The Future of American Idol?

Look out Simon.. she'll be auditioning in the year 2022. No worries, surely the current judges will have a degree of hearing degradation by that time. ;)
YOU GO, ROCKSTAR!

Mojo

Something is missing. I have to get it back.
Where the 'ell is my mojo??
I've realized a few things lately. It is soo easy to get caught up in being-a-mom and waiting-for-adoption-news that you forget to concentrate on yourself a bit! Yes I know.. this is one of the normal 'mom' issues in life. I just never considered myself to be 'that' type of mom. Nothing wrong with 'that' type of mom.. I just always felt I was a bit more self-centered than that and would not fall into the trap. ;)
Soo.. I've been working on completing some of the projects that I've been thinking about for.. well.. for up to 3 years in some cases!! Yes! I have selected paint colors and am going to do a little painting. The taupe-y wall color that is on almost every wall in our house - is starting to kill my will to live.
And my wardrobe? Omg.. it's turning into {dum dum duuuummmm}.. the MOM wardrobe. Jeans and long-sleeve t's. Or a sweater. Sigh.
Color! I need COLOR! I'm finding that I am aesthetically-deprived right now. And considering that I am an artist.. well, that is just seriously pathetic.
I am on a quest my friends!! Time to break out of that winter, blah, mom-mode.. and have some fun. :)) {yes, yes, being a mom is fun.. but it isn't 100% of who we are, now is it?}

To celebrate my quest-for-mojo.. here are a few of my favorite things - no particular category. Products that I love and activities that have lost themselves in the depths of my priority list. Time for them to re-surface.
Feel free to share your favs! Maybe I'll find something exciting to add to my list. :)

• Lush - fresh handmade cosmetics. www.lush.com: Love, love, love their products. My get-away these days is a big glass of vino and a hot bubble bath. Lush makes THE BEST bath products I have found. Try them! They smell so yummy that I put off using them as long as possible just to enjoy the scent in my bathroom! And - bonus - they are all about being 'green'. Word of caution: some bath products contain glitter. Read the fine print or be prepared to shine.
  
• Racquetball. Time to get off my butt and do something fun. Something fun that is actually healthy and doesn't include cocktail hour or staring into my computer monitor. I haven't played in ~15 years, so it should be interesting to see if I still find this to be fun, or just simply painful. I am signing myself and DH up for semi-private lessons. Whether he likes it or not. We can cry about the soreness while sharing a martini. Uh oh, there's that cocktail again..
  
• Wine-Tasting. Yikes.. thought that I wasn't including cocktails... But wine-tasting is also educational and social, so we will allow it to be included.
• Hiking. We've been hiking - Maya loves it. We need to explore some new places and spend more time outdoors this summer. I'm considering a hike with a woman-only 'adventure' company in June (if we aren't in India). It's one of their lesser-adventurous hikes, so it might not kill me. And they mentioned 'cocktails with a view' upon completion! ..see? It isn't just me. :)
  
• Sephora. I love bath products and cosmetics.. and they almost always have great sample pack giveaways. For some reason, I like shopping them online more than in-person.
  
• Michaels. One opened near our home recently, and I have discovered many uses for them. Love their frames - finally I have some of my photography actually hanging in my home! Scary.
• Audible.com. No time to read? Listen to an audio-book while you are working/cleaning/gardening/trying to fall asleep at night. They now have an audible.com for kids. Could come in handy when traveling.
• Date night. A serious lack of {trusted} babysitters has led us to date-night-deprivation. We need our comedy-club outings! We need to visit new restaurants! Heck, we need to visit any restaurant that doesn't have balloons hanging from the ceiling and a decibel level just short of 'airplane liftoff'. I'd love to see some fine-china and have a waiter who is wearing a tie rather than a big button advertising a giant wedge of 3,000 calorie chocolate cake or a cartoon character.
  

So, we'll see if I stick to my resolutions! At least it will give me something to think about, so I don't obsess too much over this pending adoption. ..and btw, we have to re-do a bunch of our paperwork b/c it has almost been a year since it has been completed. Blaaah. Background checks, etc.. all over again. Sigh.
We want to adopt again in the future, but criminy.. I need a break. I feel like I've been 'paper pregnant' for 4 years!!! Count the time spent researching adoption agencies prior to starting the first process, and I have. Phew. I need to put my feet up for awhile!

Last Batch Of Photos

As you lay sleeping far away as still as you could be...
How could you know the joy today this photo brings to me?

A few short weeks {months!} and you'll be mine, and "I" will soon be "We".
How could you know the love I feel? It's something you can't see.

So have sweet dreams, my precious babe. Sleep well and tenderly.
Some say that you're the lucky one. How could you know it's me?
~Kris Laughlin

Well, with mixed emotions, we accept that this is our last batch of photo updates before we get the chance to see our baby with our own eyes. We are happy that we are 'next in line' to travel (unless something goes horribly wrong), but we are sad that we have no idea WHEN we will travel.. and we won't have any more visual updates. :( The wait just doesn't get any easier.
Doesn't Devika have the cutest little toothless smile?