Court Date

APRIL 26th

When we received her referral on March 1st I immediately created those elaborate math equations that are part calculus, part calendar geometry, part hopeful wishing, and part life convenience scheduling that all factor into determining exactly WHEN she would get home.

You know what I'm talking about - don't even pretend you haven't all done it yourselves.

It goes something like this:
If you take a) average assigned court date of 6-8 weeks after referral
and you account for b) pessimism that we would be on the early end
and you factor in c) the symmetry of our referral and court date both falling on a Monday

multiply by 4 family members all waiting to hear whether or not baby will be at our July family vacation in Santa Fe - buying tickets being semi-dependent on knowing something by end of April,

divide by 2 weeks of work in Africa in May that would conveniently land me in Ethiopia in early June,

then add together a complicated triangulation of desires, reality, and dates on the calendar

you come up with....theoretic dates for referral, court, and embassy appointments!!

All this to say that long ago I guessed April 26th and it is the first thing I have calculated correctly. Which hopefully means I have the rest of the equation right.

I am travelling in Southern Africa for work the last 2 weeks of May. I'm going to book myself through Ethiopia on May 31st (paying the change fee and staying as long as needed if something crazy happens) and hope and pray it all works out. We'll be more practical with J's ticket and wait to purchase that when we know the exact dates.

~A