I want this.

And Lexi would like these. Size 9.

Thanks.

With our adoption getting closer and closer we get a lot of the same comments a pregnant women does in her 9th month:

“I bet you can’t wait for the wait to be over.”

“Not much longer now.”

“Wow, still no baby yet?”

“Do you have everything ready?”

“You must be really excited.”

And we are. We are ready and we are very excited and at the same time I am sad. I’m sad because some where in Ethiopia there is a women or family in a similar situation to this:

“Meanwhile, most of the poorest of the poor suffer silently, too weak for activism or too busy raising the next generation of hungry. In the sprawling slum of Haiti’s Cité Soleil, Placide Simone, 29, offered one of her five offspring to a stranger. “Take one,” she said, cradling a listless baby and motioning toward four rail-thin toddlers, none of whom had eaten that day. “You pick. Just feed them.”

(A New York Times report from last week on the worldwide foot riots.)

Someone is making the decision that they are too poor, too sick, too weak to care for their children and that the best thing they can do is hand their child over to a stranger in the hopes that they will receive the care that they need.

Recently, I’ve switched from using paper or plastic bags to bringing my own canvas bags. People making comments like this and this got me thinking about how ridiculous it is to not be using canvas bags. But what really pushed me over the edge was standing in line at Wal-Mart (so NOT a fan of that store, but it’s a great place for random teacher-type things) and watching the women in front of me fill her cart with about 25 plastic bags. I’m not kidding. She was buying tons of chips for some party and the cashier was putting one bag of chips per plastic bag. At that point I pulled one of the canvas bags off the rack and added it to my purchase.

Since then I’ve gotten 2 more canvas bags and I love having them. I’ve noticed several things:

1. The Target grocery people become skilled baggers when faced with the challenge of fitting a cart load of stuff into 3 bags (side note: Have you seen how terrible Target cashiers are a bagging groceries? Sometimes I have to look away it’s so painful to watch).

2. I buy less stuff because I keep thinking “will it all fit in my bags?”

3. They have longer straps so I can carry them over my shoulder leaving my hands free to carry Lexi. I can carry 3 canvas bags, Lexi and a 12-pack of soda in one trip.

4. Lexi loves to carry them around the store as her purse.

Seriously, if you have ever thought about switching, just do it, it’s not nearly the pain in the butt that I thought it would be. I’m really not sure why it took me this long to switch. In high school, I was a total tree hugger. I carried my backpack with me everywhere. I always declined the bag at the store and loaded everything into my backpack. I’m not sure why I stopped. Glad I went back though.

…a Tiny Rock Star! Check out this website. Fun clothes. Affordable Prices. Good Cause. ‘Nuff said.