I went to an all day MN ASAP (Minnesota Adoption Support and Preservation) yesterday. I'll blog more about the sessions later but what was really interesting to me were the connections that I made there... I met a friend of the owner of the adoption referral agency (Heaven Sent Adoptions in Michigan) that we used for my son's adoption...met an adoptive mom that used the same agency in Utah that we used for our daughter's adoption....met the foster mom of our favorite respite foster kid ever! It was an interesting day to say the least. More later.

Interesting quote that I StumbleUpon today: it's better to have said too much than never to say what you need to be say. I think I have always erred on the side of saying too much. LOL!!!

Top 41 Goals for 2009

Inspired by fellow RVC member/Facebook Friend Kirsten S., here are my 41 goals for my 41st year. They are in no particular order of importance and if I do not complete some of them I'll just shift them over to my 42nd year. :-)

1. Lose 15 pounds…again.
2. Take a pro bono case
3. Open our home up to a foster son/daughter full-time.
4. Go on a mission trip to Swaziland in Southern Africa.
5. Cut my credit card debt in half or down to zero.
6. Start an adoption plan consulting business. DONE www.adoptionplancoach.com
7. Visit a friend who lives someplace other than Minnesota or Massachusetts.
8. Plan a wicked (in a good way) celebration or trip for Kevin’s 40th birthday.
9. Plan a wicked (in a good way) celebration for our 12th wedding anniversary.
10. Take the kids to a Minneapolis Holidazzle parade.
11. Take a daily calcium supplement.
12. Drink 24 ounces of water per day.
13. Use the treadmill at least twice a week.
14. Play golf a minimum of six times.
15. Call a friend to chat once a month.
16. Have two spa days.
17. Host a backyard tent sleep over for Sean and his friends.
18. Plan a “cost conscious” family vacation.
19. Go bowling at least once.
20. Do at least two volunteer events at RVC.
21. Donate blood again. DONE
22. Take kids to the MN State Fair.
23. Take one cooking class.
24. Finish updating our Wills, Power-of-Attorneys and Healthcare directives.
25. Do four mother/son activities with Sean.
26. Do four mother/daughter activities with Aaliyah.
27. Attend one adoption related conference. UPCOMING
28. Redo Sean’s bedroom.
29. Research and acquire bids for finishing the basement in early 2010.
30. Host a Christmas Open House for neighbors.
31. Attend one charity event.
32. Coordinate a “Cook for Kids” volunteer activity for the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery. SCHEDULED
33. Go for a jog with Kevin, at least once.
34. Review at least one play a month.
35. Re-read the Bible using the SOAP 365 plan.
36. Increase rate of saving.
37. Stick to Kevin’s budget parameters.
38. Have four couples’ dinners.
39. Plan and execute two fundraising events to raise money for the Swaziland AIDS orphans and to defray cost of the trip.
40. Have a Girls’ Day activity with sisters Sabrina and Katrina before they graduate from high school.
41. Surprise Kevin.

I just got a toll free 866# for my business! Progress! :-)

I went to a seminar entitled "The Lingering Effects of Childhood Trauma on Children and their Families" last night. As a young foster family, had we had this sort of information years ago maybe we would have fought harder to keep a young trouble foster child in our home. I'm still sad thinking that we probably added trauma to his life by insisting that he shift to yet another foster home. Darn!