Adoption update

The fire department guys have just left after doing our fire safety inspection. We flunked!! We flunked! The apartment numbers our landlady bought for us to put up are waaaay too small (they need to be 6 inches high, omigosh how unesthetic!). Also we need a smoke detector in the bedroom, and although it's not required we should get a new fire extinguisher.

They were very nice about it all (even after getting horribly lost trying to find our little roadway) and will be back next Sunday for a re-inspection.


Other stuff we have yet to do...

Get the Guardianship statement back from Ken's sister and brother-in-law, once they get it notarized.

Financial data: writing up our net worth, copying our recent pay stubs and tax returns, etc.

Photocopying lots of other documents (birth certificate, recent pay stubs, etc)

And Ken's NJ driver's license history. We got the Maryland forms back already and they're squeaky clean. We've already been investigated for criminal convictions; I guess the fact that we're not criminals isn't enough; the agency wants to make sure we aren't reckless drivers.

Aren't you bio parents glad "all" you had to go through was medical intervention as needed, morning sickness, maternity clothes, assorted health annoyances and, of course, labor?

Adoption Update, and Russian Blue cats!

First, we passed the Sanitary Survey!! The big question was whether our bedroom was big enough. I'd tried two books and one database of county law, and was working on my second federal law website and hadn't found the regulations, but we passed anyway--had to have a 135 sq. ft. bedroom and it was 151 sq. ft. Yay!

We should get a call about scheduling our fire safety inspection next week. Meanwhile, our motor vehicle records are in process (I hope).

I found this link to an article from Cat Fancy magazine on Russian Blue cats, Ivan's breed. Ivan runs pretty true to form: intelligent, able to amuse himself, shy but affectionate with the family (also Mathew and Stasa, cat-loving friends whom he adores) and looking as if he's up to something (which he often is!)

My first flower!

Today I peeked out on the deck (while Ivan was enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of The Great Out There) and my first Johnny-Jump-Up has bloomed!

Many thanks again to Tom for sending me pansy and Johnny-Jump-Up seeds when mine in the front pot were uprooted.

stuff for expectant adoptive parents!

I was surfing on Cafe Press, which has t-shirts, bumper stickers, buttons, and so on for everything. I simply had to check out their adoptive-parent stuff again (remembering to type in "adoption" and "baby" because there's a lot on adopting pets. The AdoptionMama site had some wonderful things so I surfed over to them!

The shirts/pins I most identified with were, of course "paper pregnant" and the "Still Waiting" shirt, which says: "Yes, I am still adopting. No, I haven't heard anything yet. "But each day brings me closer to my child." Hard to remember that sometimes...And I'm not even waiting to hear yet, just working on my paperwork. Which brings me closer: best encouragement possible to do it!

Wish they had more stuff for dads (e.g. Ken), though some stuff is unisex...

Speaking of Paper Pregnant, my cold is sadly keeping me away from Palm Sunday in New Paltz with the family. Sooo...I have plans to get the NJ Motor Vehicles info form for Ken to fill out, and to pester him to do that--we just did the MD one this afternoon! Also we'll put in a call to Karen & Ben about the guardianship papers. Then we'll only have the financial stuff and a lot of photocopying (birth certificates, etc) to do.

Tuesday we have the Sanitary Survey and get to find out whether our bedroom is considered big enough for two adults and an infant. If not, everything goes on hold till we find a new place and move. In that case, oh *$%(!

Turning Political Hanky-Panky into Catchy Advertising

When you see an online article titled "Politicians Spanked by Virgin" you simply have to read it...


This from Al Kamen's "In the Loop" column at the Washington Post:

A photo of Spitzer, Love Client No. 9, has a bubble that says "I'm tired of being treated like a number."

Well, not to worry, gov'ner. "At Virgin Mobile, you're more than just a number," the ad says. "When you call us we'll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you're #9 or #900, you'll get hooked up with somebody who'll finally treat you just how you want to be treated."

A Virgin ad last week focused on lower rates and featured Hillary Clinton with this thought bubble: "I wish my bill wasn't so out of control." Switching to Virgin Mobile's "no-con contracts" the ad says, will let you "finally put your bill back in its place," and show you "how you can get your bill to behave."


*snigger*

Evil Fun New Novel

I subscribe to three "Dear Reader" e-mailings through work, so I get to read a couple of chapters' worth of a recent general fiction and mystery fiction book each week, and a science fiction every other week. This week's general fiction is Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman. So far it's a howl! Here are a couple of excerpts:

"I see you. I see you walking by my office, trying to look like you have a reason to be there. But you don't. I see the guilty look on your face. You try not to make eye contact. ...You think I'm naive, but I know what you're doing. But she's my secretary, not yours, and her candy belongs to me, not you. And if I have a say in whether or not you ever become a partner at this firm--and trust me, I do--I'm not going to forget this. My secretary. My candy. ..."

"And stop stealing my stapler, too. I shouldn't have to go wandering the halls looking for a stapler. I'm a partner at a half-billion-dollar law firm. Staplers should be lining up at my desk, begging for me to use them."

I can understand how Anonymous Lawyer feels about his stapler. My desk is near the copier. And the volunteers' work table. And the door. I can't keep a pencil for more than a week, and my scissors periodically disappear. The stapler? I keep it in the drawer at all times unless *I* am actually using it myself. I also hoard pencils in the drawer.

Barbara has the candy, though. She's not a secretary (only major honchos at Headquarters get secretaries and then they have to share them with another honcho), but a part-timer who likes to keep us (staff, volunteers, pages and the delivery and maintenance guys from Headquarters) in miniature wrapped candies. We like Barbara.

yuck...

I'm down for the third day in a row with an awful cold--I think every cavity in my head is full of one substance or another. I'm going to the doctor to see if I'm doing something wrong or if there's a drug that will help other than the spray decongestant and massive amounts of salt-water gargling and water-and-Throat-Comfort-Tea-drinking and resting I'm doing.

I must get better--Thursday I'm scheduled to host our Goth/Ninja/Monster/Whatever sock-puppet making at work (which I'm so excited about!) and Saturday we're supposed to go up to Mom & Dad's for Palm Sunday! I'm also afraid Ken will get this awfulness just in time for Palm Sunday/his birthday.

Could be worse, though, it's just a bad cold ...

More Adoption Paperwork progress, and thoughts

More inspiration this week at work: I've helped delightful children of various ages find everything from mystery stories to books on ducks.

So far I've sent out all 3 reference questions and sent out requests for fire and safety inspections. Today I plan to fill out our part of the guardianship paper and the Motor Vehicles info request (yes, they want to make sure we're safe drivers, even though they've already had our fingerprints and police records checked out!) Then I need to find and copy birth certificates and fill out assorted financial data.

I kinda wish bio parents had to do all this before they were allowed to get pregnant, like they have to on Beta Colony in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga. Just minimal stuff, no need for lots of money or sanity, just enough to be able to safely care for a child.

Next weekend we'll be back "home" for Palm Sunday! And Ken's birthday (right on Palm Sunday this year).

Finally, some adoption-paperwork progress!

I got off my butt this week and did some paperwork. Our requests for fire and sanitary surveys (from the appropriate county agencies) are mailed out. I've also sent out two of our three references, and gotten one back already (from our landlady, who "wrote nothing but kind things because that's all I know about you")!

Ivan was literally bouncing around the living room as I worked on the computer with our 50-odd-page adoption packet, printing things out. If he thinks it's hard to get my attention now, just wait, little kitty! (I suspect he'll end up cuddling with me and the baby.)

Met a foster grandmother this morning at the library with a beautiful one-month-old boy--sweet little African-American boy with lots of hair. They're waiting for the call that his "forever family" is ready for him!

Our turn, we hope, in one to two years! First we have to get all our paperwork and inspections done.