J Cooper Photography

1.  The receptionist at our local adoption agency is a notary.  Splendid tidbit of information to find out AFTER our home study is already in final revision and I have driven 100s of miles through Kansas City having paperwork notarized.  Did I mention our local agency is 3 blocks from our house.  No?

2.  If you live in Kansas City your local police station WILL NOT write you a clearance check letter regardless of how many times you tell them your international agency requires it (or how much Halloween candy you try to use as a bribe)

3.  Make sure your husband actually CALLS (even though you asked him to) the Ethiopian restaurant that is 30 miles from your house before you load 3 children into the car on  a school night and drive those 30 miles to a restaurant that is apparently CLOSED ON MONDAYS.

4.  Did you know you can hire (for an exorbitant fee) a traveling notary?  So when your Doctor’s office notarizes a form with their in-staff notary and your international agency sends it back to you because the notary stamp shows that their notary’s license will soon be expiring…you can fork over the BIG BUCKS to have someone you have never met, meet you at your doctor’s office and watch you sign your life away.

5.  If you work on your adoption education workbook non-stop for the entire drive from Kansas City to Nebraska (and back) you will make great progress on completing said notebook but you might require a straight jacket upon arrival at your destination (as well as a barf bucket).

6.  Ethiopian bread (injera) is made from Teff flour which can be *conveniently* purchased at a local market exactly 69 blocks from our house.

7.  As a stay at home mom you will have to have a Employment Verification letter written stating that you don’t actually have a job and then you will need to have that notarized just in case that would be something you might be lying about.

8.  A tells me that I shouldn’t get too excited about adopting a beautiful brown baby as it is possible that we might be one of the rare families that adopt a blonde haired light person from Ethiopia.  She doesn’t want me to be too disappointed if things don’t go as I expect.  “Anything is possible Mom…keep an open mind!” she said.

9.  If you order a certified copy of your birth certificate from Texas it will come printed on poster sized paper so that mailing it in a *normal* sized envelope along with your other dossier requirements will be entirely impossible.  More proof that things really are bigger in Texas I guess?

10.  It will all be worth it.