Saturday, January 26, 2008

Inta-celeb-status and paperwork trauma, oh my

Two posts in one, can you STAND it?? (well, sort of 3 posts!)

So, I became an instant celebrity (by accident) at the nail salon I go to in town today. My on-again-off-again BFF and I were having a mani/pedi (as my usual date is at home nursing a new BEAUTIFUL baby!!) at the place I always go, and I became an INSTANT celebrity at the salon today. I knew the owner and the other girls that worked there were Vietnamese, but I have NEVER said any thing directly about the adoption when I'm there b/c I never know how people are going to take it, and well, I just don't go telling everyone about it (honestly!!). But today I totally slipped up. Laz and I were talking about her upcoming move and I happen to mention that I would be in Vietnam (theoretically) while she is moving so I couldn't be counted on to help. As soon as I mentioned Vietnam the entire salon went silent, then the owner totally comes over and taps me on the should and starts asking me ALL KINDS of questions like "You go to Vietnam?" "Why you go to Vietnam?" "When you go to Vietnam?"... I explained I was adopting a little boy from Vietnam, etc. etc. I just happened to have a bunch of pictures with me - in my handbag (I had his 4, 5, and 6, month old pictures with me), and when I pointed to them, the owner pulled them out and started showing them off - it was like Minh was his kid! He was so pleased and kept saying how wonderful it was. EVERYONE (all the nail techs) wanted to see the pictures and they started passing them around, and cooing, and asking questions. They kept saying how cute he was (well, duh!), how chubby he was (oh, yeah! he is!!), and remember the bracelet? They were all like "if he's a boy, why does he have a bracelet on?" ? Why indeed? Anyway, they had ALL KINDS of questions that I tried to answer in a correct and honest way w/out giving too much info, you know what I mean? Anyway, it was mildly embarrassing, but also really positive. Go figure.

Now, on to post #2: I came home from shopping -after buying my FIRST REAL suit, Jenny Ann where are you when I need you? - anyway, I had a package in the mail box. Minh's dossier! I was really excited until I opened it up. It was really sad. It had stuff in it like "Abandonment Report" and his official birth report (those of you in-the-know know the story. NOT very pleasant). Anyway, the paperwork is all about how my son has no family/when he went into the orphanage/which and what wing of the hospital he was born in/on... anyway, it was hard to read. I've packed it back up and am putting it away for a LONG time... Oh, but a brief follow-up, Tod, and Phil, and I went to see Juno last night. It was so cute!! We laughed, we cried, it became a pat of us... what a great movie!

Oh, one last thing I am meeting with the entire Arnold Palmer GOLF COURSE DESIGN TEAM next week!! (Oh, yeah, THAT A. Palmer). Me!!! I'm in charge of showing them what I'm planning for the course I'm working on with them here at State. Up to this point, my boss-man has been doing all the meetings, but now we have to get into the nitty-gritty and I AM IN CHARGE of that part! So, I've been working like mad to get a portfolio together to show them, and doing a TON of research. And, I also had to buy a suit, of course. So, I am now ready! The only thing I DON'T get to do is go play golf with Arnold (the other 2 guys I I work with ARE playing golf with Arnold, but since I don't actually PLAY golf, I wasn't invited). Anyway, I'm uber excited and very pleased to be able to wear my very first REAL suit to a REAL business meeting (with very important people on a very important project!!).

Anyway, see the picture below ? That's my golf course!!! Ok, so, it's not much yet, but it's MINE!!
(click on picture for a BIGGER version)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful to realize you have a ready-made go-to resource /reference for all things Vietnamese...foods, customs, holidays, language....they'll be like Minh's foster family!

But it does raise a question...why are so many nail-techs Vietnamese? (Or.... why are so many Vietnamese nail-techs?)

Whatever. Welcome to the family, folks.

Jenny said...

the nail ladies LOVE the girls! you will have to bring him in when you get home. hurry up I-600

Andrea said...

Wow, I hadn't really given much thought to actually reading the dossier itself (seems like it will never arrive, so why go there?) Sounds like it is pretty powerful.