New Job!

Adoption news: Nope. Still waiting.


Other news: Russell got a new job! He's been working on his PhD at Washington University for several years (in evolutionary biology). He just accepted a faculty position at Maryville University (in St. Louis), starting in the fall. He's on track to finish up the PhD and start the new job in August. Yay!!! It's a little weird now, since we live on the campus of the college where I work, and we're in the same athletic conference as Maryville. So to my student atheletes... don't worry... I'm super happy that Russell has a job at Maryville, but I definitely know where my sports allegiances lie... :^) (And I've told Russ that he can't wear red to soccer games this fall...)

Goat update: the goats are back to their silly, happy, ornery selves. They have dismantled the little shelter we built for them (we keep building it back up) and this morning, the white one head-butted me as I filled her water bowl. She also wouldn't stop chewing on the zipper pulls on my jacket pocket. I'm thinking that they're pretty much OVER the dog attack now.

Fun update: check out www.nerdtests.com. You can take an online quiz to tell how much of a nerd you are (as if I needed outside confirmation on that...). Here are my results:

I'm particularly proud of my low, low score in the "dumb/dork/awkward" category. I think this is why the final analysis came out as "Uber Cool High Nerd."

I hope everyone had a great Easter & Nauryz!

Embassy/Consular Hold-Up

I know there has been lots of conversation and worry in the last couple of days about what's going on at the Kazakhstan Embassy and the Consulate in Washington DC and New York. (For those of you who may have missed it, the embassy is temporarily suspending its processing of dossiers for adoptions from Kazakhstan, pending a review of adoption procedures). This does not affect our adoption process, personally, since our dossier made it through the embassy stage last July, but my heart goes out to all those who are just starting the process and whose files are with the embassy. If there are any blog lurkers out there who are in that position, please know that we are thinking of you and hoping this resolves itself quickly! I know how heart-breaking and frustrating things like this can be... believe me. We made the decision to adopt 3 years ago this week, and our ride has been a definite roller coaster. The only thing I've learned for sure is that nothing is ever sure or easy in international adoption.

From what I've been able to gather, it sounds like Kazakhstan is wanting to review their procedures and make sure they're doing what's best for their children. If this is the case, I can only commend this - it's a good thing. But it sure doesn't make things easier for those who find themselves stuck in the process.

So, if you're affected by this and you're reading this post - Don't give up! Hang in there! And here's hoping for a quick and positive review by the Kaz officials.

Still No News

No, we haven't dropped off the face of the earth. Just no news on the adoption front. We got the FBI report all done and delivered to our agency. Today, Russell is driving a couple more power of attorney forms up to Springfield to get apostilled - more forms that the Kaz government requested of all prospective parents. I think we know the way to the Secretary of State's office by heart... we could drive it in our sleep by now.

It's finals week here at my school (we're on the quarter system). Then 2 weeks of spring break, during which I'm gonna keep cranking on my research project, then it's back to teaching full time for spring quarter. It's going to be pretty quiet here with all the students gone for 2 weeks.

FBI update!

I called the FBI this morning and they said our clearance was mailed yesterday!!!! Wow!!!! That was less than a week!

The phone call was kinda funny... when the woman said they were mailed already, I blurted out "Are you kidding???" She said, "Ma'am, I try not to lie about things like this." I told her I was just shocked because the woman I spoke to last week told me it would be about 4 weeks, and this was completed in under 1 week. She said "We're supposed to say 3-4 weeks. We try to get it done faster."

Cool!

So now we get to notarize, apostille (by taking another day off work at driving it up to the capitol) and then get it to Kaz.

On a completely different note, it's thundersnowing in St. Louis right now. Freaky.