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Hi everyone!
Just learned yesterday that our homestudy agency has done what it needs to do to remove itself from the Russian blacklist. The three "missing" post placements have been "confirmed" to have been done, and the one that they hadn't completed (where the parents had moved out of the state) has been finalized and is on its way to Russia. Now all that they're waiting on is for the Russian powers that be to process all this and remove them from the list. I don't know how long this will take, but it is good to know that our agency was so quick in getting things fixed.
Hope that you're all having an amazing day!
Luckily, we both have lots to do!
I'm just finishing up the first 8-week class of the semester online (Women in European History) and trying to get ready to start the second 8-week class in about a week and a half. I am WAY behind with grading, since I was sick with some nasty bug for about a week (coldish, fluish, whatever) and I don't think it's fair to my students to grade their stuff when I feel cruddy. So---I have to get my behind in gear now and get caught up. I also have to get the syllabus, etc., written for the second class. But---the sun is shining, and at the moment I feel like that it is all do-able.
For the cat lovers, a cat update:
The girl cat has recovered from her virus, and both she and the boy kitten visited the vet last week for their spay/neuter operations. They are both fine now, and have settled back into life here. I'll be sure to post pictures soon.
The dossier is at the agency in Russia. C says that they're already translating it. Thank you God for positive news on this Mardi Gras day!
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Blessings and happiness to all of you today--may the good times indeed roll on.
---I just got the "official" word from our home study agency about what is going on with them. Russia found that they were missing Post Placement reports from our agency for 4 families. The agency has records that show they submitted all the PPRs for 3 of these families. Somehow they weren't caught by Russia or got lost in the paperwork shuffle, or something like that. The agency is in the process of resubmitting this paperwork as we speak.
The fourth family is a different animal. These people moved out of the state, and didn't do their last post-placement. Our agency has plans to get this done (probably with another agency inthat state) within a 2 week time frame, and submitted to Russia as soon as possible after that.
However, the big problem is how long it is going to take Russia to sort this all out and process it once it gets there. I'm frustrated by this part, but ultimately I know that I can't do anything to change it.
And, while I understand that things just "happen" to all of us, I am incredibly frustrated by the family who failed to complete their last post-placement and has placed us all in this situation. With all that has happened in this country with adoptions and paperwork craziness, don't they understand how incredibly important it is that these things get DONE?
Ok, enough venting for now. I hope that all of you dealing with these situations have agencies that are being as helpful in explaining what's going on as ours has been.
I just received an email from C this morning--our dossier is in Russia (it won't be delivered to the agency until tomorrow--today is a holiday there). At this point there isn't anything else to do but wait--I am trying to learn to let things that I can't control just be things that I can't control--and not obcess about them. But I'm so OCD about these things, so it is a struggle!
Just wanted to let all of you know that you're in my mind and heart--those of you dealing with this new homestudy ruling, those of you traveling, those of you waiting, and those of you home and facing the challenges of your families and the economy. But mostly the children are in my heart and prayers--Newsweek magazine did a story last week about how badly the Russian countryside is going to be affected by the economic problems--especially those regions that depended upon a single product, such as steel or nickel. My heart says that this is going to make things more difficult for those who can't help themselves.
Hi all,
A couple of positive things today. Thursday, the last letter that we were waiting upon for the dossier arrived here. Steve picked it up at the homestudy agency, ran it over to the Secretary of State's office for the apostille and it went into the mail that afternoon.
Yesterday we made the 3-hour drive to KC to the Homeland Security office. We had to renew our fingerprints, which expire the middle of March for our I171-H. (Does it make sense to anyone why the approval is good for 18 months, but the fingerprints are only good for 15 months?) Everything went fine, no hitches, and we even got to spend some time with Steve's parents and our daughter Sarah (who's in KC for the next 3 weeks, doing an internship in dietetics at the children's hospital.) It was really good to see all of them, to catch up and share with them.
We drove down to the Plaza for the couple of hours between lunch and meeting up with Sarah. We were going to do a little shopping, but when we parked the car in the garage we were both so tired that we just crashed for about 20-30 minutes. I wish I had taken my camera with me--it would have been a great picture of what this journey does to you--sleeping in the parking garage in KC! We did rally, and journey out to Barnes and Noble, where we were just able to relax.
We drove back last night, and it was late when we got home. We decided that it was probably a good idea to get some sleep, so we slept in this morning. I now have a BUNCH of stuff that needs to be done--a bunch of papers to grade to get caught up for my online class (that honestly, I wasn't able to focus on last week--I feel bad that I'm behind, but I also know it's not fair to the students to grade their work in a crappy state of mind.) I'm trying to stop focusing on all this adoption craziness (both ours and everyone else in this situation, for whom my heart is just breaking, along with all those children this is going to affect) and focus on what I CAN do. But you all know that is just HARD.
So---a good end to a frustrating week. My prayers for all of you in this homestudy/post-placement craziness that you will find peace and grace in the midst of the storm.
I know that some of you have been worried. I have been, too, and I am so very appreciative of your good wishes and prayers--they are what has been carrying me through the last couple of days.
I talked yesterday with our social worker. She immediately called the homestudy agency after talking with us on Tuesday, and they had not even heard about the Russian ruling or the list. They are, according to her, in the process of checking all their records to see where, if any place, they are missing records or post placements for Russia. At this point, they don't know what to tell us, but they're hopeful that they can work this out.
I emailed C at the agency this morning to find out where we stand. They are going to go ahead and send our dossier on to Russia as soon as possible, and are also hopeful that this will all just work itself out.
So---it's still a waiting game. But at least we're moving forward at this point.
Like Inigo Montoya in the Princess Bride, "I hate waiting!" But we've waited before and we will wait again. Thankfully, I know that "those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength." It has been good to hold on to that, and to all of your support in the last couple of days.
Welcome to the world of Russian adoption. We've been on this journey for so long, and yet I'm always amazed at how crazy things can get.
I just posted on Friday on how excited we were to get the dossier in the mail to our agency in NC. Well, excitement hit a wall yesterday.
We found out, through some good friends in the adoption community and the FRUA website, that the Russian government (the Ministry of Education, which oversees international adoptions) has JUST released a list of homestudy agencies that, according to them, have not followed through with their commitment to produce their post placement reports (for those of you reading who are out of the International Adoption loop, once an adoption is completed, the families are obligated to particpate in a specified number of documented visits from a social worker, usually from the homestudy agency. These reports are sent back to the child's country of origin, as a confirmation that everything is going well in the adoptive family. This has been a big issue with the Russian government. Some families have not been followed up with, and this has fueled the view there that adopted children are not being taken care of.)
Getting to the imporant part---our new homestudy agency (that just finished and notarized our homestudy on Feb 6) is on this list. According to the official document from the MOE, the regions of Russia were supposed to be aware of this ruling on the agencies, primarily in regards to adoptions that being conducted independently (ie not through an accreditied adoption agency.) However, there could be potential problems for people who are working through accredited agencies like we are. It is "possible" that judges will not accept these homestudies, even if people are working through accredited adoption agencies.
Holy cow! Finding another agency to redo AGAIN our homestudy, wait AGAIN to have this done, and pay for it AGAIN?!! Suffice to say that we have been already on the phone with our social worker, and have already contacted our agency. Our social worker is trying to find out what she can, and promises to get back with us as soon as possible. C, the coordinator at our adoption agency has told us not to panic--yet--and to wait and see what happens. She is being told by her contacts in Russia that this ruling is only for independent agencies. However, there are many people out there in our same position who have been told by their agencies that they need to get their homestudies redone by an agency not on the list.
So, the news now is that we just need to wait for the moment and see what happens. I am SO not good at this. I feel like an emotional pinball, and it has been a very long week already. I know that, if we need to, this is what we'll do, but I am so very disappointed and discouraged at this point.
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!
THE DOSSIER IS IN THE MAIL! More details to follow, but it should be enough to say that it is all finally notarized, apostilled, and on its merry way to NC.
Whew!
Ok, short post here. I got up early, got all the paperwork together (after my ever-lovin husband copied it all last night), put it in a nice folder, and prepared the house to be gone. I yelled at my husband because I needed him to do some stuff since my Mom was supposed to be here this afternoon, and I needed his help. My Dad called and I had to tell him I would call him back later--sorry.
So then I drove downtown (after a quick stop for coffee) and pulled into the parking lot for the state office building. I noticed, as I was pulling into the parking lot that there weren't many cars there. Hmm...
Ok, so haul all my stuff out (the stuff to apostille, the papers that I'm going to grade while I'm waiting, my phone, coffee, etc.) and walk around this very large building to the front door.
Most of you probably know what I found...today is Lincoln's Birthday and the state offices are closed. No apostilles. Bleah. All that stress on myself and family for nada. And how is it that I am just so clueless about this today? Focus in the wrong place, perhaps? (she asks rhetorically)
So a lesson here? of course. God is trying to teach me to stop stressing about all this and just let go. I know in my head that it will all be ok, but I keep trying to do things on my timetable.
Good thing: I got to have lunch with my Mom instead of sitting in the state offices today. Bad thing: still have all those papers to grade!
Happy Lincoln's Birthday, everybody!
