Moving Along...

Astoria came by and saw my message. Oddly enough she was not compelled to leave a comment. Time to move on......

This is just a total stream of consciousness post........I am sore from my couch to 5k plan. Even with motr*n today my legs ached. I will be back at it tomorrow. Ben has a big lacrosse tournament this weekend. He is one busy guy between school, lacrosse and baseball. Sophie and I leave for Cincinnati in a few weeks. I am excited to be able to visit lots of my Ohio girls and for Sophie to see her doctor. She has not seen him since her surgery almost 2 years ago. I am hoping we leave Cincinnati children's accomplishing what we traveled there to do! Krista and I should have a rockin' good time in the car for 8 hours with Sophie. I am looking forward to meeting Claire and hangin' with Connie, I can't wait to watch Sophie play with Jazzie and Tahlia, I hope that Maddy and Robin are able to catch up with us, it is always fun to catch up with Stacey, (Stacey maybe you can come to the zoo with me and Soph ??) I love that I am able to catch up with so many friends all in one state!! I am totally sick of the rain. I can't wait to sit at the pool. I am going to miss Hannah's first swim meet:( But my Dad will be there to watch her for me. He will be hanging out here while I am in Cincy with Sophie. It will be fun for Ben and Hannah to have some time to hang out with their Papa. I think they are planning on going to grandfather mountain and the mile high (thanks masons mommy:) swinging bridge. Sounds scary to me.

peace

A Post that is sure to tick someone off....

Your trip to China may not be all sunshine and butterflies....really. You are not obligated to looove the province your child comes from. Ben was born in Springfield Massachusetts, which has slowly become the armpit of western mass. Does that statement mean I don't love every inch of my son??? Certainly not and just because your son or daughter was born in China does not mean you have to gush a love song for their province/China. You of course want to share positive statements about your child's birth country as this is in part an extension of who they are. And yes, you may feel some gratitude towards China for allowing you to parent your precious child. But I am going to be honest here and tell you that my gratitude is not to China...but to Sophie's birth parents who chose LIFE for her! Should I thank China for allowing me to ease the burden of their social and political systems???

For those who will be traveling to China sooner or later these are the facts:

• You are not on vacation. This will be the most stress filled trip of your life and that is if everything goes as planned and your child transitions with little difficulty. You will be exhausted and anxious to get home, only to have your ass kicked by jet lag.
  
• China is crowded. People will push you and get closer to you than you would appreciate. You have heard this before.
• If you are tall, big, white, blonde, have red hair, blue eyes or a lot of body hair and happen to be carrying around a Chinese baby you will be like an exhibit at the zoo and Chinese people will stare at you and talk about you.
  
• You may not like your child's provincial capital. It is ok. Sophie's province capital is also the coal capital of China. Some people liked it, I couldn't wait to get moving.
  
• Chinese food is not the same as the "Peking House" in the burbs. It is actually better, or at least it was where we traveled. There is no sweet and sour chicken. If all else fails you ask for noodles with black bean sauce.
• People in China drive crazy. So do people in Rome and on snow days here in NC. The thing with China is that there is a whole lotta people on the roads at the same time, in cars, buses, vans, bikes and motorcycles.

These are my OPINIONS you surely may not share them. Your experience in China will likely be different than ours. I love Chinese culture, this was one of the reasons I was drawn to adopting from China....this does not change my opinion of how people drive in China, how much I loved the food, or how much I wanted to get the heck of Taiyuan and get home.

Couch to a 5k Running Plan

I have started to run. This has been a stressful year at school. For me Stress=Multiple handfuls of Chips. I usually get home from work around 4:30, some days earlier some days later. On stress filled days the snacking begins around 4:35:) This year everyday seems to have been a stress filled day!

About 3 years ago I lost around 40lbs, but I have gained 20lbs of it back. The key to me losing the weight was not being in the house during the time I liked to snack, so I scheduled my workouts during my usual pig-outs! So it is back to the old plan.....and hopefully my old shorts!

I am not a real lover of exercise. Can't I just be a size six and not move off the couch???? Anyway in order for me to get moving I need music. This is what I put on my ipod to start my new running plan.

Mercy-Duffy
Best of You-Foo Fighters
Boom Boom Pow- Black Eyed Peas
Sexy Back-Justin
Suddenly I see- KT Turstall
Harder To Breathe- Maroon 5 ( that is my sick sense of humor kicking my ass about half way through my run)
Sexy Can I- Ray J ( naughty song- found on Ben's play list. I need to talk to him about this one)
Umbrella- Rihanna
Shine- Collective Soul
I'm Yours- Jason Mraz
Everything -Michael Buble

Pretty eclectic mix-the last 2 songs are part of my warm down.

I found this plan and did the first day today. It sucked:) No seriously I thought is was a wimpy start...but I was tired and sweaty by the time I walked up the driveway. I did the workout for 20 minutes but wasn't home yet, so I did a brisk walk the rest of the way home. I also found out that my ipod has a stop watch. I used the stop watch to help me follow the plan.

Why don't you join me!!

Attention F*cebook users

There is now a FB page to boycott the WB movie "Orphan". Go HERE now and read about the page!! Then head to this FB page!!

Told you WB.....We are a force to reckoned with!!!

EMERSON DAY!!

Wahooo! The wait just washes away once they put that beautiful baby in your arms! Congrats to Tracy and Jason!! We love you guys!!

In the Waiting Room.....

I am seriously stalking her blog ! Oh I am not alone in the waiting room. There are lots of Auntie's with me....her, her, her and don't forget about her, and her. Text me or email me as soon as anyone gets news!

Never a Good Idea to Tick Off the Adoption Community

I saw a trailer for this movie and was horrified, offended and just amazed. As if the title was not obnoxious enough...go here to watch the trailer . As soon as I find out where we can send emails protesting this film I will let y'all know. I believe that there will be older children who have been adopted, who will be impacted by this movie. I don't doubt that they will be questioned by their peers possibly to their faces, but likely behind their backs. I believe that people will form opinions about adoption, and adoption of older children that will impact children who wait to be part of loving families.

This pisses me off.