I would love to have a real update for you.

I know you could say, and it may be true, that he has to say things like this to promote the movie, but still, I love this interview.

"It's a great, great story," says Oldman, though he confirms that he hasn't read the full script yet, "You look at 'The Dark Knight' and you think, 'How's he going to top it?' But I think he has."

Oh yes. That's what I like to hear.

In other news, rumors are a big annoucement will be coming tomorrow regarding Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. Expected changes are giving the cast a break for a time, revising the show and opening much later, potentially after the Tonys in June. There are even murmurs questioning if Taymor will stay on as director. Curious, curious.

Several of you have asked me for an update on Tate. They seem to be doing great. Tate has discovered bubbles it seems, and its awfully cute. I love this laugh! He's quite the ham and we think he's lovely! :) Thanks for asking!

Apparently I'm now three posts away from one hundred. Hmm...

You may be right, I may be crazy.

Random thoughts.

First, this article about how people in Japan are donating gifts to orphans in the name of superheroes makes me smile.

Second, work has been wild. Twenty-two services have either happened or are in the process of happening since January 3rd. It's January 11th. Let that sink in for a moment.

Third, did you know you could make thin mints using a Ritz Cracker? Dip the cracker in melted mint chocolate chips (or chocolate chips with mint extract) and add crushed peppermints on top. Delicious. I don't even like traditional thin mints and I scarfed these down. Yum. You would never know it was a cracker inside.

Fourth, there's a Muppets movie coming out in November? I can't decide whether I'm excited or not. Images of Scarecrow Kermit being ripped to shreds keep flashing through my mind. Thoughts?

And finally, awwww.... look at this cute guy.


I love that picture. That's a good note to end on. Thanks Shannon!

Meet Tate! :)

Note: I did not take all these photos. A very nice man from their church comes and takes photos at major life events for families as his ministry which is really awesome. Props to him! If need be though, I can immediately switch the photos out if it's outside his wishes.

Mostly a photo post, because I think the photos speak louder than words here. :)

Yesterday was a blur! After drama at 4 I flew to Amy's house where the Pucketts and I drove to Texas Roadhouse for a family dinner before going to the main attraction... watching my cousins walk in at the airport with our newest kiddo!

All six kiddos ready for their new cousin...


I love this pic of Ashlyn. ;) Can you tell we arrived at the airport an hour and a half early? With six kids? Ahahaha.... No, they were actually great. And we had that section of the airport completely to ourselves, which was awesome. They ran around to their hearts content.


Flight from Detroit, on time...


We were all wearing the shirts Brian & Shannon designed...


The plane has landed! Everyone get ready!


And then everything became very happy and very chaotic. We set the security check point alarm off twice. :)




















You may not can tell in the photos, but the front of his shirt reads "I'm finally home!" Indeed, Tate. And we're thrilled you're all finally home safe and sound. :)

Where hydrants are open and cool breezes flow.

Here are some meandering discoveries around the net for you.

I was so sad to read first thing this morning that In the Heights was closing. What a beautiful show and even though it had a good run, I still feel like it's closing so soon. Miranda will be returning to the show to finish out its run. Wow.
Hey! Miranda, we want to see a new show in the works from you as well.
"I illuminate the stories of the people in the street. Some have happy endings, some are bittersweet, but I love them all and that's what makes my life complete."

Um...really? "Fermilab is Building a 'Holometer'"
Researchers at Fermilab are building a “holometer” so they can disprove everything you thought you knew about the universe. More specifically, they are trying to either prove or disprove the somewhat mind-bending notion that the third dimension doesn’t exist at all, and that the 3-D universe we think we live in is nothing more than a hologram. To do so, they are building the most precise clock ever created.

This is absolutely gorgeous. An astrophotographer calculated where and when the sky would be the very darkest (he chose Atacama desert, Chile) and went there to snap photos of what it would be like. The images are breathtaking.
The Darkest Sky: 360 panorama of the Milky Way
The rim of light surrounding the full-sky views isn’t sunlight or light form nearby cities, but actually the galaxy itself. Guisard also took measures to time the photo so as to minimize this light as well.

Apparently NASA & DARPA are planning a hundred year starship which would "send astronauts to Mars with the intention of staying for the rest of their lives, as trailblazers for a permanent Mars colony....they would get periodic supply missions, but they would be expected to fend for themselves for water, shelter, nutrients and mineral/chemical processing. They would be expected to develop some kind of homegrown Martian industry, which could ultimately serve as a hub for an expanded colonization program."

Whaaat? Paul the Octopus is dead?? I loved you Paul! Rest in peace my crazy octopus friend.

Thanks to Will I've discovered the word mamihlapinatapai! (mah-may-la-pin-ya-tah-pay, if I got it right, according to this song.) It's from the language Yaghan in Chile.
It is "listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the 'most succinct word,' and is considered one of the hardest words to translate. It describes 'a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that they both desire but which neither one wants to start.'"
Supposedly, the Yaghan language is only spoken by one person left in the world, an elderly woman in Chile. Amy, I expect to see this in your homeschooling lessons this week.

Now the exciting part: BATMAN NEWS!
Honestly, this title kind of surprises me, but I'll warm up to it. Quite frankly, I'm so happy that I might finally have a complete, fantastic Batman trilogy that I could live with whatever the title may be. I'm also surprised he's revealing it so early. But there's some more exciting news revealed in the article as well. No spoilers here, click if you're interested. I'm so excited! The movie's not out until July 2012, so will someone have an early marathon with me?
Nolan Reveals Title of Third Batman

Update on Tate: My cousins are still in Ethiopia, but Sunday morning I had an opportunity to Skype with them! I had never Skyped before, so it was really interesting. It was also wonderful to meet Tate as well as see and hear Brian & Shannon and what they think of Ethiopia. They mentioned the marketplace and suddenly I was flooded with memories! :) Please keep them in your prayers as they wait for their embassy date.

Playday with the Plumbs & the Pucketts!

While we did have a playday already scheduled for this past Saturday, on a spur of the moment whim we were on our way to Sulphur! And after some scenic touring in Wanette ("Grandpa, why are we going backwards?!") we made it, scarfed down some Mazzios and spent the rest of the afternoon in the park.

Some shots:

Papa and his girls enjoying Little Niagara.


Exploring....


It was such a gorgeous day. It was absolutely perfect weather.


The pretty Puckett girls and my wonderful Uncle Phil.


One has to wonder why, if there are four girls, only three flip flops can be found? Indeed, a matching pair of flip flops went floating down the river...


Sulphur in fall is really, really pretty.


More of the lovely ladies! Amy & Anna rocking the Team Plumb tees.


The fantastic pair of aunt Phyllis and my cousin Amy.


Parting shot of Phyllis & I...


And now, with that, it is bedtime. (what? at 10:00?) Yeah. We also moved Brad & Regina in this week, had Sunday madness, played 'Splosion Man with Sam & Holly (which, for the record, is awesome) and had a day at the shop that has already stacked tomorrow through Thursdays orders.

But what a perfect weekend. :)

Yeah! I 'splode!

Update on Tate: He's officially theirs! I can't wait to show off pics. In the meantime, though, I'm holding off. There is so much legality involved that I don't understand I just want to wait until after their embassy date. But if you want to see pics, email is always an option! :) I can assure you, he is incredibly cute. All smiles! Brian & Shannon are doing well, but ready to be back in the states. Can't wait to see their family as a whole!

And I've seen love make heaven ring.

Adoption Update:

My cousins leave this Friday for Ethopia and their final court date is the 12th! Ahhhh!

After that, they have to wait on their embassy date before they can come home. The embassy date, to my understanding, is final preparations for Tate to enter the US (passport, etc).

Here's the deal: My cousin Brian only has a few weeks of vacation. The embassy dates possible are either late October, early November or the middle of November. While early November would still be okay, if it's the middle of November he'll have to come back early. And leave his wife and new son in Ethopia until the embassy date.
So. Ideally here, the embassy date will be late October or possible early November. Either way, even if it ends up being in the middle of November, God is still in control. But if you would pray towards it being one of the earlier two dates, that would be lovely and very appreciated by all of us. :)

I was considering their trip this past Sunday during our church's invitation. The thought popped into my mind that I was jealous. Jealous? I thought. I considered. Jealous was the right word. But not the right context. Jealous of them? No. I kept internally poking around. That wasn't it. Then it dawned on me. Ahhhh....jealous for them?

Yes. Jealous for them. That was it.

Jealous for them, in the sense, that they have this unique opportunity and they're taking it and I am so very happy for them!
Jealous that they will be traveling to Africa, a land that holds a very special place in my heart. They will get to step into this beautiful country that not everyone has the opportunity to see. To spend time with their son's heritage and culture. That their son will soon be in their arms. :)

But what if Tate had never made it to the adoption center?

I spent some time on Gladney's site tonight and they had a video up specifically towards Ethopian adoption. The video opens with this statistic: 6,000,000 orphans in Ethopia alone. Can you envision that kind of number?
The statistics continued.
12% will die before the age of 5.
53% over 5 will have to work to support their family.
Less than 5% are adopted.

My heart sunk. This is not worldwide numbers- can you imagine how much larger they go? Millions of children with no home. If any, a few loved ones. No parents. Little stability. And this beautiful baby boy?

The video continued. It doesn't have to be this way it read.

It doesn't have to be this way. Indeed. This is not fair. This is not right. This is where "looking after the widows & the orphans" comes in. This is where we should be stepping in. This is where I should be stepping in.

Ah. Lots of Rich Mullins lately. Let mercy lead, God. Let love be the strength in our legs. And in every footprint that we leave, there'll be a drop of grace whether its here, Africa or beyond.

Adoption Update: MOWA

MOWA: Ministry of Women's Affairs in Ethopia.

MOWA has to recommend your adoption forward to be finalized or the whole process will fall through and, to my understanding, you lose your referred child.

But once you pass that then you are on your way to Ethopia a week(ish) later to finish off the finalization process. (There's so many court dates that I get confused, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.)

BUT.

The important thing is that my cousin's MOWA court date was today and they PASSED.

This is big. This is awesome. And I'm so excited for them. This also means they'll be traveling soon, so please keep them in your prayers!

More on Tate / Playlist Assistance

So since I found out I can give his soon-to-be-legal American name (but just not the currently-legal African one) I can assure you baby Tate is incredibly cute. He's 5 1/2 months old. I already have pictures to show off, so be sure to ask if you see me (again, can't post anything online yet). Even if you don't ask I'm sure you'll see them anyway and possibly numerous times since I keep forgetting who already has.

I could use some help. I'm working on a playlist for walking/jogging music and would really love some ideas. I tend to struggle with treadmills because 1) they cause major mental boredom and 2) they cause major mental boredom. I'm walking. W-a-l-k-i-n-g. They have tv's and I have mp3's so you wouldn't think it would matter but it does. So I have to keep myself moving, not bored and have major motivation. So far I've been listening to all Journey because they're pretty much spot-on what I'm looking for. They're strong driving beats with that great 80's dramatic flair. It opens with a great warm up in "Only the Young" and ends with "Lights." The current favorite of the bunch, however, is "Seperate Ways (Worlds Apart)". It feels epic. Boss battle epic. I could take this treadmill down (not really please!). It's also great to envision how you would rock out to it. But I'm needing some variety. And googling "exercise music lists" just isn't working. (They keep suggesting Fergie & Jay-Z. No.)

I'm vaguely considering the idea of joining Komen's Race for the Cure 3-mile run in October. Currently I can't run (um, jog) more than two minutes in any half hour session, so any time I mentally commit my body shivers in fear. Yikes. But I do love that Komen has a Sleep In For the Cure. That rocks. :)

Blog Feature: Why I Read the Blogs I Read

I've considered this for awhile, but today seems the perfect time to try it. I'm so excited I'm a bit scatterbrained, so this post may weave around a bit.

Why do I read A Plumb Crazy Life? For starters, they're my cousins, (and they're awesome) but let's look at the backstory for their blog.

My cousin Brian & his wife Shannon, are in the process of adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia and the simple version is that this is their story of that process. But I have learned more about international adoption and adoption in general through their blogs and through ones that they read themselves. I have learned more about the good, the bad and the ugly of the whole process than I thought I would have ever be interested in. And I love it.

Today's the perfect day to bring this up because today they RECEIVED THEIR REFERRAL. Yes, that has to be in all caps. The referral (as I've learned through their's and others attached) is when you receive for the first time information on your soon-to-be child. They requested a boy, they requested a baby, but that's all they knew. The referral is when you first receive a name, an age, a history, pictures, video, everything. It's incredibly important and emotional. This is your child. And then the hard part follows: now you have to wait until you pass through court to actually receive him. Ah! Here's your child- in a few months, whenever the court decides, then you'll get to finally hold him. o_O

I can't help but add my response to this because it caught me so off-guard. Let's face it - there's pieces of my heart that never really engage. Don't misinterpret that- it's not that I don't care or I don't love someone or I wouldn't fight to defend or protect them. But there's just pieces that never respond despite that. But this afternoon I got a sneak peek at a picture and I was shocked to feel myself leap with joy all over the place inside. He's so cute. I mean, all smiles. Curly, curly hair.

And while I've read over and over that adoption has to be selfish in a way, the parent has to want the child, etc. It can't just be "oh, I'm helping a kid out" because there's often struggles with bonding in cases like that, but I think I can't help but respond to they're helping an orphan. This kid will have a whole new life. He'll have a whole family.

Yes, there will be struggles. I have no doubt there'll be painful situations later. But for now, for now, joy, rapture, glee... He'll be their baby! He'll be one of my kids.

And now for those that pray, the request: a court date before the rainy season. During the rainy season, court completely shuts down for a month or more, and they may have to wait until October or November if that happens. O_O So...court date, court date, court date!

Tomorrow I get to see pictures! Sadly, we can't share online (I don't think) until he's officially theirs. But I get to see them! Bwahahaha!