OK...so I was a little bit stressed out and grumpy when I last posted...sorry about that, and things are much better now. We were indeed able to cancel our airline tickets with only a minimal penalty, thank goodness.
A funny side-note about the travel agent we have been using..."T" was recommended to us by our adoption agency, and many other families adopting from Colombia have worked with him. T has been really helpful and is super knowledgeable about adoption travel, especially to Central and South American countries. BUT...he can be tough to get a hold of, and isn't the best at returning calls. I am not sure if he is just a little bit forgetful?? Anyways, when I was trying to get our travel itinerary cancelled last week, I emailed once and called him 5 times before I caught him in the office and got confirmation that the cancellation had been processed. Jason was afraid that T would start blocking my calls, but I was kind of freaking out, and T was very gracious about the whole thing. Once that was taken care of, I could relax a little.
We also had to re-schedule our appointments at the Colombian Consulate. After I got the news last week about our change in travel plans, I tried to cancel our appointment at the Consulate using their web page...didn't work. I then called and left a voice message on their automated system, but have no idea if the message got passed to the proper party.
So I went back on the Consulate's internet site to book new appointments. Their web page cracks me up...it is in Spanish, but there is an option to view an English translation version. If you push the English button, it refreshes the page, but only about 10 words on the page change from Spanish to English. What?? Really?? Anyways, my Spanish may be a little bit rusty, but I was able to clearly make out the statement that "if you cancel an appointment with less than 24 hours notice, we will block you from re-scheduling a new appointment for one month". Oh great. I wanted to yell at the computer "But...it wasn't my fault!!!! I tried to cancel my appointment, but your system wouldn't let me!!!!! Why is this happening to me?!?!" I tried to test the system and re-book our appointments anyways, and...no-go, it blocked me. Shoot! BUT, Jason stepped in, mid-meltdown, and came to the rescue with a great idea, and we were able to successfully get new appointments. Whew!
Once we had the travel itinerary cancelled, and the Consulate appointments re-scheduled, the rest of the weekend was spent doing the very important task of S..L..O..W..I..N..G down. Ever since we got our referral, it seems that we have been living at this crazy pace trying to get ready to travel in January. Now that we have an extra month on our hands, and everything is pretty much ready, we can kind of chill out and have some time for reflection, relaxation, and fun before we go. It is amazing how recharging it can be to spend a weekend lounging around in your favorite fuzzy-footed slippers and drinking hot cocoa. It was great!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
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???
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???
Presentation Date Set!!!
We are officially cleared to travel...YIPPEE!!!!! We will be meeting our sons on January 17th...just a week and a half from now. We will be flying to Medellin on January 14th, one week from tomorrow. Holy smokes. We'll land on Friday afternoon, then have Sat and Sun to rest, recuperate, and get our bearings before meeting the boys.
We are really flying around like maniacs. So much to do...so little time!! We still have to get down to Chicago for our special visitor visas, but will cram it in the mix somehow. Thank you to Mom, Dad, Vicki, and everyone else who is helping us behind the scenes through this very busy time...we appreciate it more than we can say!!!
We are really flying around like maniacs. So much to do...so little time!! We still have to get down to Chicago for our special visitor visas, but will cram it in the mix somehow. Thank you to Mom, Dad, Vicki, and everyone else who is helping us behind the scenes through this very busy time...we appreciate it more than we can say!!!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Car Crash, Rat Poison and Typos
Remember my post from this morning...all was bliss...we were feeling "ready" and pretty good about our general situation??? Well, shame on me for being so cheeky. Life reared up and smacked us between the eyes in the last 24 hours...should have known better. Here's how it went down:
1. Jason had a minor car crash. He is not injured, nor is the other driver, but our poor little commuter car is in need of some TLC. While it was extremely stressful, we are thankful that no one was hurt.
2. Ruby got into some rat poison this morning. The poison was tucked far away in the bowels of the garage, and she squirreled her way behind some structural obstacles to "discover" a wonderful treat. She brought it to me with a big smile on her face, and her tail wagging. I screamed in horror and told her to "drop it", which she did, and looked at me with a confused expression. The next 2 hours were not fun. Phone calls to the vet, Jason 911 page at work, and a quick trip to the grocery store. Lo and behold, after force-feeding Ruby 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide, she barfed up everything that was in her stomach - GOOD GIRL!!! She has been pretty quiet and traumatized for the rest of the afternoon.
3. Mini-melt-down as I realized that I had introduced a minor typo to ALL of the paperwork we have submitted since we received the referral for the boys. There were a few moments when I panicked, but shortly realized that I THINK we are still ok...am waiting for a call back from the adoption agency to confirm though.
What a day. They say that bad things come in 3's, and I hope that the saying is true and that we are done getting spanked for our over-confidence. I have a funny little cartoon taped to the front of our fridge that says: "If everything seems to be going well...you have obviously overlooked something"! On the other hand, we also know that good things can come in 3's too...3 darling little boys. Here's hoping to better days ahead!!
1. Jason had a minor car crash. He is not injured, nor is the other driver, but our poor little commuter car is in need of some TLC. While it was extremely stressful, we are thankful that no one was hurt.
2. Ruby got into some rat poison this morning. The poison was tucked far away in the bowels of the garage, and she squirreled her way behind some structural obstacles to "discover" a wonderful treat. She brought it to me with a big smile on her face, and her tail wagging. I screamed in horror and told her to "drop it", which she did, and looked at me with a confused expression. The next 2 hours were not fun. Phone calls to the vet, Jason 911 page at work, and a quick trip to the grocery store. Lo and behold, after force-feeding Ruby 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide, she barfed up everything that was in her stomach - GOOD GIRL!!! She has been pretty quiet and traumatized for the rest of the afternoon.
3. Mini-melt-down as I realized that I had introduced a minor typo to ALL of the paperwork we have submitted since we received the referral for the boys. There were a few moments when I panicked, but shortly realized that I THINK we are still ok...am waiting for a call back from the adoption agency to confirm though.
What a day. They say that bad things come in 3's, and I hope that the saying is true and that we are done getting spanked for our over-confidence. I have a funny little cartoon taped to the front of our fridge that says: "If everything seems to be going well...you have obviously overlooked something"! On the other hand, we also know that good things can come in 3's too...3 darling little boys. Here's hoping to better days ahead!!
Ready
There was a moment a few days ago when I looked around me, and finally, after months of preparation, felt that our house is "ready" for the kids. Whew...what a great feeling. There are a few small things that need to be done yet, but we are pretty much ready to hit the ground running.
We hosted a little New Year's party at our house on Saturday, and had such a nice time. Nothing too big or fancy, just a few great friends, great food, and great conversation. Yvonne brought her chocolate Kahlua bundt cake, Carol brought divine angel food candy...no wonder all of my pants are tight! With the holidays past, and our party over, we took down the Christmas decorations Sunday morning. If I had my way, I would leave them up until March, but practicality won out this year, and everything is tucked away in the attic.
We are still waiting to hear about our travel dates, and are getting a little bit antsy. Hopefully we will know more in the next couple of days. We are starting to pack; that will be a process in and of itself, I am sure. It feels like everything is coming together, and we are ready to get this show on the road. Stay tuned for more information, and hopefully the next time I post, it will be with news of when we get to meet the boys!!
We hosted a little New Year's party at our house on Saturday, and had such a nice time. Nothing too big or fancy, just a few great friends, great food, and great conversation. Yvonne brought her chocolate Kahlua bundt cake, Carol brought divine angel food candy...no wonder all of my pants are tight! With the holidays past, and our party over, we took down the Christmas decorations Sunday morning. If I had my way, I would leave them up until March, but practicality won out this year, and everything is tucked away in the attic.
We are still waiting to hear about our travel dates, and are getting a little bit antsy. Hopefully we will know more in the next couple of days. We are starting to pack; that will be a process in and of itself, I am sure. It feels like everything is coming together, and we are ready to get this show on the road. Stay tuned for more information, and hopefully the next time I post, it will be with news of when we get to meet the boys!!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sleepless Mami
This mami is getting very excited/nervous/anxious to meet her sons! I am starting to have a harder time sleeping, as I seem to wake up with my mind racing through hundreds of thoughts. I am making mental lists, thinking about all of the adoption/parenting books that I wish I would have had time to read, trying to remember all of the advice from the ones I did read, thinking about what I need to pack (haven't started yet...maybe I should and then I'd feel better?). Many times, I lay there trying to think of the Spanish word or phrase for something, or lay there conjugating verbs (what a geek, right?). I just can't seem to turn my brain off!
Throughout our adoption journey, I have sort of ebbed and flowed through cycles like this. Right before we submitted our dossier to Colombia, I was having recurring stress dreams: I had to take a P-Chem test that I hadn't studied for (here I am, 14 years out from Dr. Roskos's P-Chem class, and I still stress about it!), I was hosting a party but I didn't have enough food and wasn't prepared. I think I see a pattern here: there's a "task", and in my mind, I'm not sufficiently prepared...if only I had studied more, cooked more...fill in the blank, you get the picture.
OK, so I admit that letting go of the details and trusting that everything is going to be ok can sometimes be a challenge for me. I'm a pragmatist, a scientist, an ISFJ through and through, what can I say? At times like this though, when I feel the most scattered and stressed, I also need to have the most faith that God is with us on this journey, that I can stop worrying about the minutiae and put my trust in Him. Who better to trust? Now if only I could remember all of those soon-to-be important phrases while I lie awake in bed..."Don't hit your brother!"..."No biting!"..."Wash your hands!" :)
On a different note, as we expected, we have heard nothing this week about our travel dates. This is not a huge surprise, but what it does mean is that the time right before we leave for Colombia has the potential to become extremely hectic. There are a few more "process" things that need to happen before we go:
1. Get our approved travel dates
2. Book Jason and my airline tickets
3. Get our Colombian Special Visitor Visas (SVV's), in-person at the Consulate in Chicago
As we have found out, we have to do these final steps in this order. We were hoping that we could do steps 2 and 3 before step 1. The Consulate won't issue the SVV's unless you have a purchased return ticket to the US, so we called several travel agents, wondering if we could book airline tickets that were open-ended on both ends of our trip...nope. The price penalties for doing so are quite high, so it's a no-go. So instead of going to Chicago last week or this week, it looks like we will probably end up having to go to Chicago right before we travel to Colombia. A trip right before "the trip"...ugh. Oh well, we will hope for the best, prepare for anything, and count down the days until we are approved to go!
Throughout our adoption journey, I have sort of ebbed and flowed through cycles like this. Right before we submitted our dossier to Colombia, I was having recurring stress dreams: I had to take a P-Chem test that I hadn't studied for (here I am, 14 years out from Dr. Roskos's P-Chem class, and I still stress about it!), I was hosting a party but I didn't have enough food and wasn't prepared. I think I see a pattern here: there's a "task", and in my mind, I'm not sufficiently prepared...if only I had studied more, cooked more...fill in the blank, you get the picture.
OK, so I admit that letting go of the details and trusting that everything is going to be ok can sometimes be a challenge for me. I'm a pragmatist, a scientist, an ISFJ through and through, what can I say? At times like this though, when I feel the most scattered and stressed, I also need to have the most faith that God is with us on this journey, that I can stop worrying about the minutiae and put my trust in Him. Who better to trust? Now if only I could remember all of those soon-to-be important phrases while I lie awake in bed..."Don't hit your brother!"..."No biting!"..."Wash your hands!" :)
On a different note, as we expected, we have heard nothing this week about our travel dates. This is not a huge surprise, but what it does mean is that the time right before we leave for Colombia has the potential to become extremely hectic. There are a few more "process" things that need to happen before we go:
1. Get our approved travel dates
2. Book Jason and my airline tickets
3. Get our Colombian Special Visitor Visas (SVV's), in-person at the Consulate in Chicago
As we have found out, we have to do these final steps in this order. We were hoping that we could do steps 2 and 3 before step 1. The Consulate won't issue the SVV's unless you have a purchased return ticket to the US, so we called several travel agents, wondering if we could book airline tickets that were open-ended on both ends of our trip...nope. The price penalties for doing so are quite high, so it's a no-go. So instead of going to Chicago last week or this week, it looks like we will probably end up having to go to Chicago right before we travel to Colombia. A trip right before "the trip"...ugh. Oh well, we will hope for the best, prepare for anything, and count down the days until we are approved to go!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas Recuperation
We are back home after spending the Christmas weekend with family. We had a great time, and safe travels. I think that Jason and I are kind of worn out, and even our dog, Ruby, seems to be resting and recuperating today. Throughout this holiday season, we have so often thought of our boys. We continuously pray for their health and safety, and also that they are able to process and cope with all of the big changes that are soon to take place in their lives...and in our lives too!
One of my sister's friends visited us over the weekend, and brought us a ton of gently used clothing that should be about Christian's size. Thank you so much! We bought a pair of shoes for each boy this weekend. We totally guessed at sizes, and are thoroughly prepared for them to be wrong, but at least we have something, and maybe we'll get lucky! We are also starting to get ready for the miscellaneous things we'll need for traveling...on the advice of another mom who adopted from Colombia, we are loaded up with RID (anti-lice shampoo/treatment)!
We heard from our social worker last week that our Article 5 letter has been approved, and we are waiting (very excitedly and anxiously!) to receive our approved travel dates. With the holidays, however, we suspect that most everything will move very slowly, or not at all, for the next week or so. It really feels like we are getting close now...probably just a few weeks until we meet the boys....whoa...deap breath! Just like the past weeks have though, I am sure the time will fly by, and we'll be on our way before we know it.
One of my sister's friends visited us over the weekend, and brought us a ton of gently used clothing that should be about Christian's size. Thank you so much! We bought a pair of shoes for each boy this weekend. We totally guessed at sizes, and are thoroughly prepared for them to be wrong, but at least we have something, and maybe we'll get lucky! We are also starting to get ready for the miscellaneous things we'll need for traveling...on the advice of another mom who adopted from Colombia, we are loaded up with RID (anti-lice shampoo/treatment)!
We heard from our social worker last week that our Article 5 letter has been approved, and we are waiting (very excitedly and anxiously!) to receive our approved travel dates. With the holidays, however, we suspect that most everything will move very slowly, or not at all, for the next week or so. It really feels like we are getting close now...probably just a few weeks until we meet the boys....whoa...deap breath! Just like the past weeks have though, I am sure the time will fly by, and we'll be on our way before we know it.
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