The logic of an accurate mind overtaxed

Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtaxed. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

I have decided to claim this quote.

I have some logic my overtaxed mind would like to explain. To you it may sound like insanity, but remember, to me it is pure logic (granted, from an overtaxed mind).

There is no limit to the amount of donations one adopting mother can contribute to orphanages and hospitals in a developing country. The more donations I contribute the better person I am and the more gratitude it shows for my appreciation of this country and a the woman who has cared for him all this time. - There is no limit- Packing my own 50 lbs in my own suitcase is not enough. I must pack another 50 lbs in Trent's and another 50 lbs in Soul Sister's. Oh, and then I must pack another 50 lbs in "In his Grip" Sister's suitcase, and one of her poor unsuspecting children's suitcase. Will it stop there? NO. I have another 150-200 lbs of donations I am trying to get transported to Ethiopia. Why? I could leave it with my adoption agency, they will find transportation... but no! It seems logical that I would find a way to transport all these wonderful donations on my own! I mean people that I care about, and people that care about me, donated these items, I must bring them to Ethiopia, I must.


**** this blog was longer.. had more information... it was funny... but I lost it. - Hmmm, "lost it", is that a play on words?

On a seperate note, I went to my class reunion over the weekend. It was great to see old friends. It's great to get back to my roots, it's good to remember who we are and where we came from. It was a great get-away for me. Such a break from all the adoption chaos lately.

Season Premiers and Reruns

It's that time of year when TV wavers between the reruns and the excitement of Season Premiers and the upcoming Sweeps Week.

In honor of this very special time of the year, I have some Trailers for the Season Premier and a re-run for you!

Trailer for the Season Premier:
In just 9 days, the Peterson's leave for Ethiopia. In just 11 days Trenton and Kamille will meet Tamene for the first time. Join us at http://www.beforeiknewyou.blogspot.com/ to watch the "shocking and heart warming" story unfold!!


Rerun: (My readers have voted and below is the winning blog entry for rerun - OK... no one voted, but I thought it was worth a repeat!)


Monday, June 30, 2008

The deadliest catch and other tales
Salmon fishing expedition 2008: Team Big Shvundo.
My brother indicates that the name of his boat is "Team Big Shvundo". According to him Shvundo means "fun" in Bohemian. I tried to Google it, worried "fun" might roughly translate to some strange innuendo I wasn't prepared for. Google turned up nothing, so I decided I shouldn't be doing any damage by posting the word in my blog (if this is some strange profanity, please notify me immediately, this is a G rated blog!)
Day 1 starts at 2:00am- 1 big boat, 1 Great Lake, 1 motion sickness tablet, 1 extremely long nap (the word "dramamine" translates to "coma" in my world), and 1 big fish, complements of the other fisherwoman on the boat.
Day 2 starts at 1:ooam - ZERO motion sickness medication, 1 bad belly ache, and 7 fish. Two fish complements of my talented fishing (fish on, pole handed to me, and step-by-step instruction on how to reel it in). There was also an interesting CB radio conversation between the "Salmonator" and the "Skinny Dipper" the most hilarious part of the conversation was the names, I don't have more to report on the details of the conversation.

I decided that a Triathlon is easier than Salmon fishing. Though I would prefer another round of Salmon fishing to another Triathlon. But, I plan to do both again.

Thanks to Baby Brother for the excellent chartering job, we all had a blast.

(John O and Fischer, let's go this weekend - Baby Brother approves, weather permitting)

Apparently the assignment of a court date managed to keep me "satisfied" for the weekend. Once I got home I resumed the passion to pack. Another huge round of shopping tonight. I have a bedroom full of Target bags. I have no idea how all that stuff will fit into 4 suitcases, and I still haven't actually packed my clothes. I'd tell you how much we have spent in purchases, but the number is embarrassing.

Edit: I posted this last night and as of this morning this "team shvundo" is now a Googlewhack - ok it's not an official Googlewhack, but it's intriguing. (I found this in one final attempt to make sure "shvundo" is not a profanity in disguise).

Two weeks from today...

Two weeks from today I will meet Tamene, eye to eye, face to face, for the first time.

I have lots of thoughts and wonders about how this meeting will go. But no expectations. None from my thinking spirit. From a matter of logic and cognition, it will be what it will be. My heart spirit on the other hand, it is very excited and has many anticipations and expectations. From a matter of feelings and love and those things we have no control over, I am in for a surprise. To again compare to the biological births I have experienced, he may come to me a little cold, frightened and not sure about the world around him, but my heart will melt and become an unformed puddle waiting to see what will happen next.

Stay calm—do not rush—do not panic

I found a few quotes that I want to comment on. But before I start I want to tell you about the title of this post. I was looking for a catchy phrase about staying calm - an "ironic" title for a post about excitement. In the process I found many Google Search results that includeded "In event of an emergency, stay calm." Or, "In case of fire - stay calm." I only found one result (in my brief search) with this statement, "In event of an emergency stay CALM!" I just thought it was an interesting observation. To emphasize the topic take note of the word EXCITE in all its forms.



I am feeling very excited and wanted a few words of advice from "experts":



Fear is EXCITEMENT without breath. -Robert Heller


Do not stop thinking of life as an adventure. You have no security unless you can live bravely, EXCITINGLY, imaginatively, unless you can choose a challenge instead of a competence. -Eleanor Roosevelt


Enjoyment, on the other hand, is not always pleasant, and it can be very stressful at times. A mountain climber, for example, may be close to freezing, utterly exhausted, and in danger of falling into a bottomless crevasse, yet he wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Sipping a piña colada under a palm tree at the edge of the turquoise ocean is idyllic, but it just doesn't compare to the EXHILARATION he feels on the windswept ridge. - Unknown


Think EXCITEMENT, talk EXCITEMENT, act out EXCITEMENT, and you are bound to become an EXCITED person. Life will take on a new zest, deeper interest and greater meaning. You can think, talk and act yourself into dullness or into monotony or into unhappiness. By the same process you can build up inspiration, EXCITEMENT and surging depth of joy - Normal Vincent Peale

Nothing is so aggravating than calmness. -Oscar Wilde


Life becomes precious and more special to us when we look for the little everyday miracles and get EXCITED about the privileges of simply being human. -Tim Hansel


Seize the moment of EXCITED curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance. -William Wirt



I have been holding this post for a couple of days, wanting to comment on each of the quotes. But I have decided to let them speak for themselves.

Last Call

Last Call for e-mail addresses.

Thanks to the friends and family who have already left their e-mail addresses for me to contact you while we are gone. It is hard to keep all these details straight, thanks so much for helping to make my life easier. I just don't want any complainers if you get left out :-)

If you want to recieve updates via e-mail while we are in Ethiopia, please leave your e-mail address by clicking on the link below.

Click Here to leave e-mail address


Counting down the days... 17 days until we head to the airport!

3rd Rock From the Sun

I have done a couple of these blogs were I just plop down what I have been doing with no explanation or description behind it. I feel like that might happen here unless I hit an unexpected tangent.

Ooops, look at that, paragraph two and I found a tangent already. I found a tangent but I won't sprawl it out here. My blog is to be read by my children. I have no interest in creating a political, religious or cultural debate here on my blog. But trust me when I say I have pages of thoughts on all of those debatable topics lately and I could start a serious tangent here. This adoption process has exposed me to a whole new perspective on debatable topics. There is a new prism or lens that I see the world through. In some cases my vision is clearer and more vivid, in some cases more distorted and in other cases some horrible double vision.

In less than 3 weeks I hold Tamene for the first time. If anyone cares there is a lot of math going on in my head. Anyone who thinks numbers are black and white is completely wrong (in my humble opinion). I have done some pretty creative things with numbers, I can count the days and weeks in so many ways, depending on what I am trying to accomplish. For example: Things are going great at work and I am excited about being there and trying to get many tasks and projects completed or started before I go... at work it is a "good three weeks" until I will be out, if you ask me how long until I see my little boy I am leaving here in 2 weeks and 5 days. (Apparently paragraph 3 is a tangent as well). I don't think either of those answers is wrong, but they aren't really right either. It's all about perspective and relativity. If I go to Shawano and am returning to East Bethel, I am home when I hit the boarding town. If I go to San Diego, I am home as soon as the airplane lands in Bloomington (or whatever city the airport is in).... When I go to Ethiopia, I'll be home as soon as we hit Washington DC (our first stop in our entry back in the US). So relative to my feelings it sure is a long, long wait until we leave. Relative to my packing... HOLY BUCKETS, I have got to get PACKED!!! It's like I am leaving any second. - For a moment, I wondered if the term "Holy Buckets" would offend anyone - if you are offended, please read it as "holey buckets" - because that what this feels like, water slipping through the holes.

Daddy Trent got his clothes packed - whooo hooo! He is an awesome husband. And I must say he is an A+ packer. He has packed for me on more than one occasion (that is trust on both of our parts!). So, Super Hubby has his clothes packed and I love it. Be sure to note that I will probably check and recheck his packing just as I have rechecked my unpacked items about 100 times already. I don't know if I have acknowledged this enough, but Trent is an awesome husband! He can and does do laundry, cooking, and cleaning. He makes the bed with me every morning (at least now while I am in some sort of super clean nesting phase). He owns two growing businesses and gets the kids off to school every morning without a hitch. He is a great, great man. There are not enough words to describe him! (Is this considered a tangent?)

So packing is on the agenda this weekend. I hope to zip up and stack up the suitcases not to return to them again until it's time to travel to the airport. I know that is not very likely that I can leave them alone that long, but at least I have that as a goal. My favorite Traveling-With-Me Adopting Mom says she has unpacked her packed items now so I am sure it will happen to me. I get to meet, in person, my favorite Traveling-With-Me Adopting Mom next weekend - I am so excited! I hope I don't offend her by saying this, but I think we are equally crazy but in slightly different ways. She has packed and entire suitcase of food, I have packed an entire suitcase of medication. She has packed shower repair items including caulk; I have packed a birthday party (don't ask). She is buying a car (fun convertible) before we leave - I am hosting a co-worker get-together before we leave. I hope she and I can both get everything we bought actually packed, and arrive in Ethiopia with at least some sanity (sanitary? sane-ity?, I would take either).

Oh, other things that are new BEC completed another Triathlon - I am going to nick name her Wonder Woman and buy her a cape! She is awesome, if you know her pat her on the back and congratulate her for another "finish". She's more of a quadrathlete - her "finish" requires a biffy! (BEC - now do you see why it is better if I do not mention you in the blog?)

What else? I don't know what else... I am ready to go, we are all tired of this long wait, and I just want to get him and get home. Home can be Washington DC, Bloomington, MN or East Bethel... I just want to be someplace, anyplace that I can call home! I guess that planet Earth could be considered "home" but I am not going far enough away for me to consider that relative.

Would you let the pregnant lady use the bathroom first?

For those of you left hanging - no we did not buy the mini-van. It sold ten minutes before we were scheduled to test drive it. We think it is a "sign" that we should not own a mini-van.

Currently I continue to obsess about lists and packing. I worry about every single last detail of this trip. I worry about going, I worry about coming home. I worry about the kids staying home, and the dogs, and the house. "Worry" maybe isn't the right word. It's not that I think something bad will happen. I just feel the need to identify the details related to everything. I plan for worst case scenario for everything... but suspect this whole process will be smooth. Everything has gone very smoothly so far, and I have no evidence that it might change. Personally though, I'd rather have a back up plan for things that is not needed than to find myself in a place of managing something that I didn't expect.

Think of the difference in the scenario between bringing bug spray to Ethiopia and leaving it home. It's a small item. It really is not a matter of life and death. Will it ruin the trip? Will everything fall apart? No. However, preventing some bug bites, making sure I take Malaria medication and the security of knowing it is there, makes it worth packing. What about paper towels. Not a major life changing event if we don't bring it, right? But how nice will it be, when that one bottle of liquid explodes and I don't have to use two days of shirts to clean it up.

I don't know if these statements are an attempt to justify my insanity or just help others understand where I am coming from. I know that I have over thought and over planned everything. In the end, I don't care if NOTHING goes according to plan. All I want is to bring Tamene home and find my family safe and sound, when I arrive in Minnesota. It seems so simple, yet I would feel so much better to know it wasn't just that we "got by" but that everything went smoothly and everyone had everything they needed and that "Thank goodness, we had that one thing'" because it really made the situation easier.

I was just thinking what would happen if we put a pregnant woman on an airplane and sent her to Ethiopia (or any other foreign country for that matter) to give birth. I think many people would be horrified, and if they had the opportunity they would send her with pain meds, and maybe find a nurse who could go along, and they would educate her on nursing and how to handle the pain and what would happen during and after birth. People would try to accommodate her every need. And, don't we let the pregnant woman ahead of us in line in the bathroom? And don't we give up our chair? It's not just about the physical part of being pregnant it's about respect for life and the process. In my opinion the grandma behind me or the 3 year old doing the potty dance probably needs to use the bathroom more than the lady who is 8 month pregnant, but we don't think twice to ask her if she would like to be next.

I gave birth right here in MN, not a foreign country and everyone worried and wondered and made sure I understood the details. Friends and family helped to ensure everything at home was in order and my needs were taken care of. I am having a little trouble seeing how our situation is any different this time, because we are adopting. This doesn't feel any different than being a first time mom. I don't' know anything about international travel, or bringing home a 2 year old or preparing for a 20+ hour flight, or having my children currently living on different continents. I don't know anything about any of it, and it is emotionally draining.

All I want is to be allowed to plan and organize and make myself feel prepared. I want my friends and family to understand that I cannot allow for one or two exceptions to what I want or need, because this process is so incredibly complex that I cannot track exceptions to "the plan" whatever the plan may be.

I do want to extend gratitude to those who have understood and committed to helping us through this time. Thanks to those who are taking off work or arranging personal schedules to help us out. Thanks to those who have said "whatever you need, I can help". Many, many thanks to those who have stood beside me in this journey and who have been compelled to understand the process and support us, and make it easier.