NEW DEVELOPMENTS

OK its not official ( and may NEVER BE!) but it looks now that our agency is trying hard to get us an appt to travel BLIND to ####. (suffice to say its way way far far away in Russia!) planes, trains & automobiles & maybe a donkey or two thrown in! Do they even HAVE donkeys in Russia????
Blind means they line up a few children in our criteria to meet. We have no pix & no medicals beforehand. YIKES! However, once at the actual orphange, they will show us the child's files & we will be given a chance to have a doctor check her out. Its crazy because theoretically the MOE ( ministry of education) allows you to meet only one child at a time. Once you turn them down they try to find another child for you to meet. Sometimes, several children are brought in at once. WoW! talk about adventure! Judges take long vacations in AUG, so they are trying to get us travel dates by the middle of Aug.


That my friends, is TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!!!! Wouldnt that be something? we wait & wait & wait then its HURRY UP THERES SO MUCH TO DO!!!

I will be traveling alone or possibly with a girlfriend ( can you say true friendship????) Todd cant get away & has to to go back on TRIP 2 when we actually go to court to finalize the adoption & bring her home. He trusts me to pick her out ( no pressure ) and I have confidence that I will KNOW HER when I see her. Ok thats it for now,
PLEASE STAND BY!!!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!

whoever said that sure knew what they were talking about!


After finding out the host kids had to go back to Russia & would not be an option for us, I was pretty dissappointed. But the next day I actually woke up in a fairly good mood. I decided that the craziness of the whole past week was enough
to make
me still believe
There was a pony still hidden
SOMEWHERE in this BIG BARN called adoption.

I was actually quite pleased that I had the day off, (despite the fact that I had to cancel all my appts for the week) no one knew I was still here & the kids were trying their best to make me feel better.

"Dont worry mommy, didnt you tell me there is like 750,000 orphans?
Im sure we can find another one!" (thanks son)

" we werent ready coz we cant speak Russian yet" said the other son.
good point.

(they proceeded to break into a ridiculous ballet....
dancing around on their toes... singing

"Im a ballerina" & " I Love You" (in Russian)

They learned to say THAT from Annya, the Russian/English speaking doll.
She sits patiently, (up in Summer's empty room)
wishing as hard as her little stuffed heart can,
for a new little girl to call her own.

Ok gang , everbody back in the pool......
here we go again.....

CRUSHED

So, its almost 11 pm I wander by the computer on one of my 200 trips back & forth packing & decided to check email...

"Rain, Do not get on the plane, we have last minute developments and will not have more info until tomorrow. We will be in touch." sent about 10PM.

stunned & hurt, I could only point at the screen, todd read it, gave me a kiss & said
"lets get some sleep......"
not wanting to upset the kids
I disappeared into my bathroom, my haven,
ran a hot bath
sat in the dark
& cried...

MELT DOWN at TARGET

wow! I had to shoot a large-out-of-town client all day Sunday, so suddenly I had only a matter of hours to get ready! I grabbed from the pile of un-opened, expensive, intimidating CD's on my desk...

"Discussing Politics with Putin" discs 1-2000 nope

"Conversational Russian for the World Traveler" uh- I think not..

" Where are the Clubs? I need Vodka"
Russia for Spring Breakers. fun, but no

"Russian for Dummies" AH! got it!!

next: PRESENTS!
trucking down the road, repeating " Im hungry" in mutilated Russian ( add the fact that I grew up in Hawaii & live in Georgia, talk about FUNKY ACCENT!)
I almost get side swiped by a car (apparently not understanding
Im in "mission mode HEL-LO!" )
I holler something akin to "QUIT THAT" in what I thought was pretty darn good Russian!! ;)

OK, Im in Target. normally I can come out with 45 things I wasnt looking for, but NO-ooo... today I drove like a crazy woman up & down, scanning the aisles not finding the perfect

Hi. Here... please like me, I want YOU gift.

Cool how about CLOTHES? ya! That would be fun.. nope they will take them away next week & let everyone wear them ( including the boys) as if undernourished, resource deprived, helpless orphans arent enough of a visual. Let alone a skinny boy draped in a hot pink Hello Kitty tee shirt....and matching capris.

DOLLS ? perfect!! I loved dolls as a kid! But um these girls are as old as 8, maybe they wouldnt still like dolls? (we had originally agreed to adopt a 2-4 yr old, this older girl thing was all new to me) I grabbed three of everything in the event we got to meet all of the cute faces they had sent pix of.

"BABY, ROCK-A-BYE" uh.. maybe not, seeing as how the kids are known to rock themselves to sleep or when upset. I have patience for the kids, but the doll will have to pay for her own therapy...

"BABY EATS ALOT"....cute, love that she comes with her own fake snacks & juice... but NO! the kids tend to be starved & hoard food for themselves.. what if they ingest her plastic goldfish and need unavailble medical attention???

"BABY CHANGE ME" (comes with diapers,wipes, & god forbid a gooey fake poopy substance...)
again NO. babies there dont even wear diapers, & from what I heard the strict harsh bathroom rituals are enough to make a grown man lapse into a fetal position.

ok ok ok! think here...... PENS!
with glitter & furry things growing out of their tops. but WAIT!
they dont go to school... who would they write to? ( perhaps their congressman, who could help write laws that would actually make it easy for families to adopt them.?

the panic that had begun to set in, now took over. I couldnt breathe & thought Id lose it right there in the shampoo/hair accessories aisle. I thought, maybe cute little ponytail holders, scrunchies or headbands? but they crop the girls hair right to their head. Can you say lice? no shampoo?
no hair= dumb gift idea.

I found solace in the deserted patio clearance aisle, amidst the broken pots & picked over supposed-to-be-cute- ceramic frogs.. (which I swear were looking at me with maniacal sneers)..."youll never find a good gift, they will take one look at you & be screaming for the "detsky dom" (orphange)

realizing, that knowing retail, they probably had all available survelience cameras turned on the lunatic woman, who was muttering to herself, while wiping away tears & butting her head against the metal BBQ grills... I straightened up took a deep breath & prayed my running mascara didnt make me look as crazed as I felt.

I settled for mini magna doodles (that they could use in the future to draw pix of the pain & suffering they felt at the thought of this strange lady possibly adopting them..)

And I did over-compensate on the candy.. sue me, and some stickers & little purses
& markers they could play with on the 11 hr plane ride. The flite attendents will be calling me names, as I didnt have the presence of mind to search for the washable kind. Serious array of writing utensils...Smells like Cherry markers,,, Glitter markers,
Invisable Ink markers, Glow in the dark Markers.....if i was truly going to lose my mind, let it at least be from the luxury of being a noble cause..

Back home; sitter for kids- neighbor feed the dog & 3 cats- Studio closed & staff briefed. Hotel booked, tickets planned,laundry going- photos put in little book so if we commit she will have pix of us to take with her, until we bring her home for good.
Quick chat with friendly research internet woman- & I realize her name needs to be finalized on the petion to adopt paperwork. OMG! we were going to adopt a younger child & change her name to Summer Cosette (more on that choice later) if she is 5 or 7 or 8 what if she wants to keep
OLGA?
SVELTLANA?
LUDMILA?
grab tablet start scribbling my fav names, current name & new last name to see howd they sound... (havent done that, or visited that anguished memory, of 3rd grade when I just KNEW Id marry my classmate Don Ware and have to be Mrs Underware ( again i was 9)

quick check with the host mom at 10 pm for directions from airport.
STATE OF MIND: EXHILERATED in the dawning realization that if this little 5 yr old girl doesnt have 3 heads & spits on me I will adopt her instantly!

PLANNING THE TRIP

After finding out about these available kids, I jumped online to research the new agency. A funny, open, friendly, (talked even faster than ME!!!) lady called from halfway across America, to share what she knew...
we talked for hours!
(police report citizens as far away as Calif. feeling dizzy)

turns out (THIS JUST IN.....) she happened to know a case worker from the new agency, so she called her at 10:30 at nite to get an inside scoop. Suffice to say all my fears were calmed & we were ready to fly out (MON we decided) and hopefully commit to a child.

Range of emotional states for average people

1-10

Rains Range 1-50

(have you ever tried to adopt from a foreign country???)

state of mind at this point
" over the moon"

SHARP TURN IN THE ROAD..

Ive always taken pride in the fact that I like adventure. IM always looking to challenge myself & be open to new things.. To see the signs..
Trust my gut.
Todd on the other hand is quiet, conservative, methodical & slow to act.
Our family joke goes something like this.

Todd: Born in the box. Grew up in the box.
Chained to the bottom of the box!
I Y MY BOX!


Rain:Box? Whats a BOX?? If there's one involved,
I'm not going!!! x boxes!!!!


That being said.... A friend I met online has a blog (the inspiration of this one!) He mentioned there were still some kids available for adoption through a hosting program in @@@@@ multi-state area. (Several states away) Being curious, I called the number.. Suddenly in my mailbox were the sweetest pix of several children. Curiously, in the @@ area there were THREE little girls! After talking to the New Agency, I was hooked up with actual phone numbers to the host families...
After calling all three & having to leave messages I was beside myself!

" Uh Hi my name is Rain and uh Im in GA and uh if you don't want the girl I'll take her???

No..

Hi I'm Rain, can I come meet your child since
obviously you're not going to
adopt her?
Sure! I'll fly all the way from Atlanta
on the bizarre chance
that the child
sitting across from you, is really
meant to be MY
daughter!?????

GEEEEEZZ!"

The little girl that really intrigued me was "Peanut 3" , The adoption gods were on my side & the host family called back fairly soon after my incoherent message!

Oddly as I write this hours later, the other two have not!

Suffice to say... As it looks now,

Rain will be on a plane to ** this Sat. Morning!

I will have to change agencies = more $$$ ;(

No time to think......No promises when I get there....

Am I setting myself up for more pain & heartache?

SURVEY SAYS??????

Stay tuned for Monday's edition!!!

THE GOLDEN PRIZE OF ADOPTION

After holing up for awhile contemplating our
lost referral, I was tired of putting our lives on hold.(can anyone relate?) So a mere two days after the hurricane, we packed up the family (& some extra kids to boot) & headed for the beach! On the way out of town I checked the mail ..Low & behold, there was our INS approval. Can you say 5 MONTHS LATER???? <---- especially funny when said like the narrator off of Sponge Bob! Now normally this would be fodder for a big celebration, but on this particular day, I merely smiled & shoved it (albeit safely!) into the glove box.Amazing! All you need to do is throw your hands up in frustration & swear to never think about Russia again.Apparently this makes the adoption gods look down in favor ....
WHO KNEW??? may we all hear more good news (especially when we are too weary to expect it.)here is a pix of the kids feeding birds..THIS is where my heart shall be focused.. at least for THIS WEEK

"S" IS FOR SUMMER

I have to admit, Ive been trying so hard to keep myself busy & focused & not obsessed about the wait.. Today, when I went & got my nails done, the little Vietnamese lady, Ive been going to for years, says " NO news YET??"
I do for YOU!!! I do special for YOU!! I started laughing at her enthusiasm! She wouldnt let me see what she was so busy creating.. but when she was all done, she called the girls around, talking excitedly in Vietnamese! They all started clapping their hands & smiling. When I looked down... she had spelled out (in diamonds) a little "S' on each big toe. This is for your new daughter Summer! This will bring you luck! They were all so sweet... Anyway, it SEEMS like everyone I Know (except me) got a referral this week!!!!So to those of us waiting! Maybe my diamond studded "S"'s will indeed bring us good news!