Back from Camping Trip!!!

So it's Sunday, we've driven home from camping... more on camping later... have unpacked, eaten lunch, started laundry, cleaned up a bit (tip of the day: run the garbage disposal BEFORE heading out of town for the weekend -ewwwwwhhhhh!) so now it's back to reality... I mean blogger land.

I was thilled to read the really nice and touching comments about the 'computer lady post', it means a lot to get those emails and comments posted. It touched me in the same way that a present from my oldest and dearest friend this weekend touched me.

K and I have been friends for nearly 25 years, through thick and thin, good and bad, a strong friendship is like a marriage, it needs to be capable of weathering the toughest storms and it needs not to expect perfection from an imperfect world. K recently married R (Happy Anniversary by the way) and for a few years we meet in Richmond, Virginia at the Pocahontas State Park for a weekend of camping. Each year they tend to surprise us with a gift for different reasons. Last year was a baby gift for Sophia (we still have it guys!) and this year was a gift for Magpie.

Check out the books, the bath toy (was that for E and I or Magpie?) and the cool cool card. We were touched that they gave us books as that's what I want most of all, books. Clothes come and go, toys get used, abused and broken, but books can last a long time and some will always linger in your mind. It's also neat to see the books that people pass on as 'their favorites'. K mentioned why she liked each book, her passion for the stories, the illustrators, etc. I love hearing those kinds of things from people, the "why's", the "stories" behind gifts... it's just too easy to reach for a gift card nowadays and I feel spoiled, honestly, when I'm presented with a gift that has a story that binds your gift to their life or experiences.

Sort of like the "Invisible Red Thread" quote of the adoption world.

The bright red book is about families, and how different they all are, sizes, colors, where they live, adopted, step, single parents, etc. It's really going to come in handy as Magpie, E and I navigate the waters of how different families really are and that it's perfectly ok not to be the same as everyone else. The other book is the Chinese Red Riding Hood story, cool illustrations and a bit scary, we'll save that one for when she's a bit older!

My favorite as a child was one of the 'Golden Books' hardcover series. They don't make them anymore and they tend to be collectors items, it's rare to find them in a used book store even. So a few years ago, on our anniversary I think or my birthday, E surprised me with my favorite book, Corky. Here's a picture of it. It reminds me of being a child, growing up on the shores of Connecticut and of our family pet, Sailor, a black lab.

I've been waiting to for 4 years to read this book to our child, another 12 months of waiting doesn't seem all that bad after we reflect on what we've gone through in the 4 years of 'trying'. I can feel Magpie now, sitting in my lap as I read her the tale of Corky. I wonder which book will become her favorite one day. I can hardly wait to find out.