Just plugging along...

So, now that I have recovered (well, okay - semi-recovered!) from my meltdown the other day I am back in full paperwork mode. My parents were kind enough to sign the support letter and rush it over for notarizing yesterday morning, so I have four new documents (their two letters plus two Power of Attorney documents of my own!) that are now on their way to Springfield for apostilling. For anyone who doesn't know, apostilling is basically a process that the Secretary of State's office does to certify that your notary is really a notary. They look up the notary's information and attach a really official-looking document with a big, bright, shiny seal on it to every page that is notarized. In the state of Illinois this service costs $2 per document, but as I found out the hard way, the state of Wisconsin charges $10 per document, and $35 per document if you need a 1-5 business day turnaround, which of course I do for the guardianship letters my brother and sister-in-law had to sign and have notarized. They have also been fantastic about getting right on getting the letters signed and notarized for me and as of yesterday those letters were on their way to the Secretary of State in Wisconsin for apostilling. While this is all a delightful pain in the a$$, I am thankful that I do not live in a state that requires certification of documents BEFORE the apostille is done! Now I just have to pray that my home study agency, who has already lost documents on me in the past, gets to this ASAP and meets next week's deadline for the documents. I've been in touch with my social worker and hopefully she is on top of it this time; otherwise, the director, who has already had to call me once to apologize for problems, will feel my total wrath!

I'm already anxious to start packing and booking my trip to Russia, although I am in no hurry to spend umpteen hours on an airplane and head off somewhere cold!!! This will truly be an adventure, but one well-worth the effort. The agency told me to expect to travel in 8-12 weeks, and then, if I choose to pursue the adoption, plan on waiting another 8-12 weeks before I can be scheduled to go to court over there and make everything legal. While this does not sound like a long time, putting it into context means that this will not be done, and my little princess will not be coming home with me, for approximately 6 months. Yes - SIX months from now. That makes me sad, and while I'm trying to tell myself that the time will go by very quickly as there is much to be done between now and then, I still can't bear the thought of my little girl spending another night in the orphanage instead of having her home with me...