TA day! And a surprise
Well, we finally got notification of our TA today in an e-mail at 11:01am. So that’s a big relief–one more check on the list. As you know if you’ve been following along, we were really hoping to get it yesterday because then we’d still have a chance to get our actual travel dates (based on the US Consulate appointment) before the weekend and the ensuing holidays. Our agency received the TAs for all their September 1st referrals this morning and immediately faxed the requests to the US Consulate in Guangzhou to get us in line for consulate appointments. Unfortunately, the Consulate will be closed Monday through Wednesday for Chinese National Day, and it’s possible that not much will get done Thursdayand Friday, especially since the Consulate is also closed the following Monday to celebrate the European conquest of the Western Hemisphere. So all this means we may not have our actual travel dates for another 10 days or so. Nevertheless, today was definitely progress and at least now we have a date range (we expect to leave some time in the first two weeks of November).
To celebrate, Stephanie and I went shopping. We bought a chenille braid rug for Lina’s room, a diaper genie, and some other stuff. We wanted to get a high chair too, but Target was out of the Consumer Reports top-rated model we were looking for.
Earlier in the day, I got a super nice surprise at work. Today was a big event for Microsoft “MVPs“. There’s a group of Help MVPs (experts in online assistance and technical communication) with whom I’ve been working for a few years now. I only see them about once a year, but they’re really a great group of folks. I didn’t realize they all knew about our adoption, but I found out they did when they presented me with a baby gift. I opened it, only to find a ladybug bath towel and a ladybug washcloth-like thing that you put your hand inside like a puppet (I don’t know what this is called). I knew that Stephanie would love them, and said so. Char told me she knew that. She’s been reading our site so she knew all about Stephanie’s attraction to creature or fruit-themed clothing! And of course, she was right. So a great bit thank you to Char, Rob, Dana, Dana, Rick, Paul, Paul, and Bill! (Cheri, we missed you; I’m sorry you couldn’t make the trip. And if you had anything to do with the gift, thanks to you, too.) Now we just need a little ladybug to wash, dry, and cuddle in them!