January is also magical.

After blowing my blogging wad (that sounded grosser than I intended it to) in November, I went into blogging hybernation. I've just been blog stalking a number of Ethiopian adoption blogs instead. I've been reading other people's adoption blogs for a long time, and I'm getting impatient to start one of my own.

My introduction to Ethiopian adoption came a couple years ago, after I found a group on Craigslist that meets up every month for dinner at a BYOB restaurant. I went one time and had a good time, but I couldn't keep up with those young, wine guzzlin' whipper snappers, so I didn't end up making it a monthly thing. However, I did announce that evening that I planned on adopting, and one woman gave me the address for her cousin's blog. And so the door of the magical adoption world was opened to me. Thank you, Wendy's cousin (whose name I can't recall), for pointing me in the right direction: http://livingtheepilogue.com/

I followed the comments that people posted on her blog, and found a bunch of other Ethiopian adoption blogs, and from there I followed those comments to still more blogs written by awesome women who were taking this intentional, beautiful, awe-inspiring path to motherhood. I'm so grateful to these women for sharing their stories and for inspiring me. I really hope to take my first step on my own adoption journey some time this year. Maybe in November? After all, I've heard it's a pretty magical month.

Fin

I did it!!!! Woohoo! I completed Nablopomo, I ate vegan for a month, and I did yoga every day (except for one day where I totally forgot until the next morning, but since that was an innocent slip-up, I'll let it go). Didn't get that pesky novel written/edited, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad.



Thanks to George & Anna for following along! You guys are awesome!!!!

Will I ever blog again after tomorrow?

Maybe not. Keeping up with a blog is hard.

Driving to the mall is fun.

Seriously! One major thing that's changed about Chicago since I moved there in '97 is that traffic has gotten totally shitty and everyone now drives like the pissed off assholes that they have unfortunately become (myself included). Today I drove to the mall in Saginaw & traffic was totally tolerable, plus no one tailgated me at any point. It was heavenly. And there were tons of parking spaces & I had the vegan cookbook section of Barnes & Noble all to myself. I got a new cookbook for myself and one for my parents with diabetic, heart-healthy meals for two.

Then I took a leisurely drive home & stopped at Meijer's for an altogether enjoyable shopping experience. I wouldn't want to live in Saginaw, but I appreciate the fact that there's room to move here & people are much more laid back. It makes the dream of moving to Sonoma in a few years seem even more like the right thing to do. Serenity now!

Almost forgot...

to blog today! Anthony & I drove to my parents today and have been watching their massively monstrous flat-screen TV since our arrival. My dad had Jay Leno on for a little bit. Does anyone seriously think that man is funny or in any way tolerable? I thought I was going to freak out and start yelling, "Turn it off!!!! Turn it off!!!! In the name of all that is holy, I am begging you to turn it off." Then we tried the On Demand movies. In Chicago, the On Demand stuff is free with Comcast. With Charter, you have to pay for them. They even charge for movies like 48 Hours and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. WTF, Charter?

Then we found some free short films to watch. The first one, "Made of Meat" was pleasantly strange, and the second one, "La Puppe" was nothing short of adorably brilliant. Unfortunately I couldn't find the video online anywhere, but if you look up "la puppe" on YouTube, I think you could be entertained for hours.

Happy Tofu Turkey Day!

You are reading the blog of the official Apples to Apples champion of Orland Park. And by official, I mean totally unofficial.

Tonight was a lot of fun. We had dinner at Anthony's sister's with her husband & two boys, her husband's mom, Anthony's mom, stepdad, and dad, and two awesome dogs, Ruby (boxer) and Molly (bichon frise) who got my biological canine clock ticking. They were both super sweet & cuddly, but I have to say that I can see myself with a littler dog, because it's so damn cute when they crawl in your lap and just want to cuddle. I wouldn't mind a mix between a bichon and a Miniature Pinscher. How cute would that be??? I'm so tempted to get on Petfinder.com and see if I can find one. However, I know that if I do, I'll easily be on for 30 minutes (which is a gross underestimatation). I wish I could say I wasn't going to do it, but I am. Ten minute time limit. No, really. Ten minutes. I'll be back in ten.

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Okay, so it's been 12 minutes, but that's not bad. I didn't find a Bichon/Min Pin mix, but I did find this cutie. He's a boxer/pug mix. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Ferdinand!

Thanksgiving

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

-ee cummings