The website I just started

I almost titled this blog "My new website," but this site is not MY website in the sense of, "a website about me." It's a website for people who care about others, who want to see our differences celebrated and respected. It's about having the freedom to love a child or a spouse of another race. It's about variegated quilts of families, each square valued.

I never thought I would start a website, but I saw a need for this. Already, people are saying, "Thank you...this is great." Bu...Read more

New Year's with half a brain

Sometimes your brain just doesn't work right. People say this is common during pregnancy, as I keep telling my husband when he gets aggravated with me. Never mind that I've had this problem my whole life. How can I manage to write complex plots and organize reams of information for articles, yet I can't remember what car we're in or what side the gas tank is on? Or why do I ask my husband, "Hey, where's MY Big Mac?" when he just placed it right under my nose!?

This is probably ...Read more

Asian Boy Baby Doll

When siblings are close together, it's hard to know how they will take a new arrival. A great idea came from a mom with boys just 18 months apart....she gave the older boy a baby doll so he could get his "baby" when she was taking care of the new one. (Never mind that the kid dragged the baby doll around by the head.). John's second birthday is on Sunday, and our second son arrives at the end of February. I've been looking for a baby doll for him.

Went to the toy store, and all the baby dolls are either blond...Read more

Methodists Do It Better...

...and no, I'm not talking about sex (though I admit, I do giggle every time I hear the dumb old joke about Baptists not "doing it" standing up because it might look like dancing). We went to an event that happened to be at a Methodist church, but could have been put on by many groups, and it was better. Better than the knee-jerk complaints you hear every year at the holidays.

A parking attendant waved us onto a driveway lined with kitschy milk-gallon lanterns. Kids, teens, and adults stood in the bitter cold,...Read more

Shootings Spur Thought

It seems like every day, we hear about a random, senseless act of violence. Some nut (notice that I left his name out) went on a shooting spree in CO, hitting a missionary training center and a church. Two teen girls at the church, and two young people at the mission center lost their lives. But I was really struck by what I heard next. A female security worker at the church took the gunman out, saving many more lives. (I'm wondering if she had a concealed carry permit, or if she only carried her gun on "special" occasion...Read more

Best Birth Control Ever

Is there a category for poop blogs? I seem to have a lot of them...

Those of you thinking, "Man, I'd like to have kids someday,"--chew on this: John pooped in the bathtub tonight. Yes, floaties. In the middle of bathtime. The faint of heart would go running out the door into the Ohio snow. But I am not faint of heart. I am the Hapa's Mama. Ameliorating Poop-in-Tub:

1. Drain the tub.

2. Get a disposable cup--scoop the solids into the toilet.

3. Move the kid to the other ...Read more

A snapshot of HELL

HELL....plunging a toilet for half a freakin' hour on a Monday night, after a long day at work, with no success, and a slightly ill, very hungry toddler banging on the bathroom door, and a spouse at work, and no dinner made, and no plumber.

PS-I hate shitwater. Did I mention how ladylike I usually am?

Tell me about something hellish that's happened to you recently...

Unnamed Friend's KiwiFRUIT Disaster

Last night, Jeremy and I dropped off John at the in-laws' and went to a party at Unnamed Friend's house. He's a bona-fide privacy freak, so out of respect for his wishes, I won't publish his name here. He's a single guy, just turned 33, and recently bought a home in one of Cincinnati's historic neighborhoods.

Jeremy and I took a gander around while UF (a vegan) made some "cheese" dip. We were lusting after the beautiful wood door jambs and three floors plus full basement. (We&#...Read more

Thanks Living

Thanksgiving is my husband Jeremy's favorite holiday, and I like it a lot too. Every Thanksgiving's been a little different for me, what with moving, a changing family and life. No matter where I'm at, it's a day to reflect on family and what I've been blessed with.

This morning, I was watching Good Morning America and a report brought tears to my eyes.....a fortunate few American troops have made it home for the holiday. They showed two dads surprising their young daughters at school....these precious little ones we...Read more

Skyscraper Girl

This is funny, and it points up the differences between your IRL and your Internet social lives....the one thing people notice first about me in person is something you may not know.

I'm tall. Really tall. Five foot eleven, barefoot. And yes, that's five inches taller than my husband (though he likes to wear boots )

They say if you measure a girl at age two, or a boy at age 2 1/2, and double it, that's a good prediction of adult height. I was three feet, so I grew up kno...Read more