I suppose the title of this post should actually be "things to do while waiting to be waiting," since we're still not officially on the Gladney waitlist, but as far as I can tell, officially waiting is going to be a lot like waiting to be waiting (minus a tiny bit of anxiety, as we keep our fingers crossed that all of our documents make it through the authentication process without incident).
So anyway, finishing up the paperwork has left us with a lot of free time on our hands, which means we can finally devote some time to other things like:
1) making our wedding album - did I mention we got married in 2006? (yes mom, we are finally seeing our photographer this weekend...)
2) checking email constantly for a message from Kate saying that our docs have been authenticated
3) betting on when we will officially be on the waitlist
4) betting on when we will receive a referral
(yeah, I know, numbers 2, 3, and 4 are not exactly productive...)
5) looking for a new apartment (they say housing prices are dropping - can someone tell the NYC real estate market??)
6) saying things like, "can you imagine doing this with a kid?!??"
7) watching some of the zillion movies we have DVR'ed
8) "window shopping" for strollers, cribs, clothes, etc.
(can't quite bring ourselves to buy anything just yet, not to mention, we don't know who we're shopping for)
9) dreaming of our next vacation (this actually started on the plane ride home from Bhutan/India)... and
10) wondering whether our next vacation will be as a twosome or a threesome.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
waiting to be waiting
Well, we got our CIS approval letter notarized on Monday and fedexed it off to Kate at KBS. Now we wait for everything to go through the county and State authentication processes and then we should be put on the waitlist for a referral. Kate said that this process should take about 7-10 days, so hopefully we will officially be waiting as of the first week of February, although we know full well that anything can happen when it comes to the adoption process. Let's just say we are being cautiously optimistic.
Still, it is such a great feeling to have reached this point. Finishing the paperwork is such a huge relief - at times it didn't seem possible. Suddenly the whole adoption seems even more real.
Of course, it is real in that "we're expecting to become parents sometime this year... but we don't really know when... and we don't know exactly how old our child will be... and even after we find out, we don't know when we'll actually get to meet him..." kind of way, so we feel as out of control as ever!!
I imagine that in many ways this waiting stage is going to be harder than the paperwork, mostly because we no longer have things like fingerprinting and making calls to our insurance companies to keep us busy. Not to mention we will certainly miss visiting our new best friends at Fedex, and we are sad that we won't be able to argue with our local bankers anymore. And I can barely imagine a week without seeing my local notary....
Yes, it is going to be tough ;)
Still, it is such a great feeling to have reached this point. Finishing the paperwork is such a huge relief - at times it didn't seem possible. Suddenly the whole adoption seems even more real.
Of course, it is real in that "we're expecting to become parents sometime this year... but we don't really know when... and we don't know exactly how old our child will be... and even after we find out, we don't know when we'll actually get to meet him..." kind of way, so we feel as out of control as ever!!
I imagine that in many ways this waiting stage is going to be harder than the paperwork, mostly because we no longer have things like fingerprinting and making calls to our insurance companies to keep us busy. Not to mention we will certainly miss visiting our new best friends at Fedex, and we are sad that we won't be able to argue with our local bankers anymore. And I can barely imagine a week without seeing my local notary....
Yes, it is going to be tough ;)
Friday, January 18, 2008
i love ny
I had been planning to update the blog today, even though not much has been happening on the adoption front. At this stage of the game, it's a lot of waiting around, not to mention that we've been pretty much spending our time this week either catching up on work or catching up on sleep after our trip. But I was wrong. We have lots to share.
Because today I came home to find:
(i) another copy of my birth certificate in the right form (For those who have been following this blog, you know this about the 4th or 5th copy I've obtained. I was wrong recently when I said I had finally received the right form. I received the right form - i.e. the "long" form - but it didn't have a letter of exemplification which is necessary. This was the only document we were still missing for our dossier.)... AND
(ii) our CIS Approval/I-171H. Yes, that's right, the all important CIS Approval!!! That's a 9 day turnaround!!! Go New York City Citizenship and Immigration Services Office!!
Oh and I also came home to an email from Ryan saying he was grabbing a few drinks with some friends after work, so EJ and I are celebrating without him!
We are officially done with the paperchase. Let the waiting begin!!
Because today I came home to find:
(i) another copy of my birth certificate in the right form (For those who have been following this blog, you know this about the 4th or 5th copy I've obtained. I was wrong recently when I said I had finally received the right form. I received the right form - i.e. the "long" form - but it didn't have a letter of exemplification which is necessary. This was the only document we were still missing for our dossier.)... AND
(ii) our CIS Approval/I-171H. Yes, that's right, the all important CIS Approval!!! That's a 9 day turnaround!!! Go New York City Citizenship and Immigration Services Office!!
Oh and I also came home to an email from Ryan saying he was grabbing a few drinks with some friends after work, so EJ and I are celebrating without him!
We are officially done with the paperchase. Let the waiting begin!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
guzo: india and bhutan
Going to take a little break from adoption blogging today to share some of the high- (and low-) lights of our trip. Not much new to share on the adoption front anyway (we are waiting on one more document for our dossier and CIS approval and then we will officially be waiting for a referral!)...
In short, our trip was absolutely amazing. I don't think anything I could write here will do justice to all that we experienced - at least not unless I spend the next few days doing nothing but blogging - but I'll try to give a little insight into two very different and interesting countries.
India - we were only in India, and only in the Delhi/Agra areas, for about 5-6 days - a few on each end of our Bhutan journey. As India is such a large and diverse country, we were barely able to scratch the surface and will definitely have to go back to really experience the culture and sights of India, which I believe varies greatly from region to region. Still, we tried to make the most of our time there. Delhi and Agra are both bustling, energetic, chaotic cities, rich in history and also ever-growing and changing.
The highs: seeing the Taj Mahal - even when you're there is doesn't quite seem real; roadside sightseeing - when driving you'll see everything on the roads: cars, trucks, cows, bikers, goats, walkers, motorcycles, camels, rickshaws, dogs, horses, pigs, and tuk-tuks (at times a bit frightening, but definitely an experience to remember!); Humayan's Tomb - the predecessor to the Taj Mahal; the vibrant colors - the clothes, the streets, the decor.
The lows: the smog in Delhi and Agra is beyond awful; driving is a little scary - there are signs encouraging drivers to use lanes, but apparently, it's not required; children hawking wares in the middle of the road - very, very disturbing.
Bhutan - this has been my dream trip for a long time and it definitely lived up to expectations. Bhutan is in many ways the anti-India. Whereas India is a huge and heavily populated country, with major cities and constant excitement and chaos, Bhutan is a tiny and largely rural kingdom with less than 750,000 total population. It was quiet and serene, and sometimes we didn't encounter another person on our daily hikes. But things are rapidly changing throughout the country - while we were there, the country held its first ever democratic elections, and construction is evident everywhere you go. Still, the people are deeply rooted in traditions and the country is mostly unspoiled.
The highs: the hiking generally, but especially the hike to Taktshang Goemba (aka Tiger's Nest) a monastery built in 1692 on a sheer cliff; the people - warm, friendly, polite, hospitable; temples and monasteries that are extravagantly decorated - paintings, gold statutes and trim, fabrics of all colors (unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures inside the temples); the unique and beautiful architecture; Pema and Rinchen - our amazing guide and driver.
The lows: freezing cold nights in the Haa Valley = frozen pipes and no running water in the morning; 2-way roads that are all perched on the side of a cliff and barely wide enough for one car.
So those are a few of my quick thoughts about our trip. I've also put together a few pictures, so I hope they help convey some of what we experienced (they are pretty random and in no particular order - sorry!). We highly recommend traveling to India, and especially Bhutan, and if anyone wants more details about our trip, please feel free to email/comment and I'd be happy to share more with you. Finally, to our family and friends - stay tuned, we'll be sending more pictures your way soon - we took about 2500 pictures total, so it's taking a while to get through them!!
In short, our trip was absolutely amazing. I don't think anything I could write here will do justice to all that we experienced - at least not unless I spend the next few days doing nothing but blogging - but I'll try to give a little insight into two very different and interesting countries.
India - we were only in India, and only in the Delhi/Agra areas, for about 5-6 days - a few on each end of our Bhutan journey. As India is such a large and diverse country, we were barely able to scratch the surface and will definitely have to go back to really experience the culture and sights of India, which I believe varies greatly from region to region. Still, we tried to make the most of our time there. Delhi and Agra are both bustling, energetic, chaotic cities, rich in history and also ever-growing and changing.
The highs: seeing the Taj Mahal - even when you're there is doesn't quite seem real; roadside sightseeing - when driving you'll see everything on the roads: cars, trucks, cows, bikers, goats, walkers, motorcycles, camels, rickshaws, dogs, horses, pigs, and tuk-tuks (at times a bit frightening, but definitely an experience to remember!); Humayan's Tomb - the predecessor to the Taj Mahal; the vibrant colors - the clothes, the streets, the decor.
The lows: the smog in Delhi and Agra is beyond awful; driving is a little scary - there are signs encouraging drivers to use lanes, but apparently, it's not required; children hawking wares in the middle of the road - very, very disturbing.
Bhutan - this has been my dream trip for a long time and it definitely lived up to expectations. Bhutan is in many ways the anti-India. Whereas India is a huge and heavily populated country, with major cities and constant excitement and chaos, Bhutan is a tiny and largely rural kingdom with less than 750,000 total population. It was quiet and serene, and sometimes we didn't encounter another person on our daily hikes. But things are rapidly changing throughout the country - while we were there, the country held its first ever democratic elections, and construction is evident everywhere you go. Still, the people are deeply rooted in traditions and the country is mostly unspoiled.
The highs: the hiking generally, but especially the hike to Taktshang Goemba (aka Tiger's Nest) a monastery built in 1692 on a sheer cliff; the people - warm, friendly, polite, hospitable; temples and monasteries that are extravagantly decorated - paintings, gold statutes and trim, fabrics of all colors (unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures inside the temples); the unique and beautiful architecture; Pema and Rinchen - our amazing guide and driver.
The lows: freezing cold nights in the Haa Valley = frozen pipes and no running water in the morning; 2-way roads that are all perched on the side of a cliff and barely wide enough for one car.
So those are a few of my quick thoughts about our trip. I've also put together a few pictures, so I hope they help convey some of what we experienced (they are pretty random and in no particular order - sorry!). We highly recommend traveling to India, and especially Bhutan, and if anyone wants more details about our trip, please feel free to email/comment and I'd be happy to share more with you. Finally, to our family and friends - stay tuned, we'll be sending more pictures your way soon - we took about 2500 pictures total, so it's taking a while to get through them!!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
back in the saddle again
We're back!! We arrived home late last night (or early this morning, depending on how you look at it) after more than 24 hours of travel and we're already back into the adoption swing of things.
Since our bodies are thoroughly confused time-wise, we couldn't fall asleep right when we got back and decided to go through the insanely HUGE stack of mail that was waiting for us before settling down. And guess what we discovered?? Yup, our CIS fingerprinting appointment letter. Yay!!
Of course, the appointment was yesterday morning. Oops. Fortunately, the letter states that if you cannot make your appointment, you can go in any Wednesday after the stated date/time, so, despite the fact that our bodies were telling us it was time to go to sleep, we managed to get up and out this morning to get ourselves some fingerprints. It was tough staying awake for the hour plus wait, but we played about 15 rounds of twenty questions (yes, this is how we amuse ourselves at times like these) to pass the time and now we are one giant step closer to getting on to the referral waitlist.
We still have a few documents to pull together for our dossier, but we expect to get those in order in the next couple of weeks... then we wait for CIS to process our paperwork and approve us... and waitlist here we come!
As for our trip... well, it was fantastic!! Bhutan is not exactly the easiest place to get to, but it is absolutely worth all the trouble. I will pull together some pictures and post them in the next couple of days along with some more details about our experiences. Right now we have to go chill with ej who just returned from his vacation uptown.
Since our bodies are thoroughly confused time-wise, we couldn't fall asleep right when we got back and decided to go through the insanely HUGE stack of mail that was waiting for us before settling down. And guess what we discovered?? Yup, our CIS fingerprinting appointment letter. Yay!!
Of course, the appointment was yesterday morning. Oops. Fortunately, the letter states that if you cannot make your appointment, you can go in any Wednesday after the stated date/time, so, despite the fact that our bodies were telling us it was time to go to sleep, we managed to get up and out this morning to get ourselves some fingerprints. It was tough staying awake for the hour plus wait, but we played about 15 rounds of twenty questions (yes, this is how we amuse ourselves at times like these) to pass the time and now we are one giant step closer to getting on to the referral waitlist.
We still have a few documents to pull together for our dossier, but we expect to get those in order in the next couple of weeks... then we wait for CIS to process our paperwork and approve us... and waitlist here we come!
As for our trip... well, it was fantastic!! Bhutan is not exactly the easiest place to get to, but it is absolutely worth all the trouble. I will pull together some pictures and post them in the next couple of days along with some more details about our experiences. Right now we have to go chill with ej who just returned from his vacation uptown.
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