Progress

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have no plans of taking this fostering journey off of the table. I am still, little by little, making progress on the kids' bedroom. Between item donations and money raised through the garage sale and raffle, here is some of what is in place so far:

• Bed & Pillows
• Couple of sheet sets
• Dresser
• Blinds & Curtains
• Storage bins for closet & underneath the bed
• Laundry basket
• Some books & toys
• Some various clothing items (mostly shirts)
• Backpacks & tote bags
• A few art supplies (crayons, markers, watercolors, colored pencils, scissors)
• 2 bicycle helmets & a left-handed baseball glove

Whew! What progress! My latest accomplishment is a space-saving bookshelf display inspired by Pinterest. I found a few great ideas on that site, but none quite fit within the budget I wanted. So, I created my own version using the same concept, but different supplies. I went in search of items to use and ended up at my favorite store, the Dollar Tree, where I ended up with these wire dish racks. I tried other options during my in-store testing with Gatorade bottles, but these were the strongest. Including the racks, no-slip material, and screws (from Wal-Mart), it cost me just under $10! Here is the final result! (Sorry for the poor photo quality - it was taken with my phone.)

I did get a roll of that no-slip stuff as I thought it would be necessary. But, it seemed to work just fine without it when I tossed all of these books on for testing. I may still experiment and see which works best. For now, I'm pretty proud of my little project and am excited to have nice display shelves to inspire the kids to pick one up and read it. 

As you can see, there is plenty of room for more books. If you or anyone you know has books that they would be willing to donate (that would be appropriate for children between the ages of 6-10 years old) please contact me. I would love to have more! Most of what I have now is for the younger readers and would like to have plenty of options for both ends of the age range. On my end, I will continue to shop garage sales & Goodwill/Salvation Army.

Well, this will be the last progress & update on the kids' room for at least a few weeks while I am recovering from surgery. I look forward to be able to do more on the room and getting things ready. Until then, I'll just decorate in my head!

Changes & Challenges

Two things I was fully expecting with this journey is change & challenges. I guess I just didn't expect them so early in the journey - before I have even officially applied to be a Foster parent. Lots of things have been changing in my personal life recently and some are proving to be quite a challenge as well. 


First, my email address has changed. A few weeks ago it was hacked beyond recovery. I still have the same name of 'soletmefall' but it is now '@live.com' instead of hotmail. That was quite a change. You never realize how many things you really have attached to your email address until you have to update what feels like a million other accounts!


Second, as you may or may not know, I have been reaaly sick since the beginning of June. After many visits to doctors, & just as many tests, it was determined that my gallbladder has failed and is no longer functioning properly. It was decided that they would remove it the week after my family's annual vacation, on August 17th. However, after continuing to have attacks and pressure from those around me, I called the surgeon. He moved my surgery to THIS Tuesday, the 24th. This was a heart-breaking change for me. I was trying to be strong and hold out until after my family vacation, but my body and world around me would not stand for it. My annual trip to Knoxville, IA is more than just a "vacation" away from work. It is the one time of year I actually get to spend real time with my family. Sure, I see them on holidays, but I'm only there for a couple days and everyone is running around like chickens with their heads cut off to get everything accomplished. Knoxville with my family is a tradition of more than 20 years that really feels like home. I cry at the thought of missing it. There is a 1% chance I could still go for part of the week, but I doubt it will happen. Then again, 1% is still a chance. I will just pray God will provide a way through all the challenges.


Missing my family time in Iowa is not the only challenge created by my health issue. With a lack of sick & vacation time (from my previous injury) and living on a paycheck-to-paycheck budget, I will be out of leave time at work and out of money at home. Being stretched too thin on these two fronts will mean that I probably won't have the time or money to stick to my plan of officially applying to Foster in September. I will have to delay that by at least a month or two. It has not been taken off the table by any means. It is just going  through some timing changes. Once I recover from all of the challenges of my current situation, I will be making that phone call!

I know these are just normal life changes and challenges and not comparable to the changes & challenges to come. However, at this time they seem pretty big to me. I feel like I have been handed quite a few challenges since committing to this journey towards fostering, but I also feel like God is going to take care of everything. If you have a spare moment, I would appreciate your prayers for my surgery on Tuesday, the next couple of weeks of recovery, and the challenges that will last into the next month or two. Thank you for all of your support and for following my journey!

And the Winners are....

This past Saturday, July 7th, the winners of the Raffle were chosen. And the winners are....

A Night Out:

Nancy Gifford

Massage:

Jenny Dubois

Louisburg:

Dennis Whiteside

Thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket! It was a great success and brought in a total of $210!!! I was amazed and so thankful for all of that support! A special thanks to my parents, brother, and the Kattau Family for selling tickets for me! I appreciate all of your help in that department!