We said YES

     Life is so funny and God must have a sense of humor. So, I wrote earlier how I feel like each phone call could be THE call in which our child will be placed with us. Well, today my phone was ringing an awful lot (which, where I work, we don't get a lot of calls so 5 in one day is a LOT). The final call of the day came around 3:45. It was Consuelo. She was calling with a placement, but I needed to speak with another social worker named Heather.

     Heather came on the phone and said they had a placement for two little girls ages 1 and 3 and that she had spoken to Flaco, but he said to talk to me (btw, Heather does not speak Spanish, so I'm sure that must have been an awkward call for Flaco and Heather!). She explained that the girls "supposedly" have the same father, but he is MIA in Puerto Rico. Their mother was put in jail today for making terroristic threats and it sounds like this was mom's last chance to get her act together. The girls are Hispanic with no developmental, emotional, or medical problems. The mom thought the younger girl might be developmentally slow, but none of the caseworkers noticed. She would need to be tested. The mom also said the older girl was aggressive with the younger girl, but they were not sure to what extent (maybe just sibling rivilry). They need to place the children TONIGHT. I said yes. I guess I was working on the assumption that Flaco had already said yes . . . . Regardless, I went into panic omg-omg-omg-omg-omg mode. I let Heather know that we did not have car seats. She said they might have one at CHOR we could borrow and perhaps a friend had another one we could borrow. She said she would call me back to let me know when and where we would be picking up the girls. I said I would be at work until 4:30 and gave her my work number. And PANIC!!

     The first thing I did was went and talked to my friend Sara (she works in my office for another agency), who has been a foster parent and recent adoptive parent with CHOR. She has a crib for us that we have been trying to coordinate for my father to pick up for about 2 months now. I let her know we would need it tonight. And of course, I told her what was happening and asked if she had a carseat we could borrow. Then I told my boss that I might not be at work tomorrow. I just kind of blurted out that we are adopting through the foster care system and I might need to stay home and watch two precious little girls tomorrow but I also might not know this until tomorrow. He was ok with it but joked that I test his patience. Eh, whatever. I then eagerly waited by my phone for Heather to call back. 4:30 rolled around and no call.  Now, originally I had a hair cut appointment and had planned to grab a gyro at the only place in the county where they make a decent gyro (it's not terribly close to me or any of my normal haunts, so I don't go there a lot - but it IS close to my hairdresser, so I treat myself after getting all beautiful). I had some other little errands I was going to do as well. But, the second the call came, like any parent, I dropped everything for "our" girls. The second I got in my car after work, I called my hairdresser and rescheduled for next week. Then I called my dad to see if he could go get the crib and bring it to our place. I called and left a message for Heather to let her know I was no longer at work and she should contact me on my cell. I drove home, hardly paying attention to the traffic build-up due to an accident on the other side of the road.

    When I got home, Flaco was in PANIC mode. He was just plain freaking out. Men were not built for this kind of stuff, I swear! He was nervous and having doubts - I had to talk him off the ledge. Flaco does better when he is busy, so we went to a car wash place to vaccuum out the car. Of course, while we were there my phone rang. Now, I had it in my pocket and it vibrates so I could feel it since hearing anything over the vaccuums is impossible. Of course, I missed the call and it was a blocked number. When the voicemail came through it was Heather. Of course. She said she had been trying to get ahold of the county, but had not heard anything. She said they might just bring the girls to our house. I called back, desperate to reach Heather and ask her what the hell that meant, but ended up leaving her a weird semi-frantic message. I said we were newbies. [Rolling eyes at self] Then I began frantically texting Sara while Flaco drove home. Like Speedy Gonzalez and the Tasmanian Devil, we began to wildly clean the house (it wasn't a total disaster, but not as clean as we would have liked) and try to get the room a little more prepared (it's just a hodge-podge of furniture and shoes I didn't put away). And now we wait.

     Usually, I write these posts when I am bored at work. This one is actually LIVE! So, we are waiting to see if the county will just show up like a derranged stork, dropping off these girls I have already gotten used to calling ours. I desperately want them to be with us. As with the other two (failed) placements, I love them already. I am already looking forward to making them pancakes for breakfast (is that too inappropriate?) and spending the day getting to know them. And my sister and her boyfriend are coming up this weekend, so I am excited for them to meet the girls. I have Monday off thanks to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so I have time to find daycare and get the girls settled. I dont' care if it is two in the morning, I will welcome them with wide open arms. If I am able, I will post later to let my dear readers know what is happening. For now, I need to find something for dinner - I think it might be cereal!