January matches will probably arrive on Thursday...

So, the rumor sites have been abuzz all day today with indication that the January batch of matches were mailed from China on Tuesday and should begin arriving here tomorrow. Once our agency gets the package, they carefully review and translate all the paperwork. The director and her husband, as well as one other member of the staff are Chinese, and luckily, this goes quickly. And then the fun begins as they start calling waiting families with the good news!

The rumors online are pointing to a cutoff date of at least 10/14/05, but not as late as 10/17/05. No one seems to be sure about 10/15 and 10/16, but those dates fell on a weekend in 2005, so there are probably only a few applications on those dates.

Our log in date (LID) is 10/26/05. This means that THERE IS A CHANCE WE COULD BE IN THE NEXT BATCH!!!! If the rumors of getting to at least 10/14/05 are true, there's a shot. In another week or so, the rumor sites will do an analysis of the number of matched families this month and project a target for next month. I think we'll be on the cusp...if we miss it, it will only be by a few days. If we make it, we'll just make it.

I really think the next 4-6 weeks could be the toughest part of the wait for me. It's the not knowing that will be torture. Add to that the uncertainty around the release of the next batch because of Chinese New Years. There is likely to be at least a one week delay, possibly two.

Will post more tomorrow if the rumors about the cutoff date are verified!