pearl and pebble

I am a bit hesitant to post this because this is not the intention of my blogging experiences! But I just opened yet another bill from our adoption agency and am feeling a little low. It's NOT the $$ that bothers me so much, we knew to expect expenses. But I want the expenses to feel "legitimate". It is just so frustrating because, for instance, this particular invoice is for the home study renewal (we have just entered year 2). Fine. But the homestudy renewal consisted of: 1. Fingerprinting - fine but we did it last year, why again? Well the answer given = the state of MI doesn't keep them on file. (?) (This is a completely separate fee mind you) We also don't get fingerprinted at the state police's office. No Sir. They contract other people at various locations-for our convenience. Our convenient location was in a little room of an unidentified office space of some sort in a strip mall. Well, it did have a written sign on the inside I think. The convenient location had a girl who fingerprinted us on her laptop it seemed. The security agency takes information like SS, driver's licence, all names ever used etc. 2. The caseworker comes to the home - I guess to see that we still have electricity since last year's visit. 3. Physicals ( I have excellent cholesterol levels) 4. Three references from friends who have known you for at least (?) years or so. See here again, these people already did this last year. Apparently nobody keeps records of these letters either. The only thing we didn't have to do over, was the individual/couples "counseling" with the case worker. Which is a good thing because I didn't feel like rating my sex life for her again. I know that everyone just wants an appropriate environment for the baby. I would want peace of mind if I was making the decisions the birth parents are considering. I'm just venting I guess. I feel like the process and the state is somewhat unorganized. I'm sure there are reasons. So during this season as we all see those we normally see as well as those we don't, if while in the course of conversation any of you finds out that your cousin's daughter's boyfriend's sister is considering adoption please think of Mr. Pearl and Pebble and myself. This link will take you to our online profile. You may email me if you like. The online profile is part of our agency's website, so if the birth parent(s) want information they can access it from our page. Like I said, I don't intend to blog about our adoption journey per se. In general I like to wallow in my anonymity. But I feel a certain level of comfort at the moment with those of you who visit. So thanks for reading!