Ever since our dossier went to Ethiopia, I’ve avoided almost everything adoption-related. Those 3 long months of obsessing on our dossier just did me in. Well, I think I’ve almost gotten over it.

It was such a relief to finally get on the waiting list. I keep thinking about the possibility of actually getting a referral 6 months from now (wishful thinking, I know). It’s finally starting to sink in…this is really going to happen. After the disappointment with the Vietnam program, I was a little wary when we switched over to Ethiopia. I tried to keep my excitement level in check because I was afraid of being disappointed again. Now that we’re on the waiting list, I feel like I can start looking to the future again.

I am in total and complete “nesting” mode right now. For the last couple of weeks I’ve gone through almost every closet in the house and pretty much emptied them out. I even tackled the garage. If you had seen our garage before I got to it, you’d know what a miraculous feat I have accomplished. Goodwill loves us! I couldn’t bear the thought of having a yard sale, although the money would have been nice. I just can’t stand watching people paw through my personal belongings, even though said belongings are no longer wanted. Kind of weird, huh? I get the same feeling when I go to other people’s yard sales. I feel totally weirded-out going through people’s stuff. So, this morning I put those creepy feelings aside and hit some yard sales with my Mom. We actually scored pretty big…a nice stroller to keep at Mom’s house ($10), a bagful of gently-used baby clothes ($5), and a brand new baby carrier ($5). Maybe yard sales aren’t so bad afterall.

On to the nursery…

Since we won’t know the gender of our baby until we get our referral, I’m choosing a more gender neutral theme. Here are a couple of contenders…

Minus all the fussy little details, I really like the simplicity and color of these two. Of course, I’ll probably change my mind a dozen times and choose something entirely different.

Here’s the nursery furniture I’m leaning towards…

Okay, so I was a little premature with my dossier happy dance. CHI received our dossier BUT there was a document that needed to be revised. Our Letter of Introduction was one of the first documents I completed and because we initially thought we would be requesting a girl, it had “she” and “her” all over it. Because it was one of the first documents I completed 3 months ago, I didn’t even think to go back and read it after we switched to “no gender preference.” So, today I took off work and had the new document notarized, county certified, state authenticated and mailed overnight to CHI in hopes that it will get there in time to go to D.C. with this weeks dossiers. I will never again complain of others people’s incompetencies! I am guilty as charged! LOL 

My Grandmother, who lives in New Orleans, lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. Her house was completely flooded. She lived in the area known as “Bucktown,” which was hit hard during the hurricane. We visited the house while we were there and drove through her old neighborhood. It felt like a ghost town. Very few businesses have been re-opened, most of the houses that are still standing remain vacant, and there are still people living in government trailers on the front lawns of their destroyed homes. Many of the homes we drove by still had numbers spray-painted on the front indicating the date they were investigated and the number of dead bodies in the house. I think this, more than anything else, brought home to me just how devastating Katrina was.

My Grandmother has moved on with her life. She now has a little efficiency apartment close to my Uncle.  Her house is still standing but it has been gutted due to the flood damage. She will be 82 soon and feels that it’s too late for her to start over. She will probably sell the property at some point.

The French Quarter looks the same as it always has. Compared to other areas of the city, the Quarter didn’t sustain much damage. What damage there was has been repaired and it’s business as usual in Sin City. My Mom and I had a good time but it was HOT, HOT, HOT, not to mention HUMID! We got our fill of gumbo, crawfish etouffee, and various other fried seafood. And let’s not forget Cafe du Monde’s beignets and cafe au lait! Addictive! We hit several of the casinos (didn’t win a thing) and even watched my Uncle sing karaoke until 4 am! It was an exhausting 4 days but lots of fun.    

Here’s my Mom with a huge, toxic, tropical concoction of some sort.

Here’s my Mom and Granny at the karaoke bar. My Granny had just dropped $200 in the poker machine behind her and she’s still smiling! (Yes, we kept my almost 82 year old Grandmother out at a bar until 4 am but I wouldn’t feel too sorry for her…she can run circles around all of us!).

I’ve been a bad, bad blogger but in my defense there hasn’t been a whole lot to blog about and I’ve been sick since Friday with bronchitis and a sinus infection.

I’m kind of in dossier limbo right now waiting to hear from the California Secretary of State about my birth certificate getting authenticated. I sent it two weeks ago today and no word yet. I’m trying to be optimistic about the whole thing but chances are they aren’t going to authenticate it because the copy is 26 years old. I ordered a new birth certificate from vital records in California but their current processing time is 12 weeks average (due to budget cuts). So, I sit and wait. This whole thing could potentially keep us from getting our dossier done for another 3 months, which really sucks. I’m trying to stay positive and frequently tell myself that things will happen when they’re supposed to. We’re also waiting on our approval from the USCIS. That was also mailed 2 weeks ago. Ugh! 

In the meantime, I’ve been getting our other dossier documents county certified. Yesterday, I dragged my sorry, sick butt to the Cherokee County courthouse and the Pickens County courthouse. Now there’s just Cobb, Forsyth and Fulton left. We also have our parenting class scheduled for this Saturday. I’m actually looking forward to being entertained as Owen attempts to diaper a fake baby! I giggle inwardly everytime I think about him changing the real deal. This is a guy who used to gag picking up dog poop! Gotta love him!

We finally got our vegi and herb garden planted this past weekend. Well, Owen planted and I supervised. I’m looking forward to fresh garden tomatoes!

May is going to be a busy month but we have some fun things to look forward to. Owen and I are going camping with friends in a couple of weekends. We used to camp all the time when we lived in California but it’s been about 3 years since the last time we attempted it while living in Texas. For us, there’s a small window of opportunity in the spring and fall that’s tolerable. Between the humidity and the gargantuan bugs, camping in the south can be unpleasant. The weekend after camping, my Mom and I are heading to New Orleans to visit my Grandma. We haven’t been since before Hurricane Katrina. My Grandma lost her house during the hurricane. It’s going to be a totally different experience staying in a hotel instead of at my Grandma’s house where she lived for 50 years. Sin City here we come!