Another dose of cute . . .
Thursday, May 03, 2007
She's all mine!
This morning I applied for Josie's passport and in the afternoon we had the Giving and Receiving ceremony at the Dept of Justice. We signed a book and some paperwork and had to assure them that we would care for our children as if they were biological children and provide updates and pictures for the next 18 years.
Another dose of cute . . .
Another dose of cute . . .
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The moment we all waited for . . .
Well, I hate my speaking voice, and I pretty much look like a doof-but I guess it's not about me. They brought Josie and the Brown's baby to the lobby. The man holding Josie asked: who gets the bigger one? Well that would be me. Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Gotcha Day-Wed, May 2nd!
So we got word that Josie will be brought to the hotel tomorrow morning at 9am. Wow . . . this is really happening. I need to stock up on some more diapers and some baby food.
Mom and I walked around Old Town some more this morning. By the way-they can't get the weather forecast any more accurate than in Portland. The last couple of days have been partly sunny, mid-to upper eighties, with some humidity. It was getting uncomfortable though while we walked through the streets. Pavement and no breeze and no where to just sit and people watch-which I could do for hours.
Mom and I have been real careful not to drink the tap water here or order anything with ice. (we've been drinking beer at most meals so far. And bottled water. tons of bottled water). We have to brush our teeth with bottled water and we're told not to open our mouths in the shower. When someone told me that, I thought, no problem . . . .who opens their mouth in the shower? Well-you know what" Apparently I do . . . .Never realized it before. I've really had to concentrate on not doing it. Also-we're not supposed to eat cut up fruit because the knives used to cut it may have been rinsed in tap water. We have whole fruit in the hotel room that I've rubbed Purell on and then washed with soap and boiled water before cutting up. After all that-i decided it smelled and tasted funny and threw it away anyway. Not sure how much fruit I'll be eating. Maybe it was just the mango-I'll try the Asian pear next. Or one of the other pieces I can't identify.
I did eat some of these tiny bananas i bought off of a woman off the street. Well, really i was more conned into it. A women was carrying these 2 baskets of fruit on a stick carried over her shoulders and as I tried to sneak past here-she literally threw the stick over my shoulder and put her straw hat on my head (gross i know!). She said-take picture! So-i told mom to take my picture-and she did, telling me i was gonna pay for it. So-of course, after the picture was taken, she put bags of bananas and cut up pineapple in my hand. I said no to the pineapple and put it back in the basket. She took it back out and put it in my hand again. This went on for awhile. I asked her how much for the bananas (figured they'd be safe to eat)-and she wanted 50,000dong (about 3 dollars). I told her no way and offered her a dollar (which really is still WAY too much!) and after going back and forth-she agreed to the dollar. It was worth it to get her to leave me alone-which they know and many use that same tactic. Wear you down til you buy something just to get rid of them. So-far the shopping is tiring-dodging the traffic in the street, the heat, feeling guilty when you don't buy something. I bought an awesome purse, but that's it so far.
I decided to spend my last afternoon as a non-mom sitting by the pool, drinking beer and reading a book. I can already tell i got a bit of a sunburn. I thought mom had brought sunblock-but i couldn't find it and she was taking a nap.
Okay- a couple more pics . . .
An intersection near the lake.
A parking lot . .
me holding baskets of fruit with a strange woman's hat on my head . . .
Mom and I walked around Old Town some more this morning. By the way-they can't get the weather forecast any more accurate than in Portland. The last couple of days have been partly sunny, mid-to upper eighties, with some humidity. It was getting uncomfortable though while we walked through the streets. Pavement and no breeze and no where to just sit and people watch-which I could do for hours.
Mom and I have been real careful not to drink the tap water here or order anything with ice. (we've been drinking beer at most meals so far. And bottled water. tons of bottled water). We have to brush our teeth with bottled water and we're told not to open our mouths in the shower. When someone told me that, I thought, no problem . . . .who opens their mouth in the shower? Well-you know what" Apparently I do . . . .Never realized it before. I've really had to concentrate on not doing it. Also-we're not supposed to eat cut up fruit because the knives used to cut it may have been rinsed in tap water. We have whole fruit in the hotel room that I've rubbed Purell on and then washed with soap and boiled water before cutting up. After all that-i decided it smelled and tasted funny and threw it away anyway. Not sure how much fruit I'll be eating. Maybe it was just the mango-I'll try the Asian pear next. Or one of the other pieces I can't identify.
I did eat some of these tiny bananas i bought off of a woman off the street. Well, really i was more conned into it. A women was carrying these 2 baskets of fruit on a stick carried over her shoulders and as I tried to sneak past here-she literally threw the stick over my shoulder and put her straw hat on my head (gross i know!). She said-take picture! So-i told mom to take my picture-and she did, telling me i was gonna pay for it. So-of course, after the picture was taken, she put bags of bananas and cut up pineapple in my hand. I said no to the pineapple and put it back in the basket. She took it back out and put it in my hand again. This went on for awhile. I asked her how much for the bananas (figured they'd be safe to eat)-and she wanted 50,000dong (about 3 dollars). I told her no way and offered her a dollar (which really is still WAY too much!) and after going back and forth-she agreed to the dollar. It was worth it to get her to leave me alone-which they know and many use that same tactic. Wear you down til you buy something just to get rid of them. So-far the shopping is tiring-dodging the traffic in the street, the heat, feeling guilty when you don't buy something. I bought an awesome purse, but that's it so far.
I decided to spend my last afternoon as a non-mom sitting by the pool, drinking beer and reading a book. I can already tell i got a bit of a sunburn. I thought mom had brought sunblock-but i couldn't find it and she was taking a nap.
Okay- a couple more pics . . .
An intersection near the lake.
A parking lot . .
me holding baskets of fruit with a strange woman's hat on my head . . .
Monday, April 30, 2007
Getting out and about . . .
I'm thinking we aren't going to be getting Josie until Wednesday. If I hear otherwise-I'll let you know.
Today, Mom and I ventured out and walked around Hoan Kiem Lake and then met up with some of the PLAN families currently here and in various stages of the process. The weather is actually pretty nice-mid-eighties, some sun, some clouds . . .The forecast for the week isn't so great-showers, thunderstorms, upper 70s. Welcome to the rainy season in Vietnam!
Hanoi is pretty crazy-motorbikes everywhere and pedestrians, motorbikes, regular bikes and cars all weaving in and out-but not running into each other-which is pretty surprising. Just crossing the street was an adventure for us. There was one shopping plaza we wanted to check out-but the street was so wide and so busy-neither of us felt comfortable. Towards the end of the afternoon we were getting more and more courageous. Maybe by the end of our trip we will be renting our own motorbikes. Then again-maybe not.
The street noise is pretty amazing too-everybody honking, construction projects that are only going in the middle of the nite, and there always seems to be some random guy singing very loudly around 2 am the last couple of nites. But I don't think it was the same guy . . . There's so much energy here. It's really neat, and the noise doesn't keep us awake either. It's quickly becoming ambient noise.
It was fun to get a baby fix today with the other families. We went to a restaurant where some of us sat in seats made from cyclos(the kind that are attached to bikes so you can be driven around). I had some delicious steamed fish in banana leaves. Still working on Mom trying some Vietnamese food-she was pretty interested in my noodle/veggie/meat meal last nite. We're going to meet up with some of the same families again tonite for dinner here at our hotel. So-let's see if I can get some pics to post . . . .
View from the hotel . . .
Another view . . .
Hoan Kiem Lake
Random people on the street.
Cool cat, huh?
Today, Mom and I ventured out and walked around Hoan Kiem Lake and then met up with some of the PLAN families currently here and in various stages of the process. The weather is actually pretty nice-mid-eighties, some sun, some clouds . . .The forecast for the week isn't so great-showers, thunderstorms, upper 70s. Welcome to the rainy season in Vietnam!
Hanoi is pretty crazy-motorbikes everywhere and pedestrians, motorbikes, regular bikes and cars all weaving in and out-but not running into each other-which is pretty surprising. Just crossing the street was an adventure for us. There was one shopping plaza we wanted to check out-but the street was so wide and so busy-neither of us felt comfortable. Towards the end of the afternoon we were getting more and more courageous. Maybe by the end of our trip we will be renting our own motorbikes. Then again-maybe not.
The street noise is pretty amazing too-everybody honking, construction projects that are only going in the middle of the nite, and there always seems to be some random guy singing very loudly around 2 am the last couple of nites. But I don't think it was the same guy . . . There's so much energy here. It's really neat, and the noise doesn't keep us awake either. It's quickly becoming ambient noise.
It was fun to get a baby fix today with the other families. We went to a restaurant where some of us sat in seats made from cyclos(the kind that are attached to bikes so you can be driven around). I had some delicious steamed fish in banana leaves. Still working on Mom trying some Vietnamese food-she was pretty interested in my noodle/veggie/meat meal last nite. We're going to meet up with some of the same families again tonite for dinner here at our hotel. So-let's see if I can get some pics to post . . . .
View from the hotel . . .
Another view . . .
Hoan Kiem Lake
Random people on the street.
Cool cat, huh?
Saturday, April 28, 2007
We're Here!
Wow-what a long trip! We arrived at the hotel at about 1am Sunday morning. I believe we're 14 hours ahead here . . . We traveled for about 27 hours. Mom and I both managed to sleep about 5 hours last nite-I'm hoping to not nap and get right on a regular sleeping schedule. We'll see. I feel pretty good-Mom's a bit rummy.
So-we got the internet to work here in the room. I can't seem to access my email-so for now-if anyone needs to contact me-use my netzero account: juliemarie16@netzero.net. I hope I can figure out the problem with my groupwise access. I think I might lose my mind if I can't access that account for over a month. I think the WiFi is the issue, but not sure.
So-the trip. We did end up getting the upgrade to business class from San Fran to Seoul. Wow-that was cool. The seats recline fully and they have adjustable footrests. When we sat down-we were immediately given glasses of champagne and little bowls of warm roasted nuts. yum. After a couple of rum and cokes-they served dinner. Okay-i have never eaten airline food that I would rave about before-smoked salmon appetizer, sesame chicken with noodles for me, Mom had some sort of beef and cheddar potato, caramel cheesecake for dessert. yeah. We had our own little TVs and several movie options. I watched The Holiday and amused Mom with all my giggling. Notes From a Scandal was also good-but a bit intense. I dozed during Blood Diamond-which was good because it was a little distressing and quite frankly a little too "real" for me.
While the seats were comfortable-I was in the middle, which made getting in and out a bit of a challenge. Mom and i seemed to be the only ones not able to completely sack out during the trip (were they all drugged or something?). The seats in front of us were completely reclined and Mom and the guy next to me had their footrests completely extended. The first time I came in from the wrong side and basically fell on the guy next to me getting back in-after that I chose to climb (literally!) over mom to get in and out.
We had a about an hour delay in Seoul-and then a 4 hour trip to Hanoi. I thought it was funny that the only sleep we got on the entire trip (besides half-asleep dozing) was while we were in coach seating. When we got to Hanoi-we got through customs without any problem and had a hotel car pick us up. The guy was holding a sign with mom's name on it-how cool is that? Not that I could see it or anything as I had taken out my contacts and spent half the trip blind as a bat. I was going to take a pic of us standing uder the sign at the airport-but after such a long trip-there was no way I was permanently documenting the state my face and hair was in.
We ordered room service this morning-because we hadn't yet figured out how to get coffee and well, you all should know how important coffee is to us! After a quick shower-I headed downstairs to change some money and find more coffee (one cup is NOT gonna do it!). On the first floor of our hotel is a shopping center with a grocery store, baby store (dangerous!), coffee shop (yay!) and a whole host of other shopping. Buying groceries in another country was fun.
Okay-I'll check in later when I hear from Cherie and find out when we'll be able to get Josie!
So-we got the internet to work here in the room. I can't seem to access my email-so for now-if anyone needs to contact me-use my netzero account: juliemarie16@netzero.net. I hope I can figure out the problem with my groupwise access. I think I might lose my mind if I can't access that account for over a month. I think the WiFi is the issue, but not sure.
So-the trip. We did end up getting the upgrade to business class from San Fran to Seoul. Wow-that was cool. The seats recline fully and they have adjustable footrests. When we sat down-we were immediately given glasses of champagne and little bowls of warm roasted nuts. yum. After a couple of rum and cokes-they served dinner. Okay-i have never eaten airline food that I would rave about before-smoked salmon appetizer, sesame chicken with noodles for me, Mom had some sort of beef and cheddar potato, caramel cheesecake for dessert. yeah. We had our own little TVs and several movie options. I watched The Holiday and amused Mom with all my giggling. Notes From a Scandal was also good-but a bit intense. I dozed during Blood Diamond-which was good because it was a little distressing and quite frankly a little too "real" for me.
While the seats were comfortable-I was in the middle, which made getting in and out a bit of a challenge. Mom and i seemed to be the only ones not able to completely sack out during the trip (were they all drugged or something?). The seats in front of us were completely reclined and Mom and the guy next to me had their footrests completely extended. The first time I came in from the wrong side and basically fell on the guy next to me getting back in-after that I chose to climb (literally!) over mom to get in and out.
We had a about an hour delay in Seoul-and then a 4 hour trip to Hanoi. I thought it was funny that the only sleep we got on the entire trip (besides half-asleep dozing) was while we were in coach seating. When we got to Hanoi-we got through customs without any problem and had a hotel car pick us up. The guy was holding a sign with mom's name on it-how cool is that? Not that I could see it or anything as I had taken out my contacts and spent half the trip blind as a bat. I was going to take a pic of us standing uder the sign at the airport-but after such a long trip-there was no way I was permanently documenting the state my face and hair was in.
We ordered room service this morning-because we hadn't yet figured out how to get coffee and well, you all should know how important coffee is to us! After a quick shower-I headed downstairs to change some money and find more coffee (one cup is NOT gonna do it!). On the first floor of our hotel is a shopping center with a grocery store, baby store (dangerous!), coffee shop (yay!) and a whole host of other shopping. Buying groceries in another country was fun.
Okay-I'll check in later when I hear from Cherie and find out when we'll be able to get Josie!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Maybe we should apply for citizenship . . .
So-we leave on Friday for Vietnam! Yesterday we were informed that there may be some delays in the process in Vietnam-and it was possible we would need to stay longer. Mom and I decided to go ahead and change our return flight now, rather than having to deal with it in Vietnam. We are now returning home on June 4th. If we get done with the US Embassy early, we may try to leave sooner-however, flights out of Hanoi are very difficult to get. Apparently, it's quite the hot spot for tourists in SE Asia. We also only have a 30 day visa, so we'll have to get extended ones while we're there. It was suggested we consider arriving in Hanoi a week later so that we don't have to stay in country for so long-but since I will be able to Josie next week-there's no way I'm delaying my trip. It just means we'll have even longer to explore Josie birth country. And I hear it's just beautiful. Even in the rainy season!
We're staying at the Somerset hotel-which has little apartments. We'll have a kitchen, washer/dryer, 2 bedrooms, and a living room. I think we'll be quite comfortable. There's also a pool-can't wait to take Josie swimming.
I will update my blog with pics and videos while I'm there. And I will do as many individual emails as time allows.
I can't wait for you all to meet Josie! She will be baptised on June 17th at the 11am Mass at the Cathedral. It will also be her first birthday! And Father's Day . . . . . We'll have some sort of celebration at the house afterwards.
I can't thank everyone enough for all their support, prayers (Thanks Maddie!), gifts, good wishes, excitement, and help throughout the last 7 months. I'm so lucky to have all of you in my life! Thanks especially to those (ahem, Shu!) who've talked me down from the ledge more than once. This has been the most amazing and stressful time of my whole life! The control-freak in me has had a bit of trouble letting go and just letting things happen. Soon-it will be all worth it.
Much Love-
Julie
We're staying at the Somerset hotel-which has little apartments. We'll have a kitchen, washer/dryer, 2 bedrooms, and a living room. I think we'll be quite comfortable. There's also a pool-can't wait to take Josie swimming.
I will update my blog with pics and videos while I'm there. And I will do as many individual emails as time allows.
I can't wait for you all to meet Josie! She will be baptised on June 17th at the 11am Mass at the Cathedral. It will also be her first birthday! And Father's Day . . . . . We'll have some sort of celebration at the house afterwards.
I can't thank everyone enough for all their support, prayers (Thanks Maddie!), gifts, good wishes, excitement, and help throughout the last 7 months. I'm so lucky to have all of you in my life! Thanks especially to those (ahem, Shu!) who've talked me down from the ledge more than once. This has been the most amazing and stressful time of my whole life! The control-freak in me has had a bit of trouble letting go and just letting things happen. Soon-it will be all worth it.
Much Love-
Julie
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Finished room . . . .
There are a few people who have apparently been anxiously awaiting pics of the finished room-and with the exception of the glider (which hopefully all the pieces will arrive UNBROKEN soon) and the proper hardware for the shades (so that they can actually go up and down-a good feature in a shade)-the room is finished. I need to arrange things on the shelves too I guess . . . .
Uh, oh . . .I just realized I forgot to put the stuff I had on top of the changing table back after I took this picture. That's a bit of a problem because, apparently changing tables make really comfy cat beds.
It's harder than you would think to hang those letters straight. Plus-the O is larger than any other letter. weird.
My aunt made the curtains . .don't they look great?
See those dresses hanging on the changing table in the first pic? I want to take all 3 to Vietnam. Why, you ask? Why would one child need 3 fancy dresses during a 3 week period? Well-she doesn't. But I love all 3 and can't bring myself to leave one behind. Besides-we need a Giving and Receiving dress (the green one), a coming home from the orphanage dress (the purple I think-it's in the back-you probably can't see it), and a coming home dress to greet Papa and any other family members that travel to the airport (pink). And-there's church, too! See-so many uses for fancy dresses!
Seriously-I have so many baby clothes packed-I'm not sure I'll get to bring any clothes. Last weekend-I took all of Josie's clothes down to Mom's so we could wash and decide which ones to pack. Mom's been feeling a bit stressed about the trip-it's really hard to have no control over any part of this trip. We have no control over the arrival and departure dates really (we've already had to change our departure date-and I've changed our hotel booking 3 times), we won't know when we get Josie until we get there, we will be at the mercy of the US Embassy and just hope and pray that we can leave on our scheduled flight on May 22nd.
Anyway-even though it's laundry-i thought that playing with baby clothes would cheer her up a bit. It works for me-I have taken the clothes out of the closet and rearranged them at least 4 or 5 times. But now-i figured it was time to cut of the tags (so many tags, piles of tags!) and wash them. When i got there-Marina was there to help-Mom asked me where the baby soap was. Huh? You know-there's a lot I have to learn about babies and how to care for them (did you know walkers=BAD!?), but I thought I at least knew how to do LAUNDRY! So-off to the store for Dreft and liquid Downy (no dryer sheets for Josie!). Wow-the clothes smell and feel so good-I think I could just dive into a pile of freshly-washed baby clothes. I want to wash my clothes in this stuff now.
Uh, oh . . .I just realized I forgot to put the stuff I had on top of the changing table back after I took this picture. That's a bit of a problem because, apparently changing tables make really comfy cat beds.
It's harder than you would think to hang those letters straight. Plus-the O is larger than any other letter. weird.
My aunt made the curtains . .don't they look great?
See those dresses hanging on the changing table in the first pic? I want to take all 3 to Vietnam. Why, you ask? Why would one child need 3 fancy dresses during a 3 week period? Well-she doesn't. But I love all 3 and can't bring myself to leave one behind. Besides-we need a Giving and Receiving dress (the green one), a coming home from the orphanage dress (the purple I think-it's in the back-you probably can't see it), and a coming home dress to greet Papa and any other family members that travel to the airport (pink). And-there's church, too! See-so many uses for fancy dresses!
Seriously-I have so many baby clothes packed-I'm not sure I'll get to bring any clothes. Last weekend-I took all of Josie's clothes down to Mom's so we could wash and decide which ones to pack. Mom's been feeling a bit stressed about the trip-it's really hard to have no control over any part of this trip. We have no control over the arrival and departure dates really (we've already had to change our departure date-and I've changed our hotel booking 3 times), we won't know when we get Josie until we get there, we will be at the mercy of the US Embassy and just hope and pray that we can leave on our scheduled flight on May 22nd.
Anyway-even though it's laundry-i thought that playing with baby clothes would cheer her up a bit. It works for me-I have taken the clothes out of the closet and rearranged them at least 4 or 5 times. But now-i figured it was time to cut of the tags (so many tags, piles of tags!) and wash them. When i got there-Marina was there to help-Mom asked me where the baby soap was. Huh? You know-there's a lot I have to learn about babies and how to care for them (did you know walkers=BAD!?), but I thought I at least knew how to do LAUNDRY! So-off to the store for Dreft and liquid Downy (no dryer sheets for Josie!). Wow-the clothes smell and feel so good-I think I could just dive into a pile of freshly-washed baby clothes. I want to wash my clothes in this stuff now.
Monday, March 19, 2007
All my bags are packed-I'm ready to go . . .
Well, not really but there's a light at the end of the tunnel! I just received a tentative travel date of April 29th (I have to be there by then). That's when they expect my case to be cleared through the Vietnam side of things . . .
I've already booked flights and hotel-so hopefully nothing changes. So-Mom and I are looking to fly out on the morning of Friday the 27th, arriving in Hanoi late in the evening on the 28th (yay!) and returning on the 20th of May.
I've already booked flights and hotel-so hopefully nothing changes. So-Mom and I are looking to fly out on the morning of Friday the 27th, arriving in Hanoi late in the evening on the 28th (yay!) and returning on the 20th of May.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Waiting . . . ..
So-this is the part that's really tough. The waiting. I have no idea when I'll travel and I'll probably only get about 3 weeks notice. So-I wait. And finish Josie's room-which is almost totally ready. As soon as I find the cord to the computer so I can upload the pictures-I'll post pics of the finished room.
There are families cuurently in Vietnam and I'm enjoying reading online about their trips-I can't wait to go!
There are families cuurently in Vietnam and I'm enjoying reading online about their trips-I can't wait to go!
Friday, February 09, 2007
Happy news, Horrible news
Well-the happy news is that I received my immigration paper on Tuesday and it's at the Vietnam consulate today. Taht was a huge stressor lately-it got hung up in the Portland office with several others from my agency. And we all needed to have it in Vietnam ASAP . . .
And then the news this morning-one of the babies belonging to another family from my agency died from pnemonia. This is the third baby to die in a week in the orphanges over there from pnemonia-although the first from one of the orphanges my agency is affiliated with. They were supposed to be traveling soon too. I'm so sad for them-even though they never held her or saw her other than in pictures-she was a member of their family. I know this-because that's how i feel about Josie. I know my family feels that same way. In a way-we all feel a loss-because it could've been any one of our babies. And now-we're all scared to death for the welfare of our children-we have no idea how they are.
Makes my worry over a silly piece of paper seem ridiculous now . . .
Rest in peace-little Faith . . .I hope you felt how much you were loved.
And then the news this morning-one of the babies belonging to another family from my agency died from pnemonia. This is the third baby to die in a week in the orphanges over there from pnemonia-although the first from one of the orphanges my agency is affiliated with. They were supposed to be traveling soon too. I'm so sad for them-even though they never held her or saw her other than in pictures-she was a member of their family. I know this-because that's how i feel about Josie. I know my family feels that same way. In a way-we all feel a loss-because it could've been any one of our babies. And now-we're all scared to death for the welfare of our children-we have no idea how they are.
Makes my worry over a silly piece of paper seem ridiculous now . . .
Rest in peace-little Faith . . .I hope you felt how much you were loved.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
You'll either Love it or Hate it . . .
If you know me at all-you know how much I love bright colors. I finished painting the nursery and also painted flowers on the walls. I'm almost done with the flowers, but we set up the crib yesterday and I wanted to put down the rug and see how it was all coming together. The cats love the rug-I couldn't even get it all the way rolled out before they were rolling on it like it was covered in cat nip or something . . .
Mom walked in and said "It's like summer in here!" Yeah-that about sums it up. I really hope Josie likes bright colors. Otherwise-she'll have a very troubled childhood;)
So-I still need curtains and I have to finish some of the flowers. So-a preview . .
I love this rug-I based the color and flower theme of the room around this rug. Roxie likes it too.
Mom walked in and said "It's like summer in here!" Yeah-that about sums it up. I really hope Josie likes bright colors. Otherwise-she'll have a very troubled childhood;)
So-I still need curtains and I have to finish some of the flowers. So-a preview . .
I love this rug-I based the color and flower theme of the room around this rug. Roxie likes it too.
Why you shouldn't let your cat stay in the room you are painting.
You can see the trail in front of the futon . . .
Toby apparently put his paws on the wall to get down from the windowill. There was a trail all the way to the litter box in the bathroom. Thank God it was latex paint . . .
Thursday, January 11, 2007
The details
Wow-what a crazy week it's been. I don't think I've stopped smiling yet! Last Wednesday, I had my appointment with immigration to be fingerprinted. This will be the last major piece of paper that I need. Anyway-I talked myself out of going to the gym afterward and went home instead. Boy-I'm glad I did. It would've been another hour or so that I didn't know about Josie.
The Fed Ex envelope was wedged between the door and screen door. I saw that it was from PLAN-but I knew that my dossier had just been sent to Vietnam the day before. I figured that they had made a copy of my file or something to send to me. I didn't open it immediately-I came in the house, petted the kitties, put my stuff away and came back to it about 10 minutes later. I open it up and I swear-my heart stopped beating for a few seconds when I read this:
Congratulations on the official referral of your darling daughter!!!
I freaked out. No, seriously-you'd have thought someone died or something. Hysterical happy crying/shrieking is virtually indistinguishable from sad hysterical crying/shrieking. As I'm doing this, I'm thinking "Pictures. There has to be pictures in here somewhere. I started flinging papers around til i find them. And their she is. Absolutely beautiful. But-how old is she? What's her name? A million questions are flying around in my brain and i'm trying to find the answers while I'm hyperventilating and digging with one hand in my purse for my cell phone.
I find the phone-and the answers to my questions . . . .Nguyen Thi Mai (Mai-pronounced My-is her first name) born June 17, 2006. So she's currently about 6 1/2 months old. Abandoned at birth in Hanoi at a medical clinic. No info on the mother.
I want to call mom-but I can't talk yet. So-I pace around trying to take deep breaths while staring at the pictures, memorizing that sweet face. I'd had 3 names picked out-Josephine, Lucy or Veroncia-and when I first saw the pictures-I knew she was a Josie.
When I think I can talk-I try to call mom-at home, at work, on her cell. I try Dad's cell. No answer. I called Marie to see if she knew where Mom was-but she didn't. She also knew something was up. I was DYING to tell someone-so I did. I had planned to tell Mom first-but jeez-answer the phone, willya! So-Marie of course, was excited and told me to chill while she tracked mom down. Apparently mom was at the pool and the staff there eventually saw her and told her to call me on my cell. So-by this point mom and i are actually trying to call each other at the same time. So-she finally got through and I guess she was in the parking lot. When I told her-well, let's just say we are definately related:) Then-more phone calls. Finally got through to Dad, Kathy, Chris and Shula. I was basically on the phone for the next 2 hours. When I wasn't on the phone-I was pacing the house and looking at the referral packet and pictures.
Mom came up to Portland that nite with Jeff, Marie and the kids. No way were they waiting 3 days to see the pictures. Or even one day for me to scan them and email them. They came with bags of clothes and bibs and socks they had been buying (even though they weren't supposed to until we knew how old she was!). Marie also brought me a beer and a pack of cookie dough. Backstory: In the hospital, after she'd had her first child-she told me she wanted a beer and cookie dough. So-I went out and got her some. So-it's a little family joke!
We went out to dinner and found a Kinko's to make copies of the pictures. It was a nice little celebration. I shared the name I 'd chosen and it took all of 10 seconds for the kids to come up with this:
Josie
+ Toby
+ Roxie
= Josie
and the Pussycats!
The Fed Ex envelope was wedged between the door and screen door. I saw that it was from PLAN-but I knew that my dossier had just been sent to Vietnam the day before. I figured that they had made a copy of my file or something to send to me. I didn't open it immediately-I came in the house, petted the kitties, put my stuff away and came back to it about 10 minutes later. I open it up and I swear-my heart stopped beating for a few seconds when I read this:
Congratulations on the official referral of your darling daughter!!!
I freaked out. No, seriously-you'd have thought someone died or something. Hysterical happy crying/shrieking is virtually indistinguishable from sad hysterical crying/shrieking. As I'm doing this, I'm thinking "Pictures. There has to be pictures in here somewhere. I started flinging papers around til i find them. And their she is. Absolutely beautiful. But-how old is she? What's her name? A million questions are flying around in my brain and i'm trying to find the answers while I'm hyperventilating and digging with one hand in my purse for my cell phone.
I find the phone-and the answers to my questions . . . .Nguyen Thi Mai (Mai-pronounced My-is her first name) born June 17, 2006. So she's currently about 6 1/2 months old. Abandoned at birth in Hanoi at a medical clinic. No info on the mother.
I want to call mom-but I can't talk yet. So-I pace around trying to take deep breaths while staring at the pictures, memorizing that sweet face. I'd had 3 names picked out-Josephine, Lucy or Veroncia-and when I first saw the pictures-I knew she was a Josie.
When I think I can talk-I try to call mom-at home, at work, on her cell. I try Dad's cell. No answer. I called Marie to see if she knew where Mom was-but she didn't. She also knew something was up. I was DYING to tell someone-so I did. I had planned to tell Mom first-but jeez-answer the phone, willya! So-Marie of course, was excited and told me to chill while she tracked mom down. Apparently mom was at the pool and the staff there eventually saw her and told her to call me on my cell. So-by this point mom and i are actually trying to call each other at the same time. So-she finally got through and I guess she was in the parking lot. When I told her-well, let's just say we are definately related:) Then-more phone calls. Finally got through to Dad, Kathy, Chris and Shula. I was basically on the phone for the next 2 hours. When I wasn't on the phone-I was pacing the house and looking at the referral packet and pictures.
Mom came up to Portland that nite with Jeff, Marie and the kids. No way were they waiting 3 days to see the pictures. Or even one day for me to scan them and email them. They came with bags of clothes and bibs and socks they had been buying (even though they weren't supposed to until we knew how old she was!). Marie also brought me a beer and a pack of cookie dough. Backstory: In the hospital, after she'd had her first child-she told me she wanted a beer and cookie dough. So-I went out and got her some. So-it's a little family joke!
We went out to dinner and found a Kinko's to make copies of the pictures. It was a nice little celebration. I shared the name I 'd chosen and it took all of 10 seconds for the kids to come up with this:
Josie
+ Toby
+ Roxie
= Josie
and the Pussycats!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Friday, December 29, 2006
Things are happening . . .
My paperwork has returned from San Fransisco and the wonderful folks at PLAN will put together my dossier and send it to Vietnam to be translated where it will wait for the I-171H. Speaking of, I have a fingerprinting appointment for the 3rd-then I will just have to wait for it to come in the mail (no clue how long that takes) and when it does I get to make another trip to Salem for certification (I think) and it will have to go to the Consulate in San Fran too before it can be sent to Vietnam.
Whether I'll make the cut for the old referral process is still up in the air. We'll see . . .
I've been trying to work on getting the nursery ready (not buying anything yet). But I need to clear it out, paint the trim, clean up the baseboards, etc. I bought a small desk for my bedroom today so I can move the computer in there. I've taken 4 carloads of stuff to ARC. The purging is good. Have to get rid of most of my crafting supplies-but I've got plenty of crafty family members to donate that stuff to. With a small 2 bedroom condo-I'm going to have to learn to live a bit more simply.
Whether I'll make the cut for the old referral process is still up in the air. We'll see . . .
I've been trying to work on getting the nursery ready (not buying anything yet). But I need to clear it out, paint the trim, clean up the baseboards, etc. I bought a small desk for my bedroom today so I can move the computer in there. I've taken 4 carloads of stuff to ARC. The purging is good. Have to get rid of most of my crafting supplies-but I've got plenty of crafty family members to donate that stuff to. With a small 2 bedroom condo-I'm going to have to learn to live a bit more simply.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Whew!
What a week! I picked up my homestudy at PLAN this morning, got everything certified in Salem, and sent off my documents to be authenticated to the Consulate of Vietnam in San Fransisco. This really looks like it's going to happen! I know what I'm doing with my Christmas vacation-getting the nursery ready. Yay!
What a relief! I need a drink . . .where's the rum?
What a relief! I need a drink . . .where's the rum?
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Stress level: HIGH!
Wow-so a lot's happened in the last week or so. Seems that Vietnam is going to be changing the way they do the referrals. Right now-babies and families are matched up by the orphanages that the agency is licensed to work with. But they are going to centralized the referral process (matching up babies and families) by having the files on the babies and the dossiers of the families go to one place and all referrals will be made by this one office.
So-what does that mean for me? Well-no one really knows if it will hold up the process or have no effect. But, common sense tells us that any change in a government policy is likely to result in delays-at least at first.
Until January 15th-any dossiers coming in will be handled the way they are going right now. After that-the new procedure. I was a little bummed hearing this-but, what can I do? I thought there was no way that I could have my dossier (with the I-171H from immigration) done by then. However, on Monday I discover that they want us who are close to go ahead and finish everything else in the dossier, get it certified and authenticated and send it to Vietnam. They will then start translating and wait for the I-171H.
And then there's my dear friend Shula-who calls me over the weekend to apparently COMPLETLTY FREAK ME OUT BECAUSE OMG! THERE WILL BE HUGE DELAYS! I'LL BE CHILDLESS FOREVER! THE SKY IS FALLING! (okay, I'm exaggerating. But-honestly, I was pretty calm about the whole thing until she decided to light a fire under me! And I'm really glad she did-but, man, I sure don't want to have my blood pressure taken right now!) Seriously Shu-you know I love you!!! ;)
Holy cow-let the paperchase begin! I've gotten 13 documents notarized so far this week, with at least 2 more to go. Here's a list of what I had to gather and fill out:
2 Homestudies (no longer than 4 pages)
4 Vietnam applications for adoption (yes-4 orignals of exactly the same thing!)
4 Commitments (same deal-a commitment is basically a contract with Vietnam stating I will provide yearly updates with phots of the child until she (he) is 18.
2 letters of employment
2 local police clearences
2 medical certificates
2 !-171H (preapproval from immigration)
2 color copies of passport
2 passport size photos
2 pictures (one of me, one of front of home)
All the documents have to be notarized, certified by the state, and then sent to the Vietnam consulate in San Fransisco to be authenticated. I will have to pay extra to have them expedited.
I have everything but the medical form (have an appointment today), the homestudy (the agency is going to have it ready for me to pick up Friday morning, and the I-171H.
So-Friday-I'll pick up the homestudy and take everything to Salem to be certified, then head back to the PLAN (McMinnville) and they will send out everything to be authenticated on the 26th. The homestudy will also be sent to immigration. When it is received by INS-they will call me to set up an appointment to be fingerprinted. Luckily that's here in downtown Portland. Then-supposedly it takes a few weeks to get the I-171H-which will then have to be certified and authenticated too.
The local police clearance was a bear to get. I went to the police station first and they wouldn't even help me. Tried to make me order a background check through the state which isn't what I needed. I left there pretty ticked. Had better luck yesterday at the sheriff's office-although it took awhile and a lot of talking to get them to understand what I needed.
Now I'm hoping that all my notarizations are in order. There's a whole list of instructions to give the notaries and everything has to be "just so". Otherwise, I won't be able to certify them. I just faxed 2 of my forms to PLAN so they can look at the notarizations and see if they'll pass muster. Fingers crossed!
So-if you actually got through all that-you're probably tired now. I know I need another cup of coffee . . .
So-what does that mean for me? Well-no one really knows if it will hold up the process or have no effect. But, common sense tells us that any change in a government policy is likely to result in delays-at least at first.
Until January 15th-any dossiers coming in will be handled the way they are going right now. After that-the new procedure. I was a little bummed hearing this-but, what can I do? I thought there was no way that I could have my dossier (with the I-171H from immigration) done by then. However, on Monday I discover that they want us who are close to go ahead and finish everything else in the dossier, get it certified and authenticated and send it to Vietnam. They will then start translating and wait for the I-171H.
And then there's my dear friend Shula-who calls me over the weekend to apparently COMPLETLTY FREAK ME OUT BECAUSE OMG! THERE WILL BE HUGE DELAYS! I'LL BE CHILDLESS FOREVER! THE SKY IS FALLING! (okay, I'm exaggerating. But-honestly, I was pretty calm about the whole thing until she decided to light a fire under me! And I'm really glad she did-but, man, I sure don't want to have my blood pressure taken right now!) Seriously Shu-you know I love you!!! ;)
Holy cow-let the paperchase begin! I've gotten 13 documents notarized so far this week, with at least 2 more to go. Here's a list of what I had to gather and fill out:
2 Homestudies (no longer than 4 pages)
4 Vietnam applications for adoption (yes-4 orignals of exactly the same thing!)
4 Commitments (same deal-a commitment is basically a contract with Vietnam stating I will provide yearly updates with phots of the child until she (he) is 18.
2 letters of employment
2 local police clearences
2 medical certificates
2 !-171H (preapproval from immigration)
2 color copies of passport
2 passport size photos
2 pictures (one of me, one of front of home)
All the documents have to be notarized, certified by the state, and then sent to the Vietnam consulate in San Fransisco to be authenticated. I will have to pay extra to have them expedited.
I have everything but the medical form (have an appointment today), the homestudy (the agency is going to have it ready for me to pick up Friday morning, and the I-171H.
So-Friday-I'll pick up the homestudy and take everything to Salem to be certified, then head back to the PLAN (McMinnville) and they will send out everything to be authenticated on the 26th. The homestudy will also be sent to immigration. When it is received by INS-they will call me to set up an appointment to be fingerprinted. Luckily that's here in downtown Portland. Then-supposedly it takes a few weeks to get the I-171H-which will then have to be certified and authenticated too.
The local police clearance was a bear to get. I went to the police station first and they wouldn't even help me. Tried to make me order a background check through the state which isn't what I needed. I left there pretty ticked. Had better luck yesterday at the sheriff's office-although it took awhile and a lot of talking to get them to understand what I needed.
Now I'm hoping that all my notarizations are in order. There's a whole list of instructions to give the notaries and everything has to be "just so". Otherwise, I won't be able to certify them. I just faxed 2 of my forms to PLAN so they can look at the notarizations and see if they'll pass muster. Fingers crossed!
So-if you actually got through all that-you're probably tired now. I know I need another cup of coffee . . .
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
The homestudy . . .
was yesterday. I think it went pretty well-though some of the questions were difficult to answer because they were so broad.
Q. How would you handle a needy child?
My answer? "Aren't all babies needy?"
There were also a bunch of questions dealing with situations that wouldn't occur until the child was school-age or older . . .It's hard to know how you'll deal with something until it actually happens. I mean, really, you do what you have to do. It's not like I'm going to return the child as defective or something . . . .
The report will be done within a couple of weeks. And then the Dept of Homeland Security will (hopefully) contact me to set up an appointment to be fingerprinted.
Q. How would you handle a needy child?
My answer? "Aren't all babies needy?"
There were also a bunch of questions dealing with situations that wouldn't occur until the child was school-age or older . . .It's hard to know how you'll deal with something until it actually happens. I mean, really, you do what you have to do. It's not like I'm going to return the child as defective or something . . . .
The report will be done within a couple of weeks. And then the Dept of Homeland Security will (hopefully) contact me to set up an appointment to be fingerprinted.
Stupidest Thing I've Had To Do So Far . . . .
So on the I600-A form for INS there is a section on marital status:
I checked the box saying that I am not married AND I checked the box that said I have never BEEN married.
Apparently that's not good enough . . .
I get a letter from Homeland Security (so weird to see Dept of Homeland Security in the return address!) that said I needed to send back a letter that states that I have never been married.
So-I actually had to type this up (verbatim-well, except for the name part-not sure I really want my full name floating out there on internet-land):
10-19-06
To Whom It May Concern:
It has been requested that I submit a statement regarding my unmarried status to complete the filing of my I600A. Enclosed is a copy of the request.
I, Jules, have never been married.
(signature here)
Jules
I don't know how people can work for the government, you know, making sure people cross their T's and dot their i's even when it is overkill . . . . . The idea of it makes me want to stab a fork in my eye.
Edited to add: You know, now that I think of it-I wish I'd jazzed up the letter a bit. How's this?
Dear whoever:
I have never been married. I have, however, been engaged and was lucky enough to get cheated on, stolen from, and heartbroken so that I didn't marry the jerk and end up supporting his sorry a#$ while he sat around watching movies and playing playstation.
Probably good I didn't send something like this: If the person reading didn't have a sense of humor, I might have been labeled a whackjob and been put on the DO NOT FLY list . . . .
I checked the box saying that I am not married AND I checked the box that said I have never BEEN married.
Apparently that's not good enough . . .
I get a letter from Homeland Security (so weird to see Dept of Homeland Security in the return address!) that said I needed to send back a letter that states that I have never been married.
So-I actually had to type this up (verbatim-well, except for the name part-not sure I really want my full name floating out there on internet-land):
10-19-06
To Whom It May Concern:
It has been requested that I submit a statement regarding my unmarried status to complete the filing of my I600A. Enclosed is a copy of the request.
I, Jules, have never been married.
(signature here)
Jules
I don't know how people can work for the government, you know, making sure people cross their T's and dot their i's even when it is overkill . . . . . The idea of it makes me want to stab a fork in my eye.
Edited to add: You know, now that I think of it-I wish I'd jazzed up the letter a bit. How's this?
Dear whoever:
I have never been married. I have, however, been engaged and was lucky enough to get cheated on, stolen from, and heartbroken so that I didn't marry the jerk and end up supporting his sorry a#$ while he sat around watching movies and playing playstation.
Probably good I didn't send something like this: If the person reading didn't have a sense of humor, I might have been labeled a whackjob and been put on the DO NOT FLY list . . . .
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