Hi.  The old adage, No news is good news, was clearly coined by someone who was not pursuing international adoption. 

I and several other bloggers and recent new friends who are adopting from Kazakhstan seem to be in the same boat.  A sail boat (possibly going to Australia purrrrhaps?) with the sails up and not a darn smidgeon of wind. 

Now it is not all bad because I have come to the conclusion that I have an immense amount of things to accomplish before I can get on the plane to good ole Kazakhstan.  And believe it or not, not all of it has to do with the aforementioned little girl.  A decent amount does but then there are all the things I want to make sure I have done in regards to work, my house, my dogs, my finances (just how does one pay the bills from Kazakhstan?), my mail, etc.  I wrote up about four pages worth of things that have to be done so that I can leave in a state of calm versus a state of panic and chaos.  But here is the rub. 

I can’t seem to concentrate worth a damn.  I mean what little concentration I was able to keep a grasp on has currently slipped through my fingers. 

I keep having little lectures with myself about buckling down and plowing through the workload at work and home so I will have a chance in h*e double hockey sticks at getting everything I need to do, done in time, but it isn’t working.  I am starting to really annoy myself. 

At the same time I am starting to feel the pinch of the stress regarding the final leg of the financial side of the adoption.  There are two parts to the finances for a Kaz adoption.  The fees you pay before you travel and the fees and expenses you pay when you are in country. 

When you travel to Kazakhstan you end up taking quite a large amount of US currency ($100 dollar bills – brand new/absolutely no marks, creases, tears nothing or they don’t take them) on your person.  This is done in the form of a money belt, neck belt, thigh belt, etc.  I can’t imagine how people do this without feeling like a drug trafficker/money launderer/etc.  Actually, I just read a blog last week where the adoptive father commented on how he was strolling through the Frankfurt Airport with enough cash strapped to his inside thigh to purchase a Toyota.  Pretty funny until you realize you will at some point be doing the same thing.  So, I have been trying to be extra careful with any non essential purchases which let me tell you puts the cabosh on buying any cute girly things I may spy while out and about. 

 Part of the stress (for future adoptive parents from Kaz) is that the first half of the expenses are spread out over the first seven months of the adoption journey and they are in pretty reasonable (as reasonable as international adoption expenses can get) increments.  Not enjoyable but reasonable.  Then you get to the point where you are ready to go and the second half of the expenses have to go with you all at one time.  I actually talked to my bank a few weeks ago about the process of ordering new money/bills.  It takes several weeks for them to get the new bills in so you have to “order” your money early.  Otherwise, you end up like a few other bloggers I have read about who are ironing bills (no I am not kidding) at the last minute and running from bank branch to bank branch to try and exchange enough old bills for new ones.  I am going to go off and investigate money belts now.  If there are any Adoptive Parents that would like to rent me the use of their money belt for my trip feel free to leave a comment.  I doubt I will ever use it again – unless I adopt again – and would prefer to not have to spend more cash on it then I have to.