I’m thankful school is back in session. Now before you say “That’s easy for you to say if you’re not a teacher.” I need to remind you that in fact I am LuLu’s one and only teacher at Ladybug Elementary. And I have to say that despite all my whining and complaining about having to “go to school” today, I’m glad I did.

And glad that LuLu is back on a schedule and out of the funk that came to a head on Saturday with the Christmas decorations. Once I was... more

The best by-product of spending your whole day cooking Thanksgiving Dinner is that it might be a couple days before you have to cook again. At least…in theory. We had a wonderful dinner yesterday, thank you Southern Living Magazine. I decided that I would follow an article written about a woman here in the South who serves 8-10 folks. Because there were only 6 of us this year, I bought a turkey breast that cooked in under two hours. I marinaded it and even made the same shrimp appetizer in the article. All was delicious!

KayKay peeled nearly 10 lbs of potatoes and we have mounds of mashed potato leftovers, which LuLu promptly ate for breakfast (made with chicken broth and margarine,... more

Ok let’s get down to what I’m really thankful for. The presence of Super Dad in my life…not only as my beloved hubby and lifemate, but as the SUPER DAD he is. This was one of the things I found so appealing about him before he was my hubby. He was (and still is) an awesome Dad. He was the kind of dad who never missed a school program or parent-teacher conference, the kind who left work early to take the kids to the doctor and who coached the little league and soccer teams. He’s the kind of dad who having had knee surgery the day before still sat... more

One of the advantages to schooling LuLu from home (dare I say "homeschool" since I’m not officially homeschooling her; instead awaiting the judge’s decision), is that our schedule can be flexible when need be. Today I decided it was time to use that advantage. After LuLu finished her pen pal writing assignment and listening therapy, we headed to the grocery store to beat the crowd. I live in a place with TOO MANY PEOPLE! When it comes to things like grocery shopping at Thanksgiving or gift shopping on the weekends in December…forget... more

I’m thankful that LuLu is such a hard worker. I have friends who are parenting challenging children who are more the passive type, who appear to make choices not to work on their issues or try to conquer whatever their special needs. This is not the case for LuLu. Even though as her outbursts sometimes look very purposeful and full of malicious intent, it doesn’t take very long being around her that you see the internal struggle she has to maintain stability and how hard LuLu is really working.

She doesn’t shy away from hard work of other forms... more

I can’t get too deep into my “I’m thankful” mode without thinking about my church. The longer I’m a member of the United Methodist church the more I’m convinced I’m a United Methodist. Actually my family is grappling with a tragedy that happened in the family of one of KayKay’s friends last week – suicide. This event and all of its subsequent questions sent me in search of our church’s stance on many things. I have been in a definite funk trying to figure out how to resolve things in my own mind, comfort and counsel my own child and support her as she supports her dear friends. When it rains it pours around here! Besides treading water on our own trials and tribulations, we never seem... more

One thing that I can be thankful for that I’ve gained through adoption is patience. I’ve always been told I was a pretty patient person. Even as a child I can remember adults commenting on my ability to sit quietly and to wait my turn. Yet, I also struggle with the internal feeling of impatience (don’t we all).

Adoption WILL knock all that impatience out of you. (Or the wait will drive you insane!) If anyone ever alludes to the idea that adopting a child is easier than having one biologically…patiently, kindly…LAUGH... more

I’m failing miserably at my commitment to post a “thankful” blog everyday in November. At this point I’m 4 days behind. I really did think I could do this when I started because I am usually a very optimistic person. I made my list of things associated with adoption that I’m thankful for, but as I start to write about them, it doesn’t really ring true. At least not right now. It’s not that I’m not thankful for the fabulous adoptive parent friends I’ve made or the chance to learn about my daughter’s native culture or watching both my child and others’ bond with their families and learn to trust their parents. I am thankful for all these things, and perhaps will add them to my Project... more

I'm thankful that today isn't yesterday and it isn't tomorrow! Yesterday LuLu had quite a storm over the same math lesson that she breezed through today. (I have more to say about Stormy Weather.) She was proud of herself and I pizzazzed the heck out of how quickly and accurately she regrouped those numbers and then did the chapter review.

I have no explanation for why some day certain things are so difficult for her and why other days they are not. Even LuLu commented on this today. How yesterday the very same type of problems seemed impossible to do. "My eyes kept jumping,... more

As promised, I’m back finding things to be grateful about. I’m thankful for the opportunity to vote. I wasn’t sure my chaotic life yesterday would allow for voting. But I’m glad I found the time. As LuLu and I stood in a long line, she asked me about voting. (Yea! There was a long line!) When I told her that people had to be 18 to vote, she asked me how old they had to be in China. “Eight, maybe?” she asked. I told her they don’t have many elections in China. She said “because we are freer here, Mom?” Pretty astute thinking in my opinion.

She asked if the people in China were “meaner” because the didn’t allow so much freedom. I told her I didn’t... more