Oh boy! We have been riding the adoption roller coaster the last 24 hours, and if any of you know us...we do NOT go on roller coasters!! I am not sure what is worse, the slow ride up the first hill when you are hoping the roller coaster is going to stay on the track or the moment you get over the hump and your stomach leaps up into your eyeballs...of course, it could the ridiculous whiplash as you go around the curves, the blood-curdling "I think I'm dying" scream while you hang on to the medal bar, and of course the cheeks and drool flapping in the artificial wind. Yep. That's it. That's what I feel like. Cheeks and drool flapping in the wind. For me, I think that's the moment where I surrender to the idea that I'm probably not going to actually die on the roller coaster. I can see the station where the controller-person stands and I know I'm getting close. It's the moment when you know it's been scary, but there's just one more head-jarring, cheek-flapping corner before your know your fate.
So...this is our story. The door to Haiti appears to be closing, but there is still a crack. Our cheeks are still flapping, but I should know by the end of the day tomorrow what is around that corner. A few weeks ago, we were urged by our adoption agency to get the dossier (big pile of legal documents & other documents required by Haiti) compiled and submitted as quickly as possible, in order to beat Haiti's switch-over to becoming a Hague country. We have had several roadblocks in the last few weeks, but they all seemed to be minor, fixable issues...just little things that slowed the process down. Yesterday morning, I emailed our agency to let her know where we were in the process and we had one roadblock that couldn't get resolved until August, because the man we need for some notorized info is out of state until then. I told her I didn't think we would be able to finish the dossier prior to Hague being implemented. (Hague Accreditation is an international adoption standard...most countries are accredited). My assumption was that we would just have more hoops to jump through. I was wrong.
4:00 yesterday afternoon, we got a call from our agency. Our I600a (the approval needed from Immigration in order to bring an orphan into the U.S.) had to arrive at a "lockbox" location in Texas by Friday in order to have "a pretty good chance" at being grandfathered-in to Haiti's old way of adopting (pre-Hague). The problem is that Haiti itself (not us) will have many more hoops to jump through in order to meet the adoption laws, and our agency does not think Haiti is prepared to handle that. If Haiti is not able to meet those standards, they anticipate that the U.S. will stop accepting orphans from Haiti.
We flew into action last night. We prepared the documents, read the instructions over and over which are quite particular, figured and re-figured the amount due for processing the form and for a biometrics fee, made sure our various records were all in order and ready to go. Then, this afternoon, I had to drive all the way to Hampton to get a money order from our business account. I double-checked the amount due on my business partner's computer before getting the money order, and then double checked the address. I mailed it out from Hampton, guaranteed to arrive in Dallas, TX by 3:00pm on Friday. Whew! Done. I thought. As I pulled into our driveway this evening, a huge weight came over me. I picked up the receipt for the money order to file away, when I saw the total on the check. It was $100 short. I had double and triple checked everything...except the amount on the actual money order.
After being on hold with U.S. Customs for 40 minutes, I offered to send an additional check, and even cancel the current one and re-send an entirely new application. I was told there was nothing I could do. Feeling defeated, I said "So I'm just not going to be able to adopt from Haiti, am I?" He then gave me the phone number and email for the USCIS Adoption Center. They are not open until tomorrow, but I did email them already. I will be calling in the morning.
So...our cheeks are flapping in the wind and we can see the Controller standing around the corner. I am looking forward to arriving at the Control Station tomorrow. My prayers have been filled with wonder...what is it that our Master Roller Coaster Controller wants us to do? Will our cheeks keep flapping as we round the corner just to find there are actually a few more curves with Haiti as the final destination? Or is this the end of the Haiti Coaster? If so, which one does He want us to board? Ethiopia? Congo? We may be afraid of roller coasters, especially ones that take us so far away from home, but we have surrendered. We know that the Controller has a plan, we just have to be quiet and listen (and take along a kleenex to wipe up the drool).
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Happy Paintbrushes!
I was quite excited to turn in our "adoption fund" to the bank last week in exchange for a cashier's check to send off to Love Beyond Borders. Now the compilation of the dossier will be underway...we are closer to being matched which gives me butterflies in my stomach! Our next financial hurdle is the largest one we've had yet, so my paintbrush and my sewing machine will be running in full gear...I will continue to post items, so please share the posts with friends and family who may need some awesome, unique, reasonably priced cool looking "stuff". I will also keep everyone up-to-date on when/where I will have my projects displayed for a Home from Haiti sale. Thanks for stopping by! :)
Oh, by the way, if you really "stop by", I apologize for the piles of laundry folded on my coffee table and the fingerprints on the windows, and the massive number of weeds along the walkway, and the dining room table piled with fabric...I am too busy painting and sewing to keep up!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Garage Sale Success!
We had our "Home from Haiti" garage sale on Saturday, and it was great! But I must admit that I have never stressed out to the point of hyperventilating until Saturday morning. It was crazy, but I had been up until 12:30am the night before...went to bed knowing there was still TONS to do. Alarm went off at 5am...and at 5:09, and at 5:18, and at 5:27...you get the idea...snooze is a wonderful feature! Then, just as I'm listing furniture pieces and boxes for Bruce to haul up from the basement, he gets called into work. Grrrrr! So then I started to freak out just a bit...chin quivering, eyes filling with tears knowing that I had furniture to haul upstairs, pricing of pretty much everything in my garage left to do, emptying clothes out of my own closet, and of course, I had listed "garden perennials" in my flyer...yet they were all still happily rooted in the ground all around my house. Not to mention I had four kids inside (yep...friend over) still sleeping, but knew they'd be up and needing some attention sooner than later. So then I started to hyperventilate...it was quite ridiculous, really. Then the phone rang....hallelujah! My aunt was calling to see if I needed any help. I started crying and said, "Bruce just got called into work." That's all I had to say...thank you Jody!! :) We sold so much stuff...it was busy all day, and several people were very generous in the process...I cried a few more times throughout the day, but we made it through and it was all good.
The planters have been a huge success as well! We've delivered 3 of them so far, and have 7 more to go. Now we just have to find enough old, weathered pallets...I've never paid so much attention to those silly things before, but let me tell you...there's quite a variety of them & I keep pinning more and more ideas on Pinterest that we can make from pallets. I'm pretty sure you can never have too many pallets!
Knowing what we can do with a seemingly ugly, worn out pallet, I have been looking at everything a little differently. I got inspired (or should I say distracted) today for a new project while folding laundry....yep, laundry. C had ripped the knee out of a pair of his jeans & just as I dropped them into the garbage can, I snatched them back out again. I may have several loads of laundry in baskets waiting to be folded, but I have two cute new denim wall pockets made out of holey jeans! I will try to get a picture posted soon.
The planters have been a huge success as well! We've delivered 3 of them so far, and have 7 more to go. Now we just have to find enough old, weathered pallets...I've never paid so much attention to those silly things before, but let me tell you...there's quite a variety of them & I keep pinning more and more ideas on Pinterest that we can make from pallets. I'm pretty sure you can never have too many pallets!
Knowing what we can do with a seemingly ugly, worn out pallet, I have been looking at everything a little differently. I got inspired (or should I say distracted) today for a new project while folding laundry....yep, laundry. C had ripped the knee out of a pair of his jeans & just as I dropped them into the garbage can, I snatched them back out again. I may have several loads of laundry in baskets waiting to be folded, but I have two cute new denim wall pockets made out of holey jeans! I will try to get a picture posted soon.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
First round of Fundraising underway!
Oh my goodness! Bruce made this planter box for our deck out of an old pallet (will try to upload the photo, but not promising...I'm not good at this blogging thing yet). It turned out so cool...I LOVE it! I immediately thought..."we need to sell some of these as an adoption fundraiser!" So, off I went, posting on facebook and emailing friends/family. We have a waiting list of 6 people wanting them so far, so we have been on the lookout for good old worn out pallets. Just those six brings us nearly $300 closer to our Home from Haiti goal! Yippee! :)
We are also having a garage sale next weekend, and I will be digging through every nook and cranny of our house over the course of the next week to find items we no longer use. The cool thing is: we have other people donating things as well. Just picked up the coolest ride-on stuffed horse that I'm sure will make Eden cry as it leaves our garage to its new home. She is such a fan of horses, and this thing is nearly as tall as she is. Thank-you, Carie, my friend, for your great donations! :)
But the coolest thing ever...I was at Carie's house tonight for a 31 Party, and the consultant, whom I've never met before, asked me if I'd consider doing a fundraising show. She offered to donate her commissions and turn the hostess gifts into cash (rather than product)! How cool is that? Someone I don't even know, offering to help us out...pretty cool, I must say! Of course, I'm having a Norwex party already in a couple of days, so it will be a few months before we do the 31 thing. But awesome, nonetheless!
We are also having a garage sale next weekend, and I will be digging through every nook and cranny of our house over the course of the next week to find items we no longer use. The cool thing is: we have other people donating things as well. Just picked up the coolest ride-on stuffed horse that I'm sure will make Eden cry as it leaves our garage to its new home. She is such a fan of horses, and this thing is nearly as tall as she is. Thank-you, Carie, my friend, for your great donations! :)
But the coolest thing ever...I was at Carie's house tonight for a 31 Party, and the consultant, whom I've never met before, asked me if I'd consider doing a fundraising show. She offered to donate her commissions and turn the hostess gifts into cash (rather than product)! How cool is that? Someone I don't even know, offering to help us out...pretty cool, I must say! Of course, I'm having a Norwex party already in a couple of days, so it will be a few months before we do the 31 thing. But awesome, nonetheless!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
And the orphanage is....
This week we found out the name of the orphanage our agency is going to be working with on our behalf. It's called New Life Link and its located in Port-au-Prince. I had butterflies in my tummy as I searched them on the web and YouTube to get any little glimpse i could into the life of our child. I was relieved to have a peaceful feeling about the care they provide...looks like one of the best orphanages in Haiti.
Our home study had to be postponed until the end of February, because of the weather. However, it went "okay"...I say that only because the kids were perfect...and I do mean perfect all morning in anticipation of the social worker arriving. No arguments, no time-outs, helping out around the house, and playing quietly. Then she arrived. While they weren't terrible by any means, I think my expectations were just a little higher than they should have been! We should be receiving the written report sometime this week! Yeah! :)
Oh, and yes...I did get a new sink and countertop in my bathroom! :)
Our home study had to be postponed until the end of February, because of the weather. However, it went "okay"...I say that only because the kids were perfect...and I do mean perfect all morning in anticipation of the social worker arriving. No arguments, no time-outs, helping out around the house, and playing quietly. Then she arrived. While they weren't terrible by any means, I think my expectations were just a little higher than they should have been! We should be receiving the written report sometime this week! Yeah! :)
Oh, and yes...I did get a new sink and countertop in my bathroom! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)