Boot Camp?

Yes, that's right.  Joseph will be attending a boot camp of seminars for the blind and visually impaired it's "an intensive 3 day workshop that will focus on many of the elements that make a job search successful.  It is designed to assist you in restarting, re-energizing, re-tooling your job search efforts." We signed Joseph on to do this in June and we were hoping that we would have to cancel because he would have a job but no he doesn't. 


We are being put up in the double tree hotel in downtown spokane, right near Riverfront Park. And our gas is being re-imbursed! Which is awesome because we have to borrow my parents Honda Pilot, it's the only car with AC, and we have to travel in the middle of the day. (We can usually plan our travels to miss the heat, but this is an exception, we didn't plan it, or our arrival time) So we will be spending more than usual on gas, but it's alright it still comes out to free. Joseph will have meal vouchers, for breakfast and dinner while we are there. We're frugal so we can probably make it work for the both of us. I will have to find my own lunches though because that meal is served at bootcamp  each day and I don't get to attend.


My plans involve walking around riverfront park, maybe a little of riverside drive, picture taking at both places, both are in walking distance from the hotel. Maybe check out the botanical gardens, lots of swimming in the outdoor pool, a little laying out in the sun. some movie watching in our room,  book reading, maybe a little shopping, we want to make a visit to see the Toths... but basically Joseph will be busy, I will be trying to keep busy and we'll still have time enough together to make this feel like an almost all-expenses paid vacation. 


We're really excited to go. See you later. 
Although I may update from there, we will have wifi.
Until then here are some flower pictures.

(This is the background on my iPod right now.)

Courtesy for the Blind

Totally just FYI.

There are many different websites with Courtesy/Etiquette for the blind

and I liked this one the most...

And no worries if you mess up,

I (Shaylee) have,

there is a large learning curve for vision loss for all involved.

(I made a couple additions, they are in blue)

1. I'm an ordinary person, just blind. You don't need to raise your voice or address me as if I were a child. Don't ask my spouse what I want—"Cream in the coffee?"—ask me.
2. I may use a long white cane or a guide dog to walk independently; or I may ask to take your arm. Let me decide, and please don't grab my arm; let me take yours. I'll keep a half-step behind to anticipate curbs and steps. It is also okay to tell me of upcoming hazards that I may not be aware of.
3. I want to know who's in the room with me. Speak when you enter. Introduce me to the others. Include children, and tell me if there's a cat or dog. And please let me know when you leave.
4. The door to a room or cabinet or to a car left partially open is a hazard to me. As well as other things that I could trip on such as shoes, bags, clothes etc.
5. At dinner I will not have trouble with ordinary table skills. But it is not impolite to make me aware of what utensils,condiments or food is in front of me.
6. Don't avoid words like "see." I use them, too. I'm always glad to see you.
7. I don't want pity. But don't talk about the "wonderful compensations" of blindness. My sense of smell, touch, or hearing did not improve when I became blind. I rely on them more and, therefore, may get more information through those senses than you do—that's all.
8. If I'm your houseguest, show me the bathroom, closet, dresser, window—the light switch, too. I like to know whether the lights are on.
9. I'll discuss blindness with you if you're curious, but it's an old story to me. I have as many other interests as you do.
10. Don't think of me as just a blind person. I'm just a person who happens to be blind.

I have messed up. I left the room with out telling Joseph and he couldn't find me. I have also entered a room without announcing my presence and scared him. I forget, it takes time to learn. And we are learning more everyday.

Modifications

had to be made to our daily life and routines. Joseph's eyesight (or lack of) is permanent we are learning ways to make life easier and more normal for him.
These are some of the modifications we've had to make...
(lots of pics, it would be hard to explain without them)

Meet Albert, Joseph's walking companion.
He is a trek pole,
our favorite REI guy hooked us up at the REI bi-annual garage sale. He knew we were coming and what we were after he held onto these (I say these because it was a set of 2, 1 broken, 1 good) and brought them to us while we were in line with our other finds.

Albert has a great handle with an adjustable strap.

We modified the tip by adding a rubber cap.
In Home modifications:
This is the dryer, we used craft foam with a sticky back used a hole punch to make the lovely dots. The dots are color coded and tactile. Joseph just has to line up the dots (using sight and or touch).

This is the washer, he has to line up the dots to turn the washer on the normal cycle.
Steffi (Mobility Counselor) made a house call and she checked this out, I got a high 5!

Joseph's Enlarger (or CCT TV whatever that means)
It has a camera under the TV part and you can make adjustments, like zoom, focus, invert color, color changes, reading lines or blocks.


This is normal color

Inverted

And color change, there are many colors, some easier on the eyes than others!

So, that is your little peak.

*js*

Adoption class

Well not too much to say.. the last two classes have been really interesting but not so informative, so there's not much to pass on. Two weeks ago we had the adoptive parent panel and that was great to see all the different kinds of adoption that can happen and how they worked out for these couples. For example: trans-racial,special needs, third party and there was a recent adoption) We loved hearing their stories and hearing their advice for all of us, pretty much they said don't give up and to network, tell everyone you know that you are adopting, you don't know who is going to know someone that is placing a child for adoption and they may be looking for you! Last week was the adoptive parent panel, or birthmother panel, it was really neat to see adoption from their point of view, what it is like for them to place a baby for adoption, what they deal with, and have dealt with. This class helped us to think more about what kind of relationship we would like to have with a future birth mother and it made us think about how to help them feel appreciated and loved from us, with all they have to deal with after placement. It was a good class, and it is nice to know it isn't all "bad" girls that get pregnant, just good girls who made little bad decisions one after another until they ended up pregnant. We like our adoption classes and it has helped us to understand the different sides of adoption.

The ABC's of Adoption.

Well it is really hard to summarize all that we covered in this class. The lady who teaches this classes was adopted, she has adopted, and her father is an adoption attorney. So she has a really interesting perspective on the subject. We learned a lot more about what we have gotten ourselves into, there is a lot that we will be required to do, there is a lot to the process and it will take time. The first piece of paper work and only piece that we get at this point is a bishop recommendation for our bishop fills out and sends in. We can't do anything else (paperwork wise) until they have received this form. Then we need to have $1,000, this gets us started on the home study part, we get the rest of the paper work and we start into the interviews (with social workers) after we get the paperwork done we make our online profiles for birth mothers to look at to decide who they may want to place their baby with. Then we wait to be chosen, but we don't pay anymore money until placement. So that is the process in a nutshell, we will need to find 4 people (non- family) to write recommendations for us (we'll probably get more than that, can't hurt can it?)

The other things that we learned in our first class had more to do with what happens after a birthmother has chosen you, and also after placement things like: Families Supporting Adoption (FSA), Letters to birthmother from adoptive father and mother (written separately), Preference sheet in adoption paperwork ( what we will or won't accept, including possible diseases, drug abuse etc..), Face to face or meeting the birthmother (before actual placement), our online profiles, placement, ICPC- Interstate Compact for the placement of Children (meaning that if we adopt out of the state of Idaho we had to stay in the state that we adopted out of until paperwork goes through), Setting boundaries ( with birthmother, including communication agreements), Adoption tax credit (can get up to $11,390 per eligible child), Finalization (6 mo. after placement, adoption made official and get SSN for child, baby cannot be blessed in church or sealed to family before this happens).

This is what we will be doing and we don't know how we will get past the bishop's recommendation without help, after our paperwork is done we can probably find financing for the rest of the adoption. I hope that this helps you all understand the adoption process a little better (it did for us) we also hope that you will keep checking back and please feel free to leave comments, we will respond, we are really pretty open for any questions that you may have.

P.S. This blog may be more up-to-date than our parents.. lol. Just a little. :)

Adoption Classes

Part of the adoption process is attending adoption classes, we start this thurs. night. This is the schedule and classes that we will be attending, we will let you know what we learn as we go along. I have so many questions it is nice to have the opportunity to ask them and hopefully get answers.

February 28th: Introduction to Adoption & ABC's of Adoption
March 6th: Adoptive parent panel
March 13th: Birthparent Panel
March 20th: Infertility
March 27th: Adoptee Panel
April 3rd: Potluck dinner