Colleen wrote me back last Thursday to say she would give me a call about the home study. 

I guess setting up a home study can be as time consuming as actually getting it done.  But I'm happy - something is definitely happening on the other end.  :)

In the meantime, I'm working harder on our photo album, and we're continuing to look ahead at what paperwork we'll need filled out with the help of others.  For example, we need specific insurance information stating that our child will be covered either from birth or from date of placement.  Waylon's HR manager has told us that the baby will definitely be covered, but finding that somewhere in writing is taking a while.  We're also waiting to hear back from our finance guy regarding what it will take to liquidate some savings. 

Last weekend, we had some good family time in Arlington.  We celebrated with my sweet sister-in-law the upcoming arrival of her baby girl, and got to visit with relatives that we don't see very often.  And it was a joy to be asked about our adoption.  It helps me feel like I'm in an alternate "pregnancy", with it's own timeline.  I admit, I did hear quite a few comments about everyone's friend who adopted and then got pregnant... but that was to be expected :)  I'm sure I would have said the exact same thing not very long ago.  I love seeing smiles on faces as family asks how we're feeling and what's happening.  And I love telling them!   Bring on the questions.

My biggest... well, maybe one of my biggest... fears, is that others might view our adopted child as a consolation prize, or a means to an end (pregnancy), or not as worthy of praise because he's not a blood relative.  (And yes, this is very blunt but believe me, there are people out there who look at life this way.)  It's crushing to realize that someone would rather talk about someone else's pregnancy than your adpoption.  It takes daily prayer and effort on my part to remember that God set this baby apart for ME, before time began, so I know it may take others just as much effort to learn the same, if not more.   It's just a difficult lesson to learn.  I know God will give me the strength I need to battle through the lies and show His grace to those who may not respond as I hope.

[But I'll insert a small word of educational advice here:  if you know someone who's adopting, treat them exactly as you would an expectant parent.  Because that's what they are.]

Two weeks til the garage sale and I'm excited and nervous!  Excited, because I'll finally be getting rid of things that needed to be gone a long time ago - and hopefully getting paid for them -, and nervous because I've never held my own garage sale.  Neither has Waylon!  He mentioned he might keep his gun handy, just in case.  Yes, you get the picture.  We want people to come by, LOTS of people, but we're worried about the wrong type of people coming.  Well, mostly Waylon's worried... I'm probably too trusting.  Anyway, we went through the house when we got home, and started setting things aside and figuring out asking prices.  It was actually fun!  Clearing out the garage so we can set things up in there will NOT be fun...  Next week I'm going to place an ad on craigslist mentioning the sale, and when I told Waylon he said, "You're not putting our ADDRESS on there, are you?"  

I told him not to worry, I'd just be putting the name of our neighborhood, since it is a community sale.  How on earth would he have handled this if just WE were holding a sale?