One action-packed post!

Okay...let me start off with the fact that I am sitting on my sofa in my pajamas when I should be in church...and then say that my alarm clock is one of those that automatically sets time based on some satellite or something like that (remember, John's a pilot/space/weather geek) and apparently thought TODAY was Daylight Savings Time! So, it goes off, I get ready to get up and John tells me, "You know that it is actually an hour later than that, don't you?" Well, frankly, no, I didn't. And John, if YOU did, why didn't you let me know a little sooner????? Upon getting up, however, my sinuses and throat said to me, "You know, Lori...we're a little uncomfortable today. Maybe you need to sleep in a bit more?" Well, darned those little stinkers, they talked me into a little more sleep...just a little and then I'd get to church, just miss Sunday School. Hmmm. About an hour later, I smell bacon, eggs and coffee. John has figured that I have ditched church altogether and made a lovely breakfast. Which really was yummy, but again, I slept too late for church. Needless to say, I feel guilty. Twice.

And, on the subject of guilt....today is THE day for Nanci and another friend of ours, Rory. We have been getting updates and I just still cannot believe the determination those marathon runners (a group of people to whom Nanci now belongs!! No more non-runner status for her!) have. In fact, as I type this post, here's the latest alert for her: NANCI WEINSTEIN, 02:02:57 (NET) @ 15K Pace 13:11 , Predicted 05:45:39.00. Powered by Marine Corp Marathon..

Here's the guilt...I had planned to be there today--after church, we were headed up there. Well, as you read already, church plans have fallen to the wayside and my sinuses still say the thought of doing much of anything outdoors today is not really going to go over well. And for this, I feel terrible, because I am SO proud of Nanci! I have been following her efforts and her perseverance. I have watched her move out of our neighborhood (sniff, sniff) and uproot her life (again, as we in the military life often do) and STILL stick with it. She and I talked about that dedication on our way back from our FABULOUS NKOTB concert and she said it was just something she was doing solely so she could say she did it. I told her that there were lots of things I'd like to be able to use that motivation for, but the truth was, I was and am TOO LAZY. There is absolutely nothing I can think of right now that I am so moved by that I would put myself through what Nanci has just to claim I did it. And so, for her effort, dedication and success...I'm honored to know her!

And while I am talking about dedication, again John Wright and his family show themselves as true definitions of Christian love and have a new website. On this site, you can see things that are needed in Kyrgyzstan and fund them. Instantly. The hearts of this man and his family are so great indeed, and if you want to do something that you know is needed and simply done out of love for our fellow humans, go here...

Also, I am continually moved by the things that Cindy LaJoy has to say. She is the moderator for they Kyrgyz yahoo group, and the proud mother of three wonderful boys. Her latest post was about her baby, Kenny and as usual, moved me to tears. (Sap, remember? I'm a sap!) She knows that she is his biggest advocate and I am so glad because there are so many parents out there who get railroaded by the school system (of which I am a part, don't forget, so I am really bucking the party line!) and their children are the ones who suffer. I love my children. I love my families. I HATE the culture of education that basically acts as if parents are a big pain in the school's butt. Hello--PARENTS PAY MY SALARY! Parents trust me every day with their precious children. As I told Cindy, PARENTS REIGN SUPREME. Or should. Now, realize there are also parents who could care less, send their kids to school and don't give a darn whether they succeed or not. Those parents, sadly, are just facts of life. All I can do is make it the best I can for the children of those parents. But by and large, parents just want what is best for their kids and trust us to provide it. And in reality, that just doesn't happen all the time. Or much of the time. Not for lack of trying, mind you. Just politics. Indifference. Party Politics. Redonkulous (my new hilarious word) if you ask me.

Okay...now I remember why I mentioned Cindy, other than I was touched by what she wrote. She ALSO left a comment that made my day: Celebrate the things you can, Lori!! If you don't, you go nuts :-) Patience, smatience...we want that dossier approved and a referral offered NOW!! Hahaha! Hang in there, the wait really IS worth it. Well, doesn't that just say it ALL! She's right. I DO want that dossier approved and I DO want that referral. I know I'll suck it up and wait, but she had a point in there is nothing wrong with wanting it yesterday!! So, thank you, Cindy, for putting that in perspective.

And on that note...

YIPPEE!! OUR DOSSIER HAS MADE IT TO KYRGYZSTAN AND WILL BE THE CATALYST THAT BRINGS EMMA HOME. THANK YOU, LORD!

Busy bees burn out fast!

Well...I have the best of intentions and worst of applications sometimes with the things I plan to do with my time. One thing was to get pictures of the beautiful little blanket my co-worker made for Emma on here. So, here they are...



I just can't say how generous she was and how thoughtful her thinking of us is.

Also, Emma's bedding came in! We visited mom's this weekend to help fix up after some remodeling and I took it to show her. Turns out a framed cross stitch work that mom did long ago and was in John's room will go perfectly with her bedding colors, and therefore will have a spot in the nursery. Here are pictures of both...the cross stitch doesn't show the colors as vividly as they are, but they do match rather nicely!




We also got news that our dossier had been given to the Kyrgyz embassy last Thursday and we should expect to wait another 30 days or so for it to be released! I'm very excited about that, and content with the pace things are moving and the direction they are going! Love it when plans come together.

So..now, busy at school, busy at home, busy everywhere. I am going to see OPOTB (Old Perverts on the Block) Thursday and look forward to hanging out with Nanci and hopefully walking down memory lane (and not into the gates of hell)!

I know, I know...

Come on, Virginia!

Okay--let me just say that I am so excited to be about to send this dossier in right now, I could burst! Yesterday was a GREAT day! I had all my dossier documents certified and copied and headed toward Bethany to see our social worker and pick up the home study with the proper cover page and attachments. She is SO great, it was wonderful to see her and I was psyched! (I just passed right on by the WaWa gas station where my little mishap the last time I picked up the home study happened--no eye contact this morning!) After I picked it all up, I copied the home study docs, had them certified and headed a few doors down to the secretary of state. Let me just say now that yesterday was a GORGEOUS day and Annapolis is a VERY cute little city. Life was good! I went in, got all my lovelies authenticated and walked out a very happy woman! Lo and behold, what should be there but a sweet little baby shop. It was a sign. Emma needed something to mark this day. This shop had the cutest little everythings and I was just in love. The woman was very kind, very interested in hearing about the process and helped me pick out the perfect "authentication day" present: a sweet, soft little "lovie" to take to Emma and leave with her while we wait for her. I named her Dixie the Dalmatian, because even though our Dixie is obviously a Golden Retriever, little Emma will have her own little Dixie there in Kyrgyz and one here waiting for her!






After a lovely day in Annapolis, I stopped to buy some things for my classroom (today is my last day of freedom!) and then headed home. I got home very much later than I anticipated, as we were having some dear friends of ours over for dinner. We used to live next door to them in New River, and they are now up here and I am over the moon about it! I showed Rachel the house and then the baby things and realized that I have some of the cutest little things for her and I can't wait for her to use them. I know not knowing her size, season (heck even if she has been conceived yet!) makes the clothes issue sketchy, but I just had to post a couple of my favorites--and the best part? These are hand-me-downs! YEP! I have been very blessed by the great friends (with SUPER taste) who have given me their little girls' hand me downs/ unuseds and I am very thankful! I love the smocking in this one:



I ABSOLUTELY love this little Gymboree outfit--It's the onesie, the cute little pants, the sweater and the hat and they all look as if they have never been worn!




This little girl is going to need some heavy duty Paparazzi to catch all her stylin!

Speaking of photos...Jengish

is a fabulous photographer and I really am touched and told a story by the pictures he takes. He mentioned that he was saving up for a camera lens, but that they were very expensive. I emailed him and asked him what kind of camera he had and then realized that he may have a camera that I actually have a fairly decent lens for! I told him to research it, and see if it worked, and if it did, it was his! He said it would! The thing about this lens is that we have had a great camera and pretty nice lens for about 10 years now...but for about 7 or 8, we have had that camera and lens sitting in our closet because we joined the age of digital and it didn't fit. How awesome did I feel being able to say that not only do I have a lens that may work, but I have felt pretty guilty about having it and never using it (the depths to which my life is blessed never ceases to amaze me)and could give it to a most deserving young man with stories to tell? So...the point is, please check out his website and his pictures. Look at the faces of these people. See what he says about them. He told me a story about someone he saw on a bus, and it was such a beautiful story and analogy of God's love, I just cried when I read it. I asked for permission to post it and if he okays it, I will. I know my heart is indelibly attached to Kyrgyzstan, so I am very honored to be able to help his ministry and give some Christian encouragement. If you would like to as well, he could certainly use it.

Okay..enough of my soap box. I have to go get some blood work for my physical next week (with the NEW doctor, as it is pretty obvious that I will be redoing my medical certificates in September, thought I'd get the jump start!) and then on to school. Tomorrow is our first official day back. I have made up my mind. This is going to be a great year. Period.

Oh...and the title of the post? All I'm waiting on to fed ex the dossier is our marriage certificates from Virginia. Seeing as it is my good old home state, I have no doubt they will expedite for little old me. Ha ha!

Still waiting...

Who would have thought that my waiting would be for my social worker to get back (from a well-deserved vacation) and FBI prints (even though we already had FBI clearance back in March) and our marriage license (which, again, was already in our possession but about to expire!) so that we could send our dossier in? Not me...but then again...that's been the path with which we've become familiar. So...I have to go back to school (ugh!) August 14. (I decided that I do NOT need to go to that workshop next week, why kill summer any more?) That means that I need to have EVERYTHING received, certified, authenticated, copied and on the way to AA by August 13. I am kind of frustrated because I thought that this would all be done by July 17 and the month delay sort of tosses me in the air, but as long as I can get it all done and on the way before school, I will breathe easier. I just spoke with Sharon at FBI customer service and she was SO kind...she said she would do her best to have our clearance cards back to us by Monday. I hope that we get our new marriage licenses by Monday or Tuesday and then I need to have them authenticated. depending on when I get them, I might take the trip to Richmond then--I couldn't go yesterday because I got stuck in the dentist office all morning and I figured I'd spend near $70 in my time and gas, might as well let someone else do it.

On the baby front...Nanci gave me some of the sweetest little baby things! I've divided all the things I have into sizes, figuring once we get a referral and size info, I can decide what will work and what becomes donations for the orphanage. We've also decided that we will buy baby furniture for Christmas. Again from Nanci's suggestion, I am decided on a convertible crib and am pretty overwhelmed with all the choices. I am going to have to just give John some parameters and let him pick. Lucky dog he is! Nanci and her husband closed on their MD house this am (sniff, sniff) and I watched their sweet little girl while they were at closing. We had such a good time! We played with the dogs, sang and danced, baked cookies...yep. I'm ready for that.

Speed is in the eye of the beholder...

Hip hip hooray! We don't need to get fingerprints done for the FBI clearance because we have cards that we did months ago and never sent since Maryland did FBI clearance as part of their home study process (again, long live Maryland...I give credit when credit is due!) and we just have to send them to the Clarksburg, WV office rather than the Pikesville, MD office. No biggie!

I also just spoke with our WONDERFUL social worker and though they need to redo the home study package because the cover sheet will be different and the notary dates will be different, she will do that as soon as she gets back from vacation at the beginning of August--which, hopefully, will be the exact same time we get our FBI clearance and then all I have to do is certify, authenticate and MAIL! Now that the Kyrgz embassy is accepting our dossiers again, I'm so excited!! Things (for now, we know that changes!) seem to be moving right along and my hope is that our 'wait' will begin at the beginning of August!! Things seem to be so slow, but then I look at all that has happened since just the end of February and I feel like we have been pretty blessed in how things are going...minus, of course, the few hiccups (checklist changing, gas pumps breaking, home study wording freak-outs, month-long vacations--although I can NOT claim a great vacation as a hiccup!) that have come along the way. So....just chugging along.

In sad news, Nanci, of Nanci's Nikes moved today! I did my best not to cry, but then came right in the house and cried to John on the phone! That's the tough part of the Marine Corps--for spouses, at least. The guys have their worlds in tact, for the most part, when they move to new duty stations. Their colleagues tend to be the same, their friends are their colleagues, their networks are all the same, jobs are waiting for them, etc...for us spouses, it is not that way! We have to make new friends, adjust to new groups of spouses (though as we get further along in the Marine Corps, lots of faces thankfully turn up again in different squadrons!), find new jobs, find places to shop, and make yet another place a new 'home.' Not to mention, we grieve over what was loved and left behind. It stinks. The older I get the more I realize that finding people who you really feel you connect with, vice are acquaintances with, is harder and harder. Throw in the fact that when you finally get those connections and then you have to leave them or let them go, and it really stinks. So. I just am not going to say good-bye anymore. I have wonderful friends who are really more like family that I have had for YEARS through different duty stations, and though we can't hop in the car for coffee any more, we have email and blogs and visits that keep them close. So, Nanci, you will be missed, but like I said--it's not good-bye! Safe travels and I'll keep 'that' house ready for you :)

So close, I can taste it!

First, let me tell you that if you have never been able to claim you knew someone who drove away from the gas pump while the hose and nozzle were still attached to his or her car, you NOW can! Yep. That's how my day started. Well, actually, it was an argument about getting the right papers for notarization because John, God love him, still thinks that someone somewhere is just pulling all our legs and all these minute details and RIDICULOUS requirements are just someone punking us. Yeah, because I just LOVE making my life even more difficult. He asks "Why?" all the time. WHO KNOWS? IT JUST IS! Why am I short and he's tall? Why is he so stubborn and passive aggressive and I am just a pleasure to compromise with? Who knows? IT JUST IS. But I digress...

So anyway, after the argument of "Why does it have to be the same pen?" that we have had 5000 times, and he STILL used a different pen ON PURPOSE, just as I put the correct one in his face, we drove off to our respective destinations. Him work, me to pick up the home study!! I was sooooo excited! I drove to a local gas station because I needed gas and a cup of coffee desperately. So, I put my credit card in, push the cheapest button (don't even look at the price anymore because I cry) put the nozzle in my tank and stroll in to get my coffee. Yes, yes, yes...I know you are supposed to stay there, as I was ever so gently reminded by HAZMAT (more on that later) but no one does. Whatever. In the store, I got my coffee, and got into a new line that the manager opened because the lines were so long. "Pretty little girl like you shouldn't have to wait." YES, I KNOW...sexist, creepy, you name it. But hey, it's Southern Maryland and it got me out of waiting. So, he and I chat briefly and I thank him ever so kindly and walk out. I put my coffee in my car and realize I need to put the pump back. However, as I got back out of my car, I instantly saw the price--$61 for a flipping Honda Accord with GREAT mileage. I was shell-shocked, I guess. Call it what you want, but for whatever reason, I just stared, and got back in the car to drive on. Still just amazed at the price of gas, I start driving away and hear, "Ka Thud Thud CLACK" I look in my rear view mirror and dear Lord, I have driven away with the gas nozzle and hose!!!! People started running, laughing, pointing...I IMMEDIATELY stop, get out of the car, and run into the store yelling, "Help, Help. I broke the pump, Help, Help!" The manager (yep the same one) rushes over, some guys in vests rush out there, people are running around (and yes, still pointing) and I am bawling! "I can barely afford gas, I can't buy a gas pump!" (Imagine me WAILING that statement over and over in a pitiful, mournful and desperate cry!) Then, I start begging, "Please don't tell my husband, please don't tell my husband! We have to pay for the baby, please don't tell my husband!" (Crazy things ran through my head...must have been the GAS fumes!) The manager was very, very, VERY nice and told me it was ok, HAZMAT was on their way (refer back to how I was gently reminded that you STAY WITH YOUR CAR) and it was going to be ok. I did have to fill out some paperwork for HAZMAT, and I asked what I was going to have to pay and the manager said, "Honey, don't worry about it. It happens. And you didn't mean to! I was watching you out to your car (KIND OF CREEPY) and I know it was an accident. Not like them people who get so busy on those cell phones they don't pay no attention and just drive off. Don't you worry about it, honey." Of course, HAZMAT again reminded me to stay with my car--who are they? Like the Gas Pump Gestapo? So.....then, I picked my home study up. The end.


Ha ha...not really...got in touch with Ally just to be sure how to put it all together, went to the county court (Annapolis is cute, but a pain to navigate around) and SO VERY EASILY got my home study packet certified (what we Marylanders have to do before we authenticate) for the dossier! I drove back (by the way, a good half of that full gas tank is now gone) and spent an hour in Hell, aka STAPLES copying center. Not because of Staples, but because of all the copying and keeping papers together, etc. I was going to fax it to Ally there, but it would have cost about $80 so I decided to just use my all-in-one machine at home. Which took FOREVER because you have to scan EACH page in one at a time, and when the memory gets full (which is what happened the first time I tried after scanning 24 pages) it just DUMPS the project and you have to start all over. Which I did.

So now, a copy of my dossier sits in Ally's office for review before certification and authentication, and my original and complete dossier (sans any changes she makes) sits happily in my hands as I type. I'm so excited...and feeling very close to a finish line. Not THE finish line, but A finish line. And these days, I'll take what I can get!

Interviews set!

Oh, how much time does it look like I have? An entire rambling post about grammar. Well, someone must fight for it, might as well take on the challenge!

However, I do have actual adoption news!! I spoke with our social worker today and scheduled our individual interviews for this Friday and our home visit for April 22. After that, she said 7-10 days for the report and the home study will be officially DONE! What a process! She is still waiting on Child Protective Services, however, so I can't get too puffed up as they tend to take 10-12 weeks by their own statements, and even longer by my own experiences. We are in the 8th week now, so hopefully by the home visit, it should be in and there will be no hang-ups.

It's my understanding that she sends the report directly to USCIS, and then I'm hoping 1-2 weeks for them to give us our approval. That's all we need to get our dossier documents finished up, authenticated and sent to Adoption ARK. From there, it's all in their hands and we wait. I'm serious--I know everyone says the waiting part is the hardest because at least when you are putting stuff together, you feel like you are doing something. I have to say that I don't think that will be the case for me because I KNOW I can find things to do while waiting! My life is just one big to-do list! Remind me to remember this post when months go by and still no word on anything. Remind me that I asked for not being able to do anything but wait. Remind me about the good old days of feeling as if I was working toward a goal. I'll need that. For today and the next month or two, though, just remind me that this part will be over soon!

Full steam ahead!

Talked with our social worker today, which was a big surprise because I didn't think she would be there today!! She got my overnight package and said all we needed was my medical (which was mailed this am) and the guardianship form from my sister-in-law--which we will call about first thing in the AM--she's in Germany and 6+ hours ahead of us. Betty is booked until April 14, but I will call her back on Monday and she will schedule our interviews up there. After that, she comes to visit our house, and she said within 7-10 days, our homestudy reports are done and on their way to USCIS. SO--if we can get the I600A back within a reasonable amount of time, we could be looking at authenticating documents at both state and national level in the beginning of June! Yippee! It almost seems John is a bit worried about how quickly things are going--he (and I) are both banking on at least one more school year to finance this whole international fiesta. I told him that we are just lucky that it seems the homestudy is going fast. Once all docs are authenticated by the State Department in DC, they go to AA and then get translated. Then they go to the Kyrgz embassy and THEN they go to Kyrgyzstan--which will take a few months alone. The wait for a referral then is anywhere from 3-10 months, and for a girl, I'm guessing on the longer end. Soooo...I'm still anticipating that it will be 2009 before we go making any international travel plans--or at least plans to bring a baby home. That's fine--time moves so quickly. It'll be here before we know it!! Plenty of time for me to be nesting, though :)

Homestudy on the way?

Well, that's the goal! We got our driving records today (and with the exception of a little love of the pedal to the metal several years ago, we are clean as a whistle!) and they were pretty much the last things we needed to get together to send off to Bethany. So, my goal is to have all paperwork copied and overnighted on Friday so they have it all by Monday. That would then leave an interview that we have to do there and then our caseworker coming out here--after that, she should be able to write the report. I'd love to have the report done by the end of April because then we need it to go to USCIS for the I600A--once that's done, most of the other dossier things are done or in the works (mostly this) and we could have the dossier sent to AA by June 13. That date is the target because I leave the country for my month of vacation on the 15th. So, I want to have ALL ducks in a row by the time I leave. Doable, perfectly doable. At least that's what I am telling myself!!

Feeling reenergized!

Woohoo!! Some helpful news!! Apparently, when you get fingerprints or a background check in our state, you get a letter stating the results also. Soooo...even though we trekked to LaPlata, we don't need to send in the finger print cards AFTER all and can use the letter of clearance we received when we did our homestudy--just have to have it notarized (and certified, and authenticated at the state and so forth...) AND--since we have several official cards with our fingerprints just waiting to be mailed to Pikesville and cleared, when /if ours expire now, we just have to pop them in the mail and wait for the new letter--which has historically not been too long. AND we got our authenticated/gold sealed marriage licenses today! We only need one, but you know me, I have FOUR! A back-up for my back-up back-up! AND we had to have our Florida Driver's certified records for our homestudy--normally $3.85 (if you live in Florida and can get to your local DMV) and thought we were going to have to pay $50 a pop for me AND John, but when I talked with the lady tonight to give her my credit card info, she said that they felt bad that we were going to have to BOTH pay $50 each when the records were going to be overnighted to the same address, so they gave us a discount--$75 for both!!! Unheard of! AND--our water samples passed--which basically confirms the thought that the sample taker, though nice enough, was not as sanitary as could be and may have been the culprit for the initial 7 of 51 vials developing bacteria. AND John got a hair yesterday and painted the family room in a couple of hours--looks great. AND there are only 47 more school days. AND this is a 4-day week and I have already knocked one of them off. AND...whew. That's all. But hey, that's PLENTY for today!

Just plain tired

I hate this part. I know it sounds bad, and I will probably rue the day I type this, but all the stress over all the documentation has just given me migraines for the past two days. We did get our fingerprints done for our I600A today, so that's something nice. John said he's found a notary willing to 'go with us' should we need that for different documents. My doctor had no problem giving me a copy of her license, and telling me the blood work and medical forms should be the least of my worries (they are now, thank you SO much, Dr. C!) and things are chugging along.

We need a CPA, however, and our water failed--well, of the 51 vials of water, bacteria was found in 7--which is really not a big deal and probably due to the fact that the guy getting the water sample was not necessarily the most sanitary, but still...add that with all the stuff we still have to do, and well, I think I would rather just 'wait' than stress over paperwork. Enough of the stressing, though, right?

We found out that friends of ours just got their referral for their 2 year old little girl from Ethiopia--Maria--after 2.5 months!! I'm so happy for them!! They already have a little boy, who is JUST precious and will be a wonderful big brother. They are wonderful parents and I can't wait to be in their shoes. Hmmm...maybe I am not going to be a good wait-er after all!!

Happy Easter to all...Lord, thank you for sending your precious Son to save us all. It is because you live again that my mother and John's dad WILL see and know our sweet baby girl one day.

Lots accomplished!!

WHEW! What a great couple of days for getting things done! Amazing how when I DO let go and let God--He sure does some nice work! We got the letter from the USCIS office on Saturday that they had our application and we had to go in and get fingerprinted. There was no appointment, just said to come in within 120 days. I called today to be sure about that because the website says you need an appointment, but after talking to Gina (who gave me her badge number) and emailing and getting a response from someone at the Fallon Building in Baltimore telling me I DON'T need an appointment, we are heading up there this Saturday! Yesterday I ran all over the place with errands (LOVING SPRING BREAK!) and paid the Environmental Office for their inspection. On my way there, I got a hold of the Fire Marshall's office, who did have our application, and lo and behold, had an inspection scheduled for this morning in my very neighborhood--did I want him to come that quickly? You betcha! Then, today as I was driving to school (yes, I went in..got a lot done that I wouldn't otherwise) the environmental office guy called and asked if he could come tomorrow mid-day!! When I paid the lady yesterday, she said I probably wouldn't hear from him until the end of the week at the earliest! Ha ha. Little did she know! The best part of all the checklisting is that yesterday, I went into DEERS to have them sign the paper saying KGB would be covered when adopted. This was one I was really dreading. Now, I won't lie and say I didn't have to drive all over (and off and then on again) the base to find the building, but when I did, it took LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES to get the paper signed and I was done! HOORAY! That's practically unheard of.

Now...for the obstacles. I did call our caseworker because the checklists have been less than easily deciphered and M and I wanted to get a better picture of what we were supposed to do. So, I clarified several things and even alerted her to the fact that she did not send out some paperwork she kept telling me she had. Only when we sat in front of our computers, simultaneously, and looked at each email to and from her, did she realize she hadn't. I have to say that I feel a lot better because M and I thought we might be going crazy looking for that paperwork. We also talked about the medical. The dreaded medical. We have to do medical bloodwork and paperwork for the homestudy, but she advised us to WAIT until we had our homestudy done and sent in to USCIS to do the agency medical and bloodwork because it expires after 6 months. This means that there is a good chance we will have to do the bloodwork again ANYWAY, or hope our doctors will just freshen dates. I don't know how I feel about asking my doctor to do that, but our caseworker says that they do it all the time. A little sketchy to me, but if my doctor will, great. If she won't, I am ok with her having that integrity. If we have to do it again, we will.

The foster pup has certainly been adjusting well. She's a sweetheart. Princess Dixie is feeling a little bit put out. She's still number one baby girl. For now, that is :)

Our new baby

Okay, okay...she's not Kyrgzystani but she sure is cute, isn't she? We are fostering a 9 month old golden retriever while she finds her furever home. She's a doll. Poor baby, she was bred by the Amish and kept in a crate for 8 months. Her family that adopted her gave her up after only 2 weeks because she MAY need a hip replacement in a few years and they don't want to pay for it. It's a lot, so I can understand, but....in any event, she's a cutie but VERY skittish. John says it's like she's learning how to be a dog, since she was crated outside for her whole life (not to mention during COLD months!!) -- Our dogs certainly can show her just how to be a dog. In fact, this picture is Dixie showing her the good life on the sofa. She sure does like the sofa now. She's cuddly, but very slowly and shyly learning how to ask for affection. And boy, does she SNORE! Several times I woke up last night to her snoring. At least she feels comfortable!

Got the birth certificates on Friday--and one of them was even gold sealed! I think I may even be able to drive to Richmond and have them ALL gold sealed while I wait! That would be great because for John's, I have to send it to his county clerk of court, get it back, THEN send it to his secretary of state. Ughh...Virginia sure does make my life easier! Of course, we know great things come from Virginia (ahem, ahem) so it doesn't surprise me.

Tomorrow, the checklist. It's a nightmare, but today's message in church was just GREAT! It was a Palm Sunday message--about the triumphant entry and the town being so excited that Jesus was coming because they were ready for Him to overthrow the current government and set His own up. Jesus, on the other hand, knew that HIS plan was to come and die for our sins, and so it was solemn and somber. The point was basically one of perspective and impatience--and the lesson was that God never bends to our demands and timeframes, but fulfills HIS will on HIS own timeframe. So, letting Go and letting God not only makes sense, it's about the only thing we can do because trying to control the situation won't change one darned thing. That, believe it or not, is SUCH a burden off my shoulders! Stressing won't make it better because it will happen when it does. And though I CONSTANTLY say that, for some reason, that passage and those words hit home.

Well, I asked for it...

Crud. Ask and ye shall receive! Don't like waiting? Here--fill your time with NINE BILLION different things you have to compile and have certified and notarized and authenticated (and so on and so on....)

The Kyrgz checklist came to me and it is a nightmare. I am really nervous about the medical because it is going to be the equivalent of asking my DOCTOR for HER firstborn! She basically has to sign her name in blood, and those of you familiar with military healthcare already know how hard it is to even SEE your doctor, much less get all this stuff done. THEN the paperwork says to put the medical as one of your last things since it expires in 6 months. Ha ha. I can't even get into SEE her for 6 months!! So...here's where "Let Go and Let God" steps in. I am just going to put together a list of these things I need to do, and in the order I should, and then tackle them over spring break. Sounds like a plan, right?

The Department of Homeland Security sent us a note saying they sent our I600A form to the Baltimore office...which stinks, because Baltimore is further (miles and time) than Fairfax is but because we live in Maryland, we have to use the Baltimore office. The Fairfax office says it's a Washington Metro area field office, but obviously not. Those Northern Virginia snobs sticking their nose up at us Marylanders!! (Ha ha, I can say that because I grew up as one...and only a NOVAian can understand--you just didn't go to Maryland if you didn't have to!)

Soooo...my hopes of getting fingerprinted next week probably won't come to fruition either. Maybe I'll call the Baltimore office and see if I can get it to happen anyway. In the meantime, I have lots to do!

John, by the way, was inspired to work on things last night. See...all goes well if he just does as I say!

Trading my worries for woes...

When I was little, and I had some ache or pain and told my mom or dad about it, they would respond in that lovely, parental way--"Want me to make the other (insert body part that DOESN'T hurt) hurt so you won't pay attention anymore???" I loved that. Not really. That seems to be what I am doing, which is ok with me, though. School for the last two days? Ah, the same. Aggravating, stressful, frustrating, yada yada. Worse? All the stuff for the adoption! Finding others going through the same trips on different blogs, I am learning all sorts of stuff I don't think I want to know!! John's military status will make this much more difficult. The fact that we have military health care will make this much more difficult. And that's just the start of it...I just have to suck it up and take things one step at a time. Otherwise, I will go insane.

I did bring KGB a new book home today--Pinkalicious. I just know her favorite color will be pink. It will, it will, it will!