I now look like Jane Fonda in Klute

I went to get a long-overdue haircut on Thursday. For those of you who know me well, you know I inherited a lot of hair-anxiety from my mother. You see, my mom had very fine, thin hair that caused her much grief. She tried everything to get her limp locks to do something...anything. She permed, colored, curled and sprayed. She tried different gels, mouses, curling irons, and shampoos. She was never satisfied.

From the time I was 12, my mom started giving me home perms. She projected all of her hair anxiety onto us girls, saying things like "We'll always need perms to give us 'body'". So I just assumed I was destined for a life of perm rods and frizzy hair. It also meant I kept my hair short and layered -- because "our hair is just to thin to grow long." I will spare you the pain of looking at photos. When David saw these old photos of me, his comments were "You look like you have an afro", and "You look like a cartoon character."

Thanks honey.

I gave up perms long ago. I no longer have a white-girl afro. And thankfully, my hair anxiety is mostly gone.

But I had to laugh when I walked in the door Thursday night after getting my hair cut and the first thing David said was, "Hey, you look like Jane Fonda in 'Klute.'"

So yes, people, I have a 1971 hooker hair cut. Just the look I was going for.

Searching for the sun in Dallas

We came to Dallas for a few days to visit David's parents, and secretly hoping to see the sun again. Is it still there? Does anyone know?

Instead, we've been sitting in the family room of David's parents' nearly-empty house looking longingly through the sliding glass doors to the overcast skies and the pool in the back yard. I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to sit by the pool soaking in the sun after the longest, drearies, snowiest winter in history. But alas, my dreams of the sun are only dreams.

The only time I saw the sun this weekend was when we ventured to the Dallas Museum of Art for the J.M.W. Turner exhibit. Light and sun appear in most of his paintings...which are amazing. I really have no words to describe the exhibit. It was overwhelming. It's the largest collection of Turner paintings ever exhibited in one place and after a while it's "beauty overload". He's one of the first landscape painters and through his use of light and color and sky portrayed a sense of the "sublime". He also wrote poetry and in his later years (early -mid 1800s) started painting more impressionistic -- before there was anything called "impressionism". The only reason I know all of this is because I saw the exhibit with David, who used to write about art for the Tribune, and his friend, Stephen, who's an artist. These two guys know art...and I often feel a bit ignorant around them. I stand there looking at a painting, trying to come up with at least an intelligent question to ask. Mostly I just stand there admiring the painting while I listen to the two of them talk. It's like having my very own art tutors.

We are flying back to Chicago tonight (after having our flights canceled yesterday), and it's supposed to be sunny in Chicago tomorrow. We'll see. I may have to hang on to my memories of Turner's paintings to remind me that there is still something called "the sun", and that it's yellow and warm -- and sublime.

Adoption Update

We had our first meeting with our social worker last week. I wasn't sure what to expect, and I was a little nervous. Would she have a good first impression and think we are good candidates to parent a child? Or would she think we were too old, too weird and too poor?

But overall, it was a very nice meeting. I like our social worker. She's been at The Cradle (our home study agency) for over 20 years. We talked for over 2 hours about why we want to adopt, why Ethiopia, what age we should consider, our backgrounds, etc. Nothing too probing yet. At the end of our conversation, she gave us a stack of paperwork to read and fill out. It's a bit daunting, but we're just taking it one step at a time. Right now it looks like Ethiopia is a good fit for us, and we're thinking about adopting a 3-4 year old. However, our social worker seemed to think the younger the better (for attachment reasons and because we're first time parents). So our age preference may get younger. If that happens, we may need to find another International agency, because Wide Horizons doesn't let you choose the gender of the child if you want a child under 3. Or, we would need to be open to a boy. Not that I'm against adopting a boy, but I have 13 nephews and I know how much energy they have when they're 3 -- they're constant motion! I seriously wonder if David and I would have enough energy for that.

So we're starting the paperwork, taking classes (we're required to take a day-long class at The Cradle in April and a handful of on-line classes), and then we'll meet with our social worker a few more times.

We're still working on our web site. We're hoping to get it finished this weekend.

In the meantime, check out the blogs of two of my on-line adoption acquaintances. They're in Ethiopia right now meeting their children for the first time!! Kristin and her husband are picking up little Marin, and Lori and Ted are getting to know little Abenezer. Adorable, eh?

A walk in the city

My new office is in the "River North" area of downtown Chicago, so we're close to Michigan Avenue, The Loop, etc. It's been too nasty outside to really take advantage of the neighborhood, but the other day when it was at least above zero and the sun was peeking out, I took a walk. Here are some pictures:

My office is on Superior Avenue, home to lots of galleries. I love these glass heads. I want to buy one.


Yes, ice falls off of the high-rises. People have died from being hit by falling ice. But I'm always curious about these signs. By the time you see a chunk of ice falling to the ground, wouldn't it be too late to get out of the way?


Here's the steeple of Holy Name Cathedral. About 13 years ago, when I was working in this exact same neighborhood at a mindless job and suffering from severe depression, I spent many of my lunch hours in this sanctuary. It was right after I had been dumped by a guy who I knew I didn't want to marry, but who had betrayed me and left me confused and hurt. I would sit and stare at the gorgeous carved wood crucifix that hangs in the front of the sanctuary and try to feel God's love.


Here's a ballerina in the Sak's window. I don't shop at Sak's because it's too expensive and the sales people are really snooty. Plus, what does a ballerina have to do with anything?


Here's Michigan avenue. I think it's about a mile or more if I walk from my office to here and back. It's a nice little workout during lunch.


The Hancock Building. It's a nice view from the top. Oh, and the thing to the left is the original Chicago water tower that survived the great fire.


Thanks for taking a walk with me today. For our next walk, we may venture into the notorious Cabrini Green neighborhood, which is being "gentrified." All of the former residents have been forced to move out, the public housing buildings are being razed, and the yuppies are moving in.

"I am sicker than a dog"

That's my new six-word memoir.

It figures. I was just bragging to a coworker last week that I NEVER get sick. HA. HA. Then two days later I'm suffering from a headache, stuffy nose, achy muscles and sore throat. I tried to plow through my weekend chores, but I had to lie down and rest every 30 minutes. I managed to pick up the house, pay some bills online, go to the grocery store. But that's about it. Otherwise I was on the couch moaning and snuffling.

Feeling a bit better this morning, although I AM SO READY FOR SPRING! Today I woke up to rain that is supposed to turn to snow this afternoon. Ugh. I contemplating taking a sick day, but couldn't decide if I was sick enough. So I took a shower, felt a bit better, drove to work in the rain, and now here I am at my desk. I'm am feeling better. It's amazing what a Grande Iced Americano can do.

Thanks to all who contributed a Six Word Memoir. I think Jane's was my favorite: Love and loss have softened me. Knowing what she's been through in the past year, it is very poignant. Read her story here.

I guess the Six Word Memoir is making the rounds. Salon.com had readers write their own. Here are some of my favorites:

"Failure was apparently an option here"
"Frankly, it is all about me."
"Don't even try to plan it."

And my all-time favorite: "Fat man in a sweater vest."

Maybe I have a strange sense of humor, but that one made me laugh out loud!

Now, here's the memoir i WANT to write: "Found my path, walked it fearlessly."

But unfortunately, too many times I question the path I'm on, and I let fear get the best of me. Then I'm paralyzed. If I could only be sure of my path and walk it fearlessly. How does one get there? How do you get to a place where you're confident of your path and have the courage to walk it with boldness and without fear?

***
Well, maybe I'm going to answer my own question: We handed in our application to The Cradle last week. We've been assigned a social worker for our home study, and so we're just waiting to get a phone call from her to set up an appointment.

It's scary and exciting at the same time.

And to make it even more exciting, last week David gave me the BEST VALENTINE'S DAY PRESENT EVER.

He gave me flowers on Valentine's Day, but told me he was "making" another gift for me that wasn't done yet. So I waited all week for my second Valentine's Gift. To be honest, I thought he was writing me a song (I couldn't think of anything else he would "make" for me). But last Sunday he finally revealed his gift: An adoption website! Yep, he's creating this whole adoption website where we can tell everyone about our exciting Ethiopian Adventure. It's almost done, and we'll be posting the URL soon. So stay tuned.....

Write a six word memoir!

I've always wanted to write a memoir, and now I have. In six words. (It took me about 10 minutes). I found this fun link to an online magazine where you can submit your six-word memoir. Here are some examples:

"Gloves off. Rings off. Marriage over."
"Sixties hippie chick finally grows up."
"I am more than six words."

I tried it and here are four six-word memoirs I wrote.

"A Baptist girl finally blossoms late."
"Questions never answered, but peace found."
"Hesitant observer finally joins the game."
"Never stops hoping for good hair."


Which one should I submit?
Let me read your six-word memoirs!

I knew there was a good reason I like Obama

Ever taken the Meyers-Briggs personality test? I'm an INFP, for anyone who's wondering. I'm an "Idealist".

Turns out Barack Obama is, too. He's an ENFP. Read about the personality types of all of the candidates in Emily Yoffe's fun article in Slate.com today. It explains a lot...