Yesterday we took a day trip to one of my favorite places in Maryland, the eastern shore. We went to St. Michael's for a leisurely morning of strolling down main street and shopping. We visited some shops and made a few purchases, couldn't resist stopping in the Christmas store and picking up ornaments for nearly everyone we give presents to each year. On my side of the family, ornaments are exchanged nearly every year and adorn the tree in the most beautiful smosgasbord of color, styles and creativity.
Back to St. Michael's, after shopping and siteseeing for a while we headed back out of town and stopped in our favorite restaurant, MASON's (check out the website here), located in Easton. It seems a bit of a socialite spot if you judge the restaurant by it's website, like in life, it's a bad decision to judge something by the color of it's skin... it's got such incredible food, fair prices and the desserts are incredible. There have been times where we go for dessert:)
Funny thing happened there, we were seated in their outdoor area (so few american restaurants have outdoor seating like in Europe, it's such a bummer and a clear indication of how vastly different the US and Europe are). At the table next to us were 2 women and 2 children. OUr guess is the oldest woman was the grandma, then the mom and one of the children was asian, the other blond hair blue eyed. Was hard for us not to say anything to them or ask them questions... guess we're just stalkers and not talkers!!!! Anyway, eric and I loved our meals, the warmth of the sun and occasionally stealing a peak at the 4 of them. The asian child was a wonder she ate everything... pickles, tomatoes, spicy pasta salad, pineapple, grapes, chicken... you name it, we hope to do just as good a job raising our daughter to eat anything! (except pickles LOL) The girl, Violet, had a few meltdowns but I greatly admired the way her mom and grandmother handled them. They balanced the needs of diners around them with the need to help her 'get through it' perfectly. In today's society, this caring for strangers and respect for others isn't always seen. Hat's off to this family of 4.
Maybe the next time I'll have the courage to ask questions and strike up a conversation but I am so painfully shy around people I don't see daily and never quite know what to say. Add to that the fact I never want to say the most offensive (but of course "well meaning") things that so many people manage to say at times. We've learned the hard way through infertility, the death of our daughter and through reading online about adoption, how truly dimwitted things come out of the nicest people's mouth...
Next week I have an insanely busy week at work to contend with, a major audit going on, I'm sure to be stressed out. I've also decided that 8 weeks is MORE THAN ENOUGH time for the state of Maryland to finish out fingerprint search, this is ridiculous. So I have armed myself with the phone numbers for the justice department, the senator who handles complaints and our agency number to resolve this once and for all. THis is insane, 8 freekin weeks? I've also found out, that since the federal government is also doing a SEPARATE fingerprint search (what the hell is the state of Maryland thinking anyway in duplicating this?) that the homestudy can be sent in with just the background letter only from the State. Our background letter cleared 6 weeks ago I'm going to see if our agency will submit it as complete without state clearance since federal clearance trumps state clearance anyway. When will I get these calls made at work? Haven't figured that one out yet... I will :)
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