This is a shot I took yesterday morning at the end of our street. Very Dutch. Canal, beat up bike...

Monday I start my new work schedule: 4 days per week- Mondays off! *sigh*

So it's been a great week to feel free from the stressful wait for the FBI to clear our prints. No, it's not that we were worried about whether or not they would clear, it was how long it would take, if they would get lost, weren't clear enough prints, etc. But I've had fun telling people that we aren't felons when they ask how our process is going. I say, 'We are so relieved! We weren't sure how that was going to pan out.'

Now we are waiting for the actual letter from CIS. Monday we head to Den Haag (the Hague) to have 3 of our Dutch documents authenticated. Next Wednesday we speak with our agency director via skype (so we can see each other) to check that everything is in order, then off it goes to the States. The only thing I see as being a minor headache is getting our CIS letter notarized. Completing an International adoption via an American agency while married to a non-US citizen and living in Europe spices stuff up to say the least. Ah well. I think the the worst of the paperwork is over.

If you read this, please put some prayers or good thoughts out to protect the monks and other peaceful people protesting in Burma (Myanmar).

WE ARE NOT FELONS!!!!

The CIS office in Frankfurt called. My prints cleared on Friday and they are judicating our papers this week. We should get our letters soon! A weight of about a million-zillion tons has been lifted!!!!!!!

(not that there was any reason to worry by the way....)

Not my best moment

I called the CIS office today. Hans' fingerprints came back fine today but mine were rejected because I forgot to fill in my birthdate. Me, the compulsive check-everything-a-million-times-girl. How did I react? I burst into tears on the phone with CIS lady. She assured me that it wouldn't take 5 weeks again, that she already sent the card back with my birthdate and will see if she can forward my prints again via email with a high resolution copy to make it faster. Either way she promised it wouldn't be long.

I feel so incredibly stupid right now. All I want to do is cry but I can't because I'm at work.

Trying not to obsess

Another week and still no CIS letter. It's hard not to get down about it. I called on Wednesday and was told they were expecting our prints back any day now....

Something really cool: Our agency has started a yahoo group just for those of us adopting with them in the Viet Nam program. It's small, members at all stages (a few waiting for travel dates!!!) and backgrounds.

This shot was taken while cycling home from doing some errands this morning!

This is not earth shattering news, but I spoke to the nice woman Kathy at the CIS office (the one I was stalking while our papers were being collected) in Frankfurt yesterday and apparently our application is fine, they are just waiting for the results of our fingerprints.

It's the start of a new week and hopefully a letter from CIS...

I have successfully finished 64 granny squares for Munchkin's blanket! Now it's time to add a black border around all of them.

I'm staying home again today, not sure about tomorrow. I'm going to try and stay away from painkillers as this flare up is easing up. Now just have to feel normal again :)

Came across this article. What good news! As we are pending adoptive parents and know well what it's like to want so much to be parents and to be recognized as such, I can't imagine what it would be like to have to really fight for it. This whole issue of adoption and marriage is insane. In my opinion, people who are so vehemently against two responsible adults getting married and/or making a commitment to raise and care for children are basically against love...

Did I mention we are waiting?

Our application and all appropriate documents are finally together at the CIS office in Frankfurt.
Now we wait.

*sigh*

Project for the wait

I bought some new yarn yesterday and have started a blanket :)

I have been stalking the CIS office for days now to see if they have received our application, fingerprints and other docs. I'm not sure if it's a good thing that the very nice (and patient) woman who answered the phone each time recognized my voice today before I was able to tell her who I was (yikes).

Anyway, they have our packet! Just waiting for them to get Hans' birth certificate and our Homestudy- I will try not to call again till friday.

Keeping busy

I called the CIS office on Thursday to see if our application and documents arrived. The woman I spoke to was very nice and assured me that even though our Homestudy and Hans' birth certificate would be arriving seperate from our application, they would not send anything back even if we were not logged into the system yet. Yesterday I tracked our package on the post site and it has indeed been delivered and signed for. No, I'm not neurotic.

We've had a chill weekend which has been nice. I didn't get any books bound but I did get some new pendants done. Not my usual round ones, but I think these came out well!

After spending Saturday obsessing on things like the recent VN program update from our agency (travel time), finances, etc., I spent yesterday in my studio trying to chill out and put things into perspective. Since I have a hard time 'imagining' things will be okay, or even living for the moment, I did a few things that felt more tangible. New spreadsheet for travel expenses, re-reading anything and everything about the VN adoption laws, and getting some art done. And because I'm a visual kind of girl, I tied a red string on my wrist. It's a little thing but reminds me that we are doing the best that we can and are on a good path. It has calmed me down on the inside and that's a good thing (particularly for poor Hans). I guess I needed something 'on' me. I'm not pregnant but we are waiting.