I have to admit I am having trouble with it. I feel like its a homework assignment I am avoiding. It wouldn't be so tough if I didn't feel there was a green monster over my shoulder, checking up on me. Is that an acceptable thing for an adoptive parent to say? to talk about? I go over my posts, deleting, changing. I'm worried someone will misinterpret something I write about, and suddenly I would be deemed an unsuitable parent.
So I will keep it tame.
1. I have had a love for animals and a companion connection to them since before I can remember. We have pictures of me cuddling with dogs and dressing up my cats in doll clothes. I would place my cats in the doll carriage instead of my dolls. If they tried to get out I would whack them on the head and tuck the blanket up around the little fluffy selves. When I was around seven I took a riding lesson with a group of other children. I had a rather ornery old welsh pony who decided to stop and roll over. With me on the back. As he laid down I managed to get my leg out in time to roll the other way. Amazing I still love horses, but I haven't ridden in a really long time.
2. I attended four different schools between first and twelfth grade (education is extremely important in my family). I loved reading as it allowed me to adventure into the worlds of the writers. Surprisingly I was a very social student, far more interested in friends than school work. I met one of my best friends, Illona, in fifth grade. She lives in San Francisco now with her gorgeous family, but I still consider her one of the closest friends Ive ever had. I consider myself very lucky that I still know friends from my different stages in life.
2. I attended four different schools between first and twelfth grade (education is extremely important in my family). I loved reading as it allowed me to adventure into the worlds of the writers. Surprisingly I was a very social student, far more interested in friends than school work. I met one of my best friends, Illona, in fifth grade. She lives in San Francisco now with her gorgeous family, but I still consider her one of the closest friends Ive ever had. I consider myself very lucky that I still know friends from my different stages in life.
3. I am the second born of four. My older sister has four years on me, and has always been a very motivated and driven person. I wore the black sheep's clothing with full strength and gave my parents a run for their money. My younger two siblings were easy after corralling me through adolescence. In seventh grade I surprised my mother by shaving off the hair on the back of my head in a sort of upside down V shape. I thought it would look better since I had also dyed it a dark shade of maroon.
4. I have always struggled with self image and the way I feel about my weight and my body. I'm not brave enough to go into the deep rooted feelings this may or may not be caught up in, but I do recommend reading Jess's post on her blog. She's far braver than me when it comes to expressing honesty concerning body image and weight. In high school I grew to embrace my hourglass curves, but after going through a pregnancy my body never seemed to want to revert back. I have since failed to discipline myself into any sort of physical routine.
5. One of my chores growing up was mowing the lawn. Unfortunately when grass is fairly long its hard to see exactly what you are mowing. I often ran over little frogs and toads hanging out in the grass. To this day I am petrified of frogs and toads and anything in that froggy family. I can deal with snakes, spiders and mice before I can stand to be around a frog. Its really ridiculous and non sensible, but I cant help it.
6. I met my husband for the first time when I was fifteen and hitch hiking between two Berkshire towns on a long stretch of road called route 7. He changed the direction of his travels that night and gave my friend and I a ride to her house. My fearless self gave him my phone number, and the rest is (lots) of history ;)
7. My fantasy job is a race car driver. Preferably dragsters and old muscle cars. Maybe a 1969 Boss 302 Mustang?
Those fantasies were a bit dashed when I received a $250 speeding ticket I had to pay myself as a junior in high school. I had many summer and weekend jobs throughout the years. Babysitting, busing tables, movie popcorn vendor, receptionist at a hair salon and store clerk to name a few.
8. Two events sparked my interest in politics. In high school I volunteered at Columbia County Youth Project. We went to the state house to lobby for more New York State AIDS funding for communities. That was an empowering experience. That same year I won a public speaking scholarship based on my speech concerning the importance and relevance of voting.
9. A few weeks before senior graduation I was going to get a friend of mine so we could both get to our jobs at "Brooks Pharmacy" on time. There was a pretty regular crew of four of us who ran together. As I came upon her in the hallway her boyfriend had an empty tennis racket around her neck attempting to drag her. I interfered and ended up pressing assault and battery charges against her boyfriend when he decided to make me the target instead. I went back and forth from college in Boston three times to get him convicted so he would have it on his record. My longtime friend showed up in court to support her boyfriend. A few years later I heard he ended up in jail, and I hope I helped put him there.
10. I wanted to attend a public college in Albany, NY but my parents and school advisor persuaded me to go to Boston instead. As soon as I enrolled at Wheelock I declared my social work major. My favorite work program was at "The Margaret Fuller House" in Cambridge, MA. I was especially drawn to the Caribbean community I worked with and have many fond memories.
11. I met Kiana's father Donald at an engineers party at Wentworth Institute, just a few blocks from Wheelock. Who knew just two years later Kiana would show up?!
12. My first own apartment was a high rise across the street from Boston City Hospital. For some reason everyone mistook me for being Hispanic, which actually helped me when I attended Boston Institute of Language (unfortunately my work only paid for one course of Spanish which just wasn't enough for me). Living on the eleventh floor was fine, except when the elevators were broken. Imagine being seven months pregnant and climbing all those stairs- not fun. Strangely enough we actually got used to the medical helicopters flying past our window, but I decided the studio apartment was just too cramped to add a baby to.
13. My dad came to help us move to our new apartment at the end of my ninth month of pregnancy. Not surprisingly I wasn't much help. We were still living out of boxes when Kiana arrived ten days late. She and I were actually born in the same hospital; Beth Israel. For me it was important to do the whole natural thing and I had to refuse, several times, an epidural. I think the nurses would have just preferred I dope out and shut the heck up. Luckily my mom had come around by then and was there to help deliver Kiana (my mom was a midwife). I remember asking my mom and the other midwife, "...is it a boy or a girl?" and the other midwife says, "its a boy" and my mom says "no its not, its a girl!" I said, "well what is it?!?" funny. Can you imagine getting that wrong? She apologized but the moment sticks out in my brain. The first few weeks of Kiana's life were spent sleeping in the day and being awake all night. I felt sure it was karma.
14. I am really grateful for having the experience of living in Hyde Park. I loved the community and surrounding neighbors. Being one of the few white girls in our section meant that everyone knew who I was and knew Kiana. She learned to crawl, walk and bike ride in that home. I got to experience just a sliver of what Kiana lives everyday.
15. I am allergic to most tropical fruits, especially pineapple. Its the high concentration of acidity that makes the insides of my mouth and back of my throat get bumps and sores. Its very unpleasant and such a big bummer. Occasionally I sneak fresh pineapple or red grapefruit, but as soon as my mouth starts feeling scratchy I regret it. I rinse my mouth out with hot salt water repeatedly (I'm not sure it really helps) and swear not to indulge ever again. Until the next time :)
14. I am really grateful for having the experience of living in Hyde Park. I loved the community and surrounding neighbors. Being one of the few white girls in our section meant that everyone knew who I was and knew Kiana. She learned to crawl, walk and bike ride in that home. I got to experience just a sliver of what Kiana lives everyday.
15. I am allergic to most tropical fruits, especially pineapple. Its the high concentration of acidity that makes the insides of my mouth and back of my throat get bumps and sores. Its very unpleasant and such a big bummer. Occasionally I sneak fresh pineapple or red grapefruit, but as soon as my mouth starts feeling scratchy I regret it. I rinse my mouth out with hot salt water repeatedly (I'm not sure it really helps) and swear not to indulge ever again. Until the next time :)
16. I love New England. The only other area I would consider living in would be Canada (any part that has equalized health care). Actually I have only been to eleven states within the US and out of the country once. On my honeymoon. We didn't plan on taking a honeymoon due to financial constraints, but through wedding guests they gifted us the opportunity to have one. We were going to rent a "honeymoon cabin" in Georgia for four nights, but somehow or another we allowed ourselves to be talked into a trip out of the country. Neither one of us had ever been out of the country, and Fred had never been on a plane. Everyone knew we were planning on adopting, and convinced us it would be our last chance at a big trip. At first we tried Ireland, but didn't have enough money. Then I saw that the hotel chain I worked for had a "sunspree resort" in the Bahamas. The employee rate made the hotel very cheap if we agreed to stay ten nights (no package deal). We had a momentary lapse in judgement and were off to Paradise Island. Lets put it this way, not even four months after we returned this resort lost its flag (which means it was kicked out of our chain for non compliance with standards). We had to come home early after just five days because even a bottle of water cost $4.25. Besides all the garbage washing up on the sandy shore, I absolutely could not stomach children begging for food while people gambled away thousands of dollars at the glistening Atlantis Resort. The glaring disparity was just too emotionally disturbing to me.
17. When Fred and I first moved in together he had a Harley Davidson bike. I love, love motorcycles. We would spend all day riding the beautiful country side. But the bike became very impractical with children and Fred finally broke down and sold it (did I mention that Fred also sold his truck to buy me an engagement ring?). It was all very sacrificial and fatherly on his part. We decided when the children are all grown up we will both get bikes and view the country from the road. That is if we have any money left over....
17. When Fred and I first moved in together he had a Harley Davidson bike. I love, love motorcycles. We would spend all day riding the beautiful country side. But the bike became very impractical with children and Fred finally broke down and sold it (did I mention that Fred also sold his truck to buy me an engagement ring?). It was all very sacrificial and fatherly on his part. We decided when the children are all grown up we will both get bikes and view the country from the road. That is if we have any money left over....
18. I have been plagued with head aches my whole life. Since fifth grade when my mother would send me to school with extra apples because she thought low blood sugar was the problem. I have been tested and screened and evaluated and guinea-pigged. But no one knows why. So I have a few different migraine medications that occasionally work, and things I try to do to minimize their occurrences. Lots of hugs from Kiana help me feel better.
19. I am far more organized at work than I could ever hope to be home. What does that say about me? The worst thing about my job is having to cut hours, or worse- having to fire someone. It really, really stinks.
19. I am far more organized at work than I could ever hope to be home. What does that say about me? The worst thing about my job is having to cut hours, or worse- having to fire someone. It really, really stinks.
20. I am very grateful and fortunate to live the life I lead. I feel my life experiences have shaped and molded my perceptions of the world, my views. Never in a million years would I have believed I am going to travel to Ethiopia. That I am going to be given the gift of family, of parenting a precious little person. Having my daughter develop into such an amazing young lady, and having the chance to raise a son, is beyond my wildest dreams. I love being a mom, in whatever capacity that is.
Not even ten years ago I was waiting in the food stamp office with other mothers and children. We were all striving to provide the best possible necessities for our children, our families. It is what I still hope for, what I still work towards. I was offered a hand during the rough patches and I have come out on top, reaching down to help the next outstretched hand. 
I got a little carried away, this is ten more than the first ten, but I didn't want to name the post twenty things. So its ten, and then some. I added a bunch of photos to keep you interested.
