Two years to the day after it went on the market...

for [an insane amount] below not just what we first listed it for but for what we paid for it in 2004.

But do we care? Hellz no. We're SELLING it!

The people buying it are going to be new to Erie (far as I know) so we're creating Erieites here. AND selling our house. Yay!

We're using the closing (May 30) as an excuse to come to Erie. We're going up that Thursday, the closing is Friday morning or afternoon and we're probably coming home on that Saturday.

Plus, Erie bloggers/friends, I'm coming up for my friend Erin's wedding in Buffalo but I'm coming up to Erie the evening before. That'll be Friday, July 11. I don't know if I'll be passing back through Erie on the 13th.

So if anyone wants to get together, let me know here or via Facebook or e-mail or however.

ETA: I forgot to mention that we'd never had so much as an offer on the house until yesterday so it's not that we were holding out or something. Our house is big and has lots of features (like A/C, a super-huge basement, a hedge fence, etc) that other houses in Country Club Acres don't have but houses on the market before ours sold for way more. Then people were putting their houses on the market for way less than value and people bought those before ours. So we were prepared to say "screw you and your property values." But it didn't go horribly low. Just too low for what it is. Thank you, current economy.

http://blog.piggyhawk.net 

There is a feed so go ahead & change that as well, if you like. I'll continue to update at both URLs for maybe a week until things get adjusted & switched over, in case you're busy or have Life to deal with and the like.

Thanks again to Fredlet, without whom I would be sitting here slackjawed on step #2 of the "five minute easy install," which only took the two of us about six days. Then we rested.

Second, we had a fun-filled, action-packed weekend. On Saturday, I met someone tall and hairy at the Pittsburgh Comicon. I also met Peter Mayhew. On Sunday we went to a birthday party and I ended up in a guy's pants.

So we didn't get to the Comicon until about 3:30, with weather, traffic and a very late start. We did get to see & talk briefly with my firend Kos and his writing partner:

I couldn't talk long b/c they had a lot of people coming up to their table. I'll be interviewing them for the May Absolute Blank article at TC. Kos is the one beside me. In the interest of supporting small, independent presses, I bought a teddy bear from them. At no additional charge to me the consumer, I received a spontaneously-written haiku. I said, "Is this a Penn State degree at work?" He said indeed it was. I'll share the haiku when I also photograph the other stuff we got.

Speaking of which, I got a t-shirt that says, in a SW-like font, "These aren't the breasts you're looking for. You can go about your business. Move along." I also got a long-coveted Dorian Cleavenger print, autographed. We also got an autographed pic at the Peter Mayhew table. He was an exceedingly nice man, especially to the kids. Zoe of course had no idea who he was, despite the fact that I showed her the photos on the table (we chose the final shot from Star Wars) and I said, "Mr Mayhew plays Chewie" a couple of times. He shook both of their hands (Z's & H's) and someday we'll be able to say they met Chewbacca. I was being a total fanspazz at his table and at Kos's. At least at the Cleavenger table, I knew what I was talking about. I believe the guy operating the table had a nametag that read "Wayne Cleavenger." Had it been Dorian Cleavenger himself, I would probably have been an even great spazzoid. I knew exactly what print I wanted but couldn't remember its name. Luckily I could describe it perfectly & the guy knew just which one I meant. Love it. Must frame it. Must frame SW photo as well. Must wear t-shirt.

Then we went to Ikea and I found a dresser for Zoe that I liked even better than the $700 one I had on mind. It's the small Malm dresser... in pink! I'm thinking of doing some kind of rub-on or something on the drawers for some personality. Zoe fully inspected the floor model, opened it easily and approved the color. We also got a couple of shelves, a wooden table & chair set for the kids' playroom (for only $20; I heart Ikea), a tabletop & legs combo that will become my new vanity (they finally got wooden legs), some rugs for the playroom, a few frames, etc. Unfortunately we were too late to get snacks and we were checking out at 9 p.m. I hate pushing the deadline like that but hey, when you work retail on Saturday night, you kow you're not going home early. We also purchased two of their new blue bags. For next time. Bwahahaha!

Zoe liked sitting at desks and either playing "school" (above) or "Dr Evil." She wouldsay, "When Baby Zoe gets upset, people DIE!" Then she'd push an imaginary button. Much to the delight of our fellow shoppers, I might add.

On Sunday we went to the first birthday party for B&B's younger son. We'd only been to their place in winter so it was nice to go on a nice spring day:

There was some fishing involved and some salamander-catching:

Zoe ate the ice cream:

Holden ate the cake:

I slipped & fell in some mud while trying to keep a ball from going in same-said mud b/c I knew Zoe would chase it. B was kind enough to throw my jeans in the wash and I had to wear B's shorts & t-shirt home. I was wearing them temporarily until the jeans were dry but, with throwing a party and everything, B forgot about drying them. No worries, I took them home damp and dried them here but that meant I wore B's clothes home. The Dr Pepper shirt is nice & cozy. I'm considering not returning it ;)

The kids had a fun time, we had a fun time and it was a nice cap to a fun-filled, action-packed weekend.

All went well. One person said he enjoyed the food and it was Scooter. I did find white cheddar and made Drag Potatoes (Gay Pride Potatoes in disguise). He ate them. Le gasp. He later said, "What did they have in them? Onions?" I said, "No. Sour cream." he said, "Oh. Stuff like that doesn't agree with me." He means stuff with flavor.

Char told me about his new favorite exotic meal: taco salad. It's ground beef & tomato sauce with Velveeta mixed up in it and you eat it with tortilla chips. I said to Char, "Is it an appetizer or a meal?" She said, "It's a meal." He told me that it's "too much" for him, flavor-wise. I said, "It's tomato sauce and Velveeta." He said, "I know!" As though I'd said, "It's jalepenos, oregano and eggplant."

The quote of the day was when I was cooking, everyone was playing "Sorry" (Hawk's idea and a brilliant one) and Char was hanging in the kitchen. She went to see why it was so quiet. She came back and said, "It's quiet because [Jed]'s sleeping." Sure enough he woke up when Holden got up from his nap and then it was noisy again.

When people looked over the munchie table, they whispered among themselves "no cookies." No, there were no cookies. Scooter came late, as he had worked a late shift the night before. He showed up, looked over the munchies and said, "No cookies." Yeah. So after dinner, I threw a box of those Pilsbury cookies in the oven and whipped up cookies. They disappeared almost immediately.

Also Jed said to anyone who would listen that Holden would be quite the heartbreaker when he grew up because of his "blond hair and blue eyes." Hawk looked at me. I looked at Hawk. Hawk said, "Dad, he has red hair." I added, "And brown eyes." Yes there's a bluish look to his eyes sometimes (it's strange) but they are brown and his hair is not blond. Jed is crazy. Here's his Easter bunny photo:

On Minerva*:

She hid in a small downstairs closet most of yesterday. I think Callie's theory was right: she guessed that Minerva was pissed off that we'd locked her in the bathroom overnight. She still hasn't eaten but she helped herself to my milk last night when I went to have my dessert from dinner. So that was a good sign. Nor has she used her litter but we haven't found where she's eliminated anywhere else. We moved some things around. We have one litterbox in a shower stall downstairs (curtain almost completely drawn) and one is in our bathroom, since she seemed to want to hang out there when I was getting ready for bed. Her food is on top of the hot tub, where the kids can't get to it but it's not near the litters.

So she didn't come out until evening last night and when she did, she was all about socializing. She explored the playroom some, sat on my lap, sat beside Zoe and even allowed Zoe to pick her up and carry her (!). She also doesn't run away from Holden. If he tries to pet her to hard, she'll duck out from under his hands but she doesn't take off.

As I said, I was getting ready for bed and straightening up the bedroom some. I went over to turn off H's light and there was Minerva: in the upper hallway. She wouldn't let me carry her up so it was her first time upstairs. I figured if we left her alone downstairs she'd follow us and she did. I allowed her into H's room and she explored it a little. Then she went around Zoe's room and finally she came into our bedroom, where she stayed all night. Sometimes she got down and looked around but mostly she laid on our bed. At one point, I was kind of on my stomach nd she decided to lay on my back. It's very weird to have a pet that weighs less than my last pet's head. She meows if she wants attention, to say "here I am" and otherwise is pretty quiet.

Apparently our veterinarian (and several others throughout the county) provide free initial visits for HSCC (shelter)-adopted animals within a week. If I could understand the mush-mouthed receptionist correctly, our appointment is a week from Wednesday. When I said, "I need to make an initial appointment for my new cat," her reply was "What's wrong with your cat?" More accurately, it sounded like "Wujz wroniff urrgat?" Honest to christ, if I wanted to speak to someone with this level of comprehension and articulateness, I'd run over to Spanky's at happy hour.

And here's something I hate: people who don't answer the phone properly. If you pick up a lined phone (meaning you have to push a button to talk), there's a delay between when you might think you're connected and when the caller can hear you. I mean, once you hear the connection, you can begin speaking but a lot of people begin speaking the second they pick up. So all this idiot says that I can hear (and understand b/c she sounds drunk) is "where the sun is shining."

I ask if it's the West Bumblefuck Vet Hospital and she sighs and says, "Yes" as though she's saying "duh." I love how it's my fault that she said it before the call was connected. At least I didn't get the vet's hostile relative this time. So Minerva won't get to see the vet for another week and a half. Maybe by then she'll be able to give us a stool sample.

On potty training:

Last Thursday, right around the time Holden was getting up from his nap, Zoe says to me, "I want to use the potty." She walked over and pulled down her diaper, sat on her new green potty and peed. Yay! There was much rejoicing, as we've always done when she uses the potty. She wanted me to say "good job" and "I'm so proud of you," which I did. Of course I thought, "Let's see if this lasts." Before bed she used her potty 10 more times. Hawk joined in the "yay" once he was home and when Z used her potty, she could have a treat like a mini peanut butter cup, an apple slice or a mini candy cane. So then the next morning she came in to wake me up and she said, "I want to use my potty." So we went in to the master bath, where she has her white potty, and she went. She used her potties all day except for poops (we still haven't gotten there). Just while Hawk was home for lunch, she went about five times. On Friday, she wore panties most of the day and didn't have any accidents in them.

So over the weekend she used her diaper when we went out and for poops but otherwise has used her potty. Even during the Easter get-together, she paused to use her potty and wanted everyone to say "yay!" for her. You also have to jump up and down and clap your hands. She only wants a treat once in a while now. Now she's usually happy with "Yay! I'm so proud! You did a great job!" She woke up with a dry diaper and hasn't had an accident yet today *knock wood*.

I had said that one day she'll just decide to use the potty and there it will be. Hopefully this is permanent b/c this is awesome. All that we'd done differently lately was to increase the number of potties (and to get the brightly-colored, more comfortable Baby Bjorn ones) and I got her a Dora potty book at Borders in Erie during Hawk's vacation week. She didn't want anything to do with it but Holden did so I read it to him and caught her listening.

On Holden:

Now up from his nap so I'm off.

* cat advice and experiences always welcome; please share, as a refresher for me

We went back to PetCo yesterday and they had different cats including a sweet black one named Cinder. It's $95 to adopt a cat. I love cats and I support shelter & rescue adoption but a hundred bucks for a cat when there are "free kittens" advertised everywhere you look? Makes me rethink "cat" as opposed to "dog." It's $135 to adopt a dog (that includes spaying/neutering, all shots and a vet check-up from CPHS). In the humane society for the county we live in (HSCC) it's $30 for a dog adoption. Hrm. However that shelter doesn't have a variety of dogs available according to their website. Probably b/c w/ that rate, they adopt out quickly.

Anyway, the CPHS (in Altoona) has a nice selection of dogs, cats and rabbits available including a lovely little black lab mix. I showed Hawk her photo last night and he said, "Call in the morning." So I did. The write-up called her female but she was listed as male and I couldn't tell by her name. So my first question was answered as "she's a female." My second question was about how their process works. Go in. See dog. Spend time w/ dog. Then you apply and there's a 24 hr cooling off period (the opposite of the Erie shelter, where I was going to take my own cooling-off period and they "forced" Jake on me ;)). Then you take the dog home. After she's used to her new home, you bring her back for the fixin' and then she's comfortable when she convalesces.

But they're only open afternoons... except Wednesday, the only afternoon we have. We don't want to wait for the late Friday hours or the Saturday hours so Bets is going to watch the kids while I meet w/ the dog hopefully tomorrow. We haven't decided if she'll hang out here w/ kids while I go or if she'll come w/ me to be an extra set of arms. It depends on the time. If it's during Holden's nap, she can watch them here.

Anyway, the dog has experience with other dogs and children and is fully housetrained. So wish us luck on that front. Oh and if we get her, I think we may attempt to change her name. Jake would have been named "Jake" if it wasn't already his name. His name and his demeanor are what caught my eye when I met him. Anyway, "Casey" is cute but I'm not sold on it. I had a name for a male dog in mind (Sirius) but I don't think that'll work for a girl ;) So should we stick with the Harry Potter theme? ;)

In other news, I cleaned out and organized the hall closet. I found a bunch of stuff I'd been looking for like my cutting board (for fabric), the Aquadoodle pad, a certain wreath, etc. I also got a ton of garbage out of there and had enough room left over to hang mops, brooms & such in the closet. Fantastic. And I cleared out Holden's too-small clothing and bagged it up. Hawk mentioned "yard sale" last week but I never had the opportunity to look for stuff in the basement to sell. We've never had one. I was supposed to go in on one with a friend a few years ago. I had all my stuff sorted and priced and then she called the night before & said her husband didn't want to be up at 8 a.m. to help. We hadn't planned on his help so I'm not sure I buy that excuse. In any case, I just donated the stuff.

Anyway, now I'm cleaning the oven b/c it's 70 degrees outside and I can have the windows open.

Zoe is on an Austin Powers kick. She likes "The Baby." And she does Dr Evil. She says, "One hundred dollars!" and puts her index finger on her mouth. Good enough.

Our new computer CPU is supposed to arrive today, probably around 5, which completes the new computer. We have the speakers & monitor. Hawk cleared the Dell out & took it down to the playroom. It'll be a gaming computer now. Mmm... Siiims.

That's about it for happenin's at Chez Piggyhawk. Oops! UPS man is here! Whoo!

So we're having lunch & Hawk is going through the mail. All of a sudden he chuckles & hands me an envelope. I've been summoned for jury duty.

I was summoned once in college but I wasn't living at home then so I got excused. So I've never done this. I'm to report 5/30 & 5/31, a Wed/Th. Which means Hawk will have to take off work to kid-watch. I can't take them with me b/c I have to drive to the high school and get bussed over to the courthouse, which is a ridiculous waste of money in my opinion. Plus I have to leave here around 8 a.m. to get there on time. Ugh.

I had to fill out a questionaire & return it. I had to say that Scooter is a cop & Hotshot is a lawyer and that our bastard landlord in Colorado sued us (although the suit didn't see the light of day). I also had to say my level of education, Hawk's and the younglings', which would be "can sing Zoo Pals jingle and can close self in corner kitchen cabinet."

So that'll be fun.

Hawk said, "What if you get cloistered?"

I said, "You mean sequestered?"

Hawk said, "Yeah. That. Hey, I'm still sick."

I said, "At least it was a word that I knew what you meant." Then I sang "Dominque, Dominique."

My quote: "I remember five, six years ago that there was this concern that the Internet would turn people into hermits," said Lenz, who now lives near Altoona and did not attend the most recent meeting. "But what seems to have happened is that it's created a community that helps people connect and, in Erie anyway, has translated into real friendships."

The exerpts are from my "Holden -- 14 months" entry*. Not a sample of a typical entry for me. It makes it sound like a mommyblog (I prefer "mom who blogs" myself, since only a small percentage of entries are about the kids). Perhaps they couldn't find an entry suitable for quoting in a newspaper. I think they could have but oh well.

Cute photos of Jen & Michael :)

A long time coming. Thanks for the hits.

You're personally invited to scroll down, comb the archives, etc. and get a sense of the blog: chock full of four letter words, non-mainstream ideas and opinions and a whole hell of a lot of Joaquin Phoenix. Enjoy & come back as often as ya like. And check out the blogroll (sidebar, on right) for lots more Erie Bloggers (and non-Erie bloggers).

* ETA: That was an entry I threw together the next day, realizing I hadn't written his 14 mo update. I backdated it and there it was. The main post for the same day was, you guessed it, "Sex For The Married Woman."

ETA2: For some reason, there's discussion about this under an unrelated thread. To enjoy, go here.

A guitar strap.

I told you before about Sparklecraft and since I've decided to stop pussyfooting around and learn how to play this here guitar. It's hard to do w/o a strap and Hawk & I were too cheap to buy one when we bought the guitar. So I got "Guitar for Dummies" and I have a strap on the way. I'm determined to learn something on it sometime. I had learned a couple of chords before but I could never hold the thing right w/o a strap. Now I have no excuse. If I can write 60k in three weeks, I can teach myself guitar.

And that's how you connect with people you haven't talked to in like 15 years.

Remember B that I wrote about last week? I got curious and gave him the ol' Google treatment. I'd looked before and found nothing but this time I found a cavalcade of reference and photos. Dude writes comics now and started a publishing company. How fantabulous is that? Now I'm wondering how many other people who took that first fiction writing class at PSU Altoona ended up as writers.

So anyway...

What I did was I checked out their website, found some great articles that he & his writing partner did for Absolute Write and their publishing company's MySpace page. So I friended them. Their only friends are p0rn stars and strippers. Page after page. Naturally I knew I'd found the right guy. Now I have a couple porn stars as MySpace friends too but not 900+ of them. I do have the BWE 2003 cover up there b/c you never know when someone might read my story and Google me.

So later today I'll prepare a lengthy e-mail filling him in on things, life and whatnot. It's always amazed me how I can contact someone after a long time out of his/her life and the person doesn't tell me to fuck off. I was raised to believe that one disagreement = cut out of life forever. It's been hard accepting that people might have a fond memory or two of me, even when I have such fond memories of them. Case in point: Hawk. We'd known each other maybe ten years before we actually started to date, writing letters, drifting in & out of each other's lives... amazing.

So thanks to MySpace I found one of my all-time favorite people again and, if I can talk Hawk into it, I might try to get to a con in Pittsburgh in April. As it is, I'm going to have to get to bed so I'm bright-eyed and bushy tailed to write that missive. After all, I have to impress him with my mad writing skillz.

We're not going out to eat as it is six degrees.

There may be booze involved once Hawk is home. I'm not one of those horrid cocktail playdate mothers. Actually, I am but not when I'm alone. In fact Saturday was a combo cocktail playdate and stitch-n-bitch. It was teh awesome. You'll also be proud to know that I was inappropriate all day long.

Anyway, consider my horn tooted. Feel free to heap praise on me here or in the Project 365 post. My face hurts from the big dumb grin I've had since three o'clock.

According to the USPS postal tracking service, my JT's order is in the mailbox. So yeah, there's that as well.

Yes. I'm going to write some pornrotica now.

Reasons For Moving

Originally uploaded by edenza.

The Police will reunite to open the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 11, The Recording Academy said on Tuesday, fueling speculation that the hit 1980s band is planning a reunion tour.

The five-time Grammy-winning band, led by frontman Sting, with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, split up in 1984 and was last seen playing together in 2003 to commemorate their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The band, known for such hits as "Roxanne," "Message in a Bottle" and "Every Breath You Take," has never performed at the annual telecast for the music industry's most prestigious awards that are given by The Recording Academy.

"The Police join a stellar list of past Grammy Awards opening acts, which includes reunions and once-in-a-lifetime performances," said a statement from the academy.

Members of The Police have so far refused to confirm rumors that the band is planning to reunite in 2007 for dates in Britain and the United States, with this year marking the 30th anniversary of the release of "Roxanne."

Last month the band's label A&M Records, which is owned by Universal Music, said in a statement that they would mark the year somehow.

"It is our intention to mark the anniversary by doing something special with the band's catalog of songs. Needless to say, everyone is hopeful the band will support our plans and while early discussions have taken place, nothing has been decided," said the statement.

ETA: After I blogged this, I told Hawk about it. He said, "I wonder if Sting's going to wear that, ya know."

I said, "The big shoulder vest thing with all the strappy leather bits?"

He said, "Yeah. That."

I said, "I don't care if he's naked. I'm going."

Hawk said, "You'd rather he be naked anyway."

I said, "Well yeah. He's fucking Sting."

BTW: My language has been horrid lately. I blame my narrator.

Tonight Hawk had him standing up and let go and he took two steps forward. Then he did it again and he took three.

Look out ladies.

... hey that rhymes! Happy Christmas everyone.

(Posted by Hawk)

Minerva

Originally uploaded by edenza.
We went to our county's humane society, tried out some dogs but they were too big for Zoe and too rambunctious for Holden. So before we left, we checked out the cats. This skinny little black one came up to the front of her age (the other cats were a cattish "can't be bothered").

I held her and showed her to the kids and they lit up. Zoe got very excited, petted her, held her, etc. So For $40, $20 of which is refundable upon her spaying, we have instacat. She was unnamed, a stray. She loves to be held, loves curling up on laps and being social with us. Right now she's exploring our lower bath, where I set up a litter, food and water for her.

Her full name is Minerva Lily Bigglesworth. Minerva for Minerva McGonagall (girl at the HSCC loved that), Lily for Easter and Bigglesworth b/c as we left the shelter, Zoe said, "That's Doctor Evil's cat!" Yeah baby.

My goal was bi-layered. Primarily I wanted medical and ethnic information (which can be related to medical information). The gravy on that was possibly finding out names, learning locations, knowing about siblings. It never crossed my mind that I might find out the circumstances surrounding my adoption, the relationship my birthparents had or any of the other things that non-adoptees grow up knowing about where they come from.

I registered with the Soundex Reunion Registry, an international database that connects adoptees and birthparents via non-identifying information. I had learned about that via Dear Abby. You know, back before the advice Abby handed out was absolute schlock.

Before all this, I wrote a letter to the editor of the small town weekly where my (adoptive) mother told me my (birth) mother lived. It was about registering with Soundex and the importance of medical information for adoptees. It was published.

In January 2002, I registered at adoption.com, again to get medical information. I specified that anonymous contact was welcome, with non-identifying information. I heard nothing. I also posted on forums there, specific to my birth year and to Pennsylvania.

When I went to find my profile in December 2004, I couldn't find it. So I reregistered. I didn't post to the forums again. I withheld a few details, since I couldn't be sure about them anyway.

Meanwhile my birthmother registered at an AOL site. Then last summer she found adoption.com and my profile. She used Google on my name, which was at adoption.com and found either Toasted Cheese or my website. From there, she found "So anyway..." and began reading & watching for photos. She showed some photos to a friend/co-worker and asked "Does this look like me?" She sent an e-mail via adoption.com but didn't get a reply from me. On my end, I never saw it.

After Hal was born, she thought maybe she would get in touch but things came up and she forgot about it for a while. Then just over a week ago it crossed her mind again and she said, "I'm sending an e-mail. What do I have to lose?"

That night, I had read all the feeds at Bloglines, all my e-mail, etc. and something told me to look in my spam folder. I did and I found this (edited here):

I think I might be your birthmother.

I gave birth to a baby girl on December 21, 1971. She had reddish/brown (auburn) hair and big brown eyes.

I tried to contact you before, but had no response.

I have been searching for your for a very long time. I have added information to my profile for you which concerns myself and your birthfather. I have been trying to locate him as well so that I could give you that information but have been unsuccessful.

I hope you are not too bitter and will at least take the time to write back.

I should have guessed that she read the blog when I saw the last line (and the "auburn"). ;)

So that was on a Friday. I was alone when I got it & no one was on IM so I just absorbed it for a while. I replied that my birthday is actually the previous day but that maybe we could still help each other even if there was no connection. I thought if she wasn't the one, maybe a birthmother in search and an adoptee in search might be symbiotic. But in the back of my mind, I thought "The date could be off b/c I know I was born after 11 p.m."

Sure enough, it was. As I wrote/IMed my friends, I was afraid for a moment I might actually be a Capricorn! Hehehe @ my Capricorn friends.

So anyway...

I waited out the whole weekend, checking my inbox constantly. Nothing. So by Monday morning, I figured AOL had bounced my response to her and that would be the end of it. I turned the computer on a little after 11. My computer clock said 11:11 when I sat down to check e-mail. Right on top of my inbox, timestamped 11:09, was a reply.

We e-mailed back and forth all day, each letting slip a little detail here and there. She came back with some of the things my (adoptive) mother had told me (many things have checked out not to be true -- more on that in a later post). I gave her a county where I'd been told she lived; she came back with the name of the small town where she'd stayed with family while pregnant. It was too much coincidence.

We decided to call & talk that afternoon but Z & H decided not to nap at the right time so we didn't get to talk until Tuesday afternoon. We started off chatting about the weather but it didn't take long to get into life details. Where we'd lived, things we'd done. That was when I heard one of the Al Jardine stories. Even Hawk, Beach Boys fanatic that he is, liked hearing my retelling. I found out that my birthmother is a natural storyteller. I mostly just listened to everything, enjoying the details and being completely blown away that I had my birthmother on the phone.

I found out about my birthfather too. As I suspected, he served in Vietnam but not after I was born. He was injured in a motorcycle accident and came home before I was born. I also found out that he owned a bright orange Roadrunner ("with the horn that went beepbeep") and was the redhead in my lineage. I won't get into the specific relationship details but what my birthmother said made a lot of sense to me. Not that I agreed w/ how things turned out necessarily (there was, let's say, some "parental interference") but that I believed things unfolded as she said they did.

Also on Tuesday, she brought in some photos, scanned them and e-mailed them. Any remaining doubt I had went out the window. I have childhood photos that look practically identical.

I once blogged that when Zoe was born, I just stared at her almost constantly. It was so foreign to see someone who looked like me. She had my cheekbones, my chin, my hair color. I did the same with Hal (same chin, same cheeks, more my nose and eyes and, again, the hair). To go in the other direction and see older photos of someone who looked like me was incredible. It was, so far, the most overwhelming part of the experience. Much more so than the phone call, which felt very natural & comfortable.

So last week was a whirlwind and, as I said yesterday, were it not for the Lost Blogs posts and the TomKat crap, you probably wouldn't have heard more than a short note from me.

Also, since my (adoptive) mother has never had a Poodlesque nickname, we will now be referring to My Two Mothers as *drumroll* Flora (adoptive mother) and Callei (birth mother). There will be a quiz later so sharpen your #2 pencils.

ETA: We are also doing a DNA test, to confirm. We're happy & 99.44% sure we're right but we both need that 100%.

She uses phrases like "so not going to happen." She's met Al Jardine multiple times (w/ a photo to prove it). I found out that not only has she thought about writing a book but has given it a try. I learned about the jobs she's had, friends she's known and places she's lived. Most shocking of all: she's a regular reader/lurker of "So anyway...".

My birth mother found me (thanks to Adoption.com's reunion registry and the magic the is Google). More posts & details to come throughout the week. To quote my Lost Blogger subject from last week, this is a good thing.

HUGE news! "Envy" is going to be in BEST WOMEN'S EROTICA 2002!!!

I think I may just die.

This would never have happened without the editorial assitance of Jamie Joy Gatto at Mind Caviar. She is a brilliant editor who helped me develop this story into what you see on that page.

Gobsmacked. The only word I have.

First of all: excellent news! TC is in the March Writer's Digest (pg 48 I believe). I haven't seen it yet, so I can't describe. But I understand the toasted cheese metaphor is pretty marvy. Anyway, we're known about this since December, so it feels good to finally say "here we are!" {And "fuck you, eVil" ;)}

Second: I forgot one of my snarky comments about the opening ceremonies. I liked the bit with the Native Americans after the athletes were seated, especially the welcoming of the atheletes by each chief and the exchange of gifts. But we flipped away & flipped back & saw a bunch of happy, dancing settlers and covered wagons. How they segued from one to the other must have been an absolute riot. (I'll spare the history lesson)

And what was the deal w/ GW on the skater's cell phone? You know, the last time I saw a President w/ a brunette wearing a beret...

Anyway, gaming last night. Long story short: we killed a water viper and some more giant ants, including a queen and her guardian ant. Then we met an elf ghost who gave us some nifty treasure. Then we went through some honeycombs of giant bees. Haven't been attacked... yet. (Random thought: You'd never know I was a writer by this pp, would you?)

Speaking of writing, I've been working on a new piece*. I'm wondering if it's a book or just a really long short story. Doesn't matter right now b/c I'm only a few K into it. It'll depend on how the outlining goes. Wait a tick. Outlining? That'd be WORK!

In more fun-ness, I'm going to play the Trollops & Johns game. I started last night. Had to delete my first set of trollops b/c the johns hated them. Anyway, their names are Hilde (which I got from the Olympics), Zhang and Scarlett. I was blanking on the final name. The johns are Aaron, Brian, Cullen, David and Eric. How boring, I know, but it was quick.

And so is today's blog.

* ETA: This piece became "Reasons For Moving," my second book

First of all, I decided to join the Friday Five bandwagon. Toasted Cheese has been doing "Five Unmistakable Marks" for nearly a year now (!) and since I'm in the mode anyway, why not?

1. What do you have your browser start page set to? My browser page is a "start" page on my own domain. Full of links to everything from research tool URLs to In Passing.

2. What are your favorite news sites? Hrm. I do get news off MSN every day. Not that it's any good or particularly informative. The Salon is good. Otherwise, I'll stick with The Onion here ;) Their "Holy Fucking Shit" coverage slayed.

3. Favorite search engine? Google. Too many ads on others.

4. When did you first get online? You mean today? (INT: 10) Um, actually I think that was probably circa 1996 or 1997. I had to go to the Erie County Public Library and log on there. I spent most of my time getting errors (404s, "not enough memory," images that wouldn't load, etc.). I don't think they ever defrag or clear out superfluous info. That library tweaks my cheese. They have next to no Wicca books and the books I do need for research or whatever always show up as "available" on the computer but are never on the shelf. And I think I'm on of the few people in the world who actually prefers using the card file. There's something retro-sexy about it.

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? I'm supposed to plan ahead? Anyway, I think they ask this question every week. So technically, it's a Friday Four, IMO. But I'll say "probably writing erotica," as you'll see below.

Str: 8
Int: 10
Wis: 14
Dex: 11
Con: 11
Chr: 14

So I am a natural cleric. I couldn't fight worth shit, but I could at least cast a decent spell. I must admit, the INT score bothers me a bit. According to the state of Florida, I'm pretty damn smart. Not a word. Anyhow...

The new game begins Thursday. I'm planning to play an Aasimar paladin/cleric (of Sune, I'm leaning). Her name is probably going to by Vianore, which is the wind goddess name I'd made up for the story I was writing, but now I'll be too busy writing por... erotica, as (again) you'll see below.

1) A pretzel? A pretzel?? You gotta be shittin' me. Did someone tell him he's President and he gasped and sucked it down his windpipe? You can bet had he not bunged his face up, we never would have heard this. Even Dan Quayle had to have said, "What a goober."
2) This is true. See Song 1 on Springsteen (un)Plugged if you don't believe me.
3) Further proof that FSU rules

* Hello to Friday Five folks reading this blog for the first time.