And now, the exciting conclusion to our adventure!  I’m sorry to have kept you all in suspense.  We indeed had our home study just about five weeks ago.  The social worker was in fact kind and gentle and all those things everyone tells you–for the first four hours.  By the fifth hour my eyes had glazed over, and I can’t provide any accurate recollections.  Unfortunately it was at this point (about two hours after I should have eaten something…anything) that he finally started asking us questions about the sort of child or children we hope to adopt.  We’ve racked our brains trying to remember what we said, but since neither of us had eaten or drank anything at this point, and our guest kept cheerfully refusing even water, we soldiered on.  I’m fairly certain we said no to “oppositional defiant disorder” because that sounded ominous enough without a definition, but we can’t be certain about the rest.  We may have adopted blue triplets.  We really didn’t care by the time he left, we were just happy it was over.  “Yes, yes, blue triplets sound delightful–now can we have some water?” 

During the portions that I do recall more accurately I remember that he asked us various personal questions both together and alone and various practical questions; for instance, could we raise a child to be Jewish?  Muslim, perhaps?  Not with very much accuracy, I would assume, as one might suspect looking at our family tree (which we had to submit) and seeing that 75% of the males in our family are named after saints and disciples.  But, no worries.  Apparently our shortcoming, whatever they be, were not significant enough to prevent the state from licensing us.

We received our license on Friday night!  Apparently we have the skills necessary for up to two children up to 17 years with care up to the level described vaguely as “therapeutic,” a term which they left suspiciously undefined–per usual.  What’s even more exciting than that?  A three ring binder of rules and regulations.  Yes, I was salivating.  It was 7:30 on a Friday night and I had to pry myself away to force myself to watch Jane Austen movies and drink wine with girlfriends.  No–I’m not being sarcastic.  To finally have a one-inch thick stack of rules and regulations is strangely satisfying.  It’s like discovering that in fact you do have an anchor on board your ship after drifting at sea for a very long time.  Of course there is no index or table of contents–but I have a ready supply of organizational aids on had at all times and am quickly sifting through it all and bringing some order out of chaos.

 So, what now, you ask?  Of course, we have no idea; no one tells us anything.  Will we meet with our social worker before she starts looking for a match?  Excellent question.  Should we expect a phone call from someone?  Are we supposed to just sit tight–don’t call us, we’ll call you?  We have no earthly idea.  How long do these things usually take?  No idea.  Six months?  Maybe.  Three years?  Possible.  We really couldn’t say.  We will, however, keep you apprised of our progress.  Recent medical events, however, have given us reason to believe we may have plenty to keep us preoccupied in the mean time.  I’ll tell you more about this, later.  In the mean time, please keep our future children in mind since they may very well be waiting for us at this moment.  We are praying for their safety and well-being, and are hoping that they are now in a safe stable home.