I have been reading some information on various types of more natural ways to do things.
I want to be as healthy as I can!
Acupuncture sounds interesting, but I have never been a fan of needles. I had my first acupuncture treatment and it was awesome. Besides that my little girl (9 month old foster child), was rushed to the ER with another seizure :( I am looking forward to my next appointment next week. My health insurance plan even covers it.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Foster Parenting 2010
This year I have managed to have 12 foster children in my home at different times. The ages have ranged from twenty something days old to 11 years old. I have not been able to take in all of the children that I have been asked to.
I increased my number that I would keep at a time. I had times with three children in my home. It would have been better if I had not had 3 itty bitty ones in my home at the same time. Learned one thing from that experience - 3 carseats will fit in the back of a Prius! Never would have imagined that. The ages of children probably matter more so than the number, but I haven't managed to get a variety of ages that worked well together. 3 babies is way too much for me by myself.
3 were my foster children...
5 were regular respites I took at different times throughout the year...
4 were one time respites for 10 days or less...
This was the first year that I seriously considered adoption, and yes, it was after I got attached to a particular child. The seed had been planted in my head previously, but never seriously considered it because that is a decision that would follow me for the rest of my life.
There have been many lessons learned from every single one of these children, but I still have many more lessons to learn as well.
I have learned that children need very little other than love to be happy! Adults should learn from children and find what things they can do to make themselves happy without having the need to buy so much stuff. My very first two foster children who were Irish twins, a baby and a one year old came to me with very few belongings. I tried to buy them everything. I felt bad that they didn't seem to like any of the toys I got them. I didn't know what I was doing wrong. They loved to play with my 12 packs of diet coke more than anything. I look back when I used to go to my grandma's house and play with all of her canned vegetables and wash cloths that I liked to make all of my relatives and their pets hats out of. I enjoyed that, but no idea of why! I had plenty of toys and things to do.
I increased my number that I would keep at a time. I had times with three children in my home. It would have been better if I had not had 3 itty bitty ones in my home at the same time. Learned one thing from that experience - 3 carseats will fit in the back of a Prius! Never would have imagined that. The ages of children probably matter more so than the number, but I haven't managed to get a variety of ages that worked well together. 3 babies is way too much for me by myself.
3 were my foster children...
5 were regular respites I took at different times throughout the year...
4 were one time respites for 10 days or less...
This was the first year that I seriously considered adoption, and yes, it was after I got attached to a particular child. The seed had been planted in my head previously, but never seriously considered it because that is a decision that would follow me for the rest of my life.
There have been many lessons learned from every single one of these children, but I still have many more lessons to learn as well.
I have learned that children need very little other than love to be happy! Adults should learn from children and find what things they can do to make themselves happy without having the need to buy so much stuff. My very first two foster children who were Irish twins, a baby and a one year old came to me with very few belongings. I tried to buy them everything. I felt bad that they didn't seem to like any of the toys I got them. I didn't know what I was doing wrong. They loved to play with my 12 packs of diet coke more than anything. I look back when I used to go to my grandma's house and play with all of her canned vegetables and wash cloths that I liked to make all of my relatives and their pets hats out of. I enjoyed that, but no idea of why! I had plenty of toys and things to do.
2011
Not such a great start to the new year. But, perhaps the worst part of the year is already over!
The night before last, my 9 month old foster child was moved to her new adoptive home. I was planning on adopting her, but her medical issues were more than I could handle alone. I never thought anybody could ever be good enough for her, but I was pleasantly shocked. I do not think I could have handpicked a better family for her. They seemed wonderful and I am so happy! She needs somebody to be with her all of the time and she now has a stay at home which is something I would never be able to be if I was adopting her alone. For the past few weeks, she had a playmate in my home.
I was asked to keep her "playmate" while she is in foster care, but wasn't going to be able to keep both for an indefinite time period because having a 7 and 9 month old has been a bit overwhelming to me, especially with the holidays, work, and just life I guess. The 9 month old's worsening medical issues definitely complicated things. Then, all of the time we spent at doctors and hospitals caused me to start catching things and becoming ill at the time I needed my health the most.
Now, that my 9 month old is going to be adopted by another family, I am opening my doors and planning to keep the 7 month old as long as needed. She is a foster child and should be reunified with her biological family in the future.
I guess sometimes in the midst of me trying to take care of everybody else, I need to take care of myself.
The night before last, my 9 month old foster child was moved to her new adoptive home. I was planning on adopting her, but her medical issues were more than I could handle alone. I never thought anybody could ever be good enough for her, but I was pleasantly shocked. I do not think I could have handpicked a better family for her. They seemed wonderful and I am so happy! She needs somebody to be with her all of the time and she now has a stay at home which is something I would never be able to be if I was adopting her alone. For the past few weeks, she had a playmate in my home.
I was asked to keep her "playmate" while she is in foster care, but wasn't going to be able to keep both for an indefinite time period because having a 7 and 9 month old has been a bit overwhelming to me, especially with the holidays, work, and just life I guess. The 9 month old's worsening medical issues definitely complicated things. Then, all of the time we spent at doctors and hospitals caused me to start catching things and becoming ill at the time I needed my health the most.
Now, that my 9 month old is going to be adopted by another family, I am opening my doors and planning to keep the 7 month old as long as needed. She is a foster child and should be reunified with her biological family in the future.
I guess sometimes in the midst of me trying to take care of everybody else, I need to take care of myself.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
The Eve Before Christmas Eve - Or would that be Christmas Eve's Eve...
Okay, so I felt like I have blogged recently, to realize it has been months. I would have never guessed it had been so long.
I guess a New Years resolution for me might need to be to blog more frequently, if I am going to blog at all.
I started a challenge at 29gifts.org. It is a 29 day giving challenge. I have not read the book yet, but I believe I am waiting for it to become available through the library. I have started using the library this year and it has helped me save some money that I was spending on books. I have managed to do something good :) for the past 7 days. I started this after I thought I had finished my charitable giving for the year. Last Tuesday, I gave a 2 year old a tricycle for Christmas. I also spent a weekend reading people's wish lists on Freecycle.org. I cleaned out my house and tried to find things people wanted on their wish lists. I have given a ton of things away that I wasn't using that others wanted. It was a great feeling to help make people's wishes come true!
I guess a New Years resolution for me might need to be to blog more frequently, if I am going to blog at all.
I started a challenge at 29gifts.org. It is a 29 day giving challenge. I have not read the book yet, but I believe I am waiting for it to become available through the library. I have started using the library this year and it has helped me save some money that I was spending on books. I have managed to do something good :) for the past 7 days. I started this after I thought I had finished my charitable giving for the year. Last Tuesday, I gave a 2 year old a tricycle for Christmas. I also spent a weekend reading people's wish lists on Freecycle.org. I cleaned out my house and tried to find things people wanted on their wish lists. I have given a ton of things away that I wasn't using that others wanted. It was a great feeling to help make people's wishes come true!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
PHR Exam
So, after finishing my bachelors degree in Human Resource Management in 2001, I thought about eventually furthering my education. I never took my PHR exam because I needed HR experience after college and I did not immediately go work in an exempt level HR job. I didn't want to stress over taking the test and then if I was fortunate enough to succeed, risk losing it if I didn't have enough real world work experience. So, in 2003, I decided to pursue my Masters degree in HR Management. I received my MBA in HR 2 years later - end of the summer of 2005. Around that time, I began looking for HR jobs and was hired by Centex Homes in South Carolina in October of 2005. I enjoyed my job at Centex Homes where I worked until I was laid off the summer of 2008 - where we kept thinking (hoping, praying - perhaps a little on the optimistic side) that home building was hitting rock bottom, but it seemed to continue to get worse rather than better. Fortunately, I found a job in a stronger industry by the end of the summer of 2008. I am currently employed as the Assistant Manager of Human Resources for the Georgia Ports Authority.
After all of the time, I was thinking about what my options were for continuing my education. I do have some desires for a doctorate degree one day, but that isn't an immediate goal in my life for various reasons. As of today, I am registered to take my PHR exam at the end of the year. I have not been studying at all. I have lots of hours of hard work in front of me because it would be wonderful if I could receive my certification on my first try, but I know this is not going to be easy.
After all of the time, I was thinking about what my options were for continuing my education. I do have some desires for a doctorate degree one day, but that isn't an immediate goal in my life for various reasons. As of today, I am registered to take my PHR exam at the end of the year. I have not been studying at all. I have lots of hours of hard work in front of me because it would be wonderful if I could receive my certification on my first try, but I know this is not going to be easy.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Getting Into Better Shape
Okay, so not a New Years Resolution or anything, but it is that time. Time for me to get myself into better shape! I am going on a cruise in a month and they are definitely not known for people to do anything except gain weight which I don't want or need to do. So, no better time to start working out more regularly than NOW!
I signed up for gym memberships for me and Brandon on Thursday. Then, Thursday night we attended our first boot camp that is held across the street from my new gym. I went there straight from work and it lasted for an hour. And, at least I survived! We had our assessments at the gym on Friday where we also learned what we should be doing for our upper body at the gym. Sunday we went back to the gym to make sure we remembered and put into practice what all we learned on Friday.
Friday and Saturday I was a bit sore from working out, as well as an unfortunate accident I had. Hopefully, I will heal quickly which will make life much easier!
Tonight's plan I believe is just to walk the dogs, so we will have 100% to give to Boot Camp tomorrow night.
I will continue to update.
I signed up for gym memberships for me and Brandon on Thursday. Then, Thursday night we attended our first boot camp that is held across the street from my new gym. I went there straight from work and it lasted for an hour. And, at least I survived! We had our assessments at the gym on Friday where we also learned what we should be doing for our upper body at the gym. Sunday we went back to the gym to make sure we remembered and put into practice what all we learned on Friday.
Friday and Saturday I was a bit sore from working out, as well as an unfortunate accident I had. Hopefully, I will heal quickly which will make life much easier!
Tonight's plan I believe is just to walk the dogs, so we will have 100% to give to Boot Camp tomorrow night.
I will continue to update.
Monday, July 27, 2009
The Library
So, I realized I have been spending way too much money on books. I don't desire to keep many books after I read them, but I do enjoy passing them onto my friends. I always like to have a good book to read onhand, especially with how much time I sit waiting on trains to pass. I have not invested in a Kindle or any other kindof book reader yet, so I am still reading traditional books. I do believe I would use a Kindle if I had one, but not exclusively by any means. Until last week, I have probably been to a public library a handful of times since high school and that was probably for emergency Internet access or something, not to check out books. (Of course in college I had to use the college library but that was a requirement!)
So, last week I got myself a library card. Libraries are so much more user friendly than what I was used to growing up. You can pick out the books you want online and have them sent to the library that you prefer to pick them up at. You can also put limitless books on hold and they will come to the library of your liking. The Live Oak Library System where I live covers libraries in 3 counties - Liberty, Effingham, and Chatham County where I live and work. I have already exceeded the number of books I can check out for my first 3 weeks, so I am also using Brandon's library card. The books are all in surprisingly fantastic condition! Out of the last five books, I would not think any of them had been previously read. Two of them were books that were going to be expensive to buy because they are not printed in the U.S. The books were by a British author, Madeline Wickham, who is known for the stuff she has written and published in the United States under the name Sophie Kinsella. Sophie Kinsella wrote the "Shopaholic" series, which one of the books was recently made into a movie. The biggest inconvenience is that libraries have had to cut back on their hours due to lack of funding. The libraries have hours that vary per day and are not even open every day. Luckily, I have a library near my work which I can go to 4 days per week after lunchtime, so I do this on my lunch break. There are not too many places to go around here, so this is kindof exciting for now.
If anybody has read a good book lately, please let me know!
So, last week I got myself a library card. Libraries are so much more user friendly than what I was used to growing up. You can pick out the books you want online and have them sent to the library that you prefer to pick them up at. You can also put limitless books on hold and they will come to the library of your liking. The Live Oak Library System where I live covers libraries in 3 counties - Liberty, Effingham, and Chatham County where I live and work. I have already exceeded the number of books I can check out for my first 3 weeks, so I am also using Brandon's library card. The books are all in surprisingly fantastic condition! Out of the last five books, I would not think any of them had been previously read. Two of them were books that were going to be expensive to buy because they are not printed in the U.S. The books were by a British author, Madeline Wickham, who is known for the stuff she has written and published in the United States under the name Sophie Kinsella. Sophie Kinsella wrote the "Shopaholic" series, which one of the books was recently made into a movie. The biggest inconvenience is that libraries have had to cut back on their hours due to lack of funding. The libraries have hours that vary per day and are not even open every day. Luckily, I have a library near my work which I can go to 4 days per week after lunchtime, so I do this on my lunch break. There are not too many places to go around here, so this is kindof exciting for now.
If anybody has read a good book lately, please let me know!
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