Mother's Day sentiments

In the car coming home tonight, Mac said the following:

"You know tomorrow's Mother's Day. And you know Daddy's gone. And you know I can't cook. That means you'll have to cook your own breakfast."

the long goodbye is over

Mac and I have just returned from taking Jimmy to the airport for his trip back to the US. He'll do various training courses from now through the end of June when we meet back up. Then we'll have the month of July together before he takes off for Afghanistan.

I have wondered how Mac was processing this idea of separation from Jimmy. We've been very upfront about how long Jimmy will be away and how often and where we'll see him throughout his Afghanistan tour, but I'm not sure whether the idea of duration is fixed in a 6 year-old's brain.

Mac was clingy to Jimmy at the airport, but he's also feeling under the weather so I was hoping the clinginess was more sickness than upset over Jimmy leaving. After we said goodbye to Jimmy and were walking back to the car, Mac said in a sad, little voice, "this isn't like before". I asked him what he meant and he said "this isn't like Daddy's work trips before. He's going away for a whole year this time." My heart broke for his little self. Now I have to find my "Super Mom" hat (probably the t-shirt too) to try and make this all good for him.

impulsive behavior

As you know, we're sadly counting down the days until Jimmy leaves on Saturday for the US. We won't see him again until the end of June, so it's going to a good lesson in preparing for the long Afghani absences that will start August 1.

I'm blaming the brief swine flu I had on Monday or either my melancholy resulting from Jimmy's departure and our subsequent departure in June, but I did something very irrational and very impulsive yesterday. This is just not how I operate, so it might have been swine flu (aka just a sore throat)-induced.

CVC, the big Brazilian tour operator, was running a sale that ended last night. I decided Mac and I would feel better about being on our own if we had something to look forward to. So I took myself to the CVC shop at the mall yesterday and got us all squared away. I made the executive decision that we'd go back to my most favorite place in all of Brazil: Porto de Galinhas up in the northeast.

I stewed over this decision before going to the CVC store and again once I got there. Do you go back to the same place twice (Jimmy would answer no) or do you explore somewhere new, especially given that we're leaving the country so soon (Jimmy would answer yes). Of the deals being offered, the only new place I was really interested in seeing was Manaus. But I don't do wild animals well; that is much more Daddy Territory at our house. While I did toy with a "Conquer Your Fears Tour" concept, I decided it would not be a good end to our amazing Brazilian posting if we went home having been attacked by piranhas. So I ix-nayed Manaus and decided I could handle PdeG. I know the town, I know the beach, and we can totally relax there.

So I booked us for a trip next weekend. I'm pulling Mac out of school for 2 days which Jimmy has made me feel horribly guilty about (not because he objects but because I wouldn't let him pull Mac out of school for other trips which makes me feel guilty now that I think about it). But a single mom's got to do what a single mom's got to do. And I'm feeling a trip to PdeG will soothe the beast in me and make me handle these last few weeks better on my own.

I leave you with some photos from our first trip to PdeG 3 years ago. It really is a paradise so I think you'll understand my decision to return one last time!

Jimmy's article in Rolling Stone

At long last... here's the link for Jimmy's article (you'll have to cut and paste into your web browser because I can't figure out how to make the link work!):

http://www.rollingstone.com.br/imagens/8691/em/textos/3730/

Doesn't he look handsome? If you want to try your hand at reading Portuguese (if that's not your mother tongue, of course!), click on the link underneath the photo that says "Nacoes Unidas".

a trip to heaven

The other night Mac and I were cuddling before he fell asleep and I asked him where he would go on vacation if he could choose any place. His answer: heaven! I love this kid!

(After I limited the answer to earthly places, his answer was Australia.)

some inspiration from Mother Teresa

A friend who adopted a sibling set in Ethiopia last year posted these quotes by Mother Teresa on her blog to accompany her prayer request specifically for two sibling sets who were orphanage friends with one of her daughters. These quotes were so moving to me, as someone who's trying to bring home a child, that I wanted to share them with you. Thanks Kristy!

"The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted."

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread."

"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat . . . We must find each other."

"Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go."

"How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers."

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop."

truth in advertising?

I gave myself a Clinique "15 Minute Turnaround Face Mask" today, but have seen no effects of a turnaround yet. Perhaps it's one of those things that requires multiple applications?

In good news, however, we got all our clothes weeded out today for the move. Jimmy leaves next Saturday and I was running out of time to get him to purge on his own and my purging would have been far more painful. We have made progress. Will the momentum continue?