Report on Friday's Meeting

Congratulations to Erica who is bringing home a sweet little boy named Robert! *backflip* =D

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Well, the woman who had the wrong embryo implanted gave birth (c-section, actually) today to a healthy boy, and immediately handed the baby over to the genetic parents. What an example of selflessness… what an story of incredible heartbreak. Julie commented on it last week (and again as I was writing this entry), and I myself am not so sure that I would have gone through with it. Who knows what is in another’s heart?

Next stop, Lawsuit Land. :(

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Friday was an interesting day. On my way to work via S___b___s, I swung by the printer’s next door. I made changes to the last page and needed to reprint. It was an independent place, not a big box place, and the owner himself waited on me. He found it on the thumb drive, and I requested 10 copies. I went next door and read the paper while they did the order (there was a lady in front of me) and then I returned. The owner asked, “Are you the one adopting?”

“Yes, my husband and I are.”

“It’s a wonderful thing to see people making a difference in the world,” he replied as he put the receipt in the bag. “I wish you both a lot of luck.”

That really made my day.

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At lunch I left a few cards on the bulletin board at Einstein’s (a bagel place).

I felt rather brave doing that.

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After work, I drove over to Boss’s pal’s law office (I’ll call him ‘Buddy’ for the sake of brevity). I pull the door open, and when I look up I see someone pass in the corridor. I think, I know that person. And as I’m thinking it, the head whips back around the corner – it’s a classmate of mine from paralegal school. All huggy huggy, kissy kissy… LOL. We survived the worst ever writing class – it was so dumbed down, so ridiculous (it was literally being taught at the sixth grade level!!), that M and I tended to walk out of class at the break. The prof – a municipal judge – tried to bully us into staying, but we usually rolled our eyes and walked out.

I was waiting for DH to get there, so M and I were all chatty in the lobby, catching up, talking smack, debating the merits of getting one’s bar certification (our state bar has a cert for paralegals, entirely optional). We were in the middle of that topic when DH walked in. I introduced them, and we continued talking. Then after a few more minutes, M showed us to our conference room.

The lawyer showed up about ten minutes later, about 15 minutes late. Didn’t matter – DH and I were catching up a little on our day. When he walked in, I liked Buddy immediately. We talked wickedly about Boss, who he’s known for over 25 years. Buddy’s wife has to deal with Boss in conjunction with some political groups they’re both active with, and so we BS’ed over that, too. We spent a lot of time shooting bull.

Buddy was easy, informative, and recommended that we NOT advertise in the N. ew Ti .mes (a local free publication). The Sunday-calling attorney only told us to be cautious when doing so, but Buddy was adamant – don’t do it. It has turned into a paper that the crazies are attracted to it, and call and hound people. I wasn’t planning to anyway, mostly because it’s turned into such a garbagey rag; but it was an interesting turn of conversation.

We talked about openness and the growing trend of completely open adoption. We talked about insurance and the various things within the statutes that apply and don’t apply. We talked about ICPC for out of state adoptions – he was pleased to be able to say that in ICPC situations, he can get his turned around in about twenty-four hours because a) he’s done it forever and b) he knows the folks at the ICPC office. Of course that’s here in AZ; he has no control over anything out of state. Buddy agreed with my impression that it generally takes about a week. “You have to have all the documents and put them in the correct order,” is how he put it. However, he told us of a worst case scenario of a placement in Illinois that took six weeks. SIX WEEKS. Can you imagine? DH about fainted. Buddy reassured him that it certainly was not the norm.

It went really well and I went away with a good feeling – I think it was certainly a reflection on how my day started. DH agreed about the good vibe.

My only disappointment is that DH, once again, was almost totally uninvolved, partially because he still hasn’t done his homework, but also because there’s yet another investment group interested in buying the company he works for, and the whole mess that it entails. But the laziness has to change; I can’t have him flipping out on me when push comes to shove. He has also not gotten out of that room so we can at least start doing it. So frustrating.

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I spent most of today outside, and thought about how nice of a backyard we have for any future children.... granted, it needs to be leveled badly, before I finally break an ankle mowing the lawn. But still - it was rather gratifying.