Immanuel Needs a Miracle

When I started this journey three years ago, I called this my faith adoption thinking I would name the little girl I would adopt something that meant faith. Boy, was I wrong. Pun intended. This has been an adoption testing my faith at every turn. Folks who've been on this journey with me  know the long hours I have put in to raise funds via work, selling Tupperware, making crafts to sell at bazaars, and my fundraising efforts through organizations such as Reece's Rainbow, Go Fund Me, and Bonfire funds. People have graciously donated to both of the first two funds for which I am forever grateful. I've applied for foundation grants and was very, very grateful to receive one grant which will cover a third of the mandatory orphanage donation fee.

Immanuel needs a miracle now.  Funding fell through for my plane tickets--there's a long story there of what happened and didn't happen while I was dealing with a crisis due to actions of a bus driver at my kids' school. Airplane tickets now are $2700 and above, and rising.  I have to get to China by December 28th. There's no budge room, not even a little. I have to get Immanuel on December 30th or he loses his chance for a family forever. This weekend, when I should be making final preparations, cleaning house, and finishing up stuff from work,  I am now in crisis for this child. I am his last hope. I cannot, will not, let him down.

Donations to either Reece's Rainbow or Go Fund Me are needed now. Word needs to be spread beyond the base of folks following the journey here and on FB. Make Immanuel's dream of a family come true this Christmas.

We need it now, Chihuahuas in the street, and a wild ride

If you've been following my blog for a while, you have already come to the conclusion that I will get my elbow stuck in a tuba case once in a while. Okay that one really didn't happen to me. I just heard about it. But it could have happened to me.

You see Janet, it's this way (time to run and hide this signals long, impossible or headshake producing stories that actually happened-- to me.):

 Just before work a little over a week ago, I got notice of LSC receipt--early (And hooray too, the folks over in China rock! Very grateful to them. Very.). Only problem was, I was just going in the door to work, 15 miles away from my computer and the needed paperwork with no way to extricate it or get to it in anything resembling the near future. Paperwork needed now. Now. And by the by, can you get it notarized? Cleared my schedule to get the needed paperwork out the door and on its way. Almost. Meanwhile, there were Chihuahuas running in the street, bicyclists jumping out from between moving cars and one and all trying to get me to hit them. Didn't work. I made it through the gauntlet. Docs out the door and overnighted, hah!

Or so I thought. Phone call the next day: you forgot the I-864. Horrors! No, really.  The I-800 can't go in without the I-864. It just can't. It's a permission and the I-800 will just sit there, smiling on someone's desk just as if it had good sense. Or worse. It will sit in the lock box. No one really knows what the lock box is. Well, it's probably a box and has a lock on it...or maybe not. Your assigned officer cannot go get documents out of the lock box. Not even if you beg and promise to be good or say pretty please with sugar on top. I'm not sure if the supervisors can either. This is a Fort Knox kind of thing. Procedures have to be followed. I imagine a kind of Mission Impossible sort of scenario.

Phone call continues: The signed LSC copy sent back immediately--we need the original signed and dated, not just a photocopy as you'd been told.  Send both back together. A day's delay. Not good. Not good at all. There's so little time. That was Friday. Saturday, no document. Okay, it will still get there in time if sent next-day delivery on Monday. No document Monday morning. No document Monday noon, Monday afternoon, and no document Monday evening. I'm going bonkers at this point.  I call and email my case manager even though I know she won't get the messages until the next day.

I can't sleep. I'm eating chocolate nuked with peanut butter like there's no tomorrow. Try it!! It is way better than a chocolate confection made with those ingredients from the store. Make sure to use dark chocolate and don't burn it. The pieces will still have their shape, they don't have to be liquid. Add Adams peanut butter about two huge spoonfuls. After nuking, not before. About one minute in the microwave. And you'll have bliss. As long as the pyrex measuring cup doesn't explode. That didn't happen--this time.

(Note: Nothing worse than burned chocolate....well, maybe cat pee in the toaster or on a hot stove top. That is truly awful. Truly. Toaster cat exhibited either great talent or sneakiness and cunning beyond belief or maybe total insensitivity. No clues left behind to alert an unsuspecting human who can't smell.)

 Anyway, just after midnight: delivery attempted over the weekend but no one home. ARgh! They knew I wouldn't be home and it had to be sent so it could be left! Livid. And what's with sending it via USPS? Wasn't it supposed to come FedEx? Water over the dam. USPS dated the notice for February, not November. It almost got shredded. More chocolate. Try to sleep. Get up, race to post office for the document so it can get out and I can get to work. Only, there's no way they can return it same day. Not even at this early hour. No way. No way. No way. Kind of like a bad dream. FedEx can't perform the deed either. UPS? No. Suggestions? Hiring a private jet. Are you kidding me?!! You're not kidding. You leave me no option. Mama's gotta do what Mama's gotta do: Cancel work. Like I don't need the money. Immanuel's life is worth more than anything. And I'm not going down. He's coming home. That's IT!

Grab the kids. Grab the dog. At least he's happy. He gets a ride. Rides = good to him. Call and email the agency, I'm coming. Adrenaline combined with prayer and purpose carried me almost the entire way to Seattle, despite the lack of sleep. As I drove, I practiced controlled breathing, prayed, reminded myself how lucky I was to be able to take off to do something so vitally important. I counted my blessings and admired the beautiful scenery and tried to enjoy the sunshine. The original LSC got signed and submitted. The I864 had to be redone anyway to conform to new instructions which we wouldn't have been able to do without the delay and drive. Lots of times these things happen for a reason. Best of all, we got provisional I800 approval and can look forward to the official approval starting Monday (which actually, technically is today).  "Fast away the old year passes..." "Time is slippin' slippin' into the future..."

Wrong turns can be good too--especially if you end up at Ikea and get items you needed anyway plus a yummy lunch.

Freight train a comin'!

That's how I'm feeling today. Tons of paperwork all due at once from every quarter. New system at work which isn't working any better than the new healthcare site. Computer keeps needing to be pushed to load webpages. My brain feels like something ate it, or it dropped out, or I lost it somewhere in my purse. I'll never find it if it's in my purse. I do clean it out. There's a black hole in there.. Honest.  Stuff disappears. Do you think it's related to the worm hole between my microwave and the car--cuz there must be a correlation someplace. Scratch that. A conspiracy. Logically, I know it doesn't take 20 minutes to walk the 30 feet from the microwave to the car. The time has been checked on both. It takes 20 minutes to walk from the microwave to the car. Just does. Cats to dodge/put out. Dog to bribe not to guilt me for not taking him to work. Lights. Grab the stuff Miracle Man was supposed to take out to recycling. Go back for paperwork I forgot.

Anyway, I'm feeling incredibly pressured right now. Only six more weeks. At most. Then HH will be coming home. So much to do between now and then. I wish I could clone myself several times. Or that I didn't need sleep. Or that the ADHD would go back in the box it came out of. God, please make it go away!

Really being tested right now, aren't I? I will win.

Pick me! Pick Me! OOOh, ooh, oooh, pick me!

I see you standing on that chair waving your arms about as if you were a windmill, screaming at full volume. You want this so bad you can taste it, right? Right? Wrong.

I need to start sending Murphy birthday cards, presents, build an altar--something. Murphy who? You know...Murphy. The famous one. That Murphy. Of Murphy's Law fame. The man loves me.  Or maybe he hates me and has put a curse on me. I can't tell. All I know is that he and I do a lot together. Too much. Hasn't he ever heard of absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Jury duty. Grand jury duty. For a whole month. And no, they do not let you out of it if you write them a letter explaining what a hardship it will be for you, the plans you have that it will ruin, the impact on your boss' business. Not anymore. Yeah, if you're over 70, sole caregiver to small children for whom you cannot afford daycare or not a US citizen.

Did I need this a month before travel? Did I? When I need the income the most? And, I'm sorry, the puny $10 a day compensation really stinks (of which the municipal parking lot eats half and the burger joint the other half. So they may as well save a dime by not paying at all since they're getting it back anyway.)  I understand they don't want jurors to be in it for the money. But seriously, the guy at the freeway on ramp makes more in an hour!  It feels like my life will be held hostage. And the adoption. And the people I'm contracted to serve who won't get their services because I'm not there to help them.

A funny thing happened on the way to get the kids' passports renewed...

Or maybe not so funny. You decide. You know, adults can renew by mail, right? Lucky us! However,  If you have to go to an actual passport office or a post office, take notice. Children must go in whether it is a renewal or a brand new passport. Stands to reason--they change so much. This travail began over the summer. When the kids weren't in school. When my schedule was packed to the brim.  So far, I have made four trips to get my children's passports renewed. There will be at least a fifth trip. Trip one: office moved. I just assumed they would be in the same place they were a few years ago. The post office doesn't move so why should the passport office, right? Yeah, wrong.  Trip two: We arrive at 2:30 p.m. great, huh?! Not so great. On Friday's they aren't open till 3 p.m., they closed at 2 p.m. I pulled the kids out of school early for that fiasco. Trip three: one app accepted, one rejected. Trip four: they closed early (even though I got there before the posted closure time). You see, they "have paper work to do and there is no budge room on Friday's." That's what the clerk told me.  What happened with the rejected app you ask? Well, your photo cannot have the person smiling with their mouth open. This will be rejected. Costco didn't know that. Neither did I. Now we all know. Copy both front and back of supporting documents--on the same page. DO NOT copy back and front on separate pieces of paper and staple them together. You will either be told to go redo your copies or have to wait for the clerk to redo them for you.

Other things you should know: Your child's emergency contact must be a family member, not a family friend. I had put a family friend since I have no relatives nearby and all close relatives are dead. HIPPA, I was told. What do they do for people who don't have any relatives? And for that matter, how would they have known if I hadn't put family friend in the box--not all of my relatives have the same last name as I do! Remember to initial your corrections.

Allot way more time than you think to get the passport(s). The clerk who helped us worked excruciatingly slowly. I understand they have to be careful and look everything over but this was ridiculous! I about went around the bend. Good thing she works for the government. There was only one person ahead of me the day I actually succeeded in getting into the office and it took nearly an hour to get finished. Yes, I let her know I had to be back to work. No, it did not do any good. And that was with all the forms printed and filled out beforehand. Take your kids out of school to get this done. There is no other option.

Do not expect the clerks to be knowledgeable about which offices do offer Saturday service (at least the ones in the local officer weren't). The website says our passport office does Saturdays by appointment. Well, not according to the folks who actually work there. They suggested I try the post office. Well, that would be a great idea--except the post office has almost no one able to provide passport services and all of them in our area have been switched to weekdays. Nearly 20,000 postal employees retired or left the postal service this year or so I was told.

Call ahead to find out the forms of payment accepted. Our office does not take cash. No credit. No debit.  Only checks and money orders. The one time I had cash, too. I think the website may have even said something about bringing in cash.

Processing times have pushed out to between six and eight weeks. Expedited service, which costs $60 more, will get it back hopefully in four weeks. You may be able to get it back in three weeks with overnight shipping both ways....And, if you don't have to make five trips, or schedule around work, school, and life. Or get the clerk I had. Good luck.

How many times must a woman go to get a document notarized....

before she actually can find
someone who will do the stamp?
Not the bank!
And not the other bank!
FedEx doesn't do anymore
The realtor? No!

Yes, how many trips must a woman make
before she can drive
to the secretary of state
to get a stamp, to get a seal, to send the thing
to the consulate?


It's not as easy as you think
It should have been, but it wasn't.
They'd never seen...
They didn't know...Shouldn't there be somewhere to sign?
Shouldn't there be a typed line?

How many trips must a woman make
So the courier can take the approval
from the feds to the consulate
How many trips must it take!

The answer my friend, you will hear
The answer my friend, you will hear

But give me your guess
give me your guess

"And another one's gone and another one's gone and another one bites the dust!"

Magic Chef waved it's wand for the last time this morning. Lights on, nobody home...we killed another microwave today. It just couldn't take the strain of daily use. One year and one week since purchase, don't ya know! So thankful I bought the extended warranty this time! It  is the fourth or fifth microwave in six years. I've lost count. I think it is fifth. I bought a pricier one last year in hopes that it would last longer.

Kind of disgusting the way they don't last. Mom's microwave bought in the late 70s worked fine when I sold it ten years ago. Probably still working for whomever bought it.

Home Depot will credit me the purchase price of my latest kill before the weekend is out and I'll be able to get number six. They were really great about it and asked me to dispose of the deceased  responsibly. The county recycling center is right across the street from the  Home D location nearest us but the guy in customer service at the 1-800 number has no idea.

Any recommendations on microwave brands? I've killed Panasonic, Sunbeam, Samsung and now Magic Chef. Who should I try next? Think I should get an extended warranty again?

We will not give up!

While it could have been worse, it couldn't have happened at a worse time. A few hours ago I was rear-ended by another driver. The car in front of me had stopped and I had stopped as well. Thankfully, there were no broken bones or life-threatening injuries. I am hurting and will  see the doctor tomorrow. The trunk of the car can't be opened because the fender is crumpled up over part of it. The lock is unoperable and to my dismay, the trunk light was on. I called the car company after discovering this and while playing answer all their questions, repeatedly telling the lady on the other end of the line that I couldn't understand her  and to speak more clearly, the car's battery went dead. In my driveway. Nose in. When towing this vehicle you're supposed to do it from the front.

My plans for this evening had been to finish installing the vinyl plank floor in my living room and to do some painting. I don't know how that will happen now. I'm going to delegate as much to Miracle Man but he, after all, is still a boy. The final home study visit is this week and we have no more budge room to finish repairs on the house. I am down. I am not out. I will find a way to get everything done. I will not let HH's future go into darkness because of this or any other roadblock. I will go over, under, around, break through or blast to smithereens the difficulties in the way. I will break on through to the other side. HH will know a family. My family. We are coming HH. We will not give up!

2/4/2013 And they're off and running and running....

Both sinks and toilet plus blackberries slain, that's thanks to DS1 aka Miracle Man. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without him. He is sooo very talented in figuring out how to do things! While he worked on aforementioned projects, which had taken one look at me and cackled, I took on fixing his dresser. I have tweaked it repeatedly over the years without great success--since he used it as a ladder when he was little. I adjusted runners, put in washers, got longer screws, and on and on. I finally realized the bloody thing was bowed in the middle--hence the top and bottom drawers worked just fine, thank you very much! But the middle two wouldn't ever get even close to staying in their tracks. Two trips to Ace, 24 screws (all but six shredded, yes they were steel), several drill bits and drivers later, plus a couple hunks of wood and nails thrown in for good measure, and it all works--no slipping, no dreaded ka-chunk, squeal, falling stuff. Just nice gliding like it is supposed to be. Whew! I sure did enjoy hitting the thing with the hammer, though, made me feel lots better.  The parts for the 1-year-old fridge--with the warrantee that doesn't cover handles and shelves--should be in tomorrow and easy to put in, yeah, right. But that's tomorrow. Anyone need some car tires? A shed cum chicken coop? A really old king bed?

1/28/2013 Keyed chucks and melted fasteners

In this day and age of keyless chucks, why is it that my only surviving drill is the keyed one from my father? That chuck wastes my time with having to crank, untwist the key, crank, untwist the key, repeat, repeat, repeat to get a bit tightened in. Process in reverse to get the bit out when I finish drilling pilot holes, then forward again to tighten the inserted screwdriver bit. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Last night, I put in a new hand towel ring and after three attempts finally got the new toilet paper holder in place. Never could get the set screws to stay tight in the old ones so out with them! While the towel ring didn't give any trouble, the toilet paper one proved problematic. The fasteners didn't want to go in right and when I did get them in, they melted or had to be pulled out again because the screws that followed wouldn't go in all the way. I ruined several fasteners and screws  while contorting myself around the toilet to fit drill, screw, and hand in between cabinet and potty. And finally...found the second piece of hardware was off by, oh, half an INCH!!! Start over. Ruin more hardware. ARGGGHHH! Moved everything the wrong direction. Start again! Finally got it. Most of the goofs won't show thank goodness. I decided the grab bar should wait...especially since it would need a stud finder to ensure proper installation. Thought I would get to that today, but no. The "short" errands needed to accomplish this and other parts of the other projects took way too much time. Tomorrow morning, it's the grab bar's turn. Then the only hardware will be the towel rack which is on order. Phew! After all the running around, I found the melamine shelf I had had cut to size wasn't dimensional and didn't fit into the unit I'd cut them for. There must be a reason. There must be a reason. I'll keep telling myself that.