Not a Mistake After All

Found out that as long as we both sign both medical forms, it doesn't matter who fills them in, so that's good. Now I can get those done & on their way, and I really think there's nothing more to do than wait...which is good :)

Nursery Progress & Our Super-Cute Dog & Fun New Specs

Very, very, painfully slowly, the nursery renovations are progressing. Geoff sanded the floors down, and, here you can see his partially finished stain job. Which looks fantastic all finished up! And, now there's even the first part of stained baseboard, door trim, and varnished window trim up...all hand-made, and looking great. Now I want the room to be my office. Hmm...

Ok, and just in case you need to be reminded how cute my dog is (and how fun my vintage frames are now that I've got lenses in them - thanks to Geoff's grandma ensuring they didn't go to the grave, and thanks to the optician with a good eye who knew just how to shape the lense):


And next, so Geoff doesn't feel left out, check out his new look - he's been wanting glasses for ages, and actually needed them this time:

My Fault: Prolonging Things Further

Ahhh! I am pretty out of it today, I guess. We finally got back our medical forms to add to our dossier - I started filling out an attached form so we could get them in the mail in the morning, and was filling out the one for Geoff (since I always write, and he always signs off) then realized he is supposed to fill it out himself. And we are not supposed to take the staple out of the package, so now Geoff's medical forms are attached to the form I was filling out, and my blank form, which could be filled out by Geoff, is attached to my medical forms. I hope I have not just created a major problem, but will hopefully find out tomorrow what should be done about this. And I am always so careful with instructions...or so I thought. Figures this is the time I mess it up.

Longer Than You'd Think

Thankfully the newest set of medical reports we need to add to our dossier (which is already in Ghana) doesn't mean putting our referral wait on hold...because Geoff met with our Dr.'s resident last week (as our Dr. couldn't book an appointment until late next week), but the forms had to stay at the clinic for our Dr. to sign & stamp. So Geoff consulted with the resident and administrative assistant, and left the unfilled forms at the clinic for later pick-up. We got the call they were ready at the end of last week, and Geoff then forgot them one day, the clinic closed early the next day, we were still in the city the next day & couldn't get them, and then we forgot the clinic closes early on Wednesdays as well...so hopefully today - which just reminded me that we may have to re-negotiate the grocery shopping plans to make that happen. Tomorrow we'll be in the city all evening, so it has to be tonight if we don't want to wait until next week...in which case, Geoff may as well have just booked with our Dr. when she's available next week. Oh well. Not a major stress or anything, just a bit of an unexpectedly slow process.

Just Can't Resist...

It's amazing how many times per day a person can feel compelled to check the adoption message boards to see if there are any new postings...it's been a quiet couple of days in the forums following the flurry of excitement last week over learning about folks getting referrals. I get disproportionately enthusiastic when I log in and see that there are new messages. And wow, it's really fantastic when there's a new database, photo, or family who has posted information about their adoption process and timelines! One would falsely think I had nothing more with which to occupy my mind & time...

Just Because...

Good afternoon everyone! I've just been taking a quick break to browse a few blogs, and check the Ghana forums for any more news...nothin' much going on today it seems. But I did realize how much I enjoy finding new posts on people's blogs, even when there's not much to say. So for any of you who are like me in that regard, here's a post just for you!

Since I'm here...we've learned of one other family given a referral through our agency in the past 2 weeks - another set of twin girls!!! And, we've been joined on the discussion forum by the first (or pretty close to it) Canadian couple who received a referral for Ghana, which was in early January. So, we're pretty encouraged with how things seem to be moving along with referrals, and all within the (gu)estimated timeframes of 8-12 weeks once folks' dossiers get to Ghana. Not sure I can really wrap my head around the POSSIBILITY that we could actually have a referral by late spring or early summer.

As always, we are busy, busy, busy. Maybe a little too much so, but we are enjoying our weekly social dance classes, and our first couple of dog training classes have been fun as well. We definitely need to re-claim Saturdays - our only full day off, and they've been booked pretty solid for a few weeks, which means we really aren't accomplishing a whole lot around the house, including cleaning, and that gets depressing after a while :(

However, Geoff has been squeezing in some reno work, and I must say the shiny floors AND shiny woodwork in the front room are BEAUTIFUL (which helps balance out the sadness of living in a dusty house). The nursery floor is done, too, and the walls were painted last night. Hopefully trimwork will be done sometime this weekend and we can actually set up the room for good!

Side note: look at me - once I start writing about nothing, I just keep going...

One little reminder - this adoption process takes a while! We've just accepted from the beginning that this will involve a LOT of time, and will be somewhat unpredictable, and that is ok (for now, at least, it still is). There will not be any specific news for us while we wait for a referral. That may take a couple of months, or a lot of months (as I've mentioned previously), and we will most certainly let people know as soon as there's news! (In the meantime, I will keep posting here about any general Ghana program news & updates that I can share). And...once we have a referral, we do not travel immediately. In fact, the time waiting for a referral is likely to be MUCH shorter than the time waiting to travel once we have a referral. Once we accept the referral, we wait for the court approval and we wait for immigration paperwork and visas before we can go meet our children. This will likely mean a number of months, again, in which there will also be very few updates. Sorry to keep you waiting - but be assured, we'll keep you posted, and no matter how much we are asked to talk about it & answer questions, things will not happen any faster! But feel free to kill some time in my gardens, or dusting my house - makes the time pass productively at least :)

Ok then, enough of my "just because" posting. Gotta get organized & on my way - it is dance night, after all!

Canadian Ghana Referrals Are Happening!

Good news today - one of the Canadian couples in an online forum in which we participate received their referral today - for twin girls!! They've been officially waiting for a referral for just under two months, so this is very exciting indeed. We know that other referrals have been given as well, although we have not had contact with any of those folks.

Our dossier should be arriving in Ghana almost any time now, so it's great to know the process is going well :)

Off It Goes!

We just received word that our dossier leaves for Ghana tomorrow (February 20)!

This means that the dossier arrived back at the agency almost exactly three weeks after it was sent to Ottawa for authentication - right on time! I was going to start being impatient if it hadn't arrived by the end of next week.

It will take about a week to get there and get settled in. From this point on, we simply wait...while keeping up with any news from other families about their referrals and timelines. Could be just a few short months, or many long ones, but we're essentially in the official "waiting for a referral stage"!!!

Doing it Ourselves

Well, here we are - renovating and restoring once again! After a long pause in the reno department, we're back at it with our first stab at floor refinishing. Starting with the nursery and front bedroom. We're really hoping to get the nursery totally finished soon - just keep working away at trim and the closet as soon as the floor is out of the way. Feels good to be getting one more thing checked off the "to do" list, although as usual a "quick" little job will be at least two weeks behind schedule, and ended up being more complicated than necessary. If the home repair tool rental guy ever tells you to use the less powerful sander because you don't have experience with the drum sander, get the drum sander anyway. Geoff ended up doing a lot of work AFTER returning the big push model sander - using a 6" hand sander. Painstaking...and time consuming...

But, the floors are looking great! He literally just came downstairs, after putting on the second coat of varnish (only 1 or 2 more coats after this). By the end of the week we plan to move everything back into the space, at which point we'll actually be able to walk through the upstairs without turning sideways to get past furniture. And we can clean the house again, which is not in the best shape after two weeks of neglect. No point yet, though.

It's going to be very fun putting together the nursery for real once it's all ready!

Remembering Phineas

I haven't been thinking of this at all, but just minutes ago some sad, sad news of a colleague put me in a reflective mood, and then I remembered that this Sunday (Family Day weekend) last year we realized that Phineas needed us to let him go the next day - his cancer had simply taken over his life throughout the preceding week and particularly over that weekend. So, that Sunday we cozied up in the living room with blankets and pillows and movies, and slept there through the night with our little guy. Such a mixture of sadness and peace and thankfulness, knowing that he had hung in there into the new year and hadn't felt sick for very long at all, and that the decision was clear - much easier in some ways than I had anticipated. So hard, though, waiting for the next day, knowing what it would bring. I like this picture of him, on his second-last walk, before Christmas and while showing no significant effects from the tumours. He was so camera-shy the last few years that getting this shot (by sneaking the camera out quickly while he walked) was a treat!

New Year, New Adventures!

Well, it seems my thesis-free time - it has, after all, been over a month - has been long enough to give me an itch to be learning and doing something new. I have actually been mulling over my post-thesis life for a long time, thinking I would maybe take french classes, or photography. Something challenging and stimulating, but fairly low-pressure. Since having Hesperantha, I've also toyed with the idea of getting into some obedience work with her. Just before finishing my thesis I jumped the gun just a bit and joined a book club started by a friend. So I have that once a month, which is lovely. And then, right around Christmas, the church bulletin announced 5 weeks of swing/salsa dance lessons. I think that Geoff has always been fearful that someday I might actually try to get him to take dance lessons with me...I've joked about it a bit, and so when this announcement came out, he realized all on his own that he had no choice in the matter, and that we would be going dancing! And better yet - he likes it! But the problem is, a couple of swing and salsa lessons aren't enough to get really comfortable with it, so we're planning to sign up for an introductory dance class at the university rec centre in town. It starts next week, and we can take other classes after this one if we want to. The dance is a great thing - we get to go out together, and it's wonderful exercise (which we lack, sadly). And, in addition to dance, there's a nearby dog trainer whose level 1 obedience classes start next week, and we're going to try to register for those. So, I think we'll have enough on our plates, because we are also beginning nursery & spare bedroom renovations (floors and trim, mainly) this week, and have a few more skating sessions with the Burmese youth from our church. I wondered aloud, earlier this evening, if we're trying to fit in as much as we can pre-kids, knowing that there won't be quite the same luxury to take classes and so on with little ones (which is ok). We're also planning to get tickets to see Diana Krall in the spring, and "Stars on Ice" in May (yay)!

Email/Mail Magic!

Before the weekend, I sent our adoption caseworker one of those emails that doesn't really need to be sent - wondering if our approval letter had arrived yet from Ontario, and knowing that she would have emailed us if it had. My rationale, based on some superstitious thinking, was that perhaps our letter would show up all of a sudden if I sent her a message. And it did. So, there you have it. Guess today's moral of the story is that acting on superstitious thinking pays off (for those of you who are taking me seriously right now, I'm just kidding). But it was my day today (despite feeling tired and blah about being at work) - after being confused and accidentally showing up 30 minutes late to an Ethics Committee meeting at work (which I can almost never attend), I won a draw for a Starbucks gift card just by being there & putting my name in the box. Then I got a lovely email response from Pizza Pizza, who is sending me a free pizza voucher after I emailed them about my disappointing experience with their new website (LOVE Pizza Pizza). I should likely spend some time entering online contests tonight...or making more customer complaints :) Anyway, I digress...

Now that our provincial approval letter has arrived, the agency can send our dossier off to Ottawa for authentication (the step I kept forgetting about). Typically, the dossier comes back to the agency in 2-4 weeks. Then it is totally ready to go to Ghana.

While I had hoped the dossier would head to Ghana in January, it may still get there in February. And one benefit in waiting for the provincial letter was my discovery of an error or two in our photo pages, which I happened to browse this weekend while sorting all my adoption materials. So, I've sent the corrected pages to the agency & they will arrive this week, in time to go to Ottawa with everything else.

Things are starting to move along, and once our file is in Ghana, we'll officially be waiting for a referral - very much anticipated, and also anxiety-provoking as things start to feel 'real' - but we're getting into final renovation mode (including nursery) now that Christmas is packed away for the year, and I'm enjoying the freedom to focus on life after thesis, so we're feeling good about where things are at!

New Additions!

Well, since the Durango's transmission quit, and we put in a used tranny that was feeling a bit suspect (and then we started getting only 6 miles per gallon - that is not a misprint), we opted for a new vehicle. So now we're back into a minivan, which is totally fine with us. We had a Caravan for 6 years and it was so handy - from people (and large dog) transporter to renovation materials hauler and back again. And I have this irritation with trying to negotiate regular car doors that are trying to close on me or scratch other people's cars while I'm trying to get things into or out of my vehicle, so I'm a huge fan of sliding doors. As well, people keep reminding us that SUVs come with 7 passenger seating for kids and dogs, which we know, because the Durango was a 7 passenger, however the huge glitch with that set-up is when you have two car seats and therefore no way of accessing the rear seat for your dog or other passengers. When they make an SUV with a sliding door AND a sliding seat to provide rear access, then we'll talk. But I have no shame with the minivan. I have no idea what this whole North American cultural issue is with the minivan stigma. And, a peek inside our new (2006) Odyssey, and you'll realize that sitting in that sporty, snazzy, technologically overloaded cockpit (complete with sunroof) can feel pretty good!

Anyway, that's one thing. And, as part of Christmas/graduation/upcoming travel (where I really want to be able to take great pictures of our kids) we've picked up a digital SLR - so fun. I just need some time to really play with it. We found it very lightly used, and therefore got a good deal on it - picked up our van in Guelph after work on Tuesday, then went by Hamilton for the camera, then home again in time for bed before work the next day! It's a Canon xsi, for those who want to check it out online. Very exciting!

Getting Ahead of Myself

Oops...I keep forgetting that there is one more step before our dossier heads to Ghana. Once our letter of approval arrives from the Ontario government, the whole package has to go to Ottawa for authentication, then come back to our agency, and then they send everything to Ghana. While the authentication is fairly quick (2-4 weeks), this means our dossier will most likely head to Ghana in February, not January, as we had been hoping. We are anticipating our approval letter any day - hopefully this coming week. This has apparently been taking a bit too long lately, at times, so we are hoping folks at the issuing office are off to a good start for the new year & keeping any resolutions related to efficiency!

2009 - Off and Running!

Happy New Year!

Two quick updates to start January off...

First, we had a call from our adoption practitioner to let us know we have Ontario approval, and are just waiting for the official document to be sent to our agency, which we hope will happen this week or next. Once that arrives, our dossier is ready to head to Ghana!

As well, Ghana has just completed an election, and I have pasted a couple of links here so you can read about how that has transpired over the past week:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7804212.stm

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=86&art_id=nw20090103144224839C176946

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/international/6120915/Ghana-praised-for-exemplary-election