I've already yammered on about July being a momentous month for me ... birthday and all giving me the shreaking shivers since my age is just weeks away from being a maximum speed.

(Speaking of that ... how fast can one now drive on American freeways? Just curious.)

So, yes, the birthday focus is pretty darned compelling for me.

But ...

I have something else to dwell on for the next couple of weeks that makes me so much happier than my aging process. (Not to say that I'm not happy to be aging. It's ever so much better than the alternative!)

On the 21st of July we mark one year of Cj physically in our lives. (She'd been part of us for a while, but not so we could get our hands on her.)

It's funny how a day can seem just like yesterday, and at the same time feel as though eons have passed between then and now. I can easily relive every minute of this day last year, but grasping life before Cj is very difficult ... hasn't she always been part of me?

Last year we started the day early: up, out, breakfast in our favorite Singapore stall; then to the airport.

The flight to Phnom Penh is a sort one, even taking the scenic route via Siem Reap ... that was just the way our ticket worked, not by design ... and we were on the ground by 11 am. My friend, Shelley, was waiting for us ... and waiting, and waiting. As usual I picked the S L O W queue and we were the last ones to emerge from the arrivals hall.

Shelley has a dinky car, and we had loads of luggage, so had arranged for a driver to meet us, as well. We loaded most of the bags into his car, us into hers, and headed off for AOA, the orphanage where both my kids were cared for before coming home.

More on this to come ...