I am doing this separate post since it is a separate topic, and the other post was already long enough.
After living with knowing what my real food allergies are for 3 years, I have finally owned up to a big fear of mine.
I now own EpiPens (with a training device). That's right... I suffer from Needlephobia.
I have had this phobia for as long as I can remember. Added to that, no matter how well I can focus on something, anything else, even talking to the other people in the room (myself & the nurse/phlebotimist or my husband) I can still feel everything from them rubbing the cool alcohol swab, to them poking at my veins (which still tends to cause minor anxiety), to putting the "butterfly" around my arm to the final moment of the "prick" of the needle, and all the while, feeling the vein that is losing blood, to the blood flowing out into the little tube - to the final removal and relief of having the needle removed. Then the aftermath minor pain, the minor bruising of where they stuck me. I have learned to tell them that my veins roll, otherwise, they tend to miss, which causes me to escalate from anxiety to panic mode - not to mention the physical pain. At this point, hopefully I have not seen the needle... because I don't need that on top of cold shock. Yes, I have gone into cold shock when people have missed and have had to try again. Yes, I have had veins collapse - that really hurts and guarantees cold shock.
The typical blood drawing for testing, I have been able to do alone, because I have been able to teach myself how to try to focus on other things, before and during. Another very simple, but very important point I have learned is to tell them NOT to let me see the needle, not even a glimpse - otherwise forget it. What has been the worst for me is when I have had to get an IV. My experience with IV's have been bad, really bad, and thankfully, I have only had 3. Two (2) out of the 3 were an absolute nightmare! All of those, I have had Kabaju with me. I told him from the beginning about my worst phobia, needlephobia, but he didn't understand the extent until I got my first IV - I was sicker than sick and I still went from anxiety to panic mode, all while trying not to throw up and bury my head in his upper torso, to keep me from seeing anything and try to focus on him. He then agreed after that experience, that I was not joking.
*Shiver* Just writing this, I can still feel the aftermath ache of where they just recently stuck me. Before I picked up my EpiPens, just the thought of actually and finally getting them to carry everywhere I go, has given me the heeby-jeebies (makes me shutter, shiver, urg). Now that, I have practiced with the training device, it's not so hard to use - easy really - but I just hope if we ever have to use the EpiPen(s), that I won't feel those nerves on the side of my thigh that hurt when I used the training device. I also actually don't have the heeby-jeebies now that I have the EpiPens - but I will avoid touching their box as much as possible until I am forced to use them. The training device does not have needle so it will be used often to train family and friends - children will not be allowed to play with it - it is to train for emergency, not for fun.
For more information about EpiPens go to the EpiPen website. EpiPens are only given by a prescribing physician and a pharmacy. There are no over-the-counter alternatives. If you, or a loved one, or someone you know has an allergic reaction, but does not carry an EpiPen call 911 and tell the operator that they need Epinephrine or an EpiPen. Or, if they do carry one, learn how to use it and then make sure they get further medical attention. Do not practice with the actual EpiPen. Again for further information go to the EpiPen website, or talk with a medical professional. I am not a medical professional.
This website does not constitute medical and/or legal advise and should not be relied upon as such. All information and suggestions offered are based on my own personal experiences and individual research. My goal is discussion, feedback and further education. As an active member of this blog, you accept personal responsibility for any actions you take with the information shared. Your qualified personal physician is your most important resource for individual allergy needs.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Life Goes On
People have asked me if we're going to get another placement when Princess Frog leaves. I proceed to tell them, "No. We'll take a break first." They look at me like I'm nuts or something...
So, my analogy is this:
No sensible person that just had a hard miscarriage or gave birth would immediately turn around and get pregnant again - like the day or week or month after.
So why, would Foster Parents do the same by going through a very difficult placement turn around and take another one right away? That's just insane.
Well, we are taking a break.
Later next week will mark 1 month that Princess Frog has been gone out of our lives. She left the day she came home to us - a total of 7 months. We were her second (2nd) home - she had already been in Foster Care for 1 month.
Court was rather nuts and interesting all rolled into one and took a while. In the end, judge's ultimatum was to extend services provided by DCFS so that bio mom was given yet again, another chance - 3 more months. By law bio mom only originally had 8 months to get Princess Frog back. We happened to get the nicest judge in the courthouse that likes to give second chances despite contradicting judge's self.
So after more things going on, the GAL (guardian ad litem) [Princess Frog's attorney] and her caseworker decided to just move her in with bio mom and see whether they would sink or swim. Word is: They are swimming. I am glad that Princess Frog is doing well with her bio mom, but I also sorely miss my baby girl. She has certainly left a hole in our lives, but we are learning to move on.
We were told numerous times by the GAL and caseworker (who have been doing this for years) that Princess Frog's case is the strangest, weirdest, hardest, most crazy case they have ever had and seen. [Just my "luck".] Usually cases are a lot more smooth, because they tend to know what will happen at some early point - this case, the entirety of it, no one knew what would happen - for 8 months no one knew where or what would happen with Princess Frog and her bio mom in the end. We are beyond the end, know we finally know.... unless something else happens - which if Princess Frog for some unseen reason ends up leaving her bio mom again, she will come home to us and stay.
People have commented about why we didn't fight for her more. I'll tell you why: Foster Parents do not have the rights that Biological Parents have to their biological child(ren). Foster Parents are the child(ren)s advocate and a resource (a safe family to live with), but we really don't have much say. I have been told we do have say, but I sure don't feel like it; but maybe I just didn't know what to say or how to say it. If Princess Frog had not immediately moved in (2 days after court), we would have just repeated what we had already repeated multiple times and drug everything out longer... it was better for Princess Frog to just move and see what happened to help reduce further confusion, anger, and traumatization for her. I feel more sorry for what she has had to go through, than what I have had to go through.
Our lives have changed about every six months for the past few years - so we are used to it, and we even embrace change. Change is hard, absolutely. Change is the only true constant in life, and I accept that constant. (Yes, that is also an oxymoron.)
For those following this blog, don't be afraid to be a foster parent to someone. Fostering is well worth all the human emotions and paperwork it entails. The children are worth it! If you are interesting in Fostering or providing Respite please visit the Utah Foster Care Foundation website for contact information.
So, my analogy is this:
No sensible person that just had a hard miscarriage or gave birth would immediately turn around and get pregnant again - like the day or week or month after.
So why, would Foster Parents do the same by going through a very difficult placement turn around and take another one right away? That's just insane.
Well, we are taking a break.
Later next week will mark 1 month that Princess Frog has been gone out of our lives. She left the day she came home to us - a total of 7 months. We were her second (2nd) home - she had already been in Foster Care for 1 month.
Court was rather nuts and interesting all rolled into one and took a while. In the end, judge's ultimatum was to extend services provided by DCFS so that bio mom was given yet again, another chance - 3 more months. By law bio mom only originally had 8 months to get Princess Frog back. We happened to get the nicest judge in the courthouse that likes to give second chances despite contradicting judge's self.
So after more things going on, the GAL (guardian ad litem) [Princess Frog's attorney] and her caseworker decided to just move her in with bio mom and see whether they would sink or swim. Word is: They are swimming. I am glad that Princess Frog is doing well with her bio mom, but I also sorely miss my baby girl. She has certainly left a hole in our lives, but we are learning to move on.
We were told numerous times by the GAL and caseworker (who have been doing this for years) that Princess Frog's case is the strangest, weirdest, hardest, most crazy case they have ever had and seen. [Just my "luck".] Usually cases are a lot more smooth, because they tend to know what will happen at some early point - this case, the entirety of it, no one knew what would happen - for 8 months no one knew where or what would happen with Princess Frog and her bio mom in the end. We are beyond the end, know we finally know.... unless something else happens - which if Princess Frog for some unseen reason ends up leaving her bio mom again, she will come home to us and stay.
People have commented about why we didn't fight for her more. I'll tell you why: Foster Parents do not have the rights that Biological Parents have to their biological child(ren). Foster Parents are the child(ren)s advocate and a resource (a safe family to live with), but we really don't have much say. I have been told we do have say, but I sure don't feel like it; but maybe I just didn't know what to say or how to say it. If Princess Frog had not immediately moved in (2 days after court), we would have just repeated what we had already repeated multiple times and drug everything out longer... it was better for Princess Frog to just move and see what happened to help reduce further confusion, anger, and traumatization for her. I feel more sorry for what she has had to go through, than what I have had to go through.
Our lives have changed about every six months for the past few years - so we are used to it, and we even embrace change. Change is hard, absolutely. Change is the only true constant in life, and I accept that constant. (Yes, that is also an oxymoron.)
For those following this blog, don't be afraid to be a foster parent to someone. Fostering is well worth all the human emotions and paperwork it entails. The children are worth it! If you are interesting in Fostering or providing Respite please visit the Utah Foster Care Foundation website for contact information.
Monday, February 7, 2011
I yi yi
My how time does fly.... So, January was back and forth, back and forth, up in the air, as the ball in a major ping-pong ball game hitting all the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and getting stuck somewhere in the lost reaches of the belly of the table. That is how I would describe the case since I last wrote.
Most recent update: We have had Princess Frog the entire time. She had two day visits, and then the ball vanished in the air. We have no idea what's going on. That is the nature of her unique case... it's just plain weird and really, really hard. But she is soooo worth it.
Court is very soon. It is a very important date - this time the judge really will need to rule an ultimatum... hopefully not a 3 month extension. The case needs to end for Princess Frog's sake. She needs to be able to settle down and stabilize... and just stay put. Wherever that may be, we just pray that what happens, happens in her best interest.
I decided too, at this point to drop my second class... : ( Just thinking about it made me want to cry... just too much stress and I'm working on building my lesson plans. Another time, I'll pick it up and give it a go. For now, I'm madly working on grading the 30 (down to 20) papers that were handed to me a little while ago... since I'm a tad behind due to illness running around lose in my house. It's going to be a long week, been booked a while, and last minute too. Next week is now also officially booked full... and following will be interesting depending if we actually get to join Kabaju on a partial business trip to somewhere a little less frigged, but withing driving distance..... Ya, this month will just be more and more interesting.
All I have to say is I yi, yi! I hear Zzzzzzz's a calling me.
Most recent update: We have had Princess Frog the entire time. She had two day visits, and then the ball vanished in the air. We have no idea what's going on. That is the nature of her unique case... it's just plain weird and really, really hard. But she is soooo worth it.
Court is very soon. It is a very important date - this time the judge really will need to rule an ultimatum... hopefully not a 3 month extension. The case needs to end for Princess Frog's sake. She needs to be able to settle down and stabilize... and just stay put. Wherever that may be, we just pray that what happens, happens in her best interest.
I decided too, at this point to drop my second class... : ( Just thinking about it made me want to cry... just too much stress and I'm working on building my lesson plans. Another time, I'll pick it up and give it a go. For now, I'm madly working on grading the 30 (down to 20) papers that were handed to me a little while ago... since I'm a tad behind due to illness running around lose in my house. It's going to be a long week, been booked a while, and last minute too. Next week is now also officially booked full... and following will be interesting depending if we actually get to join Kabaju on a partial business trip to somewhere a little less frigged, but withing driving distance..... Ya, this month will just be more and more interesting.
All I have to say is I yi, yi! I hear Zzzzzzz's a calling me.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Case
So, the update after meeting with Princess Frog's biological mom is that we are looking at moving Princess Frog in with biological mom in about 1 month. We have court next week before Christmas, and there the Judge will decide ultimately what and when things will happen.... Either way, Princess Frog will need to be moved in with biological mom in 2 months or have some decision within the next 2 months. We will see what happens, when and how and all that good stuff. We're just glad there's finally light at the end of a long and hard tunnel. Relief is on it's way, but we do feel sorry for Princess Frog at only 1.5 years old - she ultimately has to deal with whatever happens. We love her, and wish her the best.
I am grateful to those that donated gifts so she has a good Christmas through the Utah Foster Care Foundation. After this, we will be taking a break until summer, then who knows? When we are ready we will open up to another child in need. Unless, of course Princess Frog comes back....
I will be teaching two classes this coming spring semester - one full semester long, one that won't start until March and is half semester. Right now am working on getting finals graded and then will get grades submitted. Next week is completely booked.... every day we have something to do with Princess Frog's case for the first three days. Then other appointments and dealing with current car troubles. It will be nice to have Kabaju home all week.
I am grateful to those that donated gifts so she has a good Christmas through the Utah Foster Care Foundation. After this, we will be taking a break until summer, then who knows? When we are ready we will open up to another child in need. Unless, of course Princess Frog comes back....
I will be teaching two classes this coming spring semester - one full semester long, one that won't start until March and is half semester. Right now am working on getting finals graded and then will get grades submitted. Next week is completely booked.... every day we have something to do with Princess Frog's case for the first three days. Then other appointments and dealing with current car troubles. It will be nice to have Kabaju home all week.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Time Flies Part II
Hello all,
I am back; obviously. Yes, I am late, but late is better than never. Right where were we? Oh yes, if you remember this part - when I began writing our story as Foster Parents. A lot has happened, naturally. In life, things happen all the time.
So, after meeting with her caseworker, I contacted the her current foster family. That's right, we are her second foster family. Her first family are really good people, but it was too much. She is a hard baby... I'll explain soon. I got to meet Princess Frog (has we have dubbed her) the next day, on Friday. I brought home her information that the family had and some of her things they gave her. Thank goodness, because I sure did not have any toys for a growing toddler! Later in the evening, Kabaju went back with me and also got to meet her. We went back the following morning and picked her up and brought her home.
Now, let me make something very clear here. Typically, when people have children (biological), they get pregnant and have 9 months to prepare for their family. Our family, started with a phone call. Period. Keep in mind, we brought her home at 13.5 months old and teething like none other! She is our first. We are first time parents. Now, for the typical biological family, after the 9 months of gestation, is the experience of birth, and then they have the next 13 months to get to know that new personality. We got Princess Frog at 13.5 months and teething overnight. At the time, we were helping out a friend that was out of work. So, as our house only has two small usable bedrooms - she was in ours with us for about a month. We had a lot to learn about how to help a baby manage teething pains. I knew some things, but ended up with some confusion about medicine to use, plus we had none anyway. What fun!
One more thing to make very clear. This child is 13.5 months old, and at this point has moved 3 times in ~1 month. The first time was when she was removed from the unsafe environment she was in prior to entering the foster care system. Then she was moved into her first foster family. (I'm not entirely sure where she stayed prior to being placed with her first foster family). Then she moved in with us. Believe me, a baby knows many things and is quite aware. We knew this. Just watching her confirmed her awareness. So, with it came a lot of anger, frustration, confusion, more anger and fear. I could see it plainly in her face and her behavior. It was near impossible to get a small smile out of her - I don't think she even understood in the beginning what smiling was. She screamed and cried most of the time - when she was taking a nap, my ears would be ringing with the sound of her screaming and crying. The rest of the time, she didn't do anything - no noise. She would become easily over-frustrated and tantrum furiously. That is an understatement.
She has stabilized with us in the past 5.5 months. She laughs, smiles all the time, and talks a lot. She was very small when we got her. A mere ~18 LBs and ~21 inches tall. Now, she is 30 inches tall, and 20 LBs. She finally has some hair, barely, and her two bottom front teeth, and now two upper front teeth are through. Thank God! She didn't really have much to her legs, but now they are fat for a skinny baby and strong. She has been walking for ~1.5 months. She imitates a lot, and says many words. She is very, very smart. She will follow instructions and listens - even when it is obvious she does not want to. She loves to have stories read to her. : )
However, the sad thing is, visitation has started with her biological mom. She is regressing quickly to how she was in the beginning. She had not seen her biological mom since May or June. Her first visit was last week. Second visit this week. She is using less words, and screaming more again. Last week, the day prior to her first visit she had anxiety, and woke up screaming and hitting herself on the head after her nap. Thankfully she let me pick her up and I was able to console her. In the past, when she has lost all control, there is no consoling her. She used to scream and cry for anywhere from 1-3 hours straight at a time. Now, her longest time is an hour; shortest time is 15 minutes. We got her off of her extreme addiction to the bottle - I really hope she does not regress here.
The day of her first visit, she was silent. She acted depressed. Even when I spoke to her, I could barely get anything out of her. She had a loss of appetite. She is not even 1.5 years old. The other thing she did recently, is after I changed her diaper, she freaked out - literally - for no apparent reason. She sat up and let herself fall back hard enough to bang her head on the floor. She did it quickly enough she banged her head a few times, before I could get her off the floor and in her crib where it was safer for her. And let her scream. It was very angry, nothing but pure fury. When I was telling her what was coming to prepare her for her first visit, she gave me a very dark angry look. We have no choice, by law we have to take her to the visits. We do not know how long this will go on for... we do not know what will happen.
This is the life of a Foster Parent. Not to mention all the mounds of paperwork we have to do. Since visitation has started, I created a behavior watch. Where we write down extreme behaviors to provide evidence on how all this is affecting her. We have to do paperwork whenever we drive her somewhere, or do case activity. We have to paperwork every single time she goes to the doctor. Which is a lot for her; her system is near impossible to balance. Even though we figured out she is lactose intolerant. We have to do in-service training to keep our license which we just sent in the renewal paperwork and had the licensor come to the annual home inspection. Then there are the monthly visits by her caseworker. Sometimes we have visits from her GAL, or our RFC. Then there are the times to go to court, take her to visits, and meetings.
Before any of this, we did 32 hours of pre-service training, a mound of paperwork, fingerprints, background checks, and a home-study where we were also interviewed.
Foster Parenting is a lot harder and a lot more work than biological parenting. Foster parents are left to their own by others that shower biological parents with friendship, meals, gifts. I am especially grateful for my sister-in-law, Nat. She has rescued me multiple times. She has come and got us to get out of the house. She checks in to see how we are. We help each other out with babysitting. She is an amazing beautician - she always helps me feel good about myself again. I am also grateful for Kabaju's sister Evenspor and her family that were so very generous and thoughtful of us. They gave us a huge box of diapers. She said it was for our baby shower - which has never existed. I was speechless, I nearly cried. So again, to Spors in the Desert, Thank You! I have family that did give Princess Frog a blanket, and of course, my Aunt that watches her while I teach at a local college - I don't know what I would do without my Aunt.
Side story: The people I was in contact with before life happened, called me two weeks prior to my class starting and asked if I would come teach. They came to me, with unfinished application, as I had been referred by a reputable professional - one of their own - and I took the opportunity. We are in a routine, and when running late Princess Frog always gets after me by saying, "Go, go!"
I have experienced so many emotions... and I am human. The heart is for breaking over and over again, so we become more aware of the beautiful things of life.
Dear God, please hear our prayers and our heartaches! Please.
I am back; obviously. Yes, I am late, but late is better than never. Right where were we? Oh yes, if you remember this part - when I began writing our story as Foster Parents. A lot has happened, naturally. In life, things happen all the time.
So, after meeting with her caseworker, I contacted the her current foster family. That's right, we are her second foster family. Her first family are really good people, but it was too much. She is a hard baby... I'll explain soon. I got to meet Princess Frog (has we have dubbed her) the next day, on Friday. I brought home her information that the family had and some of her things they gave her. Thank goodness, because I sure did not have any toys for a growing toddler! Later in the evening, Kabaju went back with me and also got to meet her. We went back the following morning and picked her up and brought her home.
Now, let me make something very clear here. Typically, when people have children (biological), they get pregnant and have 9 months to prepare for their family. Our family, started with a phone call. Period. Keep in mind, we brought her home at 13.5 months old and teething like none other! She is our first. We are first time parents. Now, for the typical biological family, after the 9 months of gestation, is the experience of birth, and then they have the next 13 months to get to know that new personality. We got Princess Frog at 13.5 months and teething overnight. At the time, we were helping out a friend that was out of work. So, as our house only has two small usable bedrooms - she was in ours with us for about a month. We had a lot to learn about how to help a baby manage teething pains. I knew some things, but ended up with some confusion about medicine to use, plus we had none anyway. What fun!
One more thing to make very clear. This child is 13.5 months old, and at this point has moved 3 times in ~1 month. The first time was when she was removed from the unsafe environment she was in prior to entering the foster care system. Then she was moved into her first foster family. (I'm not entirely sure where she stayed prior to being placed with her first foster family). Then she moved in with us. Believe me, a baby knows many things and is quite aware. We knew this. Just watching her confirmed her awareness. So, with it came a lot of anger, frustration, confusion, more anger and fear. I could see it plainly in her face and her behavior. It was near impossible to get a small smile out of her - I don't think she even understood in the beginning what smiling was. She screamed and cried most of the time - when she was taking a nap, my ears would be ringing with the sound of her screaming and crying. The rest of the time, she didn't do anything - no noise. She would become easily over-frustrated and tantrum furiously. That is an understatement.
She has stabilized with us in the past 5.5 months. She laughs, smiles all the time, and talks a lot. She was very small when we got her. A mere ~18 LBs and ~21 inches tall. Now, she is 30 inches tall, and 20 LBs. She finally has some hair, barely, and her two bottom front teeth, and now two upper front teeth are through. Thank God! She didn't really have much to her legs, but now they are fat for a skinny baby and strong. She has been walking for ~1.5 months. She imitates a lot, and says many words. She is very, very smart. She will follow instructions and listens - even when it is obvious she does not want to. She loves to have stories read to her. : )
However, the sad thing is, visitation has started with her biological mom. She is regressing quickly to how she was in the beginning. She had not seen her biological mom since May or June. Her first visit was last week. Second visit this week. She is using less words, and screaming more again. Last week, the day prior to her first visit she had anxiety, and woke up screaming and hitting herself on the head after her nap. Thankfully she let me pick her up and I was able to console her. In the past, when she has lost all control, there is no consoling her. She used to scream and cry for anywhere from 1-3 hours straight at a time. Now, her longest time is an hour; shortest time is 15 minutes. We got her off of her extreme addiction to the bottle - I really hope she does not regress here.
The day of her first visit, she was silent. She acted depressed. Even when I spoke to her, I could barely get anything out of her. She had a loss of appetite. She is not even 1.5 years old. The other thing she did recently, is after I changed her diaper, she freaked out - literally - for no apparent reason. She sat up and let herself fall back hard enough to bang her head on the floor. She did it quickly enough she banged her head a few times, before I could get her off the floor and in her crib where it was safer for her. And let her scream. It was very angry, nothing but pure fury. When I was telling her what was coming to prepare her for her first visit, she gave me a very dark angry look. We have no choice, by law we have to take her to the visits. We do not know how long this will go on for... we do not know what will happen.
This is the life of a Foster Parent. Not to mention all the mounds of paperwork we have to do. Since visitation has started, I created a behavior watch. Where we write down extreme behaviors to provide evidence on how all this is affecting her. We have to do paperwork whenever we drive her somewhere, or do case activity. We have to paperwork every single time she goes to the doctor. Which is a lot for her; her system is near impossible to balance. Even though we figured out she is lactose intolerant. We have to do in-service training to keep our license which we just sent in the renewal paperwork and had the licensor come to the annual home inspection. Then there are the monthly visits by her caseworker. Sometimes we have visits from her GAL, or our RFC. Then there are the times to go to court, take her to visits, and meetings.
Before any of this, we did 32 hours of pre-service training, a mound of paperwork, fingerprints, background checks, and a home-study where we were also interviewed.
Foster Parenting is a lot harder and a lot more work than biological parenting. Foster parents are left to their own by others that shower biological parents with friendship, meals, gifts. I am especially grateful for my sister-in-law, Nat. She has rescued me multiple times. She has come and got us to get out of the house. She checks in to see how we are. We help each other out with babysitting. She is an amazing beautician - she always helps me feel good about myself again. I am also grateful for Kabaju's sister Evenspor and her family that were so very generous and thoughtful of us. They gave us a huge box of diapers. She said it was for our baby shower - which has never existed. I was speechless, I nearly cried. So again, to Spors in the Desert, Thank You! I have family that did give Princess Frog a blanket, and of course, my Aunt that watches her while I teach at a local college - I don't know what I would do without my Aunt.
Side story: The people I was in contact with before life happened, called me two weeks prior to my class starting and asked if I would come teach. They came to me, with unfinished application, as I had been referred by a reputable professional - one of their own - and I took the opportunity. We are in a routine, and when running late Princess Frog always gets after me by saying, "Go, go!"
I have experienced so many emotions... and I am human. The heart is for breaking over and over again, so we become more aware of the beautiful things of life.
Dear God, please hear our prayers and our heartaches! Please.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
By the Sweat of My Face
Please bear with me for a moment. Instead of writing more right now about our story of becoming Foster Parents I'm going to write some on my struggle with food allergies.
It is written in holy script:
This now has become more true than ever. It is offical, I now am forced to make and bake my own bread from here on out. I used to have 2 store-bought breads I could eat. A few months ago the local store named Harmons Home style bread changed their recipe to include milk - which I am allergic to. Today, Kabaju bought us the other bread we knew I could eat today as we are out of bread entirely.... I checked the ingredient list and to my horror saw that Sara Lee's Grandma Scyamore's bread has followed suit. It is no longer safe for me to eat. Wish me luck in re-learning and finding a recipe for bread that I can eat. Don't bother mentioning "gluten free" as that makes no difference to me - they tend to use dairy and eggs - both of which I cannot eat. I am unfortantely missing the annual FAAN Food Allergy Walk (http://www.foodallergywalk.org/site/TR/2010Walk/2010Walks?fr_id=1471&pg=entry) but I need to go make myself some bread. I am afraid Rhodes Frozen Rolls will soon follow suit...... who knows, perhaps they will stay different. I can only hope.
It is written in holy script:
This now has become more true than ever. It is offical, I now am forced to make and bake my own bread from here on out. I used to have 2 store-bought breads I could eat. A few months ago the local store named Harmons Home style bread changed their recipe to include milk - which I am allergic to. Today, Kabaju bought us the other bread we knew I could eat today as we are out of bread entirely.... I checked the ingredient list and to my horror saw that Sara Lee's Grandma Scyamore's bread has followed suit. It is no longer safe for me to eat. Wish me luck in re-learning and finding a recipe for bread that I can eat. Don't bother mentioning "gluten free" as that makes no difference to me - they tend to use dairy and eggs - both of which I cannot eat. I am unfortantely missing the annual FAAN Food Allergy Walk (http://www.foodallergywalk.org/site/TR/2010Walk/2010Walks?fr_id=1471&pg=entry) but I need to go make myself some bread. I am afraid Rhodes Frozen Rolls will soon follow suit...... who knows, perhaps they will stay different. I can only hope.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Time Flies
Hello again.
It's been some time. Time obviously flies when life happens. I think I know what my last commenter meant by "mom" stories - at the time I didn't nor did Kabaju. So I will share in parts what it's like to be a Foster Mom - just so we keep things a little shorter and not drag this out too long. After all, I can only write what I know.
Let me back up a bit in time...
I had finally finished my thesis and graduated with my master's degree and with a shout of glee yelled, "No more school!" Whisper thoughts "Unless I teach it..." I was working on job applications for part-time work and came across information by a teacher at SLCC (Salt Lake Community College) that I could apply to be put into the 'pool' of teachers for the communications department. As I was laboriously working on that application - halfway through - when life happened.
Once done with my collegiate career we informed our RFC (Resource Family Consultant) we were open and ready for a placement (aka we were ready to open our home, and hearts to a child in foster care and custody of the state). In the meantime I kept myself busy with picking up my old hobby of crochet and looking for part-time work. After nearly two months I went to contact our RFC to check-in, but she beat me to it and called me. She informed me that we were being presented as a possible family for a baby girl. She didn't want to get our hopes up, but wanted us to be aware.
I had a baby shower later that day... it was antagonizing! Baby showers are always hard for me, but this one was especially hard - it was a duel baby shower for two women, one having a girl, one a boy. I nearly left not too long after being there.... but I made myself stay and focused on whatever else I could to ignore the annoying oohs and ahhs, and my thoughts on whether or not we'd be picked for the baby girl I was called about just hours before. It was quite depressing really.
Well, the next day which was Thursday July 15th we were informed that we were chosen as her new foster family. I immediately went into her caseworker's office to meet the caseworker and discuss the case and child. She also had pictures of the baby. I told her I was 95-99% sure we'd take her but of course wanted to present all we had discussed to Kabaju as he is my husband and we are a team.
Later that day when Kabaju got home I spoke with him.... so stay tuned as Princess Frog is crying for me to get her up... wow where did the time go?
It's been some time. Time obviously flies when life happens. I think I know what my last commenter meant by "mom" stories - at the time I didn't nor did Kabaju. So I will share in parts what it's like to be a Foster Mom - just so we keep things a little shorter and not drag this out too long. After all, I can only write what I know.
Let me back up a bit in time...
I had finally finished my thesis and graduated with my master's degree and with a shout of glee yelled, "No more school!" Whisper thoughts "Unless I teach it..." I was working on job applications for part-time work and came across information by a teacher at SLCC (Salt Lake Community College) that I could apply to be put into the 'pool' of teachers for the communications department. As I was laboriously working on that application - halfway through - when life happened.
Once done with my collegiate career we informed our RFC (Resource Family Consultant) we were open and ready for a placement (aka we were ready to open our home, and hearts to a child in foster care and custody of the state). In the meantime I kept myself busy with picking up my old hobby of crochet and looking for part-time work. After nearly two months I went to contact our RFC to check-in, but she beat me to it and called me. She informed me that we were being presented as a possible family for a baby girl. She didn't want to get our hopes up, but wanted us to be aware.
I had a baby shower later that day... it was antagonizing! Baby showers are always hard for me, but this one was especially hard - it was a duel baby shower for two women, one having a girl, one a boy. I nearly left not too long after being there.... but I made myself stay and focused on whatever else I could to ignore the annoying oohs and ahhs, and my thoughts on whether or not we'd be picked for the baby girl I was called about just hours before. It was quite depressing really.
Well, the next day which was Thursday July 15th we were informed that we were chosen as her new foster family. I immediately went into her caseworker's office to meet the caseworker and discuss the case and child. She also had pictures of the baby. I told her I was 95-99% sure we'd take her but of course wanted to present all we had discussed to Kabaju as he is my husband and we are a team.
Later that day when Kabaju got home I spoke with him.... so stay tuned as Princess Frog is crying for me to get her up... wow where did the time go?
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