Preliminary Preparatory Precursory Prior Approval

Well, that happened kinda fast. No, we're not parents yet, but we have some paperwork already!

Last night while M stirred the squash risotto and the pork and broccoli was cooking away on the grill, I filled out the online preliminary application for international adoption. No overly probing questions really, just the basics, like age, income, etc. Didn't even ask for SS numbers. The form also asks for preferred ages and countries. Click here if you wanna take a look at what we had to fill in.

Mind you, this was only a preliminary application, there's no paperwork filed with immigration, nobody in China or Guatemala has any clue about us. But, it was an important step and expresses our intentions quite formally. At the orientation meeting last week, the social worker said something about being contacting in about 48 hours after submitting the prelim. The web site says 2 weeks. I usually figure the truth is somewhere in the middle.

So, this morning, M gets a call from Bethany telling her that we've they've approved our preliminary application!!!

What does that mean? I have no flipping idea, but it sounds good! Actually, I think it means we're now allowed to really start the process officially. They will be sending us the formal application. Who wants to bet that stack of papers will blow "The Packet" out of the water? Of course, then I'll be able to finish my task list and budget. This is a good early sign from the Bethany side of things. I have heard that they really keep on top of things for you, and so far so good.

We are also signed up for the Dec 4 international adoption education class. This is an all day thing for which I'll have to take a vacation day. The class is actually a government mandated thing - we're required to take 10 hours of training (the orientation counts as 2 hrs). I'm sure that won't be the first one I'll end up taking. There will be trips to various government offices, lawyers, and whoknowswhatelse.

That's all for now. More tidbits on the way...