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Limbo

Between the motion...
and the act...
falls the shadow.

We are caught between two giant options right now. If things go the way we want (we think), there is a big series of changes in store, including a move.

If things stay the same, though, there are still big changes ahead in the next year or so.

Do you blame me for feeling a tad crazy right now? Sorry I haven't been blogging so much lately.

I have a hard time writing about things, until they are resolved. I don't like to write about unresolved things. I like to be able to decide what to do and do it, not wait. And wait. And wait. :)

But we'll have a lot to post about soon, maybe. Or maybe not.

Between the maybe...
and the maybe not...
lies less-than-sanity.

*sigh*

Hair and Skin Care for White People

These are some things about my own skin and hair, that I have learned from having two black daughters.

1)lotion every day. Especially in the winter, and especially face, knees and elbows. The lotion I use for my daughters is too heavy for my own skin, so find something lighter. But... every day!

2)Don't use soaps or detergents on the face. My favorite face cleanser: baking soda. I take a palmful of it, water it down a little and scrub my face with it, and haven't had any real breakouts, clogged pores, etc since I began using it regularly. Aaand my skin is not so ouchy and dry or irritated from soaps.

3)Don't use very much shampoo. And use it only on the scalp-areas. The hair doesn't need shampoo that much, it's the scalp that needs it and the oily parts of the hair next to the scalp.

4)Use the RIGHT conditioner for your hair. For me, this means I choose a different product for myself. If I used the same conditioner as my two adopted daughters, my hair would always look greasy. If you've got thin, straight hair like me, pick a very light, volumnizing conditioner. But... use a lot of it if you have long hair. Slather it on from where you'd gather it into a "ponytail" on the back of your hair all the way to the ends, and concentrate on the ends. Do not pick conditioner by scent!

5)Never brush your hair dry. Always brush it gently when it's wet and newly-conditioned, and start at the ends and go up. Very gently at the ends, trying not to snag or just rip through tangles.

6)If, for some reason, you have to brush your hair dry, always use a boar-bristle style brush.


I've never been able to grow my hair this long before. And My skin has never been this nice. Being forced into learning to care for someone with a completely different set of needs has helped me learn about myself. (and this applies to more than just skin and hair care!)

Mad list

I got sort of mad this last week. I think being tired makes me less able to forgive the world around me, and also myself.

I could make a list but I'm not going to.

I've realized one of my problems is I don't suffer fools too well. But I know I'm not perfect, so why can't I? I'm pretty sure people put up with a lot of silliness from me.

I wish I could shove my annoyance down inside of me and forget about it like some seem to be able to do.

Sometimes it just makes me tired. The way people are selfish, or completely unwilling to examine themselves. Or the way people give up and say that things can't change.

The thing that annoys me more than anything else is when people justify their lack of charity with righteousness, when really, underneath it all, is fear.

And that's my vent for this week, folks.

Things We Say

(Setting: driving home from ballet lessons)
MayMay: We wish you a merry christmas, we wish you a merry christmas.
Jaws: We wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year. Now Bring us some piggy pudding.
MayMay: Now bring us some piggy pudding! Good tyings to you, to you and your kids. You're tying for Christmas! And a happy good cheer.
Jaws: Now bring us some piggy pizza, now bring us some piggy pizza. We won't go until we get some! Lalala new YEAR.
Loli and Bella: (snickering)


(setting--it is lunchtime and everyone is sitting at the table eating.)

Squirt: Can I have some water?
Jaws: You can borrow some of mine, squirt.
Squirt: (looks skeptically at Jaw's cup) No, I want some BOY water.
NSG: And it begins. (Goes to the sink to fill a cup with water.)

(setting--putting Jaws and Squirt down for nap.)
NSG: want me to give you a kiss?
Jaws: (nods) Mom, I had a bad dream last night.
NSG: What was it?
Jaws: I dreamed that mosters killed Abby and Katherine and Samantha and big John and little John and all my church people and it was only me left in the family.
NSG: I'm so sorry. Maybe you can have a better dream this time. Maybe you can be a princess with a sword and rescue everybody.
Jaws: Yeah! Or Maybe I could have a dream that I was a princess tied up in a cage and my prince couldn't rescue me because it was very plastic, and he didn't have any big scissors or little scissors or any swords, and so he went and got all his friends with swords and they rescued princess Bella and princess Loli and princess MayMay and princess me.
NSG: That would be good.
Jaws: yeah.

Truth about HIV

Again, my kids are not HIV +. But this adoption process has helped me learn how small an issue HIV can be, if it is treated correctly and if there is help. And there are, literally, millions of kids out there who do not have access to proper treatment. In fact, who are dying for no reason, because they don't have access to treatment, because people are afraid of the virus that they happen to carry in their system. This epidemic is a great example of an epidemic spread mostly because of ignorance, fear, lack of information.

I want to get this message out there! If you feel comfortable, please share where you can.

A Vaccination for Crazy

So, today was really tough.

My kids were crazy all day long, as usual. But for some reason it got several notches louder, crazier, and more unbearable as dinnertime approached. I literally felt sick, like I had a flu bug or something, from the sheer stress of the free radicals of crazy floating around in my living room.

Skywalker got home from work early, and left shortly thereafter to go on an "errand", which took him 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete, bringing him home just about the time dinner is supposed to end.

Poor skywalker. The free radicals of crazy included ones coming from ME at this point. My tetchy lecture only lasted a minute or two, and I didn't raise my voice at all or say anything verging on more than just slightly testy, but it was enough to give him the crazy bug.

We unfortunately went over to my sister's house for FHE and passed the bug on to them. But for some reason, they seem to have a kind of immunity to it. My kids played and screamed and teased, and my little brother wrestled and threw them around and gave them a shrieking good time. My sister and her husband smiled mildly and watched them run erratic, high-strung circles around their living room.

Skywalker and I looked on in dumb incredulosity, but didn't question anything because at least the crazy was no longer being directed at US.

So... question.

You moms of young kids. What is your most effective "crazy" inoculation?

A good night's sleep is out of the question. As is (at this point) chocolate, due to budgetary restrictions.