FINALLY! My passport application was mailed away today. It was not without some drama, of course. Apparently the fact that I had a passport in high school, I went to Peru, and now do not know where said passport is, is a big no-no. Who knew? Trust me, there's a LOT, A LOT LOT that I would tell my highschool self if I could, but "Hey sweetheart, keep track of that passport" is pretty far down on the list. :) It wasn't too big of a deal though, there was another form that I had to fill out, but hopefully it shouldn't be any big deal.
I'm just glad that's done!
We got the last piece of Little Miss' furniture delivered yesterday as well. Her room will be pretty cute. We'll take a picture of her bed to put in our photo album that we're going to send to her, and we need to do that ASAP.
I don't know about you guys, but don't you think that in the picture of her bed that there should be a sweet little baby doll sitting there waiting for her? :)
TIME TO SHOP! :)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Passport Drama
I bet you all remember my previous fuming about the process of not getting my passport, but in case you want to relive my frustration you can check here and here. I went to the post office on Tuesday to ship the MamaEnat Adoption Flag Blankies that I sold. While I was there and feeling a little less fumish than when I wrote the posts I decided to ask what the deal was and try (without getting my hopes up!) to schedule another appointment.
So, I ask the lady why I had been given a 1:00 appoinment when they close at noon. She said, "Did you bang on the door?" I said no, I didn't bang on the door. I observed the CLOSED AT NOON sign, stomped around the lobby a little bit, and then left. She said, "Well, we waited for you for 45 minutes." I refuse to feel bad for them. The door was locked. The store was closed. Irksome. Again, she said, "You should have banged on the door." I said, "Maybe you should think about putting up a sign or something."
Apparently, my problem is that my parents taught me it was rude to bang on doors, especially those of a federal building!! I have another appointment this Saturday....
So, I ask the lady why I had been given a 1:00 appoinment when they close at noon. She said, "Did you bang on the door?" I said no, I didn't bang on the door. I observed the CLOSED AT NOON sign, stomped around the lobby a little bit, and then left. She said, "Well, we waited for you for 45 minutes." I refuse to feel bad for them. The door was locked. The store was closed. Irksome. Again, she said, "You should have banged on the door." I said, "Maybe you should think about putting up a sign or something."
Apparently, my problem is that my parents taught me it was rude to bang on doors, especially those of a federal building!! I have another appointment this Saturday....
More Progress!
Our home inspection was today. We weren't planning on passing. We were told there wasn't a checklist and that it was a nitpicky process. Turns out, not so much. We did a few things in advance, but without being sure what to do... The things we did were screw the babygate into the wall at the top of the steps, we made sure the bathrooms were clean and the fridge was wiped out because we'd heard any kind of mold was a big fail. I called the maintanence people to remind them they were supposed to be there at 9:00 (as we'd agreed on yesterday) to unlock the door where the water heater is. I called them back and was exceptionally less friendly at 9:45 when they still hadn't shown up. They finally did come and I turned the water heater temperature down.
At 10:15 the Inspector called because he couldn't find our street on his map (turns out we're not on maps). He was fairly unhappy as I was giving him directions. That made me more worried because who wants a mad health inspector going through their hosue looking for flaws?
He came at 10:30 and he left at 10:35. This is what he did: measure/guess at the dimensions of our bedrooms, ask me if the water heater and the fridge were working. He sketched our rooms on a piece of paper, said he'd mail it to our social worker and left.
We still have the Fire Safety Inspection, but again, this is just one less thing to potentially hold us up.
At 10:15 the Inspector called because he couldn't find our street on his map (turns out we're not on maps). He was fairly unhappy as I was giving him directions. That made me more worried because who wants a mad health inspector going through their hosue looking for flaws?
He came at 10:30 and he left at 10:35. This is what he did: measure/guess at the dimensions of our bedrooms, ask me if the water heater and the fridge were working. He sketched our rooms on a piece of paper, said he'd mail it to our social worker and left.
We still have the Fire Safety Inspection, but again, this is just one less thing to potentially hold us up.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
I love VitalChek
I did my second happy dance of the week, literally. I really danced.
We needed Pickle's birth certificate for our home study/dossier paperwork. We have to have it before we can even do our home study interviews. Our forecast was not good.
The central registry place said that it would take 18 weeks to get it. Not happening. Then we found out that we could get it from the county where he was born and it would take 8 weeks. Better, but not great. Then we looked at VitalChek. You pay them extra money, I think it was $18.00 for shipping, and they mail your request and then your document in fancy-pants-pay-attention-to-me-UPS-envelopes. Their website said this decreases processing time (aka the time your request spends sitting in a pile) because they have to prioritize it. We were estimating that it would be up to a month, but no guarantee. That was still a big improvement though so, we took the chance and paid extra money.
We faxed our notarized request on November 3rd in the evening after business hours (actually our lovely home study agency notarized and faxed it for us for free).
If it had taken 4 weeks we would have had it on December 3.
If it had taken 8 weeks it would have been January 3, 2010
If it had taken 18 weeks (I would have died and) it would have been MARCH 17, 2010.
Instead, TODAY!!!! the UPS man knocked on my door and handed me an envelope. And I thought, "What is this? No way can it be what I think it is!" But, it was! In my happy little hands I was holding Pickle's birth certificates!!!! It took them less than 48 hours to get it back to me. I'm so happy. I did my happy dance. I prayed a little prayer of thanksgiving. I talked to my husband. And now I'm telling the bloggy world about it.
Now, for the traditional adoption disclaimer: Yes, there are still other things beynd our control that could take a really long time to get done and slow the process down. But at least one of those things has been eliminated and it makes me happy!!
I am one happy VitalChek customer!!
We needed Pickle's birth certificate for our home study/dossier paperwork. We have to have it before we can even do our home study interviews. Our forecast was not good.
The central registry place said that it would take 18 weeks to get it. Not happening. Then we found out that we could get it from the county where he was born and it would take 8 weeks. Better, but not great. Then we looked at VitalChek. You pay them extra money, I think it was $18.00 for shipping, and they mail your request and then your document in fancy-pants-pay-attention-to-me-UPS-envelopes. Their website said this decreases processing time (aka the time your request spends sitting in a pile) because they have to prioritize it. We were estimating that it would be up to a month, but no guarantee. That was still a big improvement though so, we took the chance and paid extra money.
We faxed our notarized request on November 3rd in the evening after business hours (actually our lovely home study agency notarized and faxed it for us for free).
If it had taken 4 weeks we would have had it on December 3.
If it had taken 8 weeks it would have been January 3, 2010
If it had taken 18 weeks (I would have died and) it would have been MARCH 17, 2010.
Instead, TODAY!!!! the UPS man knocked on my door and handed me an envelope. And I thought, "What is this? No way can it be what I think it is!" But, it was! In my happy little hands I was holding Pickle's birth certificates!!!! It took them less than 48 hours to get it back to me. I'm so happy. I did my happy dance. I prayed a little prayer of thanksgiving. I talked to my husband. And now I'm telling the bloggy world about it.
Now, for the traditional adoption disclaimer: Yes, there are still other things beynd our control that could take a really long time to get done and slow the process down. But at least one of those things has been eliminated and it makes me happy!!
I am one happy VitalChek customer!!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
News
Someday I will write a cohesive post again, but one more time I'm going to do just a series of quick updates.
1) I opened my etsy shop on November 1. I sold FIVE blankies that day. On November 2, I sold SEVEN. On November 3, I sold my last blankie. During this time I also have a couple orders for custom blankies, which I'm still figuring out how to get on my site. I've also had emails asking me when I'm restocking. In case anyone is wondering, I will be restocked by this weekend! I am so grateful and humbled and thrilled and yes, a little scared, that so many people want to buy a blankie. I'm very proud of the idea and the work that I've put into it and I hope everyone loves them. The response has just been AMAZING. I owe a lot of that to MEGAN! She posted my link on her blog and she advertised for me on some adoption groups. THANK YOU!!!
2) We got the table and chair set for Little Miss' room and the bookshelf for the boys' room so it's all coming togethet. We're still waiting on her bookshelf/toy thing/cupboard. Then her furniture will be complete.
3) We had our Intake Appointment with our home study agency yesterday (and yes, I canceled my dentist appointment, lol!). It was great. :) It was a lot of information as we went over paperwork and tentative timelines. We really liked the social worker that conducted the meeting and hopefully she'll be assigned to us. In Maryland, there is a TON of stuff you have to do before you can really start the process. We've been working on that and now we're really going--blast off--to borrow a phrase from my almost three year old. :) S
One of the reasons that we came away with a happy feeling is because we've been talking about paying an extra $300 for an expeditated home study, but we're trying to figure out with the paperwork that we're waiting on (STUPID STUPID CALIFORNIA) if it will be worth the money. We kind of expected a "now or never sales pitch" with her encouraging us to pay for the faster service. Instead, she was really honest that even if we pay for it that it may not help us because of how long it could take for these documents to get here. She also said though that we can revisit it when our documents come in and we can see where we're at and if at that time it seems like it will speed up our process that we'll go ahead and do it. I just think that's SO nice and great service.
We were also in paperwork brainfog land, and to some degree still are, but she gave us hope. She said that even with the documents we're waiting on she thought that we could be done with our home study and dossier by the end of January!! That's so great because we thought our timeline was going to be pushed back longer than that and we'd be struggling to travel before the end of summer. Now it seems like travel *could* be happening in June still. HOORAY!!! I still have to do some checking and it's still out of our control, but it was still a happy note.
4) We have to have a Home Health and Sanitation Inspection and they say these can take awhile to schedule. Well, our paperwork was sent in like 10 days ago and the Inspector (Gadget) :) called yesterday and we're scheduled for Friday morning. Happiness! Now, we're expecting to "fail" the first time. You don't get a cheat-sheet of what you need to have done and some of the things are a little finnicky apparently. We do have some things that we're going to get done first, but still we don't think we're going to pass. She said we can usually reschedule within a month after we've fixed everything so that's not too bad.
Okay, I think that's all for now. Pickle is sleeping (he's still not feeling well and we're debating a doctor's visit for him) and I need to take stock of supplies and get sewing and make a shopping list. :)
1) I opened my etsy shop on November 1. I sold FIVE blankies that day. On November 2, I sold SEVEN. On November 3, I sold my last blankie. During this time I also have a couple orders for custom blankies, which I'm still figuring out how to get on my site. I've also had emails asking me when I'm restocking. In case anyone is wondering, I will be restocked by this weekend! I am so grateful and humbled and thrilled and yes, a little scared, that so many people want to buy a blankie. I'm very proud of the idea and the work that I've put into it and I hope everyone loves them. The response has just been AMAZING. I owe a lot of that to MEGAN! She posted my link on her blog and she advertised for me on some adoption groups. THANK YOU!!!
2) We got the table and chair set for Little Miss' room and the bookshelf for the boys' room so it's all coming togethet. We're still waiting on her bookshelf/toy thing/cupboard. Then her furniture will be complete.
3) We had our Intake Appointment with our home study agency yesterday (and yes, I canceled my dentist appointment, lol!). It was great. :) It was a lot of information as we went over paperwork and tentative timelines. We really liked the social worker that conducted the meeting and hopefully she'll be assigned to us. In Maryland, there is a TON of stuff you have to do before you can really start the process. We've been working on that and now we're really going--blast off--to borrow a phrase from my almost three year old. :) S
One of the reasons that we came away with a happy feeling is because we've been talking about paying an extra $300 for an expeditated home study, but we're trying to figure out with the paperwork that we're waiting on (STUPID STUPID CALIFORNIA) if it will be worth the money. We kind of expected a "now or never sales pitch" with her encouraging us to pay for the faster service. Instead, she was really honest that even if we pay for it that it may not help us because of how long it could take for these documents to get here. She also said though that we can revisit it when our documents come in and we can see where we're at and if at that time it seems like it will speed up our process that we'll go ahead and do it. I just think that's SO nice and great service.
We were also in paperwork brainfog land, and to some degree still are, but she gave us hope. She said that even with the documents we're waiting on she thought that we could be done with our home study and dossier by the end of January!! That's so great because we thought our timeline was going to be pushed back longer than that and we'd be struggling to travel before the end of summer. Now it seems like travel *could* be happening in June still. HOORAY!!! I still have to do some checking and it's still out of our control, but it was still a happy note.
4) We have to have a Home Health and Sanitation Inspection and they say these can take awhile to schedule. Well, our paperwork was sent in like 10 days ago and the Inspector (Gadget) :) called yesterday and we're scheduled for Friday morning. Happiness! Now, we're expecting to "fail" the first time. You don't get a cheat-sheet of what you need to have done and some of the things are a little finnicky apparently. We do have some things that we're going to get done first, but still we don't think we're going to pass. She said we can usually reschedule within a month after we've fixed everything so that's not too bad.
Okay, I think that's all for now. Pickle is sleeping (he's still not feeling well and we're debating a doctor's visit for him) and I need to take stock of supplies and get sewing and make a shopping list. :)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Seriously Now
October 31, 2009. This was the day that my husband and I were supposed to get our passports done. Did you catch that phrasing...were supposed to get...meaning DID NOT GET. Oh, wait, no, Andrew got his passport, but not me. Why? BECAUSE MILITARY POST OFFICES ARE SUPER LAME!!! Did I offend anyone with my strong language? I'm the mother of a preschooler, censorship is my middle name. :) I digress. Let's return to the point: I'm pissed off.
I don't want anyone to miss the full extent of my fury so go back and read this accounting of my first trip to the post office. Andrew's appointment was at 11:30 and I was home with our sick kiddos (we were all ravaged by a stomach bug) and then he came home at 12:00 and my appointment was at 1:00. Remember that, he left the post office at 12:00 and the postal woman said, "I'll see you wife in an hour."
I get to the post office. It's 1:00, maybe to be fair, it's like 1:05. I walk up to the door. IT IS LOCKED. THEY ARE CLOSED. Sound fishy? I thought so too. There was a woman in the lobby of the post office at her little PO Box and she said that they did the same thing to her once and when she asked them about it they said that they don't schedule appointments that late. Really?!
So, seriously. THEY WERE CLOSED AND THEY CLOSED AT 12:00! What planet of ineptitude are these people from? I had written down my appointment. I called and confirmed my appointment. My husband was there and apparently they closed right after he left and told him they'd see me in an hour. RARRRRR! (Yes, that's me roaring in frustration.)
Way lame, folks. Way. Lame.
I don't want anyone to miss the full extent of my fury so go back and read this accounting of my first trip to the post office. Andrew's appointment was at 11:30 and I was home with our sick kiddos (we were all ravaged by a stomach bug) and then he came home at 12:00 and my appointment was at 1:00. Remember that, he left the post office at 12:00 and the postal woman said, "I'll see you wife in an hour."
I get to the post office. It's 1:00, maybe to be fair, it's like 1:05. I walk up to the door. IT IS LOCKED. THEY ARE CLOSED. Sound fishy? I thought so too. There was a woman in the lobby of the post office at her little PO Box and she said that they did the same thing to her once and when she asked them about it they said that they don't schedule appointments that late. Really?!
So, seriously. THEY WERE CLOSED AND THEY CLOSED AT 12:00! What planet of ineptitude are these people from? I had written down my appointment. I called and confirmed my appointment. My husband was there and apparently they closed right after he left and told him they'd see me in an hour. RARRRRR! (Yes, that's me roaring in frustration.)
Way lame, folks. Way. Lame.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Check out my store
My Etsy shop is up and running!! This is a miracle in and of itself since as of Thursday night there has been a stomach bug marching through our house taking us one by one and two by two prisoner. Blech. So the site didn't get up with quite as much finesse or merchandise as I had planned, but I think it still looks great and I've made THREE sales!! I'm pretty excited and I hope all my loyal readers want their very own MamaEnat Ethiopian Flag Adoption Blankie
So, check me out and tell your friends http://www.mamaenat.etsy.com/
So, check me out and tell your friends http://www.mamaenat.etsy.com/
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