Just another manic monday.....

A mere week after posting last.  Our package has safely arrived in the hands of Olga in Ekat.  We envision that the quest for court will soon be on its way. Ahhhh, let us not speak to soon !

Paperwork already needs to be re-done before it even hits the judge's court room desk.  8 Doctor Medicals expire on June 18, so they have to be redone before submitting anything to court.  I think this is where I start to break down and hate the judge for her narcissistic and  petty idiosyncrasies.  Now a normal person would ask, "why can't we submit the package, while the new medicals are on the way?"  Would make sense that in the interim of the DHL Mail that one would not contract cancer or leprosy?  But alas, its not that easy children; the 8 doctor medicals are one of 6 documents that need to be changed after only one week.  All minor things really, silly things in retrospect; but enough to make you scream out loud....and I did.

My favorite of the changes is the copies of our passports now have to be certified by the adoption agency
and we cannot certify they are true and accurate copies any more.  Funny; you mean the same damn passports that we used to visit your country 4 months ago and the same damn passports that your country issued us visitor visas on?!  You mean you want to make sure those passports are real.  Really?!

It sickens me to think that my boys are sitting in a playpen with little interaction with anyone but each other and the occasional caretaker while this judge plays puppeteer with their futures.  Yes, I am angry this time and I did have a little breakdown on Monday and Tuesday.  I know this too shall pass, but sometimes it just really gets to you and you experience office rage (poor desk chair, I am sorry).

There are also times through this process that a few wonderful people stand out.  Those in the bureaucracy that somehow make the path a little smoother and easier for those of us on this journey.  With the ABMS (American Board of Medical Specialties) we need to get certified copies of all 8 doctor's medical specialty certifications and these need to be notarized and apostilled in Illinois, where the ABMS is.  This sounds like it would be one of the most complicated procedures of them all, but sometimes there is a caring soul in these offices.  Katie Sroka, the marketing person that I dealt with for the first round of paperwork and just this week for the second round of medicals; was one of the most pleasant, sweet, efficient, and fast individuals I have had to deal with during this process.  In 24 hours she had my documents emailed to me and sent to the courier to apostille, and she always has kind words to say to me in her emails.  It really makes you feel like there is a human somewhere on the other end of all this paperwork, sometimes.

Some new apostilles, new medicals,  new license verifications (because NJ screwed up), new pension retirement letters....the list begins.

I know this is all worth it in the end. I know to keep my eye on the prize.  I know to just breathe and send the paperwork with a smile.  But what is really making me smile right now is a picture of our four butts with the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA scrawled on the back; via DHL to our judge.
OK, wishful thinking thinking and I'm NOT gonna do it, but a girl can dream can't she??


“Faith is not simply a patience that passively suffers until the storm is past. Rather, it is a spirit that bears things - with resignations, yes, but above all, with blazing, serene hope.”

DHL ON ITS WAY !!

Friday June 4, 2010 we took our perfectly manicured and sheet protected binder full of documents to DHL for shipping to Russia sans fingerprints and one Florida document (which we would send along later.)  $187 and 3 lbs of paperwork, yes 3 lbs of paperwork.  Laura and Beth know what I'm talking about, some others can only begin to comprehend !  I spent one full day scanning EVERY document and apostille into my computer, placed them on an external hard drive and on a portable flash drive, and made hard copies for Frank Adoption and for my records.  Think I'm being a little over protective?!  I even told the poor guy at DHL that if anything happened to that package I would personally come back and find him and dispose of his body forever !  Ok, maybe that was harsh, but I said it with a smile.  I then sent the DHL tracking number to Olga and Michalina for reference.
We come home from the shipping and guess what is in the mail waiting for us? Yep, FBI Fingerprint Clearances.  Really?!  It isn't such a bad thing anyway because we were still waiting for the Florida Apostille on the timeshare (wish the darn accountant had taken that one out !), then the FBI prints need to be Apostilled as well.   Them, we need to attach a letter from the Sheriff's Dept as to WHY they could not get spaces in our last names..yes, we are back to this space thing again.  Luckily, we have connections at the Sheriff's Dept. ! :)
So, to top it off our medicals expire on June 18, 2010... A very significant date in our lives. First it is my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary (God 50 years and neither of them killed eachother), secondly, it is the DAY our dossier was submitted to Russia last year.  Weird coincidence?  But, we were already prepared for the expiration and have everything set up for the second round of medicals.  Luckily the FBI prints don't expire until August, but we have a few other things that need to be redone as well in the meantime.
I figured if I had to start redoing docs I may as well start early, right?!
Pasha and Sasha wait as mom and dad round the hurdles and over the bends.  We are travelling where so many strong, brave and wonderful adoptive parents have travelled before us, and we know it can be done !
Thank you to those of you that have made the path a little less daunting!