The deets

So my last two postings were a little, um, brief, so I figured I'd post some more about how this week unfolded! I was really optimistic that we'd pass court soon, but knew that it could still easily be a month. Tuesday morning, I was standing at the copier in the school office trying to scan in an order for the copy center in the midst of 8th grade Recognition Night practice. My phone buzzed and the first things I noticed were a missed IM and missed call from Rachel, who I was currently helping; then I popped over to my e-mail, which is what made my phone buzz to begin with, and saw GOOD NEWS FROM ETHIOPIA e-mail. Needless to say, I was totally surprised! I headed into Rachel's office, told her and tried to call Jim; I managed to knock the phone off the desk a couple of times, too :) (It also happened to be Jim's birthday on Tuesday.) I made a couple of other phone calls and tried to return to productivity, which consisted of more 8th grade activities. I was thinking we'd travel the 19th or the 26th. Later that afternoon, I got a "Congratulations!" e-mail from another parent who is adopting; she had already seen the weekly update from our agency that showed groups travelling the 12th and the 19th; the way the numbers fell, it was apparent that the three families picking up sibling pairs were all slated to do so on the 12th- WOW!!! We got confirmation of that from our agency later that afternoon, and were able to confirm our correct visa status with the National Visa Center to ensure we would be able to travel. A quick call to our travel agent followed and the plans...real, actual, for sure plans...were underway!