The Light at the End of the Tunnel

THE END IS IN SIGHT!!!

Our home study FINALLY  got completed and sent to us and arrived at USCIS on Monday.  We waited Eight.  Long.  Weeks.  for the d@mn thing so its arrival was something to celebrate.  (The sad part is that the hold up had nothing to do with us.)  :/

BUT!

The paper chase is nearing its conclusion.  All of our remaining documents have been notarized and apostilled.

Aren't they beautiful??????

We are still waiting on our FBI clearance apostilles which was a whole other near crisis in its own right.  We sent our remaining documents to be apostilled, our home study to our Hague agency and our FBI clearances to be their fancy apostille place all at the same time.  All from the same post office.  And all via the same postal service (two day priority or whatever it is).  We got tracking numbers like we were supposed to.  So when the other two packets of things arrived at their destinations, were processed AND mailed back to us, I, of course, wondered where the third (and final freaking thing we are waiting on so we can send our completed dossier off) packet was.  So I logged on and checked the tracking number.  The only information it gave me was that it left the local post office May 9th.  It is now May 19th.  I drove like a mad woman up to the post office to have them track it further.  They're the post office, right?  Furthermore, they are the post office from which we mailed the documents.  They should have more information than I do, right?

WRONG.

They couldn't tell me any more than I already knew.  But they promised to look into it further and get back to me.  There was a phone number on the receipt with the tracking numbers (that I diligently put in the gilded folder that we keep all our adoption paperwork in) so I called to see if they could help.

DUMBEST IDEA ALL DAY.

The woman I spoke to was soooooooooo rude and condescending.  And STILL couldn't provide me with any more information other than the stupid package left our local post office ten days ago and was still en route.  When I mentioned that the other documents had arrived, been processed AND sent back to us already and that it had been almost two week since we mailed it, said postal worker snottily reminded me that ten days was, in fact, NOT two weeks.  I wanted to CHOKE this silly woman.  She said she'd take down more information and send it to her supervisor who would get back to me in two to three business days.  She asked me for the address that we mailed the document to and when I told her I didn't have it in front of me, she replied - again in that same holier than thou tone - that, "it's a bit hard to track a package without the address of its destination, ma'am".  No sh*t, Sherlock, but you're the stinking post office!  Shouldn't YOU know the address???  Needless to say, I tracked down the address, gave her the information so she could "get back to me" (yeah right) and hung up while mentally (and literally) flipping her off.  And the US Postal Service wonders why it is going bankrupt...

Since I had the address pulled up I looked to see if this government office in DC had a phone number.  You know, because I'd been having such good luck with government offices that day.  I found one and called, knowing full well I would NEVER actually get anyone on the phone.

BUT I DID!!!

And this woman in DC was so helpful and come to find out, our package HAD arrived.  On the 18th.  It took it nine days to get there.  Score yet another win for the US Postal Service.  But our FBI clearances will be back to us in 7-12 business days and then all the paperwork is done.  We are also fully funded (YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) so all that is left, essentially, is waiting for travel dates.

It's starting to get real, y'all.....

I know I've said it before but I cannot thank everyone enough for all the time, love, support and funding they have thrown our way.  It's been beyond amazing.  Stay tuned; it only gets better!