13-Oct to 19-Oct

Family finding:
Sorry for no update last week.  Mary chased up the online group again, after having seen them in one of the paper publications.  Apparently they are to start family finding in November so we wait again.  On Friday (9th) we went to a family-finding event where local authorities advertise children that they are unable to place.  We saw four groups that we were interested in and narrowed it down to one group; we gave our social worker their details.  We have agreed to wait until after the outcome of the social worker meeting on Tuesday (13th) before we decide whether to progress them.

Camping update:  we camped in our back garden and it was brilliant.  We pretended we were in a camp site and we set everything up and cooked meals and washed up, etc.  It was great fun!  We found that we didn't need the dustpan and brush that Mary had packed but we did need the wardrobe / shelf unit that Mungo said we didn't need and we needed another table that neither of us thought we would need. So we were both pleased all in all, if a little achey the next morning!  We also realised that double glazing is worth every penny - we thought our little estate was quiet but the traffic and general noises were really loud!  The weather was lovely, it rained a bit in the morning for about 20 minutes or so, and then it cleared up into a beautiful day.

13-Oct: After Mary spent days turning the house practically upside-down re-arranging the upstairs rooms and freecycling all our junk we were ready to face the next set of social workers.  They are interviewing us about a sibling group of two: a girl and boy.  Ding ding!  Round Three!  They arrived and asked who the main carer was going to be; when Mary said it was her they asked her all the questions and didn't ask Mungo a single one all the way through!  Our social worker commented that it was unusual and we noticed it too.  We shared answering the question and asking our own questions together, but still they directed all the questions at Mary!  Really weird!  It did make Mary feel uncomfortable and very nervous at first.  We answered all their questions and felt very happy with our answers.  We showed them around the house and expained how the rooms would work out if birth mum had another child and we agreed to take it on.  They seemed to like us, however, it's a competitive link, which means another couple have also been interviewed.  This means that even though the like us, they may not like us as much as the others.  Or should I say that we may not have more to offer the chilren than the others AND what we / they have to offer may not be the best that the social workers think they can find for the children.  They may turn both of us down and carry on looking!  When they left we felt that we had done the very best we could and our social worker was very pleased with us too.  They have a meeting on Thursday and we are expecting to hear in the afternoon.  Only one more sleep and several more agonising hours waiting then!

Studying:
Mary's courses: Childcare, Learning and Development, NVQ Level 3 - half way through number 6 (of 10). Nutrition and Health of School Aged Children, NVQ Level 2 - passed with a Distinction - yayyy!
Mungo's courses: M255 (Java Programming) – fourth and final assignment score was a massive 94%!!!  Well done Mungo!  The exam date is 14th October - Mungo is sitting the exam as Mary types!  MT264 (Designing Applications With Visual Basic) – course started 3rd October.