Money

Money, as you probably know, is a big part of the adoption process. Most people don't have an extra $25,000 sitting around. We don't either. Lots of adoptive families have fund-raising pages and hold events in order to raise the funds. Now that we are just waiting for our article 5 and Travel Approval, I'm starting to worry about the orphanage donations. Yes, donations is the word they use, although the fees are mandatory. Last week I took my wedding ring set (from my late-husband) to be appraised so that I can list it for sale on Craigslist. Ken died almost 10 years ago, the ring just sits in a drawer, and we need the money for the adoptions. We also rented our cottage out over the 4th of July holiday, when we have always reserved that week for ourselves.I am hoping that little extra income from the cottage rental will make a dent in the bills.But we actually HAVE a cottage, so fund-raising isn't something I'd feel comfortable doing. We can always take out a home equity loan, if we have to, so I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I'm not. I'm just saying that adoption really is expensive. Recently, I activated the adsense google ads on this blog, but so far that has not generated a single dollar. Yesterday, I called Royal Caribbean to see if we could cancel our cruise (Feb. break) and get a refund on our credit card. Nope. We will lose $3,000 if we cancel now, plus the price of the airline tickets. I booked the cruise last year, thinking we'd have the boys home by now. Instead, it looks like we will be going on a very expensive vacation, only 6 weeks before going to China. Not a good way to manage money. If we were two weeks earlier with all our documents we could've gone to China in February, and not the cruise, but Elizabeth thinks we'll need at least three weeks to receive travel approval, since we're adopting two children. Our article 5 will be picked up Feb. 1st.That means we should get travel approval mid-to late February, while we are on the cruise probably. Oh well, this too shall pass, and years from now we will look back and remember fondly. Money isn't what we remember, when we look back. Once again I have to remember that my plan is not His plan. On a positive side, I spoke to Elizabeth at our agency for 45 minutes last night. She assured me that the travel agency will somehow be able to get us rooms in Guangzhou during the trade show. The rooms show sold out (or triple the price) online, but the agency always holds a few rooms just for adoptive families. She said the last time they had serious trouble during the trade show was 2003, and then they simply housed the family in the suburbs an hour away. I wanted to stay in the Holiday Inn Shifu, but beggars can't be choosers. What this means is we have tentative dates now. We can we travel to Harbin April 7th, begin the adoption of Dang, Tong (Leo) April 9th, fly to Jinan April 11th, adopt Fu, KangChao (Sam) that week, fly to Guangzhou April 13, have our medical appointment etc. and our consulate appointment on April 19...home April 20-21. Whew. Got all that? Looks like today I'll be looking at flights!