As I mentioned briefly, the 29th of May brought the debut of my assistant, Catherina''s baby. (I'd give the link for my short announcement, but apparently it was so short that there's no way I can call the story up to get a link. Strange ... )

Holly, for one, has been patiently awaiting details, so here are some:

The little... more

Even though this blog is about older adoptive parents, there's no way I can let the story of the 60-year-old woman who gave birth to twins pass without a glance. (Just for the record, Frieda Birnbaum is not the oldest woman to have twins. That title goes to Maria del Carmen Bousada Lara, a Spanish woman who was seven days away from her 67th birthday when she gave birth to two boys in 2006.)

Talk on... more

A few months have passed, so I've overcome the trauma of Cj's attempt at preschool ... sort of ... and have been thinking of trying it again.

She so loves going to Sam's school, happily running in, meters ahead of me, then waving her way along until she reaches his classroom. With a shout of, "Brother!" she runs into... more

Sam is four and a half ... and a very bright four and a half, if I do say so myself ... so has developed keen observation skills and prodigious curiosity. Like good old Carnac the Magnificent he often knows and sees all.

Unlike many kids who've been adopted into families where the parents are young and pre-menopausal, Sam hasn't been exposed to pregnant friends of Mom and Dad, and the excitement, hoopla and conversation that goes... more

Yesterday was not only Mothers Day in America, it was also our former foster son's 9th birthday. Nine-years-old! That's simply amazing.

T lived with us from the age of two until just past his fourth birthday, and even with me able to do the math it seems impossible that it's been five years since his mother returned... more

I GOT BLISTAS ON MY FINGAS!

(Please tell me I'm not the only one that knows that line ... ) On top ... or should I say, under? ... reading, writing and researching for today's two thousand words or so of bloggity-blog-blog I was compelled to get down on my hands and knees and scrub my kitchen floor. It is mopped daily, but you know how it is ... gunk builds up in corners and along baseboards, cracks fill with an amalgam... more

Okay. I can stand it no longer.

I may have managed to nudge away the irritating poke in the ribs that is the Urban Outfitters new t-shirt that's getting chatter on some of the groups I read often long enough to not include any rants about it over on the International Adoption Blog today, but the nagging aggravation will not be ignored.

Maybe it's because I'm an older adoptive parent. Perhaps if I was young and cool and hep and groovy ...... more

Continued from here where I've been counting my friends amongst my blessings. Audie runs casinos, and is now working in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. When he was living in Seychelles, he was in charge of the casino down on our end of the island. Unmarried and with one grown son, his life was and is the footloose and fancy free one of a night owl.

As surprising as it may sound to people in the know about my life now ...... more

For all my kvetching about guests, I'm usually very happy to have visitors.

A dear old friend arrived yesterday and is serving as a wonderful reminder of what can be great about breaks in the routine, long conversations, leisurely dinners and prompts for time on the beach. Of course, he's not actually staying WITH us, and that automatically makes him easier to host, but I will be spending as much time as possible with him during... more

It doesn't take much to start heated debates on web groups. It could be that this is the case especially when the group is adoption-related topic-wise, but I wouldn't know if others are just as quick to rile as I don't often frequent sites that address other interests. At the moment, members on various groups are up in arms, and at each other's throats, about, amongst other things, baby safe havens, a Chinese adoptee's bat mitzvah, the... more