given of their various social workers, it's easy to think of them as "godly" people who make the best decisions all the time.
Truthfully, they are only human, and they are doing a job. They are getting paid to give you a homestudy and determine if you are going to be a good parent or not, but most times, they want their cash, and they are going to say "good enough" because....why? Good question. Maybe because they recognize that adoptive parents are examined from every angle left right and center and they want to give them a little leeway. Maybe because they themselves are religious zealots and so are the adoptive parents. Maybe because they themselves had problems with depression and so did one of the adoptive parents. There are a thousand reasons that a bad parent might get a passing homestudy. And sometimes, the behaviors that a parent exhibits as a parent, are not obvious in a homestudy or in the limited contact that the Social Worker has prior to the adoption. And coming back to context- we live in a society where 80-90% of the kids in the foster care system are NOT eligible for adoption. Why bring this up? Because it shows how our system repeatedly looks out for the parents, giving them a 2nd, 3rd, 4th chance to 'figure it out" before realizing how much the parents (biological parents I might add) screwups have affected the children. So if we consider that 90% of the time (maybe more, I'm not sure) these social workers are working with families who have had children removed from the home or are on the verge of having them removed from their home, most adoptive families probably look downright angelic comparitively. And in a job where they see family after family screw up their kids & they meet a family who says "we'll do anything for this child" and they are beaming and have the baby room all ready.....outward appearances point out that compared to the families they see nearly every day, this family seems perfect. I'm not a social worker and I'm not defending social workers who make choices that turn out poorly for adoptees. I'm simply thinking outloud to try to understand this a little better, and understand why these decisions are made.
I think that adoptees absolutely deserve to feel a sense of entitlement to having a good parent approved to become their adoptive parent. I feel bad for the adult adoptees who have had bad experiences. I just finished re-reading Elizabeth Kim's memoirs "Ten Thousand Sorrows" about her adoption experience. It was shocking. There was not a single page that was not shocking and appalling. Yet it's a book I read once and now have read again and will probably read again. It is a vivid reminder of what happens when people get to extremes. In her case her parents were religious fundamentalists. They told her over and over again how bad she was. Please tell me how can a 3 year old be bad when they've just watched their mother be killed, spent a year in an orphanage locked in a cage-like crib, and after one day in their new home they are not bubbling with laughter? This was a terribly tragedy of an upbringing, and this woman spent years coming out of it. She probably still is.
The fact is, there were families like this 30 years ago when Korean Adoption was beginning, and unfortunately, there are still families out there like this now. I hope that there are very few experiences like this now. I hope that I can raise my child with a value of self, love of her birth country and her adoptive country, and a love and respect for life and families, all families- her first family, her foster family if there was one, and her new adoptive family. I intend to bring culture to our lives in the way I live it now, speaking the language, celebrating the festivals, cooking the food, at the same time we are living the American culture (or my rather more liberal version thereof, sans TV, sans McDonalds, sans SUV...). She will have two names- her chinese name and an american name- she will be named after my Grandmother- so she will share in my family heritage as well as her Chinese heritage and we will embrace them both as major parts of our lives. Am I going to get it 100% right? I highly doubt it. But I intend to spend my life trying to do the best I can- learning as much as I can from the experiences of adoptees who came before her, and watching what my daughter needs, so that we come up with our own combination of the 'right' amount of everything. I hope that when she grows up she can look back and say- "you gave me balance" and feel good for the experience.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Rosemary Cake
There was a request for the Rosemary cake recipe- I have to credit this to not being my invention, this was a Nigella Lawson recipe- and easily one of my current faves. The recipe came from "How to Be a Domestic Goddess- Baking & the Art of Comfort Cooking". Although, I have modified it slightly. I got up on Monday morning to make it for my Chinese class Monday night for my teacher's Birthday- so made it (following the original recipe) except for the last step of adding the milk, then put it in the fridge. After work, I took it out of the fridge, mixed in the milk, but found the dough a little hard from being in the fridge all day...so I added an extra tablespoon or two. Scraped it into the pan & into the oven it went. It finished about 5 minutes early, so I took it out & went to class with it. Now these classmates have had this cake before, it's kind of a "standby" for me- very easy, very quick, always have the ingredients at home, but this time, their eyes were rolling back in their heads. No Kidding. The compliments I got on the cake this time were even higher than what I'd ever received before.
When I got home I thought it would be a good time to start on a project we had discussed a few times amont our single Mamas group- a "Village Cookbook." So, I started typing up recipes. As I typed up this one, I realized I missed out on an entire 1/2 cup of flour from the original recipe!! No wonder it was so buttery rich and wonderful! So...this is my newly adapted version. Minus the self rising flour, (I added in the required leavening agents), minus the extra 1/2 cup of flour, and with the option of going with the rosemary or without. Honestly though, I can't think of possibly making it without the rosemary. It's simply amazing!
Rosemary Cake/Cake in a Pinch
Adapted from “How to Be a Domestic Goddess- Baking & the art of Comfort Cooking” by Nigella Lawson (ahh Nigella…)
Serves 8-10
I always make this with the rosemary, and it’s always a hit. Please…make it one time with the Rosemary! It sounds a little strange to have a savory herb in a sweet cake, but you will be amazed at the wonderful mild taste it imparts! I accidentally forgot the last ½ cup of flour in the original recipe one time, and ended up with an amazing, buttery rich cake that received more compliments even than the previous version. This is my adaptation, “mistake included” since I think it’s even better this way! This is a great cake too because it uses basic ingredients you almost always have around your house. It’s a great cake for afternoon coffee on it’s own, or after dinner with ice cream or whipping cream with berries.
1 cup + 2 Tbl softened Butter
¾ Cup Sugar
3 Eggs
1 ½ C flour
1 ¼ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp salt
3/8 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
(Optional: Needles from a 4” stalk of rosemary, chopped coarsely, about 2 tsp.)
4-5 Tbl milk
2 Tbl brown sugar
Preheat Oven to 350 F. Line a loaf pan (for bread) with a sheet of parchment or foil.Cream the butter, adding sugar when it’s very soft. Cream together until pale & smooth & light. Beat in eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of flower between each egg. Add the vanilla & beat well. Fold in the rest of the flower with a rubber spatula. If you are adding rosemary, add it and mix well with the spatula. Fold in the 4 Tbl of milk. You should have a soft drooping consistency. If the dough is a little hard, go ahead and add an extra 1-2 Tbl of milk. Pour/scrape into your loaf pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top (it will seem like a lot, just go for it!) and bake for 55 min to 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack in its pan. Serve warm or completely cool. This cake keeps quite well for several days. It also freezes very well- I often make 2 at a time & stick one in the freezer- I never have to wait too long before I find an occasion to pull the 2nd cake out for!
When I got home I thought it would be a good time to start on a project we had discussed a few times amont our single Mamas group- a "Village Cookbook." So, I started typing up recipes. As I typed up this one, I realized I missed out on an entire 1/2 cup of flour from the original recipe!! No wonder it was so buttery rich and wonderful! So...this is my newly adapted version. Minus the self rising flour, (I added in the required leavening agents), minus the extra 1/2 cup of flour, and with the option of going with the rosemary or without. Honestly though, I can't think of possibly making it without the rosemary. It's simply amazing!
Rosemary Cake/Cake in a Pinch
Adapted from “How to Be a Domestic Goddess- Baking & the art of Comfort Cooking” by Nigella Lawson (ahh Nigella…)
Serves 8-10
I always make this with the rosemary, and it’s always a hit. Please…make it one time with the Rosemary! It sounds a little strange to have a savory herb in a sweet cake, but you will be amazed at the wonderful mild taste it imparts! I accidentally forgot the last ½ cup of flour in the original recipe one time, and ended up with an amazing, buttery rich cake that received more compliments even than the previous version. This is my adaptation, “mistake included” since I think it’s even better this way! This is a great cake too because it uses basic ingredients you almost always have around your house. It’s a great cake for afternoon coffee on it’s own, or after dinner with ice cream or whipping cream with berries.
1 cup + 2 Tbl softened Butter
¾ Cup Sugar
3 Eggs
1 ½ C flour
1 ¼ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp salt
3/8 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
(Optional: Needles from a 4” stalk of rosemary, chopped coarsely, about 2 tsp.)
4-5 Tbl milk
2 Tbl brown sugar
Preheat Oven to 350 F. Line a loaf pan (for bread) with a sheet of parchment or foil.Cream the butter, adding sugar when it’s very soft. Cream together until pale & smooth & light. Beat in eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of flower between each egg. Add the vanilla & beat well. Fold in the rest of the flower with a rubber spatula. If you are adding rosemary, add it and mix well with the spatula. Fold in the 4 Tbl of milk. You should have a soft drooping consistency. If the dough is a little hard, go ahead and add an extra 1-2 Tbl of milk. Pour/scrape into your loaf pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top (it will seem like a lot, just go for it!) and bake for 55 min to 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack in its pan. Serve warm or completely cool. This cake keeps quite well for several days. It also freezes very well- I often make 2 at a time & stick one in the freezer- I never have to wait too long before I find an occasion to pull the 2nd cake out for!
Monday, March 19, 2007
More Shower Pics
As promised, a few more shower pics:
Heidi hanging out with Nina...I think Nina is a little skeptical of the quality of Heidi's wave...I'm sure she's thinking 'Oh yeah, My mama can wave way better than her...." (yes but can she do so with such speed as to get the hand blur in the pic?)
The Cake- yes, I made it...yes...I recognize my cake decorating skills in no way come even close to my baking abilities. Tonight in chinese class I had my classmates eyes rolling back in their heads in Rosemary Loaf Cake ecstasy...it was my teachers birthday a week ago, so I was a little late on the cake but it was appreciated nonetheless. The cake below makes it painstakingly clear though why I stick with cakes that require precision in baking rather than artistic abilities in the frosting department. I took a cake decorating class. I know the fundamentals....but don't have the skills! I normally stick to cakes that don't require frosting at all...it serves me well.
I do SO appreciate Heidi's suggestion that I stick with chinese for the whole cake though. After writing (with extraordinarily thick store bought lettering icing) "Huan Ying Chuan" (Welcome Maggie) in Chinese, I groaned at all the letters required for "Congratulations Cindy". Fortunately...it was *so* much easier just to do it in chinese! zhuhe Cindy!!
Heidi hanging out with Nina...I think Nina is a little skeptical of the quality of Heidi's wave...I'm sure she's thinking 'Oh yeah, My mama can wave way better than her...." (yes but can she do so with such speed as to get the hand blur in the pic?)
The Cake- yes, I made it...yes...I recognize my cake decorating skills in no way come even close to my baking abilities. Tonight in chinese class I had my classmates eyes rolling back in their heads in Rosemary Loaf Cake ecstasy...it was my teachers birthday a week ago, so I was a little late on the cake but it was appreciated nonetheless. The cake below makes it painstakingly clear though why I stick with cakes that require precision in baking rather than artistic abilities in the frosting department. I took a cake decorating class. I know the fundamentals....but don't have the skills! I normally stick to cakes that don't require frosting at all...it serves me well.I do SO appreciate Heidi's suggestion that I stick with chinese for the whole cake though. After writing (with extraordinarily thick store bought lettering icing) "Huan Ying Chuan" (Welcome Maggie) in Chinese, I groaned at all the letters required for "Congratulations Cindy". Fortunately...it was *so* much easier just to do it in chinese! zhuhe Cindy!!
It was a red velvet cake with Cream cheese frosting...ooh yum!
We played...of course...the requisite shower games. Although, they did have a little twist. I gave everyone a list of chinese characters and corresponding english words & they had to match them up. 15 words in total. I was quite amused (particularly since I knew all the words I had used quite well & didn't need a cheat sheet) as I looked at people matching up "USA" with "ZOO" and "Little friend" with "water". oh the irony in some of the combinations...hee hee.... One person actually got 5 right! Fortunately, it was Connie who is now in China with Cindy! Hopefully it helps her out over there a little bit!
Quick update on the committee meeting in Salem last week:
2 families proposed the tax credit be retroactive to Jan 1, 2006 when the old bill sunsetted. Not only was the committee supportive of this, but they offered to re-write the bill. We had 10 families there, plus Robin the adoption attorney who has been spearheading this whole project. She testified (with facts so ironclad it's a wonder if anyone can think of a reason to say no!) and she explained how offering this tax credit in fact would save the state money, as it would directly affect the number of kids the State pays for Foster care for. More families adopting= fewer children in fostercare= money savings for the state. After she finished, they had us come up in groups of 2 or 3 and we each took a turn to speak. Finally, after the 10 families had testified, one of the committee members herself got up, came around to the side where we had just testified, and testified herself! As an Adoptive mom to 2 kids! All in all it went GREAT. We are not out of the woods yet, and it's certainly not a "sure thing"- but it looks like there is great support. The vice chair said at the end, "the Governor never wanted this to end, it was an oversight, this tax credit is good for families and it's good for Oregonians." All in all, I have to say, it was very exciting & I'm quite hopeful!!
Next on the docket: Another neighborhood meeting with the city regarding speed bumps on my street. I think I mentioned before about Theresa who made a decision in a way I didn't agree with. (one sided, without proper representation per properties, etc.). At the last meeting we had she actually came to my rescue & explained to my neighbor across the street (who apparently doesn't care when ambulances go racing down the street because she is old & wants them to be able to get to her fast???? I have no idea...) that our street is NOT an emergency response street, and they can quite well use the next emergency response street just a few blocks over. (whoo hoo Theresa!) So- we'll see how this thursday goes. Keeping my fingers crossed they are just going to say "yeah, everyone here want speed bumps? yeah? great. they're in." hmm...it was that easy for people to vote OUT the islands, so it's not unreasonable to hope, right?!
Sunday, March 18, 2007
The First Baby Shower for the Village
There WILL be an update on the Public Meeting in Salem, just not tonight!
Today, Just a couple of pics from the first of our "Village" Baby Showers. Cindy was logged in Oct. 11, 2005, Received Miss M's lovely photo and file in early February, and leaves TOMORROW for China to finally meet her! Today was the baby shower:
One of the Cutie Patooties in our Single Mamas Group- Alana:
More pics to follow....perhaps tomorrow!
Today, Just a couple of pics from the first of our "Village" Baby Showers. Cindy was logged in Oct. 11, 2005, Received Miss M's lovely photo and file in early February, and leaves TOMORROW for China to finally meet her! Today was the baby shower:
One of the Cutie Patooties in our Single Mamas Group- Alana:
More pics to follow....perhaps tomorrow!Monday, March 12, 2007
Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington
Okay so it's a little less Dramatic than that...it's more like Miss K. goes to Salem... But yes, it's true. I am off to Salem on Wednesday afternoon to attend a committee hearing on Oregon Bill HB 2363 and hopefully to testify for it's passage. It's a bill to reinstate the Oregon adoption Tax Credit which was officially discontinued Jan. 1 2006 due to a sunset clause in the orginal bill. (Am I sounding official?) I'm working on my testimony right now- but I need to cut big chunks of it out. If you know me at all you know I can be....wordy.
There is an adoption lawyer here in Portland who has been the lone crusader on this bill, and she finally sent out the request to have as many adoptive families as possible in Salem for the committee hearing. Let's hope we are a voice loud enough to be heard!
Wednesday is the big day. Wish us luck!
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Busy Month & Little Surprises
It's been a BUSY BUSY Month...so I've avoided Blog land for a little bit...finally starting to slow down & I can catch up! Last weekend I was home when the mail came- I didn't go get it right away, but after I took a shower I went to see what came through the slot. I was surprised to see a little manilla package with NO POSTMARK! My address was listed as the return address and the sending address, and there were stamps, but no postmark! A mystery package! I opened it and found this adorable little ladybug magnet inside! The back says "lady bug sightings 2007" and that's it! No other clues. 
Last night Cindy & Sharon came over to work on the slings we've been making. Cindy JUST received Travel Approval for Miss M., so we needed to get hers finished most urgently! It turned out beautifully!
Today is part 1 of 2 of Heidi's birthday celebration! Will post pics when I have a few more minutes!
A day or two later, I noticed this little guy mysteriously appear on my front porch!
He's quite a cute little rosemary, but again, he just mysteriously appeared! I need to get him planted (along with several other little friends who are also hanging out on my porch) and get a move on with the garden. Spring is coming & so will the weeds if I don't get moving soon!
Last week was the lantern festival in Chinatown - Heidi's Mom was in town so we all went for Dimsum when we realized the lantern procession wasn't happening anytime soon. It was the day before Heidi's Birthday so we had a cake as well. It was the "stand in cake". Today is the REAL birthday celebration, and hence, the real cake.
We also ran into Jodie & Liana at the Chinese garden, so they joined us for dimsum & Cake. I find that most kids are fans of my cooking...maybe it has something to do with the little bit of sugar here & there....! This was a Maple cake with a meringue maple frosting. Quite tasty- from one of my favorite Cookbooks: How to be a Domestic Goddess: Baking & the Art of Comfort Cooking. Way to go Nigela Lawson!
This week was our 2x annual materials show, so many of my vendors I work with were in town. some of them I have been working with for such a long time, they have become friends. I invited some friends for dinner at my house on Monday and we had a great time. Turns out it's not just the little ones who eat well at my house! Hayden couldn't keep his eyes open after dinner!
Last night Cindy & Sharon came over to work on the slings we've been making. Cindy JUST received Travel Approval for Miss M., so we needed to get hers finished most urgently! It turned out beautifully!
I also finished one of the two I was working on. We were using the bear for a model, it was the largest "child like" thing I could find in my house. He was quite cooperative though so not much of a reality test!
Today is part 1 of 2 of Heidi's birthday celebration! Will post pics when I have a few more minutes!
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