Wait a minute Mr. (Mrs.) Postman...Way-ay-ay-ayt Mrs. Postman...

So, today I made the trek back downtown to the State Office Building. It's a bit scary; it's an OLD building in a part of downtown that's in the process of being restored. Probably the scariest part of the building is the elevator--it reminds me of the elevator in the apartment building I lived in when I was in Moscow back in 1996. Small, noisy, and a bit shaky.

I guess I should state that, yes, the State Office Building WAS open today. You can't see it here, but there's a sign on the door that says they're going to be closed on Monday for President's Day. SO I hit a good window.

The lady in the Secretary of State's office was very nice, and she was familiar with the dossiers for international adoption process. She told me that it might take a couple of hours to get everything done, since so many people were gone today, so I gave her my cell phone number and asked her to call when she was finished.

I walked across the square downtown to the new library branch. It's very nice--very modern, lots of art on the walls, computer terminals. It's part of the downtown renewal project for the city. I just sat at a table, drank my latte and read some things for class and the Bible study that I've neglected for the last week or so. In about 70 minutes, the lady from the Secretary of State's office called and said she was done.

So.....tah dah! Here are the 28 apostilled documents that we have so far:


Steve took them and made color photocopies, then we laid them all out on the table, just so we could show what a crazy amount of paperwork this is.

Then we decided we should probably take them to the post office. Unfortunately, we hadn't been keeping track of the time. We pulled into the post office parking lot at 4:27. They close the walk-up window at 4:30. We were sprinting into the building just as the lady was getting ready to lock the door. We asked if we could PLEEEEZE mail our dossier, and she was nice enough not only to let us in, but to help us get everything packed correctly and addressed and express mailed to the agency:


I took a picture of the clock as we were walking out:



So---amazing good feeling. The dossier is on its way to C at the agency. Because of the holiday and weekend, it won't be there until Tuesday, but I'm just glad that it's out of our hands for now.

Oh, and my Bible Study verse for the week? Check out this:

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
Yet I am always with you, you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:21-26

Joy!