Hurry Up and Wait

We're in a holding pattern for at least the next nine days, thanks to Chinese New Year. However, we're still hopeful of getting a consulate appointment in China on Feb. 17-19, which would mean leaving Oklahoma around Feb. 6.

Our I-800, a new document required by countries that are part of the Hague Convention on Adoptions, is stuck at a federal agency. The U.S. consulate in Guangzhou won't schedule an appointment with an adopting family until that document is approved. We were hoping it would be approved by yesterday (Thursday) so that it could be faxed as verification to the consulate. That didn't happen, and now, because China is 14 hours ahead of us, the consulate has already closed shop until Feb. 2 to celebrate Chinese New Year.

We're told that the I-800 should be approved by early next week. Then it would be faxed to the consulate, so conceivably, the consulate could schedule an appointment on its first day back from hiatus. If our wish comes true, we would have three days to make travel arrangements and pack. We've been through timing snags on both previous adoptions. I don't know why I thought this time would be different.

Meanwhile, we wonder how our daughter is holding up during the wait. Is she excited about getting a family, or is she scared to death of leaving the only home she's ever known? Or both? We also wonder if she will accept our explanation that we came as fast as we could -- that the delay wasn't of our making.