So... apparently, I offended the Wife

Soooo, apparently my post about the "Red Plate" offended my wife.

Wife, un-impressed by me...

I donno.
Something about blah blah blah.
Followed up by some guilt.
And maybe some new words to expand Pings ever growing English vocabulary.

She felt, I was implying, that maybe I was implying that she was maybe just a little more materialistic about the Red Plate than she should have been.

Well good, thought I!  Although my intent was never to point out that she was maybe just a little obsessive about this Red Plate, maybe she learnt a valuable lesson about what really is and is not important in life.  :-)  Not so.  Apparently, she felt the plate really was that important, and I'm a moron.  :-)

But thats not why I'm here today.  No sir.  I'm here because it was far to easy for me to write about a Red Plate breaking when it ISN'T a material possession I hold as dearly as my wife did.

So, I'll throw in some context for us Husbands out there, and re-post the Red Plate Special as if it were happening to us Men...

Voice from Heaven (VfH):  Did you mean it?

Me:  Mean what?

VfH:  Did you mean it when you said Material Things in this world don't matter?

Me:  Absolutely!

VfH:  Good.

Me:  Uh-oh.  Good?  Why?

VfH:  Waaaaaaait for it.... *CRASH*

Me:  What did you boys break?!
Boys:  Uh... nothing?
Me:  WHAT?!?!?!  MY STEREO!!! OH YOU BOYS ARE SOOOOO DEA.... oh wait... I still don't have a STEREO!

Okay... uhhhh... let me try again.

Voice from Heaven (VfH):  Did you mean it?

Me:  Mean what?

VfH:  Did you mean it when you said Material Things in this world don't matter?

Me:  Absolutely!

VfH:  Good.

Me:  Uh-oh.  Good?  Why?

VfH:  Waaaaaaait for it.... *CRASH*

Me:  What did you boys break?!
Boys:  Uh... nothing?
Me:  WHAT?!?!?!  MY TV - MY 25 YEAR OLD SONY TRINITRON CRT TUBE TV WITH THE COLLAPSING SCREEN?!?! OH YOU BOYS ARE SOOOOO DEA.... oh wait... that TV wasn't even worth stealing.  In fact, good job boys!  Now I can go buy one!  I mean, your MOM sets the couches on the curb, and then is SHOCKED when they disappear, and we HAVE to go buy a new one.  Thanks boys!

Okay, well... maybe the TV wasn't a great example... uuuuummmmm...

Voice from Heaven (VfH):  Did you mean it?

Me:  Mean what?

VfH:  Did you mean it when you said Material Things in this world don't matter?

Me:  Absolutely!

VfH:  Good.

Me:  Uh-oh.  Good?  Why?

VfH:  Waaaaaaait for it.... *CRASH*

Me:  What did you boys break?!
Boys:  Uh... nothing?
Me:  WHAT?!?!?!  MY CAR?!?!  My little piece of gutless Saturn Ion that I've TRIED to get rid of so I can buy a SPORTS car!  Good job boys!  Lets go Car Shopping!

... grrrrr... okay... there must be SOMETHING that I struggle with materialistically about.

Voice from Heaven (VfH):  Did you mean it?

Me:  Mean what?

VfH:  Did you mean it when you said Material Things in this world don't matter?

Me:  Absolutely!

VfH:  Good.

Me:  Uh-oh.  Good?  Why?

VfH:  Waaaaaaait for it.... *CRASH*

Me:  What did you boys break?!
Boys:  Uh... nothing?
Me:  WHAT?!?!?!  MY COMPUTER?!  OH you are SO DEAD!  No, I MEAN IT!!  Start RUNNING... you've got a 30 second head start, and thats IT!!!  Your mother may have brought you into this world, but so help me I'm going to take you OUT!!!

AAaaaaahhhh... okay... well... right... see there, I get the struggle my wife is having.  :-)

On an unrelated note (since when has ANYTHING on this blog ever been related), my "todo" list is growing at home... growing FAR too fast!  We are now rebuilding the deck (I'll try to post pictures later).  And we are still talking about adding another room to the house, and converting the basement into something more usable (and when I say "we", I really mean my wife.  I'm just trying to pay for it all).

Aaaaah, the Basement!  Finally!  My domain!  I have suffered for too long with no Stereo, TV, etc and my Wife has decided to have mercy and I shall finally create my MAN-CAVE!  I can get my Theater room set up in there!  Like my buddies...  

He has a freaking Pinball machine!  A 120" screen!  LEATHER RECLINERS!!! Oh man!  What a theater room... if we are re-doing the basement, this is TOTALLY what we're getting.

... oh... hold on, the wife is trying to get my attention.  I can tell by the way she is throwing my clothes out of the bedroom window again.

Whats that?  Oh.  Basement.  Right.  Oh.  Really?!  No.  I guess thats a good idea.  I mean, its no theater room... what about a... oh... no.  Not that either huh.  No pool tab... uh-huh.  Right.  Moron.  I get it.

Okay, so APPARENTLY, I do think my wife is nesting again... 

And APPARENTLY, she wants to turn the basement into a bedroom...

You know, maybe with all this adoption stuff, and 5 kids... er, sorry, only 4 kids... maybe I'm never going to be able to afford the fancy Theater room like my buddy Sylvain, Boat, Cottage on the Lake, etc.  But at least I'll have my children to love me when I get old.

... oh, hold on, the wife is trying to get my attention again.  

Uh-huh.  Right.  No I'm pretty sure the kids love me.  Why are you laughing?!  They will TOTALLY love me when I'm old!  What?!  Who said I was old now?!  Oh C'MON!!!

:-)

NOTE:  This post is in no way meant to depict actual events which happened between me and my wife.  Or, to depict wives in a negative way at all.  Um, nothing is true... except that I made her mad, and uh, she dose want to add rooms to the house... and uh, she did call me a moron, and I'm NOT getting a new Stereo, TV, or Theater room soon... Oh, and we ARE building a deck, and stuff... But other than that, nothing is true!

Grandpas are Like That

Grandparents are great.  They really are.  If you are travelling in China, and need a fork... some Grandma will have one for you, it may not even be YOUR Grandma... but it won't matter to her, she will still give you a fork.  If you need a kleenex?  Hand sanitizer?  Whatever... some Grandma somewhere will open her purse and help you out.

This last while though, something struck me about Grandpas... and more specifically, OUR Grandpas, and how different they can be.

Firstly, lets meet the Grandpas.

Grandpa N

Grandpa P

Now these Grandpas are AWESOME.  They spend time with the kids, and play, and take them for ice cream all all that sort of stuff.  However, they both connect quite differently with the children...

On our last visit to Winnipeg, Grandpa P took our son D fishing a couple of times.   And D loved it!  They even caught a couple of fish.

The fish the Grandmas had to clean!

He has taught our son K how to make wine...

K corking a bottle

... he even taught them how to play the accordion... thank goodness, he can't play the bagpipes.

Now, Grandpa N has done similar things... He has taken the kids swimming.

Taking Ping for a Swim

But like I said, there are a few things the Grandpas do different... :-)

The Boys:  DAD!  DAD!  Grandpa N is online!
Me:  Cool!  Did you guys message him?
Boys:  Yea!  He got StarCraft II (the video game we stood in line for)!
Me:  Yea, I know.  He told me yesterday.
Boys:  Can we play with him??!?!  CAN WE!!!
Me:  Absolutely.  Here, let me log you guys into the game online, and you can play WITH Grandpa N.
Boys:  Thanks Dad!  Okay Gramps!  Gets go kill some Zerg!
Me:  Oh hey Dad, umm... K is playing you first... Don't expect him to take it easy on you... good luck!  :-)

And with that, the boys were spending some quality time with thier Grandpa online... killing... zerg.  *siiigh*  It almost brought a tear to my eye!  So I wander upstairs and put the girls to bed.  A few minutes later, I'm back downstairs...

Son D:  Hey Dad!  K NUKED GRANDPA!!!
Me:  What?!
Son D:  Yea!  He nuked him!
Me:  Okay, you guys need to play WITH Grandpa, not AGAINST.  Be nice!
Boys:  Okay...

The boys were flying high after playing WITH Grandpa.  It was actually, a very special time with them all.

I guess it is very silly of us to try to judge what "quality time" should look like.  There are some things which ARE importantly, like, physical touch, and other things which can't be replaced.  But to see how much fun the boys had with their Grandpa... well... its hard to argue that they didn't make a connection there.

And each family is different.  What works for one family, what is special, and what draws the family close together, is probably different for every family.  Because I can NOT see Grandpa P EVER playing StarCraft II with the Boys online!  :-)

So maybe there is no "normal"... and maybe, thats a good thing.

Diner at the Embassy!

So for *some* reason I was at the FOI Offices today (my gosh, I LOVE FOI) and had a lovely conversation with them there.

Bob from FOI

There are a few reasons why I so enjoy our Adoption Agency, you have the normal reasons:

• they return phone calls
• they return emails
• they actually know me (and my family) by name
• they are crazy good at what they do
• they take time for us and all our questions
• they treat adoption as a "calling", not as a "business"
• they are honest
• etc...

But then there are other things too... stuff like:

• the diners they have at their place for all the families
• the "Festivals" they put on
• the "Young Writers" section of their News Letters
• the fact that they have News Letters

I also love the way they actually know my voice on the phone, I don't even have to introduce myself (sadly, my Mechanic ALSO knows my voice... and... oddly... my dentist.  I guess it is kind of a unique voice.  What, with how manly and rugged I sound!).

But a really cool thing happened today while I was there visiting!

Yulin:  Ah, Adrian!  Oh, I have something for you!
Me:  Uh, okay... great, thanks.  What is it?
Yulin:  Ah, the Embassy is having a diner for families who adopt.  The Ambassador wife is hosting.
Me:  Oh!  Thats great.
Yulin:  Yes, they want families with kids 5 years old.  And I thought of you immediately!
Me:  Cool!  Ping is almost 5.
Yulin:  Yea, she close enough.  So you want to come?
Me:  Yea!  Absolutely!
Yulin:  I knew you would.  Thats why I though of you.  You always try to learn Chinese and Culture!  So I think of you right away.

That just made my day!  I've got an invitation in hand to attend a Chinese Banquet with the Family at the Chinese Embassy!

I know that "negative" news gets a lot of press - Adoption Agencies going out of business, Adoption Agencies charging/changing/raising their Fees, etc - but there is "good" news out there as well.

I'm so excited to be going to the Embassy for diner - but I'm even more excited to know that there are people like Bob and Yulin, who are working so hard to match children with their Forever Families!  :-)

Adoption & Lawn Tractors

*ring* *ring* *ring*
Me:  Hello, Adrian speaking.
Wife:  You have to come home.
Me:  Oh... what happened?
Wife:  I almost DIED!
Me:  You did?  What happened?
Wife:  I mowed the grass.
Me:  Ahhhh, I see.  Wait, how did mowing the grass almost kill you?

Wife:  Weeeeeeell, you know the swing set?  I put one of the swings up out of the way, and the other one... not so much.
Me:  I don't see how a swing almost killed you while you were mowing the grass.
Wife:  Weeeeeeeell, you see, I drove into it.
Me:  Uh-huh.  You mean you crashed into the swing set?
Wife:  Weeeeeeeell, no.  I drove into the swing.
Me:  I'm sorry, I mustn't have had enough coffee.  How do you drive a 56" deck, 500 pound lawn tractor... INTO a swing?
Wife:  I was too lazy to stop the tractor, and move the swing out of the way.  So when I drove though, the swing got caught on the edge of the tractor and flipped it over!
Me:  You... rolled the tractor?
Wife:  Yes!
Me:  And you wonder why I don't like it when you drive...
Wife:  I almost died!
Me:  Did it land on top of you?
Wife:  Yes!  It almost pinned me!  And the blades were coming at me!  I had to kick the lawn tractor away from me... otherwise... I would be DEAD!
Me:  Are you hurt?
Wife:  I'm sore from falling off the tractor.
Me:  Okay, well, I'm on my way home.
Wife:  Okay.  Oh, and make some supper when you get home... because I almost DIED!
Me:  Sure.
Wife:  And bring me some Sticky Toffee cake!
Me:  You want stick toffee cake?
Wife:  I ALMOST DIED!
Me:  Alright, I'll get you some cake.
Wife:  And a back rub.
Me:  You need a back rub?!
Wife:  I ALMOST DIED!!!!
Me:  Sure.  I'll give you a back rub.
Wife:  Good.  Cuz I almost died you know.
Me:  Better luck next time tractor... better luck next time...
Wife:  What was that?!
Me: Uh?  Wha?  Nothing.  Hmmmm... I gotta go.

So, I know you might be wondering, how my wife almost killing herself relates to us adopting.
Quite a lot actually.  See, we already had 3 biological children... and my wife almost killing herself?... well... not that uncommon for her.  The neighbors who helped right the lawn tractor were shocked at what happened... for me, the feeling was more like 'It took her THIS long to crash the tractor?'

In her life she has:

• Electrocuted herself
• Wandered off in the woods alone and got lost
• Got stuck in Quicksand
• Driven off of highway overpasses
• Almost killed herself with a lawn mower
• Married me
• and the list goes on...

I think there is a distinct pattern of poor judgement there.

I figured, we SHOULD NOT bring another person into this world who was built from the same DNA as my beautiful wife.

That adopting a child,  might actually provide me with at least 1 offspring who would/could/have a chance at being normal.  :-) 

Goodness knows, the are not going to get the "normal" from either my Wife or I.  :-)

New Family Member - this time, NOT a Child!

... or, "Why I Love my Wife"
... or, "Devinne Intervention"
... or, "I'm just going to IKEA to get a Picture Frame"  (honest, thats what she said!)
... really, there are many things I could have called this post.

*ring*  *ring*  *ring*
Me:  Hello.
Voice:  Hey, it's *KeRRSSCCCHHH* and I'm [silence] IKEA *HISSSSSSSSSSSS*!  Can you [silence] think *KEEEEEEEECCCCCC*
Me:  Hey...
Voice:  *SSSSSSsssshhhhhEEEEEEEEE* th [silence] a thi [silence] exactly wa [silence]
Me: Your cell phone is breaking up!
Voice:  ..... [disconnected]
Me:  Argh!  Kids your mother drives me nuts some times!
Son#1:  Huh?  Whats up Dad?
Me:  Hold on... I've got to send an email to your Mother.
Son#1:  Are we not going straight home?
Me:  No, after we get your brother from Karate, we gotta goto Ikea.
Son#1:  Ikea?  Why?
Me:  Oh, your Mother found a couch there... and she wants me to come with the credit card to buy it.
Son#1:  You got all that from the broken phone call?
Me:  No.  No I didn't son.  I got all that from 5 years of dating... 13 years of marriage... and 33 years of understanding when things are going wrong for me.
Son#1:  What are you saying in your email?
Me:  Huh?  Oh.  Uh - "Bad receiption.  Got your message.  Enroute with Credit Card."

See, we got a new family member this weekend!  Yes.  While some people are out there, adopting new children, we got a couch!  Its a step below getting a puppy.  But never the less, it extends our family.

Dragging the new Couch through IKEA

Now, you might ask yourself, why did we NEED a new couch?  Depending on WHO you ask in our family, you would get a different answer.

My lovely wife would say:

• We need a new couch because the old one was no good any more!

My children would say:  

• We didn't really need a new couch... the old one was better for jumping on.

I might say:

• Because we ALMOST had enough spare money to buy a Stereo System!  *siiigh* 

So we arrive at Ikea!

The kids enjoy the ride on the couch

Wife:  Oh there you are!  How did you know where to find me?!
Me:  I know you.
Wife:  Look at this couch!  Isn't it GREAT!
Me:  Uh-huh.
Wife:  And ISN'T it EXACTALY what I've been looking for?!
Me:  Uh-huh.
Wife:  And isn't it a GREAT price!
Me:  Uh-huh.
Wife:  And won't it just make our house complete!
Me:  Uh-huh.
Wife:  Did you ever think we would REALLY find a couch!?
Me:  Oh, I'm pretty sure ...
Wife:  And look at the colour!
Me: ... that it dosnt ...
Wife:  Do you think it will go with out blue?!
Me:  ... what I say...
Wife:  Here!  Hold this?!  *hands me a blue toilet brush*  Its about the same blue as our accent colours!
Me: ... or what I do...
Wife:  Oh, and I've been sitting on it for an HOUR waiting for you so no one would buy it!
Me:  ... I'm pretty sure we're getting the couch.
Wife:  Oh I'm SO glad you love it to!
Me:  Uh-huh.
Wife:  And you have to carry it though the whole store.
Me:  Wha?!
Wife:  Yea, its on clearance.  So they won't carry it out for us.
Me:  But its on DISPLAY in the middle of the store?!  You can barely WALK though here... and you want me to carry it to the check outs?!
Wife:  Don't worry!  I'll get two trolly's!
Me:  *siiiiigh*
Son#1:  Dad...
Me:  Yes son...
Son#1:  What just happened there?
Me:  We just bought a couch.
Son#1:  Huh.  Interesting.  Did we save up money to buy it.
Me:  Nope.
Son#1:  So how are we going to pay for it?
Me:  Overtime kid... overtime....
Wife:  Did I mention it was 30% off?!
Me:  Yea, on the phone.
Wife:  Isn't this perfect!  I mean, WHAT would be the chances that I could have the van, at IKEA, and find a couch on sale... that we LIKED!  I don't want to call it a "sign", like "Devinne intervention", but thats a pretty big coincidence!
Me:  Sooooo... the next time I have the Van, at Future Shop, and I see a 50" TV on Sale for 30% off ...
Wife:  You are such a moron.
Me:  ... right.

So we get the couch on the two trolly's and drag it though the store, pay for it, drag it home, get it all set up... and yes... it makes a LOVELY addition to our family!

The new Addition to our Family in its natural habitat

Now, the couch was a great price... and I really do like it, so I guess it isn't too bad.

However, here is a list of other additions to the house we are currently working on:

• new deck (we're currently tearing the old one down)
• new en-suite bathroom 
• re-do our main bathroom
• add a new bedroom
• convert the basement room into a living area for the boys

I guess all things considered, I got off easy having her just find a couch!  :-)

Graceful Recovery

It seems that every two months, my wife and I look back over the process of Ping, and think "Wow!  What a change these last two months have made!"

We think back to when she first joined our family, and the tantrums, and the melt downs, and the attempted assassinations... and now, what a difference!  You would be hard pressed to even recognize her!  Everything about her has "softened".

uh-oh... the meltdown has begun!

She even gave me a kiss on my cheek - with my "owies" and all!  Trust me, she reminded me that there were owies - "I give you kiss Daddy!  Even wif OWIES!  I lub you!"

Actually, she is on this "I love you MORE" kick - which is very sweet... even at 3:30 am... when she is waking you up... just to tell you... and then giggling... every so cutely.

This weekend was full of Birthdays!  We had our 2nd Eldest Sons birthday on Friday, when I took our Eldest Daughter to her friends Birthday on Saturday... then I took her AGAIN on Sunday (when the party actually WAS happening)...  the whole time, Ping was quite upset that SHE did not have a Birthday Party to go to.  She is trying so hard to be social.  :-)

Wait!  I'm only getting the "eeeeevil eye!"

But what I am the most proud of, is that she was able to control herself, she didn't have a melt down.
Or fly off the handle.
Or cry and stomp off, slamming doors, or anything like that.

She got upset.  Expressed her displeasure.  And then... to our relief, "got over it".

And, she's over it!

This is becoming a common occurrence, and one which we embrace and welcome with open arms!  Her ability to "get over it" without having a blow out.

:-)

Talk Nice...

... but I talk nice!  I TALK NICE!

Aaah, perspective!  I guess, considering how Ping was spoken to previously, and how she spoke to us (even just a couple months ago), in her head, she IS speaking nicely.  In my head, I think she would have tried to stab me, had she but a knife in her hand.

But surely I never have perspective problems... do I?
Hmmmmmm... (begin wave-y flash back sequence)
A while ago, I got into trouble at work for being AWESOME... here, let me explain...


Computer Female Voice: "Welcome to our internal directory! Please say the name of the person you wish to talk to."
Me: "Yang Gao"
(pause)
Computer Male Voice: "There is more than one person with that name. I am unable to connect you. You will be transferred to Reception."
... silence...
Computer Female Voice: "Welcome to our internal directory! Please say the name of the person you wish to talk to."
Me: "Yang Gao"
(pause)
Computer Male Voice: "There is more than one person with that name. I am unable to connect you. You will be transferred to Reception."
... silence ...
Computer Female Voice: "Welcome to our internal directory! Please say the name of the person you wish to talk to."
Me: "You've got to be kidding me! Yang Gao"
Computer Female Voice: "Did you want to talk to MC Hammer?"
Me: "No. Wait, can you do that?! Cuz yea, I'ld LOVE to talk to MC Hammer!"
Computer Female Voice: "Did you want to talk to the Pope?"
Me: "Oh heck No, Hammer was WAY cooler."
Computer Female Voice: "Please say the name of the person you wish to talk to."
Me: "Yang Gao."
(pause)
Computer Male Voice: "There is more than one person with that name. I am unable to connect you. You will be transferred to Reception."

Me: "OH YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!"


(end wave-y flashback)


You could see, I was stuck in an infinite loop and there was no way out.  So I did the only sensible thing.  Well, the only sensible thing by my perspective.
I took the above text, and sent it via email to our "Telecomm" group (which manages our internal directory), with a note saying that there was a loop, and it could be fixed by adding a secondary prompt as to "which Yang Gao you wish to speak".

The Telecomm group tech support sent the email to thier manager.
... who sent it to thier manager.
   ... who sent it to the VP of Engineering.


... now, you might think that the VP of Engineering would be HAPPY to have someone in the "working class" actually care about making sure that our phone system is able to connect people to their desired vocal destination.  That maybe someone in the working class was sensitive enough to bring a problem to the attention of others without screaming, yelling, or lashing out at the poor service tech trying to maintain the voice system.


But nope.  In this VPs understanding of the world around him (his perspective), a "working class" slob spent "far to long typing an email and not being productive".  In fact, by this VPs perspective, I've wasted company time... wasted resources... and now, that VP is getting his underling, to get his underling, to get HIS underling (who happens to be MY manager), to come and yell at me (now that was a waste of time).


Now, this VP could have broadened his PERSPECTIVE a little more, and noticed that the email had originated at 1:30am.  Not exactly normal working hours.  This VP could have then been happy that some working class slob was ever so committed to the company as to work till the weeeeee hours of the morning to try to fix things.  This VP could have done many things... but his perspective limited his view.
Unfortunately, one of the things the VP DID do, was look me up in the company phone book.

There I was.  Listed right under "B", the listing looked something like this:
Photo: (Handsome picture of a stunning 30 something year old, yes me, shut it Andrea!)
Name: Adrian Berzenji
Phone: 613-###-####
Email: xxx@xxx.ca
Title:  Awesome!


Yes... my job title at work, was AWESOME!  Good thing he did not look me up the previous week when I was "Ruler of the UNIVERSE!".


Care to guess how this VPs perspective viewed my "awesomeness"?  :-)


So, AFTER 3 layers of management got involved... after ANOTHER report on my File (poor HR, wasting all their time tracking the "stupid" things I do at work)... after discussions with Me, the Union, character references and all that...


... I got in trouble for the following:

• Wasting Company Time
• and being Awesome!

Now, MY perspective on this whole thing is that:

• the VP wasted FAR more time on this than I did (typing 127 words per minute allows for some quick emails (and blogs))
• the email was sent OFF hours (sent after I was done work, at almost 2am)
• I really AM awesome... you can ask anyone (except Andrea)
• I still would like to talk to MC Hammer

So what I've learned is that:

• I will not send emails to co-workers
• If I DO find a problem, I'll send a scathing email insulting the competency of people and thier work
• The email will be less than 127 words to ensure that I was able to send it in less than 1  minute

But what dose all this rambling have to do with Adoption?


Nothing, except that Ping (or any child) already perceives the world around them, shaped uniquely by their own experiences.  And we as parents, have to be careful how we interact with them to make sure that what we are wanting them to learn, is what they are learning.  And to remember, that they may view things very differently than ourselves.


Far to often, it is far to easy to forget that others can see the world differently than ourselves.  


:-)

Fear of Tupperware

Adoption may be many things to many different people.

• To those adopted, adoption may be a racial issues.
• To those adopting, adoption may be a family issue.
• To those supporting adoptive families, adoption may be beautiful.

But apparently... to some... adoption is, a 'Fear of Tupperware'.  I'm not one to judge, but that seems kind of... odd.

The blog site gathers some statistics about HOW people come to our Blog.  Below is the summary of "Google Searches" which brought people here to our Adoption Blog.


Search Keywords (in order of most popular search to least)

1. zhongshan orphanage
2. zhongshan orphanidge
3. fear of tupperware
4. forever family blog ping
5. zhongshon orphanage
6. berzenji
7. forever family
8. forever family picture frame
9. maylie in the party and the you lose
10. picture of orphanage

Look at number #3 in the list!  The 3rd most popular search for people to find our blog... our blog about our adoption, our family, our lives... is "fear of tupperware"!?!?

I get the other searches... but... tupperware?!

Really?!

I feel sorry for anyone searching for "Fear of Pampered Chef" - who knows where THEY are gonna end up?!

Oh well.  Maybe I should re-evaluate the effectiveness of our blog.  :-)