tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77077239401545708952012-02-16T07:36:19.483-05:00My journey as the wife of a reunited Korean adoptee, becoming the mother of a Korean adoptee and realizing how loving them changes the way I see the world.Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.comBlogger501100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-33552492536865189902010-02-10T04:04:00.004-05:002010-02-10T05:12:15.615-05:00

It's been so long since I had the time or energy to blog that many, many adoption-related happenings are all jumbled up in my head. Since I last wrote, I have watched the adoption world wrestle with the Anita Tedaldi fiasco (bleh), the news reports of adoption fraud and outright kidnapping cases in China (heartwrenching), scandals involving Ethiopian adoption and US agencies "mining" children

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-91851971550942996182010-02-06T01:33:00.010-05:002010-02-06T04:26:15.090-05:00

Okay, it's been a long, long time since I posted anything here. It's been a long, long year all around. I've started a thousand posts, only to second guess what I should share and whether I even understood what was really happening to my family myself.I have written other posts about how traumatized my son was when he arrived at the airport (http://seoulmama.blogspot.com/2008/10/

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-45099284184866675222009-04-29T14:00:00.005-04:002009-04-29T14:09:55.704-04:00

I’ve been thinking a lot about the words used to describe relinquishment of children who are placed for adoption. Some of the words I hear frequently are give up; surrender; relinquish; throw away; abandon.Relinquish:1.) 1). to cede something, to renounce or surrender something2.) abandon something, to give something up or put something aside3.) let something go, to let go of something

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-23689763073035623202009-04-21T08:18:00.008-04:002009-04-21T11:11:15.469-04:00

I've been so busy raising this wonderful boy that I haven't kept this blog up lately, but there a lot of things I want to say about adoption in general and ours in particular so I've decided that it is time to start writing again.One of the first letters I need to write is to Tae-son's First Mother. Our adoption, like most Korean adoptions, is closed. That means that we did not receive any

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-14706190345065290802009-04-20T11:12:00.000-04:002009-04-21T12:01:22.282-04:00

Okay, it's been a long time since I posted photos of my favorite boy so here are some of my favorites over the last few months...Tae-son's first chocolate biscotti...boy did he enjoy that one!The most beautiful smile I've ever seen!Enjoying the first nice day in what feels like a million years :)Blowing kisses...Playing with Appa.The last photos with Halmoni before she went back to Korea.Picture

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-79971720103863252662009-01-15T11:18:00.000-05:002009-02-05T11:39:32.194-05:00

There is another tragic story in the news about an adoptee whose adoption was never properly naturalized by her abusive adoptive parents and who has now been deported. This is a disgrace, and our lawmakers should immediately make all people brought to the US for adoption automatic citizens - retroactively this time.These adoptees are minor children when they are brought into our country without

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-63403915564196677892009-01-05T11:42:00.004-05:002009-02-06T10:50:33.944-05:00

"The Lie We LoveBy E. J. Graffjkl;\November/December 2008Foreign adoption seems like the perfect solution to a heartbreaking imbalance: Poor countries have babies in need of homes, and rich countries have homes in need of babies. Unfortunately, those little orphaned bundles of joy may not be orphans at all.ALEXANDER MARTINEZ/AFP/Getty ImagesWho's your mommy?: Parents might never know if their

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-3692776905999845382008-12-25T01:44:00.000-05:002009-02-05T02:49:02.755-05:00

It always surprises me how little, and yet expensive, the gifts get as the kids get older. This year was all about video iPods and DS games and cell phones for the older two girlsand a purebred mini-lop rabbit named Ace for E2. (No, I'm not a rabbit snob...E2 belongs to a 4-H club where, believe it or not, they enter their rabbits into shows, much like dog shows) and she has proven herself as we

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-44928908783479757732008-12-13T02:46:00.006-05:002009-01-20T03:58:08.209-05:00

Today we finally managed to find the time to get the Christmas tree. We've always been a weekend-after-Thanksgiving kind of family but this year we were getting concerned that we'd end up being the Charlie Brown Christmas tree family at the lot on Christmas Eve! The girls are on the swim team, which generally means meets all day Saturdays and as they get older they have plans with friends more

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-39103888937324754322008-12-07T22:33:00.000-05:002009-01-15T23:02:04.270-05:00

Today our son had his Tol party, and I was so touched at how many of our friends and family drove through the snow to celebrate this milestone with him. Because it was very important to us that his transition be as gentle as possible we "cocooned" him for over a month when he arrived from Korea, making sure he heard lots of Korean, smelled Korean food on a regular basis and have made a point to

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-68877626294813691992008-12-01T22:12:00.000-05:002009-01-15T22:36:39.337-05:00

Halmoni is in the house!! It’s been a long day for H and E2 and even longer for Halmoni, who spent 22 hours on a plane, but she made it। And it was so wonderful to see her again. She flew into Newark, New Jersey because it was the only way we could find to get her all the way to the East coast without having to change planes, and she was really nervous about changing planes. We were all going to

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-57404683996566574992008-11-21T15:37:00.006-05:002008-11-21T16:14:34.368-05:00

Well, we are $1500 bucks poorer today and walking on air. My mother-in-law will be arriving at Newark International Airport at 4:25 pm on December 1st. She called last night and after ten garbled phone calls full of confusion and a frantic internet search for a "reasonable" flight with only one stop at Narita, Japan. She'll be staying with us for a full three months and it will be the most time

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-82727719844429413322008-11-19T07:14:00.010-05:002008-11-19T15:08:01.496-05:00

It has been a pretty eventful week at our house, and lots of good things going on! Thursday Tae-son and I headed up to Norwood to visit my Auntie Sue, who was recovering nicely in the hospital, thankfully. It was fun to introduce her to the baby and we got to meet my cousin Becky's new son, Elijah, at the same time. Tae-son was very charming (feeling better already on his second day of the

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-8313585791090424412008-11-13T21:24:00.006-05:002008-11-13T22:06:02.330-05:00

This was a beautiful week...the last little bit of nice weather before the winter really sets in. Tae-son gets bigger by the day, and his personality unfolds before us. He will now sit in his stroller if we are walking outside and sings to me as I push him.He was enthralled by the grass...until it hit him in the face as he was crawling.Playing with his sister Practicing reading music already!

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-90729191758319210862008-11-04T07:48:00.007-05:002008-11-04T10:24:48.394-05:00

Halloween is probably the best day of the year in our little hometown.  It is the one time our community really shines, with all the children in the town invited to the town center to trick or treat on the quaint streets around the park with their families, a parade down the main street with a bagpipe band leading the way From Tae--son's Seventh Weekand a free Halloween party and costume contest

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-71195253510891479602008-10-24T13:27:00.001-04:002009-02-05T01:44:08.989-05:00

I finally have three minutes and a soundly sleeping baby so maybe I can catch up a little bit. Our little man is really beginning to settle in and show his personality now…and it’s quite a personality! He doesn’t do things halfway. He is so charming, with kisses and hugs and patting your back when he’s happy, he has a fabulous sense of humor and about the worst temper I’ve ever seen in a baby.

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-13595842706421560172008-10-20T05:12:00.000-04:002008-10-28T05:29:19.301-04:00

I was so excited today to get new photos of our neice Ta-Hae and new nephew, Min Joon. They are so beautiful, and I'm so sad that we have to wait until Tae-son's adoption is final before we can go visit them in Korea. It must be a million times harder for my husband. It will be four years in November since he's seen his mother's face, touched her hand or smelled her scent. He has a neice he

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-72990584274309682042008-10-11T04:54:00.000-04:002008-10-28T05:09:04.676-04:00

From Tae-son's Fourth Week Home)So this is the last picture of Tae-son with crazy baby hair. H says he looks a little too much like Kim Jong Il with his hair like that (an old family joke since that's what H's hair looks like first thing in the morning) and it's time to get it cut. He went to the barber with Appa and sat in my lap while they cut it. I was amazed that he didn't even cry when they

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-49479327222740974942008-10-01T04:04:00.000-04:002008-10-28T04:52:17.520-04:00

All in all, it's been a great week. We are sort of back on a routine now that Mike is back at work and Tae-son and I have had lots of long, lovely days to get to know each other. To help ease Appa's aching heart, we had lunch with him at work almost every day this week and we also visited my friend Michelle and her little ones. Tae-son was fascinated by the other kids and had a great time playing

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-41400064992101203052008-09-28T02:51:00.012-04:002008-10-28T04:02:06.708-04:00

I finally have three minutes and a soundly sleeping baby so maybe I can catch up a little bit on this blog. I should probably be catching up on the twenty loads of laundry waiting for me, but this is much more fun.Our little man is really beginning to settle in and show his personality now…and it’s quite a personality! He doesn’t do things halfway. He is so charming, with kisses and hugs and

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-77118419241837700762008-09-22T08:01:00.016-04:002008-09-22T10:48:39.282-04:00

Well, we had a great day just hanging around and enjoying the last day of summer. H made everyone pumpkin waffles for breakfast and they were a big hit with Tae-son. Actually, every food has been a big hit with him! Bulgogi, japchae, kimchi pajun, indian food, waffles, prunes, sweet potatoes, plain pumpkin, spinach and dates all went down without any hesitation. He's so cute when he really likes

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-30915355544254676992008-09-20T04:45:00.003-04:002008-10-24T08:42:03.128-04:00

So, here we are at the end of the first week since Tae-son arrived in America.  He is adjusting better than I ever dreamed possible…as long as his Appa is holding him.  H and Tae-son have this incredible bond and it was immediately obvious that Tae-son was comfortable with him. Mike makes up funny songs about kimchee and silly boys and that baby flashes the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen.  

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-20488290200824769502008-09-10T03:31:00.000-04:002008-09-21T05:07:09.997-04:00

We are home and I am exhausted, but I just have to say that this baby is the most gorgeous child I have ever laid eyes on. He is smart, sweet, and amazingly calm considering what he has just been through. Oh, and H? Talk about love at first sight. He and Tae-son have been grinning at each other like two fools since we walked out of the airport. I'll fill in all the gory details later, but for

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-8303571616114198112008-09-09T15:23:00.000-04:002008-09-21T03:31:23.753-04:00

We are leaving soon to go to the airport...I know we've packed way too much stuff but I'd rather have it and not need it than the reverse! We ran around all morning in the torrential downpours grabbing all of those last minute things. We went to the Korean grocery store and bought three of our favorite kinds of Korean crackers and assorted foods that were H's favorites as a little child. We

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-59954405832793764092008-09-06T03:00:00.000-04:002008-09-21T03:22:54.400-04:00

So, remember how I was complaining about my birthday yesterday and what a horrible day I was having? Scratch that. The most incredible thing happened last night. I still feel like I'm dreaming.H and I had just settled down on the couch to watch a movie with E2 when the phone rang. Now, with all these girls my phone rings all the time. M had left it upstairs in her room before she left to

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-38729098265230051452008-09-05T21:46:00.000-04:002008-09-21T02:58:50.187-04:00

I turned 35 years old today. God that really does sound kind of old. How come I don't really feel any different than I did when I turned 25? Well, I do feel a lot smarter than I was when I was 25. And I'm not married to a jerk anymore. And I have a whole lot more wisdom and skill and knowledge than I did when I was 25. Maybe it's not so bad after all. My Happy Birthday, Mom this morning

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-86085577493935853172008-09-03T02:19:00.000-04:002008-09-21T02:44:04.943-04:00

So no baby news this week and we still don't know if Tae-son's visa approval was found yet, but we did celebrate our wedding anniversary this weekend. Since Tae-son will still have to have a medical exam, get a travel visa from the Korean government and the agency has to find an escort to bring him to JFK in New York City, we must be looking at weeks still before we get that phone call. Knowing

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-91396876833464789502008-08-29T01:57:00.000-04:002008-09-21T02:18:16.265-04:00

Well, we all survived the first week of school and I realized on Tuesday that H and I are celebrating our anniversary this weekend...hopefully our last before we are officially parents together. Oh, we've been raising the girls together since Emma was three years old, but they've always gone to visit their dad at least once a month and pretty consistently for the last few years we've had every

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-76072220285490182982008-08-27T12:30:00.000-04:002008-08-31T07:38:32.708-04:00

My husband's brother and his wife, who live in Osu, South Korea have been expecting their second child for about two weeks now, and we were thrilled to hear last night that the baby has arrived and he and his mom are doing just fine. Ta-hae, his two year old sister, was having a much tougher time dealing with being upstaged by her new brother.H wants to go and see the baby and his brother so much

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-65394112193009070492008-08-26T00:39:00.000-04:002008-09-21T01:56:04.296-04:00

Well, it's officially over. No matter what the calendar says, school starts tomorrow and summer is over at our house. M is excited to go back to school; she is a sophomore this year and a great student. She misses the hustle and bustle of classes, sports and clubs and especially the daily interaction with all of her friends. E2 is also very excited about school starting. She goes to school in a

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-58217348186236398272008-08-23T00:29:00.001-04:002008-09-21T00:37:32.671-04:00

Well, as I wrote the other day, we were thrilled to learn that Tae-son's visa interview had already been conducted and that his approval had been sent to Eastern on August 11, 2008. We were so excited in fact that we called the adoption agency to see if they had any time frame for us as far as when we could expect him to come home.The director of our agency was very surprised to hear that the

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-53557990688035358212008-08-19T11:14:00.000-04:002008-08-31T07:26:00.226-04:00

Now that we are getting ready to go back to school and the nights are feeling a little crisper, we are really getting anxious for this baby to arrive. He will be nine months old on August 30, and it seems as though we are missing so many precious moments with each day that passes. I wonder if he can say any words yet, if he is pulling himself up or crawling, if he still has those adorable

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-30362836580949463072008-08-15T18:42:00.000-04:002008-08-31T07:14:00.099-04:00

Well, the nursery is all painted, the crib is put together, the bedding has been purchased, washed and put on, we now have three carseats, clothes in three different sizes (we have no idea how much Tae-son has grown since May), a high chair, shoes, slippers, a changing table, pacifiers, bottles, formula, bibs and lots of toys. I'm still on the hunt for a stroller that is big enough to be comfy

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-74535305419917629782008-08-11T06:07:00.000-04:002008-08-31T06:42:16.384-04:00

As most of you know, H and I live in a very small town. With no stop lights and lots of farmland. We moved here because housing was extremely affordable, and we were buying at a very high point in the market. We also got stuck in a situation where the house we were renting was sold and so we had to find a place in 30 days. Not the best way to enter the real estate market. It's a nice enough

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-66499374348864354812008-08-03T13:42:00.000-04:002008-08-20T21:46:21.246-04:00

August 3, 2008I arrived home to discover that my husband had dismantled his entire office space and even brought his furniture down to the basement. It was such a rush of joyful reality, that this phantom child that we have been imagining and admiring from a few outdated photos is an actual real child who will really be coming to live with us soon. Obviously even he, the eternal pessimist (sorry

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-33578489823434093292008-07-22T11:38:00.000-04:002008-12-11T03:40:53.482-05:00

Today is Mike's 38th Birthday (39th in Korea). Hope this is the best year yet ...

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-81707880881621578812008-07-20T20:16:00.000-04:002008-12-11T03:40:53.789-05:00

After the near despair of earlier this week when it appeared that USCIS was sitting on our I-600 petition while waiting for my husband's mysterious A file to arrive and be reviewed, we arrived home yesterday to find a large brown envelope from USCIS in the mailbox.After the week we'd had with them and knowing that I had been a pest, I half expected to find a request for further information, a

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-24875641133826642502008-07-20T18:56:00.000-04:002008-12-11T03:40:54.679-05:00

Hello All, and so sorry for the long lapse between posts! I’ve been typing, just never finding the time to post! So, here’s the last two weeks of our life: July 17th, 2008 Well, we received another email from USCIS (in reply to mine) which was not entirely reassuring. “Thank you for your offer, but we are in the process of retrieving thefiles we need. There is nothing needed from you at this

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-85001275667973241792008-07-02T15:40:00.000-04:002008-12-11T03:40:54.870-05:00

We have been really busy here enjoying the summer and preparing for Tae-son’s arrival. We had our fingerprints taken yesterday at the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) Hartford Service Office at 249 Pearl Street, Hartford, Connecticut. We were a little surprised about the location, especially since we submitted our application to the Boston Field Office, but it worked

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-12359542965239256612008-06-29T10:42:00.000-04:002008-07-20T18:50:57.364-04:00

Today we are sitting down trying to figure out when and how we should bring Mike's mother over for a visit. She lives on a farm in the south of Korea, and it has been three years since her last visit. Getting a visitor visa is very difficult because there is no legal relationship between Mike and his mother in the US's eyes. Also, we would like her to stay for an extended period of time, but we

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-76695786648961906912008-06-25T22:56:00.000-04:002008-12-11T03:40:55.316-05:00

Okay, so we are allowed to send two small items to Tae-son before he comes home. They have to be reasonably small, not for the foster mom, (Sorry Mrs. W) and light. And show our undying love and committment to this child. And help him get used to our scent. And they should incorporate our photos so we don't look quite so wierd to him. A tall order, no? So here's what we settled on after two weeks

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-27167557348569361212008-06-24T11:50:00.000-04:002008-06-24T11:56:59.637-04:00

After a painful and exhausting week, we found out that Niko was beyond any help. After bringing him to Tufts Small Animal Hospital in North Grafton, we were told that he would never regain the use of his legs, bladder or bowels and would remain in excruciating pain for the remainder of his life. The remainder of his life was mercifully short. For a dog who lived only five short years, he loved a

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-40658158240653881992008-06-23T04:11:00.001-04:002008-12-11T03:40:55.494-05:00

It's been long week. My dog, Niko, is still really, really sick. We were told to expect some improvement within 24-48 hours after starting the antibiotics and it has been six days with no change. He has lost all feeling and control of his hips, legs, tail, bladder and bowels. He is wracked with seizures and spasms. He pants frantically for hours at a time. In my heart I know that we can't put him

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-78433296130872161042008-06-19T15:20:00.002-04:002008-06-19T20:24:50.490-04:00

So, I'm starting to wonder what it's like to raise a boy. Hopefully, they don't do this: Of course, they only do that when I'm not in the room.If you do have a boy - let me know what it's like!K

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-69188273569277229172008-06-18T09:46:00.000-04:002008-12-11T03:40:55.746-05:00

Yesterday we came home from visiting our friend, Michelle, and her gorgeous wee ones to find our trusty mutt, Niko (on the right in this photo), shivering uncontrollably and whimpering as he tried unsuccessfully to find a comfortable position on the floor. I knew he wasn't feeling too well the last few days, but this was really scary. He couldn't even get up to greet us at the door, and his back

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-27252963561538199982008-06-16T21:45:00.000-04:002008-12-11T03:40:55.913-05:00

June 17th is always a tough day at our house. June 17, 1980 is the day that my husband's family brought him to Kimpo Airport in Seoul and put him on a plane for JFK. Today, my husband has been in the US for 17 years longer than he lived in Seoul, but some integral, intuitive part of him is still Korean. He still walks around with a foot in each world, never completely belonging to either one.

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-39472599124468282852008-06-16T09:22:00.000-04:002008-12-11T03:40:56.449-05:00

Yesterday we had my father, my stepmother and my youngest two sisters over for dinner and dessert. It was a lovely day, and we were all happy to be together. My dad, who has spent the last 2 months helping us complete the Bathroom from Hell, was in quite a bit of pain. See, he insisted on helping H and our friend, T, to carry the (!) 450 lb vanity up a flight of stairs and threw his back out.

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-45371950382783566182008-06-15T21:24:00.000-04:002008-12-11T03:40:56.609-05:00

Today was H's first Appa's Day as an "official" parent. We have been raising the three girls together for almost 7 years, but there is still always a line of "mine" and "hers" and of course we are usually sending the kids to Uncle Daddy's for Father's Day. Now, for the first time, H gets to be the one and only Appa. (Korean for Dad) This is a big thing.I looked at so many things for his first,

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-21746694570365758012008-06-06T22:17:00.000-04:002008-12-11T03:40:56.766-05:00

Being 13So, E went to a dance tonight at the church up the street. Our school is too concerned about lawsuits to allow dances to be held there, so the local church has a group of parents that volunteer to supervise about a hundred and fifty seventh and eighth graders as they dance, sweat, kiss, cry and make out in the dark, smelly basement of the church. Honestly...you couldn't pay

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7707723940154570895.post-68310841671484034552008-06-06T16:48:00.000-04:002008-06-08T09:44:49.143-04:00

Well, today we got the momentous phone call. Actually, we got the momentous phone call yesterday but we were having lunch together at Ruby Tuesday and missed the call. This is not a very auspicious beginning. By the time we got the message, C had left for the day. We just have to wait. It was a really long night and I got about 5 minutes of sleep.So, at 10:30 am today we found out that we have a

Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772369840641451699noreply@blogger.com2