Oh, about a year from now.......

That is what I have been saying since October when asked "WHEN" or "HOW MUCH LONGER" the adoption will take. It's February and I am still saying "Oh, about a year". We've made lots of progress on our end but I can't say for certain that it has brought us any closer to our daughter. Emotionally closer absolutely, but physically closer, not so much. Forms, notaries, doctors visits, fingerprints, financial statements, homestudys, certifications, authentications blah blah blah and still I'm saying "oh, about a year."

Yesterday I visited my local UPS Store to overnight our 171H to the courier who will take it to the Chinese consulate for authentication. We have used the UPS store for our overnight shipping as well as many of the notarys that we needed. Not that I have anything against any of the other overnight shippers. The UPS Store is just up the street so it is really just a matter of convenience. And let me say they have been GREAT. They know it's all for the adoption and they check and re-check everything they do for us. (Then they wait patiently while I check everything over three more times.) Everyone in the store is very excited and have made me promise to bring our daughter in to meet them. Yesterday, this is the conversation I had with the woman at the UPS store.

Her: "Hey Karen, how much longer?"
Me: "Oh, about a year"
Her: "What, how can that be? You are in our notary book a hundred times and you've spent a fortune on overnight fees." (I love someone who exaggerates for dramatic purposes like me - In reality, it's significantly less than a hundred and slightly less than a fortune.)
Me: "I know"
Her: "What happened?"
Me: "Nothing, the process has just slowed down a bit in the last few months"
Her: "That stinks."
Me: "Yeah, it does"

It's not so much the waiting that bothers me (yet). It's not knowing how long we will wait. Yes, I know this is common with adoption whether it be domestic or international. We did LOTS of research and we signed a contract with our agency that basically said anything can happen. I get that. And we will wait as long as we have to and will jump through as many hoops as we have to. Our paperwork is not even in China yet so LOTS can happen with the timelines between now and whenever.
We will just keep a close eye on the referrals and get more and more excited every time they come in. Eventually we will have a better guess on when it will be our turn. In the meantime, I'm going to find another answer for "WHEN?".