2010 ended with a bang. Mid-day we were greeted with a rather large adoption-related snafu, made by our very own government: critical paperwork that included our misspelled last name, an incorrect case number, and a random adoption agency (e.g. not our adoption agency). “It’s not the holidays for us if there isn’t some excitement,” Big Papa mused.
Big Papa tells it as he sees it and he sees it pretty clearly. Last year, we spent Christmas Eve in the ER when my father broke his leg, the year before I flew out on Christmas Day (mid-snow storm) to attend the memorial for my best friend, who died days earlier, and the year before that was another Christmas Eve ER visit when my father fell and landed in the hospital. On New Year’s Day that year, we had to rent a U-Haul and move his stuff into our basement to prepare for the next move, to a new assisted living facility, when the facility he was at said they could “no longer care for him.”
I confess I was feeling pretty cocky this year. We had a completely uneventful Christmas! It was so blissful I kept pinching myself. And here we were rolling toward the New Year without a hitch. 24 hours and 2010 would be behind us. A crisis-free holiday was ours for the taking. Until today.
And so it was. The adoption zinger coincided with a day where I had to make two trips over Lake Washington to “the east side,” where my father lives in an adult family home, to collect still more paperwork in our effort to sign him up for Medicaid…by January 1. If you don’t get “piece of paper X,” he won’t qualify until February,” our nice, but letter-of-the-law Medicaid DSHS officer told me. Let’s just say that “I heart the U.S. Government,” was not how I felt as the day drew to a close.
OK, it’s true that today was just one day out of one week in a 52-week year. 2010, in its entirety, has not been a bust. There have been many blissful moments, heartwarming days, significant accomplishments, and life-changing (in a good way) events. Still, I have already put my name on the list for a smoother ride in 2011.
Out with the old
*Note: those “in the know” will laugh or cry with us; for everyone else, more details forthcoming in 2011
- Please, government officials, read the paperwork
- Please, non-government folks, read the paperwork
- When we are supposed to make one trip, we would love to make one trip
- Moratorium on ER visits for immediate family members (that includes you, Big Papa!)
- Home improvement is relegated to a tertiary activity
- We’ll pass on any more aggressive neighbor’s dogs, cats and belligerent drunken guests
- No family cars totaled by careless drivers while parked in front of our own home
In with the new
- Parenthood or bust in 2011
- We roll with the punches but there are fewer hooks and upper cuts
- Seattle and summer sunshine is not an oxymoron
- More time to smell the roses
- More roses to smell
2010: Au revoir, sayonara, adieu, auld lang syne.
While I can’t speak to your holiday plight/pattern of mishaps (bummer!), from my experience, I haven’t known an adoption to go “smooth sailin'” the entire way through the process. Nor have I known one to not have our own gov’t be a complete paper-work snaffu nightmare. We even “lost” ours and were told “That’s it” game over! But it ain’t over til the fat lady sings (or you say it is!). And while that’s not necessarily re-assuring, I’ll repeat what I may have said before – once child is in hand – all that is so horrible at the moment – will dissipate in the smile of your child. That’s not poetry, it’s really true. This – and the fact that many have gone before you and made it – hopefully can encourage you that you two that will too! My best to you as you walk through the grind. And I will hold best hopes for a child coming home to you this year!
Beth – thanks for keeping us all so entertained throughout 2010. I truly love reading your posts and about your adventures!
You bring a fabulous sense of humor to all situations.
Despite the holiday and adoption snafus – here’s to a wonderful, family-filled 2011!
Beth W.
Good luck to you and yours for 2011, may this year be the year for all of us that have been waiting for 2+
We will also have to renew our paperwork in 3 months, Ugh!!!