SIGH!

That's me...breathing a huge sigh of relief.
I'll do it again.
SIGH.

Tonight, after we put the girls down, Amby and I went through our home study/adoption agency checklist together.  As I mentioned in my last post, there is an enormous amount of paperwork that we have been given (emailed, snail-mailed, faxed, etc).  I have been trying to go through it as it arrives, but with the holidays (not to mention the girls, family, and life in general!), it has started to pile up a little.
It's always at the back of my mind.
Missy and Sarah have promised to meet with me over coffee and help make a spreadsheet (moment of reverential silence for the spreadsheet).  Sarah is my favorite super-organized friend-  I stand in awe of Sarah and her ability to cut to the chase.  Missy's no slouch when it come to cutting to the chase, and they are both great at talking me down off a ledge.
Anyway, as I was saying, I have a plan to manage all of the paperwork chaos.  We (meaning Sarah) are going to make a spreadsheet of all of the stuff that we have to turn in for the adoption.  We have documents that need to be turned in for the home study.  We have documents that need to be turned in for the dossier.  We have documents that need to be turned in for BOTH the home study AND the dossier.  The spreadsheet will magically help me keep track of it all.
Am I asking too much of a spreadsheet?  Perhaps.  But, when the spreadsheet fails me, I shall lay the blame at the feet of Sarah and Missy.  Hence, the focused coffee-meeting.
It's ok-  they can handle it.
So, back to my sigh of relief.
Amby and I went through our binder (oh, I was so young and naive 1 month ago when I thought that a mere binder would hold all of our information) and sorted through the paperwork we have received.  I put things in file folders.  I labeled.  I paperclipped.  I basked in the glow of organization.
Best of all, Amby went over the checklist for our homestudy and agency application.  When he finished looking over it, he said, "That's not so bad."  It was like music to my ears.
He said, "We have most of these things.  It's going to be a pain to get the medical stuff done, but other than that I think we're in good shape."
See-  that's what I love about my husband.  He is so great at looking at a problem and breaking it down to a manageable, workable solution.  In fact, as I type this, he's in the office getting documents out of our safe and making copies.  What a guy.
I love it when a plan comes together.