Run Forest, Run

I am currently training to do a triathlon this summer. A recent physical exerience will make a great parallel to my emotional experiences over the last 24 hours. In training to do this triathlon, I recently ran just over five miles and then sprinted the very last short leg of distance to my driveway. Once your legs have carried you a long and vigorous five miles, they really don't feel like they are attached to your body as you sprint. My head could feel the vibration as my feet hit the ground, but I couldn't feel my knees bend or my ankles preparing my foot for each downward swing. My body was hot and cold at the same time. As I moved into my driveway I collapsed. Don't get me wrong, five miles of running isn't what cause me to collapse. It wasn't that kind of collapse. I did it; I ran the entire way and I knew I could do it again the next time my training called for it. I have never pushed my body to accomplish a physical task like that. I can run 2 miles, I can run 3 miles, but I didn't know I could run 5 miles, and I sure didn't know I could run 5 miles and then throw in a short sprint at the end.

Yesterday we met with our social worker for the first time. She's a great lady, which I am thankful for, because you sure don't want to be pouring out your soul to a stranger who you feel is judging you or doesn't like you. She seems passionate about her job, and that's great for two reasons. One, I alway like people who like their job; I like it when people are passionate about their work. It inspires me. Two, for the obvious reason it will make this process easier since she seems to enjoy her work.

I feel bad for her though. I think she wants us to answer the questions at a slightly higher level. Unfortunately for her, Trenton and I have spend many years in our education evaulating ourselves and our perspectives. We have written lengthy papers on our families, our life experiences and our goals. We both have done extensive research on various cultures, and diversity, and life transitions. So she asks us a "yes or no" question, and I feel like we are still talking 1o minutes later. We couldn't have been too far off track though, we got through 3 hours of questions in just under... 3 hours. It appeared she was able to "skip" some questions because we "already covered that". And most of these questions were based on 23 pages of information Trenton and I had typed up the week before (10 pages for Trenton and 13 for me).

So, the first meeting with the social worker went well.

Next, you should know I am highly motivated by positive reinforcement and I am extremely goal oriented. Have pity on this poor social worker... when we called her to schedule our first meeting, she said, "You are fast, you have your self study done already and you were just at PAC last week." Ooo, the teacher noticed me! I see a challenge. I might be able to be the fastest! Fastest? Fastest what? How long does it usually take to do these things, how quickly has it been done by others... it doesn't matter, all I care about is that fact that I am "fast" and there is more paperwork and I can be "fast" with that too. Impressively fast, that's what I am after.

Let me bring you back to my story about running 5 miles and then doing a sprint. Since the first form was put in front of me, I feel like I have been pacing myself, one thing at a time. Taking Trenton's lead to determine what kind of timeline we should set. But last night I saw the driveway and the end of the paperwork, and I knew I could sprint in (yes, oh yes, there will be more, but we are almost there from a paperwork perspective). So this morning we recieved an e-mail with the list of items required for our dossier. Birth certificates, photos, marriage certificate, a letter from our bank, a letter from the local law enforcement, a letter to the country, more medical documentation, employment verification, the I-600A which will get us an I-171H, copy of our taxes, and more... and every form needs to be notarized. And as of 10:24 pm central standard time, it's pretty much complete. I have a doctor appointment and our passports are on the way, we are waiting for our appointment to get finger printed (again!), but we have it all in motion. I would say it is 95% complete. But it really has been a sprint all day, from one place to the next requesting forms (and everyone has a story about adoption or babies that they want to share, I am genuinely interested so it takes me a little longer to make it from one place to the next). I didn't feel my feet hitting the ground, but my head has been vibrating all day. I was anxioius and relaxed at the same time just like I was hot and cold as I ran. We did it, Trenton and I kept it moving all day we have everything done that we can. And now, I feel like I can exhale, but only for a moment.

In two weeks we meet with the social worker again, we will have to be approved, with the final and official approval. Then we wait.

For now I have a driveway to collapse in. Good-night.