I Know

I have a hunch I have some people really irritated with me that I haven't been bubbling over with EXCITEMENT! and HAPPINESS! and GIDDY GIGGLING STORIES! about the PHONE! CALL! (that didn't happen). But the truth is, I've spent the last three days just trying to not cry in public. And, because tonight I'm feeling marginally more sane I may muster up the energy to be giddy and excited. We'll see how this post pans out.

So, the PHONE CALL.

What's that you say? You didn't get a phone call? Why no. No I didn't. And why? Because it was THANKGIVING. And NOONE works on Thanksgiving. BUT I DO have a director that checks his email on Thanksgiving. Which was a whole day earlier than our latest "don't expect anything a minute earlier than Friday and that is BEST CASE and if you want to maintain your sanity don't even expect that" date. So, Thanksgiving morning I'm calling my sisters and my mother and crying because the day just feels ALL WRONG without any of them here and no one to shop with Friday and the food isn't right without mom's stuffing and waaaah! when I walk past my computer and hit the send receive button which brings down all these emails from my online community that say things like "court date" in the memo line. When I see on from Jim. That didn't come through the loop. And it has "court date" in the memo line. So I say to mom, "Hold on a sec mom, I have an email that says "court date" and she says, "OK" and I say....

 OHMYGOSHMOMI'MGOINGTOAFRICAON
 CHRISTMAS!
BRENTWE'REGOINGTOAFRICAFORCHRISTMAS!

Brent, who was outside putting up Christmas lights apparently turned to his dad and said, "That better be a court date. Otherwise the house is on fire." At which time I came flying out of the door and leaped on my husband and made a spectacle outside for God and all the neighbors to see. The neighbors were presumably somewhere else for Thanksgiving lunch because not a single one came out and stared and the screaming, crying woman who flung herself into her husband's arms and toppled him.

Meanwhile, my mother who was on the other end of the phone this whole time finally said, "Honey I can't understand you. What happened?" And I said, "I'm going to

AFRICAFORCHIRSTMAS!

Which she couldn't understand either, but I couldn't stop screaming. So I got off the phone. After I assured her that the house was not on fire.

My two younger sons sat on the couch for the entire encounter. I'm sure that speaks to my parenting tactics in a less than favorable light. Oh, that's just mom screaming. She must be excited about something.... (Actually somewhere in the recesses of my mind I have a vague notion that someone followed me outside and Brent told whichever one it was that we had a court date, resume life. They were both on the couch when I came back in.)

And then I called my two eldest children who were already at their Grandma's house, and told them to run around the pond because I had something to tell them. The story goes that Princess said, "I bet it's a court date," and Eldest replied, "She just wants us to carry something over." Princess came running at me with arms outstretched. She's all in on the crying screaming mess that is her mother.

And that's my story. No phone call. After all that wasted adrenaline.

Pray for us, if you would. Going to Africa at Christmas is not easy under any circumstances. Any that have a budget, that is. People are less than happy with us. Plane tickets are approximately 30% higher because we have Christmas coming and going with new year in between. And there is a whole lot of non-adoption related stuff going on that is also all consuming. We're really excited, but the excitement is being overshadowed by a LOT of crap