This Reminds Me

…for a soon-to-be-American girl.  Keith and I are on the last sprints of our adoption paper chase. Our dining room table is covered in a blizzard of paperwork, with blue pens – yes, everything must be signed in blue ink – scattered about.  Keith and I carry blue pens with us to the different offices, and I keep at least one throw-down blue pen in my purse at all times.

Why blue, you ask?  Because it looks “original.”  Color printers and copiers are not prevalent in Russia.

The feds needed our fingerprints re-done, since our original imprints had expired.  Our appointment was for 9:30 a.m. last Tuesday; we walked out at 1:48 p.m. I assure you the combined IQ’s of every government worker in the facility would not have totaled 100.

We got our physicals redone Thursday, with our doctor certifying we do not have - among other afflictions - ”dysfunctions of viscus and locomotor,” nor “skin and venerological diseases,” and assuredly not “‘toxicological abuse,” though my boss is recommending I drink more heavily to get through this process.  Blood work and -ahem – other donated fluids proved we didn’t have syphilis, HIV or Hep B.  (Keith looked askance when handed the cup and frantically started gulping water.  Such requests are never a challenge for us females of Teensy Weensy Bladderland.)

We have powers of attorney.  We have marriage licenses.  We have employment verifications.  We have certifications from the Texas State Medical Board.  We’re still waiting on the girls’ physicals, mortgage letter, criminal background check letter, etc.  If it can be stacked, stapled, signed, notarized and apostiled – we’ve got it or are waiting on it, blue pens in hand.

We hope to finish by Monday, 3/6.  We’ll get everything to Buckner, who will pass it all to their rep in St. Petersburg, who in turn will get it all translated and request a court date for us.

We’ve had a ton of help along the way, and lots of friends have asked us how they can help now.   So if you really want to…

-  Bid on Guanna-to-be-Julia’s artwork and make a donation to Buckner Orphan Care International.  If you don’t, Paul and Lisa Watson in Pearland are going to win this original creation, because theirs was the only bid.  Lisa and Paul have exquisite taste and I know they recognize its potential resale value after Guanna-to-be-Julia achieves fame.  And not that it wouldn’t look great on their refrigerator.  But wouldn’t it also look great on yours?! I’m keeping the bidding open until Friday, March 10.  Remember – your donation is tax-deductible.  And needed.  As a friend of mine said, “There’s not a wasted calorie in that orphanage.”

-  Pray for the judge in our case to waive the 10-day wait, which, until recently, was the norm in St. Petersburg.   When our adoption is approved, we’ll either be told (a) your adoption is effective immediately or (2) your adoption is effective in 10 days.  We want it effectively immediately, so we can get her home.  If the judge doesn’t waive the 10 days, we’ll have to return to San Antonio, and make yet a third trip to get her….in which case, we may first need to borrow some ski masks and start cruising convenience stores…..

We’ve read.

We write.

Our ink is blue.

God bless America and Americans – current and future.

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