One step down...5,203,948,203,984,032,984,023,984 to go. At least that's what it seems.

I'm sure I'll get a few "I told you so"s from people about being such a spaz over the Orientation.  At least Mama S was slightly loony too over not knowing what to expect tonight!  Made me feel a little better, hehe.  It was pretty basic and mostly information we had already found out online.  A few adjustments to laws have been made very recently, which was news to us.  I was surprised at two things.  One, out of 93 people that signed up for the Orientation tonight only 40ish actually showed up (sad really).  And two, the vast majority of those people only wanted to foster and not adopt.  Not surprising considering it is a DCF orientation.  I'm stunned at how many people spend gobs of money to adopt when there are wonderful kids waiting in the system for virtually free.  All the fees (fingerprinting and home study fees) total less than $100.  I recently was told that someone going through a private agency locally was told that it would be $21,000 for a white child and $13,000 for a black child.  How sad this is to me!  We shouldn't be putting price tags on our children's heads!  I digress....

The next step out of the seemingly limitless to-do list is to take MAPP classes.  We are registered for our 5 weeks worth of classes and start Oct. 30th!!!  Translation:  6 hours on a Saturday for 5 weeks.  Once we get the MAPP certification, it's good for 5 years and we can foster or adopt with said certification.  After this, the dreaded Home Study begins and our lives and all our intimate details will get picked apart.  Sounds like a load of fun...  The mantra that will get us through is:  "It will all be worth it when we become parents....It will all be worth it when we become parents.....It will all be wor....".  You get the picture.