Welcome Welcome Welcome (back)!

It's been a while, it's been a looong while.  But Amstel's back in action TODAY.

Where to begin?  I visited my sister in the NC mountains and had a blast at her rock party, went on not one but two family vacations (San Diego & Tampa), moved into a new place on the hottest day of the entire year, went with Robbie to visit Deanna on her 5th birthday (July 11th), picked up some new responsibilities at work, was diagnosed with a sleep disorder (excessive daytime sleepiness), was banned from Web MD by my family, had a quarter-life crisis, and then realized I hadn't blogged in nearly two months.  A lot has happened!  But I can't complain. Life is good, and I love being a professional, independent, (most of the time responsible) young adult.

I came across a really neat article in Newsweek called, "Why Birth Moms Deserve Respect" by Raina Kelley.  If you haven't seen this yet, please read.  It's worth it!   My favorite part of the article is the last few sentences:  "By indicating that placing a child for adoption is a selfish or painless choice when it’s not, or talking about birth mothers as if they were all crack-addled prostitutes or at the very least wayward youth, we not only limit a woman’s right to choose but also shut out the possibility that there are other people out there who would love to adopt. Why not try respecting these women as mothers able to make the best decision for themselves and their pregnancies—even if that decision is not to parent?"  Just thought this was worth sharing with all of my fellow birthmothers out there. 

In case you were wondering, 5th Deanna's birthday party was great.  She had a joint-birthday party with her friend at a gymnasium, and I do believe that the adult men had more fun than the children...

Robbie and I gave Deanna the "band in a box," and we made sure to tell her that Don would love to be woken every morning to the sound of clashing cymbals.  On that note, I'm out!  More good stuff to come soon on Amstel Life.