Nablopomo

Thankful Post Five or Day 23

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 2 Comments

I am thankful for my health and that of my families.  I am thankful that I have access to healthcare and that my healtcare company as paid for what we have needed–with gaining preapproval of course.  I am thankful that my belly is full and that I don’t know what it is like to go to bed hungry and not know where my next meal is coming from. 

I am in the middle of watching Michael Moore’s Sicko.  I think I want to live in France. Anyway…wanted to post before I forgot.  Will comeback later tonight (but probably tomorrow) to edit and add more to this post. 

Wishing you all health and happiness…

Okay I am back…I have read a few otherposts today about Michael Moore’s movie and the health crisis in America.  The whole health-care crisis saddens me.  I feel very strongly that people who need services should receive them.  Who are these corporate money-hungry bastards to tell us what we can get medically and not–when their bonuses are tied to how much money they save the company (i.e.–how many people they deny service/claims).  Do we really believe that they are making the best choices if they have to choose between saying yes to a multi-thousand dollar claim and getting a multi-thousand dollar bonus?  If you do…I am sorry for you and I am sorry for our system that keeps rewarding these gatekeepers. 

I also admit that Michael Moore only presented one side of many of the stories…as I am sure was his MO and also the fact that I am sure he couldn’t get cooperation from the other side on many occasions.  There is more to all of this than what we see on the surface.  But he did make a few great points in this move.  Our government isn’t afraid of us.  They are not at all worried about what we think nor do they really even care what we think.  They care what the lobbyists think.  The government is run by the lobbyists and not by the people it was meant to serve.  This is a problem as the health-care industry has 4 times as many lobbyists as we have members of congress.  That is a pretty big ratio and you can bet that each member of congress is being wined and dined by those 4 lobbyists. 

We are also a country that does not care about its citizens.  Not just the government but its other citizens.  Those who have think they should keep and those who don’t have–well often enough they just give up.  Most other western industrialized nations believe that those who have have a social responsibility to help out those who don’t.  Not handing out money–but paying more in taxes, etc.  We are the only western industrialized country that does not offer universal health-care.  Why do we ignore each other?  Why do we think that some of us are more deserving than others?  I am not talking about a redistribution of wealth but just a health-care system where everyone can go to the doctor and get the care that they need (not elective surgery–the government doesn’t need to pay for boob jobs, tummy tucks, and face lifts). 

How has the nation that was founded for the people gotten so far away from what the people need and deserve? 

It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly.–Samuel Butler

Isn’t it time that we loved each other?

Thankful Day Four or Day 22

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 1 Comment

Happy Thanksgiving.  I am officially stuffed.  I went spinning this morning–it was a hell of a ride–so I don’t feel too guilty for eating turkey and the wonderful Pumpkin Carmel Swirl Cheesecake Minnow and I made yesterday…

I know I have said this before, but it is hard to talk about all things I am thankful for…as there are so many things beyond what I might be able to blog about these 7 days of thanks I am having.  I really am thankful for so much in my life.  I really have very little to not be thankful for (if anything really)

Today I would like to dedicate this Thankful post to my friends.  I am so very lucky to have the friends that I have–both new and old friends.  My closest friends are with me since before high school or since my freshman year in high school (so nearly 20 years and some much longer).  I ddn’t go to college out of high school, so I don’t have college friends.  When I went to college I was well in my 20’s and lived off campus–Hello older than everyone.  I have a great friend that I made while we were roommates in Santa Barbara.  She is awesome, but lives too too far away and I miss her. 

My oldest friend has been my friend since 1st grade–Hey Steckler I so miss you.  We aren’t as close as we could be as life just gets in the way.  She lives out of town and well you all know how crazy and busy life gets with marriage, kids, school, work, etc., etc., etc.  I have been lucky in life to have great friends.  I am always amazed when I think about my friends that I actually have friends.  I am not really a social person and never really have been.  I like having friends and I like getting together with friends, but I don’t like socializing.  I don’t like small talk.  I like having friends, but I have always been of the mindset that if I have a few close friends, I really have all the friends I need. 

My friends have been with me through so much.  My oldest friends were with me through the dark time that was high school and after.  Without them I am not sure I would have survived.  My oldest friends deserve some sort of friendship purple heart because I could be a selfish bitch and many times I was.  But they stayed with me.  They stuck it out and too them I will for ever be grateful.  I don’t know sometimes what I have done to deserve such awesome friends, but I have learned the questioning this isn’t productive and I should spend that time loving my and appreciating my friends and I don’t know that I do enough of that. 

Friendship is important and I have often neglected my friends.  Not on purpose, but as I stated a minute ago life sometimes gets in the way.  But I want you all to know that I appreciate you and love you and would not be who I am today without you.   

Dr. CS–you give me such strength and inspiration.  You have always been there for me and I love you so much for that.  You mean more to me than I know how to express.  I am so lucky to have you as part of my life.  I miss you tremendously and think of you often.  Knowing you and being your friend has made me a better person.  Thank you.  I am so thankful to have you. 

Mrs. KS (formerly KC)–what can I say besides I love you.  We spent so much of our time living within each other lives that sometimes I don’t remember if it was you or me that something happened too.  You have a light and a spirit that lightens my world and draws people to you.  You helped me discover so often who I was and you forgave me when that discovery hurt you.  I regret many things–but mostly I regret ever hurting you.  I know it was long ago and is all water under the bridge.  Your forgiveness has taught me much and is the greatest gift I could ever ask for. I love you.  Thank you for being my friend. 

To my new fellow Ethiopian Mamas…Your friendship is so very precious.  We share an experience that others cannot understand.  You are very special ladies and I am so lucky to have you in my life.  I look forward to watching our little ones grown into men together. 

To my blogging friends–as odd as this sounds you all give me an outlet.  A place to talk and be heard.  A place to share in experiences and to foster growth in myself.  I cannot wait to meet many of you–the time will certainly come.  Thank you for listening.  Sometimes that is all we need is someone to listen. 

So, take some time out this week and thank those friends who have helped you through your life and to become who you are today.  Too often we forget to thank those who are so much a part of who we are.  While you are at it thank yourself for being a friend. 

Thankful Post Three or Day 21

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 3 Comments

It is very humbling to sit and think about all the things you are thankful for and the reasons why you are thankful for them.  And how much larger some of these things are than my little somewhat insignificant self.  Today my thanks goes a long way–half way around the world from where I sit right now. 

I am thankful for the opportunity to be Minnow’s mom. 

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He is the light of my life.  I was angry for a long time that I was infertile.  Nothing we tried worked (we will attempt IVF this summer/fall).  I felt like a failure as a woman.  It was my job as a woman to bring forth child and I couldn’t.  I won’t get into those feelings as this is a post about thanks.  I now understand why I have been cursed/blessed with infertility.  I was meant/destined to be Minnow’s mom.  I cannot imagine for even a nanosecond another child being mine.  Minnow is a part of me in every way a child is a part of their parent.  I knew from the first moment I laid eyes on him that he was my son.  I loved him instantly and the love has only grown stronger and deeper each moment he is my son.  I am thankful that I could not conceive because if we did we would not have Minnow. 

For those of you who have never met Minnow–which is the majority of you–he is an amazing little boy.  He lights up a room when he enters and his smile is genuine, deep, and embodies his very amazing spirit.  He is strong-willed and loving.  He is special.  He has changed our lives for the better and for that I will be forever grateful. 

I am also grateful to Ethiopia for opening its doors to those of us across the globe who want to desperately to be parents and have chosen adoption or whose only hope of parenthood is adoption.  I am forever grateful to Ethiopia for giving us our son. 

I am thankful (and sad) beyond words that Minnow’s birthmom has allowed for us to raise this child.  I feel so strongly that we were meant to be his parents and because of that I must also feel that Minnow’s mom really had no other choice but to give him up.  I do not know her circumstances but I am no longer guilty at being grateful that she was courageous enough to give Minnow to us.  I think of her often and I hope that she can feel deep in her heart and soul that Minnow is very loved and is a very special boy.  Thank you MA.  We love you and are very grateful for you. 

I am thankful that I am a mom.  I am thankful that being a mom has helped me better understand my parents as well as hubby’s parents.  Parenthood is awesome.  Parenthood cannot be taken for granted as we don’t know how long we have with those we love.  Minnow knows his birth mom loved him–he is so giving of love.  I know this is only because he has been loved since the day he was born–probably even before. 

 Thank you….

Thankful Post Two or Day 20

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / 1 Comment

I am so blessed in my life and have so many things to be thankful for–it is hard to separate out each thing.  I am posting today about my husband.  I am so thankful for him and his love and support, his kind and gentle way, and for the husband he is and the father he is becoming. 

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I met my husband over 11 years ago on the heels of the demise of a horribly unhealthy relationship.  Hubby was a breath of fresh air.  He stole my heart on our first “date” and I have never looked back.  That is not to say that our relationship didn’t have ups and downs while we were both figuring things out–like how much we really liked each other and what we really wanted out of live and love.  It took years for us to admit/decide that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.  He has given me so much, that it is hard to write it all here without getting too personal–which I prefer not to do (there are somethings that don’t need to be alive in cyberspace forever).  I am lucky to have found a man who knows his heart and is constantly pushing his own limits–intellectually and spiritually.  He longs to be the best man he can be and in that I am lucky.  He puts me first often and our son always.  He loves my family and welcomes them into our lives all the time–even on days he would rather hang out and not socialize. 

He is a model man and our son could not ask for a better man to teach him and show him how to be a man.  I am thankful that he knows how to cry and express how he feels.  He is the communicator in our family and he asks me to do the difficult task of expressing myself.  I am a closed book and he has figured out how to open me.  I love him for that–as it was not easy.  Thank you hubby for making me better each day and for showing me I deserve to be loved and happy and for giving me hope.  I love you and am thankful everyday that you walked into my bar and didn’t give up on me.  Thank you. 

Thankful Post One or Day 19

/ Dawn Kasal-Finley / Leave a comment

I am not one who is big on prescriptive holidays.  I try to celebrate the people I love often and without prompting from Hallmark and others.  I know that Thanksgiving isn’t a Hallmark holiday, but it is a holiday that has lost a lot of meaning and has become about turkey, football and pumpkin pie.  I have decided to honor those things I am thankful for all week.  I will post about one thing each day and pay homage to those/that which I am most thankful for.  It is so important to be thankful as we live in a world of vastness, isolation, excess and material pressures. 

I am thankful first and foremost for my family. 

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I have been blessed with two parents who love me intensely and unconditionally and who would move heaven and earth to help me in anyway they can.  They pushed me to the best person, woman, sister, daughter, wife and mom that I can be.  They supported me when I needed support and forced me to stand on my own when I leaned too much.  I am thankful that my parents sacrificed their happiness to keep our family together, so that we as kids didn’t have to endure separate homes and separate families. While I was growing up, I often resented my parents for their unhappiness and often wished they would divorce.  Looking back, I know that they did what was best for us.  They made the best of a bad situation and I think we all benefited from it.  Thank you mom and dad.  Your sacrifice is not forgotten…

I am thankful for my two amazing and wonderful brothers.  They are younger than me by 3 and 4 years.  We were not always close and we have not always seen eye to eye, but they are two of my best friends.  The love I feel for them is unrivaled (except for the love for my son and hubby–but family ties are super strong).  I would do anything for them and I know that they would do anything to help me and each other.  I am lucky to live in the same city as my parents and my baby brother.  The middle brother lives in Chicago–so he is very close.  I am lucky to have a close family and a family that loves so greatly.  To them I am thankful for helping me become who I am today and for allowing me to be such an important and integral piece of their life. 

To my family…I love you.