Asking for help - always a good thing!

Paul, and probably many of my friends and other family, would classify me as a type A++ personality...not in terms of being great haha but in terms of being thorough, particular, driven, etc (ok maybe anal would come to mind as well). Generally my first thought when faced with a task is 'how can I get this done' and not 'who could help me'. I have become better at this over the years, thanks in part to an amazing group of friends and a support system that I know I can rely on. But with adoption stuff I still seem to usually fall into the same rut since most things other people can not do for you...completing paperwork, getting medicals done, going to the notary, practicing Russian, learning about attachment, etc, etc. So today I was quite proud of myself for actually puttng the 'problem' in someone else's hands.

From a previous post you may know about our current issue with having to get re-fingerprinted for our US approval. I had sent our request via express mail last Thurs only to find today that it had still not been picked up and I learned on one of the Russian adoption forums I frequent that the local CIS office is not keen on being contacted by adoptive parents. Great. I am usually not comfortable until I can figure out a way to address a problem so this was gnawing at me most of the day. Then I remembered our wonderful home study agency in MA and immediately got in touch with the director. I asked if she could call the CIS office for us and she got back to me within an hour saying she had spoken to the contact, who had been out of town for the past week and who would get the mail tomorrow and work to get us an appt quickly. The agency director than said if we needed anything else to call her and she'd get back in touch with the CIS office. How great is that?!? We had already chosen our placing agency before we needed to have a new home study done but we would HIGHLY recommend Florence Crittenton League in Lowell to anyone that needs a homestudy in MA (and they also have a Russia program). They are the best!!

So we don't have an appt yet, but it feels good to know where things stand, that there is a contact person AND that there is someone who can help.