How the numbers stack up

Today I had a conversation with our social worker about the Wonderful, Amazing List, and here’s how it shakes out.  The List is very fluid, as families can change their request at any point.  Some may put an adoption on hold for any number of reasons, including job loss or pregnancy, while others simply have a change in what will fit their family the best.  We are open to kiddos 0-24 months, either gender, or sibs up to 48 months.  This is really, really general, as about 75% of families want infant girls (at this particular point in time--things change daily).  So we are on multiple lists at any given point--sibs, singletons, infants, toddlers, boys, girls, yadda yadda yadda. Our social worker threw out some numbers (and they were far lower than I expected), but it's all a bit confusing when you don't have The List in front of you.

Truth be told, I don’t really know what any of it means.  Ethiopian adoptions are slowing down, and the future is unclear.  Our social worker seemed very confident that the slowdowns are not permanent, but a means to an end to have fewer fraudulent cases.  It’s a head-scratcher to me, but hey, whadda I know?

So my personal goal over the next year or so is to not obsessively watch the message boards for those who have been matched with kiddos.    Not to mentally count down referrals in front of us, because, honestly, I’m not sure many more are coming through anytime soon (and that’s from our agency, not my own paranoia), and how depressing would that be?  We are trying—really, really hard—to make the next months fun and interesting, including learning to scuba dive, trips to California and Montana, hitting a few national parks, a trip to Savannah, another to Hawaii, and just generally enjoying summer (when it finally freaking arrives here, but that’s a rant for another day). 

So at the end of the day, we are on The List, there are tons of people before us who have been waiting a heckuva lot longer, and things are moving slowly.  But we are on The List.  And that’s a darned good feeling.

Some people are so creative...

I found this adoption fundraiser on another blog, and think these shirts are just too cute for words.  So I'm posting their site here, check out the goods!!  I'm so impressed--between general Etsy merchandise and the amazing adoption fundraising efforts on various blogging sites, people's creativity just never ceases to amaze me.  I ordered the "Heathered Blue" shirt--eventually Mother Nature will decide to turn off the darn sprinklers here in the Northwest and bring us some sunshine!

Friday Haiku/Beautiful Email Messages

We are one week in
to a very long, long wait.
Another beer, please.

And this, for your listening pleasure (An Ode to Goose and Tripper)

Milk jug tops are the
very best hockey pucks for
midnight dog taunting

_____________________________________________________________________


And the best ever, an email from my friend Kristen, who is a super fabulous artsy-craftsy sort (and works for the wonderful Chronicle Books--check them out!)--how amazing is this? 



Isn't that gorgeous???

Why I love my friends

Having just returned to town from visiting family (and having a luxuuurious spa day with my sister), I texted my friend Amanda that we are on The List.  Amanda is just one of those people who always says the right thing, and this was her text back, which made me laugh (still smiling now!):

YEAH!!  You two are paper pregnant!  (it may be an elephant gestation, but still, you're paper pregnant!!!)  We need to celebrate!

I also got a beautiful, homemade pendant of Africa from our crafty friend Alayne, and it's gorgeous and keeps me feeling connected to this adoption.

And last, but definitely not least, we are added to The List by the date on which USCIS approved us, not the date we received the letter in the mail.  That date was March 25, which means we were approved on my sister's birthday--I'm normally not one for signs, but I'm choosing to see that as an excellent one!!

So we've been on the list for 5 days now....

The Wonderful, Amazing List

As things in the Ethiopia adoption program tend to change considerably the nanosecond we get the teensiest bit excited about this adoption, I will just whisper this across the ether in the hopes that the universe will not take too much notice:

We passed immigration.  We are on the Wonderful, Amazing List.

:-)

blogging at 34,000 feet

I'm loving the new free wifi setup on planes--it's pretty entertaining to cruise the web while on a flight.  Heading out (by myself, the hubs had to hold down the fort) to the UK for my sister's birthday.  Can't wait!!  Bring me another Bloody Mary!
Happy (early) Birthday, sis!!

Scrambled Legs and Achin'

So our lovely team, Scrambled Legs and Achin', successfully completed The Big Climb yesterday, which is a fundraiser for Lymphoma/Leukemia research.  We climbed 71 floors of the Columbia Tower in downtown Seattle, and our team raised $440 toward the cause.  Some larger teams with corporate support raised a heck of a lot more than that, and with over 6,000 climbers during the day, it was an excellent event all around.

Team Scrambled Legs and Achin'

And, of course, the after-climb Bloody Marys:

Sometimes it's nice to just get out of your own head, you know?

Feel-good thangs

1.  Blue Sky

2.  Brunch with good friends

3.  Pedicures with a best friend

4.  Dinner with our favorite peeps

5.  Kula pork for dinner (20th hour in the slow cooker--mmmmmmmmm)

6. 








6.  Homemade oreo cookies!! 

These things simply make the world a good, friendly, all-will-be-well kinda place.

Ethiopia Adoption Processing Update

This week, the US State Department held a conference call with adoption officials from both the US and Ethiopia to outline current and future adoption processing from Ethiopia.  At this point, MOWA (the Ministry of Womens Affairs) in Ethiopia are still processing adoptions at a rate of 5 per day officially.  However, unofficially, the rate of adoption processing is closer to 20 per day.  Now, 20 is certainly better than 5, but a whole lot less than 50.  Our agency estimates that MOWA will process current cases in progress (people with referrals) over the next 2-3 months.  Beyond that is anyone's guess.

How will this affect our adoption?  We are not even on the waiting list, so this will affect it significantly.  According to the State Department:  "Calculations based on rough estimates of cases in progress (keep in mind, we are not even close to being 'a case in progress') indicate delays of one year or more." 

Working to end fraudulent cases in adoption is critical.  It is encouraging that the Ethiopian government is taking direct action to prevent fraud or illegal activities in adoption.  Having a questionable adoption would be heartbreaking and is just...unthinkable.  We absolutely support the Ethiopian government in working towards offering stable, legal and ethical adoptions, and using international adoption as a last resort.

Yet we still need to do right by our future family, and I'm not entirely sure that waiting indefinitely in a program that is undergoing significant (albeit, potentially positive) change is the best idea for us.  We have fallen in love with Ethiopia, and picture our future with an Ethiopian child.  So our hearts are breaking a little (ok, a lot) that this change is happening.  Other programs are prohibitively expensive, so we may not have a choice but to wait.  And wait. And wait.  I feel like I'm back in IVF world--making huge decisions without knowing if anything is going to work out--if MOWA says 5 a day, but they are processing 20, does that mean we should just chill and see what happens?  But there haven't been referrals in months, and it doesn't sound like there will be for months, but maybe this is just a hitch?  What to do?  We, frankly, have no idea. 

We are hopeful things will change (of course, hoping people have to give their children up makes us horrible, awful, selfish people, but that's a post for another day--or maybe not), and that the future will once again be bright and happy and full of babies!  In the meantime, I'll end this depressing post with a picture of Goose the Cat, looking pensive:

Maggie McDawg

Awww, what a nice, sweet St. Patrick's Day-themed doggie....

Isn't she simply darling?

Uh-oh....

Oh, no!!

Laser Leprechaun Dog!!  Aaaghh!  My eyes!  My eyes!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!