I feel as if I am in need of a rope to pull myself from this huge hole in which I find myself. The past few weeks have been very tiring. The time change always leads to craziness in my life for some unknown reason. It becomes dark too early and my sleep cycle has been wacky. Add to that girls that bicker entirely too much and listen entirely too little as well as some unexpected expenses this week and I'm spent.
We also received an e-mail from our adoption agency caseworker letting us know that the Embassy in Ethiopia has requested an amendment to our homestudy. When this all began, we were under the impression that M3 was 3 or 4. By the time we submitted our paperwork to the court, we estimated her age to be 4 or 5. However, when her referral paperwork came through, the birth date shown made her solidly 6. Never mind that the doctor at the International Adoption Clinic thinks not and that we will likely amend her birthday if the tests show, as the doctor suspects, that she is younger. Her paperwork says she is 6.
Our homestudy says we are approved to adopt a girl between the ages of 4 and 6.
Apparently, once you turn 6, you are as good as 7 in paperwork world. She is now, technically, too old for our homestudy approval range.
This means our social worker has to write an amendment to the homestudy report.
I have to write a statement as to why this amendment is necessary. (Uh, because no one has any clue how old anyone is and this is TAKING SO LONG!!!!!)
Then, all this has to be submitted with a form to our USCIS field office in Cincinnati.
I am to the point where I am over the deployment. Seriously over it.
Things like this really become burrs under my saddle when I am where I am mentally with other things. In this case, deployment has made my nerves very raw and the rollercoaster that is international adoption is way less thrilling and more nauseating than I'm prepared for at the moment.
I want to just be waiting.
Not amending and freaking out and having kiniption fits over paperwork and signatures and seals. And worrying about whether or not I will have all I need when I get where I'm going. Talk about horses before carts as I need to GET where I'm going first and I'm having no luck with that either.
Our second court date is still December 18th.
I have already determined that this amendment activity will be completed this week. If I have to call the social worker three times a day, that packet will be complete and on its way to Cincinnati by week's end.
I'm just exhausted and thinking of my girl sitting there one more minute breaks my heart.
Ugh.