Let The Festivities Begin

We've got some fun stuff coming up soon. Of course, we've got Halloween right around the corner. We're really looking forward to getting the girls dressed up and taking them Trick or Treating to our neighbors. Maya is going to be a fairy. We tried it on her and you should have seen her eyes light up at not just the wings but the wand! What is it with kids and objects that can actually cause damage? Little Julia is going to be a kitty cat, with no ears most likely. Her costume has a matching headband with cat ears that Julia just hates. I'm hoping we can keep it on just long enough to snap a few pictures. I'll be sure to post them if I manage to get lucky.

Just a couple of weeks away from now is the Thai festival of Loy Krathong. Loy Krathong is an homage to the Goddess of water where floats are set adrift into the river to symbolize washing away your troubles. As a child living in Bangkok, I have fond memories of making floats and setting them into the river. It has been over 30 years since I've last celebrated Loy Krathong and I am so looking forward to making it our new family tradition. Plus, you guys know how we always love a good excuse to chow down on some Thai food! My Mom found some cardboard circles to make the floats out of but I haven't completely ruled out trying to come up with a bread option. We're going to be setting these things into our local river so I'd like to be as eco-friendly as possible. I know the cardboard would biodegrade after awhile but perhaps bread would be a better option as it would turn into fish food in no time. I've got a couple of weeks to come up with something and a menu! Would you believe that I just trialed Julia on fish & fish sauce? There are just too many Thai dishes with fish sauce as an ingredient that I couldn't avoid it. She's got to be able to join in the feast, especially considering how much she likes to eat. Fortunately, she passed that one. Woohoo!

With that, I am going to leave you guys with a few recent pictures of the little ladies. I use the term "ladies" loosley right now because a. they both have colds & coughs b. Julia is sprouting some molars and c. Maya has gone full force into contrary mode. So yes, "lady", may not be quite the right term for these guys right now :)

Weird

Woman jailed after 'killing' virtual husband

By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 51 mins ago

TOKYO – A 43-year-old player in a virtual game world became so angry about her sudden divorce from her online husband that she logged on with his password and killed his digital persona, police said Thursday.

The woman, who has been jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his ID and password to log onto the popular interactive game "Maple Story" to carry out the virtual murder in May, a police official in the northern city of Sapporo said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy.

"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.

The woman, a piano teacher, had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.

She has not yet been formally charged. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison or a fine up to $5,000.

Players in "Maple Story" create and manipulate digital images called "avatars" that represent themselves, while engaging in relationships, social activities and fighting monsters and other obstacles.

In virtual worlds, players often abandon their inhibitions, engaging in activity online that they would never do in the real world. For instance, sex with strangers is a common activity.

The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married to kill the character. The man complained to police when he discovered that his online avatar was dead.

The woman was arrested Wednesday and taken 620 miles from her home in southern Miyazaki to be detained in Sapporo, where the man lives, the official said.

The police official said he did not know if she was married in the real world.

Bad online behavior is usually handled within the rules set up by online worlds, which can ban miscreants or take away their virtual possessions.

In recent years, virtual lives have had consequences in the real world.

When bad deeds lead to criminal charges, prosecutors have found a real-world activity to cite — as in this case, in which the woman was charged with inappropriate computer access.

In August, a woman was charged in Delaware with plotting the real-life abduction of a boyfriend she met through the virtual reality Web site "Second Life."

In Tokyo, a 16-year-old boy was charged with stealing the ID and password from a fellow player of an online game in order to swindle virtual currency worth $360,000.

Virtual games are popular in Japan, and "Second Life" has drawn a fair number of Japanese participants. They rank third by nationality among users, after Americans and Brazilians.

Let's Save Some Money

During these uncertain economic times, it makes me think twice about how we spend our money. We feel very fortunate that D makes a good living and that I am able to stay home with the girls but you just never know what can happen. D works in an industry that is directly affected by the Housing Market and we all know where that is, yep, the crapper. So, rather than take it all for granted, we've decided to make some changes while the getting is still good. Pre-kids, living off of Ramen Noodles and PB&J sandwiches everyday if you had to, was always an option. But with 2 little ones to feed (and both in diapers to boot), it's just not somewhere I want to go plus I'm out of college now, heh.

With that said, we are trying to save every extra penny for that just in case fund. You would be surprised what you could do if you put your mind and willpower to it.

These are some of the things that we've started doing recently. I'm sure I will think of more and will post as they come along.

• D takes not only lunches to work but snacks too. You would be surprised how the little snacks add up. A quick stop to the gas station for a soda. a bag of chips here and there, 75 cents into the vending machine, it really all adds up. The best part is he's been eating so much healthier and has lost weight doing it. He looks great!
  

• Turn off the TV, lights and unplug all appliances and other electronics and appliances when not in use. Even though the power switch is off, it is still drawing energy so unplug it if you're not using it. I had been very cautious this past month and actually noticed a difference in our bill. I compared our monthly power bill to that from the same time last year. We had consistently been paying about $30 more from the same time last year until last month. It was only $3 more! How about that for a $27 savings. I know, I know, big deal, $27, but hey, it adds up! So turn it off and unplug it!

• Shop & compare rates and I mean all rates. When was the last time you shopped for insurance? Auto & Homeowners insurance rates can be pretty competitive, so make those calls and you would be surprised at how much you could save.

• This goes the same with home phone, TV, internet. I knocked $30 off of our Time Warner bill in July just because I asked. I called and asked for the retention department. If your area has competition for Cable, phone and etc, this will work for you. They'll offer you a deal. I have gotten a deal every time I called, some are better than others and be careful of getting into a contract that you may not want to follow through on.
  

• Meal planning: I've always been a meal planner but have stepped it up a bit. If you don't have anything quick to eat, you are more likely to pick up convenience foods and they quickly add up. Not only do I plan out our menu for the week, I freeze foods and stock the freezer for that rainy day. I also stock up on things when it's on sale, especially the supermarket loss leaders like meats. I will scan the first and last page of the Supermarket mailers and plan my meals around that.
  

• Coupons: I had tried using the Grocery Game but it didn't end up working out for us. I buy too many specialty & organic foods to make it worth our while. They do offer a free trial offer of a month. If you get the Sunday paper or are not opposed to buying it, then give it a whirl for a month. You have nothing to lose. For now, I just google for printable coupons for the staples - trash bags, Windex All Purpose Cleaner, Yo Baby Yogurt, Organic Milk and etc. Just last week, I found a $2 off coupon for Windex All Purpose Cleaner any size. I was pretty happy about that one. You laugh but hey, it adds up!
  

• Speaking of the freezer, the freezer has become my best friend. I freeze anything that can be frozen. My favorite to freeze is probably baked goods and the girls lunches. If I buy rolls or bread from the bakery, into the freezer it goes. Before doing this, we were throwing out so much. This is especially important for organic goods. It just doesn't have the preservatives as the commercial goods so it goes "green" quick (pun intended). When defrosting, you can either pull it out about 30mins or so before ready to eat and it should defrost in time or better yet, just slice it and toast it. Something that I plan on doing from now on is freezing leftover veggies. In a quest to minimize the amount of food that gets thrown out, I have decided to start freezing all leftover veggies. These are good vegetables but somehow always get forgotten about in the back of the fridge. If I had stuck them in the freezer, they could be thrown into soups, pot pie, chili or something, anything really. The other day we had 3 bananas getting ready to go bad. I decided to whip up some gluten & corn free banana bread. I froze half of the loaf for later and we ate the other half. It was delicious and fairly healthy too (I even snuck in some Flax Seed Meal).

• In a quest to also save time, I make a huge batch of pancakes for the girls (thank you Joy of Cooking for the very flexible pancake recipe) and freeze them in a ziploc bag. Not only does this save time and money but I know they are healthy. The last batch I made I used brown rice flour instead of regular flour, added blueberries and a couple of teaspoons of Flax Seed Meal which is a great source for Omega 3's. Now, I always have a goto meal or snack for the girls. I do the same for homemade biscuits and cookies. I freeze the biscuits and cookies precooked and preportioned. All I do is stick them on a pan and cook them about 5 mins longer than the recipe calls for. Perfect!

• Consolidate car trips. It costs money everytime you get in the car so make each trip count. Do you really need to go pick up that item today when you're headed out tomorrow anyway? At $3 a gallon, those extra trips start to add up. I had an appointment with the photographer last week and planned my Trader Joe's trip along with it. That was almost 65 miles roundtrip that I saved.

• Speaking of Trader Joe's... I comparison shop my groceries including wine and have found that TJ's can't be beat on some items (Walmart beats everybody else in the other stuff). I collected a stack of our latest grocery receipts and went through the most commonly purchased items. It was very-eye opening. TJ's had the best prices on Organic Applesauce, block cheeses with limited ingredients, frozen vegetables and wine just to name a few. Even if you don't buy the 2 (2.99) buck Chuck, there are still great deals on good wines. I enjoy a Pinot Noir that they carry and it's $5.99, they also have a great Chardonnay for $4.99. Got to love that. I also buy 3 or 4 bags of frozen red, yellow and green peppers for under $2 a bag every time I go. I also buy Buffalo Burgers and their Chili Lime Chicken Burgers, these make great lunches or last minute dinners for us. We usually have buns in the freezer and lettuce and tomato in the fridge plus they are much healthier alternative to fast food! I try to make a Trader Joe's trip once a month (when I am headed that way anyway) and stock up. There's just no reason not to.
  

• Online Coupons: I buy alot of stuff online. Many people will say that you end up paying more because you can't catch a good sale or whatever. I have to disagree. Everytime I make an online purchase, I do 2 things. I always google for an online coupon code. There's just no reason not to. I usually find anywhere from 10%-30% off coupon codes. For Father's Day, I bought D a new putter. I wanted to get him a good one so it would last awhile plus I wanted to splurge a bit. It was his first Father's Day and we had just gone through so much. Anyway, I found the club I wanted at Dick's Sporting Goods for $150. Eeek. Not really what I wanted to spend but that was what I wanted to buy him. I googled "coupon code dick's sporting" and would you believe I found a 30% off coupon + free shipping. The total came to under $110. Not bad for a few minutes of work. The second thing that I usually do but couldn't with Dicks, is I go through a site that gives you cash back for clicking through their site. I use Fatwallet.com but there are plenty of others out there. Every time I go to purchase something online, I go through Fatwallet first. For instance, if I were to buy something from OneStepAhead.com and if I went through Fatwallet first, I would get back 5% of my purchase. After awhile, it really adds up.
  For just good deals in general, I always check Fatwallet.com and also Slickdeals.net. Love them both.

With all that being said, I am going to leave you guys with one of my latest favorite freezer food lunch (and sometimes dinner) for the girls. It's my version of Chicken Nuggets. It's not the healthiest but definitely healthier than eating out and so easy. The good thing is you can identify every ingredient and truly know that it is indeed chicken. The best part is you can freeze them and just pull out and heat what you need. I make a batch every Sunday. I threw a few nuggets in my salad today and it was great.


Chicken Nuggets

1 pack of boneless skinless chicken thighs (I like to buy the All Natural/antibiotic/hormone free) Trimmed of the fat and cubed (boneless skinless breasts get too dry)

1/4 to 1/2 stick of unsalted butter melted in a bowl (you may need more depending on how much chicken you have)

Crushed Brown Rice Crispies (this is Julia safe so is what we use- but you can use crushed corn flakes, seasoned or unseasoned breadcrumbs, whatever)

Freshly grated cheese- I either use Block Sharp Cheddar or Parmigiano Reggiano or both. I have tried using the Kraft pre-packaged grated cheese and it just sucked. I think it must be the anti-caking ingredients in the pre-shredded/grated cheese that ruined it. I don't know but I won't do it again. It wasn't good.

Of course, I don't have any exact measurements. I would say try it with equal amounts of both or somewhere close to that. After you make it once, you'll get the hang of it and tweak it how you like it.

Melt the butter in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cheese and crushed cereal/breadcrumbs. You can season it how you like. Salt & pepper is usually all I add if that. Garlic and onion powder would also be good options.

Working in batches, add the chicken to the bowl of butter and coat entirely. Remove the chicken and coat it in the crumbs & cheese mix making sure you cover it well. Place the chicken on a cookie sheet and bake it at 375-400 for about 20 minutes or until done. I wing it everytime so check the chicken to make sure it's cooked.

When cooled, place all of the chicken into a freezer safe container and stick it in the freezer. All you have to do then is pull out some nuggets when you want them and nuke them for 30 seconds to a minute depending on how many you're warming up and your microwave.

The girls love these and I do too. I love knowing that if we get back to the house late that I can always whip up lunch in a minute and it's not crap. Throw some nuggets in the microwave, slice some bananas (or dollups of applesauce), chop up a few cherry tomatoes and they are good to go!

What was I just looking for?

Thought twice about posting that news article, so instead you get some rambling. We're going through some weird times right now. I have heard some mention of Great Depression 2.0. While the thought of a Great Depression is not funny at all, the sound of Great Depression 2.0 is just funny to me. 2.0, ha. That's our legacy I guess, well, our generation (assuming you're close to my age). We were the Atari babies and I loved me some Atari. I was the Atari Pacman champ in my house despite what my brother may say. I'll also never forget opening up the Commodore 64 for Christmas that one year. Now that was an awesome Christmas! Then there was my Nintendo Mario Brother's addiction in college, followed shortly by my Sega Mortal Kombat recurring thumb injury. And now look at me, on the internet blogging about about GD 2.0. heh.

I was going to post about being frugal but I'll save my money saving tips for another time. Instead I will digress which is nothing new these days. That's been happening to me all of the time lately. I initially thought it was the stupidity that comes with pregnancy and follows with motherhood but I may be wrong. I was watching the Colbert Report the other (love that show by the way) and some guy was on there pedaling his book. The book was about how the Internet is changing the way we think. I'm not talking about perception of things, I'm talking about the nuts and bolts behind it. His claim was that the internet age is changing our brain. He believes that the internet has ruined our concentration and created short attention spans. I can see where he is coming from. Think about the time you spend on the net. I know with me, I can start out reading an article about the economy and end up somewhere completely random like trying to figure out how to make creamed spinach in a matter of minutes.

I know you guys know what I'm talking about. It's like driving down a road with constant detours only to find you are on the opposite end of the world. I can't help it, I always have to look things up. There's just something about finding out the right answer. Perfectionist? Perhaps. Curious? Maybe. OCD? You never know.

But you know, when I do end up looking it up something else piques my curiosity - another detour- then another- then another. After awhile you forget what you were looking up to start with. Anyway, the guy was saying how he has a hard time reading a book these days because of the concentration required. It was an interesting perspective especially since I was able to relate to it so well.

The overall interview was actually quite funny. Stephen Colbert was playing with his iPhone the entire time he was interviewing the author (I had to look it up just now, ha, his name was Nicholas Carr and the book is called The Big Switch). You can get the jist of it all at this article he wrote for the Atlantic magazine http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google

That is if you can focus long enough to read it!

Business as usual

After talking to my best friend Mary, I've decided I'm just going to keep on - business as usual except for any sensitive subjects. There's not much going on the adoption front right now so it shouldn't be an issue. We're just waiting on final approval from the adoption board and then we are done! Yes, folks, I said DONE. We were told that within 2-3 months after the final post adoption home study, our approval should come in. At that point, we are legally able to petition to our state court for finalization. I think it's going to be strange to not have anything to wait for. Doesn't it seem like D & I have always been waiting for something?

I have to share a story that would explain my cautiousness. I am a member, rather lurker, of a Thai adoption group and have been since we decided to adopt. Last year, a member of the group, had to do the unthinkable and send her child back to Thailand. It's a rather long story and my details are fuzzy. The gist of it is she was a 15 yr old girl with special needs. The adoptive mom was posting on the boards. Rubbed somebody wrong. Next thing you know, rumor had it that some not so nice things were found out about the mom and someone reported it to their adoption agency. Yes, power of the internet is amazing. I remember thinking, "Ah, porn. Yes, it must have been porn. You dirty girl!" But would you believe I was wrong, turned out the mother had put out an ad looking for some "girly love", I believe she was married at the time. Interesting...

After the agency was informed, they stated that they had no choice but to send the child back to Thailand. It was really such a sad situation. The 14 yr old had been with this family for awhile, over 6 months and possibly almost a year (like I said, my details are fuzzy- the memory isn't so hot these days). The girl did not want to go back. Not to mention when she did go back to the children's home that it would be awhile before she got adopted or possibly not adopted at all - things aren't quick in the adoption world- a 15 yr old isn't exactly what people have in mind when they adopt a child. Nevertheless, that is what was done. I believe the last I heard was the girls was doing okay. She's still in the home but doing okay.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have any ads posted and no, no porn either, thank you very much! We don't have anything to hide but you can never be too cautious either. Hmm, that's a contradiction isn't it? Anyway, it just makes you think twice.

What's Cooking?

This is totally random but I was typing up a few crock pot recipes for a friend and thought I'd share a few here. The crock pot has become my friend. I often feel like all I do all day is cook (sometimes this is actually the truth). I cook from scratch because of Julia's issues so any help I can get to spare some time in the kitchen is much appreciated.

This is one of those recipes that does just that. Plus, the leftovers are yummy and the girls both dig it! I use Organic Tamari- Wheat Free soy sauce, Trader Joe's Ketchup (no high fructose corn syrup) and it's Julia safe, woohoo!

I hope you like it as much as we do.

Sesame Pork Ribs

3/4 C brown sugar

1/2 C soy sauce

1/2 C ketchup

1/4 honey

2 tbs white wine vinegar (red wine vinegar works fine or even rice vinegar)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp salt

1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I omitted it b/c of the girls- can always add it at the table)

5 lbs country style pork ribs ( I always just buy a big pack and have no idea of the weight)

1 medium sliced onion

Garnish: (I only do this if I have green onions on hand)

2 tbs sesame seeds, toasted

2 tbs chopped green onions

In a large bowl, combine the first 9 ingredients. Place onions in the crockpot, add ribs and pour sauce over.

Cover & cook on low for 5-6 hours or until meat is tender. Serve over rice and garnish w/ sesame seeds & green onions.


This one is not Julia safe but was a savior when I was pregnant. I would make a huge batch and freeze it into a few meals. Then come a busy day, pull it out of the freezer, heat it up, cook up some egg noodles and serve!

CROCK POT BEEF STROGANOFF

Chuck Roast or Stew beef (trimmed of visible fat and cubed)
1 pkg. Onion soup mix
3 cans cream of mushroom (cream of chicken or celery or any combination works just fine- Reduced Fat works great)

4 stalks of celery- chopped

1 onion- chopped

Crushed garlic
Sliced mushrooms

Place everything into crock pot. Cook 8 or so hours on low.

Serve over egg noodles. This can be made and frozen to be heated up at a later date.

If you don't have celery, onions, garlic or mushrooms on hand, it still comes out good. I'm a huge fresh garlic fan but once again, it can be left out. Try it once and you can tweak it to how you like it.

Just a brief update

It's been awhile since I have blogged. The major catalyst for this was the following email we got from our agency in September.

There's still some political unrest over there but things have gotten a bit better. I'm still not really sure what to do but I just thought I'd share this.

Dear Families,

News of political unrest in Bangkok is at the forefront of international news this week as a state of emergency was declared in the capital city on Tuesday. We are all saddened by the news of violence on Monday night resulting from a clash between pro- and anti-government protesters. The Prime Minister has indicated that this state of emergency was in place to help restore order and should only last a few days.

The U.S. State Department has not issued any travel warning for travel to Bangkok or Thailand in general. In addition, we have consulted with our Thailand contacts and they do not anticipate any immediate impact on international adoption in Thailand. We do not expect any changes or disruptions to your adoption process.

The current situation is a good time to remind all families that, as is general precaution for all international adoption, we strongly discourage families from posting details about their adoption process on the internet. This includes posting information on personal blogs and public forums.

As always, we will continue to keep you updated on any developments that we expect could impact your adoption process.

The Thailand Program Team