New position

Sorry for the long wait. I've had a busy week. I started a new teaching position today. I'm now teaching in a Pre-Kindergarten, self-contained LID position. This position was unexpected and came about really quickly. In fact, it was the fastest turn around on a job ever in the history of Clarke County, with 10 hours from the time they got permission from my boss to steal me away to board approval. That is impossibly fast considering it usually takes about two weeks. I was originally told it would be mid-semester if at all this year.

So, for the next two weeks I am in with another teacher, learning the ropes. It's almost like student teaching again. Just with really small students. Most of these kids are non-verbal students with significant developmental delays. So, that is what we work on. The kids are pretty darn cute I have to say!

I will keep you updated as I go!

On a different note, Clarke County is in desperate need of foster parents, so if you know of anyone, please send them to DFACS.

Thanks!

Been a while

So, it's been a while since my last post.

I'm sitting here with a glass of wine watching switched at birth. Why do I watch a teen drama show? Well, because 2 of the characters are deaf. It's actually really good and for authenticity it has Marlee Matlin in it! It's been a rough week.

I found out I couldn't adopt Mark, or anyone for that matter, such is the hazard of being SINGLE and DEAF. I sprained my ankle at work (this was minor compared to everything else that happened). A student stole my wallet, however he admitted to it. Oh, and I have Fibromyalgia, so I have a life time of pain management to look forward to. Sorry, folks, I appear to be having a pity party for myself. I promise it won't last too long. They never do!

Now here is what I am grateful for. My family!!!! I won't go into details because my family likes to maintain their privacy but I have the most amazing daddy on the planet! Dad if you're reading this, I love you so much and thank you for listening! To your wife who I will not name, I love you too! To my friends who have listened thank you as well.

To the one who is always there and I don't always remember to thank or praise, God, thank you for surrounding me with some amazing people!

As for Mark, he is in my thoughts daily and there was another family interested in him so I think he will be okay. If I hear anything I will let you know. To all those out there who open your hearts to kids with special needs, God Bless You! It takes a special person to do that and we need more of us out there.

God Bless,

Kelly

A time to vent and a time to cry

I have to admit I'm angry. It seems like no matter what I do in my life my hearing is an issue with someone. I am so sick and tired of it being an issue. In fact it pisses me off. I can't help that I was born with nerve damage. I can't help that my hearing got worse over 12 years and I sure as hell can't help that I lost it all 3 years ago. All I can do is accept it and move on. But for them to tell me that I can't adopt because I am single and deaf is complete and total bullshit! I am telling myself that it wasn't meant to be and that Mark will find a home. I just wanted his home with me. See in a way I identified with him. I know what it's like to be different. The great thing about kids with DS is they are just the sweetest kids I have ever been around. So, I'm heart broken right now. Why is it that society has to treat those of us with disabilities like lepers? What are they so damn afraid of? That it's contagious? Get over yourselves! Do some research and stop being ignorant. Just because we are different and have a disability doesn't make us inferior. It makes us better. I don't mean better than other people in a superior way. We're just better for it.

I was meant to be this way. I don't know why exactly, just that God felt it would do some good. For whom exactly I'm not sure. Maybe me or maybe you. Maybe to make me the very compassionate and sensitive person that I am. I don't know. All I know is between the deafness and all of my never ending health issues I feel like I need a break. Yes, I'm in kind of a pity party mode, it won't last long. I have too much to be grateful for. There are people out there who have it way worse than me and some of them I know personally and love them dearly. I just really wanted to be Mark's mom.

I watched the movie Dolphin Tale tonight. If you haven't seen it, it is a must. If you don't own it, it is a must have for your movie library! If you have kids with disabilities then you definitely need to have it because it is so very inspiriring. I laughed and cried throughout that entire movie. Thankfully, the movie has a very happy ending. It is my new favorite movie.

I know this is kind of a random post, but I needed to get it all down. Thanks for reading.

Kelly

A glitch in the plan

I emailed my adoption coordinator last night to ask her if Eastern Europe would even let me adopt as I am deaf. I can only hear when I wear my cochlear implant. She emailed me back with a list of questions saying she would meet with a panel to review the information and talk to their counterparts in Eastern Europe to see if they would even let me adopt and get back to me. So, far now the adoption is on hold. Please pray for Mark that he finds his forever home. I want it to be with me, but God may want him somewhere else. Thank you!

Pampered Chef, 31 and book sale!

Well, it's been a few days since my last post so I thought I would take a minute and update you. I have submitted my application for the home study!! So, please pray that it gets approved and that it goes quickly and well! I think the next big hurdle is the dossier, so for those of you that have done one I would appreciate any advice you have to give.

I want to thank everyone that has offered their prayers and support in this journey. God is truly miraculous! I have been blessed to meet some new people who have adopted through RR and it has been very moving to hear their stories! I am also grateful to those who have offered to help me with fundraising. So many people have reached out to me and offered to help and I am truly touched! People have offered to hold Pampered Chef parties and donate their commission! Talk about a kindness! Everyone who is willing to host a 31 party for me my commission is going directly into Mark's adoption fund! I will also have a book sale for you book lovers. I love to read and have about a thousand books. I have some (maybe a couple hundred) that I am going to sell. I haven't finished weeding them out yet. It is so hard for me to get rid of books, but it's for a great cause!

That's all for now and I will keep you updated! Thank you for your support and prayers!

As always thank you for helping me bring Mark home!

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2012! It's going to be a great year! I hope you all had a fantastic New Year's Even and a great first day of the New Year! I myself took today to relax and do nothing! I go back to work tomorrow, so I took one last day of...wait a minute it wasn't a true nothing day. I did a lot of cooking! Not just NYD food, but I also put a beef stew in the crock pot. I'm not sure how it will turn out as I realized as I was putting everything in there that I didn't have any beef stock, so I used beef consumme and a half cup of Marsala wine. We'll see how it turns out.

Since I go back to work tomorrow I probably will not be posting every day, but I will keep you updated! There isn't much I can really say until I find out about the home study. So, I will keep you posted!

As always thank you for helping bring Mark home!