Jet Lag Gone

We've spent the past few days sleeping and fighting going to bed in the middle of the afternoon. First time we did that? We ended up sleeping 8AM to 5PM. OOPS!

This weekend went a long way to fixing all of that.

Last night I was in bed by 9 and up at 5. Much better!

Day 3

What a day! Today, our goal was to make him laugh. And boy, did we!! We even managed to get it on video. You can see the progress that has been made … even in the two days.

We’re thrilled!

We started the day off in the hotel restaurant. We meet A and her dad, or driver, V for breakfast and it was really good. I think tomorrow I’m going to have the pancakes that everyone else ordered. I had bacon and fried eggs, and it just wasn’t the same as what you get in the States. Their version of a fried egg is one side fried, the other side left alone ... in other words, the equivilent of our sunny side up.

We exchanged some money, and got a really good exchange rate. We got 13,250 rubles for $500. The line at the bank was long, but it was worth the wait to actually get some cash in our hands.

Next, we went to the plumbing supply shop. We bought a toilet, two faucets, and the necessities to hook it all up. Cost? Under 3,000 rubles. This was another gift for the baby home. Once we were done, we picked up the social worker and brought her with us to the baby home. She was a wealth of information.

I did let them know that if any of his brothers or sisters become available for adoption, we would like to be contacted because we strongly believe in keeping a family together is possible.

We hung out with him for a few hours, took him for a walk around the baby home, and then went to lunch with A, V, and the director of the Baby Home, O.

Today, we also brought the pictures of DH's family with us. As both A & O were looking at them, they made the same observation even though they’d made it a few hours apart. K (DH’s mom) looks like a “Movie Star” and got the universal thumbs up symbol. It was funny! We’ll have to pass that along to his mom. She’ll get a kick out of it!! They also noted that everyone in the family has “big eyes”. They seemed to enjoy the pictures that we brought. I was really upset with myself that I didn’t have the pictures of my family to bring, too. I realized half way over the Pacific i'd left them on the dining room table. Next trip.

We went to lunch at the local Chinese restaurant. The food was great. We had Shrimp (with the heads, legs, and tails, so DH wouldn’t eat them), Sweet & Sour Pork, and Fried Chicken along with steamed rice and our usual Coca Cola. It was the first big meal Jon had eaten since we got here, and his demeanor improved exponentially after that.

We really enjoyed lunch. The conversation was much better than it has been, especially since A was talking with us more and translating for the rest of the table.

After lunch, we went back to the Baby Home and waited for the baby to wake up from his nap. DH napped on the little bed in the room, and I cracked out my book and read for a little while. A stayed with us. She did some work on our paperwork and on her laptop and then napped on the other little bed.

When they brought him in to us, he was dressed in a little girls outfit. Poor thing. We vowed not to take any pictures in the afternoon. Boy, were we wrong about that! He was really quiet for the first little while that we were there and then all of a sudden, DH made him laugh! He wouldn’t stop once he got going, and it was a full-on belly laugh! It was music to our ears!! We whipped out the camera and took pictures and video of the whole thing. So much for our vow!

He was SUCH a happy baby!!

He’s so obviously well taken care of there. He still has issues that we’ll work on once we get him home. Right now he’s using them as coping mechanisms, and that’s OK. He’s loving the one on one attention he’s getting from the two of us. Yesterday he was pretty reserved, but today, he really opened up with the smiles and laughs. We really did get some amazing pictures.

I really worked on eye contact today. We made some good contact, and he reacted back. He looked right into my eyes and smiled at a couple of points. Very cool.

When we were done for the day … we really over stimulated him. He kept grabbing his head and his ears and we couldn’t calm him. So I brought him back to his room that he shares with two other babies and put him in his crib. I didn’t want to do it, but he was pretty wiped and ready to end the day.

We were back at the hotel by 5:30, had dinner in the hotel at 6. Note to self: do not order the meat rolls. They are wrapped in fish. I had to send it back as it made me nauseous. So DH and I ended up splitting his dinner, and topped it off with some ice cream and a coke to bring back to our room. Much better ending!

We went back to the room and I took a bath and washed my hair. Felt good, but I hated to loose the flat-ironed look I’d arrived with. The rest of the trip I’ll just be curly.

DH got his jeans back from the laundry and they look great. It was $2 to wash them, and totally worth it. They were really stinky from the trip.

We’ll put the room and all the hotel charges on the credit card when we go. I’m so glad we’re using the card that has no foreign fee.

A did say that we’ll go sight seeing and shopping one day this weekend, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to pick up some really cool things to bring home.

Lights out at 9, and I was up by 7. Much better sleep than I’d been having. Took a sleeping pill though, to help sleep through the night. I’m still a little lethargic, but that should be taken care of at breakfast.

DH is sleeping quietly beside me as I type. He’s got another 10 minutes before our alarm clock goes off.

Today’s Observations

• Meat rolls are wrapped in fish. Note to self: do not order!
• Unless you keep an eye on your place in line, people will cut in front of you (like at the bank!).
• The Chinese food we had tasted just like the Chinese food at home.
• Same with the ice cream. Only it was better here!
• The country side is so pretty! There are mountains that remind me of Colorado, but the green lushness of it all reminds me of Vermont.
• Cows have the right of way when crossing the street.
• Deodorant is optional.
• Bring your own alarm clock. It was a last minute addition to the carry on luggage, and we’re so glad we brought it! The hotel we’re in right now has no clocks in our room. We’d be completely lost without it.
• Leave your watches at home. You really don’t want to be a clock watcher over here. Your coordinator will take you where you need to be at any given time.

PSA

Your friendly neighborhood Public Service Annoucement.

We're home, incredibly jet-laggeed, and exhausted.

I'll post more this evening, but right now I need to get ready for work and our final doctors appointment. Thats right, we'll do our final tests and stuff, and thats pretty much the final piece of the puzzle.

Well, that and the big elephant in the room. Going back to the local police department to get another letter from them.

Lord help us all, on that one. ;)

Day 2 ... AKA Baby Day!

Day 2

Got up after heading back to sleep for a few more hours. Not quite the sleep I’d hoped for, but good enough. We packed up and headed downstairs for our Continental Breakfast that was included with the room. We were both pretty happy with the fact that most of the things were pretty recognizable … and good. Potatoes were a disappointment, though. Cold and only partially cooked. I was expecting good ‘ole hash brown potatoes. Wow. That first bite was a surprise!

We went back up to the room to wait for A’s call. Once she got there, we checked out and off we went!

Her Dad is our driver for the week. Nice guy. Or at least seems to be. Doesn’t speak a word of English, and I just learned my first official Russian word. Thank you. HA!

It has helped, though.

It took about three hours to get to the Children’s Home. We went in and they brought him right to us. What a cutie. Seriously. He immediately had this thing for my glasses. DH did take some great pictures. I managed to pry the little guy out of my arms – didn’t want to let him go – and pass him off to DH every now and again. We both got some really good pictures and video to share with everyone back home. Should be fun!

My parents have been asking for a very long time what they can do to help. Well, this past winter, they went south like they always do. Every winter, they travel down to Florida like the thousands of other retirees. So I asked them to pick up a beach ball. You know the ones. The inflatable ones. They could only find larger ones, but its working out well! What a great thing to bring, because it packs flat.

I don’t think the baby had ever seen a ball that big before or really understood the concept. When he first saw it, it was pretty obvious that he was very frightened of it. Over the next few hours, he gradually started to interact with the ball … to the point of understanding that the ball rolls away when he pushes it and he even likes to head-butt it. I think we may have a soccer player on our hands!

We also brought a board book and he didn’t do much more than try to chew on it. That’s ok. He’s got plenty of time. ;)

We met with the Doctor/Director of the Baby Home, and got more information on him. She seems like such a nice woman. We took her out for lunch, too.

We also gave her our donation of clothes. She seemed very impressed with the amount, and some of the things, in particular. There was one little baby sweater that was hand-crocheted by my Godmother, and that was one of the items that she picked up and looked at in detail. I think I’ll try to bring the same amount next time along with the hand knitted blankets for the kids. The blankets are being knitted by my mother and godmother.

Later that afternoon, I asked A if there was anything else we could do. We agreed to purchase a few more things for the Baby Home.

One of the nurses also brought in a bottle of formula for him, and he didn’t want anything to do with it. He only wanted to hang out. I tried to feed it to him a few times, and finally gave up.

Our impressions of the people are wonderful. The buildings are this: they do the best they can with what they have.

A left us alone with the baby for a couple of hours. I finally realized that the day was getting long, and we were getting tired. So was the baby. So I tracked down A who was right outside, and we gave the baby back to the nice women who took care of him.

Once we left, it took about an hour to get to our new hotel. It’s called “Rent” Hotel and its very nice. We’re in a suite, and it’s on par with any Suite you would get in the states. I don’t even know what town we’re in.

We settled in pretty quickly. DH sent his jeans to be laundered and then we managed to get access to the internet room for a couple of minutes to email everyone to let them know that we made it ok and met the baby. The Internet Room was actually three computers hooked up to a router. The computer we used had a very old version of IE 5.0, I think, and had Windows 2000 installed. It was so old that it didn’t have a USB port anywhere.

Once we did that, our family obligation was done. Off to dinner in the hotel restaurant. Not one server spoke English, and their “English Menu” sucked. It was a straight, literal translation of the Russian side of the menu. It was so confusing! Since our waitress didn’t speak a word of English, we used the universal ordering language. We pointed to different things, and she brought them to us. We managed to find some food that was actually pretty good. I had a salad and some chicken. DH just had a salad. I think tomorrow he’ll end up ordering what I did tonight. He’s pretty hungry, as such a picky eater he’s losing a lot of choices in the translation.

We got a peek at the breakfast menu, and it seemed pretty passable. I think DH will load up on breakfast. I know we saw Egg and Bacon sandwich on there. So I think he’ll be OK.

Again, we’re in bed by 7. I’m about to turn off the computer. I seem to be getting around seven straight hours sleep before I wake up for a couple hours and go back to bed. That’s pretty normal, but I sure hope that it doesn’t mess me up too badly once we get home. DH seems to need a lot more sleep here than he does at home. He got a full 12 hours the first night, and he’s on track to repeat that for tonight.

We met our baby, and he’s a sweetie. Now we just need to get him home.

All that’s left to do once we leave the Baby Home is to go back to the Ministry of Education in Vladivostok and sign the Intent to Adopt paperwork. Should take another 10 minutes. Then we’re done. We don’t leave until Monday. So honestly, I’m not really sure what we would do if we left here to go back to Vladivostok.

Today’s observations

• Buildings crumbling around the people that live in them.
• So many buildings without glass in the windows.
• Babushka’s hanging out on the side of the road selling berries and flowers.
• Wells for water next to houses with no running water. The wells have the ropes attached to buckets that bring the water up.
• We’ve noticed a lot of road construction. Main roads are well maintained, but side streets are completely ignored. The road that the baby home is on is filled with pot holes.
• Today, we saw an Army water truck watering a flower bed that was in the middle of a Rotary. Pretty interesting to see these big, burly men in military uniform out with a hose watering flowers.
• In every larger sized town that we drove through, there seems to be either an old Soviet-era plane or tank somewhere in the middle of town.
• Gas for your car is interesting as well. Gas stations had one pump for each grade of gas, and you just drove to the right pump. Its also full service here, so people pump the gas for you.
• The further outside a major city you go, the less that is recognizable. In other words, fewer advertisements for Coke, etc.
• Here, they understand the universal language of Coca-Cola. Just don’t ask for Coke. They have no idea what you are saying.
• Elevators here are really small. Most of them fit 4 people max. The elevators at the hotel at the place we stayed in the first night in Vladivostok was normal sized.

Day 1

She brought us to the hotel and helped get us checked in. We stayed at the Hotel Hyundai in downtown.

 

We went upstairs to the room and immediately took advantage of the bathroom that is big enough for both of us. After showering and settling in … and getting out of the clothes we'd been in for days, we went downstairs to the Café for dinner.   By now it was 5PM local time. We weren't really hungry, but know ourselves well enough to know that we need to get on a regular food schedule as soon as we could. Our meal of Spaghetti and Meat Sauce was very good, and our cokes came without ice. Natch. Need to remember to ask for ice in our drinks. I forgot that ice is not a normal part of drinks in Europe.

 

We tried to get a card for the wireless internet they have, but after forgetting our cash – you can't charge this to your room or your credit card – we went back to our room, got the cash, and went back downstairs. Only to discover that the money changing window was closed for the next 30 minutes. It was 1 minute after closing, and they guy was adamant that he wouldn't change it. *sigh*

 

So we went back to the room and decided to hang out there for a little while, go back down … well, that never happened. We went up to the room, changed into our PJ's and called the front desk because the AC wasn't working in the 90 degree day we'd arrived in. So our room is hot, no one else's air is working either, so we just decided to call it a day and go to bed.

 

Last thing I did was call my parents (dad answered) and let them know that we'd arrived and we'd had a good trip. $5 per minute, so I made it quick.

 

But in case you're interested, Cingula*r cell service does work over here. It says East Asia when you turn on your phone, but I had 5 bars the entire call. There are programs you can sign up for that will make your cell service cheaper, but I didn't even want to tempt us.

 

So we went to bed around 7PM and I woke up at 2AM. Wide awake. I found my PC, the power converter and power cord – all thanks to the flashlight we threw in the suitcase at the last minute!! I'm sitting in the bathroom – the only accessible plug – as I type this.

 

So that's what happened.

 

Well, I've been up over two hours typing this out. I don't know when I'll get a chance to send it. Maybe not until we get back to Vlad from the visit with the baby.

 

So here is what we've been told is the rest of the itinerary:

 

Today: Ministry of Education – Done

Tuesday: Drive to see baby. This is a three hour trip one way, so we'll stay up there. Visit baby.

Wednesday:  Visit Baby.

Thursday: Visit Baby.

Friday: Visit Baby. Drive back to Vlad. Sign paperwork.

Saturday: Relax

Sunday: Relax

Monday: Get back on plane and do the trip in reverse.

Tuesday: Collapse.

 

We thought we were only going to have two or three visits and one night in his city. This is a huge and really exciting surprise. We're thrilled that we get to spend this kind of time with the baby.

 

Today's Observations

 

Now for some observations we made between the when we left Boston and arrived here.

 

• Korean Air has very nice staff. Their grooming was impeccable. By the end of the long, 12 hour flight, none of them had a hair slipping out of the tight buns on top of their heads. Although it did take asking three of them and over 30 minutes for a coke, one finally did arrive, with a glass with ice.
• Seoul airport is spotless. So clean. I was very impressed. They have seats in their waiting area that you can actually lie across. DH took a 30 minute nap, which was just what we both needed.
• Vladivostok is very green. The weather pattern here at this time of year is very like the north east. So we didn't have to bring or buy any clothes that were different than normal. Other than dressing in something other than sweats, that is.
• Every blog you've read about gorgeous Russian women is correct. Most of the young women turn themselves out beautifully. We didn't see any sweatpants on anyone. Most of the men wore kachi's and button down shirts. There were exceptions, obviously, but this is a pretty accurate generalization.
• One of the female officers at the Vlad airport caught my DH's eye. He later told me she looked like the really good looking Russ*ian Ar*my woman that you saw in all those 80's movies. (Note to self: bring cast iron frying pan next trip. ;) )
• Most of the women wear heels.
• You saw a lot of ads for everything on the road from the Vlad airport – which is outside the city. There were a lot of flower vendors sitting along side the road. There were also a lot of what we in the States would call, "cute little lunch places" as well.
• We saw a lot of the same cars here that we saw in the states. Not many new ones, though. For example: The Lexus RX300, the SUV that was redesigned a few years ago, here it is called the Harrier. Really interesting to watch all the cars on the road. Oh, and all the cars are right hand drive. That took a little getting used to.   Although you do see left hand drive cars here, too, but they're pretty rare.
• A double room refers to two twin beds.
• Being in Vlad, you could be in any city anywhere in the world. The only difference is that they speak Russian. There seems to be a lot of building construction going on. You can tell that some buildings are from the cold-war era, and others are fairly new.
• We've seen people sporting 80's hair. Spikey or mullets. Lots of 80's clothes, too.   This is not the rule, however, just an observation.
• Don't pay attention to the driving. You'll give yourself an ulcer. Its not that the person driving you is bad. They're not. They're just driving like everyone else on the road, and its something you need to get used to.
• People cross the street everywhere.

Tomorrow, we meet the baby!

The Trip

My parents came through for us. They didn't just come through, they kept us sane. As you know, they went to the Secretary of States office and got our documents done. Then they came back to our apartment and waited for us to get home from work. Once we got home, they kept us distracted from the details that usually kill you when you're getting ready for a trip. Instead of stressing out over things, we just packed slowly but steadily. We already had everything gathered, but the stress level was non-existent. Very much a social atmosphere rather than a stressful one.

 

Thanks, guys!

 

The next day was trip day #1. Our trip to Russia lasted three calendar days, although in reality, it was a little over 24 hour total flight hours.

 

We got to the airport with perfect timing. And because it was a Saturday, it was pretty much empty. Right through check in and security in under the time we'd allotted. We were really impressed – and grateful – that everything went so smoothly. The Boston airport has a tendency to be crazy, but for some reason it was wonderfully smooth.

 

Once we got to our gate, we scoped out a spot, DH pulled out his P*SP, and I poked around Duty Free for a few minutes. As I made my way back to my husband and our two carry on bags, they had started making announcements for our flight. One of the announcements was letting everyone know that you could buy an upgrade to first class for a relatively small chunk of change. We looked at each other and said, "Lets do it." So, for a six hour flight, we flew direct to Los Angeles in first class. Great way – and much less stressful, I might add – to start our trip off!

 

Because of a non-existent wind on the way out to Los Angeles, we got there an hour early! The food was better than average on the plane  – not great – but certainly an improvement than the traditional airline food.

 

Once we got to LA, we had about four hours until the next flight, so we moseyed on over to our gate and hung out there. By this time, DH had run down the battery in his P*SP, and needed to recharge it, so we spent the next few hours hunting down, finding, and charging that and the extra battery pack he brought.

 

That turned out to be the key for DH. See, he's not a good traveler. I've been threatening him with all sorts of torture I can think of to make sure he doesn't turn into a nightmare for me and everyone surrounding us on the planes. The upgrade that we did on the way out to LA started our trip off beautifully. It kept him calm and kept him comfortable. By the time we'd landed in LA, he was calm and ready for the next flight – 12 hours worth. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for better karma.

 

As soon as we got on the next flight, I crashed. By then it was almost 5AM according to our body clocks. I didn't need any of the sleeping pills I'd brought, I just put my headphones and travel pillow on, and fell asleep. DH said that I slept straight for the first 6 hours of that flight. I'd left my watch at home on purpose. On trips like this if I have a watch on, I turn into a clock watcher, and it isn't fun. So I've started leaving the watch at home, and vacations and trips go so much more smoothly because I just go with the flow.

 

Anyway, we were very impressed with that second flight. We took Korean Air, and would HIGHLY recommend it. I have this thing called long-leg-disease. Or at least I call it that. Flying on long trips gets to be a nightmare very quickly if (1) I don't have an aisle seat and (2) my husband is complaining. Even though we flew coach, I had leg space for miles, and DH had enough power in his P*SP to last him through ¾ of the flight. He said that he turned it on when we first got on the plane and the first time he looked up, three hours had gone by.

 

He said it was at that point that he knew he could do this and just sit back and relax.

 

We got to Seoul at some ungodly early hour. We knew that we were checked in all the way to Vladivostok, so we weren't really concerned about anything other than getting the gate that our next flight was leaving from. We went to the counter and got that information, and as an afterthought, DH asked about our luggage to make sure it was checked in all the way, as well. The woman started typing, picked up the phone and started talking. Hung up the phone 10 seconds later. She looked up at us and said, "Your luggage was only checked in until Seoul, but the people in baggage will make sure it gets on your connecting flight. Have a nice flight."

 

We turned and looked at each other. DH just saved our luggage. *PHEW*

 

If you've never been to the Seoul airport, be prepared. We passed no less than 20 … and probably more … duty free shops. And ladies. Holy shopping mecca. Just walking from one concourse to another, we encountered TWO Hermes shops, THREE Gucci, a Coach, Burburry, Ferragammo, and the list goes on. Oh, and everything opened by 7AM. Nice. I restrained myself admirably, but let me tell you, the task was Herculean. Prices were good, overall, too. I'm planning on a little shopping on my way back through that airport. We only have two hours, but it will work to my wallets advantage. ;)

 

The places to eat do take American Dollars, but make sure you change your money at the changing place. You'll get a much better exchange rate. Just by luck, we happened to have a couple of 5's and some singles on us. We changed $13 and got enough Korean Won to have lunch at BK and K*FC. So if you do go through that airport, be sure to bring some smaller bills along with you.

 

We got on the flight and made it to Vladivostok on time. You have to walk down the stairs that they drive up to the plane and then get on a bus for a 20 second bus ride to the terminal. We happened to be in the front of the plane, so were on the first bus. We were some of the first people in line and didn't have to wait long to go through immigration. I went up to the counter and gave the woman my documents. She handed one back to me, and I just said, I don't speak or understand Russian, so I don't know what information it is asking me for. She was nice enough to fill it out for me, stamp my passport and let me through. DH was next in line and had the same thing. Only this time she didn't fill it out for him. She sent him to another line, freaking me out. They wouldn't let me back through and made me go through the next line for passport control. Luckily, I was able to go back and stand on the other side of the immigration gate and watch my DH make it through the line. Turns out, she didn't want to fill out the form for him, and sent him through another line that had a sign – an incorrect one I might add as the form was different – telling him how to fill out the form. He said some really nice Korean folks showed him what to do and lent him a pen.

 

We finally got through that line, got him through the next one, and claimed our luggage. Both bags were sitting right there. Perfect. Even the TSA approved locks were on them. Awesome.

 

We went and had our luggage scanned and walked out into the lobby. By the way, if you're traveling to Vlad, realize that even though they call it an international airport, its pretty small. Like smaller than the majority of the airports you know about in the states. So just be prepared for the size.

 

We were met by A, who brought us straight to the Ministry of Education to get our letter of invitation to visit the baby. Took a grand total of 10 minutes. We signed our paperwork, signed the "book" and that was it.

Packed

Spent the evening chatting the folks up while packing. Very relaxed packing experience.

 

All done. Everything fits. Amazing thing? There's room for more!!!

 

I'll email when we get there and figure out a connection.

 

Bethee without internet for over a week? Bad scene.

 

All I have to say about that is: Hi, my name is bethee, and I'm an internet addict. :)

 

Happy Trails ...

Look out ...

I don't go to church on a regular basis. Ok, I haven't stepped inside of one in years. Even if I was a religion major.

 

But even I have to admit that today, some higher power was looking out for us.

 

And now our story:

 

My parents, my lovely parents, volunteered to take our last minute documents to the Secretary of States office to get them Apostilled.

 

We had 5 documents that we needed to gather and get done before we left for Russia.

 

Two are a piece of cake. Print, take the local bank, get notarized. Done.

One is our marriage license. That one is a little tricker, but we'll probably have that one by the time we get back from Russia.

The next one was a letter from our homestudy agency about something else.

And the last one? Doctor stuff. No way in Hades that one was getting done in a week. Made the appointment with the doc, though, so it will be done quickly upon our return from Russia.

 

So today, they drive 90 minutes to get to our apartment. We left the key for them in the usual place.

 

Dad notices a package in the door. He calls me.

 

"Theres a package here from [our homestudy agency]. Should we take this with us?"

 

"Yup. That goes, too."

 

"Ok, I've got the other documents here, I've got the new package. We're gone."

 

Now my Dad is not the type to look outside the box. Give him instructions and its done to the letter. Perfectly. So him noticing the package wasn't unusual. Him calling me and asking me if he needed to take the document with him was.

 

Like I said, someone was looking out for us.

 

I just got off the phone with him.

 

Its all done.

 

Thank you to that higher power. Because this one, it was all you.

 

Russia here we come.

 

I'm amazed and so so so grateful that this is falling into place so perfectly.

 

 

Say Anything …

Ran into a new type of reaction yesterday while dealing with my cell phone company to turn on the International Calling feature.

 

Silence.

 

Customer Service Rep: Where are you traveling?

Me: Russia.

CSR: I'll be happy to check on that service for you. Where will you be traveling to?

Me: Vladivostok.

CSR: Cool. Why are you going there?

Me: To meet our son.

CSR: (Silence.)

Me: We're traveling to adopt him.

CSR: (Silence.)

CSR: You're all set. Have a nice day!

 

Not complaining about it, mind you. Just got a very odd feeling from it. Much prefer this reaction than someone with foot-in-mouth disease. ;)

 

What were some of the more unusual reactions you've gotten?

Busy Day

Woke up almost normal. Migraine 97% gone. Or thereabouts. :)

Thanks to everyone to left good wishes!!

 

DH is picking up Tickets and Visas today at lunch.

Parents getting last minute documents Apostilled tomorrow.

I'll get my hair done tonight (no roots!) for the trip.

Final packing tomorrow night.

 

Crossing our fingers that the DOT opens up the highway leading to the airport we're leaving out of.

Otherwise we take the train to the airport. Not bad, but not ideal.

 

One more FULL day!

Not good

I'm sidelined with a migraine.

 

Too cold? Get nausous.

Too hot? Feel dizzy.

Perfect temp? Feel the pain.

 

This day could have been much more productive. Like working.

 

HA! Don't you love it when your body tells you your stress level is too high and just shuts down?

 

Didn't realize I was there.

 

Guess I am.

 

Wonder why!?!?

 

LOL

 

I'm taking it easy the rest of the day.

 

Donations, DONE!

Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon figuring out what I was going to bring for our donation to the orphanage.

When the DH and I moved closer to the family, my parents put the word out what we were doing - Adopting - and that we were looking for gently used or new clothes to donate. People flocked to my parents house in droves.

Yesterday my parents dropped off said clothes. FIVE BOXES OF CLOTHES, people!

Five space bags and all of the 0 - 12 month clothes made the cut. The result? One suitcase.

WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO

I even managed to pack the little shoes and the receiving blankets.

Now that thats done DH and I have a suitcase and a carry on to fit a weeks worth of clothes.

My solution?

Space Bags. Only thing I can't use them for are the 4 pairs of shoes DH doesn't know I'm taking. ;) I'd take more, but we'll only be in country 5 days.

Last Minute List

Shopping for clothes for DH

Buy Extra Space Bags

Travel Pillow

Order Cash From Bank

Notarize Documents

Apostille Documents

Call Shuttle Service

Stay Calm.

Trust the Process.

 

Don't miss your flight. (Ok, like that would ever happen, but I just wanted to see if you were paying attention. ;) )
 

It hit me.

It hit me on the way home in the car today.
I'm going to go meet my son.
Eight days.
I'm driving down the road ... the highway, actually ... and was listening to the radio when I suddenly started tearing up.
I'm sure that the other drivers on the road thought I was insane.
I had to try to compose myself while I was ordering from the drive-thru at the local BK.
Eight days until we leave for Russia.
Eleven days (or there abouts) until I hold my baby.

And here I go crying again.
But for the best reasons in the world.
Happiness.

Responses

So by and large, the overwhelming response is that he's already "one of us."

My parents are thrilled. The pictures haven't been more than 10 feet from them for the past week.

The in-laws love the pictures. Were so amazed at his pictures.

The rest of his brothers want us to name him something different. They think he's cute, too, though.

Sister: "AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW"

God, I love my family.

... back

Sorry I poofed there for a few days. We went to the in laws annual retreat. There were 18 of us in the house. Four kids under the age of 4. It was crazy, insane, but great.

Anyway, we're back.

The first trip has been finalized. The plane tickets have been paid for. The Russian Visas have been applied for.

We're leaving on a Saturday and returning 10 days later.

The coordinator has taken care of our hotel arrangements.
My parents will take care of the cat.
They may even drive us to the airport. We were lucky enough to get seats out of the local international airport instead of having to travel out of the other airport, which would have been interesting logistics, to say the least.

Work has been amazing. On Friday my manager asked me if I could work an extra hour or two a day to make up for the time I would be away.

To say I was appreciative, was an understatement.

I'm really looking forward to working with these people more.

Of course, I have to be late to work tomorrow because I need to stop at the bank and drop off at Fed E* on the way there, but the flex time option is coming in might handy right now. :)

Hope everyone had a great holiday!