Never Pray for Patience!

Having patience has always been a struggle for me. So I often ask God to help me get better at it. The only problem with that is that He gives me opportunities to practice! Last week, just as I was getting ready to print a MAJOR project for my piano students since lessons are starting soon, my printer toner ran low. No big deal. I took the cartridge out, shook it around a bit, and put it back in. I got a few more copies out of it before it started fading again. Well, having to buy more toner was the least of my worries. Soon, a horrible screeching noise could be heard throughout the house! Something was obviously very wrong with the Trusty Printer that had served me well for 6 years, so I cancelled the print and opened up the printer. As long as it was open, there was quiet. As soon as I would close it, the screech would return.
Time spent: 10 minutes

Later, after unplugging it for awhile, I tried plugging it back in, and letting it make the horrendous sound while it warmed up. It did finally stop the noise, but sent an error message and refused to print. I tried this a few more times. Next, my mechanically gifted husband took it apart to see if there was an obvious problem he could fix. No success.
Time spent: 30 minutes

That evening I tried the online support. I followed all the advice, but to no avail. The error message I'd received was a "critical failure" message, so they recommended contacting Hewlett Packard.
Time spent: 45 minutes (we have dial-up, remember)

Friday I called HP. I must say, their customer service reps were all very friendly, and I could almost understand them all. But, their system could definitely use some improvement on getting you to the right place! I talked to a machine for awhile, then finally got a person. The first conversation was with a technicican who listened to my story, and suggested a trade-in. After explaining everything, he then told me the cost. Only a quarter of what I'd paid for Trusty Printer, so I went ahead and did that.
Time spent: 30 minutes

Monday my printer arrives. Lo and behold, it's an entirely different model. The guy on the phone neglected to tell me that. This is a newer one and better-featured, but it didn't have a flat-bed scanner, which I need to use quite frequently for piano lessons. If you were the guy on the phone, don't you think you would've mentioned that? Then again, maybe he did, but not in English. So, I call them back. The friendly female machine voice that answers does not give options that sound like what I need, but I pick one and plug along. After trying to give the model number 3 times, she gives up and connects me. To the on-hold music, that is. . . Chinese. I listen to that for quite awhile, before talking to someone, who puts me on hold again. Spanish guitar this time. Quite nice. Finally I'm able to explain that Wrong Printer will not work for what I need to do; I need a different one. OK, they can do that for me. For triple the price. Lovely. But, still cheaper than buying a new one, so I say yes.
Time spent: 40 minutes + unpacking and repacking the printer

Wednesday printer #2 arrives. The FedEx woman knows me personally by now. I try to send the other one back with her. (HP does pay the shipping, praise the Lord for that!) But she's only for Express, and Wrong Printer must be shipped Ground. I thank her and go inside, very excited to get this working. The boys help me unpack, and set up the printer. I get the hardware connected and test the printing. Great! It works! Then I try to test the copying. The feeder isn't working, so I open the flat-bed, and there's a 2-inch strip of glass that had broken out, and was lying inside the machine. You've got to be kidding me!!!
Time spent: 30 minutes

Back on the phone with HP. More machine voices with bad options. More failure to recognize my model number. (I think I actually told the machine I hated her. Real mature, I know.) More Chinese music. More Spanish guitar. Two more reps (one of whom speaks English so well you think she might've actually visited the US for an extended time!) More failing my patience test while I whisper-yell at my kids to be quiet (again and again). Resorting to Dad's snap-the-fingers-with-a-threatening-look-on-your-face technique. Finally, HP resolves the problem. Oh wait, that was for a refurbished machine. Let's do it again so I get a new one, with a full-year warranty. I could go on describing all we went through, but why torture you all?
Time spent: 45 minutes, plus pain and suffering

Did my best to shove Trusty Printer into Box #2 as told. Not the same size, so I chiseled the styrofoam and made it fit. Ran out of packing tape. Went to Walmart (for the 2nd time that day). Last night took Trusty Printer and Wrong Printer to FedEx Ground shipping center. Nearest one--20 minutes away and I couldn't find it.
Time spent: at least 1hr 15minutes, plus vaccuuming up styrofoam (not finished with that yet)

Fortunately, Broken Glass Printer could still print, so I was able to take care of a couple urgent printing matters before returning it.

Today, the FedEx lady and I had a heart-to-heart conversation about the slope of our driveway since we've gotten to know each other so well. I took the box but hesitated to open it, for fear of having to endure another phone call to HP. A couple hours later I opened it. Nothing broken!!! I hooked it all up, installed the software, tested everything, and it all works!! Of course, now I can't get the paper feed tray to come off of Broken Glass Printer--it's permanently attached I think, so I can't get it back in the return box. Hopefully Heath can fix that when he gets home. Then tomorrow I can go back to the FedEx place 20 minutes away, and send that one back. Then, barring any complications (like HP charging my credit card for 3 machines) this mess should be behind me!
Time spent: 1 hour and counting

I have not yet mastered the art of patience, but have had plenty of time to practice during this situation. So, in summary,
DEALING WITH HP--3 hours;
INSTALLATION, UNPACKING, AND MAILING--4 hours;
BLOGGING ABOUT THIS TO RELEASE MY PAIN--35 minutes;
HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE PATIENCE IN ANNOYING CIRCUMSTANCES LIKE THESE--priceless!

Another Step Completed

The adoption journey continues. Back in April we submitted our application to Creative Adoptions, to do our homestudy. With that application, we had to read and sign a bunch of papers, send a picture of our family, and the application fee. Then we met with a social worker who told us what the rest of the application process would involve. Now, four months later, we have finished preparing our "Addendum to Application." We've been taking our time since we're hoping our house sells before we complete the adoption, because we need the money from the sale of the house in order to pay for the adoption. So, we're not hurrying through the adoption process, but we also haven't been stalling. We're eager to add our daughter to our family! So I guess we're just doing what we can do, but not stressing out when things take longer than expected. God's been working on me to have patience and trust His timing for both the adoption and the sale of our house. (Both easier said than done!)

In case you're interested in what a homestudy actually involves, here's the list of what we had to do just to finish our application!
-ask 3 friends to write reference letters for us (and make sure they really send them) One of them has to be interviewed in person.
-obtain birth certificates for all 4 of us (newly certified, as if the old ones might've changed)
-obtain our marriage certificate from NJ
-doctor's reports for all 4 of us (the kids were easy; just a form to fill out. But Heath and I had to have whole physicals, including blood work, which Heath had to have redone because the lab messed up. Fortunately, it was all good news.)
-apply for a Home Sanitation Inspection/get our well water tested (There was bacteria in the water, so we had to follow a bleaching procedure. When running the bleach out of the water afterwards, the well quit working. Fortunately, it was just a shorted wire, which Heath fixed easily. We were worried the whole pump might've gone up!)
-apply for a Home Fire Safety Inspection (we applied, but have yet to find out what that really involves. At least we know the fire alarms work. This morning they went off because I was running the bleach out of the hot water in the shower, and it set the alarms off. Moment of panic, but everything was fine.)
-Employment letters stating Heath's income and that he has a secure job.
-Financial statements with verification of all assets and income
-a written statement of how we plan to provide space for the child. (This is complicated since we plan to move and may be living in a small apartment when the adoption happens)
-Apply for State and Federal background checks for both of us (They take our fingerprints twice--I guess state and federal don't share these things? We pay them a bunch of money, twice, and they send us a paper listing all the felonies and misdemeanors we have not been charged with)
-fill out forms for child abuse clearances, for every state we've lived in since age 18
-same thing for child support payment clearances
-obtain our driving record from MVA

So, all of this is now in a big envelope ready to go to the post office. After they review all that, we'll be scheduled for our interviews with the social worker. One is each of us separately, and the other is us together. They're supposed to take 2-3hours each. I can't imagine what we could possibly talk about for that long, so it has me a little worried. Once we get through all of that, if the social worker approves us to adopt, we send the completed homestudy to our agency, Living Hope, and go on from there. Please keep us in your prayers, especially for us to trust God's timing in everything. It feels good to have another step completed!