The cranky pants have shrunk again

We just received a fax to let us know that the adoption paperwork we redid last month had a problem.

This is the paperwork recreated by me, previewed by our agency, then notarized by the nice notary lady, approved by the County Clerk who sweated me about the nice notary lady's signature, authenticated over a 5-day period by the Guatemalan Consulate who failed to actually complete the form until I showed up teary-eyed, held up in transit by Fed Ex for three days because they thought Guatemala had zip codes, reviewed by our attorney, reviewed by our Guatemalan facilitator, translated into Spanish overnight, authenticated and stamped again by the GUA external affairs for five days and then finally, after over two and a half weeks, was resubmitted to the PGN this morning only to be sent back out the door, a look of embarrassment about it because it just wasn't...quite...right.

If someone, anyone had looked closely at it two weeks ago we would be fine. But I, in my rush, missed one word...and none of the professionals associated with the case caught it or perhaps even read it. So I here I sit, ready to bludgeon someone, something, somewhere.

Receiving a fax with this news rather than a phone call is the equivalent of the post-it note break up. It's simply not done. And now we can’t even be friends.

My cranky pants are riding high, my kleenex box is almost empty, and I'm waiting for something good to happen or a house to fall on my head. It could really go either way. In the meantime, G has hugged me and slipped quietly from the room should flying coffee cups or an unregistered firearm suddenly appear.

I am not an angry person. I'm a goddamn happy person whose very soul has been plundered by bureaucracy and negligence and damnit, I don't like that. Let me go back to my ruthless optimism, people, and don my fuzzy robe of happiness instead of these tight cranky pants.

Donations of kleenex, fresh cut flowers or boxes of sugar-free chocolate with sympathetic words inscribed on the box all welcome. In the meantime I will focus on this little face and know that someday soon, she will know: Mama is on her way. And once she gets you, she’s never letting go.