Our LOA arrived!

Our LOA (letter of acceptance) arrived yesterday. I thought we wouldn't hear anything until after Christmas/New Year. We could travel as early as 2-3 months. So I spent four hours working on paperwork yesterday - which I wish I had done a month ago b/c now I'm up to my ears in Christmas. Today, we'll sign the LOA and send it back to our agency and they'll send it to China saying we accept the referral.

I'm also filling out some other immigrant visa paperwork. I have no idea why. I don't understand any of this paperwork. I just do what the agency tells me to do and then I ask them a bunch of question b/c I don't understand the forms. Thank goodness I have somebody holding my hand AND that my friend Christy is a step ahead of me and knows what she's doing.

Gosh, all this paperwork keeps me humble. I can't keep the I-800 straight from the I-800a, the I-797 and the DS-230. Don't get me started on the 171-H. And of course most of this has changed since the last two adoptions. There used to be an I-600 or something in there, but I don't think I had to fill that out this time. Maybe. I think. Friends who are in the early stages of adoption throw out these form numbers and ask me when I got approvals back for each or when I got my fingerprint appointments. I try to pretend like I understand what they're asking, but it's hard to hide a glazed over blank stare.

And then there are all the abbreviations. DTC (date to China), LID (log-in date), PA (pre-approval - pre-approval for what?!), LOA (letter of acceptance - but really the form states "Letter Seeking Confirmation," so why is it not LSC???), and TA (no, it's not dirty - it's travel approval). And since the last adoption they've added: NBC - which is not National Broadcasting Company - I thought we were gonna be on TV. It stands for National Benefits Center - not to be confused with NVC which is National Visa Center and has something to do with a cable - again I thought it had something to do with TV.

Then there are all the cute abbreviations that the yahoo groups/bloggers use, like: dd (dear daughter), dh (dear husband), ds (dear son), sn (special needs). I have to google them all the time to figure out what people are saying. My dh and I are taking our 2 dd's to pick up our sn ds after we get our TA, but before PP.

So if you see me this holiday season speak in English - or maybe even Chinese - I've been Rosetta Stoning. Gotta go, my 7yo ds just woke up and wants to sit on my LAP.

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