I am in the process of reading the book eat pray love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I just finished reading the following passage that I thought was too beautiful to not pass along.

Ketut went on to explain that the Balinese believe we are each accompanied at birth by four invisible brothers, who come into the world with us and protect us throughout our lives. When the child is in the womb, her four siblings are even there with her - they are represented by the placenta, the amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord and the yellow waxy substance that protects an unborn baby's skin. When the baby is born, the parents collect as much of these exraneous birthing materials as... more

One of my favorite traditions of this holiday season, or any season for that matter is the receiving, through snail mail, holiday cards. Is there anything better than finding a card or letter admist the bills and promotions? Not too many that I can think of anyway.

I even enjoy the Christmas letters that a lot of people have issues with. The sappy ones I have a laugh at and the honest ones I adore. And I especially enjoy any card with a family or child photo. Those are priceless. I have a client and a friend who still sends out her holiday card with her 3 kids on the front. And two of them are in college. I couldn't even imagine the planning that goes into that one. But... more

Let me first clarify that I'm in a cruddy mood tonight. I'm about to head into a rant about now, so if you don't want to hear it, I'd stop reading now.

This is my baby's first Christmas. Maybe not his first Christmas on Earth, but his first Christmas celebrating with our family. Do you think that I could find any article of clothing to celebrate that fact? After driving around today to 4 different stores on the opposite ends of town? Nope.

There are adorable onesies, Santa suits and bibs declaring all about Baby's First Christmas. But none over size 9 months. Now my baby is only about 14 months old, but he wears 18 month old sized clothes. Even the bibs are too small... more

I had read about a Japanese company that had designed a cell phone to help women with their fertility cycles. It was only in a small news byte, but I wanted to learn more. Even after checking the company's website, I didn't have enough info to post it here. After checking different gadget related and tech blogs, here are some facts that I patched together.

However, a new Japanese service is taking text messaging where perhaps no one has taken the technology before: family planning. Offered by the telecommunications... more

This morning I came into my office and on my desk was a very sweet ornament made for me by my aunt. My sister and mom also had one each. I will try to accurately describe what it looks like.

It is a clear ornament with a small amount of gold tinsel tucked inside. I would say approximately 10 strands, just enough to get it sparkly. Also tucked inside is a very small white feather. Attached to the hook part of the ornament is a handmade tag of red construction paper. On the tag is another white cut out with decorative scissors. On the tag is then printed... more

In 2002 December 4th was going to be my due date with our first baby. I miscarried about 10 weeks along so we never made it to that special delivery day. Yet, every year, I think about our baby and remember the joy of being pregnant. I also remember the extreme sorrow when we lost him. (I write "him" although I have no proof besides how I felt when I was carrying him. I thought for sure that our baby was a boy.)

The first year of loss I had a princess day with one of my best girlfriends. We both took the day off from work, got manicures and pedicures and went to lunch. It wasn't sad, we stayed busy to not think about it too much. I remember getting in the car that day and Chris... more

I suppose Ethiopia feels confident in their choice to allow us to parent Becken. We just had our 6 month post placement visit with our beloved social worker, Marilyn. You could tell that I had been involved in these visits for over a year now, because I didn't even clean my house as I had before. I straightened up as much as I could before she got here, out of courtesy for company, but not out of any fear of being a bad adoptive parent.

She has always arrived at our house right on time. Even this time with icy roads and unpredictable weather. And then, she plays with Ivy. Then we sit and talk over mineral water or tea. And boy do we talk. About everything! She asks about my... more

HIV/AIDS Quiz

I wish that I could say that I did better than I actually did. I missed 2! Thanks to Heather F. for the link.

In honor of World AIDS Day today, I wore my "WE ALL HAVE AIDS" t-shirt to work and around town as I ran errands. And there were quite a few errands to run as today is also my husband's birthday. Aside from both offices, I went to Target, Mail Boxes Etc, Dairy Queen, the grocery store, teriyaki restaurant and two banks.

I was hoping that someone would ask me about my shirt. I wore it over a long sleeve black shirt, and under my denim jacket that was open so that the shirt could be read. The most that I got were some sidelong glances, except for one woman who actually... more

While flipping through the Creative Irish Gifts Christmas 2006 catalog, I happened upon the above plaque. Here is the catalog description:

Never, Never, Never Give Up !

Lift the heart of someone special. This inspiring wooden plaque is hand-stenciled and signed by the artist. USA. 3 x 26 1/2 x 1".

www.shopirish.com

The price is $ 29.99 + shipping and handling.

While I was trying to get pregnant, and also before we had decided to formally go through with Bec's... more