Most of my future posts will be public posts. To leave a comment here, you can either comment anon, which will be screened until I read the comment, use the openid feature, or you can create a livejournal user name. If you wish to read the occasional locked post, you will need a lj username and friend my journal. Eventually, my archive will be mostly public again and properly tagged.

The movie Up! was fabulous. Doug the dog is our Yoda, well except Yoda isn't trained very well and has the energy of a constant tornado. But everything else about the dog is our dog. The girls now want a talking collar for Yoda.

The bird was inspired by a bird from our local zoo. It was cool seeing the little mention of the Sacramento Zoo in the credits.

Also, my mom will be pleased to know that as much fun of her as I made when I when I was Juliet's age about her crying like a sap at movies or television, I've now become that lady. I think that the lovely moments are even more heart jerking than Jessie getting left in Toy Story 2.

I'd love to go back and watch it in 3D, but I probably won't get the opportunity. (Serafina was freaked out by the idea of glasses, and the movie started way later past bedtime.)

In a completely unrelated subject, Juliet wants to know why Dora the Explorer is oblivious to the fact that she shouldn't be so nosy looking in other people's Christmas presents. In fact, the more Juliet thinks back to the other episodes, she thinks Dora sort of tramples over her friends and expects to be loved as awesome and that's just rude.

My pink eye is mostly gone, but the feverish, wiped out, chills followed by hot sweats that Serafina had is now invaded me. She didn't need to share!

Health status of the family since Saturday:

Homer - has an infected tooth, is on penicillin and vicodin now

MagicPointeShoe - pink eye

Juliet - healthy but suffering from a severe case of stir crazy from boredom

Serafina - has had a blocked sinus cavity since late Friday night, but it finally cleared today. watching her face swell up on one side, plus puking, plus a constant fever was overwhelming considering the above.

Athena - healthy

In non health related news, we have been blessed by kind friends with some new to us furniture. Homer's friend delivered to us a nice dining room table with four chairs. Combined with our two thrift store dining room chairs, we actually have a dining set to have dinner around. Our dining room is also finally free of moving boxes!

Also, Homer's mom's friend's friend was getting rid of her leatherette couch and chair. So in our family room we now have a more comfy arrangement. I especially like the chair for nursing the baby in.

And in non-health related news and non-furniture related news, our baby is almost ONE YEARS OLD! Egads, when did that happen?

Freedom! Homer is stuck under two sleeping little sisters while I Walk in peace and quiet to go get Juliet.

Last night, it was pretty much understood that the amount of time discussing the bill would be practically bare basics and each side would only have two speakers who would be given 2 minutes a piece. So I didn't prepare myself as well as I had originally planned with what my main statement would be if given the chance to speak.

I arrived at just before noon and joined the CalOpen people in waiting for the hearing to begin. Much silliness and lollery was to be had as we waited with no real notification that the hearing had been postponed. Once underway almost two hours late, they still didn't have enough members to form a quarum, by the time this bill was presented we were still two members short. The bill was presented and there was a good number of CARE members in attendance to give their approval, a good handful allowed to have their say, and a good handful only asked to state their name and approval. When the opposing voices got our time, our two designated speakers got to have their say, and the rest of us stood on the side prepared to follow the same "state your name and disapproval" but instead a good portion of us got to have our say. I went first out of the group of us standing on the side. I stated how I was a birthmother and that my son was 13 years old now. He knew he was adopted but nothing really of the family of where he comes from. His original birth certificate was open for anyone to obtain for 16 months after he was born. The 180 days required to finalize the adoption plus an additional 10 months for the amended certificate and sealing to happen. Anyone could have gotten the birth certificate during that time, and his family has that birth certificate in a box that he doesn't know exists. He will have to beg for his original birth certificate. It's his, not mine.

Or at least that is what I remember saying. By the end of speaking I was -->this<-- close to tears. I did my best.

After the statements, the committee asked some questions to Assemblywoman Ma, asking about clarification of dead birthparents and contacting efforts. I do not know if it passed or not.

I got to speak and have my say!

I've read the analysis for the amendment a few times now, and I'm convinced by the wording that either a staff member of the author or someone championing the bill wrote the analysis for the judiciary committee.

There are some rather conflicting ideas now that I've had an evening to gather my thoughts. For example, the whole thing hinges on the right of privacy for biological parents. But, that being said, if an adoptee has a health issue that is immediate and urgent to be necessary to have the original birth certificate released, there is no mention of the biological parents being notified that the birth certificate is released. Violation of that supposed privacy is okay because of a noble cause, but not enough to notify those that are affected.

Not that I'm all whoo hoo, notify us if that record is released... because I'm not.

The other thing that really bothers me is that the analysis is twisting existing policies as to be representative of protections in place for me, when in actuality were put into place to protect my son's parents. To say that a mutual consent registry is an implication of privacy is bullhockey. I can tell you this from my own experience and from many that have also walked in the same path I have, the one thing that was told to us in the pre-adoption counseling is how once we relinquish our rights to our child, that's it, the child is not ours. Legally we have no ties to our child. Legally our child has no ties to us. It is severed, and there is nothing that can change that fact. I was reminded that our children are curious and will someday seek us out if they want, while the courts seal the records, many adoptees figure out how to get the information they need. I could save my son that hassle by signing the mutual consent registry, and keeping the address current. But regardless, if he was going to seek me out, there really wasn't much to stop him.

So, I went on my way from that meeting knowing the one thing for absolutely certain, once the papers were signed, I would have no legal rights pertaining to my son's life. And yet, according to this proposed law, suddenly I have a right. A right that no other regular parent has over their child's birth certificate. BIZARRE.

I googled as many different ideas as I could after I was reading the amended assembly bill. In order of those initial thoughts and not by order of any importance:

1. Where is my son's privacy? One of the key components to this "compromise" is that apparently my privacy matters. I would have the opportunity to stop identifying information from being released on the birth certificate, but where his privacy to go get this document without having to involve his relatives either adoptive or biological. What a freaking mind f*ck to everyone involved. I have a couple of thoughts on this, one of which is more related to another point, but one directly involved with this asking permission concept. Could you imagine being in my shoes? Out of nowhere a letter comes stating that my son is asking for this document and thus wondering in some part or another about his biological roots to this world. I would be a deer in the headlights wondering if it was only the piece of paper he wanted or if it would be leading to more contact. The rush of emotion of that idea has currently overwhelmed me and it's with no real practical concept of the mind f*ckery of reunion actually is.

2. Timeline of when the original birth certificate is available. Particularly within infant newborn adoption, the original birth certificate is viewable for a minimum of 180 days after birth, but with an additional admittance by the Department of Public Health, it takes an additional 10 months to process an amended birth certificate and seal the original. That is 16 months approximately that anyone and everyone can obtain that original birth certificate. This amount of time is dismissed in the analysis of the bill on pages 8 and 9.

3. The only birthparents who are promised privacy are those who use that awful safe haven now labeled safely surrendered baby law. Those parents are not listed at all on the original birth certificate, and thus creates a whole other heap of questions for the logistics for this proposed law.

4. The age of 25, which I can only speculate as being some sort of throw back to that adults are now not really adults until after they are no longer claimed as dependent student children by the federal government. On a personal note, I worry that if this legislation moves forward that crappy age will become somehow the standard for the mutual consent registry program that the state also handles which is also being used in the analysis as another supposed promise of privacy.

That's my thoughts for a moment. I'm sure I'll be back with more in a few.

I know I've been away for a while. My internets are back, and I have a new topic going round and round in my head right now. Assemblywoman Ma introduced AB 372 in California, and now that is less than a day from being heard by the Judicial committee, the bill has already been compromised. It suggests that adult adoptees (over the age of 25) can request a copy of their original birth certificate and get it if the birthparents are contacted and don't protest the release. That is the bare basics of what is going on, and in order to get my mind fluent and wrapped properly around what is being proposed and what I shall say in opposition to this bill, I'm going to prattle on a bit in my journal. Agree, disagree or poke me with questions, it's all good. The drama llama is invited to come out for these posts.

The King of Siam works as a waiter in Santa Maria at Denny's. If only he said 'etc... Etc... Etc...'

Juliet decided for a moment she wasn't going to fall asleep because she didn't want to be 7 yet.

Tomorrow is our son's birthday and of today's mail there are no pictures yet. I hope he's excited for his first teenage birthday.

That's it, I'm having Juliet change the dang channel. I have no hope that the plot will redeem itself.

What the hell am I thinking watching Flashpoint tonight? Nice that this tripe is on two days before my son's birthday.

Today Athena discovered walking feet while holding on for dear life onto my hands. Much giggling was had by my wee one!

The girls immediately complained about the stench of the vinegar. I was once a whiner about that too.

This year we are using the food coloring method to dye our eggs instead of a kit. I hope it turns out well!

The Fix is essentially a prank room 'improved' by whatever wishes the homeowner give, then after they get the worst, they fix the room the right way.

Homer makes fun of me watching home decrating shows, but I think he'd like The Fix where they change the room for the worse.

For a moment that is. Serafina is 98% potty trained now. We only have very rare accidents. I wish though that Mr. Rogers was on more often in this house so that Serafina could have watched the "you won't be flushed down the potty" episode and know he was telling the truth.

Athena is so full of life it's crazy. The crawling and cruising and adventure in this child is something fierce and it's different than Serafina. Serafina has this zest for game, laughter and adventure, but it's in this scientific crazy dangerous way. Biker chick with a guitar strapped to her back kind of way. Athena on the other hand is like a hurricane or tornado. She has arrived, conquered and then moved on goodbye. Athena is the "Ding Dong the witch is dead" song of energy. I don't know what's going on but it sure looks interesting and then there it went.

Juliet had the first GATE testing in December with a nonverbal test. Her results came in the mail this last week and she was one correct answer short of the cutoff for being GATE recognized. There are other tests that she can take, if her teacher puts her name on a list I guess. I'm just not sure what to make of it and my mind is of a lot of thoughts.

Unrelated, my children are thrilled that some other children came by selling candy bars for fund raising. They had no idea that such a thing could happen. Now they just need to discover the glory of the ice cream truck this summer.