My sister caught me online tonight and sent me a link. I muted the tv and opened the link to find an amazing song that is by Snow Patrol. My sister watches the show SMASH, and this was one of the songs sung by Katherine on this week’s episode. I started to listen to the song and halfway through the song I had tears streaming down my cheeks. The lyrics of this song are very fitting to explain how some may feel about relinquishing this child for adoption. There are not many songs that will make me so emotional, but I am glad that this one did. I thought I would  share this amazing song with the rest of you. If you are a birthmother, take this as a warning and grab some tissues!

It has been quite awhile since I posted last. I guess you all can tell that school and other things have been getting into my way of updating my blog postings. Funny how that works at times. I figured since tomorrow is initially my last day of Spring Break, I should post an update to let you all know that I am still alive and breathing. With that…I even updating my background to get rid of the winter theme that I had.

Cleveland has had a very mild winter *knock-on-wood* so far. Since we are already in the middle of March we shouldn’t see any big bad snow storms coming our way, but interesting things have happened in the past. The temps have been in the mid-70s, which just is awesome. I love this type of weather and wish that it could be like this year round, but I know I don’t live in a perfect world.

So what is new?! A lot of stuff, I would say. School has been keeping me busy this semester, for sure. I am taking another 18 credits. I do enjoy most of my classes though. My Human Behavior and Social Environment: Macro class could be taught a bit better. I drag myself to that class every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon to entertain myself while the adjunct rambles on about various topics that are not in the book. He easily gets off topic and tends to find a way to bash any conservative type of thinking. I have learned that I can tune him out and read the chapter that we are suppose to be discussing. I might as well try and get something done in that hour and fifteen minute class twice a week, right?? The one class that I am really enjoying is my Social Work Research Class. Since Rob does quite a bit of research, I find that the research stuff comes a bit easy to me. I am in the process right now of working on the Research Proposal for that class. The research proposal is more to get our minds thinking about research and learn the steps along the way. I am looking at how a birth-parent or birth-family views adoption AFTER placement. I find that this is something that is not often looked at. We then in the paper will get to make up the actual testing to include in the paper, since we do not have time to test it in the time allowed. The other three classes are keeping me busy as well. The History of East Asia class is quite a bit more work than what I was really expecting, but yet it is very interesting. The Megacities of Asia online class is a bit boring. I wonder how the traditional style class is as it seems to be one that needs to be a bit more interactive. Then that leaves me with my political science class which is such a bore. I have never been big into politics and I will admit that I am already very tired with the Primary Elections that are going on. As long as Obama is ousted out of office in November, that is all I really care about. Bozo the Clown, could do a better job, if you ask me.

I have been busy with my tea group as well. The No Hatters have had many outings since the end of January. I am having to take a step back in how many events I can attend due to quite a few things. I though sat with my co-organizer and we planned out the events for spring and summer. I am excited for what is coming up. The new events that have been posted have members on the waiting list in hopes of being able to attend. This makes me excited as I know that it was a good thing to create this tea group when I was ousted from the Tea Nazi group.

The movie and book club has been busy as well. That one is not as busy as some of the other groups, but that is ok. We have a book meeting in a week. From what I have heard…the book was not any good and the person who recommended the book is no longer in the group. Well isn’t that just awesome?! I don’t have the time right now to sit and read for fun, so my co-organizer has been reading the books and filling me in. My co-organizer and I though did meet this past week and got a couple things planned for this spring and early summer.

Spring Break for me was spent down at my sister’s house fulfilling my Auntie May-me duties to 4 year old Peanut and 15 month old Sweet Pea. The kids have grown quite a bit since I saw them back in December. I love this stage for both of them as there are so many changes happening. Peanut is trying figure out what you are doing and so when you tell him different he stands there and has to process what you just said. Then he smiles and laughs. Oh I love that kid. While I was down there he wanted “spikey hair” since I have some awesome super sticky hair goop that keeps anything standing up. The Sweet Pea just wanted to go through my make-up bag and find my powder brushes and eye shadow brushes. Such a girl! In addition to spending time with my sister and the munchkins, I was able to go down to the Grand Old Opry. The night that we went had Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Charlie Daniels Band, Allison Krauss, and a few more. This time we had to sit pretty high in the rafters, but there really is no bad spot to sit in the Opry Auditorium.

That pretty much sums up what I have been up to. Tuesday will be here before we know it and school will be back up and running with a vengeance. How many more weeks until May 5th? Oh wait, don’t answer me that as then I will have a panic attack due to how much stuff is due between now and then!

In honor of Kaylee’s birthday today, I went on with my regular day. I had my regular four classes which I attended, but I then went to dinner to celebrate her birthday. Some years I really dread this day…but today I am pretty neutral. I used to get pretty emotional but I think that it really comes with every year gets a little bit easier. When people told me that it would get easier…I really questioned it, but now I accept that statement.

Over the past year I have come across different quotes or song lyrics that I can relate to adoption. One of them is the song from Hello Dolly which is called “It Only Takes A Moment“. This is one of my absolute favorite Broadway Musicals of all time. I tend to watch the movie a couple times a year either by catching it on tv or popping in my Hello Dolly dvd. Part of the lyrics go like this:

“It only takes a moment
For your eyes to meet and then
Your heart knows in a moment
You will never be alone again

I held her for an instant
But my arms felt sure and strong
It only takes a moment
To be loved a whole life long…”

How fitting these lyrics are for any birth-mother feels the first time they hold their child after a very long and hard labor. I know though that this is a feeling that any adoptive parent feels too, when they are able to hold their adoptive child in their arms. How lucky the birth-child is to grow up in adoption as they have two whole families who loves them!! The rest of us only have one set of family members.

Another quote that I love is from the beloved characters of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh. Christopher Robin once said to Winnie the Pooh: 

“Promise me you’ll always remember that you’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

I have loved this quote for some time. Think about that this is what we say in our hearts to our children once they are placed into an adoption. I know secretly they may be thinking the same thing even if they can not express it as an infant.

Also, a friend of mine left me a quote today on my Facebook wall. I am not too sure who wrote it…but I wanted to share this as well. I believe that it comes from the Many Hearts One Beat website who is very pro-adoption.

“Through this journey, your heart was the heart of quiet strength. It will forever beat, each day, every moment, with that quiet strength. Through this journey, your heart was the heart of tremendous courage in its purest form. It is in this courage your heart spoke and a profound decision was made. Through this journey, your heart was the heart that broke with deep sadness. It is a grief born of such complete and unconditional love for your child. Through this journey, your heart was the heart that was selfless and took faith. It is in this trust you gently rested your child’s heart. Through this journey, your heart was the heart that broke as you watched your child go. It is evermore that you will hold your child’s heart close…and never let go. You have gracefully traveled this difficult path with strength, courage and dignity. It is often, I will stop, give pause…and honor you. Through this journey, your heart was the heart that quietly guided all others together. It is now that the journey of many hearts at last, beat as one…”

 So here’s to you Kaylee…

“Happy Birthday and know that I will always love you, no matter where we are in this universe.”

One of my favorite scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail is when they are at the Bridge of Death and have to answer questions. My favorite part of that scene is when Galahad is asked what his favorite color. Read below to remember how that went…

BRIDGEKEEPER: Stop! What is your name?
GALAHAD: Sir Galahad of Camelot.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What is your quest?
GALAHAD: I seek the Grail.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What is your favorite color?
GALAHAD: Blue. No yel– auuuuuuuugh! [ explodes and dies ]

Now imagine if Galahad would have had to choose his favorite flavor of tea. What would he have said? Would he have said Lipton’s Plain Black Tea and then realized he meant to say Twinings Royal Blend?

Last month, when I was at a tea event, one of my friends said, “Since our group has been in session for a year now I wonder how our tastes for tea have changed?” This got me thinking and figured that this month would be the perfect month to post my thoughts in honor of National Hot Tea Month.

A year and a half ago you would find me only drinking possibly three different flavors, Tazo Awake, and just about any brand of English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast. Now after being involved with my own tea group and the bad tea group where I was removed, I have opened my eyes to the different brands and flavors of tea.

So if the Bridgekeeper asked me what my favorite flavor was I would tell him that I have several favorites at this time and that I could not choose. I am sure this would be unacceptable and I would then probably be shoved off the bridge to explode and die. Good thing this is not Monty Python!!

Teavanna Golden Monkey Black Tea

I think to start an analysis of my tea drinking experience, I should start with Black Teas. Black Teas are good for a good caffeine jolt or a good strong flavor. Like I said, in the past I would normally plop a tea bag of English or Irish Breakfast in my hot water and call it good. Now I stand in my kitchen and ponder which brand and flavor I am going to have (I really have become a tea snob). In my tea collection right now I have several different flavors of Black Tea. Harney & Sons Paris, Harney & Sons Chocolate Mint, Twinings Prince of Wales, Twinings English Breakfast, Twinings Irish Breakfast, Tazo Awake, Lipton Black Pearl, Lipton Vanilla Caramel Truffle, and I have several brands of an Afternoon Tea. So that makes how many black teas? 1, 2, 3…a grand total of at least 9 different types of black tea. I though over the past year and a half have tried other types of black tea that I do very much enjoy. One of my favorite tea flavors to order at Sweet Shalom is called Selah. I am not too sure who makes the tea as I thought it was Harney & Sons, but I could be wrong. The next time I go to Sweet Shalom I will have to take a look at the box!! Other black teas you can find me sipping are: Queen Catherine, and Darjeeling.

Teavanna Gyokuro Imperial Green Tea

One tea that you will not find in my home collection of teas is Green Tea. I know…green tea is all good for you, but I can not stand the taste. Any type of tea that tastes like I am drinking the floor of a forest or fresh mowed grass is not for me. I nod my head to anyone who does like it…have a cup for me!

Bourbon Street Vanilla

I learned about Rooibos teas this past year. I went to a tea tasting and this was one type of tea that I was very excited to try. Rooibos is an African tea that actually comes from a bush. Most teas come from trees and the leaves (tea leaves) are dried and rolled to be steeped in hot water. Rooibos is an African for Red Bush. Rooibos teas are caffeine free and tend to be blended with very sweet flavors. I have two Rooibos flavors in my collection here at home. One is a tea that I bought down in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The flavor is very fitting for the area (no, it is not called drunken chaos, but that would be funny!) called Bourbon Street Vanilla. It is very light sweet, and yet refreshing. This tea would be perfect to sip while enjoying an evening dessert. The other tea that I have is Teavanna Blueberry Bliss. Very sweet and could be served either hot or as an iced tea. This is one of my mother-in-law’s favorite flavors that she has at her house, thanks to me being a good daughter-in-law and sharing my tea with her! Most Rooibos teas are served with desserts due to their sweet flavors. My favorite rooibos teas have been the chocolate flavored teas. So good that you about don’t need any added sugar to your cup!

Teavana Strawberry Lemonade Herbal Tea

I as well have a few herbal teas, which are good if you are looking for something a bit on the light side. The herbal teas that I have are Teavanna Strawberry Lemonade, Harney & Sons Raspberry Herbal, and then one called Blue Eyes (this one doesn’t have a brand name since I bought it at the tea shop down in the French Quarter).

This past year to year and a half, it surprises me how many new flavors I have come to learn and love. I do challenge myself to get a different flavor each time I go to a tea house which is normally at least once a month if not twice a month. I give all of you tea drinkers a challenge. Try one new flavor each month as your New Years Resolution! I think that you will develop a liking to new flavors that you may have never thought of trying before!

So as you can see, I think it would be difficult for me to tell the bridgekeeper my favorite flavor of tea!! I think that it would have to depend on my mood that I was in, but I do think that it would end up being a black tea.

BRIDGEKEEPER: Stop! Who would cross the Bridge of Death must answer me these questions three, ere the other side he see.
Amy the Tea Lover: Ask me the questions, bridgekeeper. I am not afraid.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What is your name?
Amy the Tea Lover: My name is Madame Amy the Tea Lover of Olmsted.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What is your quest?
Amy the Tea Lover: To seek the world of tea.
BRIDGEKEEPER: What is your favorite tea flavor?
Amy the Tea Lover: At this moment Harney & Son’s Paris
BRIDGEKEEPER: Oh that sounds like a lovely bloody flavor! Right. Off you go.
Amy the Tea Lover: Yes, why thank you. It is an awesome flavor and you should try it today while you sit for your Afternoon Tea which will be around 2pm.

This is not what I thought I would be blogging on the second day of this new year. My mom sent me a text tonight to let me know that the 17.75 year old family cat, Freddy, has entered into cat heaven. He had been suffering with a chronic cat disease which basically was  Pancreatitis & Gastritis. Tonight the pain limit hit the ceiling and my mom and brother had to make the hard choice and put him down. He had been ill for awhile and over the past 3 weeks he had gotten worse.

I remember the day that my family got Fred and Barney. It was late August in 1993 and was right around my mom’s birthday. My family had went to Fudrucker’s for dinner and decided to walk over to the pet store before headed home. In the window were these two super rambunkous gray and white tabby kittens that were just so cute. One was smaller than the other that had a little crooked tail. My mom and us kids fell and love!! My mom asked the clerk if the kittens were related and they had said yes. Well instead of going home with one kitten we went home with TWO!!!

One the way home we started to think of names for the kittens. My sister and I wanted fun names, but ultimately the names my brother chose won. He chose Fred & Barney from the Flinstone’s due to just seeing the movie in the theatre. My sister and I didn’t really care for the names, but over time…the cats lived up to their names for sure! Barney was the smaller one with a crooked stump tail and Fred (aka Freddy-boy) was the one with a longer tail. Fred though didn’t have a super long tail as both cats were a Tabby/Manx mix.

The two cats were well very hyper and would race up and down the long hallway that stretched from the dining room to the back of the Ranch style house that I pretty much grew up in. While laying in bed one would think that there were two race horses in the house because of how fast they sounded. Such fun and crazy cats. Barney though only lived for about five to six years. He developed a blood clot which became loose and stopped at the start of his hind legs. This prevented him from being able to move his back legs. Mom took him to the vet and the vet said she had two options. Spend thousands of dollars on a surgery that may or may not work or well put the cat down. Due to the very low chance that the surgery would work…we quickly became a one cat family. Fred did as any other cat would do and mourned in his own way for the brother that was now missing.

Fred lived such a great life. My sister and I would dress him and Barney up in doll clothes and take pictures. Fred always was the grouchy looking cat in the pictures were Barney could really care less. Well, he probably cared…but he put up with it. Fred was also the brat of the family. He would see that you were trying to read the newspaper and would come over to lay on it. He then would look at you with the basic cat look of, “What?? Now in order to read the paper you must go through me!” He always knew when my mom or anyone else came home. He would be there at the door crying when you came home as if he was abandoned all day. He was fed a Fancy Feast type of wet food treat everyday at 5pm. He always got upset when daylight-savings time came around and thought we were the meanest people ever to not feed him!

Oh Freddy-boy you will be missed.

Some people can’t wait to get rid of cats, but you were a cat that one never wanted to let go. We all know you are out of your pain and now are showing Barney who the fastest cat is again. Maybe you will meet Missy the cat (also known as Baby Moo Moos) who was my friend’s cat who just entered Kitty Heaven, and maybe you will meet your cousin Frankie who went to kitty heaven while living in Germany.

So for those of you who have pets…give them their love they they require because one day they will not be around.

January is known for many things. Each month has different national holidays that  were all approved by Congress. Some of the month long holidays for the month of January are: National Bath Safety Month, National Blood Donor Month, National Braille Literacy Month, National Hobby Month, National Oatmeal Month, National Soup Month, and Hot Tea Month.

The No Hatters will definitely take advantage of
Hot Tea Month!

This month, the No Hatters have three events planned. I am not participating this month at many of the events due to other things going on, but that will not stop me from partaking in having a cup of tea each day or every couple of days!!

The main event for the No Hatters this month is out at Sweet Shalom in Sylvania, Ohio. This month’s featured tea event out at Sweet Shalom is in the theme of a Scottish Tea. The No Hatters who will attend this tea will partake in sipping different teas and indulging in many different types of food. The menu consists of an oat scone, Chicken & Leek Soup, Cucumber Tea Sandwiches, Flaky Meat Pies, Oatcakes with Cheese Pate’, Smoked Salmon & Dill Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches, Caramel Chocolate Bars, Gingerbread with Drambuie Sauce (which basically is a buttery brandy sauce), and end the awesome event with a Tipsy Laird Trifle (which is a sponge cake layered with a custard).

Another event will be the quarterly Tea Tasting out at The Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. If you like to try different teas with out having to buy several cups of tea, then an event like this is perfect. Every No Hatter who has attended this quarterly event has very much enjoyed themselves.

The last event that the No Hatters will partake in is out at Cast on Cafe. Cast on Cafe is a small knitting shop out in Willoughby, Ohio. Inside this knitting shop they have a small cafe that offers teas and coffees. The group will go out and enjoy a very reasonable priced Afternoon Tea.

If you are not in the area to join the No Hatters with their events, please take up and enjoy several cups of tea at home. Try new flavors that you have always wanted to try or revert back to your old favorites that may take you back to your childhood.

The Open Adoption Roundtable is a series of occasional writing prompts about open adoption. It’s designed to showcase of the diversity of thought and experience in the open adoption community. You don’t need to be listed at Open Adoption Bloggers to participate or even be in a traditional open adoption. If you’re thinking about openness in adoption, you have a place at the table. The prompts are meant to be starting points–please feel free to adapt or expand on them.

Adoption Round Table #33: “What did you learn about open adoption in 2011?”

To read more answers click here .

I find this question a very fitting way on how to reflect on this past year. I could have reminesct on what I had done for the past year, but I had done that pretty much already with my holiday newsletter and we all know that there is much more to life than just vacations and school, to me.

So what did I learn about open adoption this past year? Well I learned that I need to get my gifts out sooner than later for when I send Kaylee stuff. I regret to say that her Christmas gifts are still sitting here in my house waiting to be sent out.

I learned that open adoption never gets any easier when it comes to emotions. I think that in the past almost eight years I have learned what my emotional triggers are, but there are some that will always pop up that I am not aware of. A new song will appear on the radio by an artist that will take me back to the time that I was in labor with Kaylee. I think that one of my favorite songs of this past year that really explains adoption is by Kenny Chesney. It is not a new song…but it is one that I heard several times through out the year when I least expected it. The song is “There Goes My Life“, which gets me teary every time I hear it. I normally would hear it on my way to work or to a social event and my make up would have to be touched up before leaving the car due to the tears that may have worked themselves loose.

I learned that it never gets any easier trying to explain to people about open adoption. Some people are willing to listen and some have their minds set on what a typical open adoption will or would always look like. I have met quite a few of new people over the past year. I have my adoption story posted here on the site and a link to it on my Facebook page. I forget sometimes that I have it posted until a classmate that I have made friends with says to me, “Hey…I read your adoption placement story last night and you had me in tears by the end.” But when the adoption comes up at a dinner table with a large group of ladies (which I love most of the time), it does catch me off guard. I don’t mind explaining my experience…but I do notice the facial expressions that people pass from one to another even if they don’t even realize they are passing an uncomfortable expression to the person across the table.

I learned from talking with other birth-mothers that the adoption plan that i have is very good. I realized this when I was at the Birthmother’s Retreat that was held in Charlotte, NC. I loved meeting women from all over the countries and hearing their stories. I learned also with doing the 2011 Interview project that a nomadic-birth-mom was very eeager to talk to another birthmom who had been down the road several years from her.

Lastly, I learned that even still…almost eight years later, open adoption was still the best choice I made at the time. I know that extended family members told my mom differently, but it was ultimately my own choice on what I needed to do. At that time and place, placing Lil Miss into an open adoption was the best thing I could have done considering I had no job and was living with my parents. I am grateful still everyday for D & N for caring for her and giving her the best home one could ask for!!

So that is what I have learned about open adoption this past year. I will be curious to see what I learn this coming year, for sure!!

Every semester every student or most students work hard to earn the best grade they can for the classes that they take. I am one of those students who takes pride in my classes. I took a tough course load and at the beginning of the fall semester I was thinking that I bit off too much that I could really chew. Now looking back, I did just fine and now I know that I can handle close to eighteen credits at a time. Not too sure if I could handle anymore!

I knew all of my grades with in a week after classes were all over. I have to say that I don’t give myself enough credit sometimes. I took difficult classes and did very well. Out of the six classes that I took I landed with 2 B’s and 4 A’s!!! Yeehaw!!! With this my GPA is 3.57. For some reason I was telling people that I had a 3.67, oops!! I was just one digit off.

So here is the actual break down:

• BIO 102 – Human Development/Rerpoduction (lecture) = A-
  My professor gave me extra credit for the very detailed study guides that I had completed.
• BIO 107 – Human Bio Lab = A-
  Without a good lab partner…I am not too sure I would have gotten such an awesome grade!
• ENG 102 – College Writing II = A
  I really should not have had to take this class, but for some reason the credits from the community college never transferred over. As boring as the class was and I had to deal with well college freshman…I did the work and got my grade.
• PSY345 – Abnormal Psychology = B
  I am very happy with my grade for this class. This was probably one of my most difficult classes and I worked extremely hard for that grade. The professor was an older gentleman who knew his stuff. I have to take just one more Psychology class and then I will have my Psychology Minor!
• SWK 200 – Introduction to Social Work = B+
  This was a difficult class for me to pay attention in. Imagine taking very upper level classes in a topic that you know very well and then have to sit through a very basic class. The instructor had not taught for 30+ years and he was very biased on one side of each social issue that was presented. This class could have been taught very differently to be well enjoyable. The instructor was hard to listen to and especially to take notes from because his lectures went off into non-sense most of the time. Just because one has been in a particular field for so many years does not mean that they are qualified to teach it, just in my opinion.
• SWK 300 – Social Welfare Policy = A
  I loved this class!! I think that it was more of the professor who made this class enjoyable. I was able to use an old book that I used for a different social work class when I was at Iona. It was one edition less than what the current class used, but I still managed to keep up with everyone.

I look forward to the Spring Semester which starts in mid-January. I ordered my books today and so now I have just two more weeks off before the grind starts back up. I admire all of my friends who are currently working on their MSWs who may not have been able to have the time off like everyone else for the breaks due to their internships, work, and family life. I know that I will be doing that in just a short while as well.

Since I have ran out of printer paper at the moment…I thought I would post my Holiday Newsletter on here for you all to read. With school and everything going on…the holiday cards will be out late. I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday with your friends and family!

The Schumaker

Holiday Newsletter – 2011

It is that time of year again where we all are rushing around trying to get everything in place for this holiday season. Some host Christmas at their house and some send the gifts off to the loved ones that they are unable to be with. I will say that even though the holiday season is crazy, it has to be one of my favorite times of the year. I love sitting back and reflecting on what Rob and I have done over the past year, and it seems as though the end of the year comes quicker the older I get. The older generations in my family warned me about this, but I never believed them until well now. Rob and I did have a pretty busy year with various travels, visiting family, and attending many Cleveland Indians baseball games.

2011 was again a year of lots of changes. While Rob did not find a permanent job he was able to fulfill his second year of his Visiting Professor position at Cleveland State. He is once again busy looking for something that will be a tenure track position that would be begin in Fall of 2012. He has had some very good prospects and so all we can do is hope and pray that something will work out. I left Universal American in the middle of June due to the decision of starting back with school in trying to finish my Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. I chose to stop working in June since Rob and I had a pretty busy summer ahead of us. As much as I miss some of my co-workers and some of the members who I helped on the phone, I know that I did the right thing.

Classes for me started up in late August at Cleveland State. I chose to jump in full time and took 18 credits. The first week of classes I began to think that I had bitten off way too much, but once I settled back into the routine of school the course load was not too bad. I took two Social Work classes, Abnormal Psychology, English, Biology, and then the Bio Lab. I just finished my classes with A’s and B’s. If I keep the pace that I am going, I should have a Bachelor’s in Social Work (BSW) by May of 2013. I have already enrolled for Spring and Summer classes. This spring I will take another two Social Work classes, American Government, History of Eastern Asia, and Megacities of Asia. In the summer I will take a geography class to satisfy another general education requirement.

This year once again was filled with many trips. My girlfriends always ask me if I ever stay home. I laugh and tell them that every so often I will stay at home, but yet I get antsy on wanting to go explore some place new. In March, I flew home to Oregon for my annual visit to see friends and family. The week that I am there always goes so quickly, but I was able to see everyone that I wanted in addition to sleeping in and relaxing at my parent’s house. The weather was decent for early March in Oregon which made the trip even better. In early May, Rob attended the Midwest DSI (Decision Sciences Institute) Conference, which he had been invited to submit a research paper to. This year’s conference was held on the campus of IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis). Rob presented his Harness Racing paper at the conference and also networked with others who attended. He enjoyed the conference so much that he is looking forward to attending the 2012 conference which will be held up in Ann Arbor, MI. The other conference that he attended was the IIMA Conference. This year’s conference was in New Orleans, LA. I went down to NOLA with him as I have a dear friend who lives there. While Rob was at his conference, Stacy was showing me the sights, sounds, and teaching me how to take in the different smells of the French Quarter, which I fell in love with. I look forward in going back to NOLA in the future. Since we drove down to NOLA we stopped in Fort Campbell and celebrated my nephew, Simon’s, fourth birthday. He was very excited to have his Auntie Amy and his Grammy and Poppy (my parents) at his house. I was able color in the southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas that trip as well. I will say that if Rob got a job in any of those states I would not be unhappy!

Late July, early August brought Rob and I to our annual summer trip. This year we took a road trip to visit a few baseball parks in the Midwest that Rob had not been to yet. Some of you know that one of Rob’s goals in life is to visit each Major League Baseball park before he dies. This trip we were planning on crossing off Busch Stadium (St. Louis Cardinals) and Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals). Along the way we stopped at a few friends house to visit and Rob was able to color in the state of Nebraska since he had never been there before. Due to the extremely high heat while we were in St. Louis, we opted out of a baseball game. We did go through the Budweiser Factory while in town and ate at a local sports bar that was recommended by a friend. While in Nebraska we spent several days with my Grandma Donna and even ventured up to South Dakota and visited the Corn Palace. We also saw my 89 year old Great-Grandmother on this trip. We did attend a Kansas City Royals game. While in KC we visited the Harley-Davidson Plant and the Hallmark Corporate office/Visitor Center. We ended our trip by spending a couple days down in Fort Campbell visiting my sister and her family. We were able to meet our niece, Madigan Ellen as well.  In late September, I played tour guide when my parents came from Oregon to visit for a couple of days. My parents were able to experience Amish Country, the Smucker’s Factory, and see Cleveland State University.

In addition to our traveling and school, my social butterfly wings have spread to their max. The tea group that I created in late December (No Hats Required Tea Group) has been a success. I have two wonderful co-organizers which are very helpful. Our tea group travels around to tea houses within a three hour driving radius of the Cleveland area. The farthest we have gone was out to Dayton, and we frequent a tea house in Sylvania, Ohio called Sweet Shalom. Sylvania is on the Ohio/Michigan border which is about a two hour drive from Cleveland. Other than Sweet Shalom, we have found many tea houses to visit and try. Some we all look at each other and say, “Let’s not come back here!” and others we make sure that it goes back on the event calendar for later in the year. Our group at one time had about sixty members with about twenty active members. I cut the group down to about thirty-five by removing all of the inactive members. My organizers and I would rather have a smaller active group rather than a large stagnant group. I look forward to the tea events that we have planned for this coming year. One will be a house tea party will be in the theme of the Titanic which will be around the anniversary of that tragic accident, and of course we will head out to Sweet Shalom each month for their different full themed teas such as Little House on the Prairie. In addition to my tea group, I am also the organizer of a movie & book club here on the west side part of Cleveland. We try and read one book a month in addition to seeing a movie as a group together once a month, and lastly I was given the title of “Event Organizer” for the Cleveland Ladies Club that I am very active in. I have met some awesome ladies in that group that I can honestly call good friends. I host various events throughout the month which mainly consist of grabbing dinner at a local place that people may have wanted to try or attending a free classical concert by the Ohio Philharmonic.

2012 looks like a busy year and it has not even started yet for us. Our five year wedding anniversary will be in May. We are starting to make a list of ideas on where to go for celebration since we spent our fourth year anniversary in downtown Cleveland. We are waiting for Cleveland Indians 2012 Opening Day tickets to go on sale as this could be the last time we are in town for Opening Day. We went last year and despite the Tribe losing to the White Sox, it was a fun experience. I am in hopes of flying to Oregon possibly around Easter for even a quick trip to see my Oregon family and friends. I do wish that Oregon was closer to Ohio, but at least I will add more miles to my membership plan with my favorite airline. I am hoping that the weather here in Ohio is not as bad as what some are predicting for this winter. I have really enjoyed these fifty degree weather days that we have had the past couple of days in Cleveland. I know that the snow is just around the corner but I hope that it forgets how to cross Lake Erie from Canada this season.

Once again, Rob and I both wish you a very Merry Christmas and a safe Happy New Year!

Rob & Amy Schumaker

The time has come to reveal who I was paired with for this years Adoption Interview Project which is put on by Heather at Production Not Reproduction. I have participated with different blog challenges from Heather before as she heads up the Adoption Roundtable discussions. This allows bloggers who are involved of all aspects of the adoption world to post their feelings about a certain chosen topic either once a week or sometimes once a month. This month is the Adoption Interview Project. If I would have known about this last year, I would have definitely participated as it was an incredible fun experience. Every participant was randomly paired. If one had special request such as wanting to be paired with a certain side of the adoption triad then that was taken into consideration. I had made a request to be paired with a birth-mother who hopefully I didn’t already know. I think next year I will not put in any request to see what part of the triad I am paired with.

This year I was paired with Rachel from The Great Wide Open. Heather is a nomadic birth-mother who blogs about her nomadic life, adventures of pregnancy and now open adoption. By just reading her blog tag line made me intrigued and kept me digging into her blog to see who she is. She likes to go to poem jams to express her feelings of adoption through her poetry. She currently lives and works in Singapore while enjoying being single. She enjoys the feeling of being single but is not opposed down the road of possibly meeting the “right” person to be a life-long companion.

While introducing ourselves to each other, Rachel and I found that we had quite a few things in common. We both love reading books that do not consist of textbooks, we both are actively with groups on Meetup.com, and we both wanted to pursue a degree in Social Work. She has a BSW but does not use it, and as we are all aware, I am in the pursuit to hang the BSW degree on my office wall someday in the future. She and I also love to travel. 

I had a fun time thinking of questions to ask Rachel. When I had thought about sending these fun questions, I failed to save the document on the computer (one disadvantage of not using pen and paper!), and so I had to recreate the questions. I hoped that Rachel wouldn’t think that I was sending random questions, and she stated that I had a great variety of questions. Heather never placed a limit on how many questions we had to ask our partners. Rachel and I both sent each other fifteen different questions. To see the answers that I gave her you will have to click over on her page to read all about them.

Below is the interview that I conducted with Rachel. I hope you all enjoy reading them as much as I did.

1. Out of all the different places you have lived what has been your favorite? What place would you go back to? What was your least favorite place?

Yes!  I love the story of how Reed got his name.    At first, I told Doug and Maura that they could choose the name for him, but they said they wanted Bill and I in on the decision.  I always liked the name Max because it’s my brother’s name, who is a man of character, faith, intelligence, sincerity, integrity, and is one of the men I respect most in this world.  So when I was carrying him in Alaska I started calling him Max, and so did Bill when we would talk on the phone.  When Bill and I both arrived in North Carolina for the 3rd trimester, we would still call him “little Max” when it was just the two of us talking about him, even when we knew his name would be Reed.  Doug and Maura thought it was fitting to keep that in his name.  William seemed an obvious choice too, since it was both Bill’s name and Doug’s father’s name.  The name Reed came from Maura’s side of the family.  Her grandmother’s name was Elizabeth Reed.  When Doug and Maura were going through adoption procedures, Elizabeth Reed was already aged and didn’t have a firm grasp on the present day and didn’t remember much.  But Maura’s mother told her about the adoption and that they were going up to Alaska to meet me, and Mrs. Reed held on to that.  She would ask Maura how the adoption is going, and even remembered my name.  She passed away shortly after their trip to Alaska, and was a loss to everyone in their family.  So his name is Reed William Max Dotson, and we all had a say in it.

Besides that, I journal quite a bit on my own, so writing about things comes pretty naturally to me.  It does help with the healing for me to blog about it, to brag about the good things and mourn openly about the hard times.  It helps me to sort things out; ideally I’d have a professional or a support group or someone I could talk to, but with my traveling that hasn’t worked out too well, so I just puke it all out all over the internet.  So to all who read my blogs, thanks for being my stand in therapist.

*Service at restaurants that’s based on tips; the service here is ok, but nothing like the wonderful service I get at restaurants in the US when the waiter knows he/she has to work for my money.  I reward generously. 

But give me a good burrito and a margarita on the rocks that doesn’t cost $20 and I’ll forget about everything else. 

For some reason, I’ve always wanted to go to India.  I’ve heard a lot of the good, the bad and the ugly; the crowded streets of the big cities, the filth, poverty, etc., and it all makes me want to go there more.  As it stands, my plans are to spend a few months there after I leave Singapore at the end of next year, but plans often change and I never know what will happen.  I am going to try my best to get there though.