Momentum

I really need to adjust the default settings on this thing so I don't have to manually change the font each time I start. 

Well, let's see, it has been nearly a week since I last wrote. It has been a very busy week! Wednesday's presentation to the big wigs went really well (better than we ever expected) and we expect really high scores. What a relief! I had not even realized the tension the anticipation of that presentation had caused; after it was over my neck finally relaxed and popped. ahhhhh yeah :) 

Thursday was spent preparing for the next big presentation for another of my areas and then Friday (my 30th birthday) was spent relaxing and partying! Woohoo! Yesterday was the big party day with family and friends. Tom did most the planning and executed wonderfully. I am so blessed! 

Now, onto the real reason you're here...updates! Thursday night was the foster care orientation. A couple good friends of ours are also looking into it and went with us. Talk about overwhelmed...Wow! So much information and the rules and safeties in place are not minimal. I know they are there for a good reason and they are not bad things to do while preparing to have a child move in, but we have some serious work to do! It really was a very big wake up call for Tom and I as far as realizing that how we keep our home and live was about to change in some very fundamental ways.

Don't get me wrong, we are very excited, but this is going to be a very long, trying, and expensive process! Nonetheless we are jumping in and have already begun completing the very long application and went to buy a locked storage cabinet for our office room closet so we can safely store our less than child-safe household cleaners and products. It took us nearly 3 hours to install (it was missing some screws), but now it is ready to fill! Woohoo. 

We also got an offer from my crazy generous parents to help finance our private adoption, if we chose to go that route (with us repaying, of course). I think we are still going to try the foster route initially. First, we both know that way is better for our community as a whole and it just seems prudent. Hopefully we are able to be successful using this option and won't need to pursue choosing and contracting with an agency. But, only time will tell.

For now, I plan to spend my next couple days off working on cleaning and organizing the house better so it will be easier to baby-proof and meet the home investigation guidelines. 

I hope you have a lovely Memorial Day remembering your own heroes.