Good News is Nice Once in a While

Last week my nagging feeling finally gave way to action and I pulled out my copy of the beloved dossier. As I stood over sizzling pans and cooked dinner, I poured over the dates on each document. Much to my chagrin, our medicals and police clearances were done last March. Our homestudy was dated April 17. So much for being on the ball and getting everything done in a "timely manner." This is the one time in my life that being efficient may have a backlash. I never would have thought last year that we would still be waiting to bring home our kids, ummm, I mean, hear anything of our kids.

Before I freaked out I asked our new family coordinator at America World what this would mean for re-doing stuff. Then I held my breath. She said that it varied state-to-state. Huh? Doesn't Ethiopia care that my paperwork is old? I was meticulous with dates while paperchasing for Ukraine, it was stressed to us many, many times to be careful about the dates on documents because you might end up doing it all over again before you travel. I'm still in that mind-set, I guess. So I didn't believe our family coordinator when she said our homestudy date doesn't matter to Ethiopia. Asking for clarification she explained that our states implement the standards for homestudies so we have to find out the specific requirements for the state. Another family is dealing with the same terror, and she called her social worker. She found out that not only would she have to update her homestudy, but the supporting documents (clearances and medicals) would need to be updated also. Shudder. Really big Shudder.

I left a message with my social worker the next day. Expecting to hear that we should start everything again, that we need to schedule doctor's appointments, fingerprinting, and a visit to USCIS...she surprised me. She left a beautiful message for me on my answering machine. "Your homestudy is good for 2 years."

Huh? So I called her, to clarify. Also, these days, good news like that needs to be heard a few times. She jubilantly told me that, Yes, our homestudy is good for two years. Though our fingerprints will need to be updated in June for USCIS, everything else is good for a while. Hanging up the phone, I did a happy dance and twirled with the nearest kiddo. What great news! We won't need to update things, until June. Screeching to a halt, "June? Are we still going to be waiting in June?"