Dot to Dot

So, I'm home sick for the second day in a row. Very unlike me but a raging fever and a good nights sleep that didn't end until 3pm yesterday convinced me to take a second day. I managed to drag my sorry butt out of bed at 10 am today so clearly I'm on the mend.

Yesterday I met a new on-line connection through a fellow Ontario blogger. The list of waiting families is like a giant dot to dot puzzle and I love making connections between the dots. I now know, through the grapevine, the names of 2 of the families expecting referrals in early May (though I hope there is more than 2...) and have personally met or had on-line chats with 5 others. Then there is me. So that is 8 knowns out of the first 11 waiting files. I'm thinking that one of those unknowns is ahead of me on the list and 2 of them are behind me. I'm connected apparently.

What does this connecting get me? New friends. People who are travelling this bumpy road right alongside me and understand the constant frustrations. A place to rant and vent. A coalition of information sharers. I can't wait to hear news of referrals directly from waiting families who are no longer waiting. What a thrill!

All this connecting also brings misinformation to light. Misinformation becomes obvious when we are all chatting and one family has heard different information than another family (for example I'm 'approximately' number 6 and J is 'approximately' number 5 and my new connection, K, has never been told a number on the list but is apparently number 5 1/2 if we have our facts straight...).

I try not to dwell on the number (ummm, okay, I'm lying). The agency is reluctant to give numbers because of extenuating factors that may change the order a referral is presented to a family such as being open to special needs, specific gender requests, changes to gender requests, paperwork processing speeds in a given province, etc...

I have to say the agency has really made an effort to improve communication and in the last couple of months has started sending out a Vietnam Program memo on the 1st and 15th of each month. Helpful and necessary. On the 15th when the next memo comes out I hope I can write about the "number" of referrals that came in early May because without a doubt early May will be over by then.