I think I'll pick lottery numbers next

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Several YEARS ago I wrote a post about "you know you've waited a long time for your referral from China when". And a few weeks ago I took a look at the list, well, here it is. The ones marked through have occurred, my biting sarcasm was actually realism.

Frightening.

You know you've waited a long time when:

1. The number of months you've waited is greater than your age OUCH!!!
2. People forget you're adopting
3. SS reminds you of how much you will collect when you retire Several of these have come in the mail
4. Your months waiting is greater than both your ages combined
5. You pack up, move 2 times, unpack entirely each time and change jobs while waiting I packed/moved 3 times and changed jobs twice. I've always been an overachiever.
6. AARP stuff starts showing up
7. Your friends have multiple children, and not from one pregnancy
8. Bell bottoms come back in style for the 3rd time since the 70's I think this happened, but I'm not hip
9. Your 25th and 30th high school reunions take place 25th is almost here
10. You have your 3rd, each of them touted as your final, babymoon No longer applies
11. The threads on the baby clothes you bought start to fray just from hanging out in the closet. Does giving them all away count?
12. You purchase your THIRD 'waiting for Magpie' ornament for christmas And I love them all
13. You joins lots of groups, eat them all up, boot them all out of your life and repeat the cycle multiple times
14. You lose track of just how many months you are logged in I don't have enough fingers and toes
15. You forget what year you were "LID"For that matter, I'm constantly forgetting what day of the month
16. You learn what the term "asymtotic" means in reference to youir current and predicted wait on a graph
17. Your "new" flat screen TV is now "old" and the technology outdated
18. You could have gone to college, gotten a 4 year degree and graduatedcould go to college, get a BS AND an MBA
19. You wonder what the people at Sam's club will think when you buy adult and baby diapers in bulk
20. You get baby product ads in the mail saying "your baby is now 37 months old, here's what they are doing"
21. Your baby registry expires and you have to start over and even when good friends get a referral, you do not go to baby stores to get gifts, you do something else.
22. We get Universal Health care in the US Who knew there would be a huge battle on this going on
23. The books on your wish list go out of print In this case, I have no idea my password or name
24. You sign up for the "Frequent Fingerprinting Card" at the Immigrations department
25. You've completed round 3 of "The Packing List" And I've since lost it.
26. You've created a 3-d map, by hand, of all the places you plan to hop/visit in China
27. You've written a book about what adoption from China is like, but you haven't finished the adoption and yet the book is a best seller
28. George W. Bush opens a Presidential Library and it's recognized for being a truly great place of learning. Holy Crap.
29. You rationalize not starting the quilt... what, you've got at least another year, you've told yourself this several years in a row I'm glad I held onto the squares though
30. You grow your hair out for Locks of Love, which requires 12 inches of length on top of what you already have... you realize you could do this multiple times.
31. You vote for president, multiple times  certainly a possibility
32. The war in Iraq is still on This is just sad
33. You've given up the war on your grey hair I never bothered to begin with
34. Britney Spears gets married again, has more kids and gets divorced again Still a possibility
35. Your friends with referrals and children already, who like you were stuck in "The Wait" drop their kid off at preschool, you have another year left. Holy freaking crap, this is true. Unbelievable.
36. The cute plastic toys and cups you bought during that first rush of excitement, aka years 0-2 of The Wait, are now faded, cracked and you consider tossing them.
37. They finish the Space Station I have half a chance of beating this one

As a follow up, I wrote these several years ago in the comments sections of that post:

1. The car you buy, in preparation for a family is now paid off It's been paid off for a year
2. TSO finishes their new album chuckle chuckle came true
3. You take the storage then nursery and turn it back into storage, you also move it twice and give most away, finally turning the crib into the full size guest bed, never having used it as a crib Yes, this is true

My favorite in the comments?

1. You know you've waited a long time when your social worker shows up to do your homestudy and brings a six pack of beer while hanging out. - From Marnie, who else? Wish I could hang with her for a weekend, I'll bring a six pack when I stop by.