And...

...we've been assigned a social worker.

There has been much smiling and dancing on our part.

The timeline is a bummer though.
October 29 = sign up with adoption agency
February 4 = adoption agency says they haven't received our federal finger prints yet
March 23 = adoption agency says they received our federal finger prints back in December (WTF)
March 28 = turn in paperwork
April 25 = assigned social worker (yes, I'm annoyed that it took them a month)
April 27 = social worker calls to set up appointments
May 12 = "off-site" meeting with social worker
May 26 = home visit with social worker
June 9 = social worker estimates she'll finish our report, which means our info officially goes into circulation with the potential baby mamas

JUNE 9.

That's a long time to wait to begin waiting.
But damn, that's not too far away at all and I couldn't be smiling any bigger right now.

secret agents and a spider

So.
Wait, wait, wait.
Boring, boring, boring.

But we did get our photos done this weekend/yesterday. You don't know me, so you probably don't know that I look like a scared deer in photographs. In. All. Photographs. S loves to take photos. And she happens to be really good at it. So our vacations typically consist of:
Click. Can you not make your eyes so big?
Click. Try not to look so scared.
Click. Seriously. Just relax.

But back to the trying-to-take-a-photo-for-the-birth-mother-letter. A friend of a friend of a friend is an amateur photographer and offered up her services. We spent a whole day trying to find cute outfits that coordinated but weren't too matchy. There was even an emergency run to the outlet mall - although the best thing we got was a molten lava cake from chilli's on the way home. We tried to apply makeup. I have to say that S looked pretty damn good. I looked like a lost clown. We went to get our picture taken.

The pictures were sort of kind of OK. But mostly crappy. (I'd show you, but since this is my secret agent baby blog, that information is classified)
So, we scheduled a reshoot. (it's not that we're super divas, it's more that the adoption agency said we messed up the lighting and had to try again)

And then.

I got bit.

By a spider.

ON MY LIP.

Yes, I now look like the proud owner of a rapidly proliferating communicable disease. Luckily I had some antibiotics left over from the LAST TIME* I was bit by a spider. And thanks to good drugs, lots of ice packs, and some poorly applied concealer...ahhh, who are we kidding...that hot mess was photoshop worthy.

But we have our picture. And you'll have to take my word for it, it turned out kind of nice.

*Yes, I said last time. And there was a time before that, too. And I have the scars to prove it.

slacker

I have not been keeping up on the blog posts. Partly because, as it turns out, waiting to adopt is not all that exciting. No two week waits over here. And partly because I've been traveling for work, which makes me busy and tired. And not very creative. And in need of a writing crutch. So I'm going to steal an idea from A Woman My Age.

ABC meme

A. Age: 36. But I swear I feel at least 50. Last week, my 6 year old niece asked me, "what are those lines?" as she reached up to touch my crow's feet (although I guess I got off easy, as she also told all of her classmates that her mom is pregnant and, "that's why she has a big belly." She's not. Pregnant.)

B. Bed size: Queen.

C. Chore you dislike: Cleaning out the drain in the kitchen sink. Ugh. Gives me the chills just thinking about it. My lovely wife graciously takes care of that.

D. Dogs: None, much to my wife's dismay. The deal is the next living thing to come into the house is a kid. Then we'll talk dogs.

E. Essential start to your day: Coffee. You *don't* want to talk to me before I've had my coffee. Or really any time before 10am. I am not a morning person.

F. Favorite color: Blue.

G. Gold or silver: Silver.

H. Height: 5’3", if I stand real tall and strreeeetch my neck.

I. Instruments you play(ed): Piano and violin when I was a kid.

J. Job title: Word hustler.

K. Kids: Hoping.

L. Live: The South, unfortunately.

M. Mom’s name: Carole

N. Nicknames: J Bean.

O. Overnight hospital stays: Just once when I was a kid. I have 2 memories of the event: 1) Throwing up all over the nurse and 2) Getting a box of plastic horses as a get well present from a family friend.

P. Pet peeves: People at the grocery store who can't get off their cell phones, can't figure out where the bar codes are, and don't know how to use the scanner thingy, but insist on being in the self-checkout lane.

Q. Quote from a movie: I can't think of a single one. My wife is appalled by my lack of movie exposure...I've never seen the Star Wars movies or Top Gun or anything else my hippie mother thought was overtly violent.

R. Righty or lefty: Righty.

S. Siblings: None. (Um, the niece in line A is actually my cousin's kid. It's a long story.)

T. Time you wake up: Depends. Around 7:30 or 8, on a "normal" work day. Guess that whole having kids thing is really going to change my lifestyle.

U. Underwear: Yes, usually.

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Cucumber! I don't see how so many people like a vegetable that tastes just like dirty water.

W.What makes you run late: Reading blogs.

X. X-rays you’ve had: feet, mouth, lady bits, left arm.

Y. Yummy food you make: I'm sort of a hit or miss cook. But I did make a batch of cinnamon rolls that people still talk about.

Z. Zoo animal favorites: I'm not a big zoo person. Although I did see wild turkeys last weekend and that was pretty amazing.