Preparation

This time in one month I will be sitting in our adoption seminar. I will be learning more about the jungle of paperwork and the mass of emotion that will soon envelop our lives.

I knew it would come quickly, but seriously....I feel completely unprepared.

Mostly because of that darn profile book. Luckily a good friend offered to scan my photos for me while we're on vacation and I can't even tell you how much that means. How much relief it is to me that I don't have to do that.

Which got me thinking about being there for your friends. I've read many blogs, many articles where people offer advice on what to say and do when a friend is suffering. When they are grieving, when they're lost, when they're hurting. If you have an infertile friend, what to say (or avoid saying!). If your friend is grieving over a miscarriage, what do you do?

If your friend is infertile and adopting and you want to help? The very best thing is to offer something specific. My friend who is scanning the photos said the most wonderful gesture "this is something I can do for you". She isn't adopting, she doesn't know what we're going through or what I'm experiencing. But the mere offer of scanning my photos into a digital file has brought me such relief. Hard to explain.

Thanks, Lady, by the way. Hope you don't regret it!

Anyway....back to the seminar. It's in exactly one month! I'm trying to prepare myself emotionally for the event, as I know it will be emotional. I'm trying to also figure out all the things I need to do to get ready for the "paper pregnancy". I'm trying to get John prepared for all the essay questions he'll have to answer. Obviously I don't have a problem expressing feeling and writing essays...I have two blogs, after all!

But, I know technically I can't really prepare. I'm having a hard time getting too excited. "It could happen so quickly" is what I hear most often. But it can also take a long time to happen. I have to be prepared to be a mother right away, but I also have to prepare myself that it could be another year (or, gulp, two) before I'm a mommy. That's the hardest. Protecting my heart from too much excitement, while at the same time being prepared for anything.

Anyway...that's just my thought for today. Thanks to Yoka for nominating me for the Kind Blogger Award. Yoka is awaiting the birth of her baby in just a few months, and I'm so glad we're along for the ride! I'll think of some awards here pretty soon....