Filling the Silences of Waiting/Hoping/Wishing

We are still awaiting information from Holt regarding the little girl. Further, they have asked us a compelling question - are we interested in an older girl (age 3) with the same medical condition as this 16 month old girl???

Dave and I ask struggle with the question: in a world where one can buy thong underpants for 7 year old girls at Target, are we up for the task of raising a girl? (Ultimately, we have arrived at the answer, "yes." One of us was slower at arriving at this answer than the other.)

I struggle with the overwhelming question: Why doesn't the American Girl Doll company have an Asian historical doll on their roster of Fabulous (And Fabulously Expensive) Dolls for Little Girls?

Guess what Girls on the Go (Toys R Us's cheaper answer to the American Girl phenomenom) does not have? If you guessed "Asian dolls" you would be right.

Admittedly, the American Girls company does make an Asian doll in their "Just Like Me" line - but, this is lacking in the books/story, so, really, what's the point??? :-P

Okay, so, I know there are a number of women reading this who either have or will soon have Asian daughters. I think we should storm the American Girls Doll store in Chicago and demand representation for Asian girls everywhere.

Or, yeah...well, we could just go shopping elsewhere on Michigan Ave in the Windy City...because, in the grand scheme of things, the American Girls Doll is probably not the most important racial issue facing our children...

Here's a thought though: do not do a search on "Asian Dolls" on the Internet without, well, getting some websites you are probably not really interested in looking at...

This is what I have been filling the silences with:

Books I have just finished, am reading, or am planning to start:
1. Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty - the long awaited sequel to Sloppy First and Second Helpings

2. The Two Minute Rule by Robert Crais - excellent murder mystery coupled with a bank heist, from the pen of the master of the mystery-solving-tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold genre

3. Pagan Babies by Elmore Leonard - I haven't started it, but, it looks like Elmore Leonard switches from his usual "mayhem in South Florida" motif to "mayhem in Detroit and parts of subsaharan Africa"

4. Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot - this is one of my favorite authors for generally escaping any seriousness in my life. I started reading her books the day after I finished taking the Ohio Bar Exam. I was standing in line at the library, and I picked up her "Princess Diaries" book which was on display, just because I was bored and waiting in line. She had a quote from Frances Hodges Burnett's book A Little Princess on the front flap. A Little Princess was my alltime favorite book as a little girl, hence, I picked up The Princess Diaries out of sheer curiousity. I felt silly checking out a book aimed at the 11-14-year-old-girl-set, but, as I read it, I laughed hysterically, and quickly devoured books 2, 3 and 4. (They are nothing like the Disney movies.) I enjoyed the books so much, I emailed her and thanked her for making me laugh after such a stressful time. She wrote me back (I have kept the email in my in-box for almost three years) this is what she said,

Thanks for the nice note, Gretchen! It made my day!

And you're not my oldest fan. There is a retirement home in FL that used The Princess Diaries for their reading group...they're all in their 80's-90s!

Good luck on the bar,

Meg

Anyway, I have enjoyed reading her books ever since then. This is not one of her young-adult books, but, one of her books for actual grown-up readers... ;-)

5. Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore - I love Chris Moore, and this is his only book that I have not read. I've tried before and given up, but, I am trying again.

Music I am Listening to:

1. Taking the Long Way by the Dixie Chicks - while the purist in me wishes there was more banjo/mandolin/dulcimer/fiddle on the this album, it is, nevertheless, excellent.

2. Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House by Crowded House - in truth, I am obsessively compulsively listening to "Fall at Your Feet" and "Distant Sun" off this album, over and over again...

3. Keep It Together by Guster - I love the song Amsterdam, what can I say?

4. Wreck of the Day by Anna Nalick - I especially love the line, "life's like an hourglass glued to the table, no one can find the rewind button, girls, so, cradle your head and just breathe"

5. Time of Trains by David Broza - this man is a genius with a guitar

6. Final Straw by Snow Patrol

7. The song Inevitable by Shakira, off her album Donde Estan los Ladrones

8. Make it Through this World by Greg Trooper - I think the title of the album says it all