First Photo Shoot

I am so happy for my friend J. right now - she has wanted a baby for so long, and now she is in her last trimester. Congrats J.!

She also asked me to do her maternity photos, which I was honored to do. It was my first maternity photo shoot, and I am quite pleased with the results, and I hope that she is as well. And, J. and her husband do have heads, I just didn't include any of those for the sake of their privacy.

These are just a few of my favorites.

** Please remember these photos are property of Cinnamon Owl Studios, and ask for permission before using. Thanks!

After the Party..

I can't believe I am still recuperating from my busy but fun weekend! It was actually a fantastic weekend, apart from missing Billy, who was backpacking in Manistee.

First, I won a ticket from Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe to the No Beast Feast, a fundraiser for the Friends of the Dearborn Animal Shelter. Chrissy went with me, and we had a fabulous time. We ate hearty, comforting vegan food (bet you never thought that could happen!) such as Mushroom Barley Soup, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and an apple chocolate spice cake that I could have eaten two pieces of! We learned about the vegan way of eating, saw the cutest Maine Coon cat named Smitty, who is available for adoption by the way, and even won again. I won a door prize of three cookbooks, that I can't wait to dive into. Thanks S. for giving me the opportunity to check out this great fundraiser, I can't wait for next year.

Saturday brought PAWS in the Park, the fundraiser for my own animal rescue group, PAWS of Michigan. PAWS in the Park is a party for dog lovers, with a dog walk, raffle, adoption area, pet psychic, dog games, among other things. I attended this event as a volunteer, and still had a great time. I went to the pet psychic, who gave me insight into the craziness of Penny, and I won again!! This time I won a loaf of bread a month for a year from Panera, and a $50 gift certificate to Blackfinn. I hope they have something I can eat! Sunday I went to my adorable cousin's first birthday party, what a day! She could have a future as a rocker, she really demolished her Mickey ears and was smearing cake on her parents lol! Wild child!

I also attended book club number 2 this week- we talked about One Thousand Splendid Suns. And I have to say, I have to talk about something that has just been stuck in my mind since then. We were talking about Mariam, and her love for Aziza, Laila's daughter. I mentioned that although she lost many babies herself, she was fulfilled later by caring for and loving Aziza. Another person at book club, who is my friend, said that this is not the same as having her own child, since Aziza wasn't actually hers. As someone who is adopting, I took this comment somewhat offensively. This is probably the hardest part of adopting, the thoughtless insensitivity of other people, because I am sure if J. would have thought about what he was saying, he wouldn't have said it in that manner. I also had someone ask me this weekend that if I adopted a child who was Muslim, if I would have to raise the baby Muslim. For one thing, that is none of their concern, and so what anyway? I just told her that once we adopt, the baby is ours, like our real own child, that we can raise however we want. We are not borrowing the baby, it is not temporary nor do we have to share- the child will be ours alone. And we are going to love our child and care for our future adopted child just as anyone else does their birth children.

***I would like to add that I have since spoken with J. and he deeply regrets saying anything that would hurt my feelings. It is not how he meant his comment, and he does believe that a family that became a family through adoption is able to have the same love as a family with birth children.

All things cozy and warm

I think I must like rainy days. I feel happy and content when it rains. Cuddly. I want to eat soup and drink hot drinks and read and sit with Billy and the animals.

I also want to go to the laundromat when it rains - Billy thinks this is nuts. But there is something about a laundromat. It is like sitting in the middle of a giant pile of clean laundry- they are always warm from the heat of the dryers, and smell like the scent of a dozen or more different detergents. The only thing that could make it better would be if they supplied patrons with fresh baked from the oven chocolate chip cookies to enjoy while waiting for their laundry to finish spinning or rinsing or whatever stage it is in. And a library of books to choose from. And comfy chairs.

And all this talk about laundry reminds me I need to do some of my own right now, and then just relax and enjoy this rainy day.

Eating in the Light of the Moon

Hostess: Chrissy

Book: Eating in the Light of the Moon

Food: Hummus, cheese and crackers, guacamole and tortilla chips, Pretzel M&Ms, Chocolate-Raspberry trifle

Wine of the Night: Detroit Wine! Montepeluciano, from the California Wine Grape Company in Detroit.

This book was a bold choice; we have never read anything like this book, and I know that Chrissy was a little concerned that people may take her choice as a silent finger pointing at their lives. I know that this is not the case, Chrissy chose this book based on the recommendation of her aunt, who is a counselor for women with eating disorders. While none of us struggle with disordered eating as far as I know, we all still found many passages that spoke to us.

This book is kind of like earth mother meets folk tales meets disordered eating. Dr. Johnston writes about finding balance in our lives, that if we need to have balance between our spirit and our mind, and know the difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger. We all agreed that our favorite parts were the myths, legends and folk tales. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed reading them until I read this book!

I think this was a difficult book for us to discuss- I think what we all took away from the book was personal, maybe too personal to share at book club. For me, one thing that made me think was the need for balance in our lives, and Johnston's comments about women losing touch with their feminine intuition and trying to be wonder woman and doing too many things all the time. This is something I have been working on all year - making more time for my family and friends, enjoying all the moments of my days, and trying not to schedule my entire life away. I don't want to look back and see a lifetime of meetings and work ; I want to see a healthy balance of family, friends, work, and my volunteer work. This book reminded me that what I am doing is good and right and healthy.

Next month's Bottle of Wine Book Club choice is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.