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Friday, August 11, 2006

Adoption time is like dog time, isn't it?

You know how they say that 1 year of human life is equal to 7 years in a dog's life? So a 5-year-old dog is technically 35 years old? Well I am here to tell you that adoption life runs on that same principle. Every month in adoption time feels like about 4 months in real life and some months (like, say, the month before you're expecting a referral) feel about 7 months long. It's excruciating! I think I can actually feel time slowly and laboriously lumbering by. We're down to 20 days on the referral countdown clock (well specifically it's 19 days, 16 hours, 00 minutes, 15 seconds) and it feels like the end of the month will never come! There's plenty to do in the meantime. You'd think I'd be so busy time would just sneak by unnoticed. Ha, nope! Seems I'm paralyzed by the clock watching and can't muster up the energy to do anything I'm supposed to do. Here are a few things I should be doing according to my handy-dandy To Do list (if anyone wants to give me a kick in the butt to vault me into action, please feel free):
  • Album of photos for baby (2 - one for care pkg, one to bring with us)
  • Baby registry - finish (after referral)
  • Bills that will come in while we're gone? (make plan)
  • Care package for orphanage
  • Cats: get up to date on shots
  • Childproof house (baby gates, attach big furniture to walls)
  • Chinese card: make laminated "adoption" card in Chinese, English and Pinyin explaining why we're in China
  • Clothes: review child's clothes make list of needed items (after referral)
  • Credit cards: alert credit card companies that we'll be traveling in China (after referral)
  • Documents: make 3 copies of all documentation & important #s like health insurance, US doctors, airline phones, emergency #s (one in suitcase and 1 in ea carryon) (after referral)
  • Food: frozen meals for food when return
  • Gifts for caretakers
  • Health insurance: get child on our insurance (after referral)
  • Homestudy: get update
  • Housesitting: type up housesitting instructions & contact info
  • Pack (finish 2 wks in advance) TubaDad did you read the part in parentheses?!
  • Parent contact info sheet to agency
  • Pediatrician: get one & get antibiotics & set up apptmnt for after return
  • Phone: figure out cell phone or calling cards
  • Prescriptions: order extras of current prescription meds & get new traveler's prescrips
  • Register for out of country www.usembassy.state.gov - print contact info (after referral)
  • Travel info, tix, hotel, etc. - confirm before leaving (after referral)
  • Travel plans: get tix and reservations for everything, make itinerary (after referral)
  • Travel: decide on lap seat or 3rd seat for baby
  • Visas: get visas (after referral)
  • Will (Make one before we go? Did anyone else do one?)
Yeah with that much stuff to do, there's absolutely no reason for me to be sitting around chewing my fingernails and clock watching. No. reason. at. all. Help!