Knockin' Em Out

When I received our dossier packet, I looked at it as a rewarding challenge...as it should be. I knew that the 20 + things on that list were easy and short compared to the life changing experiences that lay ahead. Plus, reading about some adoptive parents struggles w/ their paperwork, I feel blessed that I can pretty much use each day to just knock out the paperwork one by one and get done in record time. (Fingers crossed!)
So, I used today to knock 'em out...This was my day (and it took up the entire 6 hours my kids were in school!) to get as much paperwork (paper chasing) done as possible! Here's what I did:
~Went to the credit union for some papers to be notarized as well as changing some money around.
~Then went to my other bank to have our financial letter typed up. This is a tricky document which a lot of banks don't want to do, esp. since it has to be done on their letterhead. Some sweet talk, a little diplomacy and then some threats that you'll close your account should do the trick. The manager was very helpful and said the documents (3 in all) would be ready by 2pm.
~Went to the local police station to have criminal clearance done...they redirected me to the sheriff's office, 25 minutes away. (Threats do not work well here, though). =D
~Drove to downtown Portland for my kids' birth certificates (I didn't realize I needed theirs too!)
~ Couldn't find parking ANYWHERE for a F350 long bed truck and ended up parking in no mans land.
~Walked (the 50 miles) to the vital record's office only to find out that they only take cash or checks...no debit! Had to walk back to no mans land and get the checkbook. (Glad I actually had it!)
~Went back (the 50 miles) to vital records, stood in line and then got the birth certs.
~From there I went to my "local" sheriff's office for the criminal clearance...But NO, they don't do that in my county...so I had to go to the courthouse...glad it was close by. The lady there was very helpful and I was able to get my six copies (3 sets each, Andrew and I). Here they do not take checks, only debit or cash!
~Returned a swim suit I had bought for Chloe (ok, so that wasn't part of the paper chase), but was a good excuse to go to the mall. Sad, it was a quick job and I did not buy anything!!!
~Went back to BofA to retrieve letters that I had ordered earlier in the day. They were notarized and ready to go! Yea!!!
~2:45pm, just in time to pick up the kids after school.
My life is already starting to change...No restaurant lunch for me! And it was tempting. Andrea had called me in the morning asking what I was up to for the day. I wanted to say "meet me for lunch!"
Did I mention that for the dossier, we need 3 copies of everything...and everything has to be notarized. The notary's commission cannot expire before late 2009 or 2010 (to be safe) and it's imperative before having something notarized that we make sure of this. This is a challenge at times! If the only notary in a particular office commission expires too soon, then you have to go elsewhere. Not good if you're say, like at the doctors office and it's HIS signature that needs notarized! This actually happened to me on Monday. So, fortunately, I have an awesome doctor who is willing to take my documents to his bank to be notarized. Some documents need to be notarized AND authenticated. Don't know yet what the difference is!
Well, if you're still reading, you are one of our very loyal and supportive friends...OR you just have no life whatsoever! =)
Thanks for keeping up with us. As you can see, we are still full steam ahead!

Drubek