poking my head back into the bloggy world....

... after an amazing trip to Chile. I didn't read any blogs while I was gone and of course didn't post anything, so I'm just catching myself back up.

In keeping with my gratitude theme, I am going to express my thanks to Heather for posting this meme that gives me something to write about! I've got a lot swirling around in my head, but not much coherent to put on the blog, really. I am also so very thankful for such a lovely trip to Chile where little A met countless family members and friends. I also got several great photos of the "reservado para futura mama" parking signs, one of which will soon appear on the blog. For now, on to the meme:

Five things I should know how to do, but don't:

1. Dive. As in, dive into water. I never learned how to do it somehow and I feel way too old and timid to try at this point. So I just stick with my strategy of squatting down and then easing my way into the water.

2. Speak comfortably in front of a group. I mean, I'm a teacher for pete's sake! I do this every day! But for some reason I still get major nerves when speaking in front of a group of people - even in a small group setting.

3. Say no to things that I really don't want to do and/or don't have the time to do. I'm known to take on way too much. Then I end up feeling stressed about not getting it all done. I've gotten better about this over the years, but I still tend to want to say yes to more things than I should.

4. Remember the plot of books and movies. I can always remember what I thought about a book or movie - if I liked it or not, but probably 8 times out of 10 I can't remember the plot. Weird.

5. Play sports. I have never played a sport in my entire life. Crazy! It's one of the very few things I regret about my childhood - not being on a team at some point.


Five things I do well, thank you very much:

1. Save money. When I was a little girl and earned an allowance I used to save and save and save. My parents used to borrow cash from me sometimes - in an age pre-ATMs. Luckily I'm still a good saver.

2. Put together I.kea furniture. We have LOTS in our house and I've put it ALL together by myself.

3. Cook. I love to cook and other people seem to enjoy my efforts.

4. Plan. I am a big time planner in pretty much all areas of my life. This comes in super handy as teacher, as well as a mom and wife. Mr. P is - fortunately and unfortunately - not a big planner, and he's taught me over the years that sometimes the best times can be had when things are unplanned. But for the most part I enjoy having things planned out and organized.

5. Make decisions. In my work I make probably hundreds of very small split-second decisions a day, so it helps to be fairly good at it. I am very confident of the important decisions I make in my life. It's not hard for me to make them, and many of the most important decisions I've made have been made rather quickly. I asked Mr. P to marry me after only a few weeks of dating.

so happy

I have never been so proud of my country. I am so, so, so happy and have been shedding tears of joy on and off since last night. You could hear the celebrations in the streets last night, as well as the celebrations of my neighbors in the building where we live. Today when I went out the city felt a-buzz. I live in Harlem, and this election meant a lot to this community, as it did to many communities across our country. Mr. P was at a public celebration in the heart of Harlem last night and while I couldn't go because I stayed home with little A, I saw the video he took this morning, and the tears were rolling again.....

Today I am grateful for a new beginning, and for a president-elect that I can be proud of. I've never, ever felt that of a politician.

We are off to Chile for two weeks, and I most likely won't be posting from there. I won't be able to park in the "reservado para futura mama" spots, or wait in those lines at the grocery. But that's quite alright with me. Ya soy mama, para ahora, el futuro, y siempre. I am really curious to see what kinds of conversations we have about adoption - in general and our specifically. I'll be reporting on that on the flip side!

gratitude.

I've had much to be grateful for in my life, but lately I am trying to be more aware of all the things - big and small - that I am grateful for. I've been jotting some of these things down in my pencil-and-paper journal, and I thought I'd include some things here on the 'ole blog. The fact that it's November and therefore the month of Thanksgiving here in the U.S. doesn't hurt, either.

First, I am so grateful the comments on my last post! I KNEW you would come through. I love Heather's advice, and while I haven't taken the sharpie to the baby book yet, I plan to use language along the lines that she suggests.

I am very grateful that the election is in two days. I anticipate being grateful for a new president in two days time. I am so ready for this election to be over and am even more ready for Obama to be our president.

The understatement of the year would be that I'm grateful for our healthy happy baby girl. Every new day with her is a blessing.

I'm grateful when Mr. P gets up to do the first of A's feedings in the morning.

And I am so grateful that we are able to travel to Chile in three days and for A's Chilean family and friends to finally meet her.

My posts in November will be sporadic since we'll be in Chile for two weeks and then visiting my family for Thanksgiving. But I'll plan to use my posts this month to record the things - big and small - that I'm grateful for. If you'd like to leave a comment or write a post on your blog about what you are grateful for, well, I'd be grateful! :)