False Labor

The last few days have been quite an emotional roller coaster, and today I think we just plunged off of the summit.  Our social worker, B, called me at about 2pm today with news that there had been a mistake in our presentation date assignment.  Presentation is scheduled to take place on 2/17, not 1/17...oops.  BIG oops.  BIG oops as in:  we have all ready purchased our airline tickets for 1/14, we are minutes from walking out the door for our 8+ hour drive to Chicago for our appointment at the consulate, we have re-arranged our lives to accomodate travel a week from tomorrow, we are overflowing with anticipation, excitement, nervousness about meeting the kids in a week...and now...oops!  Somehow I didn't find much solace in the fact this has never happened to another family before and everyone is so sorry about the mistake.  I'm not trying to be crabby, it has just been such a disappointing day.

So, why the reason for such a long delay?  Apparently, things are backed-up in Colombia right now.  They tend to have a surge in the number of adoptions that take place this time of year, and combined with the fact that the Colombian courts are just coming off of a one month holiday, they are simply log-jammed.  No amount of begging or pleading can change these facts, and we simply have to accept the delay and move forward.

I have all ready spoken with the travel agent, and he was confident that we would be able to cancel the tickets with no penalty or just a minor penalty.

So...on the up-side of things...
-  Due to the long delay, we may now be able to get updated information on the kids.  New photos, or maybe an updated "progress report" from their social worker.  I think that they are trying to throw us a bone here, but at least it's something, and it would be great to have any new news about the boys.
-  Maybe our airline tickets in Feb will be less expensive than the ones we had booked for Jan.  The price for our tickets was a lot higher than we had hoped, and we'd love to have an extra thousand bucks in our pockets to spend with the kids instead of giving to the airlines.
-  We have lots of time to accomodate a trip to the consolate in Chicago now.  Maybe we can even make a vacation weekend out of it, stop and see some family/friends on the way.
-  We have a lot more breathing room to finish up on our "to do" list, and maybe we can even add some new items to it!  (I know I'm pushing my luck here)
-  We might have a chance to get out and do some skiing or some ice fishing.

So...I guess it's not all bad.  Mostly we are simply emotionally exhausted.  My sister, Vicki, told me that today was my version of Braxton Hicks, or false labor.  And the treatment?  Drink a beer.  Cheers to that, but can I make mine champagne instead???