Referrals Slow Down, AGAIN

Bama beat Arkansas. Barely, but we won. It was a great come from behind win, but it was scary.

In the last post, I mentioned that China was slowing down the number of referrals. It appears that is a correct statement as it seems only 3 days were referred this batch. That number should be confirmed within a day or two. A huge difference from the 2 weeks referral a few months ago. Ugh. If the two weeks trend continued, more babies would be brought home, the "line" would move faster, and we would travel to China much quicker. A 3 day referral slows us down tremendously.

The weather is cooling down and fall weather seems to be right around the corner. It is time to find mums and pumpkins.

Roll Tide,
Tide Gal

The Boys of Fall and Paperwork

Well, it is a rainy day here in Alabama. I'm glad that Bama plays Arkansas away today, so we don't have to travel to Tuscaloosa or sit for the game in the rain. There is a lot of hoopla surrounding this game because of Arkansas's quarterback. I think he is good, but "the experts" are saying Bama will still beat Arkansas. Of course, I think they are right.

In the adoption world, after a few months of positive referrals, China is back to it's old tricks. Right now, we are all waiting and there is no word this month. Some have speculated they are close to their quota this year, so they have to back off. Who knows.

We are through with our home study and our agency has all of our paperwork. Right now we are just waiting on clearances, then we can do our fingerprinting and submit the rest of our paperwork. We have to submit copies of various things like marriage license, driver's license, and birth certificates. Eighteen months ago I made several copies of everything so all we had to do was organize them. Of course we've moved since then and things have been misplaced. Yesterday, I finally found the copies and I just need to double check the list.

Here we go!!!

We have officially started our home study process. Yesterday, the social worker came to update our paperwork. Since this was our third visit, she completed her questions in a matter of a few minutes. Then, she walked through our new house. Done. Easy peezy. We did ask some questions about domestic adoption which we will probably consider and do quickly. Once she writes her update, this portion of the home study will be complete. It will then be mailed to USCIS with other paperwork and we should receive our fingerprint appointments soon.

It seems like China had a few good months as far as the number of referrals. But, we should have heard something this month and there are no rumors floating around. So, they may be slowing down again. Speculation is China is close to the quota of referrals and they are slowing down so they don't refer too many. We may never know.

In football, Alabama is now 3-0, but we play our first SEC game against Arkansas on Saturday. Since it is an away game, we will stay home and watch it in our media room.

September 11 and Football

Tomorrow is September 11. A preacher in Florida has stated he will burn a copy of the Koran tomorrow in protest of the Mosque being built at Ground Zero. This statement has fueled a massive debate from Muslims across the world. There have been threats for massive destruction in our country if this happens. The FBI has stated they have are concerned with the safety of our citizens. The President has gotten involved by stating the book should not be burned. What a mess.

We went to the first Bama game of the season last weekend. We played San Jose State and easily won. We have a big game tomorrow against Penn State. Everyone, including the media, is very excited about this game. We have ESPN game day in Tuscaloosa.....AGAIN!!

Well, we are almost at our 3 year LID anniversary and it is time to renew our paperwork again. Our agency sent us the paperwork a while back and I filled out some papers and had them in the mail on Tuesday. Our medical was done this week and Mike will have to fill out the financial form this weekend and we will get them in the mail by Monday. Our home study is scheduled for September 20. I really would like to have it earlier, but with Tide Guy working out of town so much, that is the earliest we can get an appointment. Oh, well. I really want to avoid the stress of waiting till the last minute. And the problems we had the last time. That was not fun.

BP has stayed out of the news for a while. It seems the leak has stopped and clean up continues on the beaches and marshes.

Gas is down to around $2.43.

On with the football weekend!!

Tide Gal