I Declare Today A Holiday In The Nation of Gendreau

We are finished with our home study! No more interviews, background checks, paperwork or home visits. No more searching for my marriage certificate or getting bank paperwork or hoping Olivia doesn't say something crazy like she hates black people. We will soon be acceptable parents in the eyes of the State of Wisconsin, or at least good enough to not waste anymore of our social worker's time.

Maybe it is a confused delusion, but I feel like now this is over what is next will be much easier. I know that it will be its own crazy, but I can deal with a confused, scared and angry kid a lot better than I can deal with an apathetic bureaucracy. We can get excited now, I am excited. Until that paperwork is finished you can always have that little unhinged fear that someone is going to come in and say that you can't adopt, you are not acceptable. Now I can move onto the fear that we will get the child and someone will then take it back, awesome! Or my greater, current fear that the children are overtaking me since I am now convinced that Olivia is smarter than I am.

We finished some huge house projects this weekend so for one week of my life I feel like we actually took one whole step forward without taking any back. Unfortunately for my poor beleaguered husband, that just makes me want to keep going full steam ahead. We can lay ceramic tile, honey! However, I value my marriage so I declare today a national holiday in the land of Gendreau and I will toast my fellow Gendreauians with spaghetti and meatballs to celebrate our one big step into the rest of our new life.