Suffering in Silence...

I'm not really good at suffering in silence, but I'm doing my best. Blogging is technically silence, right?

I spoke to our immigration case manager on Tuesday and this was the party line he quoted me. Once our paperwork is received in Chicago (for the surprise form we had to fill out), it should take 10-14 days to make it's way to him in Missouri. Don't even get me started on that little process...where it's mailed by me to Chicago and then re-mailed from Chicago, ILLINOIS to MISSOURI. But, I digress! Once he receives it, it takes priority and should be completed within a day or two. Of course, that assumes that we properly filled it out and sent the correct documents with it. Did I already tell you that I already had all the documents I waited to receive by FedEx from our agency to fill out this form? So, I waited an extra, unnecessary day to mail off our paperwork. A day may not seem like much if you haven't adopted, but just try to remember what it felt like that last day you were pregnant and WAITING with eager excitement to deliver.

So, we are waiting again. If things progress on the schedule as my friends (who I should've been able to and wanted to travel with), we will likely be traveling in about 4-5 weeks.
Here's how it went for them:

• Sunday, February 16 Received Travel Authorization from China
• Monday, February 17 Adoption Agency requested consulate appointment from China
• Tuesday, February 18 Consulate appointment confirmed for March 24 (5 weeks out)
• Saturday, March 14 Our friends leave for China
• Monday, March 16 Our friends will meet their daughter
• Tuesday, March 24 Our friends will have their consulate ppointment
• Thursday, March 26 Our friends come home from China with their daughter

So, if we receive our approval 14 days (just a guess) from when we mailed it on Thursday, February 26, that would be March 12. If we request our consulate appointment that day, we may receive our confirmation on March 15 (the day AFTER our friends leave for China). It is safe to assume that our consulate appointment would be near April 20 and we would, therefore, leave for China around April 11 and meet our daughter for the first time in person on April 13.

These are all estimates, but ,since I am a planner by nature, it helps me to have some kind of timeline in my head. It also sets me up for disappointment, but that won't be anything new, right?