Well--good news! Our home study is OFFICIALLY done and I am picking it up tomorrow morning, getting it certified (remember, lovely Maryland requires certification of the notarization before it can be authenticated) and hopefully getting the rest of the documents I have certified here in good old St. Mary's county. Then, my goal is to get to Annapolis on Thursday and authenticating it all at the state level, and THEN wait for our immigration approval so that our dossier can get sent to AA! In July, of course. Which is the stop part! I am SO excited about our trip, but on the same token, it does put a damper in our dossier submission. In light of what many people have told me about how long that wait is, I guess I am really blessed that I have a great vacation to take my mind off of waiting. My fear is that there will be some snafu while we are gone, and won't get to take care of it until I get back, which will make the dossier submission longer...and fall right in line with our process as of late! I am just not going to worry about it, though. It is what it is. Like the CPA bill. For the work she did in April, $700. Now, while that sounds like a load--and it is--don't get me wrong, it is a very discounted rate from what she quoted me. She originally quoted me $140 an hour and expected it would take about 4-5 hours. Ahem. It didn't. Due to her integrity and dedication to thorough accuracy (for which I am appreciative) it took about 2-3 times longer. She DID however, cut us a big break because she was excited to be part of the adoption process--so, she lowered her hourly rate to $54.27 an hour. Which was extremely nice of her. Mind you, there's still a bill coming for the work she did in June, which includes her driving to meet us and the notary to take care of all the paperwork and will probably be a few hundred dollars more, but the bright side is that she did give us a humanitarian rate. Was it an arduous process, working with such a stickler? YOU BET. Would I have preferred someone who was not quite the stickler (and was cheaper)? Of course, a teensy bit, but in light of all the things that I read on the boards every day, I am just fine with someone who wants to do everything she can to be as honest and forthcoming as she can, all the while covering my back. Which, I feel both she and my social worker did COMPLETELY. So...chalking it up to a little less money spent in Europe. Ha ha! Who am I kidding? With the Euro kicking our butt, there will be a LOT less money spent in Europe!
Speaking of Europe, I am excited, but I have to say that I am addicted to the blogs, the boards--all of it surrounding the bringing home of our girl, and worry I will go into withdrawal from 24/7 access to my computer. So, if there are fewer posts in the next month or so, realize it is because I don't have access. If any of you who read this find out anything that you feel I must know, please send it to me via email because I hope to be able to check it at least every couple of days-
johnandlorimd@yahoo.com
Today was the official last day of a hellish school year. Thank you LORD for helping me through it. I can't express the weight I feel lifted right now. Next year is going to be better, I know it is. Mainly because I plan to bring home a baby girl at the end of it!!
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