the blog post i'd prefer not to write

you know, some days you just wish unfolded differently....some days you just wish there was nothing to say.  no story to tell, no drama, no blog material....this morning~ not one of those times....sigh....AJ's homecoming has certainly brought me closer to "the law" more times than i'd like.  first, the police cruisers at my house because of my attempts to call long distance to Ethiopia, when i inadvertently dialed 911 in the middle sequence of numbers.  today, we three were up close and personal with the customs officers at the US border.  yeppers...it all started like this...
me, always wishing to be the proverbs 31 wife, trying to save some of my dear husband's hard earned dollars, decided to make the trek stateside to purchase some fuel, groceries and maybe even some soccer shoes for our oldest.  i've been doing this trip almost weekly as of late.  sometimes i go alone, sometimes i bring the two youngest boys.  never a problem, never more than a question or two about AJ's citizenship status.  today, it was quick to the bridge.  i had the four oldest dropped off at school by 8:30, hit a run of green lights, and was on the bridge by 8:40.  Hudson loves spotting the lighthouse, and a massive ship was just passing under the bridge at the time.  sun was shining and we were enjoying the view.  spirits were high, all was well..................are you picturing it?? :) 
there's always a dilemma with me in choosing which lane to pull up to.  which customs officer seems to be moving cars through smoothly and efficiently?  we don't have nexus yet (on the "to-do" list), so this is a big decision for me.  today i thought i chose well.  only two cars ahead.  WRONG!!!!
i pulled up to the window, handed over our passports (mine and Hudson's) and AJ's permanent resident card (PR).  the kind officer asked where we were going, how i was connected to the cutie-pies in the back seat, and the usual questions.  no red flags.....until....he started to question AJ's citizenship.  i explained that his Canadian citizenship was in process (can take up to 15 months to complete) and that i was told to simply travel with the PR card, and the adoption order from the courts in Ethiopia should any concerns be raised about the legitimacy of the adoption.  at this point i handed him those papers.  he seemed to be taking a while, then asked me to put on my four-way flashing lights and spoke into his little radio thingy "red minivan with three occupants"......insert deep breath here.....he handed me an orange piece of paper and instructed me to drive over to the left for more questioning.
"more questioning~ fun!" i thought to myself.  sure enough, another customs officer was waving me into a parking spot, asked that i shut off the vehicle, leave my purse and only carry my wallet, and step inside.  he then took my keys and asked me to wait in line.  with only two people ahead of us i thought we'd be off to Kroger in no time.  WRONG AGAIN!!  we waited and waited and waited, and all the while i found myself questioning if the great price on milk and eggs was really worth it....the boys were being fabulous, and i was thankful for small blessings.  after about 30 minutes a third officer asked me some questions (in front of everyone) and then proceeded to search my vehicle.  must have passed that part, as i didn't notice any German shepherds descending on the van.  we waited some more before being called in to the last officer on the left.  a kind man, Officer S., seemed completely stunned that we'd regularly been travelling into his country with AJ in tow.  i explained that the day we landed in TO, the immigration officer at the airport assured us we'd be fine to travel stateside with the PR card in hand.  I also explained that wanting to be 100% sure, i had made a long series of phone calls to the US and Canadian border people prior to ever taking the first trip with AJ.  they all seemed very confident in suggesting that the PR card, accompanied by the adoption court order would be sufficient to allow us entry to the US, and re-entry to Canada.  and as i said, there have been at least three trips over~ all without incident.....until today....
Officer S., baffled at this point, said he'd run the situation by his supervisor (not before being interrupted by other staff asking him questions as well, apparently he is the "go-to" guy~ or, the "before you go to the supervisor" guy, at least).  finally he returned, had me fill out a form that had the title of "Entry Refusal", and continued to work on the computer, entering what seemed like endless data.  he commented on how well my boys were behaving, and i was thinking "yah, that will surely end in the next three seconds, so can we wrap this up??" he seemed sorry to deny me entry, yet was emphatic that AJ should have ever been allowed to enter his country.  i told him i'd respect his decision, yet acknowledged the oddness of it considering our travel activities of the past few months.  he proceeded to escort me out to where my keys were held, and then gave explicit instructions that i drive my van beside him while he walked (not ahead of him or lagging behind), directing me to a white gate where he would then ask an employee to raise it for me, and finally on to the toll booth where he would pay my bridge toll (how very good of him) to return to my own country.  apparently he didn't want to run the risk of me "gunning it" to Kroger anyway....i felt as though i had a big "tried to enter the country illegally" stamp on my forehead....
once back on the Canadian side the customs officer asked me if i'd purchased anything.  i smiled and said "no~ considering i never left the bridge"...i gave her the short version (unlike this~ sorry~ it's therapeutic to get it all out) and she said "i'm on your side with this one, i thought the PR card sort of trumped everything".  "not today it didn't!" i said... she sympathized and sent me on my way, only for me to encounter some weird construction related traffic jam on the 402 that had me moving at a snail's pace.  i rolled into our driveway at 10:15, minus the milk and eggs, and Hudson and i shared a very teachable moment when we talked about how sometimes it is really hard for adults to be patient too.  and that today mommy was feeling very impatient and unproductive, and that the hour and forty-five minutes WASTED was a great opportunity for me to check my attitude and practice patience even when it was tough.  so, all in all, i hope we both learned something, and perhaps Officer S. will have something worth discussing and sorting out at the next general staff meeting.