Last Tuesday, March 2nd, we had our second home visit, and yesterday, March 9th, was our home safety inspection. Both visits went really well.

The second home visit was very interesting. M came in and we chatted a bit, then she handed each of us a questionnaire of no more that 50 questions. Each questionnaire contained about 50 identical questions, and we had to fill them out separately. Most of the questions were multiple choice, but some had spaces to explain your answers. We were able to skip quite a few questions, since they didn't apply. These were more, of what I would consider, qualifying questions. Kind of making sure we are consistent with what we put on our original paperwork, and helps them to find out more about our lives, and past, and how we handle different situations. Some of the questions were a little difficult to answer due to the strange way they were worded. For instance, "Have you ever had an interrupted pregnancy?" Interrupted? Really? As the SW said, doesn't interrupt imply it got to continue? LOL

After filling out the questions M took us each aside and discussed the answers and asked questions about anything that stuck out to her. Think Mel talked to her for about 15 minutes, and me maybe 10. Was really no big deal. Was expecting it to be a lot harder. There were a few "have you ever used" questions, but those I were they are. I did, but not much, so nothing I'm ashamed of. I was young ... and life was interesting.

The questioning parts have really reminded me about stuff from my childhood that I'd kind of hidden away from myself. Reminds me how much of a jerk my bio dad was at times, and reminds me how much I want to give some child(ren) a better life than has been dealt them so far.

Last night was our safety inspection of the home. This was the first time we have had the opportunity to see Sherry, the Broomfield Foster Care Coordinator. When she came in, our dogs were such a wonderful welcoming committee ... it's embarrassing sometimes ... and Nate said "when you first came in you looked like a grandma." To which she didn't skip a beat and said "well, I am a grandma to 4 grandchildren." That was awesome! Nate has such a hard time when people come to see us, he so wants to be the center of attention. So cute, and such a show off.

Anyway, Sherry walked around the house, we showed her that we can easily re-attach the safety gates, and all the cabinets have locks ready to activate in case a young child is placed with us. We showed her which room we plan to give our new child(ren) and Nate enjoyed being the tour guide. All we were missing are one fire extinguisher, and an evacuation plan. She said we just need to sketch one out, and "display" it somewhere that is easy to access. Of course knowing Mel it will be a masterpiece we can frame and put in the main hall. Basically it needs to be a floor plan showing two escape routes from each room (one being the door). This means we need to buy a window ladder for the spare room and our bedroom. Nate's room, and the room next to him, can exit the windows onto the garage roof. Then we actually have to have a fire drill. All of which we have talked about doing forever, so this just makes us get it done ASAP.

We have one more home visit tomorrow night, M says this is just a requirement, and will probably just be a quick walk-thru of the house, where she can map out how the house is laid out. No biggie. Then our core training is Friday night and all day Saturday. Thank goodness for the in-laws. They are coming up for the weekend to watch Nate while we are at the training. I'm really nervous, as I know the stories are going to break my heart. Needless to say, I won't be wearing makeup on Saturday!

All we have to do after this weekend is get our CPR/First Aid training, get Mel and my physical papers signed off, get the dogs' shot records up-to-date, and get 13 more hours of training, and we will be ready to be certified. This has gone so fast. Let's hope the placement of our child(ren) goes nearly as quickly.

Until my next post ... Karyn