Dossier registered... but sad news at home...

I had exciting news the day before thanksgiving....my dossier was to be registered with PANI on November 25th, Thanksgiving! I said many a thank you all day as my family shared our day together. The next step is "dossier approved" and after that "referral received." I am feeling cautious yet nervous.

The sad news is ...... Last Saturday one of my students, Lexa, a beautiful, always smiling, 7 year old, second grader, was tragically killed by a drunk driver. Her mother is still in critical condition. Her baby sister was only slightly injured. The guy who hit them ran from the scene. It has been a very emotional and heartwrenching week at school. I went to the funeral home yesterday with two of my closest friends, who also know the family, it was one of the most difficult things that I have ever done. How sad...... How many lives have been changed because of this senseless accident. It will be a very long time before there is any healing. Even as I write this, tears are streaming down my face.

Getting Closer!!!

My dossier made it to Costa Rica!!!! Now we wait for it to be translated, registered, and approved at the PANI. This step seems to take about a month or two.

Also this week I Skyped for the first time. I had to talk with a psychologist that my company has contracted with about updating my psych report, just in case my original gets kicked back. It was pretty cool talking face to face with someone on the other side of the state. I would love to Skype with other people soon. Ah technology.

One more step!!!!

Wow, that was fast. I sent my dossier to the Consulate General in New York last Saturday. It's back in my hands this morning!!! Today and tomorrow I will finish taking the required pictures and send everything off to my agency on Monday. Then the dossier is on it's way to Costa Rica. For the first time in a long time I can feel some excitement building.

Now everything is ready...again!

I thought that I had everything ready last time I posted, but that was not the case. I do have everything I need. I will be traveling to Harrisburg this week some time with all of my paperwork. Then I have to find a Bank of America to deposit funds. Yikes..... Just a little longer.... After the papers are certified this week, I will send them to New York for authentification. I wish that I wasn't sooo busy. I actually took some time today to work on the last bedroom. I can't decide what color to decorate it. The drywall is going up very smoothly. I will need to go to Home Depot to look for paint or wall paper.

Everything is ready, I think,,,,,

Finally, I have everything ready to take to the state capital for certification. That was a long and exhaustive month of September. I don't think that I had one night or weekend free to actually sit down for more than ten minutes. I really hope that I am not that busy once I complete this process. Just say no........Monday I plan on sending a copy to my agency and having it looked over before I go to Harrisburg. Then my paperwork will be reay to go to the embassy in New York for approval. I can feel the excitment building. Just a little longer....

It's here!!!! I800A approval!!!

My I-800A approval arrived during the middle of last week, just when I was beginning to feel a little down. What a roller coaster! One day feeling not so great, then something arrives and presto, on the happy side again. Now, I will gather all the items for the dossier. There are a few things I have to do again, because of the dates, but I hope that it doesn't take too long. Now that we're into the third week of school, things are beginning to settle down a bit. Tonight, I actually feel more relaxed and calm that all of last week. Still, there are not enough hours in the day. Short post today...trying to go to bed earlier so I can get to school earlier....we'll see if that works.

Jane was here: September 6, 2010

Here I am, another year older, (birthday) waiting patiently for a sign that I am going in the right direction.
Waiting has to be the hardest thing in the world. My patience is running thin as I wait for news about my I800-A application being processed. What are the next steps...notarize...certify...think, think, think.
On another note....wow! What an incredibly busy week, Five days of school over. Where did it go. Why is there always so little time to do things? The list of jobs keeps getting longer and longer and time keeps disappearing.

Fingerprints done.....School begins!!

Wow! Up early to drive downtown Thursday morning. 8:00 appointment to have the biometric fingerprinting done. I was the second person in line......very busy place on Thursday morning. Go figure. I believe that I had a huge advantage over everyone else in line though. I quickly filled out my form and was the first one ready for fingerprints. Whew! I asked the young man why they didn't respond to my request for another appointment. He had no idea, but informed me that I could have come any day or any time. I wish someone would have let me know that. There was no place to call or email or anything other than the written request that obviously got nowhere. I hope that the fingerprints move quickly and my I800A application is processed soon.

Anyway....slightly late for the first day of school for teachers. School starts Monday for students.

Fingerprint Appointment

I recieved my appointment for fingerprints yesterday. My checks were cashed by the US government, so it must be a sign that things are beginning to pick up. Also, I have been waiting for a long time at the library for a kit to help me brush up on my very limited Spanish. It is finally on its way! Now I hope that I can remember at least some of the Spanish that I struggled with in college. I am much more motivated now to learn. I am also working on the dossier documents. There are not as many to complete as there were with my former agency, however, I want to make sure everything is good to go. I want to be ready to send things as soon as possible. School starts in two weeks and I wanted to try to finish some documents before then. It is so hard when you are at the mercy of many entities.
On another note, my dad and I started to build a closet in my last unfinished bedroom. I have some idea how I want that room to look. I can't decide on the colors yet. My dad was joking, I think, when he said, "This could be a boy's room. You have enough room in here for two boys." We got the frame for one wall finished over the weekend. It was hard work, but it felt good. I think I could use a nail gun, but hammering is much more fun.

I guess I'm not insane.

I had my psych evaluation yesterday. Even though I may feel a little crazy at times with this process, my evaluation recommends that I am a stable parental candidate. I was talking to a friend recently about all the steps and the paperwork that has to be completed for an international adoption or for that matter a domestic adoption. She could not believe what had to be done. I told her that in adoption it is a little demeaning that one has to share one's whole life with so many strangers just to be allowed to become a parent. At times I think that we all second guess our abilities. Will I be a good parent? Can I be there when I need? Will I be able to provide for my child? I'm sure that biological parents ask themselves the same questions, but to what extent?
At the end of the evalution, which is paid out of pocket, because there is no "diagnosis," the psychologist laughed and said, "I guess I won't see you again, unless of course this whole process drives you crazy when you are done." Smile and thank you.

Hot, Hot, Hot

105, that's how hot it was last weekend as I visited with some close friends for the weekend. I don't know what we would do without airconditioning.

I sent my I800-A paperwork in last Tuesday. I know it takes at least a month for that to be processed, but again I am feeling anxious. Have I made the right choice this time. There are so many unknowns in this process. I'm glad that I have other things to keep me busy.
I planted some tomato plants on my back porch this summer. They are just starting to have little flowers and tomatos. Everything looks good. Also, I have green beans that are spreading everywhere. I think that I have been successful this summer in securing the fence around the plants. We'll see in a few weeks, if the deer and groundhogs stay out.

Home study is ready!!!

I received my homestudy in the mail from my agency on Saturday. It looks great. Tomorrow morning I will send in the I800-A application. The wait begins. Things are beginning to fall into place. I finally was able to get an appointment for the psychological evaluation. That was the hardest of all, because no one in Pittsburgh seemed to understand why I needed an evaluation. Every place I called said that they didn't think they could do it.
Also this week I am starting to clean out my last bedroom to redecorate. I hope to get everything done before school starts again. I need to take pictures of every room in the house for the dossier and I want to show all the bedrooms. So much to do.....so little time.

The Beginning

Well, here begins my incredible journey to adopt one or two children from the beautiful country of Costa Rica. It has been a long, frustrating, emotional, devastating ride to get to this point. I'm sure the ride will be just as eventful from this point on. I want to begin by thanking everyone who has stood by me, encouraged me, held me up, even though they may not have known it, while I have struggled with this process. Being single has its perks, as some would say, however, adoption is not an easy task to accomplish.
I began this journey in August 2006 at an information meeting with a nationally known adoption agency. Everything seemed perfect, too good to be true. Let's get started. As many of you know, I was in for a big surprise and a big hole in my pocket.
I have looked at international and domestic and the foster-to-adopt system to the point where I just don't believe at times that this will really happen, ever. However, being more positive, I am where I need to be. I know, God has a plan. He never gives you more than you can handle. I'm ready God, bring it on, please.
After a very disappointing relationship with my first agency, that resulted in my dossier being sent back from Kazakhstan, for whatever reason that seemed strange, I was slow to get going again. I looked into the very expensive and potentially never happen side of domestic adoption. Everybody was nice and all, but kept saying "it takes time, a long time for a birthmother to select a family." Be patient. I also looked into the foster-to-adopt system. I actually had a couple of interviews for sibling groups of children, but never chosen as a family.(Single)
Which brings me to the present. I have chosen, I believe, a wonderful, reputable agency to complete an international adoption. I am still in the gathering of documents phase, but my homestudy has been approved and notarized. I will be sending it to the USCIS as soon as I receive it back from the agency, next week, I hope. From there, I will gather everything else for my dossier and be ready to get things apostiled from my state.
I am trying to not be too anxious, but I want to hurry things along. I have gone through this process before and I know that it takes forever sometimes for paperwork to sort out.
I think that is enough to share for my first post. I am hopeful that I can continue and learn how to manipulate the blog so as to make it interesting. Again, thanks everyone.