Thanksgiving

A little bit of news to report. A referral for a baby girl went to a couple about a week ago. They have 2 weeks to make a decision as to whether she is the right child for them. If and when that happens, I'll move up to #1 on the baby girl waiting list. No word yet though.

The Ethiopian government is making a few changes to the adoption process. They're requiring new paperwork for children who have been relinquished. It's meant to safeguard the children and their families, so I think it's good. They're also starting to limit the number of single women who can adopt from Ethiopia each year. The agency I'm with heard rumors of this a few months ago, so they haven't accepted any single women since the end of the summer. I've been given every assurance that those of us in the program now will make it through fine. There are 9 of us and they're allowing 10 single women per year to adopt from my agency. I'm not sure if it's a percentage of their total adoptions, or if each agency gets a specific limit of 10.

I had a really nice visit this week with some friends from Philadelphia. They brought their 6 month old daughter with them, and she tried out my crib and changing table for me.

I'm enjoying my weekend now. We only have 4 more class days left, then a week of finals. Not long now until the end of the semester. Yippee!

Corner

I'm back, after a few weeks' silence. I just didn't have much to say. I've been swamped at work, I've been struggling with some big personal decisions, and I was starting to feel impatient with the wait. But today I feel like I've turned a corner in this mommy-in-waiting period so I've got a few things to say.

I made a very difficult decision over the last month or so to end my relationship with a wonderful man. As great as he is, and as much fun as we've had together, things definitely changed when I told him I was ready to start my family. He's already had the experience of raising a child, and doesn't think he's got it in him to start over with a baby again. To his credit, he's never been anything but honest with me. So I knew what I was doing when I made this decision to adopt a daughter-- I knew we'd eventually go our separate ways. I still think the world of him, but it wasn't the relationship I wanted for my future or that of my daughter. We had our talk on Friday, so I didn't have a terribly festive weekend. But I know I did the right thing for all three of us.

Saturday night I had my first dream where I held my daughter. I felt so good when I woke up and remembered how it felt to have her here with me. The wait has been longer than I expected, but I can wait a while longer. Every time I start to get a bit impatient I remember that family making a difficult decision to plan for their daughter to be adopted. I certainly want them to feel it's the right decision for them and their daughter, so I can be patient. She'll be here when she's supposed to be here.

It's been an emotional week, but I'm hanging in there as best I can.