So... I can't really believe how long my to do list is. Seriously, I am the mistress of lists. I make lists like nobody's business. With my lists, I can figure out how to get things done that can't be done. So, I am kinda surprised that there are all these things I could have done before we passed court that aren't done yet and now I have to do them along with all of the things that I can do and need to do now that we have passed court. How did I let this happen?
Well, it has something to do with the long, slow climb. You really can't tell when you are climbing the hill how long it is going to take to get there. You can guess, but you just don't know. And, more importantly, you have NO IDEA just how fast you are going to go down the other side... you think it is going to be a hill like the one you are climbing, but it turns out to be steeper and higher and - MAN - this is fast.
When we first saw the picture of our kids, I thought maybe we could go to Ethiopia to pick them up in December. Before the first court date, I thought we would be traveling in early March. Then because it was a WHOLE two months between the first court date and the second, and I really wasn't convinced we would pass the second time, I just really couldn't put my effort into getting ready to travel in MAYBE late March. Because it could just as easily have turned out to be MAYBE late June, or even August... or goodness what if we didn't pass court before the annual closing of court for two months... then we wouldn't travel until November! So, it was hard to motivate.
We did the big things... we got our shots, and we worked on the house, but there are all kinds of little things I half-heartedly started and now I wish they were already done. I wish I had gotten them done during all that time I spent waiting and waiting. One problem was it is hard for me to motivate other people to do something for me that I know needs to be done without giving them a deadline, like this needs to be done by Friday. I couldn't honestly tell them it needed to be done by a certain date, because it could have been two months down the line... not very motivating.
So much of the adoption process is about getting other people to produce or process a piece of paper for you. For instance, the forms I filled out in December and sent to the board of education to tell them I am bringing three kids home, and they will need to be in the school that has ESL every day.... those three forms? Lost. They probably landed in someone's pending box after that saw that there was no for-sure date on when it had to be processed. And now, they are lost.
Luckily, I am the Queen of No Form Left Uncopied and all I have to do is make copies of my copies and send them. Unfortunately, I am not the Queen of Putting Every Paper in Its Place, so it might be easier for me to re-do it then to find the forms....
Anyway, it was the most frantic sort of waiting. Not just sitting back, waiting for the movie to start waiting. More like, Oh My Gosh, when is The Show going to go on? I know, I just mixed the theater metaphor in with the roller coaster metaphor, but dang it, I have never been on a roller coaster that had me as frantic as I was waiting to pass court (and I'm a pretty patient person) but I have been in a show that I needed to
absolutely get to the part where the curtain opens or I was going to puke. That's the kind of waiting I am talking about.
Speaking of the theater, because I didn't know how long we were waiting, I purchased tickets for a performance of Hamlet that is being shadow interpreted. Today. At 2 pm. So, I need to go. Even though I should be filling out immigration forms right now.
I'm not complaining, just noticing. Because, I have to tell you.... it is SO much fun rolling down this big hill!
