2 Weeks Left!

It's Sunday morning and I'm at my folk's house for the weekend. Dave had a shoot for a client, so he couldn't come with me. We're celebrating my birthday (which is the 12th) and I'm having a terrific time. Yesterday, Mom took me on a shopping spree and it was terrific. We had a great salesperson who helped find sizes and even selected an outfit that we eventually purchased - slacks, sweater and shoes! When was the last time you had that good a shopping experience?

We went to Mass and then went to this incredible restaurant. The view is stunning and the meal was one of those incredible ones that makes "foodies" like us drool. We had a great time laughing and telling stories - the only down side is that Dave wasn't with us. The tables are pretty close together in this restaurant, and proud Grandpa had some photos with him. He showed everyone from the owner of the restaurant to the folks at the next two tables. They were delighted and as usual - they knew someone who had adopted! It's amazing how many people you run into know someone who has adopted either domestically or through a foreign country. They were so excited for us and genuinely enthusiastic. I love my Dad's ability to meet people and talk to them effortlessly. It's truly a gift.

I told Mom that I noticed she had put a small Christmas ornament on one of my baby shower packages. I hadn't noticed it when I first opened the package, but later when I was going through it, I saw the little white bear. I had tears in my eyes, because I realized what she had done. Years ago when she was given a baby shower for me, one of the packages had a small pink angel decoration on it. She used it as a decoration on the Christmas tree - and for years she told me it was "my special angel." Every year, I looked for it on the tree, and was delighted each time I found it. To this day I still look for the little pink angel near the top of her gorgeous Christmas tree! She has so many lovely ornaments collected from various travels and gifts from friends and her tree is huge and elegant, but every year she carefully places this worn little ornament near the top for me. I'm looking forward to starting that tradition for our son and place his little "angel bear" near the top of our Christmas tree for many years to come. Thanks Mom!

Today we're going to do some more shopping and then I'll head home. With only 2 weeks left before we leave - we've got plenty to do!