150 Steps...In the Present Moment

One of my colleagues yesterday says to me, "So, what are you up to these days? Working and waiting?" "Yep. Working and waiting. That's about it," I reply. "And we've put up a new website for ourselves. One that basically says, 'Hey, we're really nice people. If you know of anyone who is in the position of needing to adopt out a child...look-y here.'" She looks at me with great empathy (both of her children are adopted so she knows about the working and waiting and waiting and working.) I end the conversation with what I usually say to end these types of conversations, "It'll happen when it happens."  When I first started blogging about adoption, so many of my posts explored topics like whether or not I'd be a good mom, fear, transracial adoption, the relationships that we'll have (or not have) with the child's first/birth family, the rightness or wrongess of adoption, etc. In re-reading some of those po...

I'll be home for Christmas You can plan on me Please have some snow and mistletoe And presents on the tree Christmas Eve will find me Where the love light gleams I'll be home for Christmas If only in my dreams – "I'll be home for Christmas" as sung by Bing Crosby in 1943 Another year is coming to a close and with it comes another Christmas for the men and women serving in the U.S. armed forces to be away from home, hearth, and families during the holidays. I found myself thinking about this over the weekend as a result of two things. First, my wife and I took part in an annual ritual (it usually takes place during a snowstorm): firing up the DVD player and watching "Band of Brothers", the stunning HBO mini-series that follows Easy Company of the 101st Airborne from the D-Day landings in Normandy to the invasion of Germany. Far and away the finest mini-series I've ever seen and quite possibly one of my favorite pieces of film-making ever,...

Chris picked a great Christmas tree this year. Well, he always picks a great tree, but this year it seems especially nice. We've gotten to the point where we have enough "special" ornaments - those that we've given each other over the last 11 years, family ornaments, and those we've received as gifts - that we don't need to add an "fillers" (you know, the plain round ones.) The tree looks beautiful. Smells great. Every time I look at the tree I love seeing the fat glass reindeer, the pickle ornament, the cheer leading moose, our various lobster ornaments (yes, we have quite a few), the felt Pinocchio characters that Chris' Gram made by hand a million years ago, the ornament that Parker made in kindergarten, and, of course, our tree wouldn't be complete without the many light-up, noise making Star Trek ornaments collected by my goofy husband. It really is a beautiful tree. It's Christmas again. And yet I seem to be missing my holid...

A list of 50 things I've gained while losing 50 lbs (and counting) since early August: A new selection of pants after my original pants started falling off followed by another set of new pants when the first replacement selection also became too large and the recognition that my newest pants are already just a touch loose The ability to walk from a conference room on the second floor to my office on the third floor without being out of breath A serious affinity for spinning A comment from a senior exec at my company that "I'm melting away" The MVP award for my team during our recent fitness challenge (of course, there were only two people on my team but my wife can be a cutthroat competitor LOL) An appreciation for the fact that I'm no longer carrying around the added weight of  an average 7-year old boy  every day The satisfaction of running (and completing) my first 5K in about 20 years A liking for low-fat, low-sugar homemade almond-jam bars A larger...

We had a ton of kids come trick or treating to the house tonight. Some were in full regalia, others (the older ones) often in just the barest hint of a costume. Then there was the kid who didn't have a costume but was brazen enough to fake it ("I'm dressed as a skateboarder but forgot my skateboard" he says). I always loved Halloween, first because of the costumes and candy, and then the fun of giving away candy. One of my favorite books when I was growing up was " The Halloween Tree " by Ray Bradbury. I even named my second cat, Pipkin, after the character who goes missing in the book and must be pursued through time and to the edge of death itself by his friends. After the paperback I'd been given when I was 10 finally fell apart a few years ago, I went online and found a hardbound copy signed by Bradbury and bought it. Last year at this time, we were in the final stages of pulling together our profile and home study materials. We didn't know wh...

We thought we might have some news, but it turned out to be nothing. Still waiting.

Still here. Still here. Still no news. It's actually gotten to the point that we will need to renew our homestudy...so that means that almost a year has gone by with no real movement. So, at least we'll have something to "do" for the adoption in the renewal process. I'm trying not to be sad that we are not yet parents. Trying to simply enjoy life. To not let my crazy-making job make me too crazy (not doing too well with this...) To focus on health and fitness as we continue to wait.