Winter Walk.

Quicky on a Sunday night..........cuz the Super Bowl's on and I can't tear myself away from it?

K.....we'll go with that.

Highlight of the Super Bowl for me?

G is sick so I laid in bed with her and scratched her back until she fell asleep.  She whispered, "I love you," on my way out the door.  Madonna's lack-luster performance at half-time really can't hold a candle to that.

It's been uncharacteristically beautiful here in the mid-west for early February.....like take a walk outside and not freeze beautiful.  They keep saying we're going to have a frigid February. However the eight day forecast doesn't show anything below 40 so I'm wondering when this arctic blast is really going to hit us.

I'm still working on shaking that edgy feeling I had all last week.......it was good to get outside and breathe in some fresh air with my favorite people.

Yes.  I let Georgia play in snow, what little remains, with no "glubs" on.  She hates them.  She'll actually choose to stay inside once I tell her that, "Yes honey.......there is a foot of snow outside and it's freezing. You have to wear your glubs."

But she couldn't have loved pushing this slushy snow into the drains and hearing the rush at the bottom more........so, whatever..........she had cold fingers for a while.  I did talk her into putting her glubs back on eventually.

Look at our feet. Promise this wasn't posed.  I guess we're just that in-sync.

That's it.  Enjoy the end of the game..........
I'm hoping for a miraculous week!  In a lot of ways.  For a lot of people.

The Veil is Lifting......

the veil of this slump I've been in.

It all started last Wednesday.  I just felt blah.  I wasn't really feeling anything.  I don't normally crave sunshine--in fact--I love a cloudy day--but I was, and I wasn't really getting any.  I love doing projects around the house......but I didn't want to do any. I love to make up games with Georgia......but not so much last week.  I didn't even want to go to Target or TJ Maxx.  I felt cranky and a little fuzzy.  I just wanted to sit on the couch and watch Lifetime movies--but I didn't even really want to do that.  I tried one day for about ten minutes, thinking it would calm me down. But all the crying, stalking, running, anorexia, affair-having, and kidnapping just weren't doing the trick.

And all this 'being in a slump' was unfortunate timing because I had this crazy week on the horizon of Mom Colored Glasses stuff, friend stuff, random appointments, work, and life. So I had to rally.

And I suppose I did.  But I kind of feel like I rallied in the wrong order.  All the 'things' were on the list from numbers 1-20 and then I started plugging in time with Georgia and Chris.  And I find that when I do that, all that rallying doesn't really get me into the frame of mind that I thought it would.  I just feel tired and on-edge and a little more cranky than I felt initially.

Rallying in the right order is key.  It always needs to start with the people.  And the ones you love the most and that mean the most at the end of the day.  Because I'll tell you what.......rolling around on the floor with Georgia for an hour giggling uncontrollably makes me feel a whole lot more accomplished than ticking off eight things on my to-do list that have nothing to do with her.  Nothing is more centering, calming, re-calibrating, and refreshing than kissing those cheeks over and over.

So today...........after I got home from work we went outside.  It's February but feels like a crisp April night here in Michigan so we stayed there.....until the end......or rather until we headed out to meet daddy for some mediocre Italian fast-food.......and when we got home.....we danced.

And those three hours were the antidote I needed at the end of an over-scheduled, over-committed, over-yessed, and over-'it's all about me,' week.  I'm hoping to major on Georgia and Chris time this weekend and less on the other stuff.

How will you rally?

Blogging FAQ's.

I did an FAQ a couple weeks ago on my adoption and some random thoughts I had on it in regards to questions I get asked a lot.

And in case you think all I'm good for is information on adoption (ha!) I've also gotten quite a few questions in recent weeks and months on blogging since it seems like my other job.  I understand why so many people want to do it.  It's therapeutic (if you like writing and spilling your guts), it usually makes you grateful for what you have (because it forces you to focus on the good--no one really wants to read a post about how bad of a day you're having because your iPod isn't working, you have too many random things to do, your house is a mess, you feel fat, your kid didn't take a nap.......again, your cat puked three times, or your an old man backed into you.......at least I don't think they do), it commits family memories to "paper," and bottom line.....it's kind of fun.  I have "met" some great people through this new little hobby on the computer--even if I've never heard their voice or sat across from them for lunch at a restaurant--I've shared thoughts with them right here.  And, in cases like Mom Colored Glasses--hopefully one day it will be way more than just this great idea that's starting to gain some momentum.

So, here we go.............

1.  Where are the most common places to blog?  Wordpress or Blogger.  There are free versions of both and both are relatively easy to maneuver your way through.  I am partial to Blogger.  I've had more experience with it, I think it's much more user friendly, a lot of blog designers that the average person has access to will only design for blogger blogs, and there is just something about it that looks different to me--and I like that different.  I can usually tell instantly if a blog is a blogger blog or a word press blog (besides the obvious logo in the corner).  However, like I said above--they are both fairly easy to use and it's really just a matter of personal choice.

2.  Should you buy your own domain name? I went to a conference this past fall that really solidified my answer of "yes" to this question.  I didn't really think much about it until then.  But here's the deal--if you don't own your blog name, someone else can buy it........and then......if you ever want to do anything more serious with your blog.......like get sponsors and make some money.......you'll have to find a new name--after you've already spent so much time investing in building a blog persona under your original idea.  So here's the deal.....for around $10 you can buy your domain name and get the "blog-spot" out of the URL--plus it feels a little more official.  Head over to GoDaddy.com and see if your domain name is available.......sometimes you have to be willing to settle for a version of it instead of the exact name.  For example, my URL is apairofpinkshoes.com even though I call the blog Pink Shoes.  I'm okay with it.

And if you're using blogger to host your blog--you can buy your domain name right through them, they'll switch it over for you, and automatically withdraw the ten bucks every year to keep you in full possession of that name.  I also purchased a few other names--like mine and my daughters--just in case I ever want to do something with those one day, I know they're mine.

3.  What does it mean to follow a blog? Officially.......it means you've "registered" yourself as a follower of the blog within the actual blog.  See all those little thumb-nail pictures in the right hand column of my blog under the Follow Me sign--those are people who officially follow Pink Shoes.  It's really just a show of support, like......"I enjoy reading what you put out there....keep doing it!"  It's also the way really big bloggers gets sponsorships and advertising.  Companies and stores want to see that there is an established following on a blog before they're willing to back up what's written there with their product.

People who blog love you for doing it.  Promise.

4. Do you think it's important to try and stay as anonymous as possible on a blog? Well.....if you've read any of Pink Shoes before this post you know my answers to this question.  But......there are a lot of thoughts on this question when it comes to blogging.  I know bloggers who never share their children's names, never put up pictures, never refer to the location they live in, never use a spouses name, never reference who their friends and family might be, or use fake names for everyone they regularly talk about.  I'm one of those put-it-all-out-there kind of people.  As a blog reader, I need to feel some sort of connection to the writing--like I'm reading about a real person--and for me that means knowing who the writer REALLY is and what makes them tick.  I also love pictures--it feels authentic and relatable when I can see someones dirty dishes in the background, toys scattered on the floor, messy hair and dirty faces on kids, un-made beds, and broken crayons.  I see that and I think, "This is a mom just like every other mom--even if her posts are happy because she's choosing to be a glass half full lady--she's just..........regular."

So really.......it's your choice how transparent you are.  It's about your level of comfort.  There is one blogger I follow who has made up names (Pringles & Viva) for her kids and never puts one picture on her blog.  But because she's laugh-out-loud funny I love reading her.  That's a rare breed however.

5. Do you think it's important to hone in on a specific kind of blog to be? Not everyone in the blogging world will necessarily agree with me on this--but I don't think it's that crucial.  We're changing all the time as people--one day we're crafty, the next cranky.  One day we feel like super-mom and the next day we feel like ranting about some social injustice.  One day we are lamenting mom guilt and the very next one we're giving our thoughts on a resort in Jamaica.  Write about what you like and what feels like you right now.  People will know what's real if it's really real.  Don't pigeon-hole yourself.

6. What's the difference between Pink Shoes & Mom Colored Glasses? So this one is more just about me and my writing--but I've gotten it a lot.  Pink Shoes is my own personal blog where I'll write about things only pertaining to my life.  Mom Colored Glasses is an online magazine that I co-founded, write, and edit for.  It's a platform for a lot of other 'mom-bloggers' to come together and share information on what they're passionate about.  You're not necessarily going to get funny anecdotes on my potty training woes (they're funny right?) on Mom Colored Glasses--you have to come here to Pink Shoes to get those little gems--but you'll fine recipes, DIY projects, current fads in motherhood, various mom profiles, products we love, and a wealth of other information--some you might be interested in, other stuff you won't be--just like any other magazine.

Funny thing; looking back.....

Today is Wednesday, January 25th, 2012.  Three years ago on this date I wrote a post for the blog my husband and I started to keep our family and friends up-to-date on our adoption goings-on.  I didn't necessarily post that frequently--it was my first foray into blogging--but I happened to post on the 25th....which is pretty providential, seeing that I only posted three times that January, considering what we ended up doing basically three years to the date in 2012......just last night.  But first.....here's what I wrote back then:

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2009

my nemesis....conquered

i am finished with my delightful scrap-book as of ten minutes ago....now, i don't want anyone to get the wrong idea....i have a lot of respect for you ladies (and possibly some very confident men) who enjoy this hobby.

i get it...i mean what's not to love about cutting out countless pieces of paper to realize you are just one piece short of what you really needed so you get to run back to the scrapbook store for one 50 cent sheet of paper, or laying out an entire set of pages and finding one misspelled word that you already wrote in silver ink so you are forced to do the whole thing over again, and your cat constantly climbing up onto the table, counter, roof (wherever you think you can finally get away from him) and walking through paper glue and biting the corner of a picture, or sliding a finished page into the plastic sleeve and the plastic sleeve slides under all the pictures and rips them off the page, or having piles of paper, stickers, glue, scissors, etc. laying all over your kitchen table for weeks on end as you work on this glorious masterpiece.

all that to say...that i'm excited to be finished with this. i really am proud of it and it's so strange to think that this will go from our hands into the hands of someone who will be our birth mom. chris and i have talked a lot about the pictures we've chosen to put in this and would laugh about the context of the photographs and then wonder what someone else will think about them...if they'll notice something about "us" that we didn't notice or pick up on something that really speaks to them that we couldn't possibly have imagined and most importantly if they'll get a glimpse into who "we" are and if we seem to be a good fit for their child.

our home study report is still not officially filed...BUT...the reason that this book will be turned in tomorrow is that we received an e-mail from our social worker on monday requesting that i bring our book down if possible by tomorrow, the 26th, because there is a couple that she's very interested in showing our book to. they are due in march.

they are due in march. they are due in march. those are five crazy words that don't really have any finality for us....as of right now. but they could. and that has really gotten us thinking this week about how real what we are doing is. when we started this process at the end of september that's all it was....a process....and now we're being confronted with a possible end to that process. not that adoption is ever over....it's our reality forever....but those preliminary hoops, so to speak, could be coming to an end. we'll have to wait and see. the anticipation is so exciting and so very cool....we just can't wait to see how it all plays out!

   we did go and register yesterday.....and just in case anyone was wondering babies r us has a special registry    list for parents who are adopting....it's even labeled "domestic adoption registry list." and the strangest   thing.....adopted babies need the same stuff that non-adopted babies need....who would have thought?

*********

It's so crazy to even remember what the old me was like.  That 'me' who was working on a scrapbook to be turned in to our adoption agency for this random couple to look at it.  A couple that took almost three weeks with our book, trying to decide if they wanted to meet in person....changing our life forever.  And when I say it's hard to remember what that 'me' was like I don't say it with anything but thankfulness that I'm so different now.  I have this little girl that is the reason that Chris and I are who we are........now.  I can call myself not only a mama, but an adoptive one--and I couldn't love this crazy road of adoption more for what it teaches you about yourself, your spouse, the struggle that other families go through to come to this amazing decision to make you a parent, a child, and what unconditional love is.  

So, here I am three years to the day that I finished a scrapbook, to be turned in to my agency on the next day, hoping, praying, that it would possibly result in a baby.  I didn't really hold out a lot of hope.  It was a long-shot I thought, it was too quick, and frankly it scared me----because if it did work---I knew (kind-of) what it would mean.  

But it did work.  They chose us.  

And last night, we took our little girl to pre-school orientation--the little girl that was born just seven short weeks after I turned that scrap-book in.  Had someone told me three years ago on this day what I would be doing just three short years later I never would have believed them--and that's cliche--I know--but it just couldn't be more true.  

  Getting ready to head to orientation.  One day--soon, I hope--I'll be able to get pictures of Georgia's face.  For now, she turns her head every time the camera comes out.  Sigh. 

No lie....she asked to bring this apple to meet her teacher.  She saw it in a book we got from the library.......and it's gospel.

My timid girl turned into a different kid once we got into the gym at school--it was like someone set her free.  Who in the world loved those scooters....a.k.a finger pinchers....in elementary school?  My kid does--she was flying all over that gym and was a big sweaty mess when we finally convinced her to leave.  

Dear Dorothy, Tin-Man, & the Scarecrow.......

I loathe you.  Literally loathe you.  You consume many waking minutes of my day, and all of my daughters. We took Georgia to see you in the Wizard of Oz at our local theater because we had free tickets--way back at the beginning of December.  You all helped create an addict.  I guess it's true what they say, "The first taste is always free." Since that day I am regularly engaged in conversations like this:

• "Mommy, what was your favorite part of the Wizard of Oz?"  

And when I say, "The part where Dorothy fell asleep in the poppies," I have to explain why......and I could care less about those poppies--it's just an answer.......but heaven knows I wouldn't mind a few poppies to smoke come four in the afternoon and I'm literally skipping down an imaginary yellow brick road for the twentieth time that day.

• While screeching, "Mommy.....you put your purse down on Dorothy.  She's sitting right there."
• "Don't move any of these blocks, fake food, dishes, dress up clothes, bits of ripped up paper, broken crayons, or magnets.  They are part of the yellow brick road."

Sweet.  I'll just side-step through a mine field of sharp objects and wet paper (I'm sure you're as lost on this one as I am) in an effort to eliminate one more Wizard of Oz related melt-down.  

• "What'd you say Georgia?"  "I'm not talking to you--I'm talking to the Scarecrow."
• "Can we listen to the Wizard of Oz songs on the iPod?" 

I know, I get what I ask for.  I must have been smoking some of those poppies when I down-loaded Judy Garland warbling 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow.' On a brighter note, Chris and I know all of the words to DingDong the Witch is Dead, not something most people since.........1932..............have been able to say.  So, that's cool.  

• "What was Glinda's last name?"

No idea.  "But she had to have one.  Everyone has a last name." Right--I think it was Jones.  "No, that's not it. " Smith.  "Nope." Gallerini (my maiden name). "Yes.  That's right.  It's Glinda Gallerini." Phew.  Glad that's settled.  

• While crying, "I'm not ready to eat dinner yet because Dorothy isn't here yet."

I didn't invite her.  She's eating at the Lion's house for dinner tonight.  Get in your chair. 

• "Wait.  We can't leave this aisle (at the grocery store) because the Tin Man hasn't picked out what he wanted yet."

Yeah, well.....he'll have to find us over in the juice aisle when he's finished picking out his favorite bake n'break cookies because we're moving on.  

• "Oh no.  There's going to be a storm.  Do you think it will be the same storm that was in the Wizard of Oz?" (And please be mindful that this comment is thrown out there whenever a mention of a storm occurs on our news--which is always--because our forecasters are nuts about storms.  They were born for them, they love them, they're crazy. 

Yes, we're all going to get sucked up in a big giant twister and land in the creepiest world there is.....Oz. (I don't say that--but I'm getting darn close). 

• "I didn't do that. Dorothy did."

Well please inform her that if she does it again, there might be some spanking up in here--see how the wizard likes that.  

• "What was your favorite part of the Wizard of Oz? Your other favorite part."

I already told you.........five minutes ago.......and 10 minutes before that.......and 5 minutes before that.  My favorite part was when a great big hole opened up in the ground and swallowed them all.........oh wait.........

But lest you think I'm a total jerk to Dorothy and her main men............I am thankful for ruby slippers..........

because the promise of them resulted in some success on the potty--success I never thought we'd experience prior to the age of five for my un-bribeable daughter.  I guess you should never under-estimate the power of Oz.  Just three clicks of these babies, "There's nothing like the potty, There's nothing like the potty, There's nothing like the potty,".............and we were cheering in the bathroom.  

Oh, and I'm also thankful for tutus and wands and crowns and a great husband......because he's been able to show us what drag-Glinda might have looked like.  

So Dorothy--you drive me crazy, insane really.  However, I'll tolerate you through all this potty training business.  

Just don't get too sassy.