Paperwork, Nausea & Notaries...Oh My

A plethora of paperwork was waiting for me when I opened my inbox after lunch yesterday. (The bazillion times of checking and rechecking my Blackberry, Gmail & GoDaddy accounts while sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation of its arrival didn't do any good earlier in the day.) It was sometime between reheating my lasagna and reading my daily dose of the Huffington Post that this paperwork unceremoniously landed in my inbox. Just quietly sitting there in bold type, waiting to be torn into.

I pressed PRINT immediately, while trying to catch glimpses of our massive to-do list as the pages continued to pour out of the printer. Suddenly, there was nothing but nausea. I was so incredibly nauseous. I'm still not sure why, but I thought I was about to lose it all over my desk. I took a few deep breaths (which I learned in acupuncture - amazing!) and focused.

All was fine. I've heard this happens. Little waves of (fill in the blank with the uncomfortable thing your body does when stressed) will occur throughout the process. Obviously, the little waves of excitement are the ones I prefer.

Now, on to the notary...my physical was today. I learned yesterday that a notary is required to be present when my doctor signs off on our medical forms, following the physical & bloodwork. What??? Am I understanding this correctly?

This means I either have to:

1) take my doctor to the bank (where the notary is)

or

2) bring the notary to my doctor appointment

So back I went, to the forums & blogs to find out what others have done. It's a requirement by the Ethiopian government so I'm well aware we're not the first to encounter this.

A traveling notary, of course!

For a fee, this person will come with me and then again with Kai, when he goes next week. We've been quoted between $75 - $200 a pop (plus the fee to notarize each page). In all seriousness, this service is needed and these people can charge whatever they like because we need their service.

However, I'm still inquiring about my doctor coming to the bank with me in two weeks when my bloodwork is back and papers are ready for signing.