Monday, April 21, 2008

Fingerprinting & FBI Background Check

Hi, everyone! Hope you had a nice weekend. This post is kind of long, but I needed to vent. Thanks in advance for being there to listen.

We spent our amazingly sunny Saturday in the Maryland CJIS Office in Pikesville, waiting in line to be fingerprinted for the state and for our FBI background check. It was this tiny little office where we all sat in those chairs that have little mini-desks attached to the one side. I felt like I was in school, taking a standardized test! Ha ha! This office is only open on the first and third Saturdays of the month, so we (and the rest of MD) selected this weekend to go. Not sure why I was surprised that we had to wait--but I was! We were there for about 1.5 hours. I should be used to waiting by now, as it seems to define most of the adoption process. But I guess I just forgot. It felt good to get that over with. Jeff and I were entertaining everyone in the waiting room (being our usual friendly selves), chatting with random people about how, all of a sudden, at times like this--when there's nothing else to do--the little "extras" on one's Blackberry and cell phone become so compelling and exciting! I swear everyone was discovering new and interesting aspects of their techno-devices. The teenager next to me was texting her friends (no reception inside this office). I was playing this pathetic little game called "brick breaker" or something like that on my Blackberry and was making noises as I got killed or lost my last "life" in the game. Or I'd scream: "YES! I got a laser!" Jeff kept elbowing me telling me to be quiet! It was funny. And I was texting my brother. I'm always impressed when I can figure out how to text. I'm not a very frequent "texter" so when I do it, I'm so proud that I figured it out! And when Steve texted me back, it was the highlight of my wait at CJIS! Ha ha!

We also went to the hardware store after CJIS and bought stuff that we need to get our house in order for the Montgomery County home inspection--which was supposed to happen this Wednesday, but Jeff's going to be in Boulder and we simply can't get all of this stuff done by Wednesday. So I called the inspector to reschedule it for early May. Here's an example of just some of the stuff we have to do: Install smoke detectors on every floor (we have five floors)(we have a couple already, but definitely not one on every floor!), fix the peeling paint on the ceiling of our master bedroom (no indoor peeling paint is allowed), clean out the lint/crap from behind and under the washer/dryer in the laundry room, get rid of all cobwebs in the house, and have NO CLUTTER anywhere, not even in the garage (where most normal people, even clean people, HAVE clutter)! Regarding the clutter issue, I keep repeating the mantra: Miracles do happen. Miracles do happen. This is just a sampling. We had to buy collapsable fire ladders, for God's sake (for every bedroom, there must be TWO forms of "egress" in the event of an emergency--hence the fire ladders, which we'll keep near the front window of our bedroom). We have to get our rugs cleaned, and the house has to be pretty immaculate when the inspector comes (and everyone knows how much I LOVE to clean). And I have to get Jasmine's vaccinations and wait for the dog licenses to come in the mail, before this inspector gets here. So much to do! And in the meantime, regular life marches on, oblivious to the fact that we have so much to do in ADDITION to regular old life! Arrgggh!

We're still waiting to hear about the financial situation. We're OK for now, but I'm still very on edge. I've been very anxious about a lot of things lately. I'm extremely worried, but I'm sure everything will work out. It just sometimes feels like every little thing we don't do right, or every little tiny requirement we don't meet, will prevent us from becoming parents. I know it's paranoid, but it's how I'm feeling.

So, onward. I'm teaching yoga tonight, so that'll be a welcome respite.

Peace out,
Kathleen

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