Bloglines?

What's up with Bloglines?? I got home from work today and it said that I have 511 UNREAD posts!!

Now I am PRETTY SURE that Jill didn't make 25 posts today. I am also pretty sure that Dawn didn't post 24 entries and Dolores 23...

Odd I tell you, just odd...

For Waiting Parents

For those Waiting Parents out there…

Do you ever get the impression that:

You don't have a brain.

That your opinions don't count.

That you can't POSSIBLY know how to handle a situation involving kids.

Do you get the 'you won't say that when you have your own'.

Or the 'Just you wait'.

And just the general overall feeling that you have nothing to offer when there is a situation involving kids…

There was one time that I was with a group of people and we were talking about kids and this one woman turned to me and asked how old my kids were. I said I didn't have kids. She literally turned her back to me and didn't address me or acknowledge me for the rest of the event.

This is just one example but there are MANY situations - both from friends and family alike…

I just don't even know how to put into words how that all makes me feel. It is a horrible feeling and I am sure (I hope) that the people making me feel this way don't even realize what they are doing or saying.

I'd just like to point out that I am QUEEN of biting my tongue when other people's kids are involved. I don't say anything UNLESS they are asking me about it, the kids are going to hurt themselves or the kids are in my home.

I want to scream at all these people and say - don't you think I wish I had my kids too.

Then there is the group of people who say things like:

Enjoy your freedom now - you won't have any when you have kids

Travel now - you won't be able to when you have kids

Get your socializing in now - you won't be able to do it when you have kids

Do you want my kids for a night - that will curb your desire of wanting to have kids

I want to scream to these people: Do you not think that I want to experience these things for myself and decide home much we are going to do with our kids. Where we are going to travel as a family and perhaps, don't you think that I am MORE THEN READY to EXCHANGE my 'freedom' (I hate when people say that because it implies that your children are a 'chore' - I like spontaneity) for parenthood.

AAGGGHH!!!

Venting on this topic completed...for now!

BTW - I am good now with the meds - all is well!!

A Visit to the Clinic

For those who regularly read this blog, you will remember last weekends post when I told about how 'something' had bitten my elbow and it all puffed up and was red hot to the touch and there was some kind of infection or something in the elbow.

I was also lucky enough to have a doctor there with us and she called in a prescription for me to the local drug store and I had some antibiotics to help in the healing process of my elbow.

The elbow is doing MUCH better. Not to where is was, but HUGE improvement from last week - that is for sure.

For the ladies out there, you know what happens when you take antibiotics...I personally have NOT taken antibiotics in YEARS and YEARS so I guess it slipped my mind about what 'could' happen when you take them.

Well let me tell you - there was NO forgetting today!! I thought I was going to die - the infection is driving me crazy!! I was beside myself wondering how I will survive. The last time I had this infection was about 20 years ago - didn't like it then either.

Today I was e-mailing Doris and I told her about my dilemma and she asked if I could get a prescription for Difluk*n a one shot deal - I was not aware of such a thing, I needed to check it out. THANKS DORIS!! I didn't think I was going to have enough time to do anything about it, but then it comes to a point that you don't care HOW late you are going to be for the evenings events, you MUST take care of this before ALL else.

So off I went to the Walk-In Clinic. The first one I went to, they said at least an hour wait - crap - too long. Off to the next one - it was closed - today only...great. Then to the third - I was starting to feel like Goldilocks as this was just right - approximately a 20 minute wait. So down I sit...

There was a lady there with her son - he was about 2 1/2 I would say. There was another lady there with her daughter again, about 2 1/2 and 2 other people other then myself.

Well the boy was bored - and I can see how waiting is not fun. The mom sat in her chair, read her magazine and BARKED orders to her son. J - stop doing that. J - Come here. J - Stop touching the people. J - Don't drop that on the ladies foot. J - I SAID come here. J - Sit down please. J - That's not nice. J - Come back here - DON"T go thorough there. Well it wasn't until the final one that she actually got off her butt and retrieved her son who had disappeared into the back where the exam rooms are. You wonder how I rmemeber all these...I actually wrote them all down. Yes I am an addicted blogger when I am writing stuff down to report on later!! Back to the lady, when I say she barked - she did. At one point, this kid started smacking my leg. I was SHOCKED - the mom said - J - that's not nice. AND THAT WAS IT. He kept doing it! I think I was stunned and didn't quite know how to react. The kid did stop, but the mom just kept barking. It was odd...

To even make the wait better, the other mom with her daughter kept singing to her daughter to keep her calm. AHHHHH that's nice...NOT SO MUCH - the song of choice was Barbie Girl...yes you know it: I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world - Life in plastic, it's fantastic! Well she sang it over and over and over and over again...

Someone get me and my itch OUT OF HERE!!!

Finally - Prescription received, taken and fingers crossed that I feel better in the morning!

Nickname Tag!

I have been tagged by Crazy Lady to reveal our nicknames...

Wow - this could prove embarrassing! That said, this is my place to chose my openness and we will see how many names I reveal here!!

I guess over the years, my nicknames have changes and evolved (I suppose the evolving part is a matter of opinion).

I do remember when I was younger I WANTED a nick name sooooo bad. It seemed EVERYONE had one and I did not. I was sad :( However, as time went on and I became cooler and cooler, I did develop some nicknames. They were not particularly 'cool' names, well not as cool as me, but they were nicknames all the same. LOL!

Speaking of nicknames, it is nicknames or nick names? One word or two? But I digress...

Having the name of Michelle - there were many ways to shorten it or change it. I have been (and am still) called: Shell, Shelley, Mitch & Mickey.

Other nicknames (this is the version of nicknames that I chose for the rest of this post) that I have had over the years are: Mitchymoo & BooBoo (from my sister!). There has also been PomPom (this comes from my last name).

The name that Mark calls me I will NOT reveal here! Some of you MAY have heard him call me by the name, but we really try and avoid using those names in public!

As for Mark, many call him by his last name - again, not saying that here. I have been known to call him Cupcake - don't really know where it came from or why, but it used to stick. Now I have another name for him, but again, it is not being said here! Just not ready to open that up to the WHOLE world!

Now I MUST tag 4 people and I chose: Dolores, Rhonda cause I wanna see if she will 'print' Josh's nickname, Doris and K1

Friday & Sunday

The above photo is: Back Row: Tammy, Karen, Suzanne, Kelly, Chris, Andrea and Paula.
Middle Row: Nicole, Cari, Tracey, Leslie, Karen, Dolores and Julia.
Front Row: Catherine, Liz & Ava and Me.

Friday night I attended our 5th Waiting Mommies Dinner!! Can you believe it? We have been doing the dinners since last November, every other month, and this was our 5th. It was great to see everyone again and to meet some new people! It is a wonderful way to get together with others who are also adopting. There are mommies there who already have their kids home all the way to paperchasing.

Sunday afternoon Dolores invited some adoptive mom's to her house for 'Scrapfest'. I am NOT a scrap booker. I have NEVER done it. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't have any 'tools'. I didn't even know there were 'tools'. I had only MINIMAL supplies (what we bought the other day at Michael's).

Well boy did I ever learn a lot. First off, I can't believe how FAST the time passed. It just FLEW by!! Nicole and Cari are seasoned scrappers and I certainly learned from both of them. Nicole is incredibly creative and can organize a page in her head and produce it on paper in about 15 minutes. Quite amazing to watch. Nicole and Cari also had lots of 'tools' which make scrapping MUCH easier. They both also brought some books that they had already completed. It was amazing to look at them all!

I managed to create a couple of pages and I am quite proud of my first attempts so I thought I would share. I had to take a picture of the pages as I didn't know another way to get them on the computer.

Here they are:





More pages to come as I am trying to complete some pages of our wedding/honeymoon in Cuba.

7 Month LID Anniversary!!

Today is our 7 month LID anniversary!

If you can believe it, it had slipped my mind until Doris sent me some anniversary congratulations!! Thanks Doris!

I don’t know if forgetting is a good thing or a bad thing…

Either way – today is the day!!

Congrats also to Dolores and Shawn on 7 months – our friends and travel mates!!

Speaking of Dolores, last evening Dolores and I dropped by the BRAND NEW Michael’s store that opened yesterday…how disappointing! We were psyched up and hoping for some really good deals but there were NONE to be found…Apparently the grand opening isn’t until Saturday and THAT is when the deals are. They actually announced that we should come back on Saturday ‘cause they will have the specials then…

Thank You Secret Buddy!!

I would like to thank our Secret Buddy for our June gift!

Once again she did a PERFECT job!! Our SB ROCKS!!

Thank you so much for the adorable outfit, the Rainbow Book and the Nemo bath toys!! Once again you outdid yourself.

Our October DTC Yahoo group is going through a change and there have been many problems with people not receiving gifts and others not posting a thank you on the DTC group board and others not happy with what they have received. Our moderator is trying to keep it going and re-shuffle everything so that the people that have been following the rules and want to continue can do so - but perhaps with a new match.

Note to my SB: Just in case you are no longer my SB after the big shuffle, I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that you have been AWESOME!! If someone else gets you as their SB, they are going to be VERY lucky!!

If you want to see the other fantastic items we have received from our SB, click on the SECRET BUDDY label at the end of this post and all the great presents will be there for you to see!!

Thanks again Secret Buddy!! You have been GREAT and I hope you are still there next month!!

The Weekend...

Early Friday morning, Mark and I escaped the city for a long weekend at a friends cottage. Mark and I had a great time and were very relaxed! I wish the weather could have been warmer and the wind less, but just getting away to such a pretty place, was rejuvenating!

We had a great time with our friends. There was no swimming due to the weather, but there was LOTS of card playing, reading and gabbing!

Apparently on Sunday, 'something' decided to take a taste of my elbow. It must have left something behind because it is VERY swollen, hot, red and super tender. I can't actually move my left arm out of a 90 degree angle. Makes getting dressed, cooking, driving etc a little more difficult, but I survived. Luckily for me, one of the cottage guests was a doctor and after observing the 'spot' for a day, she called me in a prescription and I picked it up in town today. I am hoping that soon I will have mobility back in my arm and I am keeping an eye on the swelling as to ensure it doesn't get any larger. I tried to take a picture of it, but it just doesn't translate.

Thanks to L for having us and here are a few pictures of the wonderful view that we had all weekend.







Purse meme - coming up soon!!

**UPDATE** Thoughts, Reflections and Snippits of my Day!

When you are in line to pay for something, have your money or piece of plastic ready. You ARE going to have to pay for it. It is NOT going to be free. Don't be surprised when the cashier asks for the money.

If you chose to drive slow or slower then the posted limit, do so in the SLOW lane. NOT in fast lane. MOVE OVER!!!

If you are in any sort of CUSTOMER SERVICE field - WANT to be there - OR - find a new profession.

When you are in retail - talk to your friends on your own time - NOT when you are supposed to be doing something for me.

Make sure that if you are bitching about a customer, who is only aksing for what the sign says, make sure she is OUT of ear shot before you start.

Serve food in ALL food service areas as it should be. If it should be hot - serve it hot! If everyone returned or complained about the wrong food, companies would soon learn to stop serving it like that.

DO - put a space after a comma and TWO spaces after a period at the end of a sentence!

For Ontarians - Don't EVER lose your Red/White Health card. The Green ones are a PAIN!

Don't buy a car that doesn't have the horn in the middle of the steering wheel.

Don't let the 'blood sucker person' tell YOU which arm to take YOUR blood from 'cause they don't want to change the arm rest to the other side.

Don't forget to do a Purse meme when you are tagged.

DON'T ask me to fill out a satisfaction card when I am in this mood!

How was your day...

***UPDATE*** - Today I got home from my weekend away and my sister had brought in our mail for us. In the mail was a book of Tim Horton's gift certificates from 'The place that asked me to fill our a satisfaction card!' I must also mention that they called me at work the next day to see if there was something they could do better next time make my visit better!

Advice please...

Mark and I are looking to get a new camera. The first time around I did all sorts of research and looking and trying and lots of stuff and that was great, but there is SOOO much more on the market now and it can be a bit daunting.

I found a wonderful camera - at the time. This was about 4 years ago. The camera was great and has performed wonderfully. It is a 3.1 pixel, Cannon A70. The view screen is about 1 1/2 inches square. One day I was NOT 'wearing the strap for safety' and I dropped the camera on the concrete floor...

The camera still worked (amazingly enough), but I was unable to 'view' the pictures on the camera. I had the remove the card and plug the card into the computer in order to see the pictures. This has (sort of) worked and has been o.k. up until now, however, we are now in the market for a new camera.

I thought what better place then all my bloggy friends who ALWAYS have their cameras on hand and use them frequently!

We are looking for a good camera (obviously).
We want to be able to switch to Black and White or colour.
Easy to use.
Something that is still available.
Good sized view screen.
Decently priced.


What do you like/dislike about your current camera?

What is the battery life / style of battery? Do you like the power system?

Is it easy to use, download etc.

Does it have a self timer? Self timer is EVER so important.

Would your recommend this camera? If so why and if not why?

I would appreciate any input on your current camera, would you re-purchase the same camera. Likes, dislikes etc. You can also e-mail us from the link on the right if you don't want to write stuff in the comments.

I thank you in advance for all your advise, pointers and tips.

Thank you's all around!!

It started out as any other day. The alarm going off, me getting out of bed and getting ready for work. Mark getting ready for work too.

Like some days, Mark leaves water on the bathroom floor after his shower. Many times I walk in the bathroom in my sock feet - getting ready to leave for work and step in this water...

Today was no exception. Today I hadn't put on my socks yet and was in bare feet (can you be IN bare feet???). I walked up to the sink to brush my teeth and was quietly cursing Mark under my breath. AGAIN he left water on the floor and I stepped in it.

I quickly grabbed the shower floor towel (??) and placed in on the water on the floor so that it would be absorbed and didn't think about it again until...I started feeling water dripping on my foot. Hmmm - water dripping on my foot can't be a good thing.

I finished brushing my teeth and opened the cupboard under the sink and there was DEFINITELY more then a drip that came out on me!!

This is what I discovered:




The drain pipe in the bathroom sink had come disconnected! How the heck does that happen?? In the picture on the right, you can see my pen that I put down the drain to confirm it all! Very scientific of me!!

So this has all happened before 6:30am!!

I waited until the appropriate time had passed and I called Phil - He is just amazing!!

I came home from work today and this is what I discovered:



A brand new - WORKING - drain pipe!!!

THANK YOU PHIL!!!!

Also today when I got home from work, there was a package for me. Inside was this and a CD:



HOW CUTE IS THAT!!!! Thank you so much Nicole for the wonderful gift!! We are going to have one rockin' kid!! I LOVE IT!!!

Music on CD to be reported on later!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

What a great day today is/was!!

The oven is not just for cooking anymore...

...it can also be used for melting your fridge magnets, warping your kitchen artwork, curling the edges of your pictures drawn for you by your nieces and nephews and even heating up a pie!

Yes - I did all of those in one day!

Remember the last post when our appliances were in the dining room? We had NO space for anything and there was so much stuff on top of the stove...I thought a good place to store it and get it out of the way would be to put everything IN the oven and then we would have more space...

Well when the kitchen was 1/2 done, we were able to put the oven back in there. My aunt was in town and she was having dinner with us as was Phil. We BBQ'd and ate outside so it wasn't a big deal that we had no kitchen cooking space or no dining room to eat in.

Since we had the oven back in the kitchen and that happened JUST before dinner was ready. When it was time for dessert, I thought I would warm up the pie that we were having as it just tastes nicer that way...

I ran inside, turned on the oven to warm it up and then went back outside. About 10 minutes later I came in to pop the pie in the oven. I opened the back door and thought - "HMMM - WHAT is that smell..." It didn't take long to remember (what I wasn't going to forget) all the stuff that was in the oven.

I RAN to the oven, turned it off, opened the door and grabbed the mitts...

It was too late for most things...

I am kicking myself now that I didn't take a picture of the carnage - but trust me, it wasn't pretty...

Lesson learned - the oven is NOT a place for storage...

A job well done!

We have been wanting to get our kitchen/hallway floor done for a long time. I kept looking at it and thinking that it was really starting to deteriorate. It was peel and stick and the 'stick' was becoming unstuck! The edges were starting to curl and then you would walk on them and snap off the corner of the tile - NICE!! It's time had come!! The floor was here when we moved in and other things were the priority. Well it was finally time for the floor to be replaced.

Mark and I hummed and hahed for a while as to WHAT type of floor we wanted and how we were going to do it. Well an opportunity fell upon our laps.

My mom and sister Tracey were going to England for a week and Phil would have nothing to do to keep him busy while mom was away - enter floor replacement!! The timing was PERFECT!!

Mark got everything ready for the new floor. He put everything from the kitchen to the dining room. He ripped up the old floor and took off all the baseboards and whatever else Phil asked him to.

In that dark mess in the corner, you can see a bit of the old 'peel and stick tile'.


Here are some other Pictures of the Before/during phase.




Here is our dining room that has been taken over by the kitchen appliances.


And now for the unveiling of the BEAUTIFUL, WONDERFUL, PRETTY, AMAZING new kitchen/hall floor!!!





A close up of the floor - Amazing isn't it!!


Thank you SOOOOOOOO much to Phil for doing such a great job with the floor AND all the new baseboards!! WE LOVE IT! WE LOVE IT! WE LOVE IT!!!

Tagged Again!

I have been tagged by Nicole and Sharonfor the below - 4 thing about 4 things...

4 FACTS ABOUT ME:

1. I used to live in Australia – for about 3 years.

2. I have had a LOT surgery and ‘work’ done on my mouth and teeth.

3. I have been skydiving – it was INCREDIBLE and I have a video to prove it.

4. The sounds of clipping nails sends me over the edge – I can’t stand it! It sends chills down my spine.


4 HABITS I HAVE:

1. I have to rub my feet together to be able to get to sleep. I rub them until the last second before I fall asleep.

2. I guess I could say that I am becoming quickly addicted to the computer and blogging.

3. I am NEVER late for work - ever! In my entire work career, I cannot remember a day that I 'slept in' or 'slept past my alarm'.

4. I never shut the cupboard doors or close drawers after I open them. Drives Mark NUTS!! Apparently my dad did the same thing!

FOUR NEW THINGS I HAVE LEARNED OR EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST FOUR YEARS:

1. Marriage – although not new – it is right. I have been married to Mark for 3 ½ years now and couldn’t imagine a better life.

2. House renovations. It seems just about the time you finish one job, it is time to start the next one. I don’t like living through renovations. Something new that I have experienced and I don’t like it!

3. Loss of control – or a realization that you are not in control of your body. When you want your body to make a baby and it can’t - it is an experience that I don’t wish on any woman.

4. To go with number 1, I have gained a GREAT sister in law (Hi Jenn) cause the first SIL I had was the BIGGEST B&*%H EVER!!!! Glad she is gone. Out with the old and in with the new (and improved). My first set of ‘in-laws’ were so bad that when Mark and I started dating, I said in general conversation, that IF I ever got married again, I was marrying an orphan because I was NOT going to put up and deal with another ‘in-law’ family. Mark’s family quickly won me over and I am lucky to have the ALL in my life.



FOUR THINGS I WANT TO TRY OR DO IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS:

1. Be the best mom EVER! I really hope that I get the opportunity to be a mom by then! I’ve had a most excellent role model so I think I should be o.k.

2. FINALLY finish our basement. It has been in LIMBO for so long now it really deserves a completion…

3. Think about moving to our ‘dream home’. Right now it is just a dream, but in 4 years I hope that is it either a reality or a ‘closer’ dream.

4. I want to try and not let my stomach sink when I find out yet another friend is pregnant...

From here I tag someone who has not been tagged to do this one. I have not really been blogging too much so I don't know who has or hasn't.

A super special square

I stopped posting my quilt squares on this main site a while ago. They are so much more exciting to me then they are to everyone else. However, this is a super special square and it deserved some special recognition!

This square is from Leslie. Leslie is a friend of Mark's Jenn. I have not met her - yet! Though I plan to in the future. Leslie has embroidered a beautiful pumpkin on our quilt square for our Pumpkin! Isn't it wonderful!

I think we have just found the centre of Pumpkins quilt!!

Thank you so much Leslie for all the time and effort that you put into this wonderful square.

To see an update of all the other squares we have received, you can click here.

Thank you to EVERYONE who has sent us squares to date!! I am looking for some more squares from my family...hint hint!!!!

New Friends

I was just looking at my blog - admiring what a GREAT job Kathy did in giving me a bloggy make over. I am so happy with it.

What struck me most though was on the right side under the tab that says: BLOGGERS WE'VE MET! Check out that list! How great it that?

I NEVER imagined that this little blog would morph into a life line, new friends and so much more information then I could have gathered anywhere else.

The people that I have met in person have been PHENOMENAL and AMAZING Women (and their spouses in some cases).

As much as we all bitch about the wait - and it does suck - if there was no wait, there would be no (fewer) new friends. And many of these women and families will be friends Forever Friends!

6 Months LID!!

Today is our 6 month LIDiversary!!

I must say the time has FLOWN by!!

Tonight we are celebrating with our Friends and Travel Mates Dolores & Shawn with a dinner out!!

The weekend...

FRIDAY

This past weekend, Mark and I along with Rhonda and Josh had the pleasure of visiting Nic & Tim. We (Mark and I) arrived Friday night after about a 45 minute wait at the boarder to cross. We were not too late for our 6:00 meeting! We had a quick tour of the house, met the animals and out we were again for a yummy dinner! We had wonderful food and even better company. We were at the restaurant for about 3 hours or so. It certainly didn't seem that long and we just kept talking and talking and talking.

We had to get a good night's sleep as we had a VERY busy day the next day.

SATURDAY
To sum up our day...Rhonda and I were watching it wiggle while Mark and Josh were sitting in the backseat with sticky hands.

Get your mind out of the gutter!!!!! We were simply enjoying POP ROCKS!!! What a blast from the past they were. We got the POP ROCKS (the sticky hands part) in the afternoon when we visited the JELL-O Museum (the wiggle part). And that was just a snippet of our day.

The day started out about 8:30 when we met in the hotel lobby. Nic said that we should bring sweaters as we wouldn't have time to come back to the hotel before our evening activities. So after a little bit of scrambling - we were off and heading the the "Pancake House". I had only heard about this place from Rhonda and Nic and they RAVED about it. This was our chance to find our for ourselves. It certainly lived up to it's reputation! The meal was wonderful! However, there was no time to sit around and lollygag - there was shopping to be done!

From breakfast we went to do some shopping at various locations, grabbed a quick bite for lunch and then off the the JELL-O Museum. What a lovely experience it was. Laugh if you must, but it was fun! Our "guide" through the museum was a lovely lady named Ruth. Ruth started working at the museum on the day it opened. She had some wonderful stories to tell about the JELL-O. One interesting tidbit we learned was that if you take a bowl of lime JELL-O and attach it to an EKG machine - the JELL-O will show similar 'brain waves' to that of an adult! You can look here for some other interesting JELL-O facts!

After JELL-O we were off to our dinner cruise on the Erie Canal. There were 14 people on the cruise and we were 6 of them! Remember how I said that Nic suggested that we go and get a sweater? Well it was about 90 degrees that day and the humidity was KILLING us! But we prevailed! The cruise was lovely and so relaxing. There was a nice breeze when the boat was moving. We went through locks and had a nice dinner.

On the ride home in the car, we were laughing SOOOO hard at the POP ROCKS that Rhonda was eating and the noises that they made and then laughing more because our hands were so sticky from eating the POP ROCKS off them. It was a GREAT day!

Sunday Mark and I were up and out by 7:00am as we had commitments at home.

Thank you so much to Nic and Tim for showing us around and taking care of us and putting up with our shopping and you didn't even buy anything!

10 Childhood Memories

I was tagged by Kate on this tag developed by the TRAILBLAZER CrazyLady. I have decided to focus only on the good memories that happen to pop into my head - so here goes:

1. I remember playing in Michele C's basement with Sue P. playing for HOURS with LiteBright, Charlies Angels, Teacher, Tag, Barbie camper/ski chalet, Hide & Seek and the list goes on and on...

2. I remember crawling into mom's bed on Sunday morning and just gabbing and gabbling with her. It was ALWAYS more comfortable then my own bed!

3. I remember going to Dad and Hortense's every weekend and on Saturday morning Tracey, Roger and I each got a dollar to walk to the store and buy 'stuff' - chips, chocolate bars, penny candies and comic books (all for a buck). We would be gone forever...we would play Land of the Giants in the field.

4. I remember BIG Christmas dinners with all my aunts, uncles and cousins...There would have been about 25 people and we had a BLAST!

5. I remember spending lots of time with my Granny. She would teach me how to knit with little kid sized needles and I would make tube dresses with yellow yarn for my Barbies. She taught me and my sister Tracey how to play Euchre when we were about 8 so we could play with her. She used to LOVE country music and she would sing and dance in a way that made us laugh. She loved us to BITS!!

6. I remember I had a job and I wanted to be on the cash and my mom would practice for HOURS with me to place orders so I could find buttons on the register and exchanging money so I could learn to give change.

7. I remember playing outside ALL the time and sitting on the curb eating sunflower seeds and having to come in when the streetlights came on.

8. I remember having 'curb sales' that I would bring out my stuff that I didn't want anymore and put it on the curb and other kids would use their allowance to buy my stuff and then I would go to their curb sales and buy their stuff.

9. I remember going to my aunts cottage with my cousins and swimming and laughing and playing and fishing and...

10. I remember my mom ALWAYS being there whenever I needed her!! She still is!

If you haven't done this - it is a WONDERFUL one to write! Go on - try it!!

A thought...

There is a saying or phrase out there that I am sure you have all heard. I am thinking that you have probably even said it (BEFORE you started your adoption). Perhaps you were not thinking of or realizing how hurtful the phrase was to adoptive children (or adults for that matter) at the time when you uttered it.

The phrase I am talking about is "Blood is thicker then water". People throw these words around all willy nilly - as I am sure that I have myself at some point in time without thinking of the consequences.

Now that we are in the midst of an adoption, the phrase takes on a whole new meaning. Prior to now, I hadn't really given the MEANING of the saying a second thought. It was just something that people said.

Now that it affects my life directly it makes me cringe. Now that I THINK about the words, they upset me.

Perhaps the people that are saying it are not realizing what they are saying either. Perhaps until it is something that touches you, do you really even 'listen' or understand or care for the matter as to the meaning of the phrase.

My nieces and nephews are not 'blood' related. They are still my nieces and nephews. Do I love them any less - ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! However, I don't know that people think about that when they spew the phrase. Does this mean that Mark would love my sister’s children less then he loves his sisters children because they share a bloodline? I don't think so. We are their Aunt and Uncle and we love them to bits - All of them – no matter where they came from! Do others that use the phase think like that – that their nieces and nephews on their spouses side are ‘less’ family or ‘less’ blood or ‘less’ important because they don’t share a blood line?

Will our family members and friends treat our children differently because of a different blood line – and a different background. I would LIKE to say no - they won’t be treated any different then other members of the family however, until the time comes, we are not going to know that for sure. There is a little (o.k. big) part of me that is terrified for our daughters that they will be treated differently then other family (blood) members.

I sit here now and think about it...What will our daughters think of these words – Blood is thicker then water? Will they upset them? Will they believe that it is true? Will they care? Will they want to find their birth mother to test out the theory? Will they accept us as parents? Will they long to have a ‘blood’ relative? Will we be able to protect them from hurtful people? Will they be totally accepted by their family?

Will they believe and trust that they are loved so absolutely, completely and unconditionally that it doesn't matter where they came from? They are our daughters and blood or no blood - we WILL be a FOREVER family!!

Yup - during adoption, the phrase “Blood is thicker then water” takes on a whole new meaning - as does anything when it touches your life directly.