I'm NOT Going to Say Bah Humbug

Since I like living in a lovely place of denial--especially regarding our never-ending adoption nightmare, today's post will be a bit different. I'm going to take part in something I enjoy reading called "Not Me" Monday started by MckMama. Every Monday a bunch of bloggy moms fess up about the things they "certainly didn't do." (You can click on the button below to read other "Not Me" Mondays.)



I did NOT get through Guatemala's airport security last Thursday with a 2 liter of hand sanitizer in a jumbo Ziploc baggie, perfumed with Lysol spray, only to be seated between Mr. Black Lung and Ms. Nasal Drip.

I did NOT wake up Friday morning feeling like someone had poured concrete in my head and green Jell-o into my lungs. Nope. I just rubbed my nose raw for the fun of it.

I did NOT get an e-mail on Friday from our adoption attorney that after waiting 5 weeks for our certifications to be completed, they showed up at Renap (the governing body that issues new birth certificates) to discover Renap had decided to just close for the day for a Christmas party! Nope. That would be ridiculous, that only our branch Renap would be closed, especially since we only have a few days left to complete our adoption before Christmas.

I did NOT force my children and husband into a constant state of Christmas merriment since we only had two days with Dad home before he had to leave. I did not coerce them into a "Norman Rockwell on speed" rush to make memories--positioning them into Olan Mills kinds of poses in front of our tree that we had to pick out and decorate yet another year without our adoptive son. (*Sigh* I will have to Photoshop Daniel and smiles in later.)

I did NOT spend Saturday night wrapping and packing Christmas gifts for Daniel in case he doesn't make it home in time to spend Christmas with our family. I also did NOT realize that evening that we needed one more document notarized. I did NOT send Brad to drive across town to have a friend notarize it on his last night at home. (Thanks, Laury, for saving our necks!)

I did NOT have to drive my husband to the airport on Sunday morning to leave for Guatemala not knowing if he'll be back in time for Christmas. And I did NOT have to pull over on the side of the road on the drive home because I was crying so hard.

I did NOT let my 12 year old daughter attend a youth group Christmas party even though her science project was not yet finished. No, that would have been irresponsible of me.

I was NOT up at 11:00 p.m. helping her finish the model of a plant cell--heavily medicated operating heavy machinery known as a hot glue gun.

She did NOT call me a "secretory vesicle"--that would have been an improper use of the science term and would have been unsympathetic to the head cold that I do NOT have.

I did NOT remind her that I she is not the "nucleus" of this family, that I give every bit of my "mitochondria" to keep us going, and if she didn't get her "golgi body" moving there would be problems within our "cell wall." (I'm just kidding. She actually did a great job without needing my help.)

I did NOT venture outside in 30 degree raining yuck in the middle of the night to make an international call since my cell phone does not get reception in the house. The cat did NOT escape into the night and I did NOT roam the streets in my Christmas PJs trying to find him.

The icicle lights that my husband lovingly hung on the house did NOT all short out (except for about three lonely strands). And our Christmas tree did NOT tip over in the stand and is now leaning like the Tower of Pisa against the window.

And this morning, I did NOT get the business end of three kids missing their dad as well as many personal belongings. (After being gone two weeks it seems everything has wandered from its place.) My nine year old daughter did NOT freak out that she couldn't find her PE shorts and I certainly did not blame it on the Christmas elves that seem to do mischief in the night.

I did NOT get a call from our credit card company notifying us of ridiculous amounts charged from a hotel in Guatemala City. I was NOT tempted to pretend our card had been stolen and ask them to write the charges off.

And, no matter what, I'm NOT going to say "Bah humbug." (Okay, this one is really true.) For no matter what happens, we are still so very blessed that I have no reason to ever complain.

Okay, I'm done. Thanks for letting me get that out of my system.

For those of you just tuning in . . . we could really use the prayers today. Here's a quick summary of our crazy life. We have been trying to adopt a little boy from Guatemala for 2 1/2 years. We are in the final steps of the process but are cutting it very close in trying to get him home by Christmas. He is now 9 years old and his heart's desire is to finally spend his first Christmas with a family.

My husband and I have been trading off living in a hotel room with him in Guatemala with the hope that we'll complete the adoption by Christmas. Most government offices will be shutting down at the end of this week for the holiday. We are running out of time.

Brad, Daniel and a paralegal for our case are at the Renap in Chimaltenango in Guatemala right now hoping that we can get Daniel's new birth certificate today. If they grant it, then there's a chance they can make it home in time. If not, Brad and Daniel will most likely be stuck there through the holidays. Please keep the prayers coming. I'll try to update tonight.

More than lots,
Kathie