63 days of freedom

Invited readers come for a visit over at wordpress...
http://wonderandwait.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/another-peek-into-benjaminhs-world/

I finished the school year this afternoon at about 1:45...
It was long...enough said.


My father just called me to say I only have 63 days until school starts up again and that when I get to 63 I'll be that much closer to Benjaminh. Sweet, I think, except he paired the closer to Benjaminh stuff with "each day is 2 minutes shorter", "downward slope to winter" , a promise to provide regular updates of the shrinking holiday number and way too much evil giggling. He is very special.


So, with 63 days to kill I think I will head out tomorrow morning for a bit of this ...

I'll take along this cute fellow and his prescription antibiotics...(why start a swimming vacation with healthy ears?)

I have my good friend Carol (resident chef) coming along for the ride and we managed to purchase a combined total of 15 trashy novels at the second hand bookstore today.

Carol does the food and I provide the transportation...it cost $65 big ones to fill up my little Cavalier today. Holy crap. Some one's getting rich and I think I know his name (Hee, hee!).

Carol is bringing along her WIFI enabled laptop so I can combine shopping in trendy cottage ville shops with checking compulsively for updates from both the agency and close friends presently in Vietnam...

See you again late Wednesday evening. I'll bring you some beach sand and a million photos of paradise.

B

Home, Sweet Home: Protected Post

http://wonderandwait.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/home-sweet-home/

Sweet Benjaminh

I do not have pictures of the orphanage yet. Remain calm.
I do however have tidbits of news . Visit my private blog for a few details...

http://wonderandwait.wordpress.com/2008/06/22/sweet-benjaminh/

I'm no longer wondering but I continue to wait and now I find myself sending specific wishes across the world...

May sweet Benjaminh be held gently through the day, fed often by caring hands, comforted when necessary and put down to rest close by his friend BK. May he remain strong and healthy under the care of his attentive nanny.

May his nanny grow comfortable with the presence of the visiting Canadians and perhaps allow my dear friend to love on him, cuddle him close, kiss his sweet cheeks and whisper messages of love from his mommy into his tiny ear.

One Step Forward...

Today I took the first step in the process of applying for automatic Canadian Citizenship for the little guy. I filled out the application, certified copies of 3 pieces of my own ID to prove I'm a Citizen (for free at the township offices no less), paid a hundred bucks online and forked out a bit more to register the letter before sending it off to Sydney Nova Scotia.


It is true that the new process seems to be shortening the post G+R in-country time requirements for clients of the other Canadian agency but this is not why I did it. I want Benjaminh to be a citizen as soon as he lands in Canada. That right is available. Adoptive parents that have gone before me fought hard to gain this right for our children and I decided that the right to immediate citizenship is easily worth a hundred bucks (I already paid 150 for the permanent resident application). Perhaps the process will move quickly and we won't be attached to our hotel in Hanoi waiting for the Permanent Resident travel Visa to be issued and perhaps, if Ben feels the urge, we will be able to take a couple of road or train trips near the end of our journey. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

The tricky bit here is my agency's FIRST opportunity to facilitate the paperwork for this new process is landing in Vietnam at 10 am June 21st VN time. I will be watching closely to see how it goes and will enter into the post referral immigration phase of my own journey knowing the Permanent Resident application has been in Singapore for 2 years acting as my backup plan.

Remember to email me at lazy2thebones@yahoo.com for password access to my picture posts. The first orphanage visit occurs about 4 pm June 21st, VN time...

Roommates: protected

A bit of a walk down memory lane...Julia is probably going to kill me but she's been mad before and I'm still here. Julia, please note I picked the "best" shots available from 1988 (not 98, oops). No SLR or digital camaras back in the olden days.

http://wonderandwait.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/roommates/

Coming soon to a protected blog near you:
Tiny roommates-20 years later

Wish, wonder and wait: Private Stuff

So, you will find my new private blog over at
http://www.wonderandwait.wordpress.com/

It's PRIVATE...so, if you haven't asked for the password you will have no access. None. At all. For all my real life friends, except the precious Janet, you need to beg now. Right now. I have dozens of password requests from people I've just met or never met but not so many from those I see every single day. Cause you don't read the blog. The stork is not landing in the school hallway so I'm guessing you will start reading the blog when I send you an email mid summer that says "You only get to view my sweet baby on-line"...so get with the program people. Make a request (and while you are at it R, make a quilt wish too!)

It is a fact that no one has access yet cause I just made the blog 10 minutes ago and I haven't sent out the password to a soul. R and L who leave for the airport to pick up their beautiful baby boys in Vietnam in like 20 hours will get the first emails...after that you just wait your turn...

If you did ask for the password watch your junk mail folders for the next couple of hours
(or days: I rock at procrastinating).

What I know for sure...

My referral will be for a little boy.
He is waiting for me in the north, about 1 hour outside of Hanoi.
A group of children, including my son, has been registerred at the orphanage and the media advertisements are running their course.
I recognize that children may return to their birth family or experience a transition into a Vietnamese adoptive family during the media advertisements and that is why no details are shared with waiting families. An official match has not been made but there must be enough waiting children that the agency feels comfortable notifying me that a referral is pending.
Referrals are now expected in July (any time in July would make me happy).
Travel will occur 2-4 months after the referral acceptance is sent to Vietnam.

My friends are travelling to Vietnam tomorrow.
They will meet and hold and love on my son (and all the other yet to be matched babies).
They will take pictures and video.
When I learn who he is I will cherish all of these early pictures.

There is no password yet but watch for the password email this weekend if you have requested it. Perhaps I will have orphanage photos to share next week!

Counting down...

4 days until my dear friend leaves to meet her son
I'm counting down.

9 working days until summer vacation.
I'm counting down.

Cottage time starts June 27th
(and yes, we have a phone...)
I'm counting down.

Each work day brings me 1 day closer to the
"end of June" referral timeline.
I'm counting down (but realistically anticipating July).

I used to count up...
I used to count months...
The numbers got really big...

5 months and I'm not translated yet
11 months since DTV
15 months since my first homestudy appointment
21 months since agency registration
25 months since this journey began

Now I count down...
And I count in days...
And I'm filled with unbelievable joyful anticipation.

Benjaminh baby,
mommy is coming.

Private posts are coming soon...be sure to comment or email as
suggested below if you want in on some baby cuteness!

Going Private?

So, I'm thinking about going private.

It may be only for the time between referral and the G+R ceremony...
It may be total (every post) or it may be part-time (picture posts)...
It may be here at blogger or down the road at wordpress...


I just don't know.


If you are a regular reader, a bloggy land friend or AP, or a real life friend or relative that never comments, here is your chance to be heard. I need to know who is out there. My live-traffic option shows me people are reading from around the world (France and Vietnam yesterday) but I have NO IDEA who you are.


Leave me a quick comment so I can get a sense of who is lurking in blogland.
OR
email me at lazy2thebones@yahoo.ca


Perhaps a bit about who you are and how you found me
Whether you are part of adoption-land
A blog address
etc...

Thanks.

Child of my Heart

I've been contacted. They say I'm next. That I may see my sweet child's face near the end of June. I thought I would celebrate this news by sharing some of the treasured gifts I've received during this long and sometimes difficult wait.

I love the feel of that cozy fleece blanket and especially adore the embroidery (and the gift giver of course!)

The Willow Tree figurine is a gift from Little B's Auntie Carol.

Love, love, love it.






Child of the world,

Into my heart you came-

Bringing sun into my life,

Making family our name.