The Unexpected Housewife

When I was little, my family spent Thanksgiving with my mom's lifelong friend, Eileen, and her family.  They were 'aunt and uncle' to us, and their children were my 'cousins'.   I adored Thanksgiving.  When I think back now,  the memory feels warm, smells like amazing food, and the day was one of love and comfort.  The evening before, Dad would make his pies.  Dad was a baker, gifted with sugar, and was known in our circles as the person to ask to bring desserts.  He'd do his handywork, and that would feed the crowd.  On Thanksgiving, we'd watch the parade religiously, as my parents were full blooded New Yorkers.  We'd pack up, and drive south about 90 minutes to my aunt's, and pile out.  My uncle would always come out to meet us in the drive way, so happy to see us arrive.  He and Dad were great friends and it was one of those amazing blessings where everyone in the crew authentically loved each other and was thrilled to see each other.  My aunt w

Many of you know I am TRYING to write a book about the past three years and how it has rocked our world.  Because of that my blog posts have been fewer because I am working on that manuscript. Here's an excerpt of what I am working on....this takes us back to when the kids were here for the weekends only and we were transitioning to them living with us.  Feedback is welcome and feel free to be critical.  I am sure the publishing world will be. Bob and I had planned to go to Hilton Head for Columbus Day weekend but I canceled our fancy hotel reservations several weeks prior because we had the kids that weekend.  I was kind of disappointed because I loved nothing more than the beach with Bob, but it had to be done. I was sitting in a bubble bath on Wednesday night, having just flown in from a business trip.  Bob walked in and handed me a sheet of paper. “For you”, he said. I opened the paper.  It was a confirmation for a condo rental in Hilton Head, one with bunk beds

 Last fall, we bought a travel trailer.  We had dabbled with the idea for a few months, saw a used one that was a reasonable deal, and bought it.  Bob still can't believe that I agreed to it that quickly.  I hate to spend money. We got a couple trips in before the weather turned cold, but we were eager to have adventures as soon as the weather became warmer.  So, this spring, we became road warriors.  We went from Tennessee to West Virginia, and all over North Carolina.   Turns out I loved it.  Truly. The camper is simple.  It's got plenty of room for us to be comfortable but it's totally uncomplicated.  I can't make it complex, even if I try.  My favorite parts are sitting by a creek in the morning drinking a cup of tea with Bob, or all of us by the campfire talking and I'm holding my little dog-who, by the way, now gets to come on all my adventures.  It's peaceful.  We've camped so close to a river that I could hear the water at night, and I've h

 I typically write about the children and Bob on this blog, but Felicity has been gone about eight weeks, and I feel like I can finally write about her.  And I think I need to…. Bob found Felicity through a Bulldog rescue, about 8 months after the kids came to live with us.   He still missed having a bulldog, and would say he had a hole in his heart in the shape of a bulldog. Oh dear. Bob approached me about adopting another bulldog.  At the time, I was overwhelmed.  When the kids came to live with us, I took a week off, but then headed back to work.  Suddenly a new mom, working in a quick paced organization had found me realizing that all the freezer meals in the world had left me grossly unprepared. So, when Bob found a photo of Felicity on a rescue site, I told him “my cup runneth over”.    He smiled and told me it was about to overflow. Felicity’s foster parents brought her to our home to meet us in the yard.  She was full of life, loved us immediately and before I knew wh

We recently discovered Ciera needs glasses.  We noticed that the type on her Kindle was rather large, and even while reading with her grandparents, they noticed she had to look closely at the screen. If you have read my blog before, you might recall that the kids have Medicaid until they are eighteen as a result of being adopted through foster care.  In some ways, this has allowed us to have great services at no cost, and allow us to redirect the funds we would have had to spend on insurance and copays to the other needs they have-and to build a college fund that is starting quite late. Great news-the Target Optician takes Medicaid.  Bob took Ciera there for an appointment, and low and behold, our girl needs glasses for reading the board and for a book. Upon getting the prescription for glasses, Bob began the search to get the lenses made.  Turns out, this is a way different experience. After about ten phone calls, we finally found a place about fifteen minutes from home that would