Settling into the new normal....

There! I said it! The new normal has arrived, I think! We still have to get past the "I am unintentionally unemployed but loving it" phase I am stuck in. I do love being home, always have, but the budget does not allow that luxury so I have been diligently sending out resumes and networking as hard as I can. No luck yet! I know something will come along but I sure wish we could find something NOW!! I have cut back in every area I possible can! I am going keep this frugalness going too!

Meanwhile, we really have gotten things working pretty well with school and activities in full swing. Julee and I have always liked being on a set schedule and Al can go with the flow most times. We didn't know how Chelsee would like our routine at first, but she seems to love it like we do. We do the high school thing early in the morning, a long walk for Philly, sweating in the garden, and then breakfast which sometimes includes my littlest sweetie and sometimes not! Chelsee loves her sleep like I do! And so if she doesn't feel the need to pee, she can sleep in til 8a or 9a! Or sometimes, she just plays in her bed (she LOVES her bed) for a good long time before calling for me. She never gets out of bed on her own! We love that about her. If she stays in her bed, then I get the rare read-the-paper-alone-without-20-questions time. Albee gets up sometime in here too and we all just start doing stuff around the house. Wash, cleaning, songs, flash cards, coloring, eating, shopping, whatever needs doing!

Then I get Chelsee ready for school, teeth brushed, peeps, etc! She can nearly dress herself now; she has made great strides there. Albee usually takes her to school and she is beyond ready to go at this point! I have exactly one and a half hours between when Chelsee goes to school and Julee is done with school! Right now, Julee is on the JV volleyball team, so she stays after school for practice most days. I pick up Chelsee from school, run an errand or 2, get Julee and bring them both home for a quick snack and we are back out the door for that night's activities. We have one or more scheduled activities each weeknight except Thursday....which I am sure will change as soon as I hit the enter button. Julee, Chelsee and I try to eat dinner together and if Albee is off that day, he joins us! Homework, reading books, baths and bed! I have to sign a tree's worth of papers every night and write something down on the calendar for the next day! We do lunches at night. I volunteer for as much as I can right now but I will have to pull back when I get a job!

It is a pleasure and an honor to be these 2 girl's mom! I take pride in making them happy and teaching them how to smile in this crazy world! Today, I asked Chelsee to come over and sit with me on the couch cause I wanted to tell her how much I love her and to tell her how proud I am of her. I told her she is doing a great job and that she is so brave. That we love her being in our family and we love it that she is so happy with us. She hugged my neck so hard she shook! A wave of emotion came over me and it made me cry! I think this is really feeling real to me now! She is my forever daughter and I adore this child. She is such an amazing person and I can not thank God enough for putting us together! She really seems to understand what has happened to her and that her new life is now her forever life. She talks about China all the time and how we came to meet her there and bring her home. She tells me she is soo happy that I am her mommy. She does NOT want to call me Mama because that is for another woman.....and Chelsee tells me she does not want that Mama to be her mommy. Sometimes Chelsee tells me things about her other Mama that no one wants to hear but I praise her soooo highly for telling me all about her. That way, her feelings are out and we can talk about them. Chelsee also talks about going back to China, but that I have to come with her. I know she is trusting me now and I am so relieved she feels so secure that she can tell me the things she is remembering about her life in China. We are so lucky she can do this.....it is so wonderful for her to talk about all of this.

I'd also like to send out some prayers to my niece Jennifer, her husband Bruce and their 2 children. They are battling a horrific disease as a unified family with dignity and grace. I am so proud of them and wish them love and prayers as they face the unimaginable. They inspire me to be more patient and kind and to be thankful for all that I do have! Today and always!