I was planning on doing an interview with Zippy but my new Flip video camera has already bit the dust. So, I get to hassle with sending it back and getting it replaced. As I'm getting older, I am definitely getting wiser and spent the extra $5 for a warranty!

So, I will just provide an update on me. With very mixed emotions, I started a job in September. My primary concern was health insurance. I promised myself if it wasn't working out for my family, then I would quit it and find a health plan on my own. I gave it six months and I hated every single day of it. It was not the working that I hated, it was the actual job itself. I simply cannot and will not work a job that makes me miserable (another thing I have picked up along the way with age) because it has such a huge snowball effect into other parts of my life. My family deserves a *better* me so I quit the job last week.

I have been interviewing with two companies now for months. Apparently no one is in a hurry to hire anyone these days. Both are jobs that I applied for in December and believe it or not, the multi-stage hiring process is carrying me all the way into April! Both positions are much better than the one I just left. Plus, I would be working from a home virtual office once again. I've prayed and prayed and have finally decided that I will not let this whole hurry up and wait game make me anxious. So if I get one of these jobs, then great! If don't, then great because I have other ideas and dreams swirling around in my head (and I have found a workable plan for the health insurance)! I just love that feeling I get when I know there are new possibilities on the horizon!

So what does my future hold? A new job? Self employment? Another child? The possibilities are endless and I'm SMILING!

Public Service Annoucement AKA Soap Box

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a guy that I went to college with and he mentioned that he was trying to quit smoking. I was sort of shocked that he smoked. Really. I just don't know many 30 somethings that smoke in year 2011. Thankfully, he has a thick skin and got a got kick out of it when I said "Smoking? I thought everyone left that behind in college!"

Same thing with tanning. I thought all my friends gave it up years ago! So what is with tanning beds in 2011? 100% UV rays, baby! We all know the dangers and the tan is usually a very unnatural shade that fades much more rapidly than that obtained in the real sun. However, day after day I see those Facebook status updates singing the joys of fake and baking it.

I personally gave up tanning beds about 7 or 8 years ago and I have not missed them for a minute. It is kind of like that smell from my last perm in junior high school. All I have to do it think of that sweaty burnt flesh smell (or start counting my scars) and suddenly that refried beans colored tan is not longer worth it.

I learned this the hard way though. I once was a sun goddess but that all changed the day that I received a frantic call from the dermatologist office about a small flat, smooth, black dot on my right thigh - it looked like a dot from a Sharpie marker. I went into the doctor's office for what I thought was a routine procedure (this was not my first place of concern to be removed). I walked out of the doctor's office that afternoon with a 3 x 4 inch rectangle cut out of my leg. Now, I sport a zipper looking scar across my leg. Sexy. My back and legs once looked like a blank canvas. Now it is discolored with sun damage and scars. According to my Dermatologist, 95% can be attributed to the tanning beds. But you know what? Mom said it would be like this but when you are young you just don't think it will happen to you.

I still tan but in the real sun with sunscreen and in moderation. Natural sunshine is healthy and provides a person with much needed vitamins and nutrients. God made the sun and intended for us to enjoy it. But like other things, I truly feel that He meant for us to use it wisely and in moderation. Plus, when you are in the real sun, you get mostly good rays and just a few bad UV rays whereas in a tanning bad the rays are 100% ultra violet(BAD, BAD, BAD). I usually start with a little self tanning cream...yeah, it isn't the best smell in the world but it does smell better than the tanning salon! Then I tan myself outside a little bit usually while working in the yard and then I maintain by using more self tanning lotion. No, it isn't the darkest tan but I'm not entering a bikini contest anytime soon so I don't suppose it really matters. I'm just shooting for healthy here.

I slather sunscreen on my little tan babies too. Because they are dark and rarely burn does not mean that their skin does not need protection too. Even with SPF 50, they get dark as little Indians. And yes, I realize that is no longer politically correct but they are part Indian and when you see how brown they get in the summer, I can only imagine that is where the saying came from! Regardless of the choices you make for yourself, as a parent you need to be putting your child in sunscreen and reapplying every few hours. I put it on my children daily during the months they spend a lot time outdoors. I keep it in my car, stashed on my front porch, back deck, a tote bag, and in a couple of my bathrooms. Sunscreen is just a way of life for us.

If you haven't, then you should schedule an appointment with a Dermatologist for a skin survey at least once a year. If you are still tanning in tanning beds, then you should go sit in the Dermatologist's office on surgery day because you will think you just stepped foot into a Tales from the Crypt movie set. Need I say more?

Interview with Shyne.AVI

Another case of stage fright!

Interview with Fuller.AVI

I did interviews with all of my kids. They all seemed to get hit with a little stage fright as they didn't answer most of their questions with their usual answers! Oh well, enjoy my little cuties!

I'm Just a Kid

Adoption Related Readings

An adoptive Momma and blogger, Rachel, has an Amazon shop called Rachel's Sugary Sweet Suggestions with recommended adoption books for both adults and children. Trust me, I wish this would have been available when we were placed with our children almost two years ago. During our wait, I passed the time by reading as much as possible about adoption, specifically older kid adoptions. I also found a handful of adoption related children's books and purchased them too. To this date, we periodically read adoption books to the kids. This is a great way to open the door to questions and dialogue they may not feel comfortable addressing on their own free will. Also, the idea is that if we read and talk about it from time to time, they will feel comfortable approaching us when they get to that age when they really do have questions. So please check out her adoption blog, Brown Sugar, White Sugar and her book suggestions.

http://whitesugarbrownsugar.blogspot.com

Unfortunately, Blogger is not cooperating today and will not let me insert a hyperlink to her blog or book list. Therefore, you will have to copy and paste the address into your web browser.

Becoming a Statistic

I know I'm completely biased but I think my kids are the prettiest, funniest, smartest and most athletic kids on the planet. I guess it is a lot easier for me to say all that knowing that I didn't give birth to them and contributed absolutely nothing to their genetic make-up. I know some of their traits are unique to them as individuals but then I also know how so much of that stuff is passed on through the genes. I often find myself thinking about their biological parents and wondering what traits they may have possibly got from which parent. It also makes me sad because my little kids are so special in so many ways. Once their biological parents were special little kids too but somewhere a lot of wrong choices were made at very young ages. Now, they will forever live with those consequences. It makes me wonder what their parents lives would have been like had they grown up with different circumstances. In Michael Oher's book, he talked frequently about growing up in the ghetto and the challenges he faced just trying to avoid getting sucked into that life forever. A lot of what he said made me stop and think about how I cannot judge them and their mistakes. Of course, I KNOW that GOD doesn't want me to judge others but sometimes I find it hard to understand how people could make choices that would jeopardize them losing their children. It had never occured to me that it is just that, I DON'T KNOW because I have never lived a life of oppression and poverty. I know their parents loved them very much but they were not equipped with the skills to be successful parents. They also had hard childhoods that lacked proper role models and structure. I pray for them frequently as I cannot imagine what the pain feels like to have lost your children to the state. I know "rescuing" or "saving" a child is often debated among adoption groups. However, I do feel like we rescued them from the vicious cycle of poverty. We are giving them the tools and resources to become successful and contributing members of society. What they decide to make out of their lives is up to them. However, I know in the depths of my heart they will become a statistic...a good one!