I Promise Our House Won't Explode!

Yesterday I called the Prince George's County Fire Marshal to see when we could get the house inspected for the homestudy and was told that they could send someone the next day.  Surprise!  So yesterday, after getting a bubble of TB shot under our skin, Doug and I started frantically cleaning and getting our house ready for the inspection.  Doug installed a carbon monoxide detector and another smoke detector.  I cleaned up all the fire hazards (mainly all the clothes on my side of the bedroom) and cleaned both bathrooms.  Doug completely transformed the basement so that we don't have to step over kayaks, bikes, and hockey gear to get to the laundry room.  I vacuumed every inch of floor space!  We made sure our address numbers were at least 5 inches tall, and any window that is higher than 44 inches off the ground was given a step stool.  Last but not least, Doug took time off to be home for the inspection.  And then we didn't pass . . .  Apparently since there is grease on our stove vent, our house could explode at any moment.

Another tricky moment happened when the inspector wanted to see the circuit box, which is in the mother-in-law apartment that is rented out separately.  The family that lives there is very nice, but only the husband speaks English, so we couldn't get access to the circuit breaker because he was at work.  And to top it off, we may need to get a land line in order to be approved.  I'm working with our homestudy agency to see if we can get around that last bit.

We are going to fix the vent and talk to our neighbors, then hopefully the inspector can come back later this week.  If we don't pass next time, I'm installing one of these:

Homestudy Medical Exams

Today Doug and I went to the doctor for our homestudy medical exams.  We ended up waiting an extra 45 minutes because it's snowing . . . For those who are curious, the medical exam is basically the same as your yearly physical (height, weight, blood pressure, temperature, etc.), but the doctor also has to fill out a form saying that we are expected to have a normal lifespan.  We had to be tested for Tuberculosis as well.  The test is a bit different.  We got an injection of the PPD tuberculin protein just under the skin (it stung!), and it makes a large bubble on your forearm.  We have to go back in 48-72 hours to have the "bubble" read.

Q&A: Why Peru?

So as Doug and I have been telling people about our plans to adopt from Peru, one of the more common questions we are asked is "Why Peru?"  How did we come to chose that particular country?  To start out, Doug and I looked at adoption programs in several countries, including Peru, and were able to narrow down the list based on each country's requirements (the main one is length of marriage: many countries require applicants to be married 3,5,10 years before applying).  Originally, we thought that Peru had a 2 year marriage requirement, until we found Villa Hope, and realized that the 2 year requirement was implemented by the individual agencies and not Peru!  Once Peru was open to us again, it was a no brainer.  I am half-Peruvian after all, just ask my Peruvian family!

So Much Paperwork!

Doug and I are still in the early stages of the adoption process, and things are going pretty smoothly.  However, reading through the adoption experiences of others I have been told that in about a year or so our feelings will be pretty much summed up like this:

Like I said, we are currently tackling all the paperwork like champs, but I haven't decided if the joke is funny or if it fills me with a creeping sense of foreboding.  Anyways, Happy Monday to all!  I'll return to the mountainous stack of paper now.