What an incredible weekend

There are few people on this planet that understand Beloit. Beloit as a place, as an adjective, and as an emotion. Beloit is magic. It's been 10 years since I went to school there, was part of the culture, and the pulse of campus.....and I've been back many times to walk around - hang out - simply be there. No matter how many changes they make to campus, how many professors come and go, Beloit will always feel like home. I made a very honest realization this weekend - no matter how different of a person I am, no matter how happy or sad, I never feel more like myself than when I'm on that campus. No matter who that self is - there is a certain peace that comes over me there.

Needless to say, my reunion was great. It was a mix of seeing people I always see and seeing people I haven't seen in 10 years. People I was close to and people I barely knew. We partied like it was 1998 and had a great time. I felt bad for dragging Sam and the boys (I was selfish and wanted to show them off) - they were bored and although very well behaved there just wasn't a lot for them to do. A soccer ball and a few Hot Wheels can only last so long. But they were all troopers and didn't complain one bit.

I laughed more than I can remember laughing in a long time. I forgot what it was like to hang out with a group of friends. Not like when I go to dinner with friends or to the mall - but really hang out with people who know you - who lived with you - and essentially grew up a little with you. I miss that community feeling - it was nice to feel it again.

Leaving made me feel a little sad. Not because coming back to my "real" life is horrible - I'm enjoying my life now, but leaving the feeling of being around people who understand you and are for you - and leaving a place that makes you feel like no other place on earth. It's hard to explain - it's just Beloit.

Thai Fest and other stuff

I've been so bad about blogging, and I have no excuses except for laziness. The weeks seem to be getting longer and by the time Friday rolls around all I want to do is curl up in bed and ignore the world. Ian has picked up some not-so-fun habits at Kindergarten (like sticking out his tongue in response to something he doesn't like) and Jesse seems to think that 2.5 years old is the perfect time to get sassy and bossy. I found out my boss at the Y is leaving (it's a happy thing for her) and that makes me very sad. She's fun, a great friend, and all the kids really like her - it makes me nervous for our programming and I will miss her a lot on a personal level. This coming weekend is my 10 year college reunion (I went to a small liberal arts school, so imagine something close to a high school reunion for those who went to big universities) and I'm a little anxious about the weight I didn't lose and the craziness that can be my children.....but enough of that pity party :)

Last weekend, we escaped the great flood of the Chicagoland area and headed up to Madison. It turns out that UW-Madison has the largest Thai Alumni Association in the country and as a gift to the city, this group arranged for a Thai structure to be built in the free Botanical Gardens of Madison. It is the only structure of it's kind outside of Thailand (or at least in the United States).

It was a dreary day - so without the sun you can't full appreciate the beauty in this picture (the building - not us) :) It's gold and sparkly and beautiful. For those of you who have been to Thailand, you know what I mean. My friend Jenny said they usually don't let people near it because it's so fragile and would need constant supervision. But because this was a special Thai Festival there were lots of great things planned. We saw wonderful dancers, heard musicians, ate great food, and enjoyed an afternoon of meeting up with our Thai adoption friends. It's so funny because we tell Jesse - "Oh, see this, it's from Thailand" and he would look at us and say "From my Thailand?" or "That my Thailand".

Jenny's husband Mike took these great pictures for us:

Here are Ian and Jesse with the building behind them.

This one is so cute. It should be captioned "ho-hum" -
look closely to the expression on Jesse's face.

First day of school

This is what Ian looked like the day he started kindergarten :) I'm such a proud Mommy!


Here are some pictures from the first day of school. Ian was great. He marched right in and never looked back - I only teared up for a moment. Jesse needs to get back into the groove of things, he cried when I dropped him off, but I think by next week he'll be great again. He only cries for a little bit when I leave and then he's fine.

So we've survived the first week of school and I think we're getting into a pretty good groove! It should only get better from here.

Me and my boys on their first day.

This is Jesse with his backpack.

Here's Ian with his backpack and in his supper cool first day of school outfit.