this morning i woke up to a voice that told me to get this silly social security number situation solved today. i was fearful of going to the Social Security Administration offices. don't ask me why, but the idea had me freaked. really freaked. how freaked? well, i am celebrating my 12 year wedding anniversary this weekend and i still have yet to change my social security card to my married name. crazy, i know, but there it is.
so when in China, at the US Consulate, they asked if i would like to apply for numbers immediately. I said, "YES!" whew, one less thing to worry about when i get home. i have dreaded the trip to the SSA for twelve years.
after doing the walk of shame (the fruitless walk back from the mailbox while waiting on important adoption paperwork...i think my friend maria might have coined the term, not sure though) for the last 4 weeks, i finally was going to get answers to where my numbers were, TODAY!
i called the SSA before, only to get a recording that the call wait time was two hours. so this morning, i put on a movie for the troops, and warned them to leave me alone- i was making an important call. little did i know that i would get a live person on the phone in less that 2 minutes. she explained to me that they had NO RECORD of us applying for numbers. what? she urged me to come to an office as soon as possible.
OK, i put on my big girl pants(after taking the world's fastest 5 point shower-not sure if my back ever did get wet) and yelled to E, drill sergeant style...get everyone dressed, grab some snacks, get some activities to keep everyone busy for a minimum of 5 hours and meet me in the car!! i flew around the house grabbing every document i could think of...i even grabbed my birth and marriage certificates...might as well change my own card to my married name-S can consider it an anniversary gift!
we pulled into the SSA parking lot 65 minutes later! go girl!
i walked in expecting a three hour wait. i waited for maybe three minutes. my heart thumped as they called my number. the fellow took my paperwork and asked me to fill out a couple of one page forms. when i asked him if i could change my card to my married name too, he responded that i would need my marriage certificate. i whipped one out of my bag(thank you adoption dossier paperchase) to his surprise. yes, this momma was on a mission and failure was not an option.
about 30 minutes later they called me back to the window and said a number would be issued by 10 PM tonight. i could expect my card in 7-10 days. if i don't get it in 14 days-call.
what? that was it? i jumped through hoops to file taxes all these years because my SS# has a different last name than ALL my other documents? you see how silly fear is? fear usually is worse than the reality. i am such a dope. when will i learn?
was i mad that we have waited all this time? nope. i was just grateful that health insurance is on the way. God has His plans. He waited on my numbers for some purpose. haven't a clue what it is, but i don't care. He knows what He is doing. i trust Him, so why do i have to know the why?
OK to be honest, those closest to me know i beg Him for a peek at His playbook often, but i am learning. this adoption stuff stretches and changes us in ways we could never have imagined.
we went out for lunch to celebrate mom's victory over fear and mad skills mobilizing the troops for this unplanned excursion. i chose chinese food, because the kids could pick their own food. little did i know i would choose the only chinese restaurant i have ever been in that had no chinese characters on the menu. oh no! we got up to leave,when the waitress asked what was wrong. i told her the children cannot read english yet. she asked them in mandarin what they wanted to eat and they ordered cheap and healthy lunches. the miracles never cease! momma's even happier.
as we drove home, the clouds parted and the sun came out. score! i decided to finally put up the trampoline after having it stored for the winter. after an epic fail of sewing the net onto the frame,(duh! the door opening goes under the arches) we took the whole thing apart and reinstalled it. even S and B got into action and helped sew it up. what normally takes over an hour, we completed in 35 minutes(well if you ignore the first hour we spent doing it wrong). then the children took their first tentative bounces. oh what joy!
the bees were buzzing, there has been an explosion of green everywhere, the cows were happily munching by the water, the goslings were playing on the island while their cautious Canada geese parents supervised close by, the sun was warm enough for me to shed my sweater...ah Lord, You are AMAZING! look what You have made. our own little piece of Eden.
in reality, not that much happened today, but things have been hard. this week was tough. it was nice to have a day that everything went my way. no fighting between the children, no hitting or bloodshed, no screaming mommy, no messing around at bedtime. harmony. time to take stock of all my blessings. time to revel in them. what more can we ask?
i know that all things change and there will be tough days ahead. but i am looking up because that is where HE is. i am singing his praises and my thanks because even one good day can erase the sting of a string of bad ones.
my prayer for you, my reader, is for an "UP" day tomorrow. God Bless Your Day!
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