And To Think....

I think it is true that God never gives you more than you can handle. Seriously. Yesterday I was worried about little tiny fleas...then today I have BEARS. Two of them. Surprisingly, I'm much calmer about the Bears than I was about the fleas. I'm wondering what God has in mind for tomorrow. Really. I'll let you know.

I Think We are Alone Now

Dropped James off for his week at Teen Camp at 6:30 am. A.M. As in morning. An ungodly hour if you are not a morning person like me. Anywho. He's off for fun and sun and raging adolescent hormones until Wednesday at noon. When we dropped off at the meeting spot, there were three girls there from his middle school. One said. "Ewwww. Is that James? Gross!" Yeah. Apparently public affirmations of disgust is part of the teen courtship ritual. Love is in the air. Great. Oh, I meant "Ewwwww. Gross."

The Other Mother and I are heading to Vermont for the weekend to test drive our new kayaks and enjoy some much needed alone time.

Alex is working all week. Bobby is still away at camp until next Saturday.

Hmmmmmm.

My Day in Pictures

My day in pictures.























Alternate Title - How I spent my Thursday: A Pet Owner's Summer Vacation

Hold Onto Your Hairspray

Hold On To Your Hairspray, Girls!

Mama DOES NOT have to go to the evil Registry of Vehicular Motors to renew her expired driver's license and take a new photo that may or may not call attention to the dreaded Bald Spot. If you've missed my tongue in cheek (and gel in hand) post on my Bald Spot, click on over HERE for a chuckle or two.

Yup. I renewed ONLINE. HA!

Best of all, I didn't have to leave the comfort of my home and stand in line for fourteen million hours in 90 degree heat and 95% humidity and experience the full range of joyful government customer service in all it's glory.

Yeah. I'm pretty stinkin' glad I was able to stay home and RENEW online.

Now If I could only figure out a way to COOK online, I'd be all set.

I'm A Little Fussy Like That

Ok. I totally hate it when I publish a post that I drafted in the Middle Ages and it does not show up on the date I published it...It shows up waayyyyyy back when I first started typing whateverthehellitwasthatIwaswritinaboutanyhow. Then, being the obsessivecompulsiveanaleverythingallorganizedandstuff kinda gal that I am, I have to repost the darn thing and go back and delete the ancient history version of thexactsamething I have just re-published.

SIGH..... It's hard being chronological. Really.

Whose Best Life, Anyway?

As you may or may not know - In October we are going to Texas for a WOMEN OF FAITH conference. An intimate gathering of 20,000 or so God seeking women. If you've been to one - let me know your thoughts/experiences. We went to the UCC's 50th Synod in Hartford, Connecticut a few years back, but other than that, have little experience with large scale faith events. I'm keeping an open mind.


If you are familiar with the San Antonio area, drop us a line and tell us what sights we should see (or avoid!) We don't mind traveling a reasonable driving distance (maybe two hours?). I think I had a lay-over in Dallas once, but, other than that, have never been to Texas. This is our first child free vacation in at least five years and we plan on enjoying every minute. The past two years we've spent time with our oldest, Alex (20) when we've gotten the youngin's out of the house. So, this time we are planning, for real,...ADULT Time!!! Whoooooo hooo.

So, back to the conference thing: Apparently Marcus Buckingham is one of the speakers. We will be hearing him, up close and personal (with about 25,000 other women at the Alamodome). I'm embarassed to say I have never heard of him or any of the other speakers or singers for that matter. I figure I have some time to brush up on the culture.

I Just took his Strong Life Test for Women and apparently I'm a MOTIVATOR - CREATOR and the Other Mother is a EQUALIZER - MOTIVATOR. I guess I had better buy the book (or at least read the review on Amaz*n.c*m and get a grasp on what he has to say about living my best life. Cuz if this ain't my best life, I'd certainly be willing to try on a new one and see how it fits.

"Hmmm??? Honey, does this life make my blue jeans look big?



I'm really hoping this Motivator-Equalizer thing is like a Taurus-Cancer thing and that The Other Mother and I are meant to be together forever. It better be- cuz after twenty years as a couple (the last two of which we have been legally married), I am not trading The Other Mother in for nothin'. Nothin.

Re-Evaluation and Update

Oh, did I tell you The Other Mother and I are updating our Homestudy and are submitting it to the Regional Adoption Unit? Ummmmmm. Yeah.

Our Family Social Worker with The Division of Family Services just did our annual Foster Parent Licensing re-evaluation. We are approved again for 4 more kids, age 0-18, in addition to Bobby. Currently we are considered unrestricted foster and foster to adopt within our local unit and we asked to expand our options to include The Regional Adoption Unit.

The Other Mother is 51 and I am 49 and I could swear that sound I hear is our parental clock ticking.
There are only so many more YEARS The Other Mother can challenge our kids to pull up contests, push up contests and road races and still beat em' every time. If one more person asked me if I was Baby Dee's GRANDMOTHER I was gonna have a stroke. So, WHILE WE ARE YOUNG, PEOPLE I figure we best get to growin' our family...SOON.

Recently, we were panel speakers at a regional adoption event, and while we did not set out to look for another child or sibling group, we found ourselves making inquiries on several children and making some connections with Social Workers. We said we were interested in sibling groups, and older adolescent or teen boys, but we are flexible...Bobby wants to be a big brother - but we'd like to see kids in between Bobby (11) and Alex (20). We were informal, took business cards and made polite inquiries/connections.

That was then. Yesterday we were on the phone with our Social Worker who'd be contacting Regional next week and she wanted us to summarize, again, what we were looking to do about expanding our family. Would we take a high legal risk newborn, for example.

After much discussion The Other Mother and I decided we can't decide. Yeah. Who are we to close the door on whom God? The Universe? thinks we should parent.

Remember we only fostered teens and were never going to adopt. Then along came 8 year old Bobby visiting his teen sister we had in foster care. We fell in love with every last stinkin' freckle and adopted him and have never looked back.

We weren't ever going to foster babies - and our Social Worker called us for Baby Dee, a medically fragile failure to thrive infant who stole our hearts in the time it took to hold her.

We were trained by our bio-son, Alex, in the challenges and blessings of parenting children to the other side of their not-so-easy teen years. We are proud of the young man he has become and the adult man he is becoming. We made it through the other side in one piece and we really like being with each other. As a result, we are NOT afraid to foster parent or adopt teens.



So because we had to give an answer on the phone, we are open to 0-18 through our area Foster Care Unit and open for 4-18, in our Regional Adoption Unit, but would take a newborn as part of a sibling group. Most likely boys (a girl could be part of a sibling group but NOT near Bobby or James' age). Both scenarios require an age cushion around James (13).

James will probably be with us through high school and beyond. We adore him. He is kind, caring, easy going. Right now he is dealing with the typical struggles facing all teens today: social temptations, peer influences, decison making. He is the first to say he is a follower. He does so much better if there is an age difference. He's a great son, great big-brother to Bobby (11), and a great little brother to Alex (20) but does not do as well with kids close to his age. In an ideal world, he'd be an only child with two stay at home parents to get the much needed attention and guidance he deserves. So we added the caveat to our adoption profile that IF James is with us, we'd like a 5 year cushion: So kids could be 2 years younger or 2 years older than his current age. So, TODAY, because he is 13, that means we'd be open to foster/adopt 0-11 and 15-18.

It feels a little Crazy doing our Family Planning this way.... But, hey. It's real.....and that is what this blog is about. Keepin it all real.

So we will wait for the phone to ring and make the decision in the context of our family at the time of the call. And we will continue to listen with our hearts for God's call, too.

Don't worry. I know what you are thinking.

After the homestudy is submitted, I am going to get us both an appointment with a Neurologist to have our heads examined. I decided we don't need an appointment with a Cardiologist - since I am pretty sure that our hearts are in the right place.

Happy 10,000th Hit

Happy 10,000th hit J., You don't look a hit over 8,000. Really.



Stellar Parenting has had 10,000 hits on her blog as of today - and because I am shameless* when it comes to drawings for free stuff, I am sending you her way to see what she is doing to celebrate...Check it out HERE

* Actually. I'm shameless about pretty much everything. If you don't believe me, you should read my post here about my bald spot. Yeah. Bald spot.

My Bald Spot

I'm having an issue with my bald spot. Yeah. You read that right. My bald spot. Not my blind spot (which is a whole other post or two) and not my blind side (which I hear is a very good movie). My bald spot.

You see, I discovered the other day that my driver's license expired two weeks ago on my birthday. I went to get it renewed and the line was too long. Which was a good thing, because I wasn't having a good hair day. My bangs were looking all scraggly. The next day I had intentions of renewing my license, but my hair was too...I dunno...tooo thin.

I'm not sure ths will be a valid excuse if I get pulled over by the cops - but it is true. Officer, I couldn't get my license renewed because there is no way in H*ll I am having a photo taken this week that I am comfortable living with for the next five years because...because I my bald spot is showing. Really. Look. See???? Bald spot. Not cool.

Girls aren't supposed to have bald spots. They are supposed to have miles and miles of thick luxurious hair. Please understand, I am near 50. I am a product of the Breck Girl generation.

I even product tested Pantene hair care products as a teen when I lived in New Jersey and my mother worked for Hoffman LaRoche.

I am from New Jersey for goodness sake. New Jersey practically INVENTED Big Hair.


So maybe that's why I am a little sensitive and aware of my fine thinning hair showing a little too much shiny scalp and I can't get my license renewed.

Guys go bald and sometimes bald is even sexy. Remember Kojak?

Bald? On women? Not so much. Even Sinead O'Connor, bald just managed to look crazed. I'm a foster parent. I can't walk around looking crazed. Well I do walk around looking crazed, but why add to it? Ya know?
My bald spot is not in the best spot. Like IS anywhere a good spot??? Anyhow, it's awfully sparse where my bangs meet my scalp. Not this bad, but noticeable enough.


Demi Moore, on the other hand, when she shaved her head in GI JANE just managed to look HOT. Yeah. Totally hot.
I'm pretty sure I can't do a chin up or one handed push up,and camo makes me look pale, so the GI JANE military shaved thing just won't work on me....

But, did I mention she looked hot?

Britney? NOT hot.

Sigourney could do bald with confidence only because she already could handle a flame thrower and fly a space ship. Me, I'm lucky I go to the grocery and get dinner on the table. Without my license, I can't even do that. Geesh.





So my current hair dilema is bad enough that I actually got out all the silly colorful plastic hair acoutrements we have for when we foster little girls...Yes, I am embarassed to admit it, but I am wearing neon orange flower hair clips to hold my drooping stringy bangs in out of my eyes.....

Anyhow -I am stalled. I know I need to renew my license, because, Mama LOVES to drive...and I know I need a haircut, but I can't make a decision - short or long???

ARGH.

I think I'll just sit home today and blog.

What I Will Think About While I Vacuum

I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.
- Rabindranath Tagore

A Cold Supper

It is summer and I am missing my mother. Tonight I am missing her because of Cold Supper.

When she was alive she would serve my favorite summer meal: Cold Supper.

It consisted of colorful Pyrex and Boonton Ware bowls taken directly from the fridge to the table.

They were filled with her homemade potato salad, cole slaw, sliced New Jersey Beefsteak Tomatoes, pickled beets (God, how I miss her pickled beets!), sliced hard boiled eggs, tuna salad with minced celery, pickled cucumbers and onions, egg salad, ice cold grapes or cherries, scallions and celery stalks chilled in two pitchers of ice water, and sometimes the special treat of sliced watermelon.



We didn't use Saran Wrap to cover the bowls in the fridge- just saucers on the small bowls and and plates on the big ones. So our lids were chilled cold. An extra treat for a young kid to eat on a cold plate on a hot summer night.

Our table for four was crowded with so many plates and bowls. Our beverage options always included iced tea or ice milk (yes- ice cubes floated in milk!)

My Grandmother would sit at the table and peel and dice ten pounds of cooked potatoes in advance. My Dad would go to the local farm stands for the veggies or the backyard for the tomatoes. My Mom would quietly cook up a storm on Saturday or Sunday and we'd be set for most of the week. A mid week meal of burgers or knockwurst or corn on the cob (mmmmnnn Jersey Corn!) would break things up - but my favorite was always Cold Supper.

Although she has been dead for almost ten years, I still miss my Mom. Awful. It still surprises me that the waves of loss and longing arrive, unexpected, in the mundane, the routine ordinaries of life.

It shouldn't, really; because that is exactly how her love arrived and gladly, stayed.

Nine Lives

Radiographs 2 views $153.00
Radiographs additonal viewss $138.00
Buprenex inj. 3 mg $21.03
Emergency Exam $96.00
Preanesthetic chemistry PCV TP lytes $83.80
Pulse Oximeter $16.50
Buprenex inj 3mg $36.53

"Winter", our fierce little cat, hit by a car, now home from the VET in one piece - PRICELESS

Ok - I feel so guilty spending this much money on my cat when $2.00 stinkin dollars can save a child in DRC (The Congo) from dying of Malaria. Somethin's not quite right with a world where children die for lack of simple, basic medical care that we all take for granted.

Orphans and Jewelry - Oh my!!!!

Saving orphans and shopping - my two of my most favorite things!



Amazing Holly at A Purpose Driven Life is trying to adopt (or, as she says UNorphan) another special needs child from China, a little girl named Eliana, to join her wonderful family. Her friend Sarah, also an adoptive Mom of a special needs child, has her own fabulous Etsy shop and she believes so strongly in special needs adoptions that she has offered to give Holly an entire DAY to fundraise through her Etsy shop!! On July 6th all day- ALL orders through her shop that reference Elaina's adoption will benefit Holly's Elaina Adoption Fund!! Yahoo!!!

Here's how it works...click HERE to go to Sarah's Etsy shop..Sarah's Treasure Box.



Take a look at the super affordable and absolutely adorable pendant necklaces she has to offer. The average price is just $10 per necklace..and it is for the whole package...not just the pendant. She also places them in beautiful organza bags perfect for gift giving!



These necklaces appeal to ALL age groups. Holly's 15 year old son has his eye on the guitar bottle cap necklace!! These are wonderful and affordable gifts for birthdays, Christmas (stocking stuffers in July!!), teacher appreciation gifts, encouragement gifts or any gift giving occasion!!



It may not seem that such an inexpensive purchase could help Holly's adoption but it will all add up! Holly's goal is for Sarah to sell 100 necklaces on July 6th for littlr Eliana's adoption! That would be a HUGE blessing in her endeavor to UNorphan another precious treasure with special needs.



Would you consider purchasing a necklace or a few necklaces and setting them aside for Christmas gifts...I know, shopping for Christmas in July...but it is for such a great reason! :) I'm buying a few to donate to The Other Mother's Annual Charity Auction that raises funds for the Large Community Youth Organization for Inner City Kids that she runs. I know you could find a reason to but one or two or three (cuz they are sooo stinkin' cute)



Please, would you spread the word? In fact, this means so much to Holly that she will personally purchase a necklace to GIVE away to a winner of a random drawing if you will spread this on your facebook or blog page or both...just leave Holly a comment letting her know if you put it on your FB page, blog or both. And if you twitter (I don't) that counts too!



One entry per place you post about it! Let her know at her blog

Here's the skinny/recap:




On July 6th ONLY- shop Sarah's Treasure Box
Make SURE you leave a note when checking out that you are purchasing for Holly's Elaina fundraiser or Holly won't get credit for the purchase.
Check out Sarah's Treasure Box Etsy shop here to see what you want but don't buy until the 6th.
You do have to register to use Etsy but it is super easy and painless! Just pick a username, email account and password and voila! You pay online and it's done in a few clicks of the mouse!



To be entered in Holly's Giveaway....simply leave her a comment for EACH time you share about her Elaina Fundraiser on July 6th. (so a comment if you blog, a comment if you FB it and a comment if you Tweet it) Make sure you leave her your email address if you win. At the end of the day on July 6th she will draw a winner from those of you who commented that you shared the love and she will notify you that you have won a free necklace of your choice from Sarah's Treasure Box!




Happy Shopping!!!!!!!!!!!