Hi Mark and Sarah!I replied that we would love to attend the seminar in November. I haven't told her (or him?) yet that our year anniversary is in December... so we haven't been married a full year yet. I am hoping that we can at least still attend the seminar and get the ball rolling on this whole process. I am excited!
Julie had time to look over your intake form today and we would love for you to attend our seminar! We do have some available seats in November. There is a $35 seminar fee to attend, you can call me with a credit card number or send us a check to hold your seats. If you do sign on with us, then the $35 will be applied towards your application fee. Please email back and let me know if you're interested so I can tell you date and time or have any other questions. Have a great day!
Le Grimes
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Reply!!
The Adoption Support Center sent me an email today. I was going to summarize it, but instead I have decided to just copy and paste. :o)
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Officially Applying
I just put the stamp on the envelope containing our Adoption Intake Form for the Adoption Support Center of Indianapolis.
I will take the envelope to the mailbox tonight and lift the little flag on the box for the mail carrier to take it in the morning. I hope s/he doesn't lose it.
I know this is only the beginning of the long process. There will be many more envelopes, many more stamps, and many more trips to the mailbox.
After the agency gets our paper indicating our interest they are supposed to call us (I think) to get us scheduled for an Information Seminar. At the seminar we will learn about the different adoption options (although I believe I have already researched the life our of all of the options. At least Sparky will learn new information). The only problem is that the Information Seminars take place on Wednesday mornings for three hours. Who has informational meetings on Wednesday mornings? Don't most adoptive families work?
So I suppose, unless we are booked during Christmas vacation, we will both have to take a half day off work.
I will take the envelope to the mailbox tonight and lift the little flag on the box for the mail carrier to take it in the morning. I hope s/he doesn't lose it.
After the agency gets our paper indicating our interest they are supposed to call us (I think) to get us scheduled for an Information Seminar. At the seminar we will learn about the different adoption options (although I believe I have already researched the life our of all of the options. At least Sparky will learn new information). The only problem is that the Information Seminars take place on Wednesday mornings for three hours. Who has informational meetings on Wednesday mornings? Don't most adoptive families work?
So I suppose, unless we are booked during Christmas vacation, we will both have to take a half day off work.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Seriously
We are supposed to read 161 pages in two books before we even begin doing the work for this course? Does this not sound a little ridiculous to anyone else, in addition to all of the assignments we are going to be doing? Why would anyone put this heavy of a load in the final course when we are all burnt out? Just reading the course description and the assignments has given me a migraine.
Its a good thing I don't have anything else to do during this course... like teach. Oh wait, I do.
Its a good thing I don't have anything else to do during this course... like teach. Oh wait, I do.
Fall Party
This past week I took off Tuesday and Wednesday from school. The first substitute teacher I had, apparently, was mean and a little crazy. The kids said they were scared of her, the teacher next door said she had no clue what she was doing and the kids were walking all over her. Great.
The second sub was much better. I guess she had everything under control and the students learned.
Unfortunately, in my absence I got a new student. Poor kid. My class also forgot how to behave at school. That made for a very fun Thursday and Friday for me. On Monday we will be starting all over, because I will not survive the year if they act like they did Thursday and Friday all year long.
After school on Friday the principal at my new school had a fall party to celebrate a good start of the school year. Her house is really neat. It looks small on the outside, but once inside it just keeps going and going. It is out in the country and it was the perfect place for our fall party.
While there I got to get to know some of the teachers a little better. I overheard one teacher saying that her son (who was with her) was adopted. Um, hello!! My ears perked up.
I went and talked to her. She is the first person I have met in real life who has done a domestic adoption (at least who has told me about it). She told me all about her story. She had secondary infertility. This means she had a biological daughter then was unable to conceive. She went through three failed IVFs before turning to adoption. They went with the law firm in Indy. called Kirsh and Kirsh. I have looked at them, but after seeing their fee schedule (yikes!) counted them out. They also represent the adoptive parents in an adoption, not the birth mother. In some ways this is good, in other ways not so good. The birth mothers who go them do no receive counseling, which I strongly believe all birth-mothers need.
I will need to talk to her again to see why they chose Kirsh and Kirsh instead of The Adoption Support Center or something else.
Anyway, they wrote their Dear Birth-Mother letter, and were matched with a young pregnant girl who wanted to choose adoption for her baby. They got to go with her to her ultrasound appointments and everything. The birth-mom called them from the hospital when the baby was born and they went to the hospital to meet their son. It was nice to talk to someone in real life who has already done this.
The second sub was much better. I guess she had everything under control and the students learned.
Unfortunately, in my absence I got a new student. Poor kid. My class also forgot how to behave at school. That made for a very fun Thursday and Friday for me. On Monday we will be starting all over, because I will not survive the year if they act like they did Thursday and Friday all year long.
After school on Friday the principal at my new school had a fall party to celebrate a good start of the school year. Her house is really neat. It looks small on the outside, but once inside it just keeps going and going. It is out in the country and it was the perfect place for our fall party.
While there I got to get to know some of the teachers a little better. I overheard one teacher saying that her son (who was with her) was adopted. Um, hello!! My ears perked up.
I went and talked to her. She is the first person I have met in real life who has done a domestic adoption (at least who has told me about it). She told me all about her story. She had secondary infertility. This means she had a biological daughter then was unable to conceive. She went through three failed IVFs before turning to adoption. They went with the law firm in Indy. called Kirsh and Kirsh. I have looked at them, but after seeing their fee schedule (yikes!) counted them out. They also represent the adoptive parents in an adoption, not the birth mother. In some ways this is good, in other ways not so good. The birth mothers who go them do no receive counseling, which I strongly believe all birth-mothers need.
I will need to talk to her again to see why they chose Kirsh and Kirsh instead of The Adoption Support Center or something else.
Anyway, they wrote their Dear Birth-Mother letter, and were matched with a young pregnant girl who wanted to choose adoption for her baby. They got to go with her to her ultrasound appointments and everything. The birth-mom called them from the hospital when the baby was born and they went to the hospital to meet their son. It was nice to talk to someone in real life who has already done this.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Sick, Sick, Sick
I am sick. It started on Saturday morning. When I woke up my throat hurt a little, but it was just a little sinus drainage. Then I spent the entire day sneezing and sniffling. We had planned on meeting Sparky's aunt, uncle, cousin, and cousin-in-law (his cousin's wife) in Nashville for a meal and good company. I was a little concerned about my sniffling... but it was okay.
I did end up drinking the entire pitcher of water on our table during dinner. Which is very UN-like me. I do not drink water. I should. But I don't.
On our way home I got an adorable new board to hang on my wall:
I have the black square with the scalloped edges. I put some fall leaves, an acorn, a pumpkin, and spiders on it to welcome fall. Adorable.
Sparky told me when he finally gets a new computer for his plasma cutter at work that I can cut out any shapes I want out of metal and make more embellishments for the thing. I am excited! I want to make all sorts of different metal bases to go into the wooden stand they show so I can change it up for the holidays.
Anyway, back to me being sick... So Sunday I woke up at 5:00am to my nose dripping on my pillow. Gross, I know.
I finally got up around 7:00 and went through the tissue box like it was going out of style. I got settled in at the computer to do homework for my masters classes and didn't get finished with that until 6:00pm (but I got it done!!!)
After finishing my homework, I had the worst allergy attack ever. The roof of my mouth was itching like crazy. I wanted to cut it off. My eyes were itchy and red, and my nose was running and stuffed up at the same time. I took some more allergy medicine.
I tried the neti pot (which I affectionately call the Snot Pot).
I pored the water through one side of my nose and it barely dripped through the other side. I tried the other side and it didn't have anywhere to go. The water went down my throat instead. Well, you mix a little saline packet with the water so it doesn't burn your nose... meaning salt water went down my throat. Salt water= puke. So I threw up.
I even used nose spray (which I hate) and took some more sinus medicine. I thought I was going to go crazy from the itching. I felt like a crack addict going through withdrawal (at least how I picture it).
This morning the runny nose finally stopped. But don't get excited. It stopped running because it has now lodged deep within my sinuses creating wonderful pressure and a headache known as a sinus infection.
I called in a substitute for tomorrow, wrote sub plans (all 8 pages of them), got my classroom ready, discovered I am getting new student tomorrow (sorry for him), made one more copy of everything, wrote his name on everything, and finally left school 6 hours later. I stayed so long preparing for the sub that I could have just taught tomorrow. That is why teachers hate taking sick days. It just doesn't seem worth it. And I am sure I will walk into my classroom on Wednesday to discover they didn't do half the stuff in my plans, but decided to make paper airplanes all day instead. :o)
I did end up drinking the entire pitcher of water on our table during dinner. Which is very UN-like me. I do not drink water. I should. But I don't.
On our way home I got an adorable new board to hang on my wall:
I have the black square with the scalloped edges. I put some fall leaves, an acorn, a pumpkin, and spiders on it to welcome fall. Adorable.
Sparky told me when he finally gets a new computer for his plasma cutter at work that I can cut out any shapes I want out of metal and make more embellishments for the thing. I am excited! I want to make all sorts of different metal bases to go into the wooden stand they show so I can change it up for the holidays.
Anyway, back to me being sick... So Sunday I woke up at 5:00am to my nose dripping on my pillow. Gross, I know.
I finally got up around 7:00 and went through the tissue box like it was going out of style. I got settled in at the computer to do homework for my masters classes and didn't get finished with that until 6:00pm (but I got it done!!!)
After finishing my homework, I had the worst allergy attack ever. The roof of my mouth was itching like crazy. I wanted to cut it off. My eyes were itchy and red, and my nose was running and stuffed up at the same time. I took some more allergy medicine.
I tried the neti pot (which I affectionately call the Snot Pot).
I pored the water through one side of my nose and it barely dripped through the other side. I tried the other side and it didn't have anywhere to go. The water went down my throat instead. Well, you mix a little saline packet with the water so it doesn't burn your nose... meaning salt water went down my throat. Salt water= puke. So I threw up.
I even used nose spray (which I hate) and took some more sinus medicine. I thought I was going to go crazy from the itching. I felt like a crack addict going through withdrawal (at least how I picture it).
This morning the runny nose finally stopped. But don't get excited. It stopped running because it has now lodged deep within my sinuses creating wonderful pressure and a headache known as a sinus infection.
I called in a substitute for tomorrow, wrote sub plans (all 8 pages of them), got my classroom ready, discovered I am getting new student tomorrow (sorry for him), made one more copy of everything, wrote his name on everything, and finally left school 6 hours later. I stayed so long preparing for the sub that I could have just taught tomorrow. That is why teachers hate taking sick days. It just doesn't seem worth it. And I am sure I will walk into my classroom on Wednesday to discover they didn't do half the stuff in my plans, but decided to make paper airplanes all day instead. :o)
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