Brothers, Typhoid, Yuppies, Sad Anniversaries and Fingerprints

While yesterday marked the one-year of our adoption application officially being accepted by our agency, it also was the day my brother came home from Hawaii after serving in Iraq! I was so happy to see him, but even more so, I was relieved to see he's retained his sense of humor. Last night, he, my mom, my oldest brother and Tim had dinner and laughed a lot. It was what we all needed, I think.

And speaking of the adoption application, I've had a few e-mails and comments about why is it taking so long - is it our agency's fault since they've seen other agencies advertise much shorter wait times. I would like to think not. Our agency was one of the first allowed into Ethiopia, so I think they know what they're doing. My fear is that other agencies are offering projected wait times from when the program started, which were obviously much shorter. But now that more people are interested in Ethiopia and more agencies are authorized, things have slowed. But who knows. And if all of this means that fewer infants are being placed for adoption, that's a wonderful thing!

Yesterday I also had a very yuppie moment (not sure what you call the yuppies of my generation, so I think we all still use that term). I went to Starbucks in the fashionable Fan to get an iced coffee for me and latte for my mom. When I came out, my hipster Jetta was parked side-by-side to no less than four other Jettas! Then,I went to the local Mac store to upgrade the operating system on my Mac laptop, after which, Tim and I went to Sam's Club so he could get his own iPod. It was kind of surreal.

Typhoid. No, I don't have it, and I'm actually quite surprised! I finally took my oral typhoid vaccine this week, four pills taken every other day (I opted for the pill because it's effective longer than the shot). It's a live vaccine, so I believe there's a risk of getting the disease from the vaccine... could be wrong about that, though. But, I know many people have side effects. But I didn't! My stomach was a little upset yesterday but that's it. Maybe I'm getting less wimpy after all.

Lastly, I sent off our form to be refingerprinted by Homeland Security late last week and we got our letter yesterday. So fast! We're going the end of this month.

Ok, seriously, this is really it: When you leave our blog, please visit the Gurskes and Habesha Child, two bloggers we love who are in Ethiopia now and will soon return with their beautiful children. We wish them safe travels - Sarah