Road Block

So, I was waiting until I cooled down and had a reasonable grasp on the situaton before I posted. Sadly, our facilitator's appointment to submit our dossier in January was not honored - she kept calling for the specific date and time, but kept getting the run around until January was over and they told her "check back in February." Now the SDA is saying her name isn't even on the master list at all....and with no written proof of the appointment, there is no way to fight it. Its her word against the word of the SDA.

We are looking into other avenues to submit our dossier; some I am not so comfortable with, and some that will require lots of waiting and patience. Really no good options at this point. There is rumor that the SDA is going to annouce some new procedures for dossier submission this week, so hopefully it will be an improvement. The US Embassy representatives are also meeting with the SDA this week - I'm not sure of the official agenda for that meeting, but I'm sure they will bring up the complaints from American PAPs trying to submit dossiers. Hopefully something will be worked out.

So this is sad and frustrating to say the least. We had hoped to get Cinderella and Belle home before summer - #1 so we'd have time to teach them English and get them acclimated to their new family and home, and #2 so we could get better airfares rates! Prices jump so much in the summer- they almost double.

In SnowWhite news, the detsky dom director has still NOT gone to the regional police office to pick up this report. 8 months later and she still has not found a few hours in her schedule to drive there and pick the report up. The director of the boarding school cannot do anything until they have this police report, and supposedly, the detsky dom director is the only one authorized to pick it up as she is the one who made the original request.

I still get to write letters to SnowWhite and get photos of her every month. She lost her two front teeth this past month! I wish I was there to tell her about the tooth fairy and put quarters under her pillow....or has the toothfairy's rates gone up? LOL It was $0.25 when I was a kid.....20 odd years ago. I'm finally getting her a new matress for her bed and a sled for the snow. I hate that I can't do this type of thing for Belle and Cinderella - I just don't have the contacts in their region to make deliveries for me. The assistant director of Cinderella's boarding home did give her a nice birthday party on my behalf a few weeks ago. Bought her cake and things, and gave her money I sent to spend on her own. I also sent her some books and birthday cards in the mail.

Finally, we are still working on getting the girls room ready. For now they will all share the upstairs loft - its huge. We put together the IKEA bunkbeds, but still need another 2 mattresses and one more twin bedframe. Since SnowWhite is probably coming for hosting this summer, we hope to have all three girls staying with us this summer....we will definately be scheduling a sitting with JC Penney for family photos! :) I am also trying to re-invent the room a bit to fit the new teenager we're getting. The room was pink princess flowers themed....a little babyish for a 13 yr old. So, we are moving to the surfer/beach/hawaiian theme. I've got a wall stencil and some various tropical paints, and I'm working on a quilt with surfer themed fabrics. I also bought some funky photo frames and I'm getting some nice stock photos of beach and surf scenes to print and frame. I've put in a boom box, some CD's (Hilary Duff, Green Day, YellowCard, Madonna, U2), and I'm working on refinishing a vanity with make up and hair stuff in it. So now the My Little Ponies, Strawberry Shortcake, Barbies, and play kitchen will have friends :)