Charlie is reading up and practicing so next Christmas he'll be ready to entertain his little brother (or sister, but we're thinking brother). Sometimes when I think of having two kids by this time next year I can't catch my breath for a second. :-)
Well, I have tried to be extremely "on top of it" through this whole paperwork process because we know that one little mistake can add on a month or two, to the already long waiting time. BUT...I messed up (and had a small meltdown over it). On December 15th, I sent off our application to USCIS to get an appointment to get our next round of fingerprints and apply for an orphan visa. I checked and double checked that I had all 30 or so papers accounted for and in order, and I did. I didn't think much about it until after Christmas, when we still hadn't heard anything from whoever we sent it to...who knows?! Of course my worrying self kept letting it creep into my thoughts... and then begin to consume them. Finally I prayed and basically promised that I would trust that He has it all under control....something I find myself doing on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. 2 Tim. 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." A SOUND MIND....stop worrying! This is a verse I've probably said in my head literally thousands of times in my life, and the cool thing is usually after I think it, I feel much better! So anyway, on we got home on Saturday at about 9:00pm and I went out to check the mail. I saw a large envelope with some a return address to USCIS....a giddy feeling comes over me! "One step closer" I think as I wave it in front of Jeff and grin. I rip it open and THUD my heart and stomach seem to hit the floor. The one word I notice is the big bold REJECTED. Immediately my eyes are full of tears and Jeff walks back into the room to return to a complete opposite personality he just left. I wrote the check for $1 more than I should have. ONE STINKING DOLLAR!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!? My roller coaster of emotions went on quite a ride for the next few minutes. I've said it once and I'm sure I'll say it again, I'm so glad Jeff is laid back and reasonable in times when I'm not! He simply told me to write a new check and we would overnight it the next day.....and when we looked at it closer it already had signatures and stamps showing it had already been processed, and a note saying it would be put at the top of the list when returned.
Lessons learned:
His timing is perfect.
Be EXACT and precise next time.
Relax, somethings are out of our control!
