Too Busy to Write

Aw, man!  I love to write.  Even if no one is reading but me (but John, you should be reading! You had better let me know that you saw this), I love to blather on.

It's just been too busy lately to write as much as I'd like.  School, working at church once a week, karate, homeschool group, what else--there has to be something else.  Constant juggling act.  Add to that the constant, "He's bothering me!" "He's breathing funny!"  "He's breathing!" (not kidding on that one) and all the touching and climbing on mommy.  There is only so much physical touch I can take (tickling is torture! and don't you dare touch my neck). Noise, too.  Sensory Integration Disorder is what they call it. 

So, I am feeling overwhelmed lately.  Ready to crash by 6 p.m.  Thank God for John who does the dishes after supper! If not for that gift of service, I think we'd be up to our elbows in dirty dishes. 

Well, tomorrow morning is karate at the Y, and then lessons with all three kids.  So I had better get to bed. 

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Before I sign off,  I will leave you with a Luci-ism from this past week:

Chip-Chat: small talk.  As in,

Mommy, I want to have all my friends over to play.  Then all you mommies can sit around and chip-chat.

With Thanks...

Thank you, Ruth and Sheila, for nominating me. What an honor! More about this award here.

My Favorite Dot on the Map....

...is labeled APO, AE, United States in the "visitors list." You can click on the map to see the list for today's visitors, if you are curious.

I am thankful that the address above will not be showing up in the list after Monday, the day John leaves Kabul.

And I cannot wait until I can scrape this sticker off my van's rear window.
Six days and counting!

Thirty Days of Thanks...

I am thankful for friends I've met through blogging. Some I've actually met in person, like Denna. Others are on "the list" to meet, and are close enough to someday get together, but we are just too busy...like Monica and Katie's mom (their blogs are private, or going private). Others are folks who've adopted daughters from Luci's province in China, or are using the same homeschool curriculum that we are, or are on the same Feingold diet for ADHD/ADD. All have taught me to be a better person, or entertained me, or allowed me the privilege to watch their families grow...sometimes, all 3 things happen at once.

Thirty Days of Thanks...

Today, as ever, I am thankful for the men and women who have served and sacrificed and made this country of ours GREAT.

John and I both grew up in families where the United States of America was (and is still) honored. Both families have strong ties to the military, with many cousins, uncles, and a few women, too, wearing the uniform.

Now, to borrow a line from my cyber-friend, Monica--

Some heroes wear capes....MINE WEARS COMBAT BOOTS!

my favorite soldier

Thirty Days of Thanks...

I am thankful for people like Tongginator's Momma, who writes so well on adoption. She has made me think quite a bit. So has Katie-bug's Mom. I am hoping to meet Katie and her family someday; they are actually not too far from us.

I'm Gonna Blog All I Can Now, Because....

Father of the internet: 'web is running out of addresses'

Some details: First of all, Al Gore is not the "Father of the Internet"--it's this guy, Vint Cerf. Here's what he says:

The world is about to run out of the internet addresses that allow computers to identify each other and communicate, the man who invented the system has told The Times.

Vint Cerf, the “father of the internet” and one of the world’s leading computer scientists, said that businesses and consumers needed to act now to switch to the next generation of net addresses. Unless preparations were made now, he said, some computers might not be able to go online and the connectivity of the internet might be damaged. . . .

It is estimated that IPv4 addresses, each of which is a series of 32 binary digits, will run out in 2010 and possibly as early as next year.

A new system, called IPv6, has been ready for implementation for more than a decade.

Under IPv6, each address has 128 bits and so provides 340 trillion, trillion, trillion different addresses - that is 340,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. It is assumed that this will meet humanity’s needs for decades to come.

Time for Some Sea & Tea

Here's another blog (if your list isn't very long yet!) written by interesting people...Tori and Caleb, my neice and her husband. They came through here two weeks ago. They managed to make us sound interesting on their blog. Tori and Caleb are making their blog a travel journal as they make their way across America.

Lucky them!

The Original Blogger

This man had the idea for blogging before Al Gore took the Internet public.

Here's the whole story:


Daily Polaroids Detail Last 18 Years of NYC Man's Life
Saturday, May 31, 2008 Fox News story


For 18 years Jamie Livingston kept a record of every day of his life, but this was no ordinary journal.

Livingston, a New York City-based cinematographer, amassed thousands of Polaroid photos, taken each day of his life during those years, and a collection of the photos has been posted online by friends for people to see and experience, according to a report by MyFOX National.
Many of the photos were of friends. The subject sometimes was as ordinary as a smile, a window or a household item. Another was taken on his wedding day.

Livingston's friend Risa Mickenberg told MyFOX National the photos are an essay on life.

"'Photo of the Day' is a work of light, color, laughter, pain, travel, beauty, wonton soup, afternoons, coffee, hanging out, love, life in its entirety," she said.

Livingston was born in New Jersey on Oct. 25, 1956, and died in New York City 41 years to the day in 1997.

In 1978 at Bard College he began to take photos with his Polaroid camera, according to MyFOX National. After a few weeks he realized he had taken almost an image a day. He then began to earnestly take one photo a day and continued the project until his death.

Tag! You're It!

Katie Bug's Mom tagged me. I don't know her yet, except through her blog, but we have a lot in common. We both homeschool and we both have 2 bio boys, and a precious girl from China. Even some of my answers could be copied from her list. I'll try to not do that! But I will keep the declaration at the beginning of Katie-bug's list:

*For those of you who are not bloggers, you probably don't "get" this, but it helps us all get to know one another.

Favorite person (outside of family): That's not fair! Naming one person might upset somebody. I love my homeschool friends who live close-by. They help me so much (with ideas for homeschooling, with their friendship, and how to stay sane).

Favorite food? Chocolate. Anything chocolate. (same as Katie-bug!)

Quirks about you? Love to plan. Any trip becomes the equivalent of a military campaign. Except for Disney World, I've become kind of relaxed about that place.

How would the person who loves you the most describe you in ten words or less? Hmm. I've heard some things I like and some I'm not too sure about. :) But all are true.

Any regrets in life? Yes. But not many.

Favorite charity or cause? Love Without Boundaries

Favorite blog recently? There are quite a few that I read every week, sometimes more often. They are all favorites for one reason or another. They make me think, make me laugh, make me even more thankful to belong to this really neat group of adoptive familes.

Something you cannot get enough of? hugs from my kids (same as Katie-bugs!)

Worst job you ever had? I haven't really had that many jobs. I did hate cleaning the grill at Red Steer!

What job would you pay NOT to have? Anything dealing with bodily fluids, or anything shown on Dirty Jobs .

If you could be a fly on the wall, where? I would want to be in Luci's village, to see her birth family and to see how they live. I would want to be a talking fly, though, and tell them that she is safe and healthy and happy.

Favorite Bible verse right now? I Peter 2:9--a verse for Luci.

Guilty pleasure? Mystery novels, my favorite authors are Tamar Myers and MC Beaton.

If you had to spend $1000 on yourself, how would you spend it? A trip to Idaho! (see you guys SOON!)

Favorite thing about your house? Everything.

Least favorite thing about your house? Nothing--I love it. Except for the deck today (see yesterday's post!)

One thing you are bad at? sick kids (same as Katie-bug!)

One thing you are good at? Bryan just said, "being a mom." Awww! He said he was serious, and does not want any favors. I may get that all in writing.

If you could change one thing about your circumstances, what? have everything paid off.

Who would you like to meet someday? Luci's birth parents.

What makes you feel sexy? too personal. I don't like personal.

Who is your real life hero? My Mom. I honestly do not know how she accomplished all she did while I was growing up. (exactly the same as Katie-bug)

What is the hardest part of your job? Keeping my cool.

When are you most relaxed? When all the kids are asleep.

What stresses you out? Household clutter. That pile of ironing that needs doing.

What can you not live without? Air conditioning. Serious answer: Christ.

Do you agree with the recent article that blogs are authored by narcissists? I haven't seen that article. But mine is sort-of narcissistic, to be honest. It's the only place I can talk. And I love telling about our kids. And I like to think that sometimes I am kind of funny. (I loved Erma Bombeck.)

Why do you blog? My family is scattered around the country. Nice way to keep them up-to-date without having to do a Christmas newsletter. And again, I like to talk, if only to myself.

Who are you tagging? The people I've tagged before didn't respond, so I don't know if mentioning any one here would serve any purpose. Here it goes, anyway:
Sherry from my alma mater
Denna (did you do this yet?)
Buffi (have you done this one?)
Stephanie, Olivia's mommy
Scarlett--but she's about to give birth to baby #2 and probably too busy!
Kaylee! mommy to two beautiful boys
KT--she is sooo interesting. Love her blog! (also a Feingold friend)
Joan--another Feingold friend (I think you are interesting, too!)


Rules: 1. Answer the questions. 2. Link back to who tagged you. 3. Tag 8 bloggers to do the same.

What Inspires You to Blog?

That's the Question of the Day from Vox blogsite. What's your answer? Here's mine:

I want to keep the Grandparents and my Siblings, all of whom live far away, up to date. Because of this, they are free from my annual Christmas letter! Bonus for them!

In addition, I guess I am a writer-wannabee and this lets me get that out of my system.

Record of our days...it's so fun to look back on the posts from months, years ago. I don't have the space to scrapbook--Luci gets into everything--but when John gets that room built for me, maybe my blogging will slow down.

It is a way to make friends. I am short on friends here in town, but I have quite a few in Blogger-Land.

QotD=Question of the Day

Word Verification

I've had to add "Word Verification" to my comment page--it just adds one of those little groups of letters you have to type in to make things a little more secure. I saw someone (or a spammer?) leave a bug (or something that looked suspiciously like one) on someone else's blog. I hope you will still comment. It just takes a second to copy the letters.

Word Verification:
This will require people leaving comments on your blog to complete a word verification step, which will help reduce comment spam.

Thank You, Denna!

Yesterday Denna gave me this blogging award. Wow, I am almost speechless. Almost! Can't shut me up. Denna is a friend I met through blogging. I thought her daughter from China looked a lot like Luci, and in my search for finding anything familiar for little Luci, I wrote to Denna and asked where in China her daughter was born. So a friendship began. Turns out that Brooke, pictured below, is about 3 months younger than Luci and is from a different Province. I think the similarity of Brooke and Luci at that age (12 months) is just striking. Denna also has a beautiful daughter named Courtney. We got to meet in person at the Birmingham Zoo 3 months ago, and her whole family is such a delight. They are a homeschooling family, Christian, so we have lots in common.

Denna said some sweet things when she gave me the award, and since it is not a humility award, I will share it with you.

• Susan from add one Chinese sister. I got to meet Susan, Luci, Bryan, and JT. I love to read her blog and see how the children are doing. She always makes me laugh. There always seems to be some excitement around her house. Susan home schools. I like to hear about her school days. Susan and I have a lot in common.

I try to be funny at times, I can't help it--I even married a guy whose last name ends with HAM. So, Denna, I'm glad I can make you laugh sometimes. I hope that when I'm serious that it comes across well, too.

Now that I have this honor, I need to pass it on--that's the rule with a blogger award, you get to share the fun by giving it to five others who have not received it yet. Right away, I thought of these folks, all of whom have a talent for writing and photography:

Gina T-S.--Her blog is private, but wow, it is such a good one. She has a great love for the Lord, and she has a great way of wording things. And she's smart!

Gena K.--she is the head of our education (birth-6th grade) at our church. She loves my children and that makes me love her. She makes me laugh, and she makes me think.

Krista M.--Also a friend from church. She has lots to say about many things and is always interesting. She's not afraid to bring up any subject.

Kaylee--she is married to my nephew Connor, and she has such beautiful children! (they are related to me, what can I say?) She has a joy that comes through in her blog.

Jennifer--She is Luci's doctor at the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham. She also is the mom of twins, who are just 3 weeks older than Luci. Jennifer and her husband have such a heart for international adoptions and the orphans who cannot come home; I wish we could do what they do!

Julie--She is going to be a mom soon! She loves photography and she is so funny. I can't wait to see pictures of her baby all over her blog. (yes, I know this is SIX, but hey, I know a lot of great women!)

Okay, Gina T-S, Gena K, Krista M, Kaylee, Jennifer and Julie--you get to honor 5 of your own blogger friends! I can't wait to see who you pick.

New Blog? and Question of the Day

I just started a blog on Vox, because I have a friend there who has a really good blog that I enjoy a lot and want to be able to comment on: to leave a comment, you have to join Vox, so I did and that starts a blog for you if you like. Mostly, though, I will be using this blog, so don't bookmark that one unless you just really, really adore me. Translation: Only John has to put it in his favorites list.

Vox has a Question of the Day (QotD) and this was the one today: What are you most grateful for in your life right now?

Here's my answer:

I am most thankful for my immediate family.

My husband is a real dear, and so helpful everyday. His motto is, "If it needs doing, just do it."

Bryan, 15, is a pretty good teenager. He has a good sense of humor that occassionally drives me nuts. He has a lot of patience with most people.

JT, 11, is a cutie. He has lots of personality and is very involved in sports. He adores his little sister.

Luci is our sunshine. She is a very active 3 year old, and pushes me to go beyond my comfort zone when it comes to opening up to outsiders.

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Of course, the rest of our families are extraordinary--our parents are such good examples and I love all of mine--my own, and John's. And Heath and Audrey have built nice, solid families that we are proud of.

Frank and Ernest