Kristin Bair O'Keeffe: Writer. Mom. Teacher. Traveler.

Tully & Katie: A Long Friendship (and a lot of ice cream)

Way back in September 2008 when Andrew and I were in Vietnam bringing Tulliver home, we met our wonderful friends Becky and Brian (B&B) Stelmack who were also in Vietnam adopting their daughter Katie. Tully and Katie were in the same orphanage and had known each other for most of their young lives.

Vietnam, September 2008 (Kristin & Tully, Becky & Katie)

Each time we've returned to the U.S. to visit since our adoptions were finalized, we've met up with the Stelmacks, and Katie and Tully have been able to continue the friendship that began when they were wee babies. It's a sweet, loving connection, and when they're not together, Tully says things like, "I went to the beach with my friend Katie," and Katie says things like, "Tully's mumma is Kristin." They look at photos and videos of each other, and we parents talk a lot about the girls to them. It's an important connection.

Last Sunday, almost two years later after our journey to Vietnam, we met the Stelmack family in Newburyport for a day at the beach, lunch, ice cream, and some good Tully/Katie time.

As predicted, these two precocious two-year-olds were a hoot together. It was terrific.

Katie (left) & Tully (right)

"I'll help you."

"This is my bucket. That's your bucket."

A bit of mountain climbing. (These girls are up for anything!)

Lots of hugging going on.

"Hey, Katie, come smell these flowers...the dirt smells good, too."

"I like ice cream. How 'bout you, Tully? You like ice cream?"

"Oh yeah, I LOVE ice cream."

"...especially when I'm running around a tree."

"Try some of mine?"

"Oh, that's delicious!"

Moms & daughters. Look how our girls have grown.

Whew...we're thirsty.

And yeah, maybe a little tired.

Big Love: Cousins, Green Grass & Fish-n-Chips

This entry should be called "Tully: A Photo Essay of Joy." (She's loving her trip to the U.S.)

Elliot, Tully, Nathan...bedtime reading.

Elliot, Tully, Nathan...bedtime reading.

 

Elliot, Tully, Nathan...bedtime reading.

 

Elliot, Tully, Nathan...bedtime reading.

 

Tully: "I love fish and chips."

Tully: "I really love fish and chips."

 

Tully: "I  REALLY and chips."

Tully: "MINE! MINE! MINE!"

 

Tully's new favorite word? Cousin. "Nathan is my cousin," she says.

Crazy Dream: Travel, Writing, Place & How My Brain Tries to Work It All Out

This morning I dreamed I was back in Shanghai emceeing a writing event at a club. The event? A quiz of sorts about the ranch I lived on in New Mexico back in the late 1990s.

There I was in China facing a big crowd of expectant writers trying to remember all the details of the NM ranch. I had a list of places on the ranch (Castle Rock, Costilla, Crazy Woman Creek, etc.) that I had to describe in luscious detail in order to "win" the writing event.

Then suddenly, I was no longer in the club in Shanghai; the audience was gone (poof); and I was in a truck on the ranch (still gripping the writing "quiz" in my hand).

Whoa.

Time travel.

Life travel.

My lovely (jetlagged) subconscious working like hell to stitch it all together into some semblance of order. (Good luck, brain.)

For a while in the dream, I drove through the mountains, sighed when I saw the glacier lakes, got a little woozy in the switchbacks, and waxed nostalgic. I think I even had an altitude headache. God, I loved this ranch when I lived there...what I discovered about myself on this ranch...and yes, I still love this ranch and New Mexico in general.

Then whoosh! I was back in that Shanghai club with my audience. They were cheering. I must have been doing well on the quiz.

Whoop! Whoop!

Then back on the ranch...on a mountain peak overlooking the vega. I saw two bears, a herd of elk, and an eagle.

Then zwoop! In da club in Shanghai...writing furiously, reading to the audience, showing slides of a wild stallion I ran into on a hike on time, guiding them on a virtual tour of the ranch.

It was exhilarating.

And exhausting.

When I woke, I was longing...for New Mexico...for China...for the kind of comfort I feel when I'm home (like now) in the U.S. eating ice cream sandwiches and Oreo cookies.

My first "thought" after the dream?

I have had and continue to have a pretty cool life. I'm a writer inspired by place and wow...I've lived in some amazing places.

My next "thought"?

I don't dream this way when I'm in China. I've had vivid dreams all my life, but I don't often dream in China. What does that mean? Why is this?

And my last "thought" before my two-year-old hollered "Mumma!" from the next room?

I need to write.

______

Thanks to Michal Marcol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net for the mountain photo.

Why I Make the Journey: A Photo Essay

Once a year, I make the journey from my home in China to the United States. By the middle of the first leg of the trip--a 14-hour flight from Shanghai to Newark--I'm pretty sure I'll never agree to such a trek again. It's awful being all scrunched up in a seat so small the only way to have enough room is to chew off my own kneecaps. It's awful to be seated in front of the man with sleep apnea whose snores are louder than the engine of the plane. It's awful to have your 2-year-old screaming, "I want to get down! I want to get down!" just at the moment when everyone else on the plane has fallen asleep.

But then...after the 14-hour leg, a few hours in the Newark airport, another short flight to Maine, standing in line at the rental car place at 12:30 in the morning, a 40-minute drive, and a sleepless night (which is really day for those of us coming from China), I end up on the beach with my family and I go "Aaaaaahhhhh." And then I know that yep, I'll make the journey again (preferably not in front of the man with sleep apnea).

The Maine Coast, a point near Biddeford Pool

 

Daddy & Tully

Daddy & Tully take a walk.

 

Cool seaweed, huh?

Nathan & Tully

Tully & Elliot

Elliot, Nathan, Tully -- the cousins

 

Tully & her ice cream cone

Cool Links, Einstein's Brain, Travel Stuff, Wrap-Ups, And More

With a major trip looming, I'm wrapping up loose ends in Shanghai.

• Zai Jian -- The hardest part about being an expatriate? Transience. Friends come; friends go. With much greater intensity and frequency than in most other sub-bubbles of humanity. We expats leap into life in a foreign country, and in order to handle the changes, most of us work like crazy to "find our tribe." Earlier this week, one of my bestest ever friends left Shanghai for good. We met way back in 2006 when we were both newbies to China; we've been hanging out ever since. Now she's back in the United States, no longer a quick 5:00 phone call away.

• The Last Page -- Yesterday I taught the final class of my writing workshop here in Shanghai. It rocked. All the things that happen in a successful workshop happened. Throughout the six weeks, the students learned to trust their own voices and stories; they learned to trust their fellow writers; their writing got stronger; they got more confident; they learned a lot about reading as writers; they wrote good stuff; and we all had a great time...and a lot of laughs. Bravo to my students for showing up and doing the work.

• I'm Leaving On A Jetplane... -- Tomorrow (Friday) me, my hubs, and our 2-year-old Tulliver will board a plane bound for the United States. While I love and look forward to our annual visit to the States, I'm no longer surprised by the amount of work it takes to get ready for said trip. Holy schmoly. Why is it so hard to get 2 big people and 1 small person ready for an around-the-world journey? Beats me, but it is. I just keep chanting, "Don't forget your U.S. drivers licenses" cause you know, that would suck. (Last time we got all the way to the Shanghai airport before we realized we had left the stroller behind at our apartment. Um, bad, bad, bad.)

• Book Promotion -- In my ongoing exploration into cool, creative ways to promote books, I came across this story about novelist Jennifer Belle who has hired actresses to read her newest novel (The Seven Year Bitch) in public and laugh while reading. Clever, unique, and probably a little expensive. I like it. (Read the full story here.)

• Thirsty -- Which brings me to my novel, THIRSTY. Have you read it? What? You haven't? Oh, my friend, it's time you did. Click here to learn more about it. Click here to buy it from Amazon.

• 13 Fabulous Overlooked Books by Famous Authors -- The Huffington Post listed 13 books by famous authors that many readers haven't read. How many have you read? Some cool finds here. (I can't believe Marquez's Of Love & Other Demons is an overlooked book! It's one of my favorites. Bartleby the Scrivener, too.)

• Einstein's Brain -- Did YOU know that someone stole Einstein's brain (after he was dead, of course)? I didn't, but now that I do know, I'm kinda intrigued. Who the heck runs off with a brain? NPR ran the story earlier this week. (Click here to read.)

Now...off to pack.

___

Hot Air Balloon Photo Credit: J Frasse / FreeDigitalPhotos.net