Amp up the stress (or a really long post about stuff that's bothering me)

I have returned, briefly, from the land of sleeping until 11, reading all day and eating Take 5 ice cream straight out of the carton so I can get my fingerprints re-done, as they have expired. The first thing I did when I got in the house, after holding Louie for a minute, was hook up the computer. Because yes, I am a loser. Who is addicted to the internet. I only had 350 emails to read as opposed to the 900 that I had last week after referrals. I feel stressed out about junk that has to be done. I feel rushed about things that have to be done. I despise feeling this way.

Let me just preface the following by stating that I will be returning to the beach tomorrow to finish out my week. I would like to get down there in a timely manner. Preferably before the sun goes down so I can sit on the beach for a while. No, I don't have to go back to the beach. But I want to. And it's only 3 hours away.

We got an email regarding our travel packet that must be faxedback to AWAA by Friday. I got our mail stopped and it will not arrive until tomorrow. So we do not have our travel packet yet. I feel nervous about that. Visa applications are in this packet as well as some travel papers that must be filled out. According to the sites of group members that I have checked, this paperwork has been sent back by all these people. So I feel like we are behind.

We are going to be re-fingerprinted tomorrow. My appointment is at 8 and David's is at 9. The fingerprint office is all the way up in Charlotte. We're going to have to leave the house at around 7. Yuck. Government workers are always crabby and mean. i would like to get done with this chore so I can return to the beach in a timely manner. We are going to pick up Cousy on the way home, plus we must fill out paperwork when we get home, assuming that the mail is there when we get home.

I need to buy a whole bunch of stuff to take to China. It makes me tense to think about all the stuff I need to buy because what if I forget something or we don't bring the right stuff? Or what if Maggie's clothes are all too big or are all too small???? What if she has no clothes to wear in China except for her clothes that she comes in?

We didn't get a lot of the pictures that I had planned to get when we got the referral. I wanted a picture of us (me) on the phone when we got the call. Of course, I was swimming in the ocean when the call came, as you know, so I didn't even get to be on the phone. We were going to re-create the referral call but we never did. We didn't get a picture with the FedEx lady. Mostly because I thought she looked scary. We didn't take a picture of us signing the acceptance paperwork. I'm mad about all that.

A bunch of people are sending care packages to their babies in the orphanages. Should we do that? Do we have time to do that? Should we use blessedkids.com or just send it ourselves? If we send it ourselves, do we address it in English or Chinese? Will Maggie really care in the long run or is this something she will some day scream at us about before her bedroom door slams? I know what I would put in there but I don't know what to do.

I have to find a pediatrician for Maggie before we go to China. I don't know what to do about that. I don't know who to use. I don't want to call a million doctors and say, "Have you ever treated internationally adopted kids?" Do I want to base my pediatrician choice on that? I don't really like our family practitioner so I would like to find a different doctor. We didn't have our referral paperwork looked over before we sent back the acceptance. Should we have done that? Or does it really even matter?

We still have not nailed down the daycare situation. What are we going to do when I have to go back to work? Is Maggie going to stay home by herself and play until I get back home? Also, we have to take $5000 in cash to China. It has to be really new money, like brand new would be better. We have the cash but it is not acceptable. That needs to be dealt with.

Do we want to fool with trying to make our own travel plans? Or should we just do it through the adoption agency? Do we have enough points on our credit card to upgrade our tickets? Should we buy another ticket for Maggie on the way home or should we just purchase a lap pass for her? Do we even have the money to buy her a seat?

Finally, our cable is messing up and I am MISSING "LOST." That is unacceptable. I love the Citi identity theft commercials. The one with the 2 old ladies is my favorite. I will post about iPod karaoke next time.