A bittersweet day

"Momma said there'd be days like this; there'd be days like this my momma said."

I get Mother's Day. I really, really do. All of the influential moms in my life - #1 my mom, but also, my sister, aunts, grandmother and friends absolutely deserve a day celebrating their motherhood. And, I was thrilled to share the morning with my lovely and sweet grandmother.

But, as the day wore on, I started missing my little boy, 8,500 miles away in Vietnam, and it was hard.

Besides, somehow my dog and cats must have forgotten that it was Mother's Day because I did not get breakfast in bed, not even some cat chow (though my dog did let me sleep in an hour later than usual, so perhaps that was her contribution to a nice day), and they didn't give me flowers or a spa certificate.

I did get a homemade card from my Godson, and a "Happy Mother's Day" from my mom and sister, which meant more than they know. And, my awesome niece and Goddaughter said that I am the 'Mother of Fun'.

Next year i hope that I am awakened by a precious 3 year old wanting to give his mommy a Mother's Day hug and kiss, and that will be enough for me.

My dog makes me feel like a mom, part 2

So much for being calm, cool and collected...

Although my dog's test results came in negative, my vet told me to keep a close eye on her gums, ears and stomach for any signs of bruising. So, every 12 hours or so, I do an inspection.

Yesterday morning, however, I couldn't tell if the light brown spots on her gums were there when I looked last. So, I loaded her into the car, and drove to the vet. Upon my arrival into the lobby, I freely announced that I was sure I was being paranoid, but wanted a vet tech to humor me. Luckily, the brown spots are normal pigmentation, but I just wanted to make sure.

I thought, "so much for my reserved and thoughtful mothering instincts."

But, when I relayed the story back to my girlfriends last night, a little embarrassed from my overzealous behavior. BFF said, "No, that's being a mom."

Guess motherhood is cut out for me, after all.

My dog makes me feel like a mom

It's now officially pet week on Fertility Foibles.

My affection for my animals really does go beyond the typical pet-owner relationship. I realize that many people don't understand how pets can feel like children, but in my case, they most certainly do. I have no children of my own, so all of my maternal love is directed toward them (and our sweet Nate in Vietnam) and my niece and nephew.

Tuesday night my mothering techniques were tested by my sweet yellow lab. I came home and found that she had eaten some mouse poison. My typical self would have completely flipped out and been hysterical, but instead, I quickly assessed the situation and got on the phone with the SPCA Pet Poison Control (a wonderful service, by the way, staffed by veterinarians). Thankfully, she vomited most of the pellet up and was treated by our wonderful vet. She will be fine.

But, I was up all night with her, making sure she was breathing. And I stayed more calm than I knew I had in me.

I may not be the mom of a human yet, but my dog sure made me feel like one. Next time, I'd rather she do something a little less dramatic to conjure up the maternal feeling -- something like talking back to me or not doing her homework.

Adding cats instead of kids

Sorry for being incommunicato, but I have been traveling almost non-stop for three weeks. I'm in the U.S. right now, and am loving it! Just one more trip to China and then back to the States for good! I have really enjoyed being in Asia for the last seven months, but I'm ready to be home.

About two months ago, we added a new member to our family - cat #3 (appropriately named Sanmao, which means third cat in Chinese and nothing to do with the former evil communist champion). We adopted him in Shanghai since we missed the presence of an animal in our lives (at our U.S. home we have two cats and a yellow lab who are being cared for my a wonderful house/pet sitter), and decided we could bring him back with us. This also means that we are one cat shy of being what Jack Bauer and I consider being crazy cat people. The crazy part may already be true.

Several months ago, I pondered the significance of the great number of infertile people who have cats. I wondered if there is a direct correlation between owning cats and being baby-making challenged. I think this warrants some research by the NIH or at least the Humane Society or an investigative report by Cat Fancy.

A couple of theories here, mind you, I am not a scientist or a psychologist, but indulge me a bit:
1. My cats are so happy being "only" children that they have some kind of curse on my uterus that renders me infertile.
2. There is something in cat dander, pee or poo that escapes into the air that deems some people infertile.
3. Infertiles who want children have a lot of love to give, so they have furbabies to parent, spoil and adore, until the human version arrives.
4. They're so upset by being spayed, that they curse your uterus so that you can't have babies, either.
5. The hours of cats sitting on my lap and making biscuits on my stomach over the years has smashed my uterus into an inhabitable place for a embryo to grow.

I'm pretty sure that the answer is #3, but I think it's still worth some research. I will happily sign up to be studied.

Any other theories?

Appalled about adoption

There have only been a few times in my life where I have found myself at a loss for words. And this is one of them. I'm absolutely disgusted and sickened by the actions of the family that adopted the 7-year old little boy from Russia, and when he proved difficult, they put him on a plane and sent him back.

As a waiting adoptive mother of a toddler from Vietnam, I am especially troubled by this not only because of my concern for the welfare of that child, but for that of orphaned children in Russia and other countries that may be waiting for parents in the U.S. This incident is likely to have a negative impact on future adoptions worldwide.

Please sign this petition to President Medvedev and President Obama advocating that U.S.- Russian adoptions should continue. There are thousands of children waiting for their U.S. families and they shouldn't be put at risk because of the unconscionable acts of one person. There are tens of thousands of children all over the world being kept in orphanages because of political quagmires and unfortunately, our son and 16 other children in Vietnam are some of them.

http://www.gopetition.com/online/35485.html