Save Some, Spend Some

Since my last post I found out that I had 2 documents that needed corrections.

Because I am adopting as a married single (basically just means that I am married but doing the traveling, etc for the adoption without my husband needing to be there for it all) some documents require to just be signed by me, while others must be signed by both of us. One of the documents I had mistakenly only did in my name but needed to do for both of us. Then there was a mistake in our homestudy with a date, that needed to be corrected. Thankfully both were easy things to address.

Unfortunately though, getting apostilles was a challenge. We live 1.5 hrs from the Secretary of States office. On Wednesday I drove down to get apostilles and found that the notary for our homestudy apparently had a name change but did not register the name change...therefore the notarization was no good and could not be apostilled. I drove back towards home and our social worker quickly put together 2 more homestudies and had them notarized while she was at the Clerk of Courts. Certainly the notary at the Clerk of Courts would get it right. The next morning I took everything back down to the Secretary of States office but this time had to drive our monster van (which I try to avoid doing for further trips with no kids because it can be a gas hog) because very cold weather causes our car to be moody and I didn't want to risk it breaking down on me. Well, it turned out the notary left off her middle initial on her signature, which is not how her name is registered, nor is it how it is presented on her seal. Again, no apostille. I almost cried but no tears actually fell...I reminded myself that these are just delays and God has a plan. I'm not sure how one can determine when it's God or the enemy causing delays but I really just believe that God was causing the delays for a purpose.

I went back to the Clerk of Courts office to the notary and requested that she squeeze in her middle initial. I explained why and was not at all upset with her. She, however, was very much copping an attitude...I assume she felt like she needed to be on the defensive, you know since she has been made aware now that all of the documents that she has been notarizing have been "illegal" (according the verbiage used by the woman at the Secretary of States office). In any case, she did it and I overnighted everything back to the Secretary of States office with a prepaid return envelope all via Express Mail (overnight). Total Cost for mailing: approx. $30

Thankfully our Authentications Office not only charges a lot less than many states but also has an immediate turn around. Mailed it to them on Thursday. They got it on Friday, apostilled it all, sent it back. Got it back today (Saturday).

I had a friend traveling overseas this week and was going to hand carry my documents for me but we missed the boat due to all the delays with the apostilles. Today I mailed those FOUR documents (duplicates of both) via DHL and it cost us $132!!

So first of all, when I thought we saved approx $120 on that much bigger pile of documents (32, many with multiple pages), we probably actually saved $150 or more. But now after having spent extra money on gas, overnight mail, and DHL, we probably just spent about $210!! Still thankful we didn't have to spend that $150 earlier though (or even that $69) because documents still had to be fixed and it could have easily cost us over $300 in the past week or so on this stuff!

Meanwhile, our well pump and pressure tank are taking a nose dive. Thank God for our home warranty, which will cover the costs and labor for the well pump but the pressure tank and installation is going to cost us nearly $600!

On top of that, I am having a tonsillectomy and having my deviated septum fixed next week (we were able to move up my surgery date since Peanut's surgery is on hold for a while). Our insurance changed back in the fall so what would have cost us $30 or so will cost us over $600. AND...went for my dental cleaning and found that I lost a filling and cracked another. There goes another $110+.

Well, our adoption savings is stuck where it is right now. I really am not sure what to do and really can't do anything right now due to my upcoming surgery (which BTW I am told will be a NIGHTMARE recovery for SEVERAL WEEKS!) Again, I have to remind myself that if God is truly calling us to adopt, He will provide. He knows our bank account, our income, our expenses, and all the costs associated with adoption. With complete respect I say to Him, "Okay God, you're going to have to do this because you know I can't."

He will.