5 For Hope

Dossier...DONE!

Hang on to your hats, because this is where (I think) things will start to get good.

You've all been so patient, humming along on this adoption roller coaster ride.  If you didn't notice, about a week ago we started up a very slight incline.  I'm sure some of you heard the clinking and sensed you were headed up rather than straight forward.

My husband sent a mailer to me last Friday containing the remaining paperwork necessary to complete our dossier and submit our paperwork.  I've been not-so-patiently waiting for the mailer to show up, knowing full well the estimate is two weeks from there to here.

When I went to bed last night, something said, "Tomorrow."

I wish that something would take to whispering lotto numbers, but I'll be satisfied with just this!

It.  Came.

WHOOOOOSH....

BIG downhill rush, stomach turning, and I had to sit down and catch  my breath!  Very roller coastery.

I had logged on and sent my husband an e-mail to tell him and the next second--BOOM!!!!--and the power went out.  Hmmm.  Interesting.

I took my husband's truck (which was not parked in the garage with the now un-electrified garage door) and headed to the places on my "here's where to go once you get that mailer" to-do list.

I took the papers and went to the post office to make copies.

Then, I went to the nearly grocery store.  Was I hungry?!  NO!  Inside the store is a branch of my bank AND a service desk where I could purchase a money order. 

I then went home, assembled the final stack of papers, wrote out checks, filled in the money order, completed the UPS mailing labels, stuffed the envelopes and headed to the UPS counter.

I UPS'd my dossier and a few other things to the Assistant Stork in Virginia.  This husband and wife team will take my paperwork, by hand, to D.C. to have the Department of State sign off on it and then to the Ethiopian Embassy for them to do the same.  Then, they will use the pre-paid UPS envelope I included to send the entire thing to my adoption agency in Washington state.

I also UPS'd the photocopies and certified photocopies to our caseworker at our agency along with our dossier submission fee.  Once our paperwork arrives on her desk from Virginia, our caseworker can submit it for transfer to Ethiopia!

Phew.

I trust from now forward the updates will be a bit more frequent and tons more exciting.

One step closer to M3 and it feels AMAZING!

The paper chase is OVER!!!!

Hey, Mr. Postman...

I received an instant message from my husband today saying, "Our adoption paperwork is notarized and in the mail.  Love you!"

Love you too!

Once that paperwork arrives, we can finish and submit our dossier.

Hurry, mail!

Taking the Paper Chase Worldwide

I haven't updated lately because there has been no exciting movement.

As it stands, we were ready to submit our dossier to the Department of State and the Embassy when our caseworker noticed there was no information in our paperwork regarding my husband's Army income, etc.  In our home study time, the Army income was not used to 'qualify' for anything, so our primary employment was all we gathered information to verify.  I'm not sure how it slipped past me that I had not gathered information on the Army things.

I am in the process of securing an employment verification letter from rear detachment--those are the guys who stay  behind to run the show while others go overseas.  I also had to make out a new Affidavit of the Dossier--you know, one of the three things I took to Columbus a couple weeks ago?  Then, I had to write an explanation of the way the National Guard works, what activation of the unit means, how my husband is paid while he's deployed and why he isn't being paid by his civilian job while he is deployed.

I had some computer issues (AGAIN!) over the past week and a half, but was up and running today at least.  I e-mailed the drafts to my caseworker and she was very complimentary about the documents.  I e-mailed the verification letter information to Rear-D and e-mailed the remaining things to my husband.  He's located the JAG office and a printer, so I'm hoping it will be on its way to me via snail mail sometime this week.

The delay has been disappointing, but I'd rather find this out now than when our paperwork had already been sent overseas. 

It will be okay.

No one said this will be a quick process, so I just have to be patient.

We all know how good I am at that!

Beat the Clock

I'm a worrier.

There.  I said it.

I'm also kind of obsessive compulsive with the tendency to count and check.  As a child, I used to become physically uncomfortable watching Mr. Rogers come into his house and attempt to change into his sweater and tie his tennies before the end of the opening theme song. 

What happened if Mr. Rogers didn't finish in time?!

I didn't know.  I didn't want to find out.  I had no concept of editing and do-overs in television.  I just knew the fabric of the universe may be rent in two if the unthinkable happened.

Needless to say, I rooted Mr. Rogers on each and every day and said a silent 'thank you' each day when he finished on time.

For the past week or two, I felt like Mr. Rogers would have surely felt if he knew that I, and the other overthinking kids like me, were counting on him to finish on time.  I have felt the weight of the world and the silent cheering from the stands as I tried to finish collecting and organizing our dossier paperwork so that I could submit it in time to perhaps beat the court closure for the rainy season which usually comes in early August.

We have had blips and outright obstacles crop up, but I kept moving.

Today, in the law library, I covered two, long library tables with my paperwork.  I had to keep the originals in order in my magic binder while removing the photocopies and certified photocopies from their page protectors.  They have to be in the order they are listed on the affidavit of dossier.  I needed to remove them from the binder so I could send them to our adoption agency caseworker so she can give the dossier a once over and be sure we're good to go.

Once we receive the green light from her, we can send the originals off to the Assistant Stork in Virginia.  This mom and pop business hand carries your dossier to the State Department and the Embassy to have it primped and processed.  Then, the dossier is shipped to the adoption agency and off to Ethiopia.

The to-do steps have dwindled, my friends.  And, even with the blips and boneheaded happenings of the past week, we may be able to squeeze ourselves through that window before court closure.  Pray we do.  It would be an amazing peace of mind to have going through the remainder of summer.

I'm packing up the originals (but not sealing the mailer, obviously!) over the weekend with all the other necessary items so it's seal and go when the green light comes. 

I will be sooooo relieved to be done chasing paper.  Seriously.