The Beatings Have Been Cancelled

I heard from my new agency yesterday, and my old agency finally sent all of the requested documents.  Apparently, my threat to go up there in person paid off!  Mm-hmm, that's right!!!  I knew they wouldn't want to mess with me!!!  :-)

Everything is looking great at the new place so far.  They have all of my paperwork, inspections, training hours, test results, doctor's notes, copies of every document I have ever been given, etc.  I think I might have scanned and emailed some junk mail just to be on the safe side!  I have a two-day orientation/agency training this weekend, and then I should be ready for the new agency's homestudy.  The house is pretty much ready.  I just need them to come out.  Fortunately, they have a copy of my homestudy from the old agency, so it won't take long at all for me to be open and ready to go.

So...  All is looking well in Foster/Adopt Land, and the previously scheduled beatings at my old agency have been cancelled...  for now...  With any luck, I will never have to deal with those people again!  :-)  I'm so excited to see how things turn out with this new agency, and I am thrilled silly to be "foster pregnant" again!  I have a feeling this is going to be a really big year!  :-)

The Wrath of Mimi

I checked in with my new foster/adopt agency this morning and found out that my old agency is taking their sweet time in sending over my paperwork.  I'm not surprised.  They were never in a big hurry to do much of anything (other than to boss me around, irritate me, and make my life pretty much all around miserable).  I guess they're succeeding in that if that was their goal. 

I really thought they would be more than happy to get rid of me!  Goodness knows, they didn't care for me much after I started getting an opinion and actually expressing it when it came to my kids and the things they were telling me to do.  ("No. I will not leave work early to go home and get a single sheet of paper that you should have requested a week ago when you originally found out that you needed it and drive it to your office!  We get home at 6:00.  You can drive your booty over here when it's convenient for me and get it yourself!"  "No. I will not sign something that requires me to be in a minimum of two different places at one time.  You people have lost your freaking minds, and until you locate them, you need to back the heck off!"  etc. etc.)  I honestly thought that they'd receive my transfer request, do a Happy Dance, and courier my file over within an hour with a big "Thank You" note to the new agency attached.

I am going to play nice and give them until this weekend to send the requested documents.  I have orientation and training all weekend at the new agency, and I want to get my homestudy done next week.  If they would just send my paperwork and old homestudy, it would cut weeks off of my wait time before I can start accepting placements.  I really don't want to have to make a personal appearance at the old place, but you'd better believe that I will if I have to!!!  The Wrath of Mimi shall be smite upon them should they not provide the requested documentation by the end of this week.

Cell Phone Etiquette 101

As I was walking into work the other day, I came upon a very disturbing sight.  A nicely dressed man, shouting loudly and gesturing wildly with his hands.  "OMG!  Is someone injured?!?  Is everything okay?!?  Do I need to run screaming from the building and serve as a warning to all who might enter?" I thought... 

It was about that time that I realized said man appeared to be ignoring me entirely.  "Oh...  He's just a former patient of the crazy hospital that used to be on the premises.  I'll just steer clear, and I should be fine."  Then I noticed, nope.  The guy was on his super-fancy Bluetooth.  That's when I got a little irritated.  Excuse me, Mr. Bluetooth Hand-Talker Man, but do you not realize that you look like a complete MORON and that you are irritating the heck out of everyone around you?  I decided then and there that I would dedicate a blog post to Cell Phone Etiquette in the hope that I can spare the masses from people with irritating cellular habits.

"Cell Phone Etiquette 101"

• Please refrain from using wild gestures while talking on your hands-free device. - Yes, I realize you are using a "hands-free" device, but somehow I have a feeling that its makers did not intend the purpose of the design to be to free the user's hands for fist pumps, throwing "gangsta" signs, flapping one's arms like a birdie about to take flight, flipping the bird, moving in ways that look as though one is directing traffic, or any other such wildly dramatic upper body gestures.  YOU ARE ON THE PHONE!  The intended recipient of your ridiculous gesturing CAN NOT SEE YOU!!!

• If you MUST use a hands-free device, please refrain from showing off. - It never fails.  Users of cellular hands-free devices always feel the need to rub it in traditional cell phone users' faces by this pose...  Which, I might add, totally defeats the purpose of having a hands-free phone.  Once again, you look ridiculous!

• Pump up the volume...  NOT!!! - Stop talking so loud!!!  That whole, "Can you hear me now?" bit gets really annoying to everyone within a 100 yard radius as you are shouting into your phone.  If the person on the receiving end of the phone call can not hear you speaking in a calm, rational, non-intrusive to everyone else around you voice, perhaps the situation warrants the use of a (heaven forbid!) land line!!! 

• Use your words, people...  USE YOUR WORDS! - Texting is not an excuse for poor grammar, improper spelling, or lack of punctuation. I realize that it might take me a little longer to send a text message than the average user.  However, I can at least hold my head up high and proud knowing that I have successfully demonstrated my ability to use the written English language as it was intended.  I also maintain full confidence that the recipients of my messages can actually understand what I am trying to convey.  None of that, "brb b4 u can say gr8!" or other such nonsense for me!  Use your words, people...  Use your words.

• And last, but most certainly not least...  Please, for the love of all that is holy and good, when entering one of these:

DO NOT be talking on one of these...

Seriously people...  That is just WRONG on so very many levels!!!

I hope that this proves to be an educational tool for those of you who have grown additional appendages coming out of your hands or ears.  I am all for embracing change and advancements in technology, but when such advancements cause grown men to do things like this in public...   

...perhaps we should find something new for them to play with.  At the very least, there should be a disclaimer on the box stating something along the lines of, "Warning...  Use at your own risk.  Cellular devices tend to bring out the 'obnoxious' in people, and users might find themselves the targets of projectiles to the head."

Deep Thoughts from a Couple of 5-Year-Olds...

I had another super-productive weekend this week! I managed to disassemble, move, and reassemble the crib upstairs all by myself. I organized toys and arranged the nursery the way I wanted it. The twins came over and "helped" me finish an art project for the nursery, and all I have left to do up there is paint a couple of shelves and hang a few art pieces and mirrors!

I love that my niece and nephew are so excited about me getting another foster baby. They still have a hard time understanding exactly what foster care is and why the kids can't live with me forever. It's hard to explain in words that two 5-year-olds can understand. I've explained that we get to love and take care of these kiddos because their mommies and daddies can't do it right now, but when they watch me being a mommy to them for so long, they have a really hard time understanding why they're not staying. That's a scary thing for little kids... Thinking that they won't get to stay with their mommy, and I know that's what was going through their little heads when the Booger Bear went to live with his daddy. It was easier with the Munchkin because she was only with me for a week, so they felt more like I was "babysitting" her.

It was really confusing for them when I had both the Booger and Angel. We had numerous conversations over the year about who the Booger's mommy was because they knew that he called Angel "Mama," but they also knew that I was the one who did everything that a "Mama" does to take care of him. They seemed to be satisfied with the answer that he was lucky enough to have two mommies... Angel was his mommy because he was in her tummy and because she loved him, and that I was also his mommy because I loved him and took care of him and kept him safe like mommies do.

When we were decorating the nursery for this next baby, Buddy thought it would be neat to put all of my kids' names on one of the walls. He said, "That way, we can see their names and always remember them." As he was spelling out their names, the twins asked me if Angel and the Booger Bear were still our "family." That led to a long talk about what makes a "family" and the different kinds of families that a person can have.

We talked about being "related." We talked about being a "family." And I think I explained it in a way that they seemed to understand. I told them that your "family" is all of the people who love you the absolute most out of everyone in the world, and who you love back just as much. That your "family" is the people who you want to see and spend time with every day, even if you can't actually do that. And that your "family" is the people who want to take care of you, love you, and keep you happy and safe, and who you want to take care of, and love, and make happy. I told them that sometimes, you might not be able to see someone as often as you would like to or sometimes even at all, but that if you still love them just as much as you did when you could see them all of the time, they are still your family and that won't change.  I told them that what really makes a family is love.

They both smiled and said, "Good! Then Booger and Angel are still our family!" :-)

My niece and nephew have these big, beautiful hearts with more than enough love to share with all of the kids who come into my life. As sad as it makes me to know that they are losing daily contact with their "cousins" each time one of my children goes home, it makes me happy that they are gaining a new perspective on what "family" is. That these little kids are opening up their lives and their hearts so freely to other kids who desperately need to feel the love of "family..." Those two never cease to amaze me with their insight and love. I have to say, I am one extremely proud aunt.  :-)

Albino No More!!!

Had a fun day today!!!  BFF Katie and I took the day off work and brought the twins and her little boy to the waterpark.  I am no longer Tamu, The Great Albino Whale!!!  After five hours outside, I have been upgraded to Tamatoo, The Great Water Tomato!

When I told my sister that I wanted to bring the kids to the waterpark when she and my brother-in-law were out of town this week, she replied with, "Oh!  They'd love that!  Thank you!"  Then the "Mommy List" quickly followed.  "Make sure they drink lots of water so they stay hydrated.  It's hot out there.  And be sure to apply and reapply sunblock throughout the day.  On second thought...  Have them wear a t-shirt!  And make sure they wear their lifejackets." etc. etc. etc.  ;-) 

I followed Christy's orders to the "T..."  So much so, that Katie called me "the mom who sucks all of the fun out of things."  But I feared my sister's wrath if those kids got heat stroke or a horrible sunburn!  We took breaks every 45 minutes to drink water, reapply sunblock, eat a fairly nutritious snack (grapes...  because they have water in them!), and get out of the sun for a few minutes.  Unfortunately for me, I was concentrating so much on keeping the children out of harm's way, that I completely neglected my pasty white self, resulting in a lovely, rather lobster-like shade of red.

We had a blast though, so I think the waves of heat radiating off of my body and the pain that I am certain is to come will be well worth it.  The kids loved the wave pool and the lazy river, and Katie's little boy thought that Buddy was really cool.  Buddy has a way with little kids, and they all love him to pieces.  The twins even went on a couple of the "big kid" slides by themselves!  There was one that was about 2-3 stories up, and I really didn't think they'd go on it alone, but they did!  They made me go first so I could wait at the bottom for them, and they did a really good job listening to the lifeguard who told them when it was okay for them to go.  They're already planning next summer's trip to the even bigger nearby waterpark!  :-)