No more paperclips

Well, I guess it eventually had to happen, but I’ve run out of paperclips.  My case manager had suggested when I received my referral that I pull together a large number of paperclips (well over one hundred) and move one aside per day that I have waited to travel.  They’re all gone. 

I really never believed that I’d move the last clip over.  Notwithstanding my previous posts about trying to be optimistic, I really thought I would travel before I got even close to the last one (I mean, the number of clips represented not only the average time between referral and travel for my province, but also a significant buffer).   I had hoped that the buffer would’ve covered the delay caused by this new I-600 procedure (not announced when I received my referral).  Clearly, that was not the case.  In fact, it probably wasn’t even close.

So, I find myself caught in a dilemma.  As we all know, those of us involved in international adoption seem to engage in two fairly obsessive behaviors – blogging and counting.  It’s true, there’s even a t-shirt at Cafe Press about the blogging.  And don’t pretend you don’t know where you are in your wait for a referral or I-600 approval, you know you do (and if you didn’t count for the referral, you will for your I-600 approval).  I have my blog, so I’m set on that piece, but now that my clips are gone, what do I use for my countdown while awaiting approval?  I don’t really want to add more paperclips.  The paperclips made me happy.  I feel like I would taint them if they were associated with this last wait.

I need something tangible, something I can place on my desk at work, that I can dispose of once per day.  Instead of simply moving them from one side of my notice board to the other, I’ve decided that this time I’m going to completely eliminate these reminders of the final countdown in this process.  I’ve internalized everything else, why not this? 

I’m thinking of using those Cadbury creme eggs.  Sure, there’s the symbolism of the egg, of course, but more importantly, I would get to eat one of them every day that I wait.  Even better – since I’ve already knocked off a few days on this last 60 day clock, I would get to eat one for each of those days, too.  Ok, the concept of that particular binge is making me kind of queasy, but you get the picture.  Not exactly paperclips, but perhaps the right choice for this stage.  I mean, the photo alone is fairly nauseating.  What could be more appropriate?

January 29, 2008 Posted by Oscar and Etta's mom | Adoption, Waiting | 3 Comments