The Paperchase, Take 2 - Accepting My Referral!

One would think that accepting a referral would be easy – sign a few papers, write a check, and mail it back. But this was not the case as I found out this weekend while preparing my packet to accept the referral of Gabriella!

The first obstacle was that I felt like the instructions took a rocket scientist to follow! For example, I had 4 of the same forms to sign – 2 had to be signed in blue ink, and 2 had to be signed in black ink. What did I do? I signed all 4 in blue ink, then read the directions, and then freaked out! I told my agency about my mistake and they had to prepare new forms for me so that the forms could be signed with the proper ink color!

The Power of Attorney form was my next big obstacle. My passport number on it was incorrect because I got a new passport number after I changed my last name. Once I had a corrected form I had to get it notarized, state certified in Boston and then country authenticated at the Consulate of Guatemala in Providence (which meant more time away from work!). I had to do this all today because if I didn’t, my packet would have missed my agency’s mailing to Guatemala tomorrow and I would have been delayed by a week – and God knows every single day is precious in this process.

I then had to figure out which of the forms had to be notarized and which did not have to be. Luckily, I have a co-worker who is a notary which has been a blessing through this process.

Finally, I FedEx’ed my completed package to my agency for delivery tomorrow morning – I was given instructions not to UPS it or send it via the US Postal Service – only FedEx!

I am praying that the finished packet was completed correctly! Gabriella is already giving me grey hair and she is not even a teenager yet! Of course this is a joke and I cannot wait until she is home!