Aug

7

Emotions - How Do You Feel Today?

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Fire and iceI was asked to participate in a meme today:

Our Abstract Emotions, started by Confessions of a Housewife.

As I glanced through the post I thought, oh that’s easy. I’m gonna post a photo of K’s adoption day - clearly one of the happiest days of my life. But as I was thinking, I remembered, adoption day wasn’t the happiest day of my life - it was the most relieved day of my life. K had been living with us as a foster child for over a year, and when the day finally came, I glided through it, mostly in daze.

Then I thought I’d post a photo of the bear that comes to visit, as that sums up my feelings of living in the mountains of Colorado - but I’ve already done that. Twice.

I Stumbled photos. I searched Flickr.

Then I re-read her post and the instructions were clear:

Your assignment is to find a picture that abstractly expresses how you feel. What I mean by abstractly is a picture of something, a drawing, a image, that does not have you or another person in it.

And that is how I settled on the photo - actually a painting of mine - that clearly reflects how I feel today. I named the painting ‘Fire and Ice’.

What’s a meme?

O.K. Tag, you are it.

Aug

6

A Birthday Meme

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I’ve been tagged by to answer a Meme by Go Workout Mom

What is a meme, you ask? Apparently, in the blogging world, it’s a way to ask a question, pick (tag) others to share their answers and so on. If you’re really interested, there’s a blog dedicated to Memes. Check out The Daily Meme.

For this one, go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (month and day). Then you write down 3 events, 2 births, 1 holiday, and tag 5 friends. There are five slots in the meme list…If you are tagged, you have to remove the name in the first slot and bump everyone up so that your name can be added to the bottom. Participation is optional.

Here’s the list:

 

TwistedSister…

Ugly Mailbox

Earnest Parenting

Go Workout Mom

Mid-Life Mommy

And I tag:

High on Health

The New Midlife Mommy - (the other one)

A Momma’s Rant

Citizen Mom

This Mommy Cooks!

3 Events

Disaster, Death, Torture. Whew!

2 Births

1 Holiday

Winter Solstice. Cool eh?

In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice, sometimes known as Yule, occurs on or very close to this date. In the Northern Hemisphere, it marks the first official day of Winter. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs around this time.

Aug

4

Larry King, Adoption, and the Bridge

Filed Under Open Adoption | 4 Comments

Larry King, Adoption, and the BridgeWhy did Larry have to introduce the grieving family last night as “the father and his two adopted daughters”? Wouldn’t introducing them as “his two daughters” have worked just as well?

In case you missed it, last night Larry King interviewed the husband and the two daughters of one woman killed in the bridge collapse. I can’t find the video clip or I’d post it.

The whole country is grieving. I feel for the family and the two daughters, now missing their mother.

Again.

UPDATE:  Sherry Engebresten is her name.  Here’s a link to an MSN story and video.  Icouldn’t find the Larry King one.

Aug

2

Five Things I Wish I had Known about Open Adoption

Filed Under Open Adoption | 5 Comments

1. Birth – First Parents don’t just “Get on with their lives”.

Why would I have even thought that? K’s Birth Mom, - First Mom, (I still can’t get used to saying first mom), is a real person with deep feelings about our daughter. Jenna is a great advocate for First Parents,. She recently did this post on Triad Loss. I’ve learned a lot from Jenna over the last couple of years, and I recommend you read her for a while if you are considering an open adoption.

2. That there is terminology to be learned – like Birth and First Parent and that in itself is controversial.

Yes I thought that Birth Mother - as taught to me by our caseworker, was a nice warm and fuzzy term. Little did I know…..

3. That I’d be an educator on open adoption.

Open-Adoption is not co-parenting, sharing custody or asking permission. It is not about visitation rights, (although some people are advocating for that). Open-Adoption allows contact between first families and adoptive families. That could mean anything from just knowing who all sides of the triad are, or letters occasionally, to visits once a week as we do.

4. When we are seen together, first mom, me and K, people assume I’m the grandmother.

It is pretty strange. Last time this happened, FM spoke up and said, no, she’s the mom pointing at me. I was grateful.

5. That some people are actually afraid of open-adoption.

I get comments about kidnapping, abduction, and unwanted influences. These are all real threats living in the USA today and have nothing to do with adoption.

I love having an open adoption for my daughter. Yes it is a hassle. Yes it causes emotional turmoil on all sides. But probably not as much turmoil as a search later in life would cause. At least I’m banking on that.

We get to know the birth-first mom and I have lots of photos to share. Regardless of what happens in years ahead, my daughter will always have photos (and hopefully memories) of first mother looking at her with love.

Priceless, as they say.

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