Our last official meeting with Nancy Bortman, our social worker, occurred this morning. She came to the house around 9:00am. We gave her a tour, and then retired to the living room, where she fired questions at us for an hour and a half. Wow.

Good questions, of course. Things like the following:
What attracted us to each other at first?
What do we admire about our spouse?
What do we dislike about our spouse?
What would be our own strengths as a parent?
What would be our weaknesses as a parent?
Why would your spouse make a good parent?
Describe your marriage.
How do you expect your marriage will change after receiving a child? How will your daily life change?

Then the fun financial questions. Exact amounts in every account, every loan, credit cards, etc. How do you expect to pay for this adoption?

Then the even MORE fun handouts - explanation of medical problems, "how to read a Russian medical form", and all kinds of other stuff. Information on common ailments of children from Russian orphanages - parasites, illnesses, etc. Some information on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects.

Whew. But THEN she allowed us to read our recommendations, which were beautifully written (thanks guys!). Nancy informed us that it will probably be close to another 6 weeks before we're "officially" approved. We await a fingerprinting appointment with the FBI and the full official homestudy, which she said won't be done for another 2-3 weeks.

And the waiting continues.