A Day in Our Life...Without Her and Court Date Set

6:00 am - Wake up with no alarm clock (Looks like Mariela just woke up to from this picture!)

7:00 am- I get to work and start the e-mails and computers. I have to catch up on any of the late night e-mails between our "Adoptions Anonymous" Group. Sometimes they are really chatty! Check my blogs of my friends, and see how they are doing.

8:00 am - Work "officially" starts - We are a small little firm, so we come and go as we please!

9:00 am - Start getting my first e-mails in from the east coast and the early bird on the west coast! Usually it is a little pep talk hoping to set the ball in action and bring good news our way.

9:15 am - Sometimes we have an e-mail or two that are a little discouraging and someone needs to send a little pep message to wake up and put a smile on.

9:45 am - Juan gets his little notepad with all the scribbles on it and checks who he needs to call for the day. Typically target 2 people a day to follow-up and make sure they have done what they are supposed to do.

10:00 am - 40% of the time, the phones to Guatemala do not work, of the phone is not answered, or they indefinately put you on hold, or last resort they say that they do not "owe" anything to anyone and don't know what you are talking about

12:00 am - Follow-up on any phone calls that need special attention, since they cannot always talk when everyone is in the room. Sometimes it is quieter at this time and they are more willing to talk and give out information. They do not like to give out any info over the phone, as most of it needs to be done in person.

12:30 - Run out and grab quick lunch

1:00 pm - Squeeze in some drafting, client meetings, architectural drawing - Did I not even get any work done in the morning with all those phone calls and my brain churning e-mails? Oops!

2:00 pm - Already thinking about my phone calls to other adoptive parents to vent for a while and see how others are making progress

4:00 pm - Is it not 5 pm already?? All these days are just too long and blend together at this point. Check on airline tickets to see if there was even a possiblity I could jump on a plane to get her tomorrow if there was a chance. Whoaa...is that really what a ticket 1 day in advance costs? Holy Cow!

5:00 pm - Already on the cell phone to dad on his way home, leaving sister a voicemail that says nothing encouraging today, and on the phone with my friends figuring out what we can do tomorrow.

6:00pm - Head home to chat on the internet some more, analyze some more "crap" and send us on our way for a peaceful evening, good night's sleep in order to relive this all over again the next day!

And then here we are....tomorrow!

We found out that Mariela's court date is March 11. What does this mean? No one can tell me.

1. We are on the desk to go before the judge - this could just happen, get our signature and be out of there (This is my favorite option and could get us home the quickest). No one can believe it has taken this long.

2. We need to wait for our court date of March 11, wait for the judges decision, and could or could not be out of there at that moment. Same judge that we are waiting for the signature now - so she can do it and put us out of misery, or she could postpone it and make us suffer some more.

The children moved to the new home over a week ago. We still have no updates or pictures, but we have to hope and pray they are fine. It has been 2 months since I have seen her - and this is beginning to be painful.

Then I look at this picture, GIVE HER A BIG KISS GOODNIGHT, and turn off my computer to go to sleep.