I have to state that I am thankful for my Mother-in-Law separate from the fact that I am thankful for my Father-in-Law. They are divorced and don't speak. So, I am not exactly thankful for them together but I am thankful for what they have done for and meant to me separately.

My Mother-in-Law is a gem. (How many people get to say that? I am so blessed!) I met her while I was pregnant with the Munchkin. She had been an unwed Mother in the 70's, marrying... more

Recently I decided to reach out to other Foster and Adoptive Parents in the area. So we set a night aside at the local middle school and had a dinner buffet.

We went out invitations to all Parents for an open forum Meet and Greet. I contacted some of the local Foster Parents that I know through my contacts in our area and extended a personal invite to them in person.

We decided it would be nice to talk about the school system and the special education programs that are offered to help our children. Along with other things that we can do to make our community a safer place for all our kids to play.

We passed around pens and paper and had everyone write down their... more

My overall malaise yesterday persisted to the point that I hauled myself to the doctor and returned home on antibiotics and a high-powered prescription cough medicine. It worked wonders and I slept the night through, although I have a killer headache today. I can’t believe how much trouble I am having shaking this whatever-it-is.

I had an unexpected visit today from a neighbor I hadn’t met before… he rang the doorbell around lunchtime. He was stopping by to tell me how he had picked up Julie, our Chinese foreign... more

More birth parents seem to be anti-adoption than adoptees, and I do not know why that should surprise anyone. For birth parents, particularly, in closed adoptions, there are generally few positive aspects of the experience. Throw in being deceived, tricked or receiving dishonest information, and it is not surprising that some birth parents think adoption, should be outlawed.

Regardless of how hard adoption facilitators, agencies or adoption attorneys try to “play up” adoption and paint it as a “win-win” choice, few birth parents that I know see... more

You don't have to memorize all these. After a while you can almost guess what they stand for.

Maybe someday in my sparetime I'll make up new ones - we could have a contest!....

In the meantime.. In case you were wondering:

D&A: Drug and Alcohol

DA: District Attorney

DCS: Division of Child Support

DD: Developmentally Disordered

DHHS: Department of Health... more

The Freddie Mac Foundation will be hosting an Adoption Expo on Saturday December 2, 2006 from noon to four. This expo will be held in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington D.C. The expo will be showcasing over 40 adoption agencies in the Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. areas.

Intended for both those who are interested in adoption as well as those whom have already adopted the expo will be featuring workshops on a multitude of aspects of adoption, including but not limited to; workshops for prospective adoptive... more

The other day we rented a few movies to watch with the kids. One was an older one: Snow Dogs. I'd remembered watching it a few years ago, but didn't remember any specifics about it. My husband and I sat down to watch it with our four younger (all adopted) kids.

Right from the start it was evident that the story line was about adoption, which put me instantly on guard. Some movies mention adoption in a positive light. Many do not. I could see my hubby tense up, watching intently too, trying to gauge if we were going to have to do damage control due to the movie's portrayal of adoption.

Instead as we listened and watched, we became increasingly more pleased with the... more

Man, I'm getting lax with my I Ching studies here, just as we're about a third of the way through the book. (Well, a glancing blow at the book, but you gotta start somewhere.)

So, here we are at bi, the hexagram of rococo ornamentation. No, really. It's about things that are beautiful, but not necessarily functional - at least not at first. After the decisive, collaborative (but abrupt) action of ... more

As someone who is a huge fan of good literature for children and happens to be an aspiring writer for children, I am sometimes offended when a celebrity "writes" a children's book and then sells a bajiliion copies because of his or her celebrity. Good books for children are amazingly difficult to write and most celebrities don't rise to the challenge.

But then there are some wonderful celebrity slash children's authors out there, and one such person is Jamie Lee Curtis. If you aren't familiar with her book Tell... more

Here, you need to relax.

Watch this: the 24-posture "short" taiji form.

Nice, huh? But what, you need a little more?

Then watch this: the 40-posture taiji form. (This is the official PRC gov't-sanctioned taiji competition form -- it's mislabeled on YouTube.)

And then this: the 108-posture "long" taiji form.

And then this: the 118-posture... more