This Day in (My) History

On August 7, 1975, my parents arrived at Dallas/Love Field airport to meet a social worker from El Paso. She had a special delivery.

Some people can say that the stork brought them. The plane brought me.

Every year on this date my mother calls me and relates the story of the day my parents got me. Until August 7, I had been living with a foster family. The social worker was afraid I would get cold on the plane so she put me in an undershirt AND a winter sleeper. (this is August in Texas, people) My mom says I was screaming bloody murder, the milk in my bottle had soured and I had really bad diaper rash. (see...even then I didn't like being hot!) The social worker asked for my clothing back since it belonged to the agency. So, my parents stripped me down in the airport and put on my new clothes.

I guess I screamed so loud that a woman in the airport asked my mother, "What's wrong with your baby?!" My mother replied, "I don't know. I just got her!"

It is hard to believe that my mother was 30 when she got me and my dad was my age. Amazing!

My parents made no special requests on the application form. They said they would take the first baby available. The funny thing is, people often tell me I look just like my parents. (except several inches taller) Guess God picked the right baby, huh?
Funny how life works sometimes.

Updates

Sorry I haven't written a proper post in awhile. I think I may have Blogger's Block.

I went to Denver this past weekend to visit my friends. It has been a year since I have seen most of them. It was so good to see everyone and spend time with them. In many ways, it was as if I had never left. I went to several of my favorite restaurants and did some shopping. My friends Amy and Sara held a little get-together for me as well. It was really nice. But it also made me sad. Life goes on. New groups form, new inside jokes and stories develop, babies grow up. It's just different. And, of course, that is the nature of life. But I realized how I am not really a part of that group anymore. They will always be my friends but friendships are just different when you live next to each other as opposed to when you lives states apart. I'm hoping that maybe next year I can have a girls' weekend with some of them. That would be nice.

My next trip will be going home to Texas next month. I will be there for my friend Brandon's wedding which should be a lot of fun! He is just one of the sweetest guys I have ever known. We met while working at a bookstore together in college. I'm looking forward to the trip. And I always love going home.

Here is the latest Adam update for those who are interested. The little guy is still fighting for his life. The DA has been responsive to the letter-writing campaign and the two girls are being charged with felonies. In light of the recent dog-fighting charges against Vick, I think it is more important than ever that we as a country send swift, decisive messages about animal cruelty. For a full article on Adam and new photos, go here.

There has been a wonderful outpouring of support for Adam nationwide. If you would like to add your two cents to the letter-writing campaign to the Sonoma County DA, please let me know and I will give you the e-mail address.

One Down, ? to Go

...and a good time was had by all. Well, my first anniversary was really nice. We escaped to Sonoma for two nights and stayed at a beautiful hotel, had dinner at a lovely restaurant and had a delightful massage. All provided by my mom through an auction item that she won at an event. We braved 100 degree weather and watched the parade in the Square and then headed over to a big field last night to watch the wonderful fireworks.

I gave Gary the PLANET EARTH dvds and two small parchment pamphlets tied with ribbon that I found at Dave Eggers' Valencia writing workshop in San Francisco. I am still working on that "creative" gift idea. Gary is going to give me opera tickets and he made me the cutest framed document. It lists all of the years of our marriage and each year that goes by, I get to open up the frame and check off another year! It's really cute.

I can't believe it has been a year since all of our fun wedding festivities in Sonoma. It really seems like only yesterday. And I wish all of our family and friends could have been with us again this year.

My friend Gary (who will be debuting his blog ANY DAY NOW) sent us a lovely handmade card and we got calls and e-mails from several friends. It is really nice to have your special day remembered.

Now, on to year two!

Year One

My first anniversary is coming up one week from today on July 3. I can hardly believe it. This time last year, I was going crazy with last minute wedding details. My mom and I planned and executed the entire wedding ourselves. At about this time, I was probably sitting on my front porch stenciling grapes on parasols and then running inside to construct wedding programs. Then, I took some time to run around town putting together a surprise gift basket for my mom's hotel room of local goodies. A day before the wedding, Mom and I were on the floor of my apartment putting together lavender bundle favors. There were just so many little details to cover!!! But it was a great wedding and I think everyone had a good time. I told Gary that by having our wedding on July 3, we would always have fireworks on our anniversary! Not a bad deal.

I'm taking suggestions for gift ideas for Gary at my crafting blog. (GARY---DON'T GO OVER THERE AND PEEK!)

A Big Gay Parade

My friend Sonya is still in town so I drove to San Francisco to go with her to the Gay Pride Parade. We figured that would be the ultimate San Francisco tourist attraction. I love a good parade but I was worried about the crowd. Turns out, I didn't need to be. No one pushed, shoved or crowded us. Everyone was festive and polite. I have to say we were a little disappointed by how TAME it all was. We were expecting something really outlandish. But it was really more political than "spectacle." We watched part of the parade and then walked around looking at booths. Sonya grabbed a few condom giveaways as souvenirs for the folks back in Texas. I guess the most exciting things we saw were four bare-breasted women and three guys in thongs. But that's it. You can see some photos here.

By the way, I know that Mayor Newsom is kind of a cad but is he hot or what?!

My favorite part of the parade was a whole bunch of couples holding up signs with their names and how long they have been together. Two women of retirement age were riding in a carriage and they had a sign that said they had been together 27 years. Isn't that lovely? I guess parades like these used to be about calling attention to gay people and making them more visible. You know, "We're here. We're queer. Get used to it!" But now, the crowd and the parade seemed to be filled with gay individuals and their families. And I felt the message to be: "We're just like you." And they are.

Caution: Women Shopping!

Well, I went to not one but TWO sample/warehouse sales this morning.

The first stop was the Athleta warehouse sale. If you are not familiar with Athleta, they are a women's athletic wear catalog. Beautiful clothing but really expensive. So I jumped the chance to hit their warehouse sale at the local VFW. I was not prepared. I thought I would waltz in and leisurely shop. How naive! There were women shoulder-to-shoulder down every aisle. They were digging through piles of clothing on tables as if someone had told them a diamond ring was hidden somewhere inside of the mess. I started to get scared. There was no way to retreat. I had to press forward. I clutched my plastic shopping bag to my chest and hoped for the best. After a few minutes, I started to panic. Maybe these women were getting in on deals that I was missing! I started shoving random things into my sack. Bright pink board shorts! Absolutely! Ski pants for all the "skiing" that I do in California. Perfect! It was a tough journey but I finally made my way to the cashier. I told the lady, "I'm so excited to see what I ended up with!" I got a ski jacket, ski pants, a sweater cardigan and four pairs of shorts. And they all actually fit. A miracle.

I went home and changed clothes to prepare myself for the next sale. (I had sweated through my other clothes through a mixture of anxiety and close proximity to other humans) It was time to hit Mrs. Grossman's. If you are not familiar with Mrs. Grossman's, it is a wonderful sticker company that started in the 1980's. I was a huge fan as a child. When I heard they were having a one-day warehouse sale...well, as my mother would say, it was "Katie, bar the door." (a Texas expression) This one was a lot less stressful than the Athleta. However, I was caught up in the frenzy yet again. Albums for $5. Count me in! Strips of stickers for 25 cents! Get me a shovel! So, if any of you do any crafty swapping with me in the next few months, get ready for lots of Mrs. Grossman stickers on your things.

All in all, I did pretty well. I have to say I was a bit appalled at some of the shoppers. They trampled each other to get to things and left stuff on the floor. I saw one woman deliberately push clothing onto the floor to get deeper into the pile and then step on the clothes! I tried picking up clothing and stickers and putting them back because it offended my obsessive need for order but I finally had to give up. The task was too daunting.

Whew!

Is it time for a nap? This shopping stuff wears me out!

A Case of the Mondays

All right. I have to admit it. I have a "case of the Mondays." The weekend just seemed to go by so fast!!!

I got my hair cut on Friday. I have this weird thing about getting my hair cut. I hate it. So I usually put it off for about nine months until I have so many split ends I can't get a brush through it. They cut off four inches and I got bangs. I'm not sure about my new look yet but at least it's different.

My college buddy Sonya came to visit on Saturday which was great fun. She has such a great sense of humor but she is also a very mellow person which is pleasant to be around. Her lovely sister, Rachel, also came. I got to show them around my little town and catch up on all the gossip back in Texas.

Yesterday, my brother-in-law showed up with his girlfriend. They were visting from SoCal and wanted to go wine-tasting. I think I overdid it a little bit. I think that tonight, I will be vegetating while watching BIG LOVE. Although, I do need to get busy and finish my current swaps!!!

Don't Stand So Close to Me

Well, what can I say? For a bunch of old farts, the POLICE can still really rock the house! It was great. Sting looks exactly the same. Not one saggy wrinkly bit that I could see. And Stewart would look the same too if he dyed his hair. Andy was looking a little old but he could still rip on that guitar.

They opened with "Message in a Bottle" and played three encores. Gary most wanted to hear "Walking on the Moon" and I most wanted to hear "So Lonely." We got them both.

The great thing about a reunion tour is that you don't have to hear any new crap. It's ALL old stuff. And it's still good after all these years. We really enjoyed ourselves. The only negative was the ENORMOUS crowd. It took us 30-45 minutes just to fight our way through the crowd to our seats. And don't even get me started on the chaos at the food and vendor areas. I don't do well with crowds. All the people pushing against you and shoving you. Awful. It was worth it, though.

Read Stewart's funny account of their first reunion gig here.

When I heard the Police Greatest Hits album in high school, I felt like they were talking directly to me. Since I was suffering a bit from depression, "King of Pain" really spoke to me. By the time I got to college, I was a complete Sting/Police convert. In fact, my sorority nickname was "Sting." I'm not the rabid fan that I used to be but the Police (and solo Sting) will always have a place in my heart.

It's Getting Hot in Here

I am lucky enough to work in a brand-new state-of-the-art library. It just opened in August 2006 and has all the latest "green" technology. In our safety training, I found out that this building is the safest one on campus to be in if there is an earthquake. (and I now live in earthquake country---in Texas I just had to worry about tornadoes) Well, the fancy features aren't working for me today. It is getting really hot. We have turned off all the lights and pulled the shades trying to cool the building down. But I am starting to sweat.

I was used to this kind of thing at the public library. It would be 95 degrees INSIDE the building and we would continue to slog along, draped over the circulation desk like limp dishrags.

Global warming can be a real b****.


The good news is that I am leaving early tonight to go to the POLICE concert. I can hardly wait.

Goodbye SOPRANOS, Hello POLICE

Well, I had to say farewell to an old friend last night. THE SOPRANOS went out with a whimper. It has been a part of my life since it debuted in 1999. That is the year my father died and it was also during my first major relationship. Now, I'm living in California and I'm married. Hard to believe how much has changed. I'm going to miss it but I guess it was time. I just wish the last episode had been different. I felt like it didn't give the viewers any sense of closure. Not that that is a requirement for tv shows but I needed SOMETHING. I think SIX FEET UNDER did a really good job with its final episode. Wish SOPRANOS could have been like that.

In other news, I am finally going to achieve a dream of mine this week. I'm going to see the POLICE on Wednesday night. I came to the POLICE a bit late. They were significant in my life from about 1992-1995. I never thought I'd get the chance to see them live and in person. I can hardly wait.

"There's a little black spot on the sun today...."

Something in the Water?

There is a veritable baby boom going on among my friends. Currently, I have four pregnant friends from coast to coast and I expect a royal announcement from this site any day now. Wow! Babies everywhere! I almost feel left out. Guess I better get busy on knitting some baby booties!

Things are pretty quiet here. I'm working on a couple of swaps that you can see over at my crafting blog. And I've been looking for good freebies to post but there haven't really been any lately. I'm continuing to work on my Spring Reading Thing. I don't think I'll get finished. I'm reading FINN and WITCH OF PORTOBELLO right now but it's going slowly. I think I still did pretty well, though.

Gosh this post is really boring...I'm going to end it now.

Disneyland/Birthday Recap

I'm back! And what a week it has been!

Disneyland was wonderful. The weather was perfect and it wasn't crowded at all. Most of the rides we just walked right onto. I got to ride Haunted Mansion three times which made me happy. I have to say I was a little disappointed with the changes they made to Pirates of the Caribbean. It's all about Jack Sparrow now. Sacrilege!!! We were also two weeks early for the opening of the Finding Nemo ride. Guess I'll have to do that next time.

I'm really glad my husband likes Disneyland. I think that might have been a dealbreaker. (that and I could never be with someone who doesn't love animals!) It will probably be awhile before I get back back to Disneyland so I made sure that we did it up right!

My mom threw a lovely backyard party for me on Sunday. We had thirty people come!!! I don't think I even KNEW thirty people in Denver. My life has really changed. Mom made all of my Tex-mex favorites and Gary grilled artichokes and chicken and vegetables. It was a lot of fun. I really wasn't expecting people to bring gifts and I got so many wonderful things. Even from my faraway friends like Vieve and Gary and Purl!!! And I received some really unexpected gems as well. One couple gave me a book from their family library that was published in 1878! And a family friend gave me a set of Depression glass that belonged to his grandmother. Wow! I can't believe how spoiled I am. My cup runneth over!

I will do the birthday giveaway drawing tonight. I'd say your odds are pretty good. Maybe I'll try to find a small prize for everyone who entered. Entries are now closed.

Now, you'll have to excuse me so I can catch up on my blog reading!

I'm Going to Disneyland!

My husband is taking me to Disneyland tomorrow for my birthday. I am so excited! I have to say I really love it there. I was hoping we would be there in time to try out the new Finding Nemo ride but it opens a week AFTER we will be there. I'll still get to go on my favorite ride---the Haunted Mansion.

Two years ago, I got engaged on May 23 and then went to Disneyland on my birthday two days later. Now, we get to re-enact that happy time.

So, I will be signing off for the week. We will go back to our regularly scheduled blog programming on Wednesday, May 30. I hope you all have a lovely week and that you will excuse me while I go wish upon a star!

Goodbye Party

My friend Donna is having her farewell party at work today. Her last day is Thursday. I can't believe it. She has become a good friend and now she is moving away. Boo hoo.

When I left my job of five years in January of 2006, I didn't even get a card much less a party. I was so hurt. I had spent years planning parties and birthdays for other people and no one recognized my last day at all. And I was even moving away to a different state! It was really terrible. I actually cried at work about it. So, I was determined that Donna would get a good send-off.

I gathered the troops to help me put together a scrapbook for Donna. I gave each person a page to decorate and we'll put it all together at the party. I love homemade gifts so I hope this one will be meaningful for Donna. I'm gonna miss her!!!

(by the way, only a few more days to sign up for the ParTea swap. See the link at right_

Adopting Sentimentality

Okay, I'm a fairly emotional and sentimental person. Some might call me "high strung." When I recently watched the episode of WORKOUT where they hold a memorial for trainer Doug, I cried. When I read about a family losing all three children recently in a tragic car accident in Southern California recently, I cried. When I hear about the loss of more and more American servicepeople in Iraq each day, I cry. Now, my reaction to those things may or may not be reasonable. But that is just who I am.

They have been playing Rob Thomas' song "Little Wonders" a lot on the radio lately. This song makes me cry too and I don't know why. It is from the soundtrack of "Meet the Robinsons." My mom and I went to see the movie in 3D and although it isn't one of my favorite Disney movies, it was very sweet. And I'm glad I saw it with my mom because it is about adoption and finding your place in the world.

Way back in May 1975, a 24-year-old single Irish girl in El Paso, Texas gave birth to a little girl. Evidently, the 40-year-old Mexican birth father wasn't in the picture. The young woman decided to give up her baby for adoption through Lutheran Family Social Services.

Enter a young couple in Dallas, Texas. They had applied for adoption along with their friends and were told there was a LONG waiting list. So, they decided to head to Hawaii for a nice vacation. Guess what they heard when they got to Hawaii? (this is why a lot of my nursery was furnished in a Hawaiian theme)

After being in foster care for a brief period of time, I was adopted in August of 1975. Instead of a stork, the plane brought me. My parents met me at the airport when a social worker brought me from El Paso. And the funny thing is, I look just like my parents. Except a lot taller. My whole life people have told me I look like them. My birth mother was 5'4" and blonde. My birth father was dark and around 6' tall. I ended up fair-skinned and freckled with dark brown hair and 5'7". A taller version of my (adoptive) parents. Funny how God works, huh?

I have parents so I never really wondered about my birth parents that much. I guess I'm more curious about what they look like and their medical history than anything else. My parents' friends ending up adopting two children about my age and they have been like cousins to me. Around their 18th birthdays, both of them made contact with their birth parents and it wasn't a good experience in either case.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to tell my mom yet again that I love her and Happy Mother's Day. She always says to me, "Well, I wouldn't be a mother without you."

My birthday is rolling around again very soon and it sometimes makes me think of what it must have been like for my birth mother to give me up. But she did the right thing. She enabled me to go to the family where I was meant to be. And I guess that "Little Wonders" song makes me think of that. And I get a little weepy. But that's okay. That's just me.

This Date in History

I've been blogging for almost four years now. Hard to believe.

Anyway, I went back to some earlier posts and found this one from May of 2004.

Link

I can only marvel at how much my life has changed. My ex-boyfriend was the one who said that awful thing to me. I don't know why I was bothering to protect him in the post. The good thing about it was that it made me realize that I needed to dump him. And I did. And one month later I met my husband. Amazing.

Blogging for the People

So Margalit got me thinking...(dangerous, I know)

I started reading her blog after seeing her insightful comments on "Lost" on Ellen's blog. I may not always agree with Margalit but I like it that she offers intelligent and thoughtful views on a variety of subjects. When she sees something that bothers her, she expresses herself about it. And I both appreciate and respect that. Plus, her posts often get me thinking about things.

Her recent post about Christian bloggers (see link above) was one of those posts. Christians really piss people off. And I get it. Because a lot of Christians have pissed me off with their "holier-than-thou" exclusionary attitudes. And regular readers of my blog already know that I have recently started "coming out" about my own faith. I don't want to feel as if I have to hide the fact that I am Christian anymore for fear of offending someone or being subjected to ridicule. I have to be who I am. And I started this blog in order to share my life with people. Because you never know when something you have to say might mean something to someone else. At the same time, I don't want to offend or exclude anyone. Part of me is a cultural relativist. I think that goes hand in hand with being an anthropologist. I don't expect everyone to think the same way I do. And I don't criticize them for not agreeing with me. But I don't want to be censored. Or made to feel as if I have to censor myself.

I know that not everyone wants to read posts about my Christian journey all the time so I created a separate blog for that with my pal Gary. I'm not here to proselytize. Just to share. And I hope that people understand that.

Missing You

My new internet buddy Jasclo just experienced a loss this week. She left a beautiful post about her grandmother who just passed away. And it got me thinking about the losses I have experienced.

I lost all of my grandparents between 1992 and 1997. In 1999, my father was hit by a car while walking across the street and was killed. I have no siblings and I am the only child of an only child, so it is just me and my Mom now. Everyone experiences loss. That's nothing new. Just one of those facts of life that we can't avoid. But it never gets any easier.

I was very very close to my maternal grandparents. I called them "MawMaw" and "PawPaw." They have been on my mind a great deal lately because the place I live now is very similar to the place my grandparents lived. Waco, Texas. When my mom was young, my grandparents had a farm with chickens, a great big bull named Jason, a few collie dogs and a car named "Rattle Ella." When I was little, they lived in Waco proper on an acre of land. They still had chickens and a garden. There are photos of me with a bonnet on my head helping PawPaw with the corn and the tomatoes. MawMaw was a wonderful cook and she sewed and tatted lace. They were both very active in church and community. PawPaw served in the state legislature. They were amazing people.

As I drive around my new home, I think of how much my grandparents would have enjoyed visiting me here. And I feel robbed of their presence. I deserved more time with them. Losing MawMaw at 17 and PawPaw at 21 was just too early. Losing my other grandparents and my father by 24 was almost too much. But even in that short time, they all had a profound impact on me. And I think of them all often. And I keep their memories alive.

Jasclo reminded me today how important to is to talk about the people we have loved and to remember them. So, I'm going to do that. And maybe I'll post a photo or two as well.

Gettin' Crafty

So, in early April I hosted my own little mini-book giveaway. It was picked up by the Giveaway Project. While I scooted over to the Giveaway Project to learn more about it, I saw that they had posted a giveaway on another blog called Hostess with the Mostess. I immediately became addicted to all the great ideas and giveaways on the Hostess blog. One day, Hostess posted a giveaway at the Partea Planner. That is how I was introduced to Risa's blog. Risa's blog lead to me the Sweet Goodness Swap page. And that is how I started feeling the itch to get crafty again.

I love working on artsy crafty projects. But I tend to let myself get easily defeated. I don't think of myself as a particularly creative person. I used to scrapbook quite a lot. And I did some handmade cards and beaded jewelry. But then my friend Sara started making this fantastic jewelry that made mine look like child's play. And my friend Gary does super-creative cards and mini-scrapbooks. I started knitting but I'm not that good at it and my friend Vieve is a lot better. My friend Greg has the market cornered on punny cartoons and derivative paintings. And don't even get my started on my old friend Ellen. Creative is her middle name. I guess I tend to compare myself too much to other and their talents. And I fall into a defeatist attitude.

But this amazing blog path that I have taken recently has lead me to really crave a good art project. I need to get out in the garage and start scrapbooking again. Or some other creative outlet. I'm feeling inspired! Could a trip to Michael's be far behind? (I hear they have a new Martha Stewart Crafts line)

Can't Talk So I Will Blog

Good morning fellow blog readers.

Thank you for the positive response to my little experiment yesterday morning. I was talking to my husband about it and he told me how several people had paid his toll going across the bridge before when it used to be $3. I thought that was a pretty cool idea too. I think any ways that we can find to be nice to one another makes the whole world better. And I'm going to continue to try and think of ways to do that. If anyone has any ideas/suggestions, please let me know.

I spent some time at the orthodontist yesterday and got an expander put in. The idea behind it is to re-open that bone suture in the roof of my mouth. Hopefully, it will just take about two weeks. (fingers crossed that it will work AT ALL) It isn't particularly painful but it makes it very hard to talk. And it's even hard to eat and drink. Maybe this could be the solution to my diet problem. Except of the fact that all I seem to want right now is a chocolate milkshake. I wonder where the nearest McDonald's is.....