So I spent the afternoon...

I spent the afternoon with my friend, Rebecca. We relaxed by the pool. We missed you Tiffany. I am glad that you matched all your socks though (see Gracie's blog) Anyway, so my friend Rebecca, tells me twice that I am wrong.....Stuck in the Middle is NOT a Beatles song as I had originally blogged. She tells me that it is a Bob Dylan song. Okay, I swear that I can hear Paul singing, "clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you." So I HATE to write inaccurate information, especially when (roll call) Rebecca, Tiffany, Robin, Courtney, , Kim, Jodi, Mom, and now Georgia (she's a new friend whose blog I read daily) are reading this thing. I have come home to research who sang this silly song.............drumroll please.............Stealers Wheel............WHO???? STEALERS WHEEL
Nope, Rebecca, you were wrong too. Not the Beatles, and not Bob Dylan. Stealers Wheel, however, was a British band (does that count for somthin'?). Hey, Rebecca, ask the magic eight ball!!!!
Disclaimer: I am sorry if you read this blog and I did not name you. Let me know that you read it!

Stuck in the Middle

All I can hear is that song with the line, "Stuck in the Middle." I, having had my dossier registered in China for over four months now, feel stuck in the middle. I am no longer a newbie, having a recently registered dossier in China. I am not at the referral phase, having been matched with a child waiting to travel. I am in the middle. I might as well get used to the middle position as I may be here for a long time! The estimated wait time at the middle position.....who knows!!!
-Maybe 3 more months, doubtful
-Maybe 18 more months, hopefully not
-Maybe 9 more months, likely.
Anyway you slice it, it's a really lng time!!!

Congrats to a Friend

Alright, I want to wish a sincere congrats to a friend, who is also adopting from China. The CCAA web site has changed, stating that all dossiers dated before October 31, 2005 have left the review room. You know who you are.....YEAH!

The CCAA has Updated Their Website

The CCAA has officially updated their website. Seems that the rumors were right. Families with a log-in date through June 28th have been matched with their children. Their referrals should be here today, tomorrow, or Monday. That is good news, however, there has been NO movement on the review room side for nearly two months. The rumors say that people with November and December log-in dates have been contacted for more information regarding their dossiers. Perhaps the CCAA has just neglected to update the website. Keeping my fingers crossed that we will travel by next spring......

What to say

Wow, nothing new to accurately report on the adoption. There are rumors FLYING around about the wait. According to the rumor mill, a batch of referrals will be out shortly (no date known) and these referrals will go through June 28, 2006. That is good news. At this point the referral wait time is approximately 12 months. If the referral wait remains at 12 months, I would be thrilled. But, that's for the CCAA to know and for me to find out.

I came across a blog, via my yahoo friends, of a couple who adopted from China. Two months later they relinquished custody of their daughter to another family who previously had twice adopted from China. (FYI- All children who are adopted from China become US citizens when they go through customs, so this girl was not returned to China as she is a US citizen.) The story has certainly hit quite a chord with me. On so many levels, anger, sadness, relief, more sadness, more anger. The circumstances, of which I am not privy to ALL that transpired, are all around just sad and unfortunate.

Father's Day

As most of you know, my father died 5 1/2 years ago. I hate that he is gone everyday. I am not fond of Father's Day for obvious reasons. I do try to "suck it up" for my dear husband, who is also a father. By the way, I am not such a fan of Mother's Day either.
I however, in avoiding my work, was surfing the blogspot quizzes today. I came across this one and thought it would be fun to post on Father's Day. A bit of background why I thought this was particularly funny. My father was a strict Republican. He'll only admit to voting against the Republican Party one time for Ross Perot. I, on the other hand, am a liberal independent, who receives mail from the Democratic party. That sums it up for me.....Now, who's your daddy?

Your Daddy Is Dick Cheney

What You Call Him: Daddy Dearest Why You Love Him: He's your sugar daddy

Who's Your Daddy?

4 Months Down, ? to go

Well, today is June 17, 2006. We have been logged-in in China for exactly 4 months. What does that mean, you ask? It simply means that we have been through with our paper chasing for more than 5 months, remember the month it took to get to China? It means that China has received, acknowledged, and translated our dossier. It means that our dossier is sitting outside the door of the review room, waiting for someone to read it and decide "if" they have any questions about it and "if" on paper we look like acceptable parents. It means we are 4 months down with I don't know how many more months to go. It also means that little dragonfly, flying across the top of the blog is directly on the number 4! Go dragonfly, go!

The coolest calculator

The other day I was stalking the RQ website. (Yes, I am officially back on the wagon!) There was a post written about a college prof who has some free time because she was expecting to travel to China this summer and planned accordingly. Apparently this college prof teaches some sort of stats class. Nonetheless, she created this calculator that "predicts" your referral timeline. Go see it at http://brightoutlooks.com/ Well, I plugged in my guesses for for the next few batches of referrals. According to my "guesses" I have a referral date of March 20, 2007. The funny thing is that my friend Rebecca, the type A pessimist whose LID is exactly three months before mine, calculated a referral date of April 2007. I am so excited that I have been bumped to the front of the line. It must be my sunny personality. Well, I hope I am right (ya'll know how much I like to be right!)!

The gift that made me cry

As my friends know I am a teacher of young children. Often at the end of the year the families give gifts. Well, I have a child in my class who was adopted from China. Sadly, she is moving to another school next year. I have kept the parents informed of our journey for Flora thus far. In any event, I received the nicest letter from them thanking me for the last two years. It was a very kind note. The last paragraph said that they want me to keep in touch with them. They are especially interested in the adoption. They included a wonderful gift of the dress their daughter wore for a Chinese New Year celebration. It is a beautiful red dress which the parents purchased in China. I was so stunned by such a special, thoughtful, and generous gift. For them to pass the dress on to me instead of keeping such a sentimental thing for themselves was utterly amazing. Well, the child asked me to open the gift in front of her. When I read the note and saw the dress, I started to cry. It was incredible!

Frustration mounting today

I feel quite frustrated today, carried over from last night. We received our monthly update from our agency. This is a much appreciated and anticipated e-mail. The contents are not always easy to consume. I printed the May e-mail and the June e-mail and tracked the changes. It was quite frustrating as I did not see any significant/measurable change. None of the LID groups moved up the food chain. In the past, there has been some sign of movement, but honestly this time there has been NO movement. Now, any intelligent person might say, well Ellen, that is evident from the CCAA website. According the the CCAA website, only one week's worth of LID's were matched last month and no other LID groups have been reviewed. The September 30th day has not changed for two months! But in my fantasy world I thought that perhaps the CCAA moved their employees from the Review Room duty to the Matching Room duty to expedite the dossiers. Ha, Ha! DREAMER It seems that is extremely unlikely.

I still have this loud pang that says money talks. The slow down of adoptions has to be impacting the financial viability of the orphanages. Remember, each child adopted requires a $3000 donation directly to the orphanage. I would guess that the slow down can only last for so long. In any event, I keep telling myself that!

What Have you Done for Me Lately?

Alright, I admit the last time I wrote a letter to the President of the United States I was 10 and it was when President Reagan was shot. As a young child I was wishing him well and good health. I also offered my sentiment on that crazy so and so, who shot him for the girl in Candleshoe. (Who remembers that Disney movie?)

Well, the Rumor Queen has put out a plea requesting, no begging, adoptive parents to make some noise regarding the expiration and additional expense for the I-171H. To obtain an I 171H, you are required to submit fingerprints to check your criminal background,if any. The fingerprints expire after 15 months and the I-171 H after 18 months to the tune of $700 or thereabouts! So on her second request I initated my letter writing campaign. Truth be told, I wrote the letter April 26, 2006 to my Congressman. I never mailed it. Well, I have broadened my scope and I have now included, President Bush, Senator Warner, Senator Allen, Homeland Security Ann Palmer, USCIS Emilio Gonzalez, and Congressman Scott. I encourage any of you readers of this blog who are in the process of adopting to write El Presidente, your Senator, your Congressman, Ann and Emilio. Each letter can make a difference.

I am now stepping off my soap box. I will tell you that I received from President Reagan an aknowledgment of my letter. I am hoping to receive something similar from these hard working government appointed or elected people. I'll let you know how that goes.

Shopping Outing Successful, But We Missed Tiffany

Well, Rebecca (check out Meilin's blog) and I had a very successful shop for deals on clothes to donate to our orphanages. Tiffany (check out Gracie's blog) we missed you... The outlets had amazing deals on clothes, including items for $3! Yes, I bought various items, some boys things, for $3!!!! We found other things that were $5 and $7. Deals galore. Now, I have to remove the prices, not the tags, and put them in a packmate. I am almost ready to go. The problem, however, is that China is not yet ready for me!

Shopping

So we are asked/encouraged/required to make a donation of clothing to the orphanage in China from where our daughter hails. Therefore, in order to fulfill my necessary obligation, I must go shopping. So my friend and I(see Meilin's blog) are going shopping tomorrow. We are headed to the outlets to buy summer clothes on sale. I talked her into this one as summer clothes are; 1. lighter to carry, 2. More bang for our buck. Why you ask are we doing this now? Well, truthfully 'cause what else do you do while waiting two years to adopt your daughter? Secondly, summer sales only come around once a year. We are going shopping! yippee!! By the way did I mention that I have budget? Budget, what is that you ask! Yes, we have tightened out belts and we are saving money! So, my budget is (drum roll please) $100. I'll let you know how it goes!