When was I ever going to post anything new?!?

Boy, it's been chaotic around here. First off D had the Rockin' Pneumonia. Then all the updating of the paperwork began. I think I'm finished with this round, unless they come up with something else! When I read Dawn's post about having her paperwork complete, I figured that must be a huge difference between Kaz adoption and Russia. I don't know if I'll ever be complete with paperwork on this adoption! It took me nearly all of the past two weeks to get it all done, and I think I'm finally finished. I had to fax the copies of the docs (not the apostilles) to our agency and I think it's the longest fax I've ever sent! 22 pages!

We're getting ready to go on a trip next week and I've been trying to get everything together for that. I think I've contracted D's Rockin' pneumonia, but I haven't had a chance to get to the doctor! I'm going to have to go on Monday if I'm still coughing like this by then. I can't imagine flying next to ME with the sounds of my coughing up a lung every few minutes.

I had to take my van in this morning to the dealership to have it fixed. Yes, I joined the ranks of mini-van moms. I love my van, but it's making this dribbly sound on the front tire and I've been afraid my tire was just going to dribble off and go rolling down the road without me. Of course after I waited for two hours in the waiting room they come back to tell me that it's my strut and they don't have that particular model in stock and will need to order it. Can I come back next week? No, I'm going on a trip next week. Will my tire dribble off and leave me? Am I safe to drive with a stunted strut? Yes, I'm safe - but how far am I going to drive? To Dallas?! Ok, I'm good.

But what happened in the waiting room while I waited is what has me a little worked up. An older man, probably in his 70's was sitting next to me while we waited. We had chatted a bit earlier and he seemed like a nice friendly, grandfatherly sort. I was working on my new book (which I highly recommend) Teach Yourself Beginner's Russian. Well, I was working for a good bit and was pretty proud of myself because the first few chapters I was just whizzing through. It's kind of a workbook where you decipher the word in Russian and fill in the English equivalent. So, the older man asks me, "what are you working on, a word scramble?" " No," I reply, " I'm learning Russian." He physically leaps up, bounds to the other side of the tiny room and looks at me like I just said, "No, I have leprosy!" To which I look at him as if he has three heads! He said, "why are you learning Russian!" Although I wanted to say, "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!" I calmly told him that my husband and I are in the process of adopting a baby girl from Russia. He answers, "well, you'll just need to teach her English!" "Of course we will, but I'll need to be able to communicate with her a bit before she learns English. I need to be able to tell her things like "it's ok", "are you hungry?", "Mama loves you." He nodded and walked outside. I think he was a little ashamed of himself. He should have been. Of course I can understand that someone of his generation might have lingering thoughts of the cold war era. But that was then and this is now. I tell you, I was hurt. This is the first negative reaction I've had during this adoption. The general reaction is that of excitement for us and for V. So, this kind of threw me for a loop. Well, a while later he came back in and started asking me some questions about Russian adoption, why did we choose Russia, etc. I am proud of myself for staying calm, and for even not crying because I've just been in that kind of place lately. But I calmly explained a-lot to him and showed him pictures of D and V. Then he told me about being in Germany when the Berlin wall was put up and how he patroled the borders. I'll give it to him, he came a long way in that 45 minutes from acting like I had leprosy to genuinely wishing me luck when I left to get into my van with the dribbly tire. We're advocating for our kids, even before they come home. Come home V - please come home!