Why Are Manholes Round?

To preface this question, I will say that I work at a Sewage Treatment Plant.  I work in an office, not in the field, and honestly, it is the GREATEST job I've ever had.  I love my co-workers, and I can tell you more about sewage treatment and our sewer system than most people.  It is a very interesting job. 

My husband on the other hand is a Computer Software Developer.  Years ago Microsoft began asking the question "Why are manholes round?" during their interview process.  That has in turn caused my husband's developer friends to ask the same question of me when they find out I work in the Sewer Department.

So, to any of you planning to interview at Microsoft, there are a few different answers to the question, but the answer that is mostly the right one is that manhole covers are round so that the cover can't fall into the hole.  Other acceptable answers would be because humans can easily access the manhole do to our "round" mid sections, and since the weight of a cover is around 100lbs (or larger) the round shape makes it easier to roll the cover away from the manhole during maintenance. 

This has nothing to do with Fostering,  but I felt the need to blog something.  I'm getting a bit agitated that I turned down two placements while on vacation, and now my phone isn't ringing at all.  I guess it will happen soon enough!

Respite... Again!

Well July 2-11 we will be doing respite for a 5 year old little girl.  My case worker assured me that would in no way effect our actual fostering.  If they get a placement, she will still call me to set that up, which is good, because otherwise I probably wouldn't have agreed to doing the respite. 

That's pretty much the only news I have on the foster front!  :)

MY BABIES!

I have four dogs, three are rescues, two of which were "foster failures".  Over the summer of 2008, my husband and I fostered for the rescue we adopted our Schnoodle from.  That summer we had 72 dogs and/or puppies in our home.  Some stayed for hours, some for days, and others for months.  We really spent time working with the dogs to show them there are people that love them, and part of that was finding them good homes so that they could be part of a forever family.

Brooke, our Basset Hound/Poodle mix came to us at 4 months as a foster.  I knew immediately, she was meant to stay.  She was already spayed, but it was obvious from day one, she had a very "motherly" nature about her.

Brooke LOVES her toys, and she is extremely protective of them.  She carries them outside to "potty" with her.  She keeps all of the other dogs away from them.  It is cute, but annoying at the same time, because she will about rip the head off of any other dog that approaches the "babies". 

Here are a few pictures I took tonight.  Forgive her "shaggy" look.  She is due for a groom next week. 

DAYCARE!

Well, we don't have a placement yet, but thankfully with being home now, I can at least say yes or no when we get the call. 


I am so happy to be home.  I called over to a daycare that is virtually within walking distance of my house (minus the 4 lane highway) and they were so nice and helpful.  They have cared for foster children before, and the Director was very detailed in the information she provided.  The other great thing is that the school bus for our zone picks up and drops off at the daycare.  They open at 6:15 and are there until 6:30.   I hope not to have to take advantage of those hours most days, but it is nice to think I will have an hour or so after I get off work at 3:30 to come home and clean up a little before the kids are home. 

So now the wait for the phone to ring begins again!

Another Call!

Well, I woke up this morning to a voicemail from Social Services seeing if we wanted to take a placement of a 12 year old girl, and her 9 year old brother.  I called the worker back about 5 hours later, she sounded half-asleep, must have been on call last night.  I explained I was out of town so we wouldn't be able to take that placement.  She thanked me for calling back though. 

Honestly, I don't know that I am ready to take on a pre-teen.  I would prefer to stay in the lower range of our age group.  A 3-7 year old sibling group would be a better fit for us right now. 

I go home tomorrow, and hopefully we will have kids soon after!

One Year Ago....

Tomorrow will be one year since I decided I wanted to become a mom.  My husband and I began our relationship not really wanting children.  I think some of it was based in our own insecurities early on, then throw my PCOS and infertility into the mix, and it was just easier to say we didn't want kids than to explain the who, what, when, where, why, and how. 

We tried the good ol' fashioned child substitutes, God-Children, nieces, nephews, dogs, and cats, but as anyone who has tried that knows, it just doesn't last very long, because as much as my pets would love a bedtime story and to be tucked in, I am not that crazy!  :)

I decided I wanted to be a mom when I looked across the room and saw my amazing husband holding my niece at her 7th birthday party, tickling and picking on her.   After that, I knew there was NO WAY I could go on without at least trying to get pregnant and/or adopting.

To be honest, before we tried to have one of our own, we discussed fostering on many occasions.  Then we said, we would just try for a bio, and if it didn't happen with oral medications, we wouldn't go any further, and we would switch to adoption.

So here we are, a year later.  Many tears shed, many smiles cracked, and more in love than I ever imagined we could be.   Hoping to adopt from foster care.

We can't wait to welcome children into our home and show them all of the love and guidance they so dearly deserve! 

Also, I think the dogs are really looking forward to the extra attention!  Let us pray that attention is ALWAYS positive!

House Rules

My husband and I are fairly laid back, but we wanted to have some house rules we could use for almost all ages.  While here visiting my family in Florida, I saw they had this awesome "Our House Rules" tapestry posted on the wall.  It was a gift to them from my uncle.  I haven't live at home for 8 years now, but I was the oldest, so they still have kids at home.

It says: 

Dear Family, we are Blessed to be together in this place...But you must do your part so we'll have Harmony in this space.

If you make a mess, clean it up.
If you slept on it, make it up.
If it barks or meows, feed it!
If you turned it on, turn it off.
If it cries, love it.
If you want to borrow it, ask first.
If it rings, answer it.
If you opened it, close it.
If you wore it, hang it up.

Here is a picture. 

Now, some of these rules don't really apply for our house, but I like the idea none the less.

So here are Our House Rules:

If you make a mess, clean it up.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you take it out, put it up.
If you break it, admit it. 
If you borrow it, return it.
If it is yours, take care of it. 
If it belongs to someone else, ASK before you use it.
If you don't know how to use it, leave it alone and ask for help.
If it will make someone happy, do it. 
If it will hurt someone's feelings, keep it to yourself.
If it barks or meows, feed it and love it.
If it is empty, tell us so we can refill it.

I am sure we will find more "rules" and guidelines once we have kids, but I think these rules are great for any household.