I See What You Meme

It's been a little over a year in our journey with Kiddo and we are excited to say that the day is finally here! She is officially out of foster care and we are her legal guardians. We are her adoptive parents! A new birth certificate is on its way to our house! People of the Interwebs, meet our daughter Prudense! Our original plan was to have an official ceremony with the judge and all but due to some miscommunication with either the lawyer or the courts, the adoption order was signed without us. It's ok, though.   We shared the official news with Prudense on Saturday and she was, of course, thrilled. We have considered her our daughter for quite a while now, so in some ways the reality of the official adoption order was a little strange. Now, however, we can make many decisions (medical, educational, etc.) without running everything by a caseworker. That's a big change! We are also thrilled that her case worker through social services recently transferred to ...

I'm not much of a jewelry person. I love admiring beautiful baubles and gems, especially on those who seem to have a knack for accessorizing, but I am pretty low maintenance when it comes to the shiny stuff. Most of my more valuable pieces are items with sentimental value, inherited from now deceased family or given with an exceptional showing of love (my engagement/wedding ring, for example). While other girls may fantasize about their significant other gifting them with jewelry for a special occasion, I'm much happier with the gift of books. Or a massage. It certainly makes it easy for Roger. He never has to go to Jared .   I have been known to wear the same pair of pearl posts in my ears for weeks at a time and I tend to go for classic pieces that "go with everything" so I just don't have to think about changing them out. I have a few fun pieces that I wear with certain outfits and I treasure the many pieces of butterfly jewelry that have come my way in the l...

Here we are in the middle of Christmas, headed for New Year's and Epiphany! When last I left you , we were just easing in to the holiday season, on the heels of the signing of much official adoption paperwork.  The process continues. The judge has the papers.  We should be official about 2 months (or so).  Overall, it has been a relatively easy Christmas. After five  years of grief and dread , it's nice to have a healthy distraction in the form of a tiny person's holiday joy. All of those activities--visiting Santa, singing carols, looking at the lights, preparing presents for others--when seen through the perspective of a child can have a way of softening the blow a bit.  The sadness has been there in fits and starts, but it definitely feels different. These months between November and January are always a bit reflective anyway.   Of course, while it is the season for holiday celebrations, it is also the time of mass binge watching of movies and other...

It's that time of year again. The holidays are approaching. How could you avoid the onslaught? I can't believe they actually started the Christmas marketing before  Halloween this year.  But I digress. This isn't really about the holiday season.  (Well, maybe it is. A little.)  What it's really about is that time in November 2009 when we learned that we could no longer fight Charlotte's cancer . That time we had to fully understand that word. Terminal.  For the last five years, that period from November to the end of January has been a blur of avoidance, melancholy, and sadness. We haven't put up a Christmas tree since that pink one that graced our living room until almost April 2010. Only last year did I finally start feeling like "my old self" when it came to the holidays, slowly merging into social celebrations with others without feeling a panic attack coming my way.   Although I can't find it in an old blog post, I know that in ...

This week marks the 17th anniversary of my marriage to Roger .  It also marks 20 years of togetherness as a couple. If you've followed our story, it goes without saying that we've seen quite a bit in those 2 decades. As we replaced another refrigerator this month (bit the dust after 10 years of faithful service), I started to think about the numbers that define our life as a couple. Most of our wedding gifts have come and gone--I think the hand mixer might be the only original appliance we still own. We have faced moves, job changes, births, deaths, celebrations, and struggles.   We're still here! We haven't killed each other yet.  So in honor of our 2 decades together, I share this handy dandy infographic that highlights R-Squared--strictly by the numbers. Enjoy! (Hint: It's easier to view if you click on the infographic and it opens in a new window. Then you can tap the magnifying glass to enlarge or reduce.)

We hit a very important milestone last week! Kiddo has been with us for six months. Does everyone remember what that means? We are ready to move forward with adoption! Now before everyone gets too excited, there is still a great deal of work (and paperwork) to be done until we finally sign on the dotted line and make it legally official.  But this is a MAJOR milestone, both for us and for Kiddo.   I've been in quite the reflective mood lately, so seems a good a time as any to reflect on some of the ways in which Kiddo has changed my life. 1. I'm a more responsible adult when I'm a parent. When it was just Roger and me for a while, it was easy to fall into a slump where we could eat popcorn, PBJ sandwiches, or noodle soup almost every night for dinner. We could leave the laundry lying around unfolded (or at least folded in the basket) for days on end.  Now I have a little person expecting three relatively healthy  meals a day. And I need to set a good exam...

This week, I will celebrate my birthday again.  Most years, I don't find my birthday to be an incredibly big deal.  As far as I'm concerned, my last major milestone birthday was 30. Ever since then, I have sometimes even found myself stumbling to even remember my own age. "I think I turn 34 this year.  Wait! No! How can I be 36 already?" Thirty nine feels a little bit different. I'm not going to say old. I don't really feel old. Most days. But 39 feels like something more significant. It's the eve of 40.  On my last major birthday (yes, we're still talking about 30), I had just become a mother for the first time. I was engaging in what I felt was truly "a career" (rather than "a job"), and I still felt like I had barely left college.  What a difference nine years makes in so many ways.  So to celebrate this personal milestone, I wanted to share some wisdom gleaned from 39 laps around the sun. Many of these thoughts aren'...