July 18, 2007
First off, you guys totally pulled through for me on the name crisis. AWESOME suggestions and it’s always fun to hear what some find repulsive and what others find beautiful. Several of you reminded me that we need to chill out and wait to see what these kids are already named. And they’re right. We had planned to keep their names as middle names but we’re going to stay open minded about keeping their first names as first names.
Maybe we can give them new middle names and call them by their middle names?….. My kid brother does that. His name is Michael Burke and he has always gone by Burke (He’s named after Dr. Burke on Grey’s Anatomy) (No he’s not) (But seriously, now, everyone thinks of Dr. Burke when Burke says his name is Burke) (Well, everyone that is TV-Obsessed, Celebrity stalkerish like myself) (I love you Brangelina!) (Speaking of Celebrities, the TV show Extreme Makeover Home Edition is in Boise right now building a house for a family that, I’m thinking, must be characters out of “A Series of Unfortunate Events” because it’s just UNREAL how tragic their situation is, or was, or is still but not as bad now).
Well in the mean time we have come up with some additional back up names that we can actually both agree on. They are:
Chaz
Sonny
Cohen for Boys
Sarai for a girl, in addition to Yenna and Biset
I realize that you have to be a certain kind of someone to like these names. For example, you probably have to love 70’s sitcoms to really appreciate Chaz and Sonny since they both kind of remind me of tight pants and Afros and a little bit of Mork and Mindy.
So there’s that.
Next up, here is a picture of my sister, myself and my Dad:
My sister invited us to a party thrown at the house of her Employer. It was not a typical party. But, then again, her Boss is not a typical Boss. He promotes a rather unconventional office environment. Picture working at Google’s Headquarters but also throw in a couple mechanical bulls and shots of tequila. But whatever he does to promote such an er, invigorating office environment CLEARLY MUST WORK because this house was the NICEST house I have ever been in in my life. There were statues of Zeus and a marble bar in the FOYER. Need I say more? So anyway, here we are at Boise’s version of “Lifetimes of the Rich and Famous” and in walks my Dad …….. with a STOGIE in his mouth. That’s right, a Cuban cigar. An illegal Cuban cigar, mind you.
Audrey’s Boss gives him a big bear hug (they know each other) and so begins my Dad’s evening of hobnobbing it up with the “in” crowd. He does this. He does these things, chats it up with strangers while smoking a cigar in the nicest house I have ever been in in my life. And somehow, it works and they love him.
My husband was tripping out. He was mind-blown by it all. By the vast array of walks of life in the place and the unexpected personalities that accompanied them. And then, like out of a sheer Mike fantasy, in walks the BAND. The Reggae band and they were as OPP-O-SITE as could be. They were Hippies of the truest kind. The skirts, the jewelry, the dreads, the drums, the incense, it all poured in as they paraded through this million dollar home to set up their equipment on the balcony of the Foyer. And Mike was entranced. He was gone, he was now a National Geographic Journalist who had been accepted into the inner confines of this secret reclusive world. A world where Hippies and Suits shared a laugh and danced to Reggae music together. It was like a vision of what the world COULD be.
I dragged Mike out of the party as we were leaving, after he carried a couple speakers for the Hippies and then shook hands with the Employer, and it was NON STOP talking for the entire 30 minute drive back to our side of town. NON STOP.
“Did you hear that girl say that she got her dress in PARIS!” and “Did you see that the caterers were carrying around trays of COORS LIGHT! I didn’t expect Coors Light, did you?” and “Did you see the calves on the Employers WIFE! She could kick my a**!” and “Can you even believe that POOL!”
And although Mike felt somewhat uncomfortable in surroundings so nice, he came away with an epiphany.
“You really have to go for it, don’t you? To make that kind of money, you have to risk it all like the Employer did. You don’t make THAT kind of money by swiping your time card. You have to risk it and throw your money down on something you believe in.”
And although Mike doesn’t have any source of affinity for risking his money to make the kind of money that the Employer makes, he came away with an appreciation for people LIKE the Employer. People like me, his wife who drives him crazy with big dreams and big projects. His wife that gave him ulcers when she announced they would be buying investment homes and his wife that gave him Irritable Bowel Syndrome when she announced she would be switching careers. His wife that is currently, as we speak, trying to convince him to build a Hotel/Nightclub/Spa.
And this is a VERY hard concept for my cute husband of mine because the cute husband of mine would rather put his money in a shoebox and drive his 1980 Ford Grenada without a heater forever.
But he’s married to me. And I know where he keeps the shoebox. And yet, we find a happy medium.
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July 18th, 2007 at 9:51 pm, Mandy Says:
My daughters bio sister’s name is Sarai spelled the same exact way too. What a small world that you would pick the same name and spell it the same.
July 18th, 2007 at 10:18 pm, dcrmom Says:
My husband and I can BOTH relate to your husband! Makes for a risk-free and yet stable environment, that’s for sure. Some would say boring. I say, SAFE.
July 18th, 2007 at 11:14 pm, Chandra Says:
Great post! I don’t know why; just liked the way it was put. Mike seems like a wonderful guy. We have a little in common with the shoebox thing. I wish I were more aggressive in that area but I’m not. Good luck with the names. We probably won’t get to that until we get our referral.
July 18th, 2007 at 11:23 pm, Kelly Says:
Fairly new to your blog but loving it so far! I am no help on the name thing since I have 2 boys and one on the way and we’ve gone through the same fight every time. But I had to comment on Extreme Makeover Home Edition being in town. Crazy huh? Can you believe how many “rare” medical conditions have happened to that one family? My parents live a couple miles down the road from them and I was able to go volunteer yesterday. The house is pretty incredible & I can’t wait to see the actual show in the fall.
July 19th, 2007 at 12:05 am, Tarah Herdgen Says:
You have made me really curious who THe Employer is! I live here in the valley and know most big business owners… hmmm
My father owns big businesses here, and mike is right. Throw your money in, buy your employees their dream car to keep them, and make it fun. wine and cheese at 10 am keeps the attitudes great!
July 19th, 2007 at 11:27 am, JustEnjoyHim/Judy Says:
Even with that goofy look on his face, your family must be The Best-Looking Family West Of the Mississippi or something. Sheesh!!
Love the boss’ party story. Sounds great! Do they need a really kick-ass reference/research librarian?
July 19th, 2007 at 12:30 pm, Audrey Says:
HA! Jamie Jamie Jamie… Mechanical Bulls are saved for the Christmas office parties… silly you. I love how in the back of our picture there is a Security Guard. haha at a house party.
I love my job
July 19th, 2007 at 12:57 pm, sari Says:
I love reading your blog! It always puts a smile on my face.
July 19th, 2007 at 10:47 pm, Lacey Says:
Jamie,
I know this has nothing to do with your post, but I had to leave a comment. I have been following your blog site for some time now, and I have been able to see some updated pictures of your mom and dad ( ya know not the fuzzy images in my mind when i think back to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade) Is it possible your parents are going back in time!! They look so young! It is not fair they look so great and meanwhile I am 25 and finding new gray hair everyday! O well props to them!
July 20th, 2007 at 8:05 am, Shannon Says:
Ummm…I love the name Sarai!
And…once again…it should be illegal for your family to be that good-looking.
Sounds like a fun party! I am in the risk averse camp…friends just left dh’s hotel to open a restaurant…I am all…”but you have 3 kids…but there is a 90% failure rate…what about health insurance?” Obviously I didn’t actually say those things to them!
Anyway, sounds like the Employers risks paid off big time. Great party!
July 21st, 2007 at 4:28 pm, kecia Says:
Jamie-
I love reading your blog-and so do my friends because you are a link on my blog- we all talk about how funny you guys are! You look adorable in this picture by the way! It was fun to see you a while back and I am glad the adoption thing osunds like it is moving forward too.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:33 pm, Tracey Says:
I knew that the Ethiopian courts would use my name as my child’s middle name, so I decided I would change that name and keep the original first name. Once I got my referral photos, I decided that tThe girl’s name I picked out, Eve, just didn’t suit my child, so I went with the last minute replacement, Amara. Her first name is Betsinat, which has a really important meaning for her. It means perseverance, and her birhtmother chose it because of her cleft. But, people are never sure how to pronounce it (even though they always guess correctly),a nd they don’t know if it is a boy or girl. so, I call hehr Amara most of the time. But, if she gets older and decides she wants to use her Ethiopian name, it will be easy foro her since it is her first name. I found theh name Amara on a list of Ethiopian names, but not a single Ethiopian person I have met (and I have met a lot), has heard it as a name before. They think I am saying, Amhara, her ethnic group.
Another nice girl’s name is Selamawit (she is peaceful), Sela for short. The boy’s name I ahd picked out was Malachi.