Anouchka Talks

Habibi and I were recently (read: some time in the past six months) approached by our adoption agency about speaking at their annual fundraising banquet.  They asked us to write a portion of our story to share with an audience of potential donors, staff, birth and adoptive families, volunteers, and anyone involved with the organization.  We eagerly agreed. The next couple of months were full of activities and commitments, so writing a chapter of our personal journey wasn't exactly at the top of my priority list, especially without a deadline looming.  Then, one morning when the kids were at their GramB's, I sat down in front of the computer and wrote.  I didn't know exactly what I was going to say, but I didn't need to.  The story wrote itself. A week or so later, I had a phone chat with "my editor" in Philadelphia.  ("My editor"...doesn't that make me sound so important?  I am not, I can assure you.)  She had very few changes to make,

Hello again. I almost wrote so many posts last month that had absolutely nothing to do with this series.  I had so much on my mind that I wanted to talk about!  However, it was an insanely busy month and honestly, I have no idea why.  Where did it go?  What on earth was I doing?  Whatever.  I can't be held responsible for my actions under any circumstances.  Unless they were good actions...those are all me. Anyhow, here is a rather long list of new things that I tried last month.  Some were (much) better than others. In March, I tried two new hair products.  The first one was a new hydrating conditioner by Moroccan Oil.  Honestly, I have used this company's products for years, and have always found them to be rich and luxurious.  (I used to use their hair oil until I switched to Kenra's Blow Dry Spray.  I also use their hydrating cream on occasion.)  Unfortunately, this conditioner was total garbage, especially for the price.  It left either (1) buildup on my hair o