Our little swimmer had her first “official” swimming lesson at Safe ‘n Sound Swimming. As a former swim instructor myself, learning how to swim is one of the skills I place high value on. Plus, we live in Seattle, and are surrounded by water everywhere: lakes, streams, Puget Sound and Pacific Ocean. I’d heard that […]
Class
Putting the pampers in ‘Pampers and Pakhlava’
Slowly but surely, Big Papa and I have been getting the things we need to (as we say) “keep the baby alive” when we finally become parents. We now have a crib, a changing table, a high chair, a couple strollers, an assortment of books and a few toys. A few days ago someone asked […]
Food to make my heart SOAR
“She likes the top of matzoun and the bottom of pilaf,” is an Armenian expression which means ‘she loves everything good.’ I was lucky enough to enjoy a lot of ‘everything good,’ this past Sunday in a hands-on Armenian cooking class fundraiser for SOAR (Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief). All the money will go directly […]
The twelve days of adopting
On the first day of adopting my true love gave to me, one apostilled dossier On the second day of adopting my true love gave to me, two governments’ approval On the third day of adopting my true love gave to me, three 1040 forms On the fourth day of adopting my true love gave […]
From Russia with love
I scoop up a teaspoon of stuffing with one hand and grab a flimsy round piece of dough in the other, and carefully tuck and fold until a tortellini-like Pelmeni emerges. Ten eager adoptive or prospective adoptive moms stand around a table with me, scooping, stuffing and folding. Pelmeni are a Russian national dish. These […]
Anoush
Anoush (pronounced “Ah-noosh”) means sweet in Armenian. The word is used in many ways, one of which is to toast to good health and prosperity, “Anoush…enjoy the sweet life.” I tasted a bit of the sweet life this past Sunday when I signed myself up for the ‘Armenian Adventure’ cooking class at the PCC (Puget […]
Breathe
In, out, in out. I fill up my lungs with air and exhale. “Blow it out like you’re blowing out a big birthday candle,” advises our spinning instructor. My lips form a big ‘O’ and I send the air flying out in a loud whoosh. Blood courses through my veins and sweat pores down my […]
Climbers climb and runners run
Today, in my spinning class, our instructor divided us into two groups. One group would sit and put on a “big boy gear” and climb while the other group would rev up the RPM to stand and go for a run. “Climbers climb and runners run,” he frequently tells us. “We run to lose weight […]
Strap-on Baby
He had a cute little body, an upturned nose, half-sleepy eyes and light brown skin. I knew he was ours from the moment I laid eyes on him. We picked him up, put on his diaper, dressed him in a cute Onesie, plopped him into a snug carrier and strapped him closely to my chest. […]