Shelba

Update

We have an adoption agency! We're in! I worried myself sick over that applciation and was concerned that we would be turned away. Every day that went by that we didn't hear from them, I would agonize over what their answer would be. Then they called us last night to discuss my heart surgery and told us that we would hear back from them either today or on Monday. Luckily, they e-mailed us this morning to tell us that we're in. My cardiologist will need to provide us with a letter stating that he supports our adoption and that I am okay now. This will not be a problem, because I already gave my doctor a heads up that we would need his help with this, and he was very supportive.

Next week, we'll receive a bunch of paperwork and a social worker will call us to get the homestudy rolling. Also, I did not send our INS paperwork in....thank goodness, because I would have messed it up big time.

Also, my INR went from 2.8 to 1.4. My blood thickened up. Darn it! Then nurse said that this latest turn is diet related. I have to start measuring how much vitamin K food that I eat, and try to eat the same amount every week. I'll get the hang of this eventually.

Baby Steps

We did it. We finally nailed down our references and mailed our application to our chosen adoption agency. Finally! It feels good to have the first step out of the way, but there is no time to rest. I'm off to worrying about the next step, filing our INS paperwork. Effective this Friday, the fee to file this paperwork goes up, so we're going to try to get it in before the increase.

Hopefully, we will hear something from the agency this week. I don't know how they decide to approve someone's application. Will they call our references? Will they verify Ray's employment? How long will it take? I'm anxious to get the show on the road. I'm anxious to have an agency. It seems like a million years from now that we'll get a call saying that we're going to be parents. It doesn't seem possible. For now, all I can see is paperwork. That is the only thing I can allow myself to think about.

In other news.....

I Went to see my cardiologist and he lectured me about the weight I've gained. Then, I took my sweet dog, Jake to the vet for his heartworm prevention shot, and she lectured me about the weight he has gained. Jake and I were so embarrassed. Really, we were.

Also, my blood is getting thinner. I went up a whole point to 2.8! We need to get it up just a tiny bit more, but really, I am considered therapeutic. I was really happy to see my test results. The coumadin nurse and I nearly kissed eachother. However, she is concerned that I will now overshoot, and that my blood will be too thin. I will retest on Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Worry Wart

I am worried that I am a worrier. I might as well quit worrying about being a worrier, because if I'm worried about worrying, obviously I am indeed a worrier. Here is what I worried about tonight.

We are lacking two very important pieces of information on our adoption application....permission from the people we would like to use as references. One couple has been hard to get a hold of lately, but I'm going to talk to her tomorrow. The other couple, I keep meaning to go next door to talk to, but I kept putting it off, because I thought it that since they are so close, I can talk to them anytime.

I decided that the time to talk to them was tonight at 9:00 at night. They have three small children that usually do not go to bed until after we do, but still, I felt weird about bugging them at 9pm. Instead of ringing their very loud doorbell, I knocked. I didn't want to wake the baby. Plus, here I am, on their doorstep, three hours before midnight, asking them to vouch before official type people that we are fit to parent. Wouldn't a responsible parent-like person know not to knock on the doors of people with three small children? I think so.

I waited three minutes, nobody came to the door, so I went home. I'll go back tomorrow, during a respectable hour, when people who are fit to parent are supposed to visit their neighbors.

By The Power Of Lola's Butt

This past weekend was spent driving to a very rural part of Louisiana, hanging out in a very rural part of Louisiana, and driving home from a very rural area in Louisiana. What were we doing in this very rural part of Louisiana? Ray's parents bought a house there, and are moving from CA to LA next year, so we went up to check out their new place.

We brought our dogs with us. Which meant we were on poop patrol. This consists of religiously taking the dogs out every hour on the hour to make sure they do their bizness outside. We failed. Lola managed to sneak a couple of escapees on to my in-laws living room floor.

One night, Ray's mom got up from her chair to pick up some "leaves" the dogs must have brought in. These "leaves" were not leaves. It was dog poop. Luckily, she was very understanding and didn't get upset over having a small animal relieve itself in her new house.

As Ray was picking up the "leaves," I heard someone snickering. It was Lola. She had her paw over her mouth and she was laughing her pug ass off at our failure to control her bowel movements.

My Dog Ate My Application

I vowed to turn in the adoption agency application today, but it didn't happen. Not to make excuses for myself, but we were out of town this weekend, and didn't get back until Sunday night. My plans to complete the application on Sunday didn't work out. Which meant today was spent gathering the remaining information needed. Plus, we have not had a chance to ask the people we would like to use as references for their permission to do so. Should have that out of the way by tomorrow, unless they surprise us by revealing that they would not be comfortable vouching for us.

I'm eager to start the INS paperwork we need to move forward, because if filling out a simple application takes us this long, I shudder at what it will be like for us to fill out paperwork that could possibly hold things up considerably.

I have an appointment with my cardiologist on Wednesday, and this should be the last time I see him for six months. Hopefully, he will tell me that I can start doing aerobic exercise.

Since the birth of Debra Messing's child, I can't help but wondering if her OB will be able to watch Wil and Grace without thinking of Mama Messing's girl parts. Obviously, I have too much free time on my hands.

Under Construction, Y'all

I'm redecorating, so please forgive the mess.

Crisis Averted

On Monday, I ordered copies of my birth certificate. Today, Wednesday, I received the copies. Dang! Delaware rocks! I did pay for expedited shipping, but I didn't expect to receive anything for at least five days. It was a nice, small surprise.

Then I whipped out the ol' marriage license to torture myself over the typo. But, this time when I looked at the marriage certificate, I saw that the typo wasn't as bad as I thought. My father is listed as Michael "C.", not Michael Christopher. My father's middle name starts with a "P." While it wasn't as bad as I remembered, I was still worried that it would cause problems in the future.

I contacted the adoption agency we are going with about the whole marriage certificate drama, and after consulting with their "dossier team" they've assured me that the typo will not cause a problem. I feel a hell of a lot better. Phew.

Happy News Over At Virginia's!

If you have not already, go over and read the news at Mortimer's Mom!

CONGRATULATIONS, VIRGINIA!!!!

My Dad is Catholic. Does that count?

A friend, knowing we are embarking on adoption, referred a "great agency" to us. She knows someone who used this agency and had a good experience. I can't remember the name of the agency now, but I do recall that it had "Catholic" in the title.

I am not Catholic. Ray is not Catholic. We are both ex-Mormon's who no longer go to church. Yeah, I saw The Passion of The Christ, but I don't think it counts.

I explained this to my friend, and told her that this Catholic agency probably wants to place their Catholic babies with members of their church.

"No, no, I'm sure they just want the babies to have good homes."

"You're right, they do want them to have good homes, but good CATHOLIC homes."

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe these Catholic adoption agencies are willing to place a baby in the home of a non-member. I base my guess on the knowledge that Mormon adoption agencies will only place babies in the homes of members who are in good-standing. (Not us.) I don't see anything wrong with this. I think that it makes sense. So...it makes sense to me that it will be the same for Catholic adoption agencies. Am I wrong?

NOTE: I have since found out that I am wrong. My friend is right. I am wrong.

My Brother Is Not My Daddy...I Swear

Oh, me. Oh, my. I sent away for copies of my birth certificate today. If we're going to do international adoption, one of the first things we need to do is fill out some INS paperwork, which requires copies of our birth certificates.

I'm concerned about there being a problem with my birth certificate and marriage certificate. My father's name is Michael Patrick, but I must have made a mistake when filling out my marriage license, because my father is listed as Michael Christopher. Michael Christopher is my brother's name. What was I thinking?

I don't know if I should try to have this corrected or not. What if the Chinese government notices this and as a result, rejects our paperwork?

When we were filling out the paperwork for our marriage license, I remember signing something that said we had to make sure everything was correct. Obviously, I didn't do that. I signed without making sure everything was correct. Maybe this will void our marriage. Which will make adopting from China completely impossible! Agghhh!