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One child or two? The questions of infertility.

 

One child or two?

 

 

 

Boy what a hard question.  After going down the adoption route…feeling it out, thinking about it, going forward with the process and putting money into it (it’s pretty expensive) we got pregnant again.  Okay- put the adoption on hold.  Maybe this pregnancy will work out.  Nope.  This time was a bit easier to handle, frankly.  I was sort of expecting it.  My health has not been good and I’ve been seeing new doctors to get to the bottom of it!

Eureka!  I found a great doctor in Texas called Hotze Wellness Clinic who has put me on a yeast free diet.  Eureka #2!  I found a great doc in Redwood City who is willing to work with my doc in Texas and AGREES with him.  So, I have been diagnosed with a major Candida overgrowth, Adrenal Fatigue, possible thyroid issues (still working out this one), an auto-immune disorder (being tested next week for which cells are attacking exactly) and a whopping diagnosis of Endometriosis after a laparoscopy.  The doctor’s words to me…”you have a very angry pelvis”.  Not good.  But, I’m optimistic to keep moving forward. I think I’ll know when to stop.  So, one child or two?  We’ll see.  I love my son with every being of my body.  It sure would be nice to have more of that in my life because he’s so awesome.  But then again, he’s so awesome that perhaps that’s enough.  Either way, I realize that my life is completely wonderful and that’s enough!  I’m about to post Ryder’s second cooking show…that’ll prove it!

Vegetarian Taco Salad, a cooking demonstration by Ryder

Design your life

Online Voice Lessons with Miss Molly Bell – Lesson 1 (Grace)

Tried to today to record my voice lesson with Grace. It’s still a work in progress, need to work on sound, picture, angle etc. But, I’ll get better at it….

singing, directing and adopting…oh my!

Holy smokes this has been a busy month…well February was busy, and March is looking more and more busy by the moment. I’m honestly a little panicky that I’ve agreed to sing at someone’s event on the same night that I’m meant to be hosting a dance contest, filming a new super hero fake flick, or one of the other crazy jobs that I randomly find myself doing as I day by day establish my career. I don’t even know what to call my job lately. I get that standard question a lot. “What do you do Molly?” I answer, “I don’t really know”. I sometimes say, I’m a musical theater actress who teaches when not performing. Or, I teach private voice lessons and dance. But then that always leads to…”you do? You mean people pay you to learn to sing?” As Ryder has gotten older, I’ve taken less performing jobs…it gets harder and harder to be away at night. Also, the juicy news you’re all reading this for…we are adopting :) Why you ask? Well, lots of reasons that I’m too tired and sick to go into now. If I see you on the street, feel free to ask…I’m not quiet about it. I live my life out loud and enjoy hearing other peoples thoughts, concerns (well sometimes concerns…I don’t really want your adoption horror stories), and general well-wishing.
Anyway, the bottom line is…we are adopting a second child domestically and it will most likely be an infant. Like 99% chance, because the agency we are working with really only places infants. There’s lots of paperwork, lots of fingerprinting, classes, home studies, meetings, home-proofing, reading books on inter-racial adoption, open adoption, marketing ourselves to birth-mothers, changing the carpet in our office to create “the baby’s” room, you name it, we’re doing it….it’s like being pregnant without the weight gain and a bunch more writing.

It has been wonderful working with Kurt on this. It’s nice to do something together after 10 years of marriage and parenting for four of those years. It’s been a wonderful way to evaluate our lives, as we write about ourselves to prove we’re worthy of adoption. It forces you to really take a look at why you’re going through this. Why are we? We love being parents. We LOVE LOVE LOVE our child Ryder to pieces…we are better people because of him and know that we can offer our family life, and also the love of our extended family, to a wonderful baby out there that’s waiting for us to find him or her. We have fears, of course. But I don’t live my life, nor make decisions based on fear. Knowledge is key…and I’m soaking in all the knowledge I can about this process. Lots more to come…we’ll be launching our adoption website soon, marketing ourselves around the country (yes, that’s what it is…marketing), in the hopes of finding our baby girl or baby boy. BTW, we are working with iheartadoption.org (independent adoption center).

Why we need to play?

When I walk with Ryder around the neighborhood, I love to listen to TED talks…get the free app! I always learn something new and look for ways to incorporate in my own life and in my work. After watching this, I realized that companies are hiring me to do this…to play. (For the last year I have been hired by several companies to create cool videos, teach dance classes and workshops, create flash mobs etc.) I help engineers, programmers, sales reps, retail workers and other co-workers play. Play lends itself to creativity, to team-building, and authenticity. As I was listening to the following TED talk, I was watching my son jump in puddles (it’s been raining lately). As he did this, I heard the presenter saying how important play in childhood is. So often we are busy working, on Facebook, Twittering, making money, thinking about dinner, the list goes on and on. It’s really easy to forget to play.

My January Newsletter

Click here to see my latest Newsletter….

Arts in the future

A bold look forward into the arts

Ben Cameron, arts administrator and guru explains in this awesome TED talk how the magic of live theater, music and dance can compete with the ever present internet age and upcoming generations.
Watch his talk and see what you think.

What do I think?
I have mixed feelings about the internet age and live performance. The good news is that anyone can produce anything with the advancement of technology. The bad news is that ANYONE can produce ANYTHING. And do we really want to watch THAT? From a writing musical theater/plays standpoint, the internet has leveled the playing field for me and writer Daya Curley (co-writer of Becoming Britney). We don’t necessarily need to be represented by a large publishing house in order to market our materials to various theater companies who may be interested in producing their own potentially tragic production…just kidding, it may be brilliant. **fingers crossed**
Our job is in the presentation, the marketing, the spin, the gossip surrounding the project…and to reach out to people and convince them to give our little show a shot. That said, we haven’t done it yet, (meaning we haven’t started) but we’ll let you know.

I do know that people, organizations, and unions are slow getting to this. For instance, in my union it’s illegal to take a picture/video of me without my AND their consent. I understand the reason behind it, but times are changing. You must have video content, something instant….pictures of rehearsals, video of the process, behind the scenes shots in order to get people interested, get noticed, and ultimately get “seen”. The rules need to change…I’m sure they’re working on it. But not fast enough.

Everything is INSTANT. If I want to go make a song, complete with professional track and HD video, I can do it. So, I guess I’ll go do that.

How To Win a Karaoke Contest?

Singing Diva

Did you know that there are all sorts of blog entries on “how to win a karaoke contest”? I didn’t know it was such a big deal…but I think a lot of people make money doing it? The contest I’m in on Friday night has a grand prize of $2000…so that’d be good for one night of work. Although, if you’re going to really try and win it, then I think it’s best to be prepared. ‘Ography, costume, great song all seem to be the key. Here are some links in case anyone wants to try to win one. I’ll let you know how Friday goes. I think I’m gonna go with Tina Turner’s “Proud Mary”. Kurt thinks I’m trying to sound black. That’s just how I sound. And if I can sing like some of my soul sisters…I’m doing it. They’re frickin’ awesome. He wants me to go with the country fav “Independence Day”…by Martina McBride. I don’t think these people will get that one. Plus it’s the opening to Sean Hannity’s show, and that annoys me. Sorry, hon. I’m going with Tina.

http://www.helium.com/items/940714-how-to-win-a-karaoke-contest

http://www.wikihow.com/Win-a-Karaoke-Contest

Okay, okay, I’m a media wh**re…and don’t like it so much.

I don’t know…I’m not so good at promoting myself. Seeking out the limelight. I know, it’s completely opposite of what people think of me and you’re saying, yeah right…but I don’t love to play myself. I would much rather play a part, be under the lights, not see the audience. Today, I went down to meet Sarah & Vinnie at Psycho Donuts in Campbell…I figured it was close and I was available and might be some good PR for things that are upcoming for me and certain projects. I feel like such an idiot. But, it’s necessary to grow as a performing artist, an entrepreneur, and all that goes along with that. But, I definitely feel like a media whore. Perez Hilton watch out! If after this, I don’t even get into the contest then at least I will have learned to make an ass out of myself.

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