My Great Grandparents were farmers and owned a sizable amount of acreage in the Sacramento Valley. They grew everything from tomatoes to lima beans (yuck on the lima bean crops). Summers as a kid and teenager on the farm were unbelievably boring. I longed for my friends, movies, shopping anything but sitting and looking out at the Buttes across a field of whatever. My day would consist of getting up sometime around noon, take a swim in the irrigation ditch, watch one of three channels of t.v. which I swear news was on two of the three 24 hours a day, eat, and read. For “fun” my grandmother would have me take things out of her china cabinet to dust and she would tell me where each heirloom came from. ”Great Grandma Julia gave us this little plate for our first camping trailer.” ”Great Grandma Neva gave us this sugar and creamer” etc. etc. I wish I would of paid closer attention to my Grandmother as she was sharing the stories. I can still remember a handful but it would of been nice to have had a video recorder back then. I can’t say enough about how much I wish I would of allowed myself to enjoy the peacefulness of that place and the freedom from life’s responsibilities. I would love to hear my Grandparents stories of their childhood. I had one of the funniest Grandpa’s on the planet. He would completely go out of his way to embarrass me beyond belief. I was the type of kid that was not keen on drawing attention to myself so at the time it made me miserable but looking back now it makes me laugh. Like the time we were in the library and he kept pretend sneezing loud enough to rattle the books. He was one of a kind that’s for sure. My Grandma Florence taught me that if I was bored I could always read. She along with my Great Grandmother Neva gave birth to my love for reading and journaling. Something interesting about my Great Grandmother Neva is she wrote articles in a couple of newspapers. She had a reputation around town as a “tough old lady”. She definitely said it like it was. She died when I was 7 years old so I’m happy to say that I can remember her. If I close my eyes and think of her I can still hear her voice. I have a lot of respect for her. She had a rough time of it. Someday perhaps I’ll write her story as I recall it. 
Our family still owns 40 acres of farmland. They don’t actually do the farming any longer. It’s contracted out. My parents live on the farm currently. This year there is a crop of organic wheat and it is the most beautiful thing ever. I don’t know how many people have heard the sound of a wheat field blowing in the breeze but it is MAGICAL. It’s natures windchimes. This tinkling of the wheat in the husks. I could listen to it forever. I don’t get there often but when I do I find that like most things we take for granted in our youth, I miss it dearly. For today I’m grateful for the visit. It’s a place of peace.
Today I was speaking with our daughter’s birthmother about a visit and she told me something that just makes me incredibly sad for her. She shared her story & some photos of Katie to a coworker who shamed her for honoring us with the opportunity to raise Katie! Even though she explained to her that she wanted something for her that she could not give her the woman was just cruel. In fact I think the exact quote from the woman was, “My kids suffer along with me!” I try to be understanding that it’s just that some people are not educated about adoption and then there are cultural differences etc. etc. but beyond that what about human compassion for this young woman who made such a difficult choice?!! It just hurts me to know that there are people judging and being cruel to her for doing something so selfless and wonderful for us and for Katie. I wish I could collect a thousand letters from people telling her that what she did was so incredibly loving. That makes me wonder if it is possible? Could I ask people to write a letter or statement about what a thoughtful and kind decision she made? How would I do this? I don’t have to use her name. I could use a post office box instead of my address. Is this a good idea? I just find myself wanting to shower her with positive warm thoughts and support to show her that there are people in this world that do not look down upon her but rather look at her as we do… our gift. Thoughts anyone? Julia
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Uid7dDnzkWACan you remember when you last enjoyed learning how to do something new?
Well on the 31st my little one turned 2! Such a whirlwind of emotions and events going on. First it was interesting reminiscing about 2 years ago at her birth. I still can’t believe that Katie’s birthparents could honor us with the gift of raising such a wonderful little person. One of Katie’s favorite things or maybe I should say creatures right now are frogs. I found the cutest little party invitations by Picture Perfect of a frog in a pink bathing suit and that’s what kind of framed the whole theme of the party…. froggies!Last year it was so hard having everybody over to the house with kids running everywhere I knew they needed to be outdoors. So this year we had the party at a very nice park. Which had it’s own issues as well. Like you couldn’t take your eye off of Katie for a nano second or she would sprint and I am in no shape to sprint. LOL I’m sure I looked hysterical chasing (and I mean chasing!) after a two year old saying, “stop! stop!” LOL The highlight of the party was the cake we ordered. So cute! I found a cake decorating book”50 Easy Party Cakes” by Debbie Brown that had a frog in it and then I modified it to match her invitation. Then I found an amazing place Cake & Candy Specialties in Citrus Heights, CA and they made her an amazing cake! I’ve been told by some that Katie will not remember all the details that I put into her parties but I can’t help but put the attention, love and care into celebrating her enough. She is everything that is good about this world and I want her to grow up knowing it. What I did realize is that I need to start earlier so I’m not in such a last minute rush so I can enjoy myself more and so Michael doesn’t have to put as much energy into things. He had too many things on his honey-do list and I think this put added strain on him which I don’t want to do. I’m learning.So whether she remembers this birthday or not, I’m glad I did it. From the Happy Birthday Banner that I cut, sewed, glued and arranged, to the individual sandbucket gift bags. I think it was all worth it!Julia
Love this song by Katy Perry. It’s got one of those bouncy beats that is good for doing the elliptical. So when I get off my big BEhind again maybe I’ll listen to it. LOL Other music I’m listening to lately are: Anne Murray’s There’s a Hippo in the bathtub… my 2 year olds new favorite tune next to the Oompa Loompa songs. I’ve turned the Oompa Loompa song into a potty time song and sing it to her when she’s sitting on the potty. LOL It changes each time but it goes something like…..”Ooompa Loompa pee pee and poo that’s what I’ve got to try to do. While I sit and try to pee pee, my mommy sings a funny song to me. What do you do when you have to go pee? Run to the bathroom and go potty. Big girls don’t like to go in their pants. It’s icky and it smells real bad. I don’t like the smell of it. Oompa Loompa doopa dee doo, I can do what the big girls do. If you learn to use the big potty, you will soon be diaper free!” Hmmm maybe I should of been a jingle writer. LOL Maybe not. Good things to you! Julia
I don’t get it. The hoopla over this photo is amazing. It’s art. When I look at this photo I see innocence beauty and sweetness. To me it’s reminiscent of Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring”. This young woman has nothing to be ashamed of nor should she be pressured by Disney or anybody else to apologize for her beauty. Her parents are responsible for her character and well being not the public. Having worked with many abused children I find it amazing that there is this much interest in this girl but there are thousands of kids being abused that there is no uproar about. There are also kids being blown to bits in Iraq. What about them? What about the kids put into prostitution?What about starving kids all over the world? What about the kids in foster care in America? Why put the energy behind this photo when real abuse is happening? I suppose it’s easier and we know how much as American’s we love our arm chair commenting. Thus this wonderful blog world. LOL Ironic isn’t it. We all have opinions and we share them here but what do we really do to change the world for the better? I guess change begins with a thought and blogging can be a part of that so my thought is… focus on the real abuses in the world and appreciate art for art and what you as an individual get out of it. Don’t condemn others for what they get out of it and most definitely don’t judge the subject for being.
I don’t know how popular this new show “Eli Stone” is on abc, but it is hands down my favorite show now. You can watch episodes online at http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing?lid=ABCCOMGlobalMenu&lpos=FEP The story line is there’s this quirky young attorney who has hallucinations that lead him to people who need his legal help. He sees crazy things like George Michaels singing in his living room. He discovers he has a brain aneurysm. Through time his hallucinations seem to be more like visions or some type of guidance from God to help people. The combination between comedy and storyline is so good. I love this show and I hope it last for several seasons. It’s one of the few shows on t.v. that I would pay to see episodes of. LOVE IT!I don’t think I recognize the lead actor, Johnny Lee Miller but I just love him. He is my new Jean- Luc Picard! LOL http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001538/ The other person who I think is FABULOUS on the show is Loretta Devine! LOVE her! She is hysterical. Plays his spunky secretary who speaks her mind. Great character. So if you are looking for something entertaining to watch on tv or late at night on your computer (see past full episodes in link above) go do it. I promise it will not disappoint you! Peace world! LIVE BRAVE!(You’ll get that after you watch the latest episode. :)Julia
I just had to share this video of a speech that Isabel Allende gave. She is not only an amazing writer but a woman of such courage, strength and passion for other women. Just completely inspiring.
WATCH this movie by http://www.storyofstuff.com We are like trained rats taught to “CONSUME CONSUME CONSUME! Feel better about yourself because you consume. Feel badly now that you consumed too much. But buy buy buy.” I am so anti stuff now that it will be a very long time before I buy anything frivolous for awhile. I really want to think about what it is I purchase and how that not only affects me but the environment and other countries as well. Go watch this film in it’s entirety. See if you might feel the same way. Here is a teaser so you get a general idea but you really need to watch the whole thing. I’d love to hear what others are thinking. You have to go and watch this short movie. Totally makes you think about what a rat in an experiment we are. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz3tPxUFGbY
Good Lord I just read that three members of Mississippi state’s House of Representatives, Republicans W. T. Mayhall, Jr. and John Read, and Democrat Bobby Shows are trying to pass a bill (#282) http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2008/pdf/history/HB/HB0282.xml to make it illegal for restaurants to serve fat people! I thought this was a joke but nope. OK so here are three old white men who have nothing better to do than write a bill on this!? Uh isn’t Miss. one of the last few states that has not banned smoking in public places? Doesn’t Miss. allow people to smoke in cars with kids in them? This is the craziest thing I have ever heard of. I hope Miss. doesn’t enjoy any tourism because how might a fat person eat a meal while staying there or are they suppose to not eat the entire time they are there at a conference or whatever. If I lived in Miss. I would be on a mission to get these three guys out of office before they waste any more of my tax dollars thinking up more brilliant ideas. ASSHOLES! Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. Here’s their contact information if you’d like to tell them yourselves. 
I’m all for helping people get healthy, including myself but this is the stupidest idea I have ever heard of. Ban trans fats, make fast food restaurants serve something healthy, require that restaurants post nutritional guidelines in their menus, have PE for kids in school, have a rebate for people that want to join exercise clubs or something useful.