I Did It!!!!!!!

I set several goals for 2011-  Lose weight, adopt a boy, become a Stay at Home Diva, become debt free, get my children under control, read 52 books.

I was debt free for two months until Geek Boy's car decided to catch on fire.  So technically the only goal  I accomplished was reading 52 books in 2011!!!!  Perhaps if I wouldn't have been reading so much, I could've lost weight, and I could've gotten my children under control.  The adoption goal didn't work out simply because we were not willing to change our lifestyle according to the state's mandates.  Still working on the Stay at Home Diva thing, but I've been working on that for 6 years so who knows when or if it will happen.

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  In September I was on a roll and was ahead by 8 books.  But then I just stopped reading.  I couldn't figure out a genre to read.  My reading drought came to an end at the beginning of December.  I was determined to reach this goal.

Here's a list of books that I read:

1.  Lineage of Grace
2.  Blood Orange
3.  After
4.  Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World
5.  Into the Wild
6.  I'd Know You Anywhere
7.  Room
8.  Water for Elephants
9.  Mudshark
10.All Stations Distress
11.Redeeming Love
12.The Weight of Silence
13.Calvin Coconut
14.The Condition
15.Medical Error
16.Crossing Oceans
17.Sing You Home
18.The Atonement Child
19.I Know This Much is True
20.Night Road
21.Heart of the Matter
22.The Murderer's Daughter
23.The Virgin Suicides
24.Saving Max
25.Inconceivable
26.Her Last Letter
27.Look Again
28.These Things Hidden
29.Messanger: The Legacy of Mattie J.T. Stepanek and Heartsongs
30.Indian Killer
31.Story of Beautiful Girl
32.The Notebook
33.The Rose Killer
34.Red Tent
35.Hunger Games
36.Catching Fire
37.Mockingjay
38.Stuck in the Middle
39.Shiver
40.Linger
41.Forever
42.Turtle in Paradise
43.Still Missing
44.Daniel's Gift
45.The Case of the Mistaken Identity
46.Never Knowing
47.Wild Times at the Bed and Biscuit
48.Silent Run
49.Sarah's Key
50.The Midwife's Confession
51.Pearl in the Sand
52.The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven

The book that had the most impact for me was Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.  I read it early in the year and I still have not found a book that tops this story.  IT IS A MUST READ!! I have yet to find anyone who did not like this book.

The most emotional book that I read was Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes.  I cried so much while reading.  My kids thought I had absolutely lost my mind.  I warned several friends to not read the book at work during their lunch hour, but they didn't listen to me and I got a lot of "I should've listened to you" comments on my Facebook.

The best series I read was the Hunger Games Trilogy.  Really didn't think I could get into the series but for whatever reason, the timing must've been just right because I was sucked into the books instantly.  Can't wait for the movie to come out in March.

The weirdest book I read was Room.  It was very different but well worth the read.

The longest book I read was I Know This Much is True.  I tried reading this about 13 years ago, when Oprah originally told me to, but I was busy taking care of a newborn and just didn't have the time to read.  I think the size of the actual book was intimidating to me, but this time around I read it on my Kindle.

My favorite non fiction book was Inconceivable.  This family has incredible strength and faith.  Not sure that I could've done what they did.  Actually I know I could've but I know it would've been an emotional nightmare.

Not sure what my 2012 goal will be but I'm sure it will be over 52 books.  Reading truly relaxes me and it something I must do to unwind from a busy day.  To follow what I'm reading go to www.goodreads.com and search my name.  We can be friends on this website.  I get a lot of book ideas from this website.  Books that I normally wouldn't read, I have found on this website and for the most part have enjoyed all of them.  I love to see what others are reading.

155 of 365...An Apple A Day

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but a Coke a day keeps the bitch away...

154 of 365...We're Out...

Geek Boy and I have decided we are not going to do fostering and will not adopt through CPS.  I'm okay with it and I'm glad I finally saw his view point and realized this would be a lot of work and frankly, I'm not willing to change my whole lifestyle for the State of Texas.  The rules are crazy and I understand why so many kids end up in foster care and age out of the system.  It's sad and it breaks my heart, but this is not for our family right now. 

We have not told our Family Specialist yet and at this point I could care less if she contacts us.  It's ridiculous that our Home Study was done on August 10 and it is now October 20 and we are still not licensed.  I know...I know...this is par for the course when you deal with the state.  All the more reason why this is not for us.

We would still like to adopt but not through CPS.  And since we don't have $30,000 to spend on a private agency, I'm not totally sure how we will adopt. 

In the meantime, I'm going to really focus and have fun on the Scentsy business.  Geek Boy and I are officially debt free and we are going to enjoy the financial freedom.  Although, I'm really itching for a new car.  Nothing is wrong with my current car but I think I would look smokin' cool in a brand new white Ford Explorer...LOL 

That's all I've got for now...

153 of 365...Taco Soup

Today I had my Scentsy Launch Party.  Several of my friends and family came over for lunch and dessert and listened to me give a sales presentation.  We all had a great time getting to know each other and visit.  A couple of people I hadn't seen in like 3 years and it really meant a lot to  me for everyone to take time out of their busy day to help me with this new business adventure.  So again, A BIG THANK YOU!!!

I served Taco Soup and have had several requests for the recipe.  So here it is:

2 lbs ground beef
1 small onion
1 can ranch style beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can lima beans
2 cans corn (drained)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel with green chilis
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch dressing seasoning
1 1/2 cups water

Brown meat and onion.

Mix the meat mixture with all of the other ingrediants and put in crock pot.  High 4 hours or low 8 hours.  You can also do this on the stove but I've never cooked it on the stove so have no idea how long it would need to cook.

Garnish with cheese and/or tortilla chips. Service 10-15 people.  Freeze leftovers.

152 of 365...Dear No-Sense-of-Humor Family Specialist

Dear No-Sense-of-Humor Family Specialist,

I really appreciate you working so hard on our home study.  We appreciate your honesty when you told us it would take 6 weeks to get it completely typed up.  We understand you're underpaid and overworked.  Thank you for all you do and without a doubt, Geek Boy and I could not do your job in a million years.

We have tried to answer all of your questions with great thought and honesty.  Questions like: How was your childhood?  Why do you want to foster and/or adopt?  What is your happiest memory as a child?  What was the most traumatic experience in your childhood?  How do you deal with grief?

Even the toughest questions you asked like What is meal time like in your family?  You didn't even cringe when I said Older Drama Queens are pretty much fed Pop Tarts and cereal for dinner.  You seemed very unsurpised when we showed you the pantry during the home study and there were 20 boxes of cereal and 5 boxes of Pop Tarts.

When you asked about the frequency and satisfaction level of mine and Geek Boy's sex life, I was taken back a little by the directness of the question, but I answered it.  By the way, I hope you didn't honestly believe when I told you 7 days a week, morning noon and night, and it's earth shattering.  That was MY sense of humor coming out but I'm really not so sure you caught on to that because you just sat there stoned face and typed away.

On Friday afternoon you asked the toughest and most personal question so far.  What is my hair color?????  Seriously????  You need to know this why?????  Perhaps when a child is placed into CPS care and you're looking to place him, you need to make sure we are a good fit based on hair color?  Isn't that kind of like profiling?

Not only is this a very personal question to answer but it's a very HARD question to answer.  If you would've asked me 5 months ago what my hair color was, you would've gotten one color.  If you would've asked me 6 weeks ago when you spent 6 grueling hours at my home, you would've gotten a whole different color.  Hell, if you would've emailed me on Thursday afternoon, the color would've been different yet again.

So after consulting with my wonderful hairstylist, the answer to your question is: 6/77 with 6/4 and highlights.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance to you.  If the color changes at anytime between now and the time we can finally adopt, I will certainly keep you informed.

Sincerely,
Diva Finch

151 of 365...Something Fishy About This...

I hate this fish yet somehow how it has managed to linger in my life for 11 years!!! Geek Boy's sister and her husband bought this fish for Older Drama Queen when she was 2 or 3. I was appalled when I saw this fish and conveniently left it at my mother in law's house, where the gift was opened. When my in law's moved 6 years ago, I am pretty sure I threw this in the trash pile and I'm pretty sure someone took it out of the trash pile. I have just pretty much ignored the fish when visiting my in law's.

On Friday, we picked up our 4 year old niece at my in law's house to spend the night with us. She was able to bring a few toys over to our house and of all the toys, she picked that damn fish.

I had nightmares. Older Drama Queen told me it was her fish and she wanted it to stay at our house. I told her she could go find someplace else to live!!!

The fish did make it back to my in law's house.

150 of 365...Hard Drive Whisperer

My hard drive in my laptop died today. Geek Boy tried to recover all of my information but it's no use.

I watched him whisper to the hard drive, encouraging it to start spinning. He knelt down real close to the hard drive and tried to encourage it to come back to life. He gently caressed it, but to no avail. He blew it kisses, with the hopes it would just come alive. Nope. Nada. Dead!!!!!

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149 of 365...A Conversation Between A Mother And Daughter

Oh the emotions a teenager goes through.  I really do try to be sympathetic and listen but at times one can only handle so much.  So in a heated argument last night between myself and Older Drama Queen, here's how the conversation ended...

Me:  Are you about to start your period?

Older Drama Queen:  No.  Are you still taking your Prozac?

We went to our own rooms after that and slept soundly hoping for a better day today.

148 of 365...Makes Perfect Scents To Me....

I recently signed up to start selling Scentsy.  My sister and mother in law introduced me to Scentsy a couple of years ago and I have been hooked ever scents (get it scents instead of since).  My sister started selling the product at the beginning of the year and has been very successful.  I'm not working the business full time like she is, but I thought I would try it out to see if I can make a little extra money on the side and at the very least, get a discount on the product.

Anyway, for those of you who have not idea what Scentsy is, let me kind of explain.

It's a warmer ( much like a potpourri-sp?) pot, but it plugs into the wall and warms wax by using a light bulb.  You can buy different scented waxes and place in your warmer and boy does it make your home/office smell wonderful.

The thing I LOVE most about this concept is that it is safe around pets and children.  The wax does not get hot enough to burn.  Infact, during the summer Drama Queens would get bored and have a spa day using my warmers.  They would dip their feet and hands in the warmer to create a parafin wax spa experience.  Hey don't judge, it was cheaper than getting them a mani/pedi.

I normally keep my warmers on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Since we have two cats and the litter box is in my office area, I have placed a plug in warmer right next to the litter box and it does help control the odor.  I have 9 warmers!!!!!!  I'm a bit extreme and it is not necessary to have that many to make your house smell wonderful.  Since I do keep the warmers on all day every day, I usually change out my scent bars weekly but I'm sure they would last longer if I just used them less.  But I like the fact that I can leave the house with them on, knowing my house is not going to burn down and my cats aren't going to get hurt if they accidentally knock one of them over.

Anyway, I received my starter kit today and am very excited about this.  Please visit my website at www.divafinch.scentsy.us to learn more about the product.  If you would like to order something you can do it online or contact me.  Most of you who read my blog know my email address, but if  you're a stranger reading my blog, then you can shoot me an email through my website.  I plan on ordering next Friday and am offering free shipping to any of my local friends if you email me your order.  IF YOU WANT THE FREE SHIPPING, DO NOT ORDER OFF MY WEBSITE.

Wish me luck...

147 of 365...Crock Pot Pork Chops

Here's another great meal I made using the crock pot, with the help of Crock Pot Girls...

1 package assorted pork chops
2 jars gravy ( I used pork gravy made by Heinz)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Brown the pork chops in a pan.

Once the pork chops are browned, place in crock pot with gravy and soup.  Cook on low all day.

Drama Queens said this meal was a keeper, so that says a lot!!!  We served with mashed potatoes and it makes a great gravy.  The pork chops were moist and fell off the bone.

146 of 365...Problem With Our Educational System

Wow!!!!!



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145 of 365 In Lieu Of Raises

My company is installing this ghetto fabulous pool for the employees



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144 of 365...Crock Pot Lasagna

I came across this cooking group on Facebook earlier this week called Crock Pot Girls.  I am a HUGE crock pot fan (have two that I use every week). I made a crock pot lasagna tonight for dinner.  It was a hit and can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow.  Now I changed up the recipe that is posted on their  Facebook page.  So here's my version

2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion diced
Italian seasoning ( I just sprinkled some in the meat while browning)
BIG jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce (I think I got the parmeson, onion, garlic jar)
4 cups mozarella cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 tub cottage cheese
1 package of lasagna noodles

Brown meat with diced onion and Italian seasoning.
Drain beef and then mix spaghetti sauce in meat ( I think this was about 5 cups).  Simmer for about 5 minutes.
In crockpot, layer the following:
Meat sauce
Parmesan and mozarella cheese (I just grabbed handfuls of cheese and covered meat sauces)
2 or 3 spoonfuls of cottage cheese
Uncooked lasagna noodles

Layer until meat mixture is on top.  Cover with mozarella and parmesan cheese.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

143 of 365...God Help My Future Son-In-Law

It is 4:25 am and I have yet to get to sleep.  Little Drama Queen has been up all night with ear pain.  I'm pretty sure it's swimmer's ear, but the medicine the doctor gave us a few weeks ago is not working at all this time around.

In the wee hours of September 1, 2011, Geek Boy and I have gotten a little glimpse of what Little Drama Queen will go through when she is older and in labor, about to deliver her first child.

I think the "labor" began around 7 am on August 31, 2011.  She started complaining about ear pain in her left ear.  Remembering she just had swimmer's ear in the right ear about 3 weeks ago, I gave her some medicine and off to school we went.  Early evening she started complaining about the ear hurting again so I gave her another round of medicine.

By 1 am, she was "laboring" pretty hard. She crawled into bed with me and I would try to get her comfortable but she would just toss an turn complaining about how bad it hurt. 

At around 3 am the "contractions" started every 10 minutes and started coming on stronger and faster.  I would get her calmed down and then all of a sudden she would move and her ear would start shooting out pain.  About the time we would start to fall back to sleep, she would get another ear pain and start screaming out in agony.  OMG...the way she was carrying on you would've thought she was giving birth to a 10 pound baby.

I woke Geek Boy and told him he needed to take over.  By 4:00 am she was in full fledged "labor" and screaming out every 30 seconds.  I wish I would've gotten video because Geek Boy was literally rubbing her back telling her to take nice easy breaths and then she was squeezing his hand during the painful episodes.  At one point, I totally lost all empathy and told her to get ahold of herself and stop screaming.  We all knew her ear hurt but screaming about it wasn't going to help.

UPDATE:  It is 6:30 pm and I think the "laboring" is finished.  Little Drama Queen went to sleep around 6 am (just in time for us to have to get up for work).  Got her to the doctor by 9 am and she does have swimmer's ear with a bulging ear drum.  So the doctor gave her an antibiotic.  She has been resting all day today and seems to be feeling a little better.

So the lesson learned in this situation? Little Drama Queen will need to marry one patient man and it will probably be best if her father be in the labor and delivery room with her.  I'll just hang out at the hospital and update my Facebook status.  Hey, at least I know my limits and talents...LOL

142 of 365...EBIT Class=Epic Fail

Geek Boy and I attended our final REQUIRED training that will now allow us to become verified for the foster/adoption program through the state.  I put REQUIRED in all caps because you never can go to too many training sessions and each year we are required to obtain so many hours to keep our home open for fostering.

In two weeks we plan on attending a Love and Logic parenting class that is being provided by our school district.  Even though we already have our training hours for the year, I figured MAYBE it would give us extra bonus points with our agency if we attended this training.

Anyway...back to original point of this blog.  EBIT stands for Emergency Behavioral Intervention Traning.  Bascially we learned how to deal with emotional/stressful situations with a child who has been abused.  We learned how to talk to our children appropriately (apparently I have been doing it wrong for 13 years), without them feeling threatened or scared.  And the last part of the class was how to restrain a child in an "explosion" situation, which I will get to in a minute.

When Geek Boy and I first attended classes in July, we were scheduled to take all of our classes with the same group of people.  Meaning we would all go through the process together and get to know each other and the goal at the end would be to exchange emails, phone numbers, etc. so we could all be a sounding board for each other.  We LOVED our group.  We spent two weekends with this bunch and by the 5th day, we were all sharing very personal information with each other.  Except for one couple, we all had a great sense of humor.  Our joking around and sarcastic responses often caused our training to go past schedule.  The last class we were all supposed to take together was the EBIT class.  Due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, the agency had to cancel the EBIT class and reschedule it.  Make a long story short, Geek Boy and I decided to take the class closer to our home at a later date instead of driving an hour to attend the rescheduled class.  BIG MISTAKE!!!

Our class yesterday was 8 hours long.  Let's face it, when you're going through the process of fostering/adopting, you HAVE TO HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR!!!  These people should've never have made it past the first class.  And wouldn't you know it, the one couple from our July class who didn't have a sense of humor were in our class yesterday.  BUZZ KILL!!!!   I knew I was in trouble when I blurted out during class, "Awww Hell no!!!" and everyone's eyes got real big and scared looking like I had just dropped an F bomb or something.   Needless to say it was a very long training and I was ready to shoot myself towards the end.  Probably the most brutal training we had to date due to the boringness of it.

Okay fast forward to the end of the day....We were taught how to restrain a child in an "explosion" situation.  We are not allowed in any circumstances to use physical punishment with a foster child.  No SPANKING.  The only physical thing we can is use the "hold" method.  Basically you are giving them a bear hug and your are becoming a straight jacket so they can't move.  On the way home Geek Boy was commenting on how this would never work in the real world.  If you're having a knife or a bat come at you there is no way to calmly get that person to allow you to put a hold on them.

We get home and we started role playing with Older Drama Queen. Geek Boy was right, she overpowered me.  When I tried to restrain her arm, she pulled out of it, charged at me and knocked me back.  I lost my balance and ended up kicking the corner of our dresser.  See picture below...

At first I seriously thought I had broken my foot.  But after a couple of hours I was able to walk on it.  We were debating on whether or not I should go get xrays but my insurance SUCKS.  This is how the conversation went...

Older Drama Queen:  Mom do we need to take you to the hospital and get xrays?
Me:  No my insurance sucks and I can't afford to go get xrays done right now.
Older Drama Queen:  Wait...I think there is an iPhoe app that will take xrays.  Lemme see if I can find it.
Me: Of course there is.
(Older Drama Queen finds the app and takes a picture of my foot)
Me:  So what did the xray show?  Is my foot chipped?
Older Drama Queen: No. It didn't show up.  I just got a really cool picture of your tattoo though.
Me:  That's okay.  I have to go see my OB/GYN on Monday anyway.  I'll have him take a look at it while my feet are in the stirrups.

THE END!!!!

141 of 365...I Would Like To Recant...

...my previous blog where I stated I liked being busy.  Last night was glorious.  There were absolutely no activities the Drama Queens had to participate in.  I took full advantage of a night at home.  Dinner was done by 5.  We ate and cleaned up by 5:30.  My butt was planted on the couch with my Kindle in hand by 5:31 pm.

Tonight I will not be so fortunate. The things I put off doing last night will now need to get done tonight.

Pick up Little Drama Queen from school
Feed Little Drama Queen
Take Little Drama Queen to gymnastics
Finish school supply shopping for Older Drama Queen
Go pick up the dining room chair I ordered
Go make car payment
Go to mall to get plastic spacers for Older Drama Queen's ears
Get my niece a birthday gift
Drop spacers off to Older Drama Queen so she can participate in soccer practice
Pick up Little Drama Queen from gymnastics
Pick up Older Drama Queen from soccer

140 of 365...TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Fall)

Okay so it's really hard to say it's Fall when it's still 106 degree outside and well, Fall doesn't really happen for another month.  To me it's Fall when the kids go back to school.  And OH HOW I LOVE FALL!!!

I am NOT a summer time person at all.  I came to terms with this several years back and every year I struggle with emotions during the summer.  Financially the summer kills us.  Jealousy runs through my veins when I see all of my teacher friends bragging on Facebook how they're hanging at the pool.  Or how they got to sleep all day.  Or how they are off to their next trip to the beach.  I can't stand the heat.  How the Hell did I end up in Texas???  Because I was young and stupid.  This year has been extremely bad.  We've had 57 days of 100+ degree weather.  There are no schedules when summer time comes around.  My kids had no routine and that is no bueno for me.

So alas...school started on Monday.  Yes, our lives are very busy now that school has started, soccer practice/games have started, gymnastics is in full swing, etc etc etc.  But I LOVE the routine in it all.  I like being busy.  The girls seemed to really get in the routine of things pretty quickly and I just hope and pray they continue to like their classes, teachers and activities.  This also takes my mind off of the fostering/adoption process.  The more I read and hear the more I wonder if I really want to take on this system that is so screwed up.  Since I know nothing will happen until at the least the end of September, I've chilled out A LOT and will be perfectly fine if this process does or doesn't happen.

139 of 365...So That's Where That Went

Older Drama Queen was cleaning my shot glasses (see blog 137) and found this on the top of our cabinets!!! What is it you ask? Why it's the metal pin that was surgically implanted into my leg back in 1989 and was then removed a year later!!!


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138 of 365...Home Study

This has been a CRAZY week at work so I haven't really had the desire to blog.  Well, I had the desire to blog but it would not have been a very nice blog which probably would've gotten me fired.  So for those of you who say I can't keep my mouth shut, well I did a very good job of it this week.

So last Friday our family had the Home Study completed by our Family Specialist.  She assumed it would be about a 3 hour interview, but apparently she didn't remember how much Geek Boy likes to talk.  So she ended up being at our house about 6 hours.  It all was pretty painless.  She and I just don't mesh well together.  She was great with my girls and Geek Boy and she was nice enough during the family interview, but there was something "off"  when it was just the two of us.  Oh well...

Basically we just wait on her to type up the Home Study which will be sometime at the end of September (hopefully).  I'm at a point where I just don't care anymore.  I mean, I still want to adopt through fostering but the time tables and red tape are just so discouraging.  So when it happens, I'll be happy.  In the meantime, we just go about our normal lives and whatever happens will happen.

137 of 365...It's 5 o'clock Somewhere

I collect shot glasses. Don't know why, but I do. I got home on Monday from a very bad day at work and this is what I find



My first thought was Older Drama Queen knew mommy had a bad day so she was helping me get my drink on!!! I even thought, okay Older Drama Queen didn't have to watch Little Drama Queen so she got her drink on. But no...Older Drama Queen was being a sweetheart a decided to clean all of the dusty shot glasses.


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136 of 365...Stud Finder

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135 of 365... Eye Heart Geek Boy

Geek Boy has his yearly eye infection that plagues him every year at this time. And of course every year the doctor gives him different stuff to try. I think the doctor should diagnosis time outs on the ipad, but then that will just open up different medical issues.



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134 of 365... Prayer Request

Please pray for my friends, Jason and Sheryl.  Sheryl is facing some serious health issues and recently left the hospital after almost passing away a few weeks ago.  I don't know all of the details, but I do know they are one strong family that rely heavily on their faith.

They have 3 small children who need their mother and father to be there 100% for them. 

I ask that you pray for Sheryl's health issues and pray that her body heals and gets strong enough for her to go through a surgery in September.  I ask that you pray for them to find the resources to be able to buy a house in a safer neighborhood.  They currently live in a nice neighborhood, but often get the back lash of gang related issues.  I ask that you pray for their safety until they can get out of this neighborhood.  I ask that you pray for Jason to find the strength to be able to work, take care of the kids, and be there for Sheryl.

I wish I could jump on a plane and help them out.  But I find comfort in knowing that they have a great support system in Washington.  Jason Sheryl, I love you guys and am praying non stop for your family.

133 of 365...Well That Was Crappy

Saturday evening I had an unexpected GNO. My friend and I had a blast hanging out at Boomers, watching our first UFC fight. We did have a slight bird problem and as a result, see picture below...



Yes that is bird poo floating in her beer!! Good times...


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132...Rules Rewards Consequences...

I found this on Amazon.com for our foster placement...



Thinking about ordering one for Drama Queens...lol

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131 of 365...A Letter To My Flowers...

Dear Flowers,
When I bought you a few months ago, I was out to prove a point to the world. I wanted to prove that I could nurture you by watering and feeding you properly. I envisioned you growing and thriving in my beautiful flower bed. I envisioned neighbors stopping by the house and admiring how colorful you are and asking me for gardening tips. After living in the neighborhood 9 years, I envisioned finally getting Yard of the Month.

But then I got this in the mail today...



So this weekend you will go to flower heaven....

I tried!!!

Love,
Diva


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130 of 365...Don't Strain Yourself

So I asked Older Drama Queen to do a load of laundry and this picture shows the fruits of her labor...sigh...I just love teenagers!!



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129 of 365...We Are Family

Geek Boy has been wanting us to have our family pictures taken for about a year now. I'm cheap and didn't want to spend the money on going to an indoor studio where the pictures would be fake and cheesy. I've always wanted to do an outdoor photo shoot but was discouraged with the price tag. But our prayers were answered. A close friend told me about a photographer in the area and I shot him an email. Within 20 minutes or so, we had our family photo session scheduled.

Here are just a few he took...

If you're in the DFW area, please visit John Hock Photography on Facebook. If you schedule an appointment, please tell him Dara sent you. John is wonderful and he has a great talent. I really would like to see his business grow.

128 of 365...Broken Record

You're probably sick of me blogging about the adoption process. My goal is to help other families out there who may be considering fostering or adopting. I also plan on make my blog into a book at the end of the year so this is also a journaling process for me.

This week has been MUCH better than the last two weeks. Geek Boy and I finally seem to be on the same page. We have sat down the last two evenings and did homework together. It has been really nice to sit down and actually communicate on how we would handle certain situations.

Sooo...here's the latest....
Man cave is all gone!!!! We need to paint and then Older Drama Queen can move into that room.

Once Older Drama Queen is out of her current bedroom, we will clean the carpets and paint the room. Hoping to find some bedroom furniture that is suited for a boy.

We have our home study on Friday, August 12th. So next week will be spent cleaning, organizing and making sure we can pass the health/fire inspection.

On Saturday, August 27th we have one more training class. We were supposed to take this class last weekend but the trainer had a death in her family so we had to reschedule.

Continue to work on our family scrapbook for the adoption. We had pictures taken on Sunday by an amazing photographer so I should be able to wrap up the scrapbook by this weekend. If you're in the DFW area and are looking to have pictures taken, please visit www.johnhockphotography.com

127 of 365...My Turn

So I guess it's my turn to have a little panic attack about the fostering/adoption process. I think it all started around 11:30 this morning when several of our friends and family received a reference letter from our Family Specialist. I happened to be with one of my friends when she received the email and I got a "sneak peek" at what was being asked.

I really do feel like this whole process is guilty until proven innocent. I immediately started doubting myself as a person and a parent. I wear my emotions on my sleeve so people generally know when I'm stressed out. How do I handle stress???? Depends...I can shut down all together. I can yell and scream until I get my point across. I blog. I Facebook. I turn to my friends for advice. More often than not, when I'm stressed out and feel totally lost, I call Geek Boy because he is my true sounding board. He is amazing at handling stress. He is great at calming me down and just listening. Are any of these traits productive in raising a foster child? I don't know but I feel I'm totally screwed in this area.

So when my friend let me see some of the questions, my heart sank and I got sick to my stomach. She has seen me stressed out and more often than not I have not handled myself appropriately. I can remember totally losing it and she literally had to hold me up and walk me to her office to calm me down.

How am I going to handle myself in these stressful situations? I'm sure in most fostering situations I will have to handle and deal with stress right on the spot. So I really have to dig deep and figure out how I'm going to be prepared.

There is just so much to do before the home study and I'm just sick of it. I'm sick of filling out paperwork, which will not end after we become licensed. I'm sick of second guessing every conversation I have with my girls wondering if they'll talk about this or that during the home study and how it will be perceived by our Family Specialist. I'm sick of worrying about putting together a damn scrapbook so we can do a match adoption. I'm sick of worry about locking up all of our medication. I'm sick of thinking about how we can provide structure to a child that is in the system. I'm sick of trying to figure out what age child we want to take in. I'm sick of worrying about Geek Boy getting the man cave ALLLL cleared out. I'm sick of worrying about finances. I'm sick of not knowing the unknown.

Well my laptop is about to die so I better wrap up this blog and try to get some sleep.

126 of 365...Sassy

Older Drama Queen got her hair ALLLLL cut off today.

Before...

After...

125 of 365...Big Man on Campus

Another picture taken by Oldest Drama Queen...

We do have another cat, but she is a DIVA cat in all aspects and will not let us take any photos of her.

124 of 365...Ever Wonder How Geek Boy Got His Name???

Yes, this is Geek Boy hanging out at the lake with his iPad!!! Never leaves home without it.

123 of 365...All American Kitty

Older Drama Queen took this picture of Plato. I love how this photo turned out...

122 of 365...Miscarriage Was A False Alarm

After a very stressful couple of days, Geek Boy and I went ahead and went to our 5 hours of training today. I really was expecting the worst because we hadn't fully gotten over the traumatic experiences of last week's training. So I went into this class fully expecting a total "miscarriage" and we would just go adopt another cat or something. But to my surprise this training was pretty light hearted. The other couples in our class are GREAT and we ask a lot of questions, which our Family Specialist loves. The 5 hours really did go by quickly and by the end of class several of us were exchanging phone numbers and email addresses.

The Family Specialist was giving Geek Boy a hard time because he was challenging her in certain areas and told him she has our file FLAGGED and would make sure our home study is very thorough. It was all fun and teasing, though.

Just to give you an idea how stupid this system can be, let me give you a scenario. We CAN NOT under any circumstances have a trampoline in our yard. If our neighbor were to have a trampoline and our foster child wanted to go next door with the rest of the kids to play on the trampoline, there would need to be EIGHTEEN (18) TRAINED SPOTTERS to watch our one foster child. However, I don't have to lock up any of our alcohol. The alcohol can be at eye level to where the child can reach it.

Next week we have 8 more hours of behavioral training and WE ARE DONE WITH TRAINING FOR A YEAR. Our home study will be the week of August 7th. Crossing our fingers we can get our fingerprints done by that time. If all goes well, we could be verified by the end of September.

However, I did find out we have to provide healthy food and provide 3 meals a day along with snacks for our foster child. I really need them to define healthy. Cherry Pop Tarts instead of Chocolate Frosted ones????? 3 meals???? Seriously...LOL I'm good with going to McDonald's 3 times a day.

Now, there could be some snags and I am fully aware that I could still miscarry. But I'm going to tiptoe around here and try to be the cool and relaxed one and calm Geek Boy down when he has a full fledged panic attack. BTW, I'm the one on Prozac...not him. After last week's episode I was ready to slip him a few.

Oh and on another note, I had to have my doctor write a note stating how long I have been on Prozac, what is my diagnosis, and if I was fit to be a parent. I will be happy to report that my official diagnosis is not for depression. It's for PMDD (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder). Basically I'm a bitch and need to be on medicine...LOL And he also said that up to this point he has no reason for concern regarding my maternal capabilities. Yes, I have framed this letter and posted it so my girls can see it at ALLLL times.

121 of 365...Foster/Adoption Miscarriage???

A few days ago I was writing a blog in my mind regarding Foster/Adoption conception. I had planned on using analogies on how the beginning of the foster/adoption process is a lot like conceiving a child. But then something hit me head on yesterday afternoon and come to find out I will be blogging about a possible foster/adoption miscarriage.

For a few days or so, I could tell something just wasn't right in our household. I kept putting it in the back of my mind thinking, "Oh he's just tired and cranky from work," or, "Oh this homework is pretty detailed so he'll get to it when he has Friday off and has time to really think in depth about the answers."

But about 11 am yesterday, Geek Boy called me and confessed that he doesn't think he can do the whole foster to adopt thing and has a lot of reservations about adopting through the state. After the initial shock, I asked my boss if I could leave work a little early to try and meet with Geek Boy to go over these issues.

I mean, we have come sooooo far in this process. He has moved out of the man cave; we have decluttered and organized our house, we have announced this process to our friends and family, we have spent 20 grueling hours in training and not to mention all of the paperwork that comes along. We're soooooo freaking close!!!!

After meeting with Geek Boy and talking for about an hour, we kind of left things in an unresolved situation. About two hours later the anger, the mourning of this possible loss and the resentment hit me. I cried, I stomped my foot, I took a shower just to try and rinse all of the hurt I was feeling away. I shot out emails and texts to my friends for support and prayers. And all of this is being done without Drama Queens knowing what is going on.

Finally I decided to put my big girl panties on and talk rationally to Geek Boy. He has some very logical concerns. He is scared of the unknown. He went through the same 20 hours of training and heard the same horror stories of the abuse these kids have gone through. Our life is stressful enough raising two "normal" children so what's it going to be like to add a child who has is now in the system and has been abused or neglected? Normally I'm the person who says the glass is half empty and everything is doom and gloom, but for whatever reason my heart keeps telling me we are doing the right thing and that we need to continue on. I've talked to enough people and read enough blogs to know all of these feelings are normal and if you can get passed this stage, it will be fine.

There are a lot of other issues he is scared of like having to answer to the state and caseworkers about everything that goes on in his home. I keep telling him that in training, they are giving us worst case scenarios and I've talked to enough people to know we would not be subjected to all that. Will we have home inspections quarterly? Yes. Will we need to leave work to take the child to a visit with the parents or to the doctor? Yes, but we have to do that with our own children. Could we have an unannounced inspection? Possibly, but not probable. If we don't give them reason to show up unannounced then they probably won't.

So where do we stand? I'm not sure. We are going to finish our training classes. We are going to meet and talk with some friends who know the system and who have been through this process. Please stay tuned...

120 of 365...Where In The World Are Diva and Geek Boy???

Can't believe it's been over a month since I've blogged.

So June pretty much came an went. It was a pretty uneventful month, with the exception of Geek Boy's 41st birthday, our 16 year anniversary and Father's Day. Oh...and Little Drama Queen was vacationing all over the country with her grandparents. But as far as the adoption process, it was pretty uneventful. Geek Boy did some cleaning of the man cave. I did a little painting. We discovered Ikea!!!!

This past weekend we attended about 18-20 hours of training. My mind is still on overload from all of the information. What an emotional rollercoaster. The main thing I learned that in this process you must have PATIENCE, FLEXIBILITY AND FAITH. Those of you who know me very well know that I have little to no patience. As I get older the flexibility becomes easier to handle. We have a teenager for goodness sakes...you have to be flexible. I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason so I have to have faith that this process will work itself out.

I don't want this to turn into a long blog and I will try to blog more frequently as I think of things to share, but please understand that this foster/adoption process is not something you can just pick out a child and it's done. The state does not move fast with anything. There is tons of paperwork to complete, background checks to look over, financial records to be approved, fire and health inspections, home studies by case workers. So if you ever ask me if we have a kid yet, and I scream at you, please don't take it personally. Please know that the process is long and grueling and very evasive. I still think it would be easier to go find a high school girl who is knocked up and ask her if she's interested in putting her baby up for adoption, but then I would probably be kicked out of the school and the PTA needs me too much...LOL

Now for those people who have thought about fostering or adopting through the state and they ask me if I would do this process knowing what I know now, I would say absolutely YES. There are children out there who need love and need advocates for them and if you could just save one child from the system, I would say go for it. If you're a married couple considering doing this, you have to have each other's back and have a strong marriage. Both parties have to be on board with this. I can honestly say that Geek Boy and I could not have started this process 3 years ago. Not sure what it would've done to our marriage but I can assure you it would not have been in the best interest of any CPS child to be in our home. And I'm not saying we were on the brink of divorce or that a child would've suffered in our home. I'm just saying that we could not have given the love and attention to a child in CPS. We didn't have the committment that it takes, but we do now and are very excited to move forward.

This week we will finish up more paperwork that has to be turned into our case manager and then we attend 5 1/2 hours of training next Saturday.

As always, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. I promise to blog more. There's just so much to say and I get overwhelmed.

119 of 365...Date Night At The Clinic

First of all, I'm not sure why I continue to number my blogs. It's not like I am going to actually write 365 blogs this year. And as for the picture blog, yep not going to happen. I just find myself taking the same types of pictures and those tend to get pretty boring.

Anyway, now to the latest on the adoption process. One of the things Geek Boy and I are required to do for the adoption is get a TB test done. Insurance companies will not cover the test so it's very expensive to go to the doctor. Care Now wanted $77 for each test. The Health Department does them for $20 but only on certain days, which did not fit our schedule. So after doing some Google searches I found that CVS Minute Clinics do the testing for $27. I immediately called Geek Boy and asked him if we could have a date night. Of course who could say no to going to the clinic and getting stuck with a needle that could possibly cause a huge knot on your arm?

So after dropping Older Drama Queen off at youth group, we headed out to get our tests. It was pretty painless. She just stuck a needle under the skin of our arm and that was that. We had to wait 48 hours to see if a knot appeared on our arms. So she instructed us to come back Friday evening and have them evaluate our arms and they would give us official paperwork saying we're negative. What did that mean....woohoo...a bonus date night at the clinic.

Geek Boy and I took Older Drama Queen to dinner Friday night and then we went back to the clinic where I'm happy to announce, we do not have TB.

In other adoption news, we FINALLY signed up for all of our classes. Looks like by the end of July we'll have all of our classes wrapped up and will be able to schedule the Home Study. In the meantime, we HAVE to finish baby proofing this house.

We are trying to mark off a few things each week from the list so we're not scrambling around in August in a panic to get stuff crossed off.

118 of 365...First Training

Geek Boy and I attended our first training session for the adoption. It just absolutely baffles me how much training we have to go through in order to save a child and to get them out of the system. All the while, in most cases the mom and/or dad are not providing adequate care and are in no way shape or form able to take care of an innocent child. But it's like we are guilty until proven innocent.

But with that being said, we are still trudging forward with the process. It looks like we can finish 90% of our training classes by the end of July. There are a lot of what if's in this process. But we are certain that some place out there is a boy that is ready to join our home. It's just very overwhelming to hear of the "baggage" these kids come with.

There probably won't be any new developments for a couple of weeks. Our case worker is on vacation next week and we aren't scheduled to take another training class for two weeks. We may postpone the class due to a scheduling conflict. In the meantime, we are still organizing and decluttering the house. My goal tomorrow is to finish painting the hallway and then the next thing I want to do is clean out the pantry to get all of the chemicals out of a child's reach. Basically we need to baby proof our house. My 19 month old niece is coming over in a few weeks and I think she'll be able to help us out in that area...LOL

117 of 365...That Was Easy

If you're my Facebook friend or any kind of friend to me, you will know that this tearing down wallpaper project has been a bit off a....challenge (to say the least).

It all started 4 years ago (almost to the day that I'm writing this). There was a little piece of wallpaper pulling up and I had been contemplating taking it down and redecorationg so I thought, "What the heck? I'll just take it down and get this done in no time." That summer my brother and his then girlfriend were coming into town for a week or so. My goal was to get the whole hallway finished by the time they came for their visit.

Here's just a little glimpse of everything thing that has happened in that 4 years:

My brother and his girlfriend broke up right after that visit. He has since married a wonderful and beautiful young lady. He is now in the Army and starting a new life with his wife.

Older Drama Queen has had an eardrum transplant and using a hearing aid. She has lost all of her baby teeth. Graduated from elementary school and is now going into 8th grade. Went from wearing a size 3 shoe in youth size to wearing a size 9 shoe in women's size. She is about 5'2" (taller than me). Recently got two bar bell cartilage piercings. I won't even mention the bra size...LOL

Little Drama Queen was in preschool when this project started. She is now going into 4th grade. At the time, she hand no hand/eye coordination. Last week she received all sorts of gymnastics awards for the year. Oh...and this will really tell you how long this project lasted...4 years ago she couldn't even open a box of Pop Tarts. Not only can she open a box now, she can stick them in the toaster...LOL

Geek Book is on his second iPhone. He has acquired an iPad, network routers, a new laptop, desktop, Apple TV, 52" flat screen TV, Playstation 3, upgraded from a regular DVD player to a Blu Ray player.

Diva quit Myspace and found Facebook. Has gone through many hair colors and hair styles. Received a promotion at work. Went from wearing a size 8 to a size...you guess. Has also gone through 2 iPhones, 2 Kindles, 2 iPods, acquired an iPad, new laptop, 2 cameras.

Our family has welcomed 2 kittens in our home. Had to make the difficult decision to have our dog of 11 years put to sleep after an extended illness. There have been two baby nieces born in the family. 5 very close family members have passed away.

So last weekend the wallpaper was all torn down. I primed the walls and painted the walls that had wallpaper on them. At one point during the process I thought, "That was easy." Why did it take me so long to get this wallpaper off. Procastination perhaps? Lack of wanting to put forth any effort in making my home nice? Depression? Scared of what I would find underneath the wallpaper? Probably a little bit of all of the above.

The point of this blog is don't let things slow you down for 4 years. If you keep prolonging the inevitable then it causes so much unnecessary stress. Life is going to go on with or without you and it's how you choose to live it. I know it was just wallpaper, but it really brought me down for 4 years. The other night I was just staring towards the hallway and Older Drama Queen asked what I was staring at. I said, "The hallway. I can't believe it's finished."

116 of 365...Informational Meeting

Geek Boy and I attended an informational meeting this evening about fostering, fostering to adopt, and adoption through the state. We found out some very valuable information and have made some decisions on what journey we would like to make.

At this point our calling is to do an adoption through the foster care. This means that we will most likely adopt an older child. We would like the maximum age to be 8 years old. Due to state and federal laws, a child has to be in foster care 12 months before they are eligible for adoption. Now there are loopholes in the system like if the parent relinqueshes (sp?) all rights to the child before the 12 months are up. The state's goal is to keep the child with the family so foster care and adoption are the absolute last resort.

My heart just hurts thinking I could foster a small child for 12 months and then have to give him/her back to the family. Perhaps when we are older and don't want to add a permanent member to our family, we can consider fostering but for now it's just not something I can emotionally handle. Geek Boy summed it up perfectly when he said, "I want a child to add to our family who I can call my own and he can have my last name."

We also realize that adopting an older child means there's a lot of baggage. This child has been in the system for a long time and has probably been bounced around from one family member to the next so there is a lot of emotional and probably physical abuse that has taken place. So the more training we can get, the better we can become as adoptive parents. It also made me realize Geek Boy and I will have to train the Drama Queens (I was calling them Little Divas, but they are really Drama Queens) on how to handle a child with "baggage". They have no idea what it's like to go without the basic necessaties. So it is a learning process that the whole family must take on.

My heart wants to rush this process through but my head is telling me to take it slow and to embrace all of the resources out there that our agency can give us. Based on the numbers we saw this evening, there is not a shortage of kids needing to be adopted. There is a boy out there waiting to join our family so we just have to be patient.

But of course if that baby just happened to fall into my lap, we certainly wouldn't turn him away...LOL

I have friend who works for CPS and my hat goes off to her and the whole CPS system. We got just a small glimpse of what they see every day and I can't even imagine what that is like. It takes a pretty special and strong person to see all of that abuse and neglect day in and day out.

115 of 365...Please Pray

That I can keep this plant alive!!

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114 of 365...First Step

Wow!! Things are moving rather quickly with the adoption process. This morning a lady of the adoption coalition emailed one of her co-workers and asked them to get in contact with an agency to help us out. As I was frantically leaving the office to pick up the Little Divas, an emailed popped up from the agency we've been assigned to!!!

As soon as I got home, I started working on it and then when it was time for me to pick up the younger Diva, I handed all of the paperwork over to Geek Boy and asked him to work on it. I consider myself pretty organized but Geek Boy way surpasses me in that department. He was able to find paperwork that I didn't even know we still had.

By the time I got home everything was photocopied and he labeled everything I needed to sign. All I needed to do was finish the financial side of the paperwork.

So tomorrow I'm going hand deliver the application. In the meantime, I need to get all of the pets vaccinated and get a copy of my high school diploma. Since we are possibly going to foster and then adopt, it looks like we have to have a fire inspection and health inspection.

Yep...this is really happening!!

113 of 365...Clean Sweep

All of this work



Just so we can move this



Out of the kitchen and into a corner in the corner of our living room. But we did throw away a lot of things and have a box started for Half Price Books. So it was all worth it.

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112 0f 365...We're Expecting

Did I get your attention? No, I'm not pregnant but we are trying to add to our family by adopting a little boy!!!

Geek Boy and I have always talked about adopting-even before we had our girls. After giving birth to our second daughter we decided not to try anymore for a natural child of our own and decided sometime down the road we would adopt a little boy.

Well the time has come. This decision has been weighing very heavy on my heart for about a year. We're not getting any younger and our girls are growing up so fast. We both feel this is the perfect time to start the process.

A lot of research has been done on our parts and after some very disappointing news with some local agencies, we have decided to try and adopt through the state and are hoping to find a little boy who wants to be part of a fun and loving home. Right now our goal is to adopt a boy no older than 8 years old. There is one boy we have inquired about and are just waiting for someone to get back with us.

Geek Boy and I are scheduled to go to an information meeting on Thursday and will hopefully get some more information on getting a home study done so we can officially start the process.

We are asking all of our friends and family for lots of prayers through this process. We are working on getting the house organized and decluttered. Geek Boy is giving up his man cave (computer room) for our potential son. Luckily our house is in very good shape but there are a few minor things that need to get done. So if anyone would like to help with peeling wall paper, ripping up carpet so we can stain the floors, paint, etc please feel free to come on over. I'll feed you and provide cold beverages of your choosing.

The Little Divas are very excited about welcoming a boy into our home. I think they have a new incentive for keeping their rooms cleaned and helping us organize the house. The older Diva is anxious to show him how to play soccer and basketball. The younger Diva can't wait to take him to school.

Of course Geek Boy and I realize that this is going to be a long journey and we are prepared to take all of the necessary steps to provide a home and necessary resources for this little boy to feel safe and loved. It will not be prefect and there will be difficult times but we are strong enough to handle it.

So there you have it!!! I will blog about the journey through the good times and not so good times. Please keep us in your prayers.

111 of 365...Talk Scentsy To Me

So I have a Scentsy problem!!! It is a good problem to have because my house and office smell so good. My sister started selling Scentsy about 2 months ago and I have acquired an addiction. My current favorite scent is blueberry cheesecake. My pest control guy kept commenting on how good my house smelled. And if a man notices, you know it has to be good. If you would like to know more about Scentsy, please let me know.


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110 of 365...I Is A College Graduate

My boss is graduating from UTA next week.

We had a surprise graduation party for her, which was very top secret. My boss thinks she needs to be copied on every single outgoing email and wants to be in the know on everything in the office...hence her title of Controller. We told her we were having a Cinco de Mayo luncheon. So while she was off fetching food, the worker bees were frantically putting up decorations.

Here she is all surprised and ticked off that she was tricked...

One of our co-workers shocked at what he saw with this covert operation (the Hilary Clinton face)

The graduation girl...

It was a true Hallmark moment; almost brought tears to our eyes...

BFF's...

So proud of you Momma Bear!!!! Way to go!!!

109 of 365...My Cup Runneth Over

Is it total white trash when you have more plastic cups from BBQ places than you do glassware?

108 of 365 A Gooey Situation

If you were or are a gymnast, dancer or cheerleader you will understand this picture



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107 of 365...Very Important PSA for Coffee Drinkers!!!

Yesterday Geek Boy and I stopped at McDonald's to get some coffee. Normally I go to Starbucks for coffee, but times are tough so we're down sizing.

Geek Boy ordered himself a large black coffee and a carmel frappuccino for me. We get to the drive up window and they gave me a carmel cappuccino. Normally I wouldn't say anything, but Diva is a little tired of being taken advantage of so I voiced my concern in the matter and told them I ordered a carmel FRAPPUCCINO.

Next thing I know the gentleman who took our order came up to the window and said that it's called a FRAPPE and that's why he thought we wanted a cappuccino. He explained next time we needed to make sure we said FRAPPE.

So to all my coffee loving friends who will be going to McDonald's, make sure you say FRAPPE and not frappuccino.

106 of 365...Call It A Day

My absolute favorite time of the day...



Cell phones get turned off for the evening. TV gets turned off for at least an hour. I go to bed and read until 10 pm. This is what keeps me sane...my quiet time.


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105 of 365...Cardiologist Needed

The below picture is chicken fajita meat drenched in butter and wrapped in a tortilla!!!! And this is how cardiologists stay in business!!!



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104 of 365...Happy Hour???

Think my cat is trying to tell me he's thirsty??




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103 of 365...$1,500

$1,500 and all I got was this lousy uniform



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102 of 365 New Bedroom Toy

Don't be jealous. Not everyone can have a router and access point thingy in their bedroom. My man sure knows how to push my buttons...lol



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101 of 365...Junk In My Trunk

This is what the mechanic found when he opened my trunk to find my wheel locks. He politely comes to the waiting area and says, "Ms. Diva, do you happen to know where the wheel locks are in the trunk?"
You know what he was REALLY thinking, "Hey filthy slob can you move around all the junk so I can do my job and charge you $450 for a brake job that should only cost $150."