Waiting...

Many people say that the hardest wait is not waiting for your referral, but the wait from referral to travel. I guess that I will know the answer to that question eventually, but right now I just can't imagine that.

All waiting is probably excruciating. The wait for my 171 was hard. It took nine weeks. Then it was a whirlwind of letters, notaries, certifications, etc. The my dossier was off. Now things are out of my hands. I should be praying for God to give me patience. I am not. I am praying for God to hurry up my referral and get my baby home by Christmas.

Patience. I really need that.

The furniture for Gracie's room is trickling in. Yesterday the chest of drawers came and the glider came earlier in the week. The baby bed is coming some time this month.

The real urgency is the addition. I am adding on a bedroom, bathroom and an ENORMOUS closet. The foundation has been laid and the builder was supposed to start today. But when I talked to him last night he said that it would be the end of NEXT week. The baby will be in my room. So until the addition is complete and I have a new room, I can't start on the baby's room.

I am not worrying so much about the paperwork anymore. Since Fed-exing my dossier I have been imagining all the possible problems in the paperwork. I am so afraid that some little, seemingly insignificant detail will be a problem. I just can't sweat it anymore. I am generally not a worrier and it was taking too much of my energy.

My dossier is at the embassy in San Franciso. After that it goes straight to Vietnam for translation. My prayer is that I will soon be in Vietnam also.

My friend Susan (who is also adopting from Vietnam) is probably so sick of me. She has to hear the same comments over and over from me. The most popular one is "I want to know what size she is." Life would be easier if I could shop with confidence.

She has become a great friend. I really hope that we can travel together to meet our daughters. How wonderful would that be?