TA at Last!

I really needed the relaxing time in under a gorgeous sky this morning while Pearl had her first swim lesson, but on the way home at 2pm I started to wonder if Jasper would have news. He didn't but I didn't have long to wait. The call came on the cell just as I was ringing up the agency to see what could possibly be wrong. Nothing wrong now. (I'm purposely  restraining my use of exclamation points).

One of the agency's employees specializes in arranging travel, and she said we could go Aug. 1st (next week!) or Aug. 8th. We opted for the 8th. I think we could have done the 1st, but I don't know if my family would have still liked me by the end of that week. This way we also get to participate in Bible School for the first two nights, and I'm directing it, so I can get it started and answer those first night questions.

Now we're tentatively scheduling the girls' caregivers while we are gone.  Pearl got a little sad when she realized she wasn't going--she knew this, but it sunk in deeper, I guess, with all this. Now she's fine. I sold her on all the fun she'll have with family members in our absence. I called to request prescriptions for us and Ruby. Otherwise, I *think* I have most of what we'll need already squirreled away upstairs.

The date is soon, but it means I'll be home for the start of the semester and the VBS closing will cover one of Jasper's missed Sundays.  God's plans were great!

Still Waiting for TA

I was really hoping to be able to sit down and write about how we had received Travel Approval (TA) today. That's the last step before we get to plan the trip and finally know the dates we'll be away.  I've really been waiting to know those dates all summer, to tack down this floating idea of the trip and make it real. It didn't come today.

I know that people who submitted the last form on the same date we did got their TA on Friday, and I know that people AFTER us also got theirs. So where is our little piece of paper?



It's been tough waiting, thinking each phone ring was the social worker calling to tell me the package had arrived. Now I'll have to wait again tomorrow.  Maybe I'll get better at it.

Here's Ruby in the outfit we sent and with the stuffed frog we sent her. I'll bet she's chomping on a gummy worm we sent too!

The Adoption Community, Online

We don't have all that many adoptive families in our church or circle of friends, and as of now we know are acquainted with just a few families that have chosen international adoption.  I'm sure that will change as we get involved with the York chapter of Families with Children from China (FCC). We went to their Moon festival in the fall, but we were waiting until Ruby joined us to sign up officially.  They are a very nice bunch of families. The girls had a great time playing with kids their age, and I got to meet a darling little girl newly adopted.

So, in the absence of real people, I've learned a lot online. I've read blogs and I've skulked around China Adopt Talk, a huge forum.  After reading it for a while, I decided to jump on the chart they maintain to figure out how the paperwork is moving. The travel date is so up in the air, that figuring things out was one ridiculous way of trying to control the situation.  A forum person maintains the list, and you can compare yourself to others as they gradually move toward Travel Approval (TA).  On the link above you can see my progression if you care to do so--I'm tulip480.

So now I'm nearing TA, and then we'll leave.