We Have the Hefty Big Manilla Envelope!

Yes, that's right! We had our Embassy visit today and all went well. As I looked out across the crowd, it really hit me - we're going home tomorrow. We met a couple that adopted three children. I told them they must be on their way to saint hood. Honestly, I'm not sure if this was just their nature or they were so exhausted from having three new children but they were SO calm. I am not that person. I wish I was at times but I'm just not. There was another family that adopted a little girl named Sophia. She was more Asian (what we think of as Asian) and absolutely GORGEOUS. I kept thinking that perhaps Sherri's little girl will look just like her. She was such a doll. I looked out an saw a little boy named Zach. Will Amy's son look like him? He was SO healthy and happy. There was an adorable little girl who must've been closer to a year. Will Jules or Holly's daughter look like her? What about Alex? What about Ivana and Shelle? Which of these children will resemble theirs? OH ... I think I'm more excited for all of yáll that will come after us than I am for my own journey! Perhaps this is not due to insanity but to my pursuit of the Optimist's Creed.

My father-in-law Tom who would've joined us on this adventure had he not passed away was part of the Optimist Society. I had never heard about this group before I met Tom but thought that being an optimist sure sounded better than the alternative. I found the Optimists' Creed amongst his things and he told me that I could take it as I thought the ideas were so good that I needed to be reminded of them daily. Here is the Optimists' Creed:

Promise Yourself-
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

I'm still working on most of these areas but it sure is a nice roadmap for a happy life and I do totally celebrate each of my friend's milestones as if they were my own! (There's always something to celebrate I tell you!)

We're now in our apartment and have Mia down for her afternoon nap. We are breaking out the bottle of Moet that my Mom brought with her from Chicago. I almost started crying on the walk up to our building. We have made it through, we are done with our adoption stuff here and we get to go home. This is so amazing as truly I was expecting a hiccup, a wrinkle somewhere. This is just how things go in international transactions. I just can't believe it.

We're coming home. We're coming home. We are COMING HOME!!!