My s/w has been by my side from day one of this crazy journey -- she's the lady I first met at AO when she spoke at the info night gathering and we hit it off. I was fortunate enough to have her do my homestudy. And now, she will be the lady who gives me The Call on that fateful date sometime in the (near) future. It used to be that referral calls came from some faceless person with Alberta Children Services in Edmonton. I'm so glad that, as of last December, our local agencies will be handling our cases.
I was very good about not nagging her for insider information on when to expect my referral because this was a social visit. And also because I'm pretty sure she doesn't know any more than I do. She did mention that I'm coming up close to 'The Window,' as I've heard some people call it. The window being that magic date range of when CAFAC says referrals are coming in for a certain age/gender request. For me, that's 8-15 months from DTC (when the dossier lands in-country), and I hit 8 months of waiting in July.
I mentioned I will hit 8 months next month and my s/w matter-of-factly said 'ok, so you have a few months to go yet.' Why yes. Yes, I do. Thanks for the reality check. I think I'm still cautiously optimistic that I'll get a referral closer to 8 months, but then, why would I be so special when everyone else is waiting at least a year?
Besides, as I've said before - it really is NOT a number's game. Our Ethiopian rep doesn't just pick the next dossier off the top of the pile, tack it to the sleeper of the next available child, and shoo their diapered bottom along a magic conveyor belt for processing.
So, maybe I am closer to being in the running now, but they still need to match me to a little girl. I have to wait for Myfanwy to be ready for me. For whatever events to occur that bring her into the orphanage.
In the meantime, I have tons to do in preparation, and the longer I wait, the more ducks I can line up.
