It's getting real ...

Today I booked our room at The Shiny River Hotel. They gave us a great discount, so we got a nice room with a separate living room. It'll be nice to be able to spread out some, especially since Bella will be there with us. Now I've gotta figure out laundry arrangements. Last time I was there, I washed my own clothes, but I am NOT washing winter clothes for three bent over a bathtub like a babushka! The pictures for the included breakfast buffet look great. Anything's gotta beat the two-runny-eggs-and-tea "zaftrak" that came with my room at the Iyrtish. Should be booking the flight tomorrow. Can't believe I'll get to meet Borya again in only five weeks. It's been five years since I saw him face-to-face last time!

Got my due date!

Finally got the much coveted, highly anticipated LOI (Letter of Invitation)! This tells me the date I'm supposed to be in Ust Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, and it's what I need in order to apply for our visas. It's only the document that all my mountains of paperwork, xxxxdollars, and almost a year of my time has resulted in. No big deal, right? 8-)

So now the work begins: book the flights, reserve the hotel room, compile the "how-to" manual for the saints watching our kids back home, pre-cook some freezer meals, do the Christmas shopping, arrange critter care, arrange for schoolwork that Bella can take with her (she's coming with us), pack for 3 people for about 3 weeks overseas, find something to entertain Bella during ~48 hours of travel (and back again), update some dossier documents, stock up the pantry, batten down the hatches, swab the deck .... well, you get the idea. Wish me luck during this process, I'm gonna need it! Anyone for hire as a personal assistant on a temporary basis?

Pinch me!

As they say in the newsroom, this just in (from my agency coordinator) ....


You probably will travel at the end of October, I should receive the LOI this week with the dates of your intended arrival to the region.


Could this really be happening? I'm not just in a bad dream on some giant hamster wheel? Someone pinch me quick!


There are still two major issues that have to be resolved before this can become a reality, but I'm feeling very hopeful for the first time in a long while!

Sweet, sweet letter ...

I had written to Borya that I was so happy to hear he wanted to come be part of our family. That I wasn't sure how he would feel about leaving his friends and all that is familiar to him. Here is what he wrote back to me:

Hello, dear mother and all my family!
I love you all, too! Mother, you asked me if I would want to leave all my friends and others. I would, it’s true!
I will go to the summer camp. It will be great. There will be aswimming-pool and a TV-set! I will be there two weeks, don’t worry about me!
I pray for you can adopt me and take me to America!!!!

Sometimes I fly like an eagle ....

Listening to some John Denver in the car the other day, and the lyrics of his song "Looking For Space" really struck a chord with me. There have been so many ups and downs with this adoption that I truly feel like I'm riding the proverbial emotional roller coaster. Here are a few of his words that rang true for me:

All alone in the universe, sometimes that's how it seems
I get lost in the sadness and the screams
Then I look in the center, suddenly everything's clear
I find myself in the sunshine and my dreams
And I'm looking for space
And to find out who I am
And I'm looking to know and understand

It's a sweet, sweet dream
Sometimes I'm almost there
Sometimes I fly like an eagle
And sometimes I'm deep in despair