"November" is My Favorite Holiday

How did you celebrate World Vegan Day?

What? You didn’t know November 1st is World Vegan Day? You’re kidding, right? I celebrated the noble event by eating nothing but vegan food all day, with the added bonus of being allowed to act smug because I’m vegan every day of the year.

The first day of November is also National Authors’ Day, which I spent impatiently waiting for gifts and well-wishes to roll in. I must say, I’m rather disappointed with the performance of my friends and family, who obviously failed to mark their calendars.

My authorly disappointment only made my vegan smugness that much more smug, I assure you.

November 4th is both Use Your Common Sense Day and National Chicken Lady Day. Without a special chicken lady in my life to celebrate, I spent the day trying to figure out why, for the love of Foghorn Leghorn, Use Your Common Sense Day took place two days AFTER ballots for the general election were due.

Explains a lot though, doesn’t it? Oh, and speaking of Election Day, is it any coincidence this year it fell on Plan Your Epitaph Day?

Do you, like me, have a loved one who is overly fond of making puns? My love for Mr. Wright is so deep, so true, and so sacrificial I celebrate Abet and Aid Punsters Day with abandon each November 8th. Who doesn’t need a little help with pun-ishment? The eighth of the month is also Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day – or should I say, “Pun-Gent?”

I could write volumes about my feelings for Veteran’s Day, November 11th, and I hope each and every one of you pauses to thank or remember a veteran. To tell the truth, I believe our veterans and active duty servicepersons need our prayers, respect and support each and every day.

November 15th is I Love to Write Day, the day upon which those of us who write for a living try to convince ourselves it’s still true, and those who don’t write pretend they do. Me? I’m skipping it all together and opting to celebrate National Bundt® Pan Day on the 15th. Did you know the aluminum bundt pan is a variation of ceramic cake molds used in Europe and was trademarked by creator H. David Dalquist in 1950?

The 17th is Homemade Bread Day, though I might argue the holiday seems to be celebrated roughly three days per week, year-round, in my house. The 18th is Married to a Scorpio Support Day. I dated a Scorpio once. Anyone bold enough to actually marry one deserves their own holiday.

I’m planning to have a bad day on the 19th (Have a Bad Day Day). You’ve been warned.

I’ll be giving my friend, CherylAnn, a call on November 23rd, Doctor Who Day. Such a fan is CherylAnn that she once used the name of a Doctor Who character as her pseudonym in the cast list of a play we both appeared in. I don’t know about CherylAnn, but if I’m doing the work onstage, I certainly want credit in the program.

I’ll never understand humble people.

For those who possess a little less humility, plan to take advantage of Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day on the 24th. That’s right! Celebrate that crazy thing you do that you think is awesome but humiliates your kids – or your parents. It’s your talent… use it!

Thanksgiving is surely on your calendar, but did you know the day after Thanksgiving is designated as Sinkie Day? You know, the day you eat the Thanksgiving leftovers, bending over the sink? Don’t get too carried away, though, because you’ll need ample time to celebrate National Native American Heritage Day, which also falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

As the adoptive mama of two tribal-enrolled Native American daughters, I intend to celebrate with gusto. Join me, won’t you?

Speaking of adoption, Mr. Wright caught me “celebrating” National Adoption Month (I get to celebrate all month long!) by reviewing profiles of waiting children on the state adoption website. To be honest, it’s a bit creepy, seeing children’s photos and profiles posted online for adoption in the same manner as pets at the local shelter, but it doesn’t stop me from looking and wondering “what if…?” from time to time. If I found myself blessed with unlimited resources, I’d love nothing more than to adopt twenty-seven more children. Or fifty.

Until that blessing of obscene amounts of money, an entire staff of household helpers, and a home the size of Denver materializes, I’ll be grateful for the amazing children the Lord has blessed me with, and try to inspire others to consider receiving the gift of adoption.

That’s right – I said “receiving” the gift of adoption, not “giving.”

Image source

A Girl and Her Dog... Meat?

In our house, the source of meat is no secret. Mighty, mighty hunter that he is, Mr. Wright is very forthcoming with the kids about what they're eating. Plus, our kids visited the Angus in our freezer, back when it still walked the pastures of Bullet Bob, our friend and proprietor of Gyurkovics Ranch and Wedding Chapel. Bullet Bob married me and Mr. Wright (to each other, of course).

Snugglebug and Curlytop describe meat by the animal it came from. "Daddy, I want some cow," or "I want more deer, please." It's enough to turn a vegan mama's stomach. I used to wonder how the girls would respond when we got to the point in our Native American heritage studies where we discussed whale hunting, but now I just worry about how I will explain it without crying.

Curlytop's speech therapy has paid off in a huge way. We're so proud of her! She's speaking in complete sentences and using vivid, active words to describe what she sees and feels. There are still a few phrases she gets mixed up on, like instead of saying, "I want to show you something," she says, "I want you to show me something." We continue to work hard every day.

This morning, as Mr. Wright cut up a roast to put in the crock pot, Curlytop stood on her toes to see over the counter and asked a question. I was sure I'd either heard her wrong or she had some words confused, so I asked her to repeat herself.

Sure enough, she said again, "Daddy, is that meat of puppies?"

"No, Sweetie. It's cow."

"Oh. Not puppies? I want some cow!"

"Okay, but we have to cook it first, alright?"

Curlytop shrugged. "O...kay," she pouted. Mommy's little barbarian.

I got Curlytop off to school and pulled Snugglebug into my lap while I fired up my computer. When chaotic mornings allow, I find I actually like working with her sitting between my arms while I type. "Mom, I love you," she said as she got comfortable. Awwww... those heartstrings pull to the point of breaking, sometimes!

I should have known she was just buttering me up because she wanted something.

Snugglebug pulled off both of her socks and turned herself so she could put her feet in my face. "I want piggies," she said. Please understand, in my world, This Little Piggy goes a little differently than some of you may remember:

This little piggy went to the farmers' market;
This little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy ate tofu (not "toe food");
This little piggy had naan.
And this little piggy cried, "Wee, wee, weeeee..."
All the way home.

As the girls have grown up a bit, I've begun letting them choose their own piggy adventures. I start the story for each piggy, and let the girls finish. Today's piggies went like this, with my part in italics, and Snugglebug's in bold:

This little piggy went to... the new house!
This little piggy stayed... at the new house!
This little piggy ate... PUPPIES!
This little piggy had... PUPPIES!
And this little piggy cried, "Wee, wee, weeeee..."
All the way home.

Was there a butcher's special on puppy meat? Should I be concerned that piggies are having puppies? Our dogs are beginning to look a little nervous, and Kobi just asked me to double-check his AKC lineage.


Oh, have I mentioned you can pre-order my book now, and save tax and shipping? Do it because you love me.

Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/josefnovak33/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Bad Gratitude Monday (on Friday)

It's taken me all week to get to my gratitude post. I suppose I've been overlooking small, daily gratitude opportunities in my manic scramble to organize the upcoming Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between) show, but yesterday, I got my gratitude socks knocked off, and I couldn't put off the weekly gratitude any longer.

1. The officer assigned to Mr. Wright's assault left a voicemail stating, "We're ready to charge the three guys who jumped you... We've located two witnesses and have some suspect photos for you to look at."

2. The adoption support division called to say that both Curlytop and Snugglebug have been approved for adoption subsidy. That means they'll get medical coverage from the state until they graduate high school. It will cover their speech therapies, physical therapies, sensory integration therapies, occupational therapies and cognitive therapies. Treatment and monitoring of Curlytop's epilepsy will be covered. In-home nebulizers for Snugglebug's asthma and emergency room visits for steroidal treatments when she can't breathe will be covered. If the girls need counseling in the future to sort out their feelings about their birth parents, it will be covered.

I was actually so relieved after getting off the phone with the adoption support worker that I broke down and cried.

3. Finalization for the adoption of the girls' half-brother, Omri, should take place within the next week or two. The family who is adopting him had been in - as his adoptive mom calls it - "adoption hell" for the past several months, hitting paperwork snag after paperwork snag. Finally, blessedly, it appears that all of the documents are in order and the court is ready to proceed with finalization.

We are in frequent communication with Omri's adoptive family, with whom he has lived for most of his five years. Our families have both determined that building a relationship between the three children is a top priority for all of us. The children, even at this young age, know about one another, and we visit in person as often as possible.

I'm grateful, too, for Omri's adoptive mom, who is biologically the great-aunt to Omri, Curlytop and Snugglebug. She is the tribal family link to our girls' Native American heritage - a heritage we embrace, treasure, value and are dedicated to passing on to our daughters.

4. My column sparked another impassioned letter to the editor... and this time, it wasn't hate mail.

It was, instead, a totally supportive letter, affirming my point of view in my piece, Don't Lie for Me, Argentina? Cue warm fuzzies and feelings of validation.

What are YOU grateful for?