Unbelievable

Well, the sidebar says it all.
August 31st.
Unbelievable.

In an effort to focus on the positive

1. I'm Canadian, adopting from Vietnam, with no September 1st deadline.
2. Ben2be, if he is who previously travelling families have been told he is, is still an itty bitty little guy. Most of the Canadian referrals I have heard of recently have been older than Ben2be's present age.
3. Orphanage paperwork in Ben2be's world might be completed slowly but nanny response times are quick and loving.
4. Summer break ends Tuesday. I'll be in a new position at school for which I have no formal training (teacher librarian), working a computer system for which I have no training, trying to keep 700 kids and their teachers reading, reading, reading. I'm in dire need of a distraction and this may be it.

You're next, soon, any day could change to NOW at any moment...

Updates...

Adoption News...

• (referral timeline given after matching email in late May-hopeful it will arrive in June)
• still waiting

Canadian Immigration Determination...

• (determinations are typically made in 2 weeks)
• tomorrow marks the end of week 9
• still waiting

Travel mate's broken foot surgery update...

• not necessary at this time
• 2 (or 3?) more weeks in the cast

My state of mind...

• 5 more days of summer vacation
• Teacher Librarian placement in a school of 700 students with no prior experience
• Experiencing lots and lots of waiting
• lots and lots and lots of waiting
• still waiting

So there you have it. Tomorrow morning I'm off to the cottage for 3 or 4 days. May the waiting miraculously end while I'm at the lake with a call that my sweet Benjaminh's referral has arrived.

Checking in- 27 months later

Well, it is 27 months later.

Tomorrow marks 27 months from the date I made the decision to adopt from Vietnam. 27 months from the day I went to the Agency information session and made my final country decision. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be waiting for my sweet son at this point in time. Unbelievable really.

All that is holding back Sweet Benjaminh's referral at this point is the release of one single document. So I wait (Tomorrow would be a great day for THE CALL!).

While I'm waiting I'd love to have my readers check in. I've been using Stat counter for about a week now and boy oh boy am I curious about my readers. I shot past the 10,000 reader's mark on Friday and I'm wondering who you are?

Some of you are very, very dedicated... but never, ever comment. I don't think Peterborough or Napean or St. George Newfoundland have commented and Jay, are you with my agency? And my real life friends, send a comment or else! I'd also love to match my U.S. readers to their state so I can dream about travelling south with Sweet Benjaminh to meet all of you!

So, check in in the comments or if you want to share details about where you are reading from shoot me an email at lazy2thebones@yahoo.ca

Bye for now, I have to go and cross one more day off the calendar.

No News in Adoption Land

Click here to read on...

Have you seen my mind?

It is a slippery slope to insanity and I'm on it. Thought I had fed the dog before I left the house to tutor a local little guy this morning but when I got back the pup was asking to be fed. Why exactly is the FOOD bowl full of WATER while it sits right beside the WATER bowl that is also full of WATER?

Hello? Have you seen my mind?

I am a Canadian. I do not have a government imposed deadline sitting right in front of me and yet I am still losing my mind while adoption angst takes up residence in the space where my brain used to reside. I wish big wishes for my U.S. bloggy friends each and every day. I watch their journeys closely. I take strength from their willingness to share the path to their babies and once they reach the end of the path share their life with their babies. What would we all do without this community of support, in real life and on-line?

Here is a little excerpt from an email I received today from a wise, experienced adoptive mama... Without women like this in my real life, the members of my extended Viet Nam family, I would have lost my way on this path long before I got to 27 months. I can hardly wait to introduce Benjaminh to this sweet lady (perhaps at the airport some day soon). Enjoy her words.

"Placing one's heart in the hands of fate is a perilously dangerous thing. One only taken on by the bravest of souls. And you are one of these. I have faith. I really do. Breathe in and out.

You will get there. It will be soon. Just keep breathing. Don't cry. Don't panic. Don't be angry. Just mark the time. Get rid of one day at a time."

I'm breathing. and my calendar is covered with x's.
One day at a time.

Stick the landing

I've just had a revelation! This adoption journey is like a balance beam routine.


Seriously, have you been watching the women tonight? Back flip with a twist and you get to land on a 4 inch piece of wood suspended a meter in the air? Or perhaps you would like to combine a couple of back flips and then land in a scissor split following that closely with a hand stand.


If I could walk forward to the end of that beam and jump off without hurting myself it would be a good day. To walk backwards, do a sweet little 180 and jump without breaking a leg would be miraculous.


The thing is I've been prancing around on that beam for 27 months! A few hops, a little spin here and there, arms out to stop the "wobbles". I even sat on the beam a few times to catch my breath...but I didn't FALL.

Now all I have to do is stick the landing.

The routine is almost over.

So tired of waiting-a wee update

So tired of hearing the ever-changing story...
June
Early July
mid to late July
Soon
Next week
Any day
By the end of the week
Early next week

Well my friends it is now officially mid-week. Half of my baby's referral resides in Ontario and the other half of my baby's referral must still be in Vietnam. The agency is saying they are "still awaiting an updated email message from xxx", our in-country representative.

Aren't we all.

In my perfect world here is the sequence of events that MUST occur in order for me to avoid creating the dreaded plan 7.

• missing referral documents arrive by email to the program director at 9pm tonight our time (9am Wednesday Vietnam time)
• referral call comes very early tomorrow morning
• translating of newly arrived documents occurs at warp speed
• courier leaves by noon Wednesday for next day delivery (or what ever time it needs to leave to get to me by noon Thursday)
• courier arrives by noon Thursday in time for my Doctor's appointment (The doctor does not work Friday)
• Doctor sees no medical concerns
• Review referral with Adoption practitioner Thursday or Friday evening before she leaves on an extended vacation Saturday

Yeah, not likely.

So, lets get thinking about the dreaded Plan 7...Have you got a good, very flexible adoption practitioner working in any of the following areas: South Simcoe, York Region, Peel, Etobicoke???

What is the status???

Of the adoption referral
At this exact moment that is any one's best guess.
Last I heard on Friday there were some baby documents in the Agency Office and some not in the Agency Office. The where abouts of the missing documents was unknown because it was well after business hours on a Friday night in Vietnam and there was no one answering that question.

Today I was too afraid to call and ask.
Perhaps I'll call tomorrow if I don't hear the phone ringing.

Of the citizenship application
At this moment that is any one's best guess.

What is the government doing right now you might ask??? They are looking at 3 pieces of my i.d. Photocopied and certified true copies. They are apparently looking at my documents to determine that I am a Canadian Citizen and am therefore eligible to have my adopted son become a Canadian Citizen on arrival in Canada. They received my documents on June 26th and started looking at them on July 10th and apparently they are still looking...

Last I heard on Thursday my case was "in process". The Canadian Immigration people in Sydney were finished week 6 in what was to be a 2 week process. Week six apparently is when their delayed timeline"expires" so I called and the call centre sent a "referral" to Sydney to let them know they were late. When I asked 1. what happens next and when I asked 2. can you give me an approximate timeline until I might hear a determination I was told 1. they will make a determination faster now that the main office sent a "referral" and 2. we can not give specific time lines.

Of my travel partner
At this moment that is being left up to the discretion of the orthopedic surgeon.
Um, yeah.
Apparently2 weeks ago K was having a terrific time at a wedding, partying in true bridesmaid fashion, dancing barefoot, when she slipped and fell in a spilled drink. Broke her foot. 5th something with an "m" bone that is attached to the baby toe. An ugly, nasty jagged break of said bone. Next Monday she is back at the surgeon's office to see if 1. she needs immediate surgery (what is "immediate" in the eyes of a surgeon??) with at least 6 weeks in a cast post surgery (how long does it take to get back on your feet after 10 or so weeks on crutches???) or 2. the bone is fusing poorly but surgery can wait because she can walk on it or 3. it is healing nicely and no surgery is required.

Of my mental well-being
At this moment that is any one's best guess.

So that is the status...

Cloth Diapering

This is my second short-ish post so keep reading ...

So I'm going to go with cloth.
Are you a cloth diaperer?
What system/type do you use and how do you like it (...brand specific if you don't mind)?

Looking for lots and lots of comments on this one.

Optimisim

Well my friends...looks like I will need to keep the cell close by on Monday morning. Apparently 4 or 5 documents are required to present referrals to families (depending on the baby's circumstances) and 2 of the important ones arrived at the agency office today, the birth certificates and the medical reports. The rest are expected to follow early in the week.

This is going to happen.

Wow.

Stay tuned...

I hope this is the week

Hope, hope, hope, hope...

I've had all kinds of rave reviews on the cottage pictures a couple of posts back so I thought I should let you all know some of them are not mine...they are shots of my family's cottage shoreline but if they are really, really stunning they were taken by my big bro or his lovely wife. Let's be honest here...I don't do sunrise so I'm not really sure who took them.

Here is another peek at the shoreline. I love the way the shadows in this picture make the rocks into funky shapes.