A milestone....

Wow, yesterday was a milestone in my paper chasing journey. I received the "Order of Certification of Acceptability to Adopt Children" renewal from Pinal County. It had expired, and I re-applied about 6 weeks ago. This particular leg of the journey involved having the home study updated which is described below including the Child Protection Services background re-check, Department of Public Safety re-check, as well as a home inspection and psychological evaluation. All of that paperwork sat on a legal aides' desk for 3 weeks prior to her submitting it to the Pinal County judge!! I can't imagine how these people justify getting paid. It took the judge one week to look at the paperwork, then it sat on the aides' desk again for another week. Finally, I received it yesterday. Now all we have to do is send it to United States Immigration Service along with the Vietnamese paperwork. They will then do a "background check" on Jasmine to look for her parents. If her parents are found, which they won't be, DNA testing is required.

The Vietnamese leg reached a milestone yesterday too. The Vietnamese Consulate in San Francisco, for two weeks, had lost an addendum to my homestudy. Since Jasmine had ended being a little older than originally stated in my home study (0-12 months), an addendum had to be added saying 0-24 months. This form had to go thru the same process as every other form... notarized, apostilled by the Arizona Secretary of State, then authenticated at the Vietnamese Consulate ... $65.00 per page. I originally had around fifty pages... so, you can do the math:) The document was supposed to have been sent directly to my agency, Commonwealth, but after 6 weeks, they still had not received it. I called the Vietnamese Consulate every day and only got a real person one time. We didn't really understand one another, but I did understand that my document was not able to be located. Miraculously, it ended up at Commonwealth today. Yahoo!!!

Here is a edited photo with my only photo of Jasmine. I can't wait to see what she looks like when she smiles:) Oh yes, I bought her a tricycle today:)

Ronald David Stolz 8/4/35- 6/21/08

Last week my dad died after a long bout with Alzheimer's disease.    Here is a picture of us about 10 years ago before he went into a nursing home.    I wish he could have seen Jasmine,  but I'm sure he wouldn't have remembered.      We were pretty close when I was younger.  He would take me to horse shows, painted my horse trailer with my name on it,  and converted his Eagle Scout box into a tack box for me.    Then I didn't see or communicate with him much into adulthood.  Our family is quite strange in that way.   Most families I know keep in touch with one another and are supportive.   In our family it's  "everyone for yourself", not much support physically, emotionally or financially.       Somehow on some level I chose that, but now I've have created a family with my neighbors and their extensive biological family.   One of my main goals with Jasmine is to make sure she has the family support that I didn't/don't have.   I would like her to have positive input in the choices she makes in her life.

So far,  I'm not doing so well in the boyfriend/partner/potential husband category.    After many years of dating a string of idiots from match.com and related sites,  I'm just not focusing on it any more.   If I meet someone,  I would love it... that would be great,  but I'm just not even looking any more.   It really shouldn't be that hard with so many billions of people on the planet to find someone that is spiritual/metaphysical,  happy, not "depressed" all the time,  into a healthy lifestyle,  actually has an income, is abundance minded, loves kids and animals,  and is passionate in general about life.   That doesn't sound like much to ask, does it....?    Apparently, it is.    I'm just keeping my mind and options open at the moment.

I love you and miss you Dad.