My Overthinking

Philly Area mom, Life forever changed by adoption

Archives for July 2011

Secret Daughter Giveaway Winner!

89 entries, people. 

Wow. 
You know why I’m excited about that? Because a whole bunch of you have already downloaded the book or have bought the book because you just couldn’t wait to see if you would win or not. And, you know what that means? A whole lot of ladies who I can email with, “So…what did you think? Impressions? What upset you? What made your heart hurt? What could you easily forgive? What made you smile? Who would you most like to sit down with to hear more?” 
And, I know I’m going to like doing that. Because, last night, when you all were sound asleep, I was clicking on each and every one of your blogs way past my bedtime. If you had a blog linked to your profile, I was there. Didn’t leave a comment on every one–ahem, some of you haven’t updated your blogs in…maybe…years. But, regardless, I still liked visiting them and seeing lots of super cute little ones. Some of you are adoptive moms; some of you are adoptees; Some of you are moms to a large quiver; some of you have one special little one; some of you have a passion for China, Ethiopia, India, Korea. Young or old, in the adoption community or not, mother or daughter, you all share at least one thing in common–you want a good read. 
But, only one of you will get one free.
which is…
Given Jami Lynn’s comment, I’m super glad she won, and I can’t wait to hear her thoughts on the significance of being “just” a mom after reading Secret Daughter (despite how she is a mystery woman. Ahh! No blog tied to her profile!).
Jami Lynn, shoot me an email, and I’ll make sure you get that book so you can snuggle up with it soon. And, everyone else, thanks so much for coming on over and entering. And, go buy a copy. Seriously. It’s so inexpensive and worth having in your own library. 
And, don’t stay too far away…got another giveaway coming soon…

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Update: 
Jami Lynn is no longer a mystery woman! Go see her beautiful family and sweet Sophia Grace who is waiting for them in China. Their Letter of Acceptance cannot come quickly enough. At least she’ll have a good book to read as she waits. (sigh)

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Be Cool; Stay in School

Last post was about summer; this post is about school. I know it’s still summer vacation though it isn’t for much longer for some of you. But, this needs attention now.


16.

A child (child) can legally drop out of school at the age of 16. And, every 9 seconds in the U. S., one does–7,000 a day. Quite alarming, isn’t it?

Wanna help some efforts to prevent high school students dropping out? I’m not going to ask you for money. It’s so stinkin’ easy to help that you have no reason not to (unless you are currently in China bringing your baby home–as I know some of sweet friends are!).

P&G (you know, the big ole company Proctor & Gamble?) will be putting out a special edition of their Sunday coupons this Sunday, July 31st. For each coupon redeemed, P&G will donate $.02 to Communities In Schools, the nation’s leading dropout prevention organization. The donation is uncapped – so the more you save with coupons, the more you/they give. Pretty neat.

If that weren’t easy enough, I’ve got an even easier way to help. With a long track record of philanthropic work and a commitment to education, John Legend, Grammy award winning musician, is the spokesperson for these efforts. Click here to watch a very short video featuring Legend on Facebook. Every time it is viewed, P&G will give $.25 to Communities in School, up to $10,000. I just clicked on it.

Go click on it now. Seriously. $.25 more invested to help keep children in school.

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"No, I actually really enjoy summer"

Lady at Goodwill Check-out: “Are they all yours?”

Me: “Yup!”

Lady at Goodwill Check-out: “You must be ready for school to start again.”

Me: “No, I actually really enjoy summer.”

I do. Days of nothing on the agenda besides water slides and diving boards. 6 different flavors of ice cream in my freezer. A collection of crocs and flip flops in a pile in my kitchen. Staying up late and sleeping in in the morning. Not having central air can be dreadful. I am so not a heat person. But, having all of my brood at home with very little planned, I’m that kind of person.

Today, we decided spur of the moment to go see some aged equines. Yup, we did. There is a farm for aged equines (aka, a nursing home for old horses) not far from our house. So, we packed some lunches, went to the store to buy some carrots for the aged equines, and went on out there.

Fully expecting Lydia to need to be held the entire time and giving me her “scared… big… horsie… scared… big… horsie” type of thing, I didn’t even bother to get my camera out (at first). But, oddly enough, the girl is scared of toy poodles but was pretty darn comfortable around these big old beasts.

Mind you, I was not. So, I had to keep grabbing her in case their old blind eyes thought this little pipsqueak was an extra large carrot. Apparently, most of them are missing a good number of teeth since they are so old, so maybe a nibble wouldn’t be so bad. Drew seemed to disagree (note the blur on his feet in the next picture as Mindy the pony moved a little too close for comfort).

But, regardless of missing teeth, I saw some icky drool coming from those gnarly mouths. Ick. I’m so not a farm girl apparently either.

And, maybe Lydia isn’t either when it comes down to it. 
This one, on the other hand, fed 2 lbs. of carrots to these aged equines (just had to use that phrase one last time) without a care in the world. She even talked baby talk and called each one by name. Farm girl? Maybe just a wee little bit (if you take away her sparkly pink flip flops and replace them with some boots).

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Don’t forget to come on by this post and leave a comment before Friday to win a copy of my latest read. We totally need a virtual book club for this one. 

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More and More

It was like some sort of sitcom. The doorbell rang. I answered it in my pajamas. The mailman asked me to sign on the dotted line. And, next thing I knew, I was looking at these.

5 large boxes of crafts from Kenya.
Woah.
I’d be lying if I didn’t say it made me a bit nervous knowing that I’m responsible for paying the women for all these things (like 193 bracelets, 196 earrings, 130 necklaces, and other goodies). But, I remember that I felt more than a bit overwhelmed when the first shipment arrived back in May. I thought I’d be carrying a tote bag of paper bead jewelry with me everywhere I went for the next 2 years. But, it sold. Nearly all of it. Gone. Sold. Amazing.
And, I know God will do it again. He brought people to buy then. He will do it now. It’s taking a bit more effort on my part — you know, all the Etsy stuff and naming pieces and lots of picture taking, etc. But, every time Mary Magdalene emails me and tells me more about one of the women she works with–Agatha, Milka, Grace, Margaret, Veronica, Monica–I remember why I’m doing this. When she tells me, “My real future plan is to do something great for the less fortunate before I die. You are the right person who came my way with the right mission and vision like mine. Let’s work hard do our part and entrust the rest to God,” I remember why I’m doing this. 
Come visit the Etsy store where things are listed. If you aren’t into the things yourself, think about who you might know who might be; send a link to them. Find your favorite item in the store and click on the Facebook icon to share it on Facebook; maybe one of your Facebook friends will see it and decide they love it too.
Be a part of the mission with me.

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