Foster Care

We have decided to try to start doing foster care...And by "we", I mean, Phoenix called to set up the appointment for them to come meet us and sign me up for courses while I was at work. *grins* She's going to kill me for saying that. Seriously though, we'd talked about it before, but no one did anything about it. Apparently, Thursday was the day to grab the bull by the horns and make some calls. It's cool. I'm sure I'll get something out of the classes and it's only ten Tuesdays of my life; that's less than most of the classes I've taken before. This also means we have to clean our spare bedroom to make it look like a bedroom again and not a storage room. I'm so not excited about this part...


We didn't use Phoenix's dining room table (Yes, HER table. It's not ours. I wouldn't have picked it.), so we took it down and put it in the other room. We also never had visitors, so we had loaned out the bed from the room. When we got it back, we never set it back up...Meaning the mattress and box spring are leaned against the wall. We also had all of our camping gear stored in that closet...Along with boxes of papers I had from school and clothes that didn't fit into our closet. Our dining area is now set up as a mini-office area...That will have to change.


Yesterday, we began to tackle that spare room. I condensed some of my boxes and we moved the camping gear and my boxes of papers to our coat closet (which is pretty large). Unfortunately, our shoes (And by "our shoes," I mean her's. She has more shoes than a girl needs.), which were on the floor in that closet are now homeless and sitting in our hallway. *shakes head* As we cleaned out the closet, we found that the water damage that was in our laundry area closet, which stemmed from an upstairs leak, is actually in that spare closet as well. I'm not sure why they didn't check that when they came to check the laundry closet. I'm so not excited about that. They'll have to come replace the drywall in there. I'm sure it'll take them all week to complete it because that's apparently how they roll around here...I called them last week to report that my dishwasher was giving me back dirtier dishes than when I put them in there and that our carpet is pulling up at the corner in our living room. I didn't mention the puppy has been helping pull up the carpet, but simply said our vacuum was eating it. *grins* They came to fix the dishwasher, but did nothing about the carpet. Nice, huh? Morons, I tell you!


Today, Phoenix and I are going to buy a bed frame for the bed in the other room, sheets, new pillows, and God only knows what else. Then we have to put the table back up in the dining area and yeah...I'm tired just thinking about it. I'm still stressing about my lack of desk and phone at work. What am I supposed to do tomorrow!? Whatever...We have so much to do today. But here's the part you've all been waiting for, I'm sure...People's opinions on me as a foster care provider...Or whatever it is...


Phoenix mentioned to her sister and niece (Little Phoenix) that we're going to be doing this. They both had to stop and think about if I'm good with kids...I was slightly offended that they had to think about it, but whatever...To each their own, right? Apparently, Little Phoenix was struggling with this idea and was actually grasping at straws to make the image work. She finally said that I make them buckle their seat belts before I'll take them anywhere, like I won't even pull out of the driveway until everyone is buckled. (Hello! Most major accidents happen within a, what is it, like 5 mile radius of your home!! Put your damn seat belt on!) Umm...That's what makes it seem like I'll be okay with kids? And Phoenix's sister did no better...Her answer was, "Well, she does have a little sister." Really!? I have a little sister and I make sure kids put on their seat belts. I pointed out to Phoenix that I've made birthday cakes for her nieces and nephews, which have taken lots of time to complete, because I like them. I am also the one who took these kids on adventures. Who else takes kids on adventures!? I'll tell you--NO ONE! Apparently, these things don't count for anything. It also doesn't count that I've spent hours of my time playing WoW with them when I could've been off doing dungeon raids or completing my own damn quests...Or allow them to climb on me like I'm some sort of jungle gym. Or play along with their silly little games. Seriously. I'm not asking for a mother of the year award or for people to say, "Dang, Heather's awesome." (I already know I am...) But come on! I can take care of some kids. Doesn't anyone have faith in me??? *hears crickets* Hello? Anyone there? Ehh, whatever...*walks away dejectedly*


Seriously though...We can do this. I'm sure it'll be fine...And I'm going to work doubly hard because I am not going to have some fourteen year old convinced that the only thing motherly about me is my making them wear their seat belts!! I also have to figure out some way to make sure that on Tuesdays I get off work in time for the classes...My schedule changes in a month by an hour, which screws it all up. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a way around it. Wish me luck. I think I'm going to need it...