Today Stinks!

So the saga of the home study continues.  We finally had our case worker come out for our home study April 29th.  So we were thinking that we were moving in the right direction and I guess we were, but today we got an email from CCAI asking if we sent the home study guide to our case worker before she came for the home study.  KNOWING that I sent the packet- I knew that this could not be good news.  The fact that my home study was completed April 29th and I was just now getting feedback from my adoption agency should be a clue of how bad this is.  The fact that we submitted our payment and contract to our home study agency February 14th and I am JUST NOW getting feedback should tell you how bad my day is.  There were approximately 3 pages of revisions on an 8 page document!

After I calmed down from receiving this terrible email- I finally called the supervisor.  I know- I know- I should have made this phone call before today and in hind sight, I really should have.  I had no rush.  I had no reason to pester other than having the paperwork ready to go on my birthday.  Now this is getting ridiculous!  It is almost JUNE!

The phone call with the supervisor went really well.  She communicated efficiently and summed up our conversation with a plan for resolution.  She apologized for all of the delays, lack of communication, and all of the other problems that we have encountered thus far in our process with them.  I told her that I will NOT have this case worker on my follow up visits once we return home from China.  She agreed to assign a new case worker and to apply some “gentle pressure” on her through the remainder of our process.  I actually felt like I made some progress by the time we concluded our conversation.

AND THEN- I got a call from my case worker- after hours mind you, so  I am sure she spoke with her supervisor before the call.  She was obstinate.  She told me that my adoption agency was too picky and that she MIGHT have my revisions by Saturday.  I LOST IT!  My vocabulary became smaller, my blood pressure and heart rate went through the roof, and I LOST IT!  I did not let any obscenities out though on the positive side- because I have to find a positive side.

I could have slept tonight without her calling.  I felt good after talking with the supervisor.  Through this whole process she has not felt the need to communicate so why tonight?  I’ll tell you why.  Because I called her supervisor and made her become accountable her her actions- or lack thereof.

Today stinks!

Home Study Complete!!!!!!!!

Today I was able to check the home study off of my list!  We definitely went out to celebrate tonight.  We were so worried about the paper chase in the beginning.  Little did we know that the hardest part would be getting the home study done.  Our case worker came today and asked us tons of questions about our childhood, family, and life experiences. 

I have been prepping for this day for a couple of months.  I even hired a house keeper to help me scrub the house.  Knowing that the case worker’s job was to come here and make us prove what we put on our application was a little nerve racking for me.  Nothing was difficult to prove, we just had to find all of the documents and get them copied.  Ray was actually pretty supportive of the house keeper coming knowing that he got out of having to help me with the “big clean”.  Don’t get me wrong- he is incredibly helpful.  There is just a different stress for me with the home study looming.

On a side note- my favorite comment from the first visit by Marty was a comment directed toward Ray.  She went to sweep his room and picked the rug up to expose the wood floors.  Somehow in the coarse of the conversation Ray told her that he worked from home everyday, and she replied- “maybe you should make it in to the office more”.  I guess she thought that the home office needed a break- little too cluttered ;-)

So I start to photocopy the pertinent documents and realize that I forgot to make a copy of my employment verification before I sent it to the Houston consulate.  WOW- how on earth did I do that?  I can tell you- STRESS!  This did however lead to a downward spiral and a long couple of hours involving sobs and Kleenex 2 nights before the big day.  Long story short- it wasn’t that big of a deal but in that moment it was the biggest thing ever.

It started raining early this morning and it was raining hard.  The case worker came about 15 minutes early and we were glad that we spotted her before she got out of the car so that we could wave her on to the garage, avoiding the deluge from the front porch roof.  She was a grandmotherly lady with a smokers voice.  It was not hard to open up to her and answer all of her questions.  It almost felt like a job interview and in a sense I guess it was.  What are your strengths and weaknesses?  How would others describe you and your relationships?  What type of parenting style do you think that you will have?

The interview was shorter than I expected and I have to say that I was happy about this fact.  I had worked up this event so much in my head just because I didn’t know what to expect.  Ray and I were exhausted.  I am so glad that it is over!