Looking ahead

This weekend I plucked one of my favorite books off the shelf and sat down to read it when Torsten noticed what I was doing and pointed out that he's seen me read that same book a million times. This is a concept that is totally foreign to him, because he has huge piles of books that he's been meaning to read for ages but never gotten around to. He would never read the same book twice when he has so much new material waiting for him.

I, on the other hand, read very fast. I finish books in one or two days. But I love to read the same book over again. That might be part of why I'm a good editor--because I can read the same thing over and over again and still absorb every word and still discover new things and new meanings in the text.

Still, though. He definitely had a point, and in a sudden rush of desire to read new things, lots of new things, every new thing I could get my hands on right then, I went on Amazon and bought 14 used books from their marketplace. The next day when we took our Sunday constitutional up to the local bookstore, I discovered the sale section in the basement and came away with five more cheap books.

And I am thrilled. I have stacked them up in a separate place so that I don't miss one, and I am working my way through the first one already. Although I have to admit, the first one that I picked up is neither used nor a sale book. I paid full price. Because I really wanted to have it.

It's The Complete Book of International Adoption. And no, we don't plan on adopting or conceiving a child anytime soon. But I am so, so interested in the topic. And the book isn't just a step-by-step guide on the adoption process, although it does have that and I'm interested in that too. It also has lots of information about adoption in general, and factors to consider, and whether or not it's right for you. I'm not there yet, but it has a whole chapter on transracial adoption, which some of you might remember is an issue that I've discussed before. It talks about domestic adoption too and some of the differences. It has so much information. And I am devouring it.

Interestingly, it noted that in most families that adopt, there's one partner who drives the adoption more than the other. Not that the other partner is necessarily opposed or even reluctant. But that usually there is one person who has a stronger interest in adoption, and that is the person who usually drives the effort and does the research, at least in the beginning.

That is definitely the case with us. We are both interested in adopting and I don't even remember which of us brought it up first. But it's something that I've thought about for year, whereas the concept is relatively new to Torsten. And it's something that I already want to learn about, whereas Torsten would never have thought to buy a book about adoption now, given that if we do decide to adopt one day, it won't be for several years at the very least.

But what can I say? I like to plan ahead, apparently. Because I also bought a book about raising your children bilingual. And no, I am NOT pregnant.