Hello readers, the few that followed me over from the previous platform. As you can see, I am still working on updating this blog and have formatted it more like a website with hopefully easier navigation than the previous blog. It has been a long time, and I’m not even sure where to begin to bring my life up to date – but there have been some big changes.

The biggest change is that I have completed my dissertation and PhD. I have no idea what to do with all that “spare” time so I immediately jumped into a half-dozen projects that I know I will cause me to throw up my hands in exasperation in another couple of months. But hey, I figure I know how to do “busy” pretty well by this point. The other big change in my life is that I have accepted a job as an Assistant Professor at a university and will be moving to Washington state late this summer. I am very excited about this move, but it comes with some sadness as I will be leaving a very supportive and beloved adoption community in Minnesota. Fortunately, I know several people in Washington state including some dear friends, which makes that transition a little easier.

Big transitions like this are hard at any age, and considering I’ve lived in MN since my adoption at about 3 years old, that’s a big change for someone who has basically been in one place for over 40 years!

I plan to continue my research on intercountry adoption, following up on my dissertation research that focused on adoptive parents that placed an intercountry adopted child with disabilities in out of home placement (click here for more information on this). In addition, I hope to blog more often about adoption, in particular my thoughts about what I’m reading, viewing, and the discussions I am having with others about adoption. There will be lots of adventures ahead! So hi, and thanks for continuing to read along.

It's hard to believe July is almost over. I'm sitting here anxiously looking at the mammoth stack of books to read and articles to outline for my preliminary exams this fall. Somehow a few months ago it seemed doable and now it just seems ridiculous. So much for the idea of having a relaxing summer to study!!

To give folks an update on what I've been up to – I'm now about halfway through my doctoral program. I've been really fortunate to be employed at the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare at the University of Minnesota – (to see what I've been working on, click here). As part of this research assistant position, I am really focusing on the other end of child welfare from my usual position – the adoption side. Instead, I've been working on research that deals with the front end – child protection. I was able to go to Washington DC for a Children's Bureau grantee's meeting and meet with other states and jurisdictions doing similar work in improving child protection systems around the United States. It's really been deeply thought provoking for me and a much needed step away in some respects from adoption since for many years it felt I lived and breathed and worked adoption 24/7.

I'm developing my dissertation research idea as well. The most difficult part is that I want to do it all – I have SO many questions that haven't been answered by research yet, and there are days I just wish several million dollars would drop in my lap so I could fund independent research projects! But since I'm just a mortal graduate student, I have to make do with trying to narrow down a few dozen ideas into just one project. To begin with, anyway!

There are many days I wonder what to do with this blog. I am pulled in two different directions on this one. On the one hand, I feel I don't have anything to say anymore on this blog. Not that I don't think about adoption all the time, or have things to say about the books and articles and media stories – I do – but I just don't desire blogging about it any more. And there are lots of other adoptees who are blogging up a storm, and I read those blogs when I can, and I see that a lot of adoptive parents are reading them, and that is a wonderful thing.

I also sometimes feel like sometimes blogs just have an expiration date. And maybe in some ways Harlow's Monkey is past its prime. Should I be stepping aside so others have the focus now? It's been a good run, and while I have learned a lot and most importantly, met a lot of awesome people through this adventure, it might be time to just slowly fade away.

I knew it was time to think about ending the blog when instead of wanting to write a long post about some book I read or article I saw, I wrote out a title and then couldn't figure out how to write what I wanted to say. I'm typically not one of those folks who has a hard time blogging! I have a collection of a half-dozen "titles" with nothing of substance under them, and no desire to continue on.

I can't imagine shutting down for good; rather I'm looking at this as a permanent, temporary "retreat" where, from time to time, I may dust out the cobwebs out and show up for a while. I've tried blog breaks before, and I have even secretly used those breaks to test out whether I was going to quit altogether. But I don't want this site to disappear. I want to keep the resources up, because I'm amazed at how often people tell me they appreciate the resources. And I also want to leave open the possibility that some day I might want to start up again.

For the rest of the summer I'll be hard at work, and reading a ton, and trying to find some better family/work balance which has been nearly impossible the past 2 years.

Thanks to all my loyal readers over the past 4+ years! And until next time,

Jae Ran

Just a reminder that I post news stories and little bits at my Harlow's Monkey facebook page!

It's easier for me to post links to things around the internet that I find interesting or newsworthy on facebook, which is one of the (many) reasons my blog is so quiet these days. So come check it out!

I woke up to snow this morning, way too early in the year for snow!!

Somehow I've managed to keep up with the blog, thanks to the nifty technology of typepad's scheduling feature. Anyway, things at school and home are ramping up and that coincides conveniently with my adoption-related burnout, so I will be taking a little break here, not a forever one, but my postings will probably be few and far between for a little while.