Sunday, July 8, 2007

It's a Miracle!

Yes folks!I've experienced a jenn-you-wine miracle! Sit back and listen to my tale.

My children are entering the public school arena for the very first time ever this fall. They're a little scared, as am I, but I think every thing's gonna be alright. In order to get them into school I had to gather together a lifetime of paperwork and head down to the enrollment office for our district. Enrollment opened June 4th and I was chompin' at the bit to get this done. I hate being late for anything, and I hate surprises, so I thought sooner was better.

I was a bit late enrolling the kids. Those little surprises I love so much. I called our new doctor's office and asked if the kids' immunization records had come from Florida yet. What immunization records? This is about a week before June 4th. I go back to the office, fill out new forms, then wait a day and call the Florida office to make sure they got the fax and are sending the records. Long story short, this all takes about two and a half weeks and takes about three years off my life (things got lost, faxes didn't go through, etc.).

Finally, about mid-June, I have said records in hand and race to the enrollment office with my darling children and a ton of paperwork. I understood going in that we would probably be missing an immunization or two and that was ok. Sure enough, everyone was missing an immunization. Oliver missing two, lucky kid.

It was the mom who was missing information. Not only did I not have the vital proof of residence (I brought the wrong thing - easily remedied), I was missing Mae's birth certificate! Who doesn't have their child's birth certificate!?! ME!!! I had a certificate of birth, and all these years, never needing it for anything, I though I had her birth certificate. It's at this point I began to panic. Big time.

How long does it take a government office to do anything? Especially when sending away for a form. To Baltimore, Maryland, in this instance. Testing is at the end of July, it's mid-June, and I'm just PRAYING that the birth certificate comes before school starts! So the third Monday in June I drop in the mail a check for $12, a request form and a self addressed stamped envelope.

Our immunizations were scheduled for the following Monday, exactly one week from the day I put that envelope in my home mailbox. The kids got shots, jumping around to avoid needles (kids getting shots are always good entertainment), and we trudge home. I'm grumbling because it took two hours to get the shots (they were running short and arguing about what to do), so I didn't want to be bothered with the mail. It must have been two in the afternoon when I walked out to the mailbox. And it was two fifteen when I got in the van and drove down to the enrollment office, birth certificate in hand.

You tell me: if you put a letter in the mail on a Monday, would you expect it to make it to a government office halfway across the country, be processed, then show up at your house the following Monday? ME EITHER!!! It's a MIRACLE!!!! God is good. And my kids are all enrolled and scheduled to test. Yay!

Write me if you have a miracle to share. This one may seem small, but to me it seems huge! Now, if we can get through the first year of school ...

Until I write again ...



Marguerite said...

Wow! Very, very good. :D

I had to wait about six months to get mine once.

Flea said...

Purely God. I was in total shock. Not one to waste a good miracle, I left the house immediately to take care of business!

Candace said...

As it seems I may have to request a copy of Emmalee's I hope my experience is like yours and not Marguerite's. Afterall, I should already have enrolled Emmalee. I HAD it in March when I went to enroll her, but they wouldn't take it because I didn't have her updated shot record because she was not yet 5. Now that I have the shot record, think I can find the Birth Certificate????

Flea said...

LOL!!! Isn't that always the way? I've been like a chicken with my head cut off, but that experience was like God saying, "Calm down. It's going to be ok."