Baby Love

Hello from the land of parenthood!

My apologies for the lack of an update around here, however, I have been otherwise occupied =D Our little Monster Man (so known because of his penchant for making an "Argh!" monster sound and smiling at you) certainly has taken up a lot of my time lately! I am loving being a mother, but do find it difficult to find time to do the things I used to love, such as blogging....and reading.....and eating. Did I mention I've lost 22 lbs since Monster Man came to live with us? Yup =D The Toddler Diet and Exercise Program is working wonders for me! I highly recommend it, lol!

So, the plan for Monster Man's future at this time is reunification with his birthmom. However, his caseworker told me a few weeks ago that her gut feeling was that she would be terminating rights. She asked us if we would be interested in adopting him should he become available for adoption and we emphatically told her yes we would!! Right now, we continue as we've been and wait patiently to see what the future will hold.

In the meantime, we have been seeing Monster Man's doctor frequently and have spent a few nights in the hospital with bronchitis. It seems that the cleft lip and palate that Monster Man was born with is, despite appearances and reports to the contrary, not completely repaired, therefore, he gets frequent sinus and respiratory infections. We are, thus, being referred to an ENT to see what we need to do to get our little man fixed up! Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we undertake that journey.

As far as Monster Man himself, he is settling in very well with us. He seems to love being here and he really is the sweetest baby ever! He's very small for his age - he turned 2 last Sunday and wears only a size 12 month to 18 month. Usually anyone who meets him is amazed at how small he is! And everyone who has met him simply falls almost immediately in love with him =D We really are incredibly lucky!

I don't want to wish bad things for his birthmom, but I really do hope he gets to stay with us! I don't know how I'll make it if he has to leave. For the timebeing, though, we're just enjoying every moment we have with him!

Changes

Once again it seems an inordinate amount of time has passed since I last posted. Indeed, there have been lots of changes and several important things have happened since last I updated you, but I will try to make this brief. First of all, we received a call about 2 weeks ago (gah! Has it really been that long since I posted?!?!) Saying that our homestudy had been approved! Hooray!!! Our home was set to open on October 1. And open it did. However, we had no news on the girl we are hoping to adopt. We have been patiently waiting to see what was going to happen with her, but so far nothing. All was moving along fine until last Wednesday, when The Hubs woke up sick. Not the usual oh-I-don't-feel-good-think-I'll-stay-home-from-work sick, but really SICK. He had severe pains in his stomach. I made him go to the doctor - because, of course, being a man, he thought he could just force his way through debillitating pain. At the doctor, they sent him for some bloodwork, which came back with an elevated white blood cell count and elevated platelets. So he was sent for a CT scan and they thought it probable he had appendicitis. He was admitted to the hospital to await the results of the CT. Turns out he did not have appendicitis, but instead had ileitis of the terminal ileium (severe infection in his small intestines) secondary probably to either Inflammatory Bowel Disease or Crohns. They're leaning towards Crohns, but he'll have to have a colonoscopy/EGD to get a definitive diagnosis. So, we spent 4 days in the hospital. He was discharged Saturday night and we came home and resumed our quiet life. He was back at work on Monday. Yesterday I was home sick with a bad migraine headache and was laying on the couch when my phone rang with a call from our caseworker. I figured it was news on the child we want to adopt, but it turned out not to be. Instead, she explained to me that they had an almost 2 year old little boy who needed a foster placement and they were asking us if we would be willing to take him. So, I quickly hung up and called The Hubs. We discussed it and agreed, so we are now parenting an almost 2 year old for however long he needs us! Currently, this placement is only a foster placement and we do not have any idea how long he will be with us. It could be only a few days or it could be much longer. I will let you know when we know! A very quick update from a rather overwhelmed new mommy!

September ICLW

Happy IComLeavWe and welcome to my home on the web! This month's ICLW marks the start of my 4th year participating in ICLW (albeit, I haven't participated every month), so I've done a fair number of the usual intros. This time, I thought I'd do something a little different, so I found a list of 50 get-to-konw-you questions. Now, without further ado:

1. What was your favorite food when you were a child? Hmmm...I would probably have to say Macaroni and cheese. I used to love that stuff! Not so much these days.
2. What’s the #1 most played song on your iPod? At this moment it would probably be "Call Me Maybe" by Carley Rae Jepson, as cliche as that is. Can't help it, just love that song!
3. What is one of your favorite quotes? "When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better." - Mae West
4. What’s your favorite indoor/outdoor activity? That would have to be reading. I love to read and am happy doing it pretty much anywhere.
5. What chore do you absolutely hate doing? I detest washing dishes. We don't have a dishwasher, so this task usually falls to me. I can occassionally get The Hubs to do them for me, but I usually just go ahead and do them.
6. What is your favorite form of exercise? I love going for walks with The Hubs. It's so relaxing to go for a long, scenic walk when the weather is nice. Other than that, I love the eliptical trainer!
7. What is your favorite time of day/day of the week/month of the year? My favourite time of day is the evening (after 6pm), my favourite day of the week is Saturday and my favourite month of the year is November (Thanksgiving, my birthday, our anniversary, cooler weather....I just love it!)
8. What’s your least favorite mode of transportation? This is an odd question to me and a difficult one to answer. I don't really mind most modes of transportation, but I guess my least favourite would have to be boat because of my absolute terror of water.
9. What is your favorite body part? Another odd question. It would have to be either noses or hands. I just think noses tend to be very cute. And I love hands. I think it's the strength in them that shows the character of the person. Definitely an interesting body part.
10. What sound do you love? I love the sound of The Hubs and Pog (our dog). I love the sound of rain on a tin roof. I love the sound of ocean waves crashing. Not the normal favourite sound of someone who has a paralyzing fear of water, eh?
11. If you could throw any kind of party, what would it be like and what would it be for? I would dearly love to have a masquerade ball for our 10th wedding anniversary in November. That would be my ideal, but it definitely won't happen. Oh, well, lol! I'll get over it.
12. If you could paint a picture of any scenery you’ve seen before, what would you paint? The mountains in Chattanooga, TN. Hands down the most gorgeous view I've ever seen.
13. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be? Hmmm...I think it would probably be 24. I was very happy at that time in my life. The Hubs and I were finally together after 2 years of long-distance, were newly married and we were just truly enjoying the novelty of being together. I was still young enough to think life would be wonderful in the future. We had no knowledge of our infertility at that time. My dad was still alive. I had virtually no health problems. Life was just rosey then. Not that I would trade my life now, but if I had to choose to stay one age forever, that would be it.
14. If you knew the world was ending in 2012, what would you do differently? Nothing. I'm very happy with the decisions I've made, what I've accomplished and where I am.
15. If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor? This depends what capacity of mentor is meant. If it was musically, I would choose Stevie Nicks. I think she's simply a fabulous musician and I have so much respect for her. If I chose a musician to look up to, it would be her. A mentor in life? I really have no idea.
16. If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be? For a history buff, this should be an easy question, but it really isn't! Okay, I'm going to be a little selfish here and say my child's first day of kindergarten. I really hope we get that opportunity one day, while mourning the fact that we won't have had that opportunity for the child we're going to adopt.
17. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? This is an easy answer. Swim. I think it would make me less afraid of water and it's great exercise!
18. If you had to work on only one project for the next year, what would it be? Another difficult question! Um...I guess it would be crocheting the afghan I've been working on forever that's owed to a certain person. I will eventually finish it, I promise!
19. If you were immortal for a day, what would you do? I really don't know. Immortality doesn't really seem that important. Now, if I had superpowers, that would be a different story, lol!
20. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to? Well, the name I go by is not my first name, so....I might change it to the name I go by. Other than that, I might choose the name Charlotte. I like that name.
21. If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet? I'd like to see my dad again. He's been gone a little over a year and I really miss him.
22. If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Honestly, I would buy our dream home. After that, I would pay off the rest of our bills, then give a substantial donation to charities, but first I would buy our home.
23. If you were reincarnated as an animal/drink/ice cream flavor, what would it be? I think I would probably be orange juice. Tart and tangy, but overall very sweet.
24. If you could know the answer to any question, besides “What is the meaning of life?”, what would it be? At the end of our lives, will we overall count ourselves as having been happy?
25. If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose? Wow! Possibly the most difficult question yet! There are so many characters I could choose and for so many different reasons. I guess, though, I would have to say (and I thought it would be a book character here, but turns out it's not)......Rachel Berry. I know. That's pretty sad for a 33-year-old to want to be a teenager, but she has such a bright and full future ahead of her. And on Broadway!! I'd love to be doing it.
26. Which celebrity do you get mistaken for? I can honestly say I have never been mistaken for a celebrity, lol.
27. What do you want to be when you grow up? Hehe! I thought I was grown up! Well, realistically, I'd like to be a teacher. If I were doing my dream job, either a singer or an actress. But I have to be realistic. If I'm lucky, one day I'll get to complete my student teaching and become a teacher.
28. When you have 30 minutes of free-time, how do you pass the time? I usually read. There are other things I should be doing with this time, but reading usually gets the extra time.
29. What would you name the autobiography of your life? Creating My Life The Hard Way. I've gotten many of the things I want in life, but I've always done it the hard way!
30. What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life? "Tub-Thumping" by Chumbawumba, "Daydreamer" by Adele, "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, "Home" by Philip Phillips
31. Have you ever had something happen to you that you thought was bad but it turned out to be for the best? When I broke up with my ex before I met The Hubs. It was a terrible end to a terrible relationship and I thought I was devestated. Turned out to be the best thing, though, and I wound up meeting the love of my life soon after.
32. What was one of the best parties you’ve ever been to? The Hubs' company Christmas Party for 2010. It was epic!
33. What was the last movie, TV show or book that made you cry or tear up? Katie (Katie Couric's new talk show) today. She had the mother and sister of Yeardley Love on, talking about her murder and the verdict/sentencing of her murderer. Their pain was evident and it had me choking up.
34. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done? Saying goodbye to my dad. Prior to his death, it would have been saying goodbye to my family when I moved to England or saying goodby to The Hubs (then The Boyfriend) when he returned to England before I moved there. I don't do well with goodbyes.
35. What was the last experience that made you a stronger person? Again, this would be my dad's death. I've had to become my mom's pillar. It's been hard, but I've done it. We're both still going and we're going to be okay. Scarred, but okay.
36. What did you do growing up that got you into trouble? Lol, I'm not proud of this, but I once made $250 worth of long-distance prank calls. Needless to say, I was grounded for a long time for that one!
37. When was the last time you had an amazing meal? The last amazing meal I had was probably at The Melting Pot for our anniversary last November. That was an awesome experience!
38. What’s the best/worst gift you’ve ever given/received? Best Received - A lovely garnet bracelet The Hubs gave me when we were dating. I loved it! Unfortunately, it broke a few years ago, so it's in my jewelry box now. Best Given - I gave The Hubs a 5 CD stereo system about 6 years ago. He LOVED it! Worst Received - Almost anytime I'm given clothing, it's a bad idea. My family don't have the same taste in clothing that I do, so I don't tend to like clothing I'm given. I appreciate the effort, just don't generally like the style. Worst Given - Gift cards. I always feel so lame when I give those as gifts.
39. What do you miss most about being a kid? Having so few responsibilities!
40. What is your first memory of being really excited? Going to my oldest brother's graduation from Marine boot camp at Paris Island, SC when I was 4. I was so excited to see him because he'd been gone for several months and I love my brother!
41. What was the first thing you bought with your own money? I really can't remember. Probably candy or a comic book, lol! Possibly school supplies - I still have something of an addiction to those!
42. When was the last time you were nervous? I'm nervous at work everyday. That kind of comes with being miserable in your job.
43. What is something you learned in the last week? That the workday is easier to get through if you just get on with it and stop thinking about it so much.
44. What story does your family always tell about you? The Christmas I was 4, my parents gave me a kitchen playset (you know, with the stove and refrigerator). Well, shortly after receiving this, my mom baked some potatoes and put them in the toy stove. Then she told me the stove had actually cooked the potatoes. I'm ashamed to say that I actually believed this for many years after. My mom takes great joy in telling this story!
45. At what age did you become an adult? 24, when I got married. Had to. I was living in a different country to my family and I had to grow up. I had no choice.
46. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Elaborate. I certainly think so. I mean, look at this face:
    
    Need I say more?
47. Where’s Waldo? Here he is!
48. The best part of waking up is? Is Folgers in your cup!
49. How now brown cow? I honestly can't remember the flippant response to this, so .....yeah. Lol!
50. Whasssssuuuupppppp? Well, since I wrote this and set it to post the night before, I'm headed to be now! TTFN!

Have a great ICLW and be sure to stop back by!

Shadows of Fear, Shouts of Freedom

Eleven years.

Every new year that passes since September 11, 2001 has brought the same amazement with it of the time that has passed. I still remember the horror of that day just as if I were experiencing it again. I've recounted the story previously about my recollections of that day, so I won't repeat it now. Instead, I want to take this time to throw off the shroud of fear that I still feel when I think of that day; I want to take this moment to honor one of the heroes of that day.

Every year in the days leading up to the anniversary, it's been my habit to read stories of the victims. I'm always overcome with emotion when I read the amazing things the people caught in that nightmare managed to accomplish. And every year I discover someone's story I hadn't been familiar with before. This year, I found myself enthralled by the heroic story of Welles Crowther.

I think what first captured my interest in this story was that the person involved was so close in age to me. He was 24 years old at the time of the attacks, only a year and a half older than me. Dubbed the "Man in the Red Bandana", Welles is the super hero I hope my children and grandchildren, nieces and nephew hold up as their role model. On that horrible day, when no one would have thought any less of him - and, in fact would have joyfully embraced him and praised God for the miracle - had he simply made it out alive, Welles instead worked with the New York Fire Department to help evacuate and save no less than 12 people. After the chaos died down, those who were saved reported being directed to the only staircase still available for escape by a man wearing a red bandana over his mouth and nose to block out the dust and debris. Eyewitnesses described the man and Welles' mother felt the description - including his calm demeanor and seemingly professional training (Welles was a volunteer firefighter in his hometown) - fit her son and she knew he always carried a red bandana in his pocket that had been given to him by his father. She forwarded his photo to the eyewitnesses and they confirmed the "Man in the Red Bandana" was indeed her son.

Welles Crowther did not make it out of the World Trade Center alive that day. His body was recovered on March 19, 2002. He was posthumously named an honorary New York City Firefighter. His legacy is 12 people who owe their lives to him and a story of courage beyond the likes of which have rarely been seen in this generation by a civilian outside of that day.

On a day when fear often overshadows hope, I choose instead to hear Welles Crowther's shout of freedom! Those who sought to bring America to her knees that day will never have accomplished what they hoped. Welles Crowther and the other heroes like him on September 11, 2001 made sure that in that black, black day pure light still shone through.

Source: Crowther Trust Website - Seriously, go read his story here. They tell it so much better than I ever could.

Waiting, Waiting

If there is anyone in the ALI world who is considering adoption but has little to no patience, then foster/adoption is NOT the path to take!

This could probably be said about any adoption path, but I only have experience with this one. It definitely could be said about fertility treatment, but then there often seemed to be something happening when we were actually doing treatment. There was always something to track or a fairly concrete this-is-what-we're-doing-next-and-when-we're-doing-it plan. Or, at least that's what I thought it was. Looking back, it wasn't actually like that, which kind of invalidates my point now, but I'm gonna pretend I didn't come to that realization, lol!

Anyway, back to the foster/adoption wait. Needless to say, I am not the most patient person. We are 4 days away from the first anniversary of the beginning of our adoption journey. While we have progressed significantly by completing our homestudy, I still have no idea when we'll have a child placed with us.

It's a little disheartening.

I'll be so glad when we get the call that we are officially approved and can start visiting with our child. So ready to get this show on the road!

Anonymous Comments

This post is in response to a comment I received (but will not be approving) on my previous post. If you missed the first post, be sure to read it so you know what's going on.

I had a comment posted earlier today from someone posting as Anonymous. I'll first say that I feel nothing but contempt for someone who has a smart alec remark to make but is too scared to use their real name. Secondly, in response to their comment "Well this day and time if we need and want a job bad enough we have to do what we have to do and be happy we have a job. Look at all of the people that don't have job just be happy you have one.", while I am aware that a lot of people are out of work at this time, no I absolutely should not be grateful to be asked to do something illegal that takes advantage of me, nor should I be asked to put my job before my family. This is unacceptable to ask of anyone.

This is like saying "Oh, there are lots of people who would love to be in a relationship, so you should just take your husband/partner beating you and be grateful you have a husband/partner to beat you" or "Well, there are lots of people who's children grow up to be murderers, so you should be glad you're infertile." Neither of these statements are acceptable and neither is the statement that I should be grateful for a job that abuses me.

I am grateful that in a time where our economy is as poor as it is, I do have a job. Having said that, I have a job where I was literally laughed at when I asked for a raise following the completion of my Bacherlors degree. I have a job that took away my PTO (paid time off) leave last year and didn't replace it or give anything in return. I have a job that laid 50 people off 2 weeks before Christmas (no, I wasn't one of them, but I had several friends who were). I have a job that has not given me (or anyone else for that matter) a raise in the 4 years I've worked there. I have a job that has told me my adoption is of no importance and should be put second to the job. And, now, I have a job that has asked me to work 6 hours of my own time, without pay, when it was not necessary and threatened to take my job away if I failed to do so.

No, it isn't acceptable and, no, I shouldn't just be grateful I have this job. If "Anonymous" actually thinks this is true, then "Anonymous" is someone I hope no one ever has to work for or with.

Highs and Lows

It's been one of those days where I've had some of my best moments ever, but also some of my worst.

I'll start with the best. In adoption news, this is a biggie. WE ARE DONE WITH OUR HOMESTUDY!!!!! We had our final home visit today and we are done! Our caseworker took the photos of the home and of us that she needed, got some final bits of paperwork from us and said she hoped to submit our homestudy for approval next week. As she was leaving she said "I'll let you know when it's approved." Not IF it's approved, but WHEN it's approved! This is the best news yet in our adoption journey! So freaking excited!

But it seems I can't have a good day without something dark clouding it over. I have to give you a few details here about my work. Today was the fiscal year end at my work place. Having our final home visit scheduled for today, I had asked for the day off. I had also worked my full 40 hours this week. The problem is that I've been working on keying in some charges over the last couple of weeks and I've been a little behind. When I left work yesterday, I had keyed all the charges through August 23 and would be starting on August 24's charges on Tuesday. The year won't officially close out for charges until Tuesday. So, imagine my surprise when my boss called stating (apologetically) that her boss - our CFO - had demanded I come in today and finish the charges for the rest of the month. I didn't have a problem with this (once we'd finished our home visit) as long as they would approve my overtime. But no, I was told I had to complete them on my own time! I was outraged! This, as most of you will know, is illegal. However, I need my job, so I went in and worked 6 hours of my own time to complete the charges. I wasn't happy about it and I will be seeking legal advice to determine if this, along with the rest of the if-not-discriminatory-certainly-borderline crap I've put up with over the last few weeks (including telling me that our adoption would have to go on the back burner, that work was more important), is enough legal ground to seek a lawsuit against my employer. In the meantime, my jobhunt just went into overdrive and I'm going to bear my work situation as best I can. Please keep your fingers crossed I find another job soon!

I'm headed to bed now. It's been a long, long day full of highs and lows, but it's all going to be okay. I just know it. Toodles!

Crazy Day

Today has been...interesting.

Work sucked, as usual, but I won't bore you with the details. The interesting bit of the day happened around 4pm when I received a phone call from my mom's landlord/friend telling me she had called an ambulance to come pick my mom up because her blood pressure was very high and she was very sick. Cue me leaving work as fast as rocket taking off for space, calling The Hubs at work as I was moving. I picked The Hubs up and we drove 20 minutes to the next town over where my mom lives. We went to her apartment and met her with the ambulance. We were then told to go on to the hospital and the ambulance would shortly arrive with my mother.

We spent about 3 hours at the hospital before my mom was released. Turns out she forgot to take her blood pressure medication last night and this morning. All three different kinds both times. Thus the culprit for her b/p being 220/110. Needless to say, she has been lectured about taking her medicine and advised to follow up with her regular physician in the morning.

So, that relaxing evening I had planned to post and visit some blogs? Yeah, it went right down the drain. My apologies. However, tomorrow is effectively my Friday at work and I have no big plans for the weekend, so I definitely see the probability of visiting lots of interesting blogs this weekend. For now, toodles! It's been an exhausting day!

ICLW

It's been a while, but I've decided to sign up for ICLW again this month. I'm hoping it'll encourage me to post more again and also to visit some blogs. So, to those who've been here before, welcome back! And, to those for whom this is your first visit, welcome to my crazy world!

A little about me - I'm a 33-year-old Georgia girl. I'm married to a fantastic guy (The Hubs), my own piece of the exotic (he's British). We met online 12 years ago and this November we'll celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. On our first wedding anniversary, we decided to start trying for a family. We've so far been unsuccessful in that endeavor, despite 2 years of working with my OB/GYN and another 2 years seeing an RE, along with the 4 1/2 we tried on our own. Looks like it's not meant to be for us to be biological parents. With this thought in mind, we began discussing the possibility of adopting and decided we wanted to adopt through foster care. Last September we contacted the foster/adopt phone line and began our adoption journey. It hasn't been the swiftest of journeys, but we seem to be nearing the next chapter.

On that note, for those who've been following our journey, I have an update! We have now completed our interviews and have the final visit for our homestudy scheduled for next Friday, August 31. We're really close now! After that visit, our homestudy will be submitted to our caseworker's supervisor and the County Director of our local Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) for approval. We're on target for an October opening of our home!

Our caseworker was at a state conference last week and managed to meet the caseworker for the little girl (little girl? She's 14. Do I still get to call her a little girl?) we're interested in adopting. Our caseworker told her that we're nearing completion, that we are definitely going to be approved, we just need that final visit. She also gave the other caseworker our contact info to arrange a meeting with the child. I'm really, really hoping we'll hear from her very soon!

So, that's pretty much caught you up. With that, I think I'll close for the evening. I've had a terrible day at work and it's now almost 11:30pm. I'll definitely try to post again tomorrow and get in some visits to other blogs. Hope everyone has been doing great!!

Adventures in Adoption Homestudies

I promise I hadn't abandoned you again. Our internet was hit by lightning a couple of weeks ago and we've been offline and out of commission for a while. We're back now, though, so here's the latest on our homestudy.

The Hubs had his first interview for our homestudy two weeks ago on Friday, July 6. It went well, but The Hubs felt that he and our caseworker had not gotten very far into the questions he had to answer. He was a little disappointed. I teased him about being talkative (which he tends not to be with other people but is a totally different story when it's just the two of us).

On Monday, July 9, I had my first interview. My interview didn't get as far with questions as The Hubs' did, lol. So, it is official that I am the more talkative spouse. However, the interview did at least go very well.

Our next interviews were scheduled for two weeks later which meant The Hubs had his two days ago and mine is tomorrow. In a surprising turn of events, The Hubs completed his interview questions! I was incredibly impressed that he and our caseworker managed to complete the rest of his interview. Hopefully, I'll be able to accomplish the same feat tomorrow.

During The Hubs' appointment, our caseworker mentioned something that she thought would be of real interest to us and it seems that next Saturday The Hubs and I will be attending an adoption party cruise with the Savannah Riverboat Cruises and Wendy’s Kids! This cruise is an opportunity for prospective adoptive parents to meet some of the hard-to-place children who are available for adoption in Georgia. Now, this does not necessarily mean that the little girl we are interested in will definitely be there, but there is a possibility. There will be approximately 19 children on the cruise. There are 153 children listed as available for adoption on Georgia’s hard-to-place listing. That means there is a 1 in 8 chance of her being there. We’re willing to give it a go and hope she’s there! Even if she’s not there, it’s still an excellent opportunity for us to interact with some children who are available for placement. Until she is actually in our home, there are no guarantees, so meeting other children will be a good experience for us.

In case you’re wondering, hard-to-place children can be anything from children who are older to those with physical disabilities to those with mental disabilities to those with behavioral problems to sibling groups. We’re willing to consider any of these apart from those with severe physical or mental disabilities, simply because we don’t have the time to devote to these children that they deserve. We are both going to have to work (at least the way things are right now), so do not have the time to devote round the clock care. We would hate to take on something that would not be in the best interest of the child we adopt.

So, there you go! The Hubs is done and we’re meeting children next weekend…..now to just get my portion of the homestudy done, get our birth certificates and drug screens, get our smoke alarms and fire extinguishers and have the final visit with our caseworker and we’ll be all set to be submitted to our caseworker’s supervisor and our county director. Hopefully, we’ll be good to go before too long! I’ll let you know how my interview goes!

The Return of the Prodigal Blogger

As you're probably aware (if you read my blog very often), I've been MIA again the last month or so. I apologize for leaving you hanging - real life kind of took over for a bit.

In case you're wondering what the last month or so has held, here goes:

• My mom had her surgery and everything went well. After several weeks recuperating, she is now back at work.
• My ankle has still been giving me a lot of trouble with swelling and pain. I finally broke down and had x-rays and an MRI done of both ankles since they've both given me trouble over the years. The right ankle has a torn ligament and joint effusion, along with degenerative joint disease showing and os trigonum syndrome. The left (which I had an MRI of a year and a half ago that showed some damage) is now showing two ligaments with complete tears, flattening of the talar dome (weight-bearing bone), degenerative joint disease and osteonecrosis in the joint. I have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon I saw in 2010 on Monday.
• My eldest niece graduated from high school! I can't believe it! She should not be that old!
• Remember the job I was interviewing for? Well, I was offered the job!! Unfortunately, I had to turn it down as they were offering me $6000 a year less than what I'm making now and, no matter how much I hate my job, I can't afford to take that much of a paycut.
• The Hubs (he's not happy at his job either) and I have concentrated our job hunt on the area we really want to live in, which is a town about 2 hours from where we live now. We have high hopes we'll be successful soon. (So, watch out Junebug! If things go to plan, we'll soon be moving closer to you!)
• My job at work has changed a little. I've actually been moved to doing a different job, which is better than it was, but I still just simply don't enjoy the workplace or the work. I'd rather be somewhere where I feel happier.

So, I think that about sums it up. Oh, yeah!! One more thing.....

• WE HAD OUR FIRST VISIT FOR OUR HOMESTUDY YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything went really well and we are super excited! Next up is our individual interviews. The Hubs has his first one on Friday, July 6 (our caseworker is on vacation for the next couple of weeks) and mine is Monday, July 9. These will be the first of several individual interviews, but, hopefully, by mid-August we'll be approved and our home will be open! Our homestudy will then be submitted to the caseworker of the little girl we're hoping to adopt and we'll then just be waiting (on pins and needles!) to see if we're approved to proceed with her adoption. I pray the next few months will go by swiftly! We're ready to bring our daughter home!

Roadtrip Aftermath

Now that the Blogging A to Z in April Challenge is over, I figured I would give you a follow-up post to our roadtrip to Iowa for my graduation.

1. Rather than staying over in a hotel on Sunday night, we decided to drive on home. We got home around 2:45 a.m. Monday morning.
2. Our puppy (whom my mom had been coming over to feed and tend to) was insanely happy to see us. She went a little mad when we got here. It was funny.
3. I had to go back to work today. It was not my favourite part of coming home.
4. I have developed an unhealthy addiction to Skittles while we've been gone. I had to have Skittles fairly constantly while we were driving. It's insane and not at all healthy.
5. Our trip home was not a complete rush to get home. We did take a little time to have fun. In fact, we stopped in Metropolis, IL to see their giant Superman statue. The Hubs took a photo of me posing with the giant Superman.
   
6. My ankle has decided to swell up again. It's hideously painful at the moment. I've resorted to the heavy painkillers and it still isn't reducing the pain.
7. My mom is having surgery to repair a hiatal hernia on Thursday. I'm taking the day off from work to go with her. Please say a prayer or send up a thought for her that day. Thanks!

I think that's all for now! I'll give you another update later!

Z - Zombie - The Cranberries

We are safely back home now - feeling something like zombies ourselves - and preparing to head back tomorrow. My stomach has already filled with dread. I really have to find a new job. Anyway, I've completed the Blogging A to Z in April Challenge again! I hope you've enjoyed my posts this month. I've enjoyed reading many of yours as well! Thanks for joining me for the ride!

Y - Yeah - Usher - Cos I'm a Graduate, Baby!

Three long years of hard work finally saw it's reward today - I graduated from university today!! I am so happy! I've worked very hard over the last few years and I earned summa cum laude honors. I'm very proud =D Now I'll be taking a few months off before I start my Masters. In the meantime, here is a photo of me in my cap and gown and honors regalia for you.

X - X's and O's (An American Girl) - Trisha Yearwood

I really feel like an American girl at the moment, traveling across the country! We made it safely to our destination and I'll be graduating tomorrow! So excited! I'll say this about our travels: Tennessee has absolutely stunning scenery, Kentucky is beautiful, Illinois is a little bare with plains stretching out but striking in its own way and Iowa (at least the part along the Mississippi River) is just breathtaking. We've really enjoyed getting to see more of the country! Definitely a great way to travel for us!

W - We Are Young - .fun

This, as promised, is the third of my absolute favourite songs! In fact, it is my favourite song. I think it’s actually very appropriate for today, as we have just finished the first leg of our road trip to my graduation. This post is actually being written from Marion, Illinois tonight. We have discovered something very important about ourselves – we love road trips! We have traveled about 10 hours (or approximately 650 miles) today. We have only 390 miles left to our destination. This means that, money permitting, we hope to make a few more road trips to places we’ve wanted to visit. It’s going to open a whole new world for us, lol!

V - Valentine - Martina McBride (Midweek Melody)

I've loved this song for many, many years. I hope you enjoy my version of it. Only a very short post tonight, as it's almost midnight and we have to be up extra early in the morning to start on the way to Iowa for my graduation! More tomorrow!

By the way, this is my 300th post! Not a bad way to make a 300th post, eh?

U - Ugly - Sugababes

I absolutely love the message behind this song and video. It was one of the last songs I really fell in love with while we lived in England and then when we moved to the States, it wasn't on the radio. Such a shame because it's definitely a message that would be useful here as well!

So, carrying on from the post I wrote a couple of days ago, be proud of who you are. Don't be ashamed to be yourself. Love every inch of your odd, silly, crazy, unconventional self. Or, if you're not odd, silly, crazy or unconventional, love yourself just the same because you are you and that is an awesome person to be!

T - Talk - Coldplay

Speaking of talk, I had my interview today. It went really, really well. Possibly too well.

What do I mean by that? Well, the interview wasn't really like an interview. It was more of a conversation. And I had a great rapport with all three interviewers. But I think I may have oversold myself. At the end of the interview, the panel's only concern was that my current employer wouldn't be able to replace me! Which is great that they're concerned about my current employer, but I really hope it doesn't impact their decision on whether or not to offer me the job.

Keep your fingers crossed. I know that whatever is for the best will happen. If it's meant to be, the job will be mine. If not, then I'll keep looking. Love you guys!

The Church of Hope and Love: Integrating Conflicting Beliefs

Disclaimer: The following post discusses my personal opinions regarding sensitive issues. It is in no way meant to be inflammatory or insinuate that someone else’s opinion is invalid. I state my opinions with full respect for the opinions of others and ask that you have the same respect for me.

I’ve recently been considering some very important philosophies The Hubs and I have and contemplating how we will best translate these to our children. This is very important right now because we are working on adopting a 14-year-old, a young adult who will already hold the beginnings of her own opinions. Many of my (for simplicity, I’ll say my, mine, me and I to include both The Hubs’ and my own thoughts) beliefs may, on the surface and to some people, appear to conflict with one another. I, however, don’t feel this is necessarily the case.

I’m sure that, by now, you’re asking yourself, what is Lynn babbling on about now? What I’m really talking about is the very touchy subject of homosexuality. You see, the older I get, the more and more I find myself thinking “why does it matter who someone loves? Why does a person’s sexuality need to impact their morality in the eyes of other people?” And I find myself answering that it really shouldn’t.

The problem I come to is integrating that belief with the religious beliefs I was raised with. In some ways, I’ve put many of these ideas aside already simply by growing up and experiencing life. However, there are still some things I do believe in. I have a strong belief in Jesus. I believe in God as well (that’s sort of inherent), however it’s not just the Father, but Jesus himself that my higher-power philosophy supports. This in and of itself is not what constitutes the problem. I’m aware that having a strong belief in, love of and dependence on God the Father and God the Son does not mean I have to be a bigoted, holier-than-thou, judgmental puppet for the homophobic sector of society. However, I have a desire to raise my child(ren) with a sense of right and wrong and with a love of the Lord. This should not pose an impossibility, yet I find myself wondering how I’ll do this. Traditionally, this would mean finding a church home and attending regularly. It’s what I’ve done much of my life. In recent years, though, I’ve found myself silently fuming over many of the things that are being taught in churches. Many times before The Hubs and I left our last church, I would find myself listening to the pastor and having to force myself to sit still and maintain decorum rather than jumping up and shouting that what was being said simply did not have to be the case.

Why did I not say something, you ask? Because, the long and short of it is, I’m a coward. The area we live in is a very conservative area and very religious. While I personally count myself as a Republican, this is true more on the fiscal side of things and my disagreement with abortion (that’s a story for another day, though, and comes down more to personal beliefs for myself than trying to dictate to others). Socially, it’s probably more accurate to deem myself a Libertarian as I am much more liberal in my social beliefs.

However, there is no room for acceptance here if you are not simply a sheep who keeps her head down and follows the rules, asking no questions and simply nodding agreement in the right places. I don’t want to be that person though. I want to be brave enough to stand up for what I believe in and be a role model my child(ren) can look up to with respect and think “yes, that’s the kind of human I want to be. Someone who fights for the rights of others and isn’t frightened away from doing the right thing because others will shun her as well.” I’m working on getting there, albeit in very small steps. Many people would laugh and say what I’m doing is not enough, but it is at least a start. I’ve openly posted supportive comments about the LGBT community and those organizations who support them on Twitter. I’ve spoken to friends and family about my feelings on the matter. I’ve publicly liked GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and SBNN (Straight But Not Narrow) on Facebook (this may seem like a very small thing, indeed, but only a few months ago there was an out and out comment war on my Facebook from someone locally who knows me and took offense at my posting a video to my Facebook wall from Youtube of Pink’s hit F*cking Perfect). I hope to use the qualifications I’m receiving from my degree to be more active by either becoming the staff advisor to a local GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) if I go into teaching or a support group for the local LGBT community if I go into social work. Whether this will be something I’ll be able to accomplish or not remains to be seen, but I certainly want to work towards it.

In the meantime, the question of how I will give my child(ren) what they need to develop a moral compass remains to be answered. I honestly don’t see us becoming active in a church again in the near future, unless a very rare and unusual church (at least for this area) makes itself known. I guess The Hubs and I will simply have to be shining examples for them and put them in the company of those who feel the same dedication to a world where everyone is accepted for who they are that we do.

UPDATE: Literally minutes after completing this post, I was excited to see a Tweet from @glaad with a link to this article. Looks like I’m not the only person thinking about this issue!

S - Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye

I told you earlier in the month that you would get to learn my three favourite songs during the course of the month and I earlier shared "I Feel So Close" by Calvin Harris. Now I bring to you part two or the trio, "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye.

I just love this song! I'll be honest - the first time I heard it, it did nothing for me. I think I actively disliked it. His voice is so similar to Sting's voice and I am NOT a Sting fan, so that was a problem for me. But then I heard it again and it began to grow on me. By the third time I heard it, I found myself nodding along to it and when the forth listen rolled around, I was hooked! Gotta love a song that can grow on you and become one of your favourites!

Only a few days away from my very favourite song (currently, at least)! Any guesses what it may be?? I'll give you a hint: it is a current song =D

R - Right Down the Line - Gerry Rafferty

This letter took a lot of thought and a lot of songs were in the running. The first two that came to mind were Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac and Rumor Has It by Adele. However, since I've already used songs by both of these artists and I'm trying to keep this diversified, I opted against using them. So that left me with the question of what song to use. Some of the other songs that made the shortlist but were eventually ruled out? Raspberry Beret by Prince, Ruby Tuesday by the Rolling Stones, Rockerfellar Skank by Usher, Rhythm Is Gonna Get You by Gloria Estefan and Roam by the B-52's. Which of those is your favourite or do you have another R song you love?

Btw, I love this song! It's just so mellow and makes me feel so happy =D

Q - Queen of Hearts - Juice Newton

Q was a difficult letter for me. I really struggled to think of a song beginning with Q, but finally I remember this one. While I wouldn't really call it one of my favourites, I don't mind it too much and my dad loved it, so that's enough for me.

P - Papa Don't Preach - Madonna (Midweek Melody)

Now I know you may wondering why a 30-something year old, infertile woman would be singing a song more appropriately sung by a pregnant teenager. I have no logical answer for that other than when I was about 8 years old or so, this was my favourite song. I thought it was great. So, there you go. This is what you get. Hope you can tolerate it!

O - One More TIme - Daft Punk

Ah! The ultimate preparing-for-a-night-out song! I have to say, I do love me some Daft Punk! A band I discovered about 12 years ago (via the Gap commercial starring Juliette Lewis that featured their song "Digital Love"), my love was fostered by The Hubs who - for our first Christmas together - purchased the Daft Punk CD (with both songs on it) for me. One of my favourite gifts ever! Just a true feel-good album!

And the video is great as well!

N - Night Moves - Bob Seger

I love this song! Just makes me happy and nostalgic (for a time before I was even born!).

In other news for today, you'll remember in my last post I was saying how I disliked my job lately and how I was applying for other jobs? Well, I got a call today and I have an interview for another job next Monday! I'm excited! It's in the field I'll be getting my degree in, so that will be a major plus. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

M - Must Get Out - Maroon 5

In my opinion, THE best song on Songs About Jane. Just pure brilliance. Also how I'm feeling about my job lately. I don't know if it's because I'm graduating with my degree in a couple of weeks or if it's because of the changes that have been happening at work or if it's just me, but I'm truly at my wits end with work. I've been looking for a new job lately. So far, no luck. But I'll keep looking and hopefully something will come soon. I need a change!

L - LA Woman - The Doors

My absolute favourite Doors song for a couple of reasons. First of all, I have always wanted to live in LA. As a teenager, it was my dream to move out to LA to pursue a career in music or acting (in fact, both, but that's another story). This song has just always felt like a part of my makeup.

Secondly, this song has the epic "Mr. Mojo Risin'" bridge. Many of you may be aware that Mr. Mojo Risin' was Jim Morrison's nickname (it uses all the letters of his name rearranged), but what you may not know is that Mojo is also The Hubs' online moniker. Therefore, this song encompasses several aspects of my life!

And, it's just a fantastic song!! Enjoy!

K - Knocking On Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan

Today would have been my dad's 71st birthday, the first since he passed away. This has been a very difficult day for me. I made it through though. And I guess from now on, they'll just get easier. So I'm told, anyway.


Happy Birthday Daddy

J - Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri (Midweek Melody)

Another of my cover versions for you. Hope you enjoy it! If you prefer not to have this feature, please let me know! I'm having a good time doing it, but don't want to bore my readers =D

I - I Feel So Close - Calvin Harris

So right on the money right now!! I have to say we are officially the closest we've ever been to being parents now....we attended our last IMPACT training class tonight and are IMPACT Certified!!! Such a great feeling!! At the risk of sounding incredibly cheesy, I feel so close to our child right now =D

Btw, this is one of my current 3 favourite songs. The other two feature later in the A to Z, so stayed tuned to find out what they are!

H - Hometown Glory - Adele

My absolute favourite Adele song! Although London is not my hometown, it is certainly my favourite city in the entire world. I've never felt so comfortable anywhere as I did the times The Hubs and I went to London. This song makes me reminisce fondly about those days.

Btw, hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

G - Groovejet - Spiller featuring Sophie Ellis Bexter

This song, although one of my favs, is actually a request from The Hubs. He had to go into work for a few hours today and I went with him. While he was working, I worked on some more paperwork for the adoption, read some on my Kindle and have played music videos on Youtube. He asked me to play this song, one of the first songs I fell in love with when I moved to England, and I decided to use it as my G song for today. All in all, despite him having to go into work, it's been a pretty good day so far. Now we off to my mom's house to spend some time with her. Hope you're all having a great Saturday!

F - For What It's Worth - The Cardigans

I took our puppy to the vet today. We've been very bad puppy parents and this is the first time in a few years that she's been to see the vet. She had to get 3 shots, be tested for heart worms (which was a draw of blood from her right leg) and have her anal glands cleaned. The poor moppett is so droopy and sleepy feeling this evening. I feel terrible for her and, I have to admit, we're babying her something fierce. I hope she feels better tomorrow.

In other news, The Hubs and I are currently watching The Breakfast Club =D Love my family Fridays!

E - Evacuate the Dance Floor - Cascada

No real story behind this post. I just love this song! It makes me want to dance =D Anytime we're headed out for the evening, I set this playing and it really gets me in the mood to have a good time! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! (My apologies - the official video has embedding blocked, so this was the best I could do!)

D - Dreams - Fleetwood Mac (Midweek Melody)

So, I believe I did promise you a new feature of my blog would start during the A to Z Challenge. I'm actually a little nervous about the Midweek Melody, but, without further ado, here is my personal version of Dreams by Fleetwood Mac. I hope you enjoy it!



I could write blog after blog about my dreams, both the goal type and the sleep type. In fact, I've devoted more than a few blogs to those very subjects. I have some dreams I know I will accomplish sometime (adopting a child, becoming a parent) and I have dreams that it would be a long-shot for them to come true (becoming a professional singer). For the time being, this will be my outlet for those dreams and I hope you will indulge me a bit! Thanks for listening!

C - Come As You Are - Nirvana

How could I have my favourite songs without having something from Nirvana? I was a '90's teenager!

This song also has a double meaning for me. Since we're adopting from foster care, I feel it's really important that our future child knows that we're accepting of them however they happen to be. We want them to simply come to us as they are. The difficulties we've faced in life are what make us who we are. They add to the nuances of our character.

We're so excited to be adding a person to our family and I can hardly wait to get to know them exactly as they are.

B - Blackout - Breathe Carolina

First of all, my apologies to anyone who finds this video offensive, but I adore this song!

Speaking of blackouts, I guess I should give you an adoption update. After suffering several weeks of our own blackout of information, we have finally received the details on the little girl we are hoping to adopt through foster care. Since she's 14, I should probably not call her a 'little girl' but she is, so that's what I'm sticking with. Basically, based on the information we received, we know there are many struggles ahead of us - she's had some rough experiences and they've taken their toll on her - but we feel up to the task and are looking very forward to having the opportunity to parent this special little girl.

We know it will be at least 3 months before we can make any forward movement with her placement with us but, in the meantime, we're going to finish our last 2 weeks of IMPACT training classes and complete our homestudy. Hopefully, when the situation is appropriate to work on her placement, we'll be in the perfect place.

Wish us luck!

A - Across The Universe - The Beatles

Welcome to the Blogging A to Z in April Challenge! This month bloggers from across the universe will be posting daily blogs, each day correlating to a letter of the alphabet.

For my blogging A to Z challenge, I'll be sharing some of my favourite songs with you. I'm even planning a special section each week - the Midweek Melody - where I actually sing the song for you! I'll also be posting a blog/story to go along with the video.

I hope you'll stick with me over the coming month and wish me luck on posting every day! Oh, and welcome aboard if you're new and welcome back if you're a regular!

It's ICLW Time!

Happy ICLW!!

If this is your first visit to my blog, welcome and stay tuned for a bit of info about me. If you've been by before, well, welcome back!

The break-down on me:

I'm a 33-year-old, married, PCOS suffering, slightly retro, slightly metro Georgia girl who's been trying to start a family for 8 1/2 years. My other half (conveniently known as The Hubs) is British born and bred, but made the sacrifice to move to the States with me 6 years ago. We've been married 9 1/2 years and spent the first 3 years of our married life (and the preceding 6 months) living in England. My homesickness and dad's ill health precipitated our move to the US.

The last year has held a lot of changes for us. My dad had a stroke last May and spent the following 5 weeks in the hospital. He was home for 4 weeks when he had a massive heart attack and passed away. I've always been a total Daddy's Girl, so his death has left a huge hole in my life. Following my dad's death, The Hubs and I moved to a new home, as did my mom (we had previously lived next door to my parents). And, after much discussion, The Hubs and I decided to procede with adoption through foster care and are currently in the middle of our training and home study.

In addition to those huge changes, I am in the final 5 weeks of my Bachelor's degree. I will be traveling to Iowa (from Georgia) for my graduation at the end of April. I also work full-time. So, right now my head feels as if it's spinning with everything I have going on!

Did I mention that, in the midst of all that change, my best friend (apart from The Hubs) abandoned me to move off to Afghanistan for a significantly higher-paying civilian contractor job? Yeah, a tough year.

All this has helped to contribute to me being terrible over the last few months at ICLW. So much so, that I actually skipped last month because I didn't feel my failure on commenting was fair to the other participants. I have decided, however, to give it another shot this month.

I've also been atrocious at blogging consistently over the last couple of months, so I really need to work on that as well. Fortunately, the Blogging From A to Z in April Challenge begins in 10 days and I've signed up again this year. Hopefully I'll do as well with it this year as I did last year. If you haven't signed up yet, you should definitely head over and get your name down!

Other things that might interest you about me?

I love to read! I'll read virtually anything and I feel out of sorts without something to read.

I enjoy crocheting but it's been one of those things that have become a casualty over the last few months. I'm hoping once I finish school I'll get back to it since I owe someone an afghan!

I absolutely love singing! It's my greatest passion in life. I actually submitted an audition to my university earlier this week in the hopes of singing the National Anthem at graduation. Want to hear/see my audition? You can find it here.

The Hubs and I are major movie buffs and we try to go to the movies at least once a month (which usually equates to more like 2 or 3 times a month - this is what I waste my free time on).

I am a huge, Huge, HUGE Hunger Games fan! I cannot stress to you how much I love this series! The Hubs and I (naturally) have tickets for the midnight showing tomorrow night and I can hardly wait! It's going to be epic!

I have developed a huge (but harmless) crush on Josh Hutcherson who plays Peeta in The Hunger Games, which my amazing husband indulges gleefully. If he goes shopping without me and sees a magazine with Josh or anything relating to The Hunger Games on it, he'll buy it for me. He also informs me when JHutch is going to be appearing on the David Letterman Show (tonight!! Eek!!) - he really is a fantastic guy! Who finds my crush on a celebrity 14 years younger than me humourous =D

There are two socially concious organizations that I support and cannot sing the praises of highly enough. As an aspiring teacher and Social Science major, these are my pet causes. The first is To Write Love On Her Arms, "a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery" (definition taken directly from the TWLOHA website). The second organization is Straight But Not Narrow, founded to encourage teens who are straight to support their LGBT peers. Both these organizations help to prevent bullying and to offer support when bullying does occur.

Well, that's pretty much me in a nutshell! I hope I haven't sent you running for the hills! Got any questions? Feel free to ask!

The Dangers of Car-Shopping

As I'm sure many of you across the country have experienced yourselves, the Wistful part of the world has been under tornado warnings and flood advisories today. Most sane people would stay inside. Most logical folks would stay off the road. Most level-headed individuals would take cover.

For the record, The Hubs and I have never claimed to be sane =D

We decided today was a great day for car shopping! For the past four years, I've been borrowing my mom's truck to get back and forth to work. I know you're questioning why I would be borrowing her vehicle rather than getting one of my own, but the truth is I actually already have one of my own. It just doesn't run. When we first moved here in 2006, The Hubs and I purchased a 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe. It has been nothing but trouble since we got it. On top of the money we're paying for it (because, yes, we're still making payments - when The Hubs was out of work, we came to an arrangement with our loan company where we paid only interest. This means we're now still paying on the truck), we've put approximately $3000 into repairs on the thing in an attempt to make it a usable piece of machinery. Alas, it was not to be.

So, today The Hubs and I climbed into his car, drove 2 hours into the area worst hit by tornados and began searching for a car for me. We decided that, since we're in the midst of the adoption process, it would be prudent to acquire a vehicle for me that would accomodate little ones (or medium-sized ones if we adopt the child we're interested in, seeing as how she's 14). We looked for about 2 hours and stumbled upon a car I was absolutely and totally in love with! After another 2 hours, we were driving out of the lot, in seperate vehicles this time!

I am now the proud owner of a red 2011 Chevrolet Aveo. It is the most new car I've ever owned. I am exceptionally proud of it and pleased. The Hubs is happy because next weekend is his birthday and, as he stated, he'll probably drive it more than I will (I hate to drive and prefer to sleep on trips longer than 15 minutes, lol), therefore, it's like a new car for him as well!


My new ride. Isn't it gorgeous?!

Adoption Class Number 1

We had our first IMPACT Training class last night. It was really an interesting class, but I have to admit it did not leave me feeling any calmer. In fact, I would probably have to say it increased my stress level tremendously. I don't like the unknown, so this will be a test for me.

To begin with, The Hubs and I had only ever planned to be an adoptive home. Fostering wasn't really something we felt we would be comfortable with. As a child, my parents kept foster children for 6 years. I've lived in a home with foster children coming and going and the separation is not something I enjoyed. I know it will be so difficult on my emotionally.

However, last night we were informed that our chances of being able to adopt a child through the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) without being an active foster home were slim to none. Therefore, it looks like we are going to be a foster/adoptive home. What this means is that when a child comes to our home, the parental rights of at least one of the parents involved will already be terminated and the caseplan for the other parents involved will not be going as it should and, thus, it is more likely the child will become available for adoption. While there is still a small chance the child will be returned to their biological family, there is a much higher probability the child will be made available for adoption and, as the foster parents, we would be given the first opportunity to adopt the child.

I'm still trying to decide how I feel about this scenario. While it breaks my heart that there are families that will lose their children, I'm also aware that these are families that will have been given ample opportunity to complete steps to get their children back home with them. The real upset will be with the children.

I think my real frustration is that I haven't yet had time to process the change to my plans. I'm sure I'll feel happier about it once I've had this time. At the end of the day, this is the process we need to take to find our child. We know there is a child that we are meant to parent and we'll follow whatever path we need to bring us to that child.

Back to the class, though, we had two instructors, each casewokers for the two areas (each inclusive of several counties) in our region. One of the caseworkers we felt a great connectin with immediately; the other not so much. Unfortunately, the one we connected with is not our caseworker. However, we will work through this as well. I'm sure as we get to know our caseworker better, we'll feel more connected with her.

Afterwards, we approached the caseworker we had the connection with and explained to her that we were interested in a child on the State listing. She was very interested and told us to bring her the information on the child next week. She stated they would definitely try to push our homestudy on through and get us prepared to proceed with the adoption as soon as possible.

All in all, it was a good class experience. I'm really looking forward to next week now. Hopefully some of my nervousness and worry will dissipate over the next few weeks.

Getting Through My Adoption (Slightly-More-Than) Two Week Wait

With 5 days to go before our first adoption training class and having been more than a week since my last post, I’m sure some of you may have been wondering what I’ve been doing with myself (or, perhaps I overestimate my interest-factor…..either way). Here is a list of the activities that have occupied my time and helped to fill the slightly-more-than Two Week Wait between our invite to adoption training and the first class:

• Had a severe sinus infection.


• Went shopping with The Hubs to get some new work clothes (we’re no longer wearing scrubs and I’m actually okay with that) while having a raging fever.


• Read through The Hunger Games trilogy a second time.


• Purchased The Hunger Games Tribute Guide to go along with the movie.


• Purchased The Hunger Games Official Illustrated Movie Companion.


• Read both of the movie tie-in books I purchased.


• Wept through the haze of a high fever because I could not be a character (obviously one that survives and, preferably, winds up with Peeta) in The Hunger Games trilogy.


• Re-acquainted myself with Twitter


• Searched for websites related to The Hunger Games


• Found and devoured all the info on Mockingjay.net


• Discovered (via Mockingjay.net) the actors playing the characters from The Hunger Games


• Developed a wildly inappropriate crush on Josh Hutcherson (who plays Peeta Mellark and is 14 years [!!!!] my junior)


• Located JoshHutcherson.com, the official website for Josh Hutcherson


• Followed the link from JoshHutcherson.com to Josh’s personal Twitter account, @jhutch1992 and began Twitter-stalking following Josh on Twitter - despite my strict personal rule about not following celebrities. I guess rules were made to be broken!


• Began following @TheHungerGames on Twitter.


• Returned to work after 2 days off sick (yes, I managed all of the above over a weekend and 2 sick days!)


• Survived the other 3 days of the week at work to reach the weekend


• Began planning what The Hubs and I would be wearing for opening night of The Hunger Games seeing as how we plan to dress in fasions of the Capital. Yup, both of us - well, The Hubs' costume will be a male costume, lol!


• Went shopping with The Hubs again and became a member of Books-A-Million. Got some great books as well!


• Had a fantastic meal at the Olive Garden.


• Went to see Journey 2: The Mysterious Island starring (surprise!) Josh Hutcherson (did I mention I'm a little obsessed? =D)


• Had a nice long Skype-chat with my best friend who will be home for a visit from Afghanistan on March 16.


• Was told by a random stranger in a store that if I were a pizza topping, I'd be cheese because everyone likes cheese (I know, I was perplexed as well).


• Discovered a fantastic organization via @jhutch1992 called Straight, But Not Narrow founded by Avan Jogia and began following @WeAreSBNN on Twitter.


• Began following @ATJogia on Twitter.


• Watched an extremely powerful episode of Glee.


• Tweeted that I felt the next episode of Glee should have some members of the cast wearing Straight But Not Narrow t-shirts as they fit very well with the storyline.


• Saw and Re-Tweeted that Max Adler (who plays Karofsky on Glee) should join several other awesome celebs and do a PSA for Straight But Not Narrow.


• Began following @MrMaxAdler and @msleamichele (there goes that no following celebs thing. Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted)


• Petitioned for, was accepted and have paid my dues for my graduation from college in April! The Hubs and I will be traveling to Iowa for my graduation...I can't wait!


• Decided I want to get a guitar and learn to play.


• Began eating better (again) and exercising using Just Dance 3 for Wii as my exercise routine.

I think that's all. Now, what have I NOT been doing that would have been more productive?

• Visited and commented on my blog reads


• Worked on the afghan I owe Emily.


• Made any hairbows to open my Etsy shop


• Kept myself sane

I know I should be unhappy with the things I haven't done, but I'm actually not terribly upset about the things I have done. I will need to work on these things, but I'm going to try not to beat myself up over it. In a few days time, we'll be moving forward with things and it'll all work out. Good times!

See, It Really Does Get Better....

After our disappointment over the last week, it seems something good has finally happened. The long, interminable wait we've been in regarding our IMPACT Training invite is finally over. Our invite arrived in the mail yesterday!

It wasn't completely unexpected, but I didn't want to say anything until it had actually gotten here because....well, you guys have seen how things tend to go for me if I get too excited about something, so I figured I'd wait it out and let the invite actually arrive before I made an announcement. So, you want the story of how I kind of knew to expect it? Okay, here goes....

On Wednesday, I finally decided I would call our caseworker and see what was going on with the invite. We attended orientation on November 15, so it's been almost 3 months. I know she had said we wouldn't have the classes until after the first of the year and that it may be February when they start, but, well, we're now in February and we'd still heard nothing. So, I made the call. Only to find out our caseworker is no longer employed with the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS)!

Yup, I panicked. I franctically asked the lady who answered the phone who our new caseworker was. She stated she didn't know, but gave me a number to call where "they might be able to help" me. I called the new number and it turned out to be the number to our new caseworker, fortunately. She stated that it was a good thing I had called because she was sending out the invites that afternoon and she didn't seem to have our file! She said she was still having to hunt down several of the files to get everything together but that our invite would be in the mail on Wednesday evening.

I was very excited to see it actually here yesterday when I got home from work! Now we just have to wait for the day! We're scheduled to begin training on February 28. Classes will be every Tuesday from 6pm to 9pm for 7 consecutive weeks. At the end of that time, we should have finished not only the training, but our homestudy and be waiting only on the write-up and, hopefully, it won't be long until we have our child with us!! So excited now! Praying the time hurries through!