Top 5 Lists

I've loved your thoughts on names (thank you, all!) and thought I'd give you an update on the stalemate between Darrell and I over the name Samantha. After all of your suggestions, and a little more searching on my own, here are lists of our Top Five Names...

Michelle's List

1. The name hated by all but me.

2. Sophia/Sophie

3. Vivian

4. Violet

5. Tess

For *middle names, I'm thinking of using Rose or Grace with most of the above, except for Tess. What would be a good middle name that goes with Tess? I'm thinking maybe Renee? But I don't know if I like that. What do you guys think? Our last name is two syllables, if that helps.

*(For both genders, the baby's Marshallese name will be worked in as a second middle name, like we did with Bri- or possibly used as the only middle name).

Darrell's List

1. Samantha/Sam

2. "...Uh..."

3. "I haven't thought of any overnight."

4. "...Well..."

5. "Oh, uh... I... uh... kinda like Tess... maybe."

You see my problem, right? It's not just me, is it? (No, Michelle, of course it's not. It's all him, honey... Aawwwll him.) He is being extraordinarily difficult.

I'm also stressing over preparing for a baby boy. Even though we've already settled on the name (still Sam, no changes there), I'm doing other things to work myself into an unnecessary tizzy. I've been trying to choose paint colors for his room. I look at baby clothes everywhere I go, trying to find cute boy clothes that are not covered in the typical boats, bears, dinosaurs and footballs, even though we have no idea how old he'll be or what size he will be.

You know, if I were pregnant, everyone would just say I was nesting and my behavior would be considered totally normal, even cute. But since I'm "only" adopting, I'm just crazy to be worrying over all of this before our referral.

That's not fair. Adoptive moms nest, too!

Any suggestions?

First, thank you for the nice comments the other day about my haircut. You guys are a bunch of sweetie-pies! I've heard a few "You look younger!" comments since getting it all lopped off, and those people are now my new best friends. My apologies to my former best friends. You may be reinstated if you come up with better compliments.

On with the subject of today's post: Girl names... I'm having serious doubts about naming a baby girl Sam. Darrell however, is not. And no, we did not get our referral yet, so no, we do not know if Sam is even going to be a girl, but please, people- anyone who knows me understands that I have to spend time and energy worrying about this subject right now. Nevermind that I really do think we'll get a boy... Humor me, okay? I have to have my back-up plan in place. Darrell has no interest in discussing this with me, no matter how obnoxiously often I bring it up, so that means... You get to hear it!

I like very feminine, old-fashioned names. I don't like girl names that are really trendy, although I appear to have a habit of choosing names that wind up being popular. I guess I really know how to pick 'em. I thought I was being so original with Olivia and Brianna, but no... not so much. There is an Olivia and/or Brianna on every one of the girls' teams and in every elementary class. For the most part though, trendy, cute, cheerleader-ish names are out. No offense to all the Brittanys, Haylies, Kaylies, Mileys, Kylies, and Smylies out there. I'm sure you're all wonderful people.

I love flower names: Daisy, Violet, Rose (Rosalie!), Lilly. I love good, solid, "old-lady" names: Scarlet, Esther, Emma, Sophia/Sophie (slightly trendy, but I still love it), Annie (which I love, but it would sound funny with our last name, I think).

The meaning of the name is kind of important to me, too. No "negative" names. For example, I love the name Leah, but it means weak or weary and that kind of ruins it for me.

One of my all-time favorite girl names is... Oh, forget it. I'm too embarrassed to tell you. Judging by the ridicule I've received from my own family members, everyone absolutely hates it. It's a name that seems to invite mockery of every sort, so there's no way in Hades I'd get to use it anyway.

Darrell basically hates all the girl names I come up with, including all of those I mentioned above, which is why we will probably wind up with Samantha. His pick. It's not a bad name, it's just... I dunno. For one thing, to me, Samantha is a cat's name. Our cat's name is Mama, not Samantha, so go figure. Weird. But... I digress. It is also the name of Olivia's American Girl doll, so there would obviously be a lot of confusion in the house. How would the doll and/or the baby know which Samantha we're speaking to?

The main problem with Samantha other than, you know, I don't like it, is that we are nick-name people around this house, so the baby will not be called Samantha, she'll most likely be called Sam. Sam is not a girlie name. I want a girlie name if I'm having a girl- did I mention that? That means that the other names Darrell seems to like for girls (Stevie, Andi, Stormie, etc...) aren't gonna fly with me either, although those are all cute names. We could do Sami/Sammie, I guess, to "girl it up" a little bit, but I'd rather have something else. Names that end in "i" are venturing into cheerleader territory, are they not?

(Crap. If we do name her Samantha, I'll have to go back and delete this post someday, so that her little feelings won't be hurt. I don't want her to feel like her own Mom dislikes her name. Someone will need to remind me to do that, okay?)

Darrell let me pick Olivia and Brianna, and accepted what I wanted without complaint or comment. What a gem. I think he figured that, since we'd had four boys in a row, he would let me have free reign and be as girlie as I wanted with my daughters. So, I guess I could be really sweet and let him have Samantha, or any other name he chooses, for our last baby. I could... I guess... Of course, I won't... But I could.

Maybe if I keep pushing for the name I like the most (The Most Detested Female Name on Earth), Darrell will compromise and let me have Violet, Scarlet, Sophia, or Daisy?

What do you guys think? Have you heard any girl names lately that you really like? Can you think of any good, old fashioned names for me? Are you even still awake? A free M&M to anyone who made it through this whole post! Another one if you contribute a suggestion- I'm feeling generous! Just tell me where to send it.

Marshallese, please!

I don't suppose I have any new readers who have adopted from the Marshall Islands? Or you are Marshallese? Or know someone who is from there? How about Micronesia? Or maybe you've read a book about the Marshall Islands? Ha! Is there anyone out there from Hawaii? Close enough-lol! Gee whiz, at this point, I may even settle for someone named Marshall!!

The RMI adoption community is so much smaller than VN or China, it's very hard to find anyone. So... Where y'all at?

We joined the Yahoo group for RMI adoption when we first started the program, but again, very small... and they seem to be a close-knit group of old friends. We would love to connect with some new online friends, find your blogs, and get to know your beautiful families. We're eager to learn as much as we can about the culture and customs, as well as the travel and adoption process as we get closer to a referral.

If you know of anyone, feel free to pass on my blog address and/or email (on the sidebar), or give me their blog address. Thanks!

Going...

going...GONE!Short and blond... Whaddya think?As always, we practice Free Speech here at "And Sam Makes Seven," and your opinions are welcome. Oh, how we appreciate your comments and love reading what you have to say! Provided that what you have to say is of a complimentary nature, of course.

I'll understand if you are unable to express your thoughts, since my "beauty" is... um... uh... hard to describe. I'll say it for you: I am one.sexy.beast. Is that not exactly what you were thinking? Granted, I may be a little heavy on the beast and light on the sexy, but still...

One of the reasons I cut it off was because I wanted something easy to take care of- HA! Now, instead of letting my hair dry by itself into a wild, wavy mess, I have to dry it straight with a brush, then use the flat iron. It takes forever. And all it takes is one bead of sweat to make it start kinking back up again. I've been forced to become a Product Person. There are gels and sprays and pastes and more sprays. It stays straight for all of 39 seconds. If I let it dry by itself, I look like Little Orphan Annie. Oh well.

Losing you... And everything else

Well, I see I'm losing readers by the fistfuls. I never had many to begin with, so hello to the 3 of you sticking with me. I've become such a rotten blogger that I understand why people are jumping ship, but still... It's painful. Deeply, deeply painful. I feel a song coming on... KC and the Sunshine Band...

"Please don't go. Don't go-OHHH-ohhh. Don't go away... Hey, hey, hey."

If you're still here, come out of the woodwork and let me know. Leave me a comment, even if you usually lurk, just to say Hi. My battered blogger ego needs a boost today.

I guess another exciting post is in order so that I can hang on to all three of my remaining friends. So. Let's see... What to post, what to post. What.To.Post.

I got nuthin.'

Alex is seriously considering the military, which has me very nervous and upset. He hates school and doesn't really know yet what he wants to do. He feels like he's just kind of drifting and lost. I told him it's perfectly normal at 18 years old not to know what you want to do with the rest of your life. I don't want him committing years of his life to the service until he knows for sure that that is absolutely what he wants, since there's no backing out of it once it's done. I think teenage boys can have such a romanticized notion of the military sometimes, know what I mean? All that macho Hollywood crap. I want him to be SURE. Then, I want him to decide to pursue something else- lol! I don't want to be a military mom. I worry enough as it is. If you're a praying person, pray that God will give him direction and reveal the right path for him.

Mike has girl trouble. Last month, he and a friend (a girl, but not a girlfriend) decided they would go to Prom together, as friends, since neither one was dating anyone (do you capitalize the P in Prom? Is Prom really that important that it deserves a capital P? I wouldn't know since I never went to Prom, or prom). Since that time, Michael has started dating a (different) girl, who will, no doubt, expect to be taken to Prom by her boyfriend, if they are even still deeply, eternally in love by that time. The girl who is just a friend is not being very understanding about Mike's changed situation and still expects to be his date to Prom, or prom. His new girlfriend doesn't know yet about any of this. I doubt she will be very happy to know this other girl expects to go with Mike. Oh, the drama. Doesn't it take you right back to your high school years? Poor guy. I fear he's going to wind up staying home that night, without a date at all. I'll take him to a movie. That will fix it- spending Prom Night with your mom... Good times.

Let's see... What else.

Oh, I've decided to try my hand at quilting... Again. I've attempted this several times in the past, with depressing results. I don't sew. I'm not a sew-er. How do you spell sewer, as in "one who sews," without it looking like you're saying sewer, as in "all the underground pipes that carry waste and filth?" I guess I say seamstress? Ok. Whatever. I'm no seamstress. Never learned in middle school. Never took a class. Didn't learn from my mom. Ha! Visions of my mom, hunched over a sewing machine... That's funny!

I have a sewing machine. I can turn it on. From there, we start to have our troubles. But I love quilts, and want to make one for the baby. I bought a few books on Amazon and have been watching videos on YouTube, so I'm sure I can learn everything I need to know from those, right? I'll let you know how it goes.

Well. That's the big news for today. I said the other day I'd post pictures of my new haircut, and I will... Really. I will. As soon as it doesn't look like crap. I do not know when that will be. I'm sure all three of you are remembering I said that and you're waiting with bated breath to see the new hairdo.

What does bated breath even mean? The word bated would mean "restrained," or it could be like "diminished." Waiting with restrained, diminished breath? What does that mean? Does it mean you're sitting there holding your breath, waiting to see my haircut? Because that kind of makes sense... Does anyone know?

...Gee, I can't imagine why I'm losing my readership.

Keepin' it sexy

Guess what...


I'm catching another cold.

This is where you say, "Oh my gosh, Michelle, are you serious?"

And I say, "Yes, I'm serious," in a voice that's all incredulous and indignant and what-not. Yes, I'm getting sick again. Why would I not be serious about something like that? Gee whiz. What a stupid question.

Am I being Punk'd, or something? Is Ashton Kutcher hiding in my closet and introducing viral agents into the air as I walk by? How is that even funny? He really should have better things to do.

Anyway... Sick or not, I know you are all stalking my blog, desperate to hear what we did yesterday for Valentine's Day. Yeah, I know. I get it. We're two old people (one of us just turned FIFTY-ONE) who have been married for almost twenty years. How could we possibly still be all hot and bothered for each other, right? Should old people even be thinking about romance or s*e*x? Aren't they afraid one of them will break a hip? See how I always pinpoint exactly what you're thinking?

And so dear friends, sick or not, I am committed to you, my loyal and oh-so-adoring readers. I will lay my own comfort aside, along with this snotty kleenex I'm holding, to tell you how it's done.

Keepin' it Sexy- Year 20:

1. Exchange cards and candy, first thing in the morning. To amp up the anticipation and sex appeal, have the kids deliver the cards and candy for you. Sure, it may look like you're both too lazy and uninterested to actually walk down the hallway yourself and hand your spouse a card, but we all know this is part of the ruse. You know... to throw off the kids. This way, they have no idea that the fires of romance are already starting to smolder.
2. Spend the day at your kids' basketball games. Because nothing encourages romance quite as much as watching a bunch of 8 year olds chasing a basketball like crack-addicted puppies chasing their tails. Make sure you barely speak to each other during the game. For that matter, make it look as if you barely know each other. Oooooh. Yeah. That's hot.
3. Around dinner time, you should start the "Sexy Talk." Something like, "So... Do you want me to cook your dinner, or not? I'm tired."
4. At about 8:30 p.m., one spouse gives the other a look that says "I'm so tired I could die" and announces she is going to bed. Then she does. This is not code lingo for "I'll be waiting for you in the bedroom, you big stud." This is not a ploy to fool the kids as she slinks off to put on some tiny Victoria's Secret thing (Can you still call it tiny if it's an XXXXXXXL? Actually the size on the tag doesn't really say XXXXXXXL. I'm kidding. It just says "Horse"). This means she is going to bed. The look she gives as she walks away says "Just try to stop me."
5. At about 11:00 p.m., one spouse wakes up and goes to the kitchen to retrieve night-time cold medicine. She sees husband playing some stupid Playstation game with one of her precious offspring. She is so overcome with feelings of love for her beautiful family on this glorious day that she momentarily stops to blow her nose, then pats her husband on the shoulder (with snotty kleenex still in hand, of course) and says, "I'm going back to bed. Don't bother me. Good night."

So... yeah... That's how it's done. We're hot like that. Don't be jealous.

How about you? How did you spend your Valentine's Day? Don't feel like you have to try to top my story. We both know you can't.

Is Joaquin having a breakdown??

First, I have to give a birthday shout to The Hub... Happy birthday, hon! I love you.

Did you guys see Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman last night? Maybe it's just me, and I'm probably showing my own weirdness again here, but I thought it was hilarious. I personally think the two of them planned ahead of time to do this, and that the "personality change" is all some publicity thing Phoenix is doing, but it could be that he's honestly gone nuts. What do you think? Here it is (a little long- but so odd, and so so funny):

In other news...
I'm finally feeling better!!! YAY!
BUT, Olivia is sick now. Frap.
We went up to KC yesterday to get our USCIS fingerprints done for our I600 extension!!! YAY!
Now we wait for the I171h to get here (possibly weeks and weeks of waiting??) Frap.
We got to spend the afternoon with Darrell's mom while we were up there. YAY!!
She isn't feeling very well. Frap.
I got all my hair chopped off the other day. YAY and frap. I'm glad it's gone, but I can't make it look very good yet. I'll put a picture of the new do up tomorrow.

Darrell and I are going out tonight to celebrate his b-day. YAY!!! There's no follow-up "Frap" to that one, just a YAY. After being cooped up in the house feeling like crud for so many weeks, I'm looking forward to a night out of the house, alone with my boyfriend.

What have you guys been up to? I have to get back to your blogs and find out! I miss everybody.

Illness Update

Oh my gosh, you guys, you should hear my voice. It's hilarious. This would be a good time to take up singing. I've never been able to carry a tune, but I doubt anyone would notice at this point. I think it sounds like Melissa Ethridge in horrible pain... which is kind of how she always sounds anyway.

You know what's really funny? I keep having coughing fits that are so strong, my puke reflex becomes confused and thinks I'm trying to hurl, so... I do. I hurl. I cough until I can't breath, with tears streaming down my face, then just for a fun finish, I vomit. How's that for good times? I tell ya, I'm having more fun than a band of drunk monkeys.

I'm going to watch the House marathon today (yes, seriously, there is another House marathon on- I wouldn't kid about something like that) because I'm thinking maybe I can get a diagnosis. His team will say I have sarcoidosis. Maybe it's autoimmune. House will say it is Cushing's. (**Drama Queen Alert**) Then I will curl up in a corner and cry for my mother as I wait for death. Of course, she will not recognize my voice, and Melissa Ethridge's mom will show up instead, and there will be this whole awkward, embarrassing thing... But, then, I will die. Possibly in her arms. I don't know, we'll just have to see how it goes.

I wish to be buried in my Wonder Woman t-shirt. And unless someone wants to pluck my eyebrows, we should probably leave the casket closed. I've been a little lax with the personal hygiene lately. Please put my brand new white Nikes in the casket with me. I hardly got to wear them, so by golly, those suckers are coming with me.