My timeline so far...

Summer 2004 - Decided to change my life completely..for the better!...started my research into adopting as a single person. Thank you Stephanie for helping me to realize that going down this path does not mean that other paths are closed to me in the future!

Fall 2004 - Thinking...phone calling...researching continues. Made some great new friends through a local chapter of "Single Mothers by Choice". A few have choosen to have children by other means, but many have chosen adoption from China. Research leds me to believe that China will be the best option for me. Disappointing set-back when I called one local agency and they told me that they were not accepting applications until 2008! The plan at this time was to save $$ for a year and then look for a "singles spot" with a local agency to start the process in the Fall 2005.

December 1, 2004 - Through the miracle of the World Wide Web, I found out that an agency in Colorado was accepting applications from singles for 2005. I didn't know anything about this agency, but decided to make a leap of faith and put in an application. The application was due by December 7th...I had to hurry! Decisions were to be made by a lottery system on Dec. 10th..notifications were to be made by Dec. 15th.

December 13, 2004 - I GOT A SLOT! Yep...seems like the stars were aligned and I received a coveted "singles spot" with Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI) in Colorado. The contract dictates that I have my dossier completed by November 15, 2005. I think that I'll be way ahead of that! More on the dossier later...

Takin' a break...Christmas...New Year's....now back to work on that dossier!!

January - May 2005: Paperchase? That is quite an understatement! Imagine opening a briefcase of papers in a windstorm. That's a paperchase. This...was a bit more intense, and yet...not that bad! I can honestly say that this is ONE thing that was easier as a single person. Here are some of the things I had to do:
~ obtain birth certificate
~ ask 5 friends and family members for letters of reference
~ a physical complete with blood work
~ obtain passport
~ get pictures for passport
~ drive to Jefferson City for a 20 minute fingerprinting session to ensure that I'm not a crimial
in the state of missouri (huh..they must have forgotten about that one time...)
~ meet FOUR times with a social worker
~ go to the lovely USCIS (that's the former INS) for more fingerprinting. Apparently the FBI
won't take the state run (electronic!) fingerprint. Go figure!
~ take pictures of me with various family/friends (this was probably the hardest part!)
~ get ANOTHER birth certificate..because apparently reading manuals is NOT a strength of
mine!
~And the list goes on....

May 19, 2005 - Had a VERY weird dream this morning about giving birth to a baby girl named Maya..odd thing is that I was still very much in the process of adopting Maya from China. All I can say is...huh? So..I'm jotting this date down to see if it might be a "red-thread moment"

May 26, 2005 - My dossier papers went to CCAI today!!

July 6, 2005 - My dossier was mailed to China today!!!

July 11, 2005 - My dossier was delivered to the CCAA (Chinese Children Adoption Affairs) today..getting closer!!!!

July 20, 2005 - although I won't know it for another 8 days..my dossier was "logged in" today. That means that the offical countdown to my referral can begin today. It is the date that they CCAA uses to make their matches. So..if they do referrals on a monthly basis, then I can begin to predict when I'll get to see my first picture of Maya!

July 28, 2005 - I learned of my Log-In-Date (LID) today. Yaaahooo!

August 28, 205 - one month of the looooooooooong wait is over..already! I suspect that the fall will move by super fast while January may just crawl on and on and on. But..we have the arrival of Charlotte (my niece) soon..that will be exciting! Just the baby fix I need!

Patience is a virtue?

Nah...I think patience is a pain in the butt! I want to meet my daughter..and I want to meet her NOW!!

I have a very long wait ahead of me. There are a ton of things that I can do between now and next Spring, but none as fun (I'm sure) as cuddling with my daughter. So..in the meantime, I wait...and I paint...and I knit...and I sew...OH...and I obsses about when I will meet Maya!!