Peace and Serenity Photo Challenge

(from Stepping on Legos)
the cottage
mid-week, mid-summer, mid-morning
quiet
big mug
hot tea with milk
warm summer breezes
mindless reading
beautiful views
good friends
playful pup (absorbent towel)
peace

The echoes have subsided.
Apparently I'm number 5.
5
five
cinq
nam (that's Vietnamese my friends)
Not very many at all.
I understand the lost Thai Nguyen referral issue.
I may have been matched.
I may not have been matched.
I guess I will know for sure in early May.

Oh my...

Not the news I hoped for...But I continue to hope

So, below you will find the body of a memo I received today from my agency...
It raises more questions than it answers.
Clearly the referrals we were expecting any day now from Thai Nguyen have gone belly up.
The May referrals must be from Binh Thuan because it seems those are still on track.
We shall see.

Oh, and how did 28 families waiting change to 19 families waiting in 4 weeks with no referrals? Perhaps I'm not number 10 anymore?

We would like to give you an update on our progress in Vietnam. We are still expecting some referrals at the beginning of May 2008.

Five families are home in Canada with their children. We have completed two relative adoptions and three international adoptions in Vietnam.

Six families are waiting to travel with their referrals. Five of these families will be traveling to Vietnam in May.

Nineteen families are currently in process awaiting children's referrals from Vietnam.

We have been in dicussions with the Ontario Ministry in the past few weeks. Canada and the US continue to examine the international adoption process in Vietnam. Concerns have arisen in Lang Son, Bac Ninh, Phu Tho and Thai Nguyen. The Children's Bridge does have signed MOU's (Memo's of Understanding) in these provinces but we will not be permitted to accept referrals from these provinces at this time.

The Children's Bridge will continue to facilitate adoptions from Hai Duong and Binh Thuan where we have MOU's. We continue to work diligently on our your behalf. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your questions or concerns.

Makes you go Hmmmmmm.

Hello...hello...hello...hello...hello...

Hello...hello...hello...hello...hello...

Echoes
All I hear when I ask for information.

Words like:
In the next month
In the next few weeks
Soon

I'd be happier with any day.

I want
"There is an important call for you in the Principal's office."

Stuff...

1. My car is fine...it was a clamp/hose thing after all. Thanks for your good wishes!


2. I can't get photos to upload onto my blog page. I have cute ones of little Owen Danh and his giraffe buddy Emma but I'm having no luck. Blogger makes me wait forever and then I get an error message. Any ideas?

Onto other things...

I am not at all patient today...

Here is what I have cooking up in my pot.

• Jan 20th, in country facilitator mentions a specific number of babies from a specific area of Vietnam to travelling families.
• Jan 24th, retiring agency director tells a fellow AP (with a referral), "Tell your friends to relax, there are lots of babies coming."
• Early February, agency top gun suggests to my social worker, "Perhaps updated documents will be irrelevant because there is hope her referral may come before they expire." (Due to expire April 16th: Note, I updated them anyways.)
• March 18th, we are notified in a memo that the agency will be working with Thai Nguyen (not the same province mentioned by the in-country person Jan. 20th) and that referrals were expected in the next month (not specifically from TN). This is plural referrals in a singular month. In writing no less.
• March 19th, the top gun tells me, via email, that the two babies mentioned to me in early February are in fact boys and have been tentatively matched. The families are awaiting the paper referral and details.
  Also March 19th, a fellow waiting parent, who we surmise is directly behind me on the list, is told that her referral will be arriving during her scheduled overseas holiday (April 15th to May 7th) and that she might want to reconsider going...

So, do you see where my impatience comes from? The agency's monthly update last came on February 29th. By all accounts that was more than a month ago. Perhaps it is delayed by the wait for China referrals?

Despite Phullabalony Phil's gloomy outlook for myself and wee Benjaminh April may very well be my Mommy Month. I'd be thrilled with late May. Keep your fingers crossed.