My husband and I became empty-nesters in 2011. I hate when people say “empty-nesters.” It sounds sad. And old. My daughter moved out. I got a promotion. We moved from the Midwest United States to England. To say 2011 was a year of change…well, that’s a pretty big understatement. I looked forward to a quiet…
When I was twenty, I didn’t spend much time thinking about what it would be like to be…well…old. My forties and fifties seemed like they were a looooong way off…mostly because they were. If I’d have stopped to think about what midlife would look like, I’d probably imagine myself wearing polyester stretch pants, pantyhose with reinforced toes and…
Friendships are important and there’s no substitute for bonds with people who “get it.” I don’t know where I’d be without my adoption besties – women from all over the world who I have laughed with (sometimes laughed at), cried with and celebrated with. I can honestly say I’d probably be cray cray crazy without…
Multitasking. I’m not sure what the official definition is but I describe it as talking on the phone while checking my email while trying to throw together dinner by scrolling through Pinterest on my tablet while trying to referee an argument between my two youngest children while trying to assure my oldest child that yes,…
I’m not going to live forever. You might be reading this and thinking “duh” but those six words are hard to type. Like many people, I don’t like to think about my own mortality. It’s funny how we’re so reluctant to think about death because nobody lives forever…unless you’re a Cullen. [Tweet “Funny how we’re…
Trendy. Hip. The “in thing.” The word trendy can describe what you drive, what you wear, or how you take your coffee. I recently saw the word trendy being used synonymously with adopting children from China and it pissed me off. There are lots of reasons behind why we adopted from China but keeping up…
November is National Adoption Month. In celebration, I’m going to give you a sample of questions you shouldn’t ask that family who maybe looks just a little bit different. And, that teacher who told you the only dumb question is one not asked? She lied. Some questions are dumb. Read on. [Tweet “November is National…
Someone once said “I believe in being honest with my kids, 101 percent.” That someone wasn’t me. I lie to my kids all the time. I’m not just talking about the trifecta of deception: Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. I don’t creatively bend the truth. I straight up lie like Pinnochio. Am…
Preschooler: a word to describe that whirly wind period between toddlerhood and middle childhood. Preschoolers are a joy. They are busy. They are messy. They are a pain in the ass. They cry inconsolably for weird reasons. They occasionally pee their pants…usually when you’re lulled in to a false sense of potty training security and…
My adoption story starts on a balmy March day when I was given the answer I had been begging medical professionals for.I was shivering uncontrollably while gulping cups of water while nurses bustled in and out of my room, extracting vial and vial of blood out of my stick-thin arms, when finally, a doctor burst…
