The way it should have been

Some "new" things have caused a slow down in our adoption. I say "new" because I am told they really were supposed to be happening in every adoption but were not. It has been this lack of following a standard set of rules that has put a big question mark between US and Ghanaian official as far as adoptions are concerned. They have now reinforced these rules and made some stricter guidelines in hopes that it will help make the adoption process more clear and lift the standard of Ghanaian adoptions.

Three major things are...
1. Only certain trained Social Welfare officers can handle adoption cases. There will be six of them in Accra.
2. A child must be in the adoptees care for 3 months prior to filing the adoption. This means that we can not file our adoption with the courts until the 24th of July. (supporting your child while they are living with a foster parent counts as "in your care")
3. I was also told that Ghanaian Social Welfare is considering signing the Hague treaty which will make it necessary for those who adopt from Ghana to follow the standards and protocol of the Hague.

All this will change the way adoption are done in the future and hopefully help protect the child and families from those with ulterior motives.

So, I have 2 weeks to sit and twiddle my thumbs until our court date. The past week has had a toll on me already and I am dreading two weeks more of these same feelings. I need to fill my summer days up with lots of fun. Hmmmm. I do have a room to paint but told myself I would not paint it until I filed my i-600's. I think I will throw a baby shower for my friend. Maybe plan a girls night out. Maybe I can head up yet another service project to rope my friends into.

Anyone have any other good ideas of how to pass this time?