Back in the (Country Formerly Known as) the USSR

We are leaving Monday to begin the process of adopting our new son and bringing him home. The pace will be fast and furious. Once we reach Moscow (Tuesday) we will be poked and prodded by Russian doctors to make sure we are fit to be parents. We have heard that we will be seeing about 10 doctors for about 2 minutes each. Most Russian docs have a speciality, so we will be seeing not only a General Practitioner, but also an Infectionist, a Neurologist, a Pulmonologist, a Narcologist, and (believe it or not) a Dermatologist. Obviously the medical system is very different in Russian than in the US.

If we are pronounced "fit", we will travel overnight by train to our region. There we will have just one visit with our almost-son (a fun 6-hour round trip by car), then it's off to court on July 4th.

Court is what I am most anxious about. I remember court from four years ago, when we adopted Alex. Court is intimidating. Our judge was a large, stern lady, who didn't crack a smile - even when she granted us custody of Alex. She did not speak English - we worked through an interpreter. At one point, there was some discussion about a document that was not filed correctly. Not our fault at all, but we got the impression that the court clerk was getting her ass chewed, in Russian of course. We laughed about it later, but didn't dare even grin at the time.

We are told court in this new region lasts about 3 hours. What will they ask us? Hopefully nothing too hard!

We are bringing along a letter from our pediatrician to ask to get the 10-day waiting period* waived. We did this with Alex and it was waived quickly. But that was a different region and a different time. This region typically does not waive the 10 days. But...what if they do? Then we will be bringing home our son about two weeks earlier than planned. Eeek! We will have to think on our feet if this happens, but it would be a good problem to have.

What we expect is that they will not waive the 10 days, and we will have to head back home after court. Then a week later, we will repeat the 11+ hour journey to go pick up our then-official son.

That trip is cake. No intimidating judges, no poking and prodding, just paperwork and bonding time. We get him a passport (Russian), get him a visa, visit the Embassy to emigrate him, and we are off. Then our main job is keeping him comfortable on all the legs of the journey back: car, train and plane. All of which will be brand new to him and probably overstimulating for someone whose world has been a large room with 15 other kids his age and two female adult caregivers.

Then, when we all get home, the real adventure begins...

* A period of time in which the judgement can be appealed. Sometimes waived if the child has medicial issues that require doctor's care.

Anxiety Update!

Well, about two hours after my last post, I not only got a call from our adoption agency with a court date (July 4th), but I also got a call from Mr. Goofy that he had passed his kidney stone.

So no more wondering about when we are going to travel, and no more worrying about a kidney stone removal procedure and recovery time.

Sometime things work out well, even when you just know they won't.

Anxiety can be Fun!

It has now been two months since our first trip to Russia to meet our new son. We still have not gotten a call back with a court date. It should be any day now. Do I feel ready? NO. Am I eager to get this now two-years-and-counting process done? YES. These are weirdly conflicting feelings.

Also, in this time between first trip to Russia and second trip to Russia, Mr. Goofy decided to find a new job. Since starting a new job, then saying, "Seeya, I gotta run off to Russia for about 3 weeks" would be pretty rude, he won't be starting new job until after we are back. But his last day at old job is tomorrow. Think about that. As of this Friday, no member of the Goofy household will be reliably income-producing. Am I scared about this? Actually no. My little stock trading hobby is helping quite nicely along those lines.

And, just in case I was starting to feel comfortable with the chaos mentioned above, Mr. Goofy's kidney has decided to produce another stone. A big one. One that is stubbornly stuck just before falling into his bladder - kinda like a little kid too scared to dive into the pool. If the stone doesn't take the plunge by Friday morning, Mr. Goofy's urologist plans to go in and get it. You really don't want to know how this is done.*

Oh yeah, and I'm working on our 2007 taxes today. We had to get an extension because we busy getting ready for our Russia trip and couldn't get them in on time.

Calgon? Please get me outta here!


*If you really, really do want to know, check this out: http://www.dentonurology.com/urs.html

Tuesday Randomness

It's Tuesday and I declare it Random Thought Day. Here's mine:

1. Finally...after four years and about eleven chiropractic interns (seriously), I think something is working! Chiro Intern #10 broke his wrist, so I saw the on-call this Monday. He did something called the Thompson Technique. I heard no pops. It felt pretty lame, really. But then I got up from the table and things felt different. I actually felt out of balance. Probably because I was in balance after being out for so long. Later in the day I was walking Murphy and I realized "my back doesn't hurt AT ALL!" This was huge, as I haven't had a minute of relief for four years. Of course, the pain came back that night, but I can't help but be optimistic.

2. I've never seen the benefit of having a food processor, until tonight. I bought a great one on sale at Target like last month. I've been too intimidated to use it. The whole "gotta read the instruction manual" really irks me. But I used it tonight to make some Spinach Lasagna*. This thing rocks! I actually screamed for joy! Now I can make my own Salsa! And Hummus! And Bean Dip! Look out!!

3. Our neighbors across the street have been taken to court by their next-door neighbors for 'harrassment'. What could they possibly achieve by going to court!?!? It's not like either one of them are going to move. Are they looking for money? A judgement to prove that one of them is "right" and the other "wrong"? I don't understand. Seems like our court system should be used for more important stuff.

4. I am so NOT looking forward to being in Russia for 20+ days. The region we are going to always requires that the adopting family stay for a 10-day 'waiting period' after court, supposedly in case a wayward relative decides to come forward and challenge the adoption. We know for a fact that the child we are adopting has no living relatives. Why are we stuck in Russia so long? If it was just Mr. Goofy and I, it would be great. A mini-adventure. However, leaving Goofy Junior for that long makes my heart hurt. Ouch.

5. Mr. Goofy quit his job today. He was going to wait until Friday, but the events of the day simply required the "Take this Job and Shove it" approach. He has another job waiting for him, but he is going to wait until we are back from Russia to start. So we will be eating Beans & Rice and Rice & Beans for a while. But I can make Bean Dip now! (see Item #2)

6. Just finished "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer. Awesome read! I made the mistake of starting her "Twilight" series, so three more books are in my future. I started "Odd Hours" last night, book four of Dean Koontz's "Odd Thomas" series about a guy that sees dead people. Really!


*with spinach from our home garden! Squee!!!