YES! I did it! I sent my dossier to Ontario. Now I have to wait!

I met with the adoption worker at my local agency today and went through the different things required for my dossier.  The list isn't long compared to some countries but it still took some putting together.
- Home study with current criminal record check
- Letter of Approval from the local agency (letter of approval from province only comes after I have  accepted the proposal of a child)
- medical reports (notarized copy of the basic one done by my GP on registering with local agency, I have to have a medical in my country on my first trip)
- notarized copy of my passport
- the infamous Form A, signed in front of a lawyer
- two character references (I sent three for good measure)
- marriage certificate (if applicable)

For good measure I also sent the agency a letter from my bank and a letter from my employer.  Whether Ontario uses them or not I will leave that up to them but I had them from when I started my dossier for Honduras so included them.  I figured as a single applicant they helped prove that I am able to support and care for a child financially.  As a teacher and a person who likes to be in control, that seems to be something a lot of us bloggers have in common, I had made photocopies for my agency.  Then when given the choice to send it myself or leave it with them, I opted to send it on my way home.  I came home and wrote a quick note to the lady in Ontario and then went up to the post office.

My local post office at Shoppers Drug Mart

My dossier in a padded envelope

Worried the dossier would get bent, I put the padded envelope in a cardboard priority envelope! 
Really!

I explained to the lady at the post office what I was sending and asked her if I could take her photo for documenting the journey.  She declined which I am completely okay with.  I totally respect her privacy and she must have thought me nuts!  But oh, well!  I got the idea to try and do this from one of the Honduran blogs I follow.  Last fall, one of my fellow bloggers had a UPS man deliver some important documents who was only too happy to have his picture taken for his part in the process.   Anyway, $45 later, but this is a drop in the ocean, my dossier will arrive in Toronto on Friday.  I can't believe it!  I have finally submitted it!  As I left school at 3:02, my new administrator knowing that I am involved in the adoption process, guessed why I was running out behind the kids as the bell was still echoing, and wished me the best of luck.  I have waited so long for today!

What now all those of you following my blog and not in the adoption process yourself?
My dossier has to be approved by the agency in Toronto, attested by my country's consulate and then sent to my country.  Luckily there is no translation needed, so this saves both time and money. The tme frame on this next step, I'm not sure of.  I am leaving the "ticker" ticking, until my Ontario agency tells me it has arrived in my country.  Once the country receives it, then I can look forward to hearing that it is in line for court and then hopefully be given a travel date for the first trip.

Needless to say, happy and thrilled, I stopped off at the liquor store on my way home and bought a nice bottle of  white wine.  I never drink wine with dinner, unless I at home with my family in Victoria, but figured today's events were cause for celebration.  FYI:  I don't like to drink points, I prefer to eat them.  I chilled it in the freezer and then enjoyed a lovely glass of wine with my dinner of trout, green beans and carrots. No carbs because I then had a Rogers' cream heart, vanilla flavour.  If you are ever in Victoria, you've got to stop at the main Rogers' Chocolate store on Government Street.  You'll go home with a lot of chocolate!



This isn't the vanilla one, it's the chocolate one I have left!  That is unless I decide to share it.



Oh and these are the flowers on my table.  My mother has always said I should have flowers and since last September I have been trying really hard to keep some on my table.

Excuse the mess on the table, the photo wasn't what you could call staged!