And this is how adoption goes...

So, week before last was so exciting-we were wrapping up our home study and got our blog started. Then, this week, nothing. For those of you new to the adoption world (as if I am not) I understand this is how it goes: hurry up, hurry up faster (someone needs some document postmarked by 5pm TODAY), turn it in to the appropriate personnel, and then wait. And wait some more. And, when you think you can't possibly wait any longer and you are going to crawl out of your skin- you wait some more. I have learned most about waiting from the other blogs I read.

For my friends and family who know me, I am a very patient person- after all, I spent 12 years working with MIDDLE school students and 2 years working with politicians. What about my professional practice hasn't taught me that my plan and someone else's plan usually doesn't match? Ever try to teach a 7th grader about geography at 10:45 in the morning? Or an 8th grader reading at 7:30 am? Or that a legislator, who "knows" how schools work (s/he attended one, y'know), may not have all the information necessary to make a decision that can affect millions of children and teachers?

But this is so different...

We are so excited to be on this journey, I don't know if I can contain myself. Matt seems to handle it with much more ease than me. Every time Matt and I go out, we look at a child and wonder- is that how old our child will be when we bring him or her home? We wonder if we will be lucky enough to parent one or two children? We wonder if we will have a son or a daughter (that's an easy one to think about- every prospective parent wonders that!)? We look at feet and fingers and toes and chubby fat rolls on legs and wonder if our child is being well taken care of today, right now, at this moment. Then, on some visceral level, we send our thoughts and prayers out to "the universe" that he or she IS being taken care of . (Sorry english teacher friends- I am ending a sentence with a preposition) Our minds wonder to the birth parent(s) and pray that whatever situation they find themselves in, that they find strength, solace, and peace. Invariably, our minds wonder back to our child or children and begin trying to figure out how we can "negotiate time" so that the days until we can be united pass quickly. All this happens in about sixty seconds- Multiple times per day. And, so far, that is how adoption goes...