What we've been up to...

... man... another month has gone by. And here I thought that in 2010 I'd be all 'up to date' on my blogging. Oh well. I'm over it.

So the past month has been crazy busy. I keep saying to myself 'NOW things will calm down...' but I've been saying that for the past... oh... 5 months. But this time I think I really mean it. And just so you know that I'm not lying about being busy - here's a condensed version of what our past 6 weeks have been like:

1) I got sick. Which added to the fact that I was finishing up the 'Etsy Sale from hell', made for a really unhappy momma.

2) Claire got sick. Enough said.

3) I got sick AGAIN. (anger pretty much set in at that point)

4) Decided to get some ceiling lights installed in 2 of our bedrooms since the light switches were currently connected to wall outlets (HATE when they do that). We also decided to get the rooms painted as Bob and I are OH so not gifted in that area. (trust me on that one)

5) During that 'project' it was discovered that our heat/air unit in the attic was pumping approximately 80% of all heat/air into our attic due to 2 LARGE holes that someone tried to 'cover up'. We also discovered that approximately 300 sq ft of attic space had not been INSULATED. Awesome.

6) On a phone call with a 'problem customer' of mine (sorry - but I do have them) I knocked a soda on my computer and fried it. Lovely.

7) 'Found' a little boy in the 'Waiting Child Program' ( a program for children with 'special needs') that I REALLY wanted to adopt. So after feverishly trying to get the rest of our paperwork in (since of course we hadn't gotten it all done...) and very UN-patiently waiting to review his file for a few days, we decide that we won't be able to move forward with the adoption due to some medical 'concerns' that we had. It was very sad for us (mostly me as I can get very emotionally attached to people/things/ideas REALLY easily) but the good news is that he WILL have a family - and that's whats most important.

So that brings us to 'now'.

*** I know, you're so stoked that you're still reading this, huh! I mean, this wasn't a total waste of time now, was it! ***


Next weekend we'll be doing 'power interviewing' with our Social Worker. She'll come for about 5 hours on Saturday and complete the 'couples interview', our separate interviews, and then a home tour. I invited her to dinner (since we gotta eat some time during this!) and hope that my lack of culinary skills won't actually result in 'negative points'.  But in all seriousness, we're totally NOT stressed over this part of the process and I'm actually kind of looking forward to it.  Here's how the process will go from here:

1) The Social Worker will write up our home study and it will be sent to Korea (I'm thinking it should arrive around mid to late March).

2) We then wait to get a 'call' about a child's file that we can review. (again, we're doing the 'Waiting Child Program' and when a child becomes available that fits our 'preferences'  they call us)

3) We then have 2 weeks to decide if we want to move forward. During this time most families get the child's medical records reviewed by a 'specialist'.

4) If we DO decide to move forward, then it's possible that we could be 1 of a few families that are interested in the same child. Once all parties have confirmed they're 'moving forward', the child then goes to 'Committee'.

5) Thursday's are when 'Committee' is held. Basically, it's an actual 'committee' (I believe made up for social workers and agency personal - don't quote me on that part) who sit down, read the child's file, and each of the families home studies. They then decide who they think would be the best 'fit' for the child. If we're chosen, then we can decide to 'accept the referral' which at that time we'd be officially 'matched'.

6) Once that happens, then we get to start a whole other slew of paperwork. I'll save the details on that one, but basically it could take anywhere from 3-6 months for it to be completed.

7) And when that part is completed, we'll then get the TRAVEL CALL. In our case (due to policy changes) we will actually be traveling to KOREA. I know. Crazy. Me in Korea. I'm still wrapping my brain around that one.

So there you have it. That's what we've up to, and that's where we hope to be soon.