HOME VISIT!!

Today was the eagerly awaited home visit! 

Although the house was “clean enough” to start with last night - - for some reason I found it necessary to repeatedly clean, mop, dust, vacuum and spot clean the carpet until the wee hours of the morning long after Erik went to bed.  Around 2:45am I got a shower, put my hair in sock buns to have bouncy curls in the morning and finally passed out around 3:30am from pure exhaustion. 

The following is the sequence of events from this morning.

Caseworker’s ETA (estimated time of arrival)= 8:00am

6:30 – jumped out of bed going 90 to nothing

6:33 – croissants: separate, unroll, dollop of jelly, roll, seal, roll again, place in oven

6:38 – dash to bathroom: brush teeth, apply foundation

6:47 – notice Erik in bed.  Lovingly remind him to get up.  J

6:48 – kitchen: remove croissants from oven, drizzle honey, powder to perfection, display on decorative plate  (*briefly pause to admire presentation of handiwork J )

7:02 – come back to senses;  realize I have less than 1 hr before CW arrives!

7:03 – “What am I gonna wear?!”  

7:04 – bathroom: eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, blush, bronzer, lip gloss, powder

7:19 – Erik enters, lumbers past me, STARTS getting ready.  (Advise him yet again- - we need a bigger bathroom!)

7:20 – “ok- - must decide what to wear.”

7:21 – Spray hair to retain curls

7:23 – See Erik nervously eyeing To Do List.  Erik’s mission: take out trash, windex mirrors, light candles.

7:24 – “Shoot!  What AM I wearing?!?! :  Leggings, tall boots… no, too casual.  Long pants, high heels… too pretentious?  Short pants, flats… too stumpy!!  Medium length pants, short boot, short heel… ahh, just right.  J  Now, what shirt? Colorful yet mature- not drab.  Hot pink turtleneck… no, too bright.  Gray sweater… no! too drab!  Silky maroon turtleneck with black drape cardigan vest… Yesss!!  Oh wait- - What earrings?!  Hoops, dangles, hoops, dangles…??”

7:36 – bathroom:  unroll sock buns, separate curls, fluff hair

7:42 – kitchen: grab coffee, measure, scoop, add water, brew

7:44 – rush from room to room taking pictures for posterity

7:51 – “Oh wait!!.... earrings!  HOOPS!!”

7:53 – Snap pics with Erik

7:58 – Heightened senses from adrenaline registers sound of car door shutting outside…….  SHE HAS ARRIVED!!

When our caseworker first stepped inside she said, “Wow!  Your home is so welcoming!” 

J  YESSSS!!  SCORE!!  J 

She was very sweet and smiley. J  First, we sat in the living area to talk.  She asked us several questions, all of which we’ve already answered in our paperwork (that we turned in in November).  After over an hour of talking, she moved on to her “Safety Checklist”.  Now was the time for her to tour our house! 

(I’m telling you people- - she was glancing in every room.  I wanted her to inspect the rooms!  I mean- - please notice that we got all of the dust bunnies out of every nook and cranny!) 

After a very brief tour, she asked, “Do you have smoke detectors?”

We said, “yes- in every room except the bathrooms” and asked if she wanted Erik to push the test button on one.

She said, “No, that’s okay.  I see the green light on that one.” 

(What you do not understand is that Erik spent quite some time earlier this week working on the smoke detector in the hallway- - that she did not see- - because it was NOT working.  He managed to get it to work- - YAY ERIK!!- - and she didn’t even check it!  Shame on her. J ) 

She asked if we had a fire extinguisher and we proudly showed her that we had it stored under the kitchen sink. 

After a couple of random questions about who supplies our water, she cheerfully said, “Well okay!  That’s it!”  

Whaaaaaaaat?????

We were shocked and I said, “Are you serious?!” 

She chuckled and said, “yep!  That’s it!” 

I said, “Surely you need to look in a closet or something!?” 

She laughed and assured me that she covered everything. 

1. We scheduled individual interviews with her for next Friday, January 13.

2. After that, we’ll have another interview with her together. 

3. She said after that she’ll compile all of the information she gathers and should have our home study written in a couple of weeks. 

4. Once it’s written, she hands it off to the Clinical Supervisor at our adoption agency.  Once it’s approved by her- - THEN we will be on the WAITING LIST!!!!

(Oh!- - She took a croissant to GO!  Didn’t even drink coffee or anything while she was here!)  *sigh

She came back to our house later today because she left her coat here.  (Erik had already left for work).  She came in and we chatted a bit more.  She said, “I think you both will make wonderful parents!”  YAY!!!!  J  She assured me that she’d do all she could to make our process move smoothly from here.  Bless her.  So nice. 

And that was our day- - in a fairly large nutshell!  J  (Sorry for the long post!)

THANKS AGAIN for all of your prayers, encouragement and support.  Every call, text, message, email, etc. means so much.  Thank you. 

One BIG step is behind us now!! Let’s keep going!!  WOO HOO!!!!  J 

**During these next few weeks, we’ll be working on our family profile!!  (aka- - scrapbook type book for the birthmothers to look through while they’re selecting the adoptive parents).  I just got the list from our agency today with how many pictures of what can be included, etc.  I’ve got to look at that breakdown more carefully and get to work!  J  Also- - Erik and I both will include separate letters to the birthmother.  Wow.  That’s going to be tough.  I’ll be blogging about that.  J