Head of the class

We had our first full day of class Saturday.  There’s a LOT I can’t tell you, but there’s some that I can tell you about.  Our teacher/instructor/facilitator is awesome.  She’s the same lady that did our orientation.  Love her.

Things I can’t tell you:

Essential Music

My new favorite band is Zach Fowler and the Essentials. My sister Momo introduced me to them when she was dating their bassist.  Normally I would have thought “Oh great, now she’s gonna make me listen to some sub par garage band.”  And actually that is what I thought.  Until I heard their new CD.  They are SO good!  They are kind of a mix between Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson and 311.  I can’t stop listening to them!  Check em out on Facebook (where you can listen to their debut album) and pick up their cd on iTunes!

Quirky, Unique, Special, Weird

When you adopt you have to provide a TON of very personal information to your agency, your case worker, the state, tons of people.  It makes you take a very close look at yourself.  I’d say I’ve always been fairly self-aware but lately I have started to notice that I have some weird tendencies.

• When I dab on my cuticle oil in my head I make this noise every time when I touch the brush to each nail.  Banga, banga, banga.
• When I put on my makeup I host an infomercial in my head.  I go through each step and help viewers with their day or evening looks. I provide valuable tips.
• I sing in the car.  Loudly.  And I swear to you, when I’m alone and singing with the iPod or radio, I sound fantastic.  As soon as someone else starts listening I go completely tone deaf.  It’s the darnedest thing!

I am also aware of my faults. I am:

• bossy
• possessive
• jealous
• impatient
• annoyed easily by stupidity (stupidity, not ignorance.  Ignorance can be overcome by learning.)
• convinced that if people would just do what I say then they’d be much happier and better off in general.
• a bit lazy
• horrible at time management

I’m working on these things so I can be a good parent, but some are just ingrained in me because I am a classic textbook Leo.  And you can’t fight the stars!

What are your little quirks?

Quite a souvenir

Don’t worry, my blog isn’t going to be all kidlet all the time.  I am still interested in many other things.  Like…when CSP & I get together with his parents we talk politics a lot more than we do with my my parents.  His parents are of the same political party affiliation as we are so we know it’s safe to talk politics.  Last time we were all together we talked about medical tourism.  This is a relatively new concept to me.  When I go on vacation it’s usually to spend time with family and friends in a fun location.  When I think vacation I just don’t think “Ooh, time for a hip replacement!”  But apparently other people do!   There’s even an association- The Medical Tourism Association.  It’s a growing trend even!  You can view this video about it here.  Who knew?

The Verdict

Thank you for all your input regarding blogging with kids.  I talked everything over with CSP & we’ve come to an agreement.  I had to compromise, but it’s a good thing.  Being married to CSP keeps me balanced.

• Since we’re fostering to adopt I won’t blog about the children until the adoptions are final.  That is going to be so hard!
• Once the adoption is final I’ll blog about the kidlets, but won’t use their real first names.  They’ll get nicknames.  I won’t blog any identifying details about our location, etc.  I mean, y’all know we live in Charlotte, and that’s as detailed as I’ll be getting.
• After the adoption I’ll only post pictures of their faces on flickr under the privacy option of “viewable to friends and family only” as well as on Facebook.  This way CSP knows who will be able to see pics of the kids.
• On my blog I’ll still be able to post pics, just no faces.

SO, if you want to see our little ones, you  need to be a friend or family.  Now, I do consider my bloggy friends real friends.  Some of you, like Lisanne, Jenny, etc. even though we’ve never met in real life I feel like I know you.  We’ve exchanged emails and regular mail and read each other’s blogs for years and years. I trust y’all plenty and feel very comfortable sharing our child’s pictures with you.  So if you’re a bloggy friend, but we’re not Facebook friends and you want to see my kids, then send me a friend request.  If I know you and feel comfortable then I’ll approve it.  Once our child comes home, which may be months and months before the adoption is final, I’ll be removing the Facebook link from my blog page.

These aren’t hard and fast rules.  CSP & I have never been parents.  I’ve never been a mommy blogger.  Things may change, but if anything, our children’s privacy will become even more protected.  I know I can password protect this blog, individual posts, but I know that passwords get passed around.  I won’t become some crazed, obsessive mom with spreadsheets trying to control who can and cannot read my blog.  Facebook & flickr offer an easier way to deal with the photo issue.  From there I have to trust my peeps.

Help Me Mamas

Ladies, I need your help.  This whole impending motherhood thing is new to me.  Add that to the interwebs and it can get a little complicated.  So, tell me….

• Do you blog about your kids?
• Do you use their real names?
• Do you show their pictures?
• Do you use your real name?

See, I feel that people are generally good.  That the people that read my blog are doing it for various reasons, but one of them is probably not to gather info for their detailed murderous plans.  If internet stalkers were using my blog to kill me and my family, then they could have done it already.

But then there’s the privacy issue.  I don’t want to cross the line when it comes to my kids.  But where do you draw the line? Part of me feels like blogging with their real first names & pictures isn’t going to be harmful.  But the budding Mama Bear part of me is a little worried.  I suppose that’s CSP’s influence.

Thanks for your help!

Overwhelmed

I know that I would never have been able to make it through the pain and drama of the last few years without you guys, but holy smokes y’all just blew me away!  To know that my post actually brought tears to your eyes, I’m tearing up right now just thinking about it.  It’s seriously an overwhelming, tangible, outpouring of support.  I don’t even know how to begin to thank you all for that.   Knowing that even some of you from the China adoption community still read me means a lot to me.  I mean, you all mean a lot to me, but when China booted us out and then Guatemala closed and it seemed like every blogger I knew started having children I felt a little like someone without a home, a community.  It’s just nice to know y’all haven’t forgotten about me.

I can’t wait to share our experiences with you all.  We have 8+ weeks of classes ahead of us. That’s many hours of blog material right there!

So, now that a child is on the way, things are going to change around here.

Late to the party

I totally missed National Delurker Day this year but I don’t want to miss out on meeting you!  So if you read my blog and don’t comment for whatever reason, now’s your chance!  Don’t be shy!  Lemme know you’re out there!  If you don’t want to be so public about it then shoot me an email at heyshanny at gmail dot com.  Whatever you do, say hi!  And thanks for reading! xo

Big news, people!

I have some news for y’all!  I have been a little hesitant in sharing this because I don’t want to jinx it….but first and foremost this blog is my journal and I don’t want to leave out such a big chunk.  This is a long post so grab snacks!

Books Read in January 2010

1. Night by Elie Weisel…..EVERYONE should read this book.  Around 100 pages, but the hardest 100 pages to get through.
2. Exposure by Brandilyn Collins…..via Kindle for iPhone.  With the exception of the main character’s lame first name (Kaycee, ugh)…it was good!  Esp for a free Kindle book!
3. 206 Bones by Kathy Reichs…..love her.
4. Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson….very cute book.  Also a Kindle free read.  There’s a sequel I can’t wait to read.
5. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson.  Currently working on this one.