Children's Aid/FACS.....yay.

Well we went to the lawyer yesterday to start the adoption with him....and he informed us that we will probably have to have a home study done by FACS.



I. HATE. FACS.

They are the WORST organization to deal with and to have to invite them into my home scares the SHIT out of me.

They can do whatever they want....and I know this because of what has happened to me in the past.

I'm afraid that they may hinder this process for us....and if they do that, the shit will hit the fan because I will most likely take my story to the media at that point.

After having my 7 year old son left in a home where they had JUST removed pot plants, be it 2 or 28, I think the media would have a hayday with that one!

So, I guess we'll see how it goes.

Meme

Not tagging anyone, do it if you feel like it!

1. What I was doing five years ago:
~Being severely depressed and slightly crazy....

2. Five things on my to-do list:
~ laundry
~ clean the porch
~ find a job I can do from home
~ make a payment to ICS before they decide they won't let me graduate because I owe them money all the time :S
~ find a new book to read

3. Five favourite smells:
~ patchouli
~ comet cleanser (though this will change when I'm not pregnant anymore)
~ pine sol (see above)
~ bon-fires
~ Karma soap from Lush

4. Five junk-food items I enjoy:
~ fast food of just about any kind
~ chocolate
~ pepperettes
~ cream soda
~ chips and dip

5. Five favourite articles of clothing:
~ maternity yoga pants
~ maternity capri yoga pants lol
~ maternity shorts (might as well be yoga shorts lol)
~ grey flimsy maternity shirt
~ maternity sweater
*I like all of these articles of clothing even when I'm not pregnant....they're just TOOOOO comfortable to put them away...so I wear them around the house lol

6. Five things I would do if I was a billionaire:
~ make sure my family & friends had everything they needed
~ build a brand new custom house with like 8 bedrooms and have more children!
~ open a home for unwed teen mothers that does NOT insist on preaching to them through out their entire pregnancy...
~ go on vacation for as long as I feel like
~ send my kids to private school

7. Five of my bad habits:
~ I'm needy...can't help it
~ I'm addicted to chapstick
~ I procrastinate too much
~ I like to get my own way :S
~ I am too forgiving...like even when I shouldn't be....it's bad....

8. Five jobs I've had:
~ China Star...most horrible job I ever had in my whole life.
~ telemarketer
~ Food Basics cashier
~ Subway Sandwich Artist
~ Car financing/admin assistant

9. Five all time favourite movies:
~ Almost Famous
~ Circle of Friends
~ Empire Records
~ Girl, Interupted
~ Napoleon Dynamite

10. Five favourite bands/musicians:
~ Ani DiFranco
~ Incubus
~ Beatles
~ Maroon 5
~ Cake

Third Trimester

27 weeks 5 days.....I think he may be a big baby!

Information that would have been useful LAST THURSDAY.

Well, the court house called. *sigh*..............................*rolls eyes*

We need a certified copy of the statement of live birth (that will cost $35.00 and can only be paid for with a credit card) before they will even look at the application.

Also, "things need to be consistent!" according to the lady on the phone...

What things you might ask? Things such as the names on the forms....it seems we've put different names as the person who was applying. I asked for an example.

Lady: "Well, on one form, you have J.M.L listed as the applicant, and on another one you have J.L. listed as the applicant." *Note, that the J's and L's are the EXACT SAME NAME.

Me: "Yes, well some of the forms asked for 'Name' and the others asked for 'Full name', hence why we've written M, J's middle name on some of the forms but not the others."

Lady: "Well, it has to be consistent."

Me: *sigh*

So, in short, she told me that she's never seen a Step-Parent Adoption be accepted and or finalized without legal representation.

Me: "So why didn't someone tell us that we wouldn't be successful without legal representation when we came in to file the application in the first place on Thursday of last week?"

Lady: "I didn't say that it wouldn't be successful without legal representation."

Me: "Well, that's it in a nutshell, no? If you've never seen it happen, then we had best get some representation?"

Lady: "Well, it would be wise if you want this to go through and not be delayed, yes."

Me: *sigh*

Lady: "Would you like me to mail your paper work back to you?"

Me: "Well, I guess so, seeing as you can't do anything with it anyway...*rolls eyes*"



UGH.

So, I called my lawyer...so much for this not costing anything. I'll wait for the paper work to come back, order the statement of live birth (certified copy none the less which costs $10 more than the regular birth certificate, why that won't do I don't know), and make an appointment with my lawyer to start the paper work all over again so that it's CONSISTENT.

My lawyer's assistant says that even with legal representation the court house is ridiculously meticulous about the paper work for adoption...

Information that would have been useful when I picked up the forms to start this process in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why can't they just tell you that from the start???

With a side of sarcasm, please?

Why is it that everytime I go to the court house to do something, the bitch*AHEM* lady behind the counter won't volunteer ANY information at all or if she does, she's super sarcastic about it? Do they take lessons???? JEEZ!

Conversation today while at the court house filing the adoption papers:

Lady: You're going to attempt to do this without a lawyer?

Us: Yes, it would appear that way....

L: Ok, is this everything?

U: Yes...are we missing something?

L: No.

U: *thinking to myself, then why are you asking if this is everything?????*

L: Ok, we'll call you...

U: Call us?

L: Yes, well, you can't expect it to be done on the spot!

U: Well no, but what do you mean call us, don't you give us a court date?

L: No, we'll give this to the clerk and when she's satisfied that it's complete she'll give it to the judge to make the order, if you want to attend, we'll set up a time for that, otherwise you don't need to be here for it to be finalized.

U: Oh, ok, so if something isn't complete you'll let us know and then we will finish what needs to be finished and bring it back in again?

L: Well, no, we can't tell you how to complete it....

U: No, I'm not asking you how to complete it but someone will at least let us know WHAT IT IS that's not complete, right??

L: Oh, yes.

U: Ok...that's all I wanted to know, thanks...we'll wait for your call *ROLLING EYES*


Like really??? And it's that way EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I know they're not allowed to give legal advice but COME ON. At least EXPLAIN to me what you're saying...you may have done this 100 times but this is MY first time....

So, now we sit and wait, and from the way she put it, it sounds like it could be a while before we hear anything. *sigh*

Sunday Scribblings - The Photograph

This is a picture of my father who passed away from lung cancer last June. This is an important/special picture because it was taken about a week before he passed. This photo will always remind me why I don't want to smoke (I am a former smoker) and will always be what I come back to if I ever feel like I want to smoke.





This picture really doesn't represent the man he was:







From top left: My father, my sister Cory, my sister Jenny (who is also passed)
In front: My step mother Barb and Baby me....