I'm officially overwhelmed! I have a little confession to make: I figured that the paperwork for this adoption would be cake. When we adopted Ella we didn't use an agency. Ukraine is funny like that, you hire a translator and Ukrainian facilitator and go at it. You CAN use an agency, but we figured for the thousands of dollars we would save, it was worth the sweat. My ego has officially been crushed! We received our package from the agency detailing what is needed for the dossier, which is so helpful! They even included a handy-dandy checklist with space for dates, so great! "Wow!" I'm thinking, "This agency thing is really cool." Good for a second then I look at the list and start to feel a creepy, yipesy, feeling. Then the next day, we get more mail. This time from our social worker--piles of paper for our homestudy. I sat down, looked at it, *sighed* and felt pitiful.
Tiny bites at a time, right? I did the easy stuff, figuring our homestudy needs to take priority. Oddly enough it took me two days to sign 4 papers (because I kept forgetting to tell Seth to sign them--how did we ever manage this before?). Now this batch is done, but one thing holds me back from putting the date on my little chart and mailing it. I don't have any stamps.
Seth buys them, hording them in his wallet until I come and beg for one. I rely on him because the post office is a place I try to avoid. I don't know why. I don't even have to stand in line to buy stamps, but there is something about the trip that makes me shudder. Hauling three kids into the car, buckling them into seats, driving 5 minutes, unbuckling, corralling into the foyer of the post office and then repeating the entire procedure in reverse--merely for stamps? We are not even in there long enough for me to recover before we turn around and leave. So I trust Seth to be my "stamp daddy". Unfortunately, his well has run dry recently and he's been too busy to refill it. Out of sheer disgust with myself for waiting so long I will make the treacherous trip to the post office tomorrow and buy 15 books of stamps so I never have to go again.
On a brighter note: we received confirmation that the CIS office has our i600a, now we wait to hear about getting fingerprinted. I did get to put the date in the little box on that one!
Tiny bites at a time, right? I did the easy stuff, figuring our homestudy needs to take priority. Oddly enough it took me two days to sign 4 papers (because I kept forgetting to tell Seth to sign them--how did we ever manage this before?). Now this batch is done, but one thing holds me back from putting the date on my little chart and mailing it. I don't have any stamps.
Seth buys them, hording them in his wallet until I come and beg for one. I rely on him because the post office is a place I try to avoid. I don't know why. I don't even have to stand in line to buy stamps, but there is something about the trip that makes me shudder. Hauling three kids into the car, buckling them into seats, driving 5 minutes, unbuckling, corralling into the foyer of the post office and then repeating the entire procedure in reverse--merely for stamps? We are not even in there long enough for me to recover before we turn around and leave. So I trust Seth to be my "stamp daddy". Unfortunately, his well has run dry recently and he's been too busy to refill it. Out of sheer disgust with myself for waiting so long I will make the treacherous trip to the post office tomorrow and buy 15 books of stamps so I never have to go again.
On a brighter note: we received confirmation that the CIS office has our i600a, now we wait to hear about getting fingerprinted. I did get to put the date in the little box on that one!
2 comments:
I found your blog by searching 'adoption' on blogspot...and I have to tell you, you had me laughing OUTLOUD at this post! :)
It sounds a lot like my husband, Shad and I. I have him do the post office stuff for us as well, because I don't want to drag our three kids in there either. It's a little bit easier now because they're older (8, 6, & 5) so I can leave them in the car (we live in a very small town) for a couple of minutes...but still it's a hassle! :)
It also sounds like we're in the same phase in our adoptions. We've just found a homestudy provider and are getting that scheduled...we'll send our deposit in to our agency next week after we get our tax refund.
I'll keep you in my prayers as you continue this wonderful journey!
Tami,
Congratulations on the steps you have taken to adopt! I bravely managed to make it to the post office and it went beautifully. The kids got chocolates from the lady at the counter and they got to pick out the stamps I bought (remember, I decided to buy a *few* books). When we were leaving they commented that it sure was fun and we should do it more often! I feel like I have accomplished something :)
Post a Comment