Starting the paperwork.

So, our interview went really well! It was less like a job interview and more like a "getting to know us" interview. We were asked about our families, how we met, our lives in general. Turns out, being boring people (i.e. no arrests, no mental health issues, etc.) is a good thing for adoption. Who knew?! We went over some of the things in our application about what we are looking for in terms of our child. We're pretty open to anything, so I think that we'll be adopting fairly quickly. Apparently, they occasionally get children who are in the toddler range that are legally available for adoption, as well as sibling groups (like a 3 year old and a 1 year old), which we said we'd be happy with, too. I think that's pretty rare, but it's still an exciting prospect!

When adopting domestically, we are generally talking about adopting a newborn, and sometimes these babies come from less than ideal circumstances. In a perfect world, we'd get a perfect, healthy baby. But since this isn't a perfect world, we are willing to consider babies who may or may not be perfectly healthy and whole. As I've mentioned previously, you have to be brutally honest with yourself about your own limitations, and you absolutely cannot go into something like this looking for a charity case. But our social worker told us that they contact us and discuss the specific situation before they put us into the pile to be considered. It's win-win all around that way. We can opt out of any situation we're uncomfortable with, and they have the best chance of placing a child with a family that will love and support it no matter the bumps in the road.

All in all, we're super excited about the upcoming months. The woman we met with, (I've been calling her our social worker, but really she's the director of domestic adoptions at Barker), Cecilia, cautioned us that most families get a placement sometime in their second year. Could be month 13, could be month 20. You just never know. But given our lack of selection criteria for our potential baby, I'm pretty confident that we'll be parents in the next 12 months or less. I'm prepared to wait longer, but I think fortune will smile upon us here. And, at any rate, it's nice to have something tangible to do, even if it is just paperwork.

Last year was the hardest, saddest year of my life. This year is going to be one of the happiest.

Countdown.

Meeting at Barker in 3... 2... 1...

What am I doing telling you?! I have to finish getting ready! Wish us luck, we're makin' a baby today! (wink)

#ohyeahonemorething

I purposely left out my twitter user name, thinking I'd keep it private. Then I realized that only friends and family read this blog. Plus, my twitter account is locked so I have to approve requests. It's dawning on me that trying to maintain an air of privacy while posting your bidness publicly on the web is maybe not realistic...

Again, long story short, if you'd like to follow my Twitter feed (and really, who wouldn't?!), I'm AutumnInDC. I'm not tech savvy enough to fancy link it. I assume anyone who cares knows how to look me up on Twitter.

I promise to try to be fascinating in 140 characters or less.

#Whatistheworldcomingto?

I joined Twitter. I kind of can't believe I did it. I tend to be a bit of a techno-phobe. I feel like all of this technology - the ability to have all information at your finger tips at all times and the ability to be connected to everyone actually hampers our ability to connect with each other.

Sure, I can get a cell phone call from anyone who has my number while waiting in line at a public bathroom in Disney World, but does that really help me connect to that person on any meaningful level? Or does it just make me feel like I am in touch with people without actually having to have a meaningful interaction with them?

I know - I'm not saying anything new. It's just something I struggle with. (Something with which I struggle?) I like the idea of walking to the neighbor's house, or having friends over for dinner regularly, or those kinds of social interactions, but I also relish alone time. Maybe I enjoy being alone more because it is so rare?

I'm not explaining myself well, so I'll make a long story short: I joined twitter.

Can I get a job where I travel?

Not a job where I have to travel for work, but a job where my job is to travel. I'll rate the hotels or whatever. I'm fine with that. I'll write up a blog post about the experience, or whatever. I'm not too picky about where I go either. Well, no third world countries, but other than that, I'm game. I also don't have much in the way of pay requirements. As long as you cover the trip - airfare, room, board - for me and a guest (can't go alone, now can I??), you don't have to pay me a dime. Just give me a credit card for travel related expenses and we'll call it even!

Consider this my letter of interest. Resume to follow.

Dreams.

Have you ever had a dream so real that when you woke up you weren't sure if it had actually happened or not? I had a dream like that last night. I was at a resort in Mexico, and I found a path down a river (literally - you had to travel by water) and through a fresh water spring that took me to a little hidden village. It seemed so real.

Except the part where Will Ferrell and I were driving along a coastal cliff in Oregon and looking at Canada as we drove by. Oh, and Canada looked like the desert cliffs in the Southwest.

So maybe it wasn't that realistic after all.

It's happening!

I got a call from Barker this morning... We have an interview scheduled with the director of domestic adoptions next Friday! I didn't even have to call them and hound them or anything!

This is a big step forward and I'm so relieved to be finally, finally taking it. Look out, baby! Here we come!