Our Thanksgiving

We are back in town from our Thanksgiving trip to North Carolina. We had a nice visit with plenty of down time. My dad is suffering from a back issue that is still undiagnosed and he wasn't able to go out with us, but we still enjoyed seeing each other.

I was concerned about the trip down. Charley has traveled with us before, though not this far, and we had never taken Maggie farther than the vet. They did fine, though. They don't get car sick/car crazed like my Roo cat did. She had to be sedated for every trip. Maggie screamed very dramatically most on the way down, but only briefly on the way back. Fin was plugged into a DVD player because I was not going to listen to the "Are We Dere Yet?" chorus for 4.5 hours.

Maggie and the 2 huge teas that got me through the drive:


Charley guarded by Giraffe:


Enjoying "Black Beauty" and an apple pie:


Fin waving at Santa on the Macy's Parade:


Being a "scary statue":




Candyland Tournament with Grandma and Emmy:


Friday night, we went to a farm that has a restaurant and light show. I am all for these places that are called "agritainment". It allows farms to stay in business that otherwise would most likely succumb to being subdivided into yet another suburb. This place, called Mike's Farm, outside of Jacksonville has a set-menu restaurant that is pig-out heaven. You pay a flat rate and get ham biscuits, plain biscuits, fried chicken, pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese (that was incredible!), corn, and green beans all brought to the table in unlimited quantities plus your choice of dessert and non-alcoholic beverage. There is also a gift shop and a petting farm. The highlight is the light show done as a hayride. You load up on a hay-loaded flat-bed pulled by an old Farmall tractor. It had music piped in from a couple of speakers on the trailer and, after going through some darkness in the woods, you come into the lights in the middle of the woods. It was alot of fun. Fin spent the whole time yelling, "Wee-ha!" (her version of "yee-haw") and "I love Christmas!" Me, too!

Mom and I made Fin pose for all kinds of pictures while we waited for our table:


Then she made us pose:


Bundled up for the hayride:


I hope all of my American friends enjoyed their Thanksgiving!

One Thing Fin is NOT Thankful For...

School performances. Last year (click the link, the picture is worth it) Fin spent the whole program giving the child next to her the death stare. This year, she did the motions, but with an expression that said, "There is a gun to my back or I would never go along with this."


Of course, when it's all over, she's fine!


This is Fin with one of her best friends, Jamil. Actually, if she wasn't 5, she would be brought up on sexual harassment charges. She hugs him, drags him around the room, tackles him to the floor... eek! Luckily, Jamil's mom seems just as amused as I am and hasn't brought Fin up on charges yet.

As Morning Moved Toward Twilight... My Day Improved

In addition to snow, I woke up to this...


Maggie has decided that food is just as good for playing as for eating (though by the size of her, you can see she does plenty of eating, too). If she just had the decency to look a little guilty it would soften the blow a bit.

But, a day that starts like that and ends with this...

is perfectly fine with me!

Some friends and I went to see Twilight tonight and were just as, if not more, excited than the teens and tweens there. The movie was great, the tapas and wine afterwards were great, and life is great! (Or maybe that's the wine talking.)

Fall Sliding Into Winter

Thanksgiving is coming! I am so excited! Am I that big of a turkey fan? Nope. Do I look forward to a 4.5 hour drive of constant, "We there?... How bout now?" Big no. I can't wait to get shopping? Um, no way. Could it be that I will have three other adults in the house so that I can hand over Fin and take a nap, go to a movie, or read a book? Ding, ding, ding! I love her and I love it just being the two us, but breaks are nice, too.

Thursday, parents were invited to a Thanksgiving lunch at Fin's school. The way it works is, parents buy a ticket for lunch (to benefit the PTA) then you get your kid's regular lunch in the cafeteria and take it to the auditorium where you get your food and the two of you get to eat in a special place. Fin was in a mood that day and didn't care that I came to lunch, but she did like that I got a piece of chocolate cake with my parent's lunch.

This is how their teacher keeps them quiet in the hall, they do the "shush finger" to remind themselves.


Step 1: Realization
"There is chocolate cake!"


Step 2: Celebration
"The cake is good!"


Step 3: Devastation
"The cake fell in the gravy."


After we ate lunch, I took her back to the classroom and we had to wait a few minutes for her class, so she showed me their letter cards and how to be quiet at your seat. I enjoy getting to observe Fin in her school environment. She is very different than with me.



Today, we awoke to a snow flurries. It was too warm to stick, but still exciting. Very rarely do we get snow here at the coast and particularly this early in the year.

THREE IN A ROW!

This shirt is the first piece of clothing I bought her long before I ever knew her. It is actually on backwards because she insisted on being able to see the "Jimmie Car". That's my girl!

Congratulations to the whole 48 team for tying an amazing record and to Chad Knaus for being the first crew chief to win three championships in a row.

Fin will grow up to be what she wants to be, but most parents have fantasy jobs in mind for their children. In my fantasies, Fin is a NASCAR crew chief. I hope Chad's record stands until she breaks it.

The Day Is Here!

Is it going to happen?


If you have noticed, I am a bit of a Jimmie Johnson fan. I am working my hardest to make Fin a JJ fan, too. She had been in the states probably 3 weeks when she could pick out the "Jimmie Car" on television, all other cars being lumped into the "race car" category. She can spot a Chevrolet from across the parking lot and can identify Jimmie on t.v. even when out of uniform. This is the 48 stuff I bought her... before she came home.


And, today, the 48 team goes for three championships in a row. No one has done that for 30 years and it opens the possibility of an unprecedented 4-in-a-row next season.

So, guess what we are doing tonight?

Thank You, Staten Island Technical High School

(And to Matt and Dana for bringing this to my attention. Hilarious!)



Run, Fin, run!

Lunch With Auntie Em

My aunt rode in to town with a friend who had a doctor's appointment. Since she lives over three hours away, we don't get to see each other as often as we would like, so it was great timing the Fin and I both had off today. We met up with Em and her friend, Nita, for lunch and... how could we not with it right across the street... Coldstone. That was some gooooooood ice cream, even it is was 52 degrees outside.

Preparing to do some damage.


Nita, who was told "no dairy for three weeks" by her doctor, decided to go out with a bang... and a banana concoction the size of her head.


Fin and Em.


Yum!!!



A kind stranger offered to take this picture of us when she passed by and saw Fin trying to take a picture of me (her idea). We look happy, right? Fakers. This was the conversation immediately proceeding:

Me (holding camera): Smile, honey!
Fin (not smiling): Take the picture.
Me: I'm not going to take a picture of you looking angry. I have plenty of those.
Fin: TAKE THE PICTURE.
Me: Fine. click
Fin (now smiling): I take your picture.
Me (handing her the camera): Don't drop my camera, please.
Fin (using her new favorite word): Why?
Me: Because it will break.
Fin: Why?
Me: Because you are standing on stone.
Fin: What stone?
Me: Rock. You are standing on rock, also called stone, and the camera will break if you drop it.
Fin: Why?
Me: Because stone is harder than the camera.
Fin: Why?
Me: BECAUSE GOD TOLD MOSES THAT'S HOW IT WAS GOING TO BE!

Most of our unending "why" conversations end with me pulling out that line. I just know that one day after school, her teacher, who she calls "Mr. MyTeacher", is going to relay this conversation to me.

Mr. MyTeacher: Fin, if you have three apples and someone gives you another apple, how many apples will you have?
Fin: One.
Mr. MyTeacher: Why would you have only one apple if you started out with three and then got one more?
Fin: BECAUSE GOD TOLD MOSES THAT'S HOW IT WAS GOING TO BE!

The Past

Within the past week, I have done a lot of thinking. Maybe it is the finalization of the adoption. I am sure much of it is waiting for Flora's referral. With the arrival of Flora's picture, I couldn't escape the memories, mostly bad, of waiting for Fin. It seemed to take an unfathomable length of time to get to her, and it has increased so much for waiting families since then. Fin was so wanted and waited for, but when I opened the envelope that held her pictures, what I saw was an unfamiliar child who looked rather angry and scared. The daughter in my mind was in motion, always playing or laughing or running. This was a booking photo of a child who didn't understand the changes ready to occur in her life.

I am forever grateful to her foster parents for two packets of pictures showing Fin as a baby and close to her referral time. They show a happy and loved child full of the vivacious spirit that I know. That is my daughter; the one who rolls her eyes when I sing, laughs loudly and often, and swears she is going to be a "cowboy-girl" when she grows up is in those family pictures, not in that referral picture. But, I can't forget that the difficult transition she made is part of her life's journey, it just will not be the thing that defines her. She is so much more.

Fin's Referral Picture:


Fin in China:




Fin Now:

The Goddess of Spring Arrives!

I am so honored to post this picture of Miss Flora, who was just referred to my friend Ellen to become part of her family.



Ellen and her husband and daughters have waited so long for this. They were logged in less than 4 months after me and now, 19 months since my referral, they finally get to see Flora's face. I don't know how they sustained, but I am in awe of the whole family. Here's to a quick TA so that they can have her in their arms by year end!

You can follow their journey, and see more picture, here.

Fin Flips for Voting

VOTER FRAUD REPORTED IN VIRGINIA!

This person is obviously too young to vote!



I mean, weren't they clued in when she pulled up on a tricycle with a driver's license made out of construction paper and My Little Pony stickers?

So, Fin went with me to vote this morning. I waited until mid-morning because my polling place had a line out to the street before work. We ended up waiting only about 20 minutes and it was quite a lovely experience.

I usually hate voting because of the gauntlet of campaign workers and pollsters that line the sidewalk. I am not mad at them, but at the voters who are so uninformed that they could actually be swayed by a last minute flyer shoved into their hand. Today, there was one small table for each party and the workers only thanked me for coming out to vote, didn't even try to hand me anything, and they sat talking and laughing across the sidewalk with each other. This country would be such a better place if the actual politicians treated each other with that kind of courtesy.

Everyone in line was patient and chatting with their neighbors. When the election officials would give out a "whoop!" for a first time voter checking in, they got smiles and thumbs up from the line. And there were lots of first time voters there, including one man I saw who was older than me. It was amazing to see everyone as excited about the outcome of an election as they usually are about the outcome of American Idol or the Superbowl.

Happy Election Day, everyone!

A Day at the Farm as Mom and Daughter

Well, it's official. The Commonwealth of Virginia has recognized our adoption. That's it. No more attorneys, paralegals, social workers, or immigration officials... and no more PAYING these people to tell me that my daughter is my daughter. A little resentment there? You betcha. The woman cussing at her kid in the Walmart toy department? No requirements for her to be a parent. The guy who drinks a couple or a few beers at Ruby Tuesdays then drives his kids home? No requirements for him to be a parent. Me? Background checks, financial checks, references, home visits, fingerprinting... ad nauseum for YEARS so that I can be allowed to be a parent. Don't get me wrong, Fin is totally worth it and I am glad that kids are being protected. But, wouldn't it be nice if the next time you were in Hellmart and someone starts screaming at their kids you could ask them if they have parenting references handy?

On to the fun stuff. Today was a gorgeous day so Fin and I went out to a local fun farm so she could take a hay ride, play in the hay pile, feed the goats, jump in inflatables, play on the playground, ride carnival rides, and ride a pony. Remember that, all of the stuff she did.

Giant, inflatable caterpillar:


Fin "trapped" in giant, inflatable caterpillar:


Fin squeezing out of the caterpillar's rear end:
Really, they couldn't have come up with a better design? Eeew.

I nicknamed the goat "treat" and the sheep "trick". Can you guess why?


Pretty girl on a hayride:


Dramatically collapsed in the hay:


A moment later:


A picture to freak out Grandma. That's Fin. That speck on the stairs.


Obligatory pony ride picture:


Videos

Riding the big slide:


Defensive Goat Feeding 101:


There were horses visible on the hayride. Oh, joy. Round 1:


Round 2:


So, a pretty good day, right? On the way home, I asked Fin her favorite part. "Lightening McQueen," she said immediately. You see, I found her missing Cars DVD and let her watch it this morning. Oh well. I try.