Time in a Bottle

I found this picture today of my mother and I. It's from August of 1992, which is the year I graduated from high school - and amazingly was taken fourteen years ago, give or take a day or more. This is the day my Mother and I said goodbye as she dropped me off at college in Oregon, which at the time was 8-hours away from home (California), but might as well have been 20 hours, because I was homesick for her from the moment she and my Dad drove away. Even though I was thrilled to be in College and living in a dorm with my best girlfriend as a roommate, I was so close to my family that I couldn't imagine that my mother and I would no longer be around each other daily. Fast forward those fourteen years and we've survived so many things they're hard to count, but here's a go: family death, marriage, divorce, separation, a move across country (me - boo hoo), infertility, grandkids, laughter, tears, and much much more. My mom is the kind of person who bears the brunt of the family drama - doesn't complain about it, but bears it. She has four children ages 17-35 (all from my father...just really spread out - oops!) She has three grand-daughters and another on the way. (Yaaa Keira Joy!) She has been fighting Multiple Sclerosis for 17 years and she's still sassy after all these years. Case in point: she has this scooter that she rides around on in public, because walking and MS just don't go together. So, apparently she has a "turbo" feature and when she wants to be really "cute" she'll hit the turbo and go flying down the store aisles - leaving me and shopping cart in the dust. Another example - she'll "honk" at you if you're in her way and she's stuck behind you on the scooter. It's the most annoying high pitched "beeping" noise and she'll hit it and hold....beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.....until you move out of her way so she can zoom past you, giggling as she goes. Gosh, I love her.
The real reason I wanted to share this picture is that I was thinking of my mom and how fast time flies. How it seems like only yesterday I was at college and she was waving from the car as they drove away. In retrospect, I can only see how the years have brought us closer and given me a better understanding of all she's done for me and my siblings, even though at times her ability has been and still is limited by her low-down, no-good "friend" MS. But she's a fighter my Ma. She's feisty...
Anyway, I digress again. The real point is: time flies. Did you catch that? I said, "Time Flies". It's not just a cliché, it's true. This picture is just a memory, but at that moment it was real and painful, and beautiful and hopeful and all the things that memories can be. The real challenge is reminding yourself daily that this too shall pass, and when it does it will be nothing more than a part of your memory. Do you follow me? The big "WAIT"...just a passing moment in time. Take a picture and put it somewhere where you and your daughter will find it ten years from now...and when you do you can say "Oh honey, that was just the time when Mommy thought you would never get here, and it was over before we knew it...and here you are...can you believe it? It seems like it was only yesterday I was taking that picture..."

I'll go first...here's mine...














Your turn...

Big Hug LID friends -

I Love Scrap-Swapping with Donna!

I love Donna...let me tell you why I love Donna...

Not only do I love her blog, but I love that she and I scrapbook to the beat of the same drummer. And recently, through her blog, I found out about the Ladybug Scrapbook Hunters group and started swapping scrapbook pages with other expectant waiting families. My good fortune has allowed me to get Donna's name twice in the scrap exchange and for her to get my name once, so we have been going back and forth. When I returned from NY, I not only got my layout from her, I also got the above ladybug bear and card. It was such a treat, and as you will see, the pages she made me are FANTASTIC! So, needless to say, though I have never personally met Donna, and though I have never heard her voice...I feel a camaraderie with her and a friendship. And as I told her just today, can you imagine, we would have never crossed paths had it not been for this amazing journey we're on! Perish the thought...

Give your blogger pals a "hug" today and remind them how much you appreciate walking the road with them!

Ok, above is the layout I sent to Donna in June and the theme was "Summer Fun"

As I said, Donna got my name for July, and the theme was "Patriotic Pride". Above is the layout she sent to me. Isn't it wonderful?!?! I love her style. All those embellishments are three dimensional.

And here is the layout I just sent off to Donna for the same swap. You can click each picture to view a larger image.

So, anyhow, I just wanted to share. If you're a scrapbooker and would enjoy the swap, it's a monthly exchange and we get new participants monthly, so it's never too late to join.

Happy Scrapping, and thanks again Donna! You're the best!

New York News

OK, so I'm back from the Big Apple and it was a spectacular trip for me. I had such a great time and it was one good day after another with so much to see and do. Of course, I was there on business, so I also had all the required business meetings and dinners, but it was all so enjoyable and well planned. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I have posted a couple pictures here, but you will really need to look HERE at the first post under my Journal for all the good pictures and the whole story. It is worth clicking the link for! Isn't this picture just the perfect shot?!?!















This is my first New York Hotdog....it was sooooo good!















and this was my trip to the American Girl Place -
wonderful store that it was...I wanted one of each!

Ok, so that's enough of a teaser...just go and read the full story over here! Don't worry - it's just my other cutsie website for all my family and friends...outside of blogger land.

xoxo

Happy 4-Month LID!!!!!

July 29th we celebrated the FOUR month anniversary of our LID! We are ringing the bell, turning "cartwheels", and shouting "Hip-hip hooray!" Whew...four down... ___ to go....

I am also going to say this for the those that get discouraged each month when referrals come in and it's not as many as we'd like, or covering as many days as we'd like: we're all in this together. Those families that just got referrals in the last couple days are part of us...part of this big crazy thing we're going through and they were exactly where we are, a year or seven months, or four months, or whatever ago - they were there, and look what happened! REFERRAL DAY! Let's all hang in there and try to be strong. I know it's hard some days (trust me), but my honest reaction to seeing that the "Stork Landed" was one of total excitement and happiness for that part of our "family" that are finally there. After all that work and worry, and frustration...they're finally there! It's a celebration! Time to be happy! And the good news is, that even though we don't know the end date for each one of us, there will be families, are families, coming along behind us, holding on to our stories and our journeys as their hope and encouragement. We all lead each other. Picture holding on to the family in front of you and peeking around their shoulders each step to make sure you were going the right way and not stepping in a hole, or walking through muck...now picture the family hanging on to you and trusting you to lend support and lead the way. It's a big chain of families holding on to one another and walking along the road of adoption together. Try to lean on the ones around you and the ones ahead of you for strength. And more than anything, believe that the end will be so worth the weight of the load, that you will never in your life regret for a minute the journey to get there.

Happy LID's and Happy Referrals to all my adoption family!

Big Hug xoxo

P.S. More to come about my trip to NYC in the next post.