Blonde Hair May Be Hazardous To Your Health

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This woman does NOT represent the average blonde female intelligence level.  F Y I. 

She does, however, make it difficult for some of us, doesn't she?

Blonde jokes.  I don't hate them necessarily.. but they do get old.  Especially after hearing them for many, many, many years.  Occasionally they can be humorous, but usually they are just silly - predictable and worthy of only a slight eye-roll.  People sometimes throw them at me and expect some type of reaction.. and I really can barely bring myself to even fake-chuckle these days.  It's not that I'm feeling ridiculed and hurt (which yes, I know is the intent on certain occasions!).. it is because I appreciate fine humor, and this just isn't it.
That being said..  I think that I have become the embodiment of a very bad blonde joke this week. Maybe not an actual joke per-se.. but even I will admit that I have had a couple of 'blonde moments' this week.

{Setting:  Living room.  It is early on Saturday morning and I have a killer headache.  Flashback to the evening prior when I was selecting the bottle of wine at PF Chang's and said 'I think maybe that wine gives me headaches.  No, I don't think that is the one.'  It WAS the one.}
I am laying on the couch with a cold compress on my head (thank god - that was a moment of brilliance on my part b/c it actually helped more than the ibuprofen).  Devi brings me a toy 'fireman hose' that Maya rec'd for Xmas.  It holds 3 small blue balls.  After loading the balls, you pull back on a lever and they fly out - I guess they are supposed to look like water.  Not really sure where the toy manufacturer was going with that.
Anyhow, not surprisingly - the kids have lost all but one ball.  Devi does not understand why it will not work with only one ball (we have tried many times and it will not work - the ball or 2 balls will simply slide out of the hose and fall, anticlimactically onto the floor) and is beginning to throw an extremely loud 2-yr-old tantrum.
I take the gun.. oh I mean the 'fire hose' (psh) from her and look into the shooting end (that's the technical term.. ha).  I see that she has loaded the one lonely blue ball into the hose.  It seems to be stuck.
While eyeing the ball, trying to figure out what is holding it in place (it usually just falls out).. I pull back a bit on the lever.
Needless to say, the dam ball comes flying out of that gun at an ungodly speed and hits me directly in the right eye.
Sigh.

Fast-forward 2 days.  I'm in my office, prepping for an upcoming photo shoot.  I pull out my portable black backgrounds.  I haven't used them in awhile, and I need to fold them up from their 5'x7' size into their collapsed ~2' circular size.  I grab one, maneuver it a bit.. and it suddenly pops back into its full size, smacking me directly in the face at the same time.
If you are not a photographer or someone who has seen or used one of these stupid things.. you probably cannot fully appreciate that moment.  The only thing that would have made it better is if I was in front of a client at the time that happened.  {eye roll}
Here's a video of some other poor fools trying to fold a reflector (and bear in mind that my expandable background is heavier.. but same concept) so you can get the idea:
 


Maybe I should get some low-lights. 

Adoption Podcast/Videocast

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Do you have questions about adoption that you have always been afraid to ask?   

Here is your chance!

I have received numerous emails, phone calls, and even personal visits to discuss questions surrounding adoption.  Most of these Q&A sessions begin with the same fact-based questions (what agency did you use, what country did you adopt from, what types of documents and information about my life will I be expected to provide).. and always lead to the more personal questions (how did you decide on your agency, were you terrified to meet your child for the first time, have you honestly bonded with your child, etc.etc.etc).  And of course, the personal questions are the ones that lead to page-long answers and coffee-into-lunch meetings.  The personal questions are the ones that everyone really wants to ask.. but often do not know who they can ask.  

Or if it is politically-correct to ask. 

Soo.. here is your chance!  Or here is the chance for that friend of yours who keeps mentioning that she is considering adoption but is feeling overwhelmed.  

Send me your questions!  I, of course, have many questions already noted from past email exchanges.. but who knows if it is the question that you have.  You can be anonymous.. just comment on this post with your question, send me a personal email, or Facebook me (if you are a FB friend, of course).  Direct any of your curious friends or family members over here.. no one will be turned away.  ;)  No worries about being uber-politically-correct also.  Believe me, I am pretty sure that I've heard them all.. or at least a good number of non-pc-questions.

I will be creating a podcast or videocast to discuss this topic.  I'm hoping to create this within the next week or two, so please send your questions ASAP.  

Don't forget to check back to watch/listen!  If you have a preference.. video or podcast (are you more apt to watch on your computer/phone or would you just like to listen while driving/working/etc) - please submit it.

Why I am doing this?  I am currently taking a graduate workshop on Distance Learning in Education.  This will fulfill one of the required activities for the course (though only if I have response.. so please respond.. whether it is to submit a question or to comment on the actual podcast).  This however, is not the only reason that I am doing this podcast.  As I had mentioned, I am asked these types of questions quite often.  I had already been giving this some thought.. as maybe this would be a good reply to the emails.  Maybe it would be nice to see and hear your questions answered than to just read a wordy email.  

If you have been following my blogs at all, you will also know that video is my fav mode of communication.  I love making films.. especially about my fav topics and people.  Here is a great excuse for another!

Who's White??

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Well, come to find out.. it might be.. 
Me.   
Have you read 'Stuff White People Like' by Christian Lander?  No?  Hm.. neither have I.  If you actually HAVE read this book.. I might need you to tell me if I have been insulted.
I did, actually, just order the book as I was told that it describes 'me' quite accurately.  
I scoffed, however, when I first heard this.  What?  Me?  'White'?  
Surely not.  
I don't mean to slam on the entire Caucasian race of course.  I have just never thought of myself being the personification of 'white people'.  That idea, truthfully, scares me.  Especially in my current state of mind - having just finished reading 'The Help' a couple of days ago (btw..GREAT book).
I have a bad feeling that I am NOT going to like this book.
Does that mean that I have an identity issue?  Will reading this book give me an identity crisis?
I have tried to deny that this idea could even potentially be true (without reading the book yet of course.. a daring feat I admit), but was then asked if I know who 'David Sedaris' is.  I guess there is an entire chapter entitled 'David Sedaris'.  I can't really hide the fact that I know this author.. it seems that I have four of his audiobooks on my ipod at the moment.  Yikes.
We will see if the entire book describes me, or if there might just be one or two (or 30) coincidental similarities.  Stay tuned next week for the (not so) thrilling conclusion.

Speaking of audiobooks.. I again have to plug 'The Help'.  I actually listened to the audiobook, and I believe it might be my favorite audiobook of all time.  It was sooo very good.  The writing, the characters, the readers.  Wow.  I could almost listen again, and I have never listened to an audiobook twice.
Oh wait, I did listen to Stephen King's Needful Things two times.  Over a very, very long period of time though.
Siiigh.  That was my mom's fav book and audiobook (and one of mine).  :(  She actually found a store in Canada that was called 'Needful Things' and was an antique-type store.  She bought me a hand mirror at that store.  If you have read the book, you will understand that reference.  That was one of those once-in-a-lifetime-awesome-purchases.  Perfection. 
{when will these memories stop causing instant sharp pains in my upper-abdomen??}

Ok, ok.. I've decided that I have to end every blog post with something happy.  There has been too much sorrow, pain, and anxiety in my life over the past several months.  I have always believed that some people just seem to be 'magnets' for unhappiness.. and I want to ensure that I never become that.  I'm starting to worry!!  So - in the manner of 'The Secret' (nope, never read it.. but a friend did and was so overcome by the message that he gave me a 2-hr dissertation on it over a long dinner one night) - I am going to send positive thoughts out into the universe in order to bring positivity into my life.  {one might also call that 'FAITH'.. but who am I to question the Secret}

 

Another Hole In My Heart

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It's hard to believe, but we lost our grandmother (Dad's mom) today.  It's been a tough past few months.  Hope Mama and Nan are happily reunited today and watching over all of us.  They are going to be so, so very missed. 

It was so strange.. the other day I was getting my haircut and telling my hair-guy about Nan and how sick she was. For some reason the memory that came to my mind that I shared with him was how the first time that I saw Purple Rain was with Nan.  I always thought it was somewhat hilarious that my grandmother and I hung out and watched that movie together.  I would not have guessed that she would have enjoyed it - ha!  She was awesome.
Anyhow, I went home that evening and was cooking dinner. Ajay turned the TV on and was watching something.. all of a sudden I realized what it was.. Purple Rain!
How coincidental eh?

I can't believe that both my mom and Nan are gone now.  Life is going to be so wierd.. getting adjusted to being without both of them.  Everyone in our extended family was very close to Nan.. she was somewhat of a matriarch. She was always the only person who could tell me that my butt looked fat or my hair looked unflattering.. without hurting my feelings!  Such the grandmother.  :)  Of course.. it didn't hurt my feelings b/c usually she complimented the heck out of me.. so it was all good.  

Ah, the memories.  So many good ones.  It's the end of an era.

 

Getting By

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My classes are now in full-swing, and o m g!  I had no idea that they would take this much time.  I am greatly enjoying both of them.. but wow.  Time-suckers.  No time for fun!  Oh well.  The price to pay for feeling cerebral.  

I'm wondering if anyone out there has advice for containing a lippy 4-yr old?  ;)  My god.. the girl turns 4 and you would think she has turned 13.  I shudder to even begin to think of her teenage years!  This is an interesting age for sure.  She will be in a great mood.. totally entertaining and just amazingly awesome.. and then BAM!  She is angry and lashing out and making horrible faces at me while punching at the air in front of me and spitting down the front of her shirt (an absolute NO-NO in my house thank you very much).  ?!?!  Hormones already?  
Time to pull out the parenting books again to get some new ideas for containing her craziness!  Seriously though, Maya is an uber-smart, amazing girl.  Just the latest phase.  Hope it is a short one!!  
 Ah where is my mom when I need to get advice! 
And on that note.. well, speaking of Maya and advice.. the girl was sick AGAIN last week.  She had a fever for a week.  During the day she was fine, but at night.. fever and forehead-headache plus the leg/joint pains she gets every time she is sick (and many days in between).  Her doctor gave me a little sh*t about not bringing her in after 3 days with a fever.  I'm like.. uh.. HELLO!  I brought her 3-4 other times when she had a fever of 106 for 3 days and you acted like I was a moron b/c she just had a virus!!  Good lord.  This time her fever wasn't that high, thank god.  
Anyhow.  Does a freaking day go by when you don't feel like a crappy parent???  I'm waiting for one of those days.  Really though.
So my in-laws think Maya must have caught something in India last year when we picked up Devika.  I actually wonder myself.  She never was sick.. nor did she ever have leg/joint pains prior to that trip.  I can remember the first leg pain day - we were in Goa.  It is a tad coincidental.  I've asked the pediatrician though, and she blows me off.  I think I'm going to request whatever info I can get on her med file and get a 2nd opinion.  If I don't, my in-laws will probably come here and do it for me.  They are highly irritated that I haven't done so yet.  
Remember how sick Maya was just before my mom got so sick.  Thank god that didn't all happen at the same time.  I had one week in between her finally recuping and mom falling uber-ill.  Seems odd that they really found nothing wrong with her after our 2 long ER visits, CAT scan, etc.. and then the strong antibiotic made her well.  She recovered ~24 hrs after starting the antibiotic this past week also.  
I have to wonder.  The girl is just always, always sick.  
Criminy, this mom-job just isn't easy, is it?  
Thankfully Devi has been healthy and happy.  She was re-assessed by her OT today.  Still lagging behind in certain things.  She doesn't have the hand-strength she should have (that a 24-mo child should have.. and she is 30 mo now).. can't stack the blocks high enough.. etc.  Soo.. the OT continues.  On a VERY happy note.. she is beginning potty-training!!  She used the potty for me one time yesterday and once today.  She has also been using it pretty consistently at school.  YAY!!  


Maya has a new favorite bedtime story that she would like to share with you: