Futbol Amerikanski

We took Y to his first ever "futbol Amerikanski" game today.  For several days he has told us, "Nyet.  Nee lubeesh."  (No, I don't like it), whenever we mention going to the football game.  However once we got to the stadium he really seemed to get into it.  I explained to him that we liked the team in blue and white and not the team in all white.  He even whistled and did our "first down" hand movements when appropriate.

It was a good thing we had to leave after halftime since I had to be at work at 2:30pm.  Otherwise, I think I would have spent more than $100 on food just for Y.  He ate a loaded baked potato, a bag of peanuts and a tub of popcorn all in the first half. We even ate breakfast before going to the game.

It was cold and rainy, so we didn't tailgate before the game, but at least our team won, even if it didn't really mean anything.  Another 8-8 season.  Oh well.

Natalie

TX

NASA

We went to Space Center Houston this morning.  Wish we had more time, but I had to go to work at 3pm.  Bill was feeling ill, so he stayed home.  Y and I picked up the ladies at D's and then met J and her kids at the Race Track before heading down south.

We got there right as they were opening up for the day.  We went in and looked around a bit and then found the area where the kids (and the kids in us) could try to land the space shuttle or the Mars lander, etc.  Seems none of us are pilot/astronaut material.  After several tries at a real landing, Y decided it would be more fun to crash the shuttle in spectacular fashion.  He got so he could crash it right on the numbers (on the runway).

Then we decided to take a tram tour of Mission Control and the Saturn V rocket.  The tour of Mission Control was very controlled:  come in, wait, go upstairs, listen to the lecture, go back out and get on the tram again in the same seats.  Then they drove us over to the Saturn V rocket building.  That thing was more than three football fields long, I'll bet.  It was huge.  They even had an area where you could go up and look inside the last stage of the rocket boosters.  Y and I saw the entire thing, but everyone else in the group decided to read all of the murals on the wall.  About ten minutes later I noticed our tram was filling up outside, so I went down and told them that we should think about leaving soon, since I needed to drive L and S back to D's and then drop Y off at home with Bill before hurrying on to work.  So, we went outside and the tram was gone!  We had to wait about 15-20 minutes for another one.  Oh, well, that just meant we couldn't go through the gift shop before we left.

Both Y and I were hungry, so we quickly went to the food court and bought cookies, a Snickers bar and two cherry ICEEs.  Y had never had one before, so I tried to explain that it was a cherry soda that was frozen like ice cream, sort of.  At least he liked it.  He doesn't like pumpkin pie.  I'm not sure he can still become an American if he doesn't like pumpkin pie.  We'll have to check with immigration on that one.

I bought the photo they took of everyone before we loaded onto the tram, then we high-tailed it out of there.  I won't say I obeyed the speed limit on the way home, but I was only 1 minute late to work.  Not a bad day, except for that 8 hours of work after a few hours driving and Space Center Houston touring.  I would've called in sick (I've got a cold, too), but I can't pass up holiday pay right now.  Today is my 'holiday in lieu of.'  Since I had Christmas off as a regular day off, they are required to pay me holiday pay on my next day back, since it' s not fair to pay others holiday pay because that is their regular day of work and not pay it to me since it is my regular day off.  How sweet it is to work for the federal government sometimes.

Natalie

TX

Da

What a week we've had.  After picking up Y and L at the airport Sunday night, we headed to D's to drop off L before we went home.  While in the car we asked L if she could talk to S for us about Y.  We wanted to know if we could speak to Y about the fact that I would be traveling to Ukraine in early February and that I hoped to see him then.  

After work the next morning, I came home and we walked the puppies (who were very excited to have their boy back with them), ate dinner and spent a quiet evening at home.  On Tuesday after work, Y rode his bike for a while and then we went over to A's for a gingerbread house party.  I had to stop the car two houses down when Y saw his friends M and V.  V flew over with him from Ukraine, but he hadn't seen M in almost a year.  Of course the older boys were "too old" to make gingerbread houses, so they ate all the candy and hung out in the driveway.

That gave me a chance to ask L if she had spoken to S yet.  L told me that S said it would be okay for us to tell Y, but only after S spoke with him herself.  After that we had to leave because I had a midnight shift and I needed to get home for at least one hour of sleep before working again!

I was allowed to sleep for about 4 hours at home after my mid shift before I got woken up to go pick out a Christmas tree.  We had to travel to several different tree farms to find one that was open on Christmas Eve.  We bought a nice 9 ft tree for about $50 and headed back home.  Unfortunately we have 8 ft ceilings, so Bill had to cut a half of a foot off the bottom of the tree, and there is no room to put an angel on the top.  The rest of the day was spent walking dogs and riding bikes, and finding out that 75% of our Christmas lights were no good because a rodent had eaten through the wires.  So, off to Home Cheapo for more lights and a new tree skirt.  Then we had dinner and Y and I went to Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Church for a Christmas Eve service.  Y found a small voice recorder that I had forgotten about and he taped several songs from the radio on the way to church and then he taped all of the songs we sang that night.  Well, others sang, I just kind of screeched along.

After we got home, I decorated the tree (no one else was interested) while Bill worked on his computer and Y taped more songs off the radio in his room.  We thought Y was asleep at about 11pm, so we put the few gifts we had bought him under the tree.  Five minutes later he came down to have us listen to the music he taped.  It was rap music.  Y couldn't figure out why we said we didn't like it.  He barely noticed the tree or the gifts underneath.

At about 7:30am Y came upstairs to wake me up.  He's not even mine yet, and he still won't let me sleep!  So, I had to go downstairs and watch while he opened all of the gifts.  Bill said he had been sitting there staring at the tree and gifts for about 30 minutes before Bill told him to wake me up.  Then he and Bill played with their new "Buggy" rc cars and raced them around the front yard.  Basically they tried to play bumper cars with limited success.  After we ate pancakes for breakfast, I told them that I was still exhausted and that I would be going back to sleep for at least an hour.  I got to sleep for two!

Then I had to call D and tell her that we would be by about 1:30pm to pick up L and S.  We planned on taking them back to the house for an hour or two, eating dinner and then going to see "Marley and Me" at the theater.  We did take them back to the house, and we ate dinner, but by the time we got to the theater, all tickets were sold out for the next 3 hours.  So, we went to Denny's for dessert and coffee and then took the ladies back to D's.  Then we headed back to the theater where we had to stand in line about 45 minutes (even though we already had tickets) just to wait for our particular theater to open up so that we could go in and sit down.  "Marley and Me" is a very funny movie (even Y loved it and he doesn't understand much English), but do bring your hankies for the end.  Even big old Bill had to borrow a tissue.

So, now, I finally get to the "Da."  When the ladies were at our house prior to Denny's and the movie, Bill asked when we would get to talk to Y about things.  L said that S had not had a chance to speak to him yet, so maybe we should wait.  I suggested waiting until his birthday party next week so that he would likely be off playing with the other kids while we were talking with S.  Bill said he wanted to talk with him "today, because it's Christmas and that would be just one more present for him."  After dinner, Y was outside showing the ladies how he does wheelies on his bike and then when they came inside, S said it would be okay to talk to him now.  I let Bill ask the 'big question,' - "Do you want to come here and live with us forever?"  L translated for Y and he didn't even waste a second with his answer, "Da!"

The next day at work I kept thinking that maybe Bill should have worded that question differently, or that I should have clarified it, maybe.  Forever?  Do I really want him living with us when he's 40, 50 or 60?  Maybe.  We'll see.

Natalie

TX

The Train to the Plane to the Bus to the Train to the Plane

What a journey.  Bill was ready to drive up to NY and pick Y up.

Apparently their flight from Kiev was late getting in to JFK, but their flight to TX was delayed three hours, so that shouldn't have been a problem.  Here's a quick timeline of what happened:

Saturday:

Arrive at JFK around 6-6:30pm

Go through customs

Wait at correct departure gate for over two hours prior to delayed departure.

The plane leaves without them and about 20 other passengers.

The gate agents say they announced boarding, but something went wrong and over two dozen people missed their flight.

The group is put on "standby" for a flight on Christmas Eve!

FH did some serious scrambling and worked out a deal with Southwest Airlines.

Either Saturday night or Sunday morning:

Take the bus from JFK to the train at Penn Station.

Take the train to Ronkonkoma.

Then another bus or taxi to Islip/Long Island MacArthur Airport.

Sunday:

Depart ISP and stop at BWI and JAN before landing in TX (they did get to stay on the same plane, it just made two stops).

Of course, their arrival in TX was delayed, so they didn't get in until almost 8:30pm.

Because of the holidays, SWA did not have 6 seats on the same flight, so Sv. had to fly with V and Sa. on the earlier flight and the translator, L, flew with Y and T on the later flight.  Because Sv. and L were both staying with D, we offered to pick up L and drop her off so that D would not need to make two trips to the airport.  This worked out well because we were able to ask Y anything we wanted to, instead of being limited to my limited Russian.  I was able to ask him if he was hungry or thirsty and also tell him that I had to work the next morning but that I'd be home by 4pm and he understood me!

As we got within a mile of our house, Y actually started giving us directions on how to get home:  "naprava ee nalyeva, da?" (a right and a left, yes?).  It's only been two years since he's been here.  

The poor child practically jumped out of the car when we pulled in the driveway, pointed to the front door and wanted to know if Squirt (our 65lb pit bull mix) was inside.  We told him it was okay to go inside and he was met at the door by Squirt, Nala (our 13yr old rott-dobie mix) and Miko (our 10yr old lab).  Goofy, being Goofy (our 1 yr old 105lb lab - think Marley of "Marley & Me"), was still locked in his cage.  Bill let the Goofball out and the games began.  Everyone wanted Y's attention at the same time.  Goofy will make a good guard dog.  He sniffed Y once, backed up next to me and then gave a "Who are you and what are you doing here?" bark/growl.  I told Goofy it was okay, and he went over to Y, jumped on him and tried to lick his face.  Of course, we disciplined Goofy, jumping is not allowed.  Kisses are always welcome.

Even the cats remembered him.  Y even got 30 almost uninterrupted minutes of cuddling with Squirty on the chair before falling asleep about an hour later.  So, we made him go upstairs, said "Spah-koy-noy-no-chye," and went to bed.

My only complaint about this weekend is that the hosting agency was unable to contact any of the host families to tell us that the children did not board the plane as expected.  Therefore, we were all waiting at the airport in TX at 3am, not knowing why no kids were coming off the plane.  We had to ask the flight crew if there was anyone left and then made the early morning call to FH to find out the details.  Hopefully they will be able to fix this problem in the future.

Natalie

TX

Up all night

The kids plane was delayed taking off from Kiev and they arrived about 2.5 hrs late to JFK.  Fortunately their flight to TX was delayed due to bad weather in NY.  Unfortunately it was delayed about 3 hrs so their flight will not get in for about another 30 minutes.

I may have to call in sick for an afternoon shift tomorrow!!!  It'll be after 3am before we get home, and then you have to wake up Papa and the puppies and kitties and everything!

Natalie

TX

Ticket to Motherhood

I just "purchased" my ticket to Motherhood.  I couldn't sleep, so I figured I might as well get something done.

So far, at least one of my plans for the adoption has worked well.  I got an AmEx card last year and have charged up (and mostly paid off) a storm on it.  All recurring charges that accept AmEx are charged to it every month.  With all of the double and triple bonus miles for charging groceries and gas, I had a whopping 161,000 miles available for use.  I used 90,000 of them to "pay with miles" for my trip.  I can actually fly from TX to JFK to Kiev and back in February for less than I could've flown from TX to JFK round trip just last month.  Hopefully I can use the rest of the miles plus my free companion ticket to pay for Y's trip back with me. 

I will be leaving Sunday February 1, 2009 and tentatively returning Tuesday March 31, 2009 (no-fly Tuesday for you I90 air traffic controllers).  That is almost 8 weeks, so hopefully my guesstimate will be good.  I even got to pick my seats.  Neato.  I will be flying up to JFK in a CRJ type regional jet, so I picked a seat in the back near the bathroom because I know I will be nervous as hell.  Then I will travel on a B767 in the exit row!!! Leg room!!!  One of the few perks you learn from flying familiarization trips as an air traffic controller.  Not that I ever sat anywhere but the cockpit, mind you.  Actually this will kind of be like an old time fam trip except I actually have a real ticket.  I also picked the same seats on the trip home, but we'll have to see if they'll let Y into an exit row.

Can't sleep because Y is coming to visit in less than 24 hrs!

Gotta go wrap Christmas gifts.

Bye

Natalie

TX

Houston, We Have a Travel Date!

It's officially official.  My/our SDA appointment is February 4, 2009.

Only 46 days left to freak out.

There was a little bit of a shocker in the email from our agency.  Apparently they say we owe them $4500 more than I thought we owed them

at this point.  So, I am definitely freaking out right now.  That $4500 is about half of the travel money I have saved up.

Gotta go back to work now.  Guess I'll be working every OT that I can get now.

Natalie

T Minus 7 Days til "The Visit"

It's confirmed, the kids will be here late next Sat night for another hosting visit!!!!  We can't wait!  We've told Squirty several times that Y is coming back to visit again, but of course, being a dog, he doesn't understand.  Squirty is my dog, until the second he spies Y, then he's Y's dog.  He'll probably mourn again when Y leaves by spending all day every day for weeks in Y's room and only coming out for "W-words," food and potty breaks.  Hopefully we will hear a travel date before the 19th so that we can tell S, the guardian, and maybe Y about it.  Otherwise, we'll have to wait until mid Jan to hear anything.

We're actually going to have a Christmas tree for the first time in about 10 yrs.  Maybe we can make it a family tradition to get the tree and decorate it on Christmas Eve, then plant it in the back yard after Y's birthday (one of the perks of living in southeast TX).

Gotta go check out the websites for NASA Space Center Houston and the Christmas tree farm to make sure they are open when we need them to be!

Natalie

TX

Curiosity Killed the Cat, but Satisfaction Brought Him Back

Tigger's great adventure:

Tiggy had a great adventure today, and the only one who knew about it other than him was his sister Daisy.  I locked Goofy and Squirt in the back yard this morning and then took Nala and Miko up front to help me clean up the branches I cut off of the azalea bushes yesterday, and then I went through the box of outdoor extension cords and untangled each of them and made sure all of them still worked.

Apparently I did not completely latch the breakfast room door when I went outside.  It was shut, but the latch did not catch.  Tiggy is an expert at opening unlatched doors.  The breakfast room door is his favorite door, too.  He thinks he's a dog, so that makes sense - it's the door the rest of the dogs use to go into the back yard.

About an hour later I came in through the front door with Nala and Miko in tow, intending to take the puppies for a quick walk before I had to get ready for work.  Daisy immediately ran up to me, rubbing and saying, "MEW!  Mew, mew, mew, mew - MEW!"  Silly me, I assumed she was hungry and walked back to the breakfast room to feed her.  Then I saw the door wide open and had an "Oh S@*t!" moment.  Of course, Bill insisted that Tiggy was still in the house, but Daisy and I knew better.  I went outside and called his name all around the house for about five minutes to no avail.  I thought maybe he had hidden under the back deck, so I made Squirt and Goofy come inside just in case Goofy was bothering Tiggy and that is why he went into hiding.  Bill made a quick search of the house, but no Tigger in sight.

I spent about another ten frantic minutes calling for Tiggy outside.  All I could think was that, thanks to Goofy, Tiggy no longer wears a collar (Goofy grabs onto it and drags Tiggy around the house when Tiggy refuses to 'play').  He does have a microchip, but you don't know that if you don't see his collar!  Also, he is a brown tabby who blends in quite nicely outdoors right now.  How the heck was I gonna find him?

Well, it seems the spirit of dear old Ginger (God rest her furry paws) lives on in Tiggy.  Ginger always responded to my imitation of her very different 'meow' that sounded more like a very loud, semi-hoarse 'MUHH.'  So, that's what I decided to do.  My neighbors must have thought I was nuts walking around my property yelling alternately "Tiggy!" and "MUHH!  MUHH!"  But it worked.

Less than a minute later I heard a response from my neighbor's yard - "MUHH!"  Thank goodness their rottweiler, Stroker, is terrified of cats.  She always wants to eat Goofy, but show her a kitty cat and she runs and hides.

The sight of a 14lb cat with a stub tail 'running' across a bayou and through the woods to get to the safety of home was actually quite funny.  He ran right up to me on the porch, but when I turned to go in through the nearest door (the front), he mewed at me again and ran right along our wrap around porch to the breakfast room door and mewed to get inside.  Apparently the only door we could go in was the breakfast room door.  Go figure.

Five minutes later Tiggy was sleeping on his perch in the living room and dreaming about all of the insects and birds he saw on his great adventure.

Recession Smession

We can't really complain too much about this recession.  Having a government job really helps.  And $1.50 gas, too.

We have been trying to refinance the mortgage on our main home since March.  We were unable to do it then because the appraisal came back "low."  We owe a little less than $220k on the house and it appraised at $240k.  Apparently the closing costs were going to put us over the 95% ltv ratio.  So, we decided to wait six months and try again.  Then the housing crisis became full-blown.  We decided to wait another month or two to see what would happen.  We reapplied with a different mortgage broker this time and it seems that our house is now worth $250k and we will be closing next Thursday.  Actually, this seems to have worked out better for us.  If we had refinanced earlier in the year our interest rate would have been close to 7%, but now it is at about 5.5%, and our closing costs will be less with this broker (around $1300).  However, because it is the end of the year and taxes are due, we will be required to pay our property taxes at closing.  I had hoped to roll the property taxes (about $5300) into the closing costs so that I could put that money into the 'just in case' fund for Y's adoption, but the FHA just changed their requirements from a maximum of 95% ltv to a maximum of 90% ltv.  The broker called me on Friday and told me the news.  He said he would do everything he could to allow us to bring as little as possible to closing, but to expect to bring between $5-6k just in case.  Maybe he can work out rolling the taxes into the loan and we could just bring the rest of the closing costs to the table.  We'll see.

At least we won't be paying interest on an additional $5k for 30 years.  That should save us at least $10k over the life of the loan.

Natalie

TX

Preparing to Host Again

Well, after lots of back and forth of can we - should we, we will be hosting Y again this holiday season.  There was a slim chance that we could've been given a Dec travel date, but that looks highly unlikely at this time.  Supposedly the last travel date to be issued in 2008 is Dec 19th.  The proposed hosting dates we were given are from Dec 20, 2008 - Jan 7, 2009.  We are really looking forward to bonding with Y again and sharing Christmas, New Year's and his b-day with him!

When I first heard that I could be issued a Dec date, I called the hosting agency to ask about canceling Y's visit.  They told me it could be done, but that I would be responsible for whatever fees they had already encountered.  However, a day or two later they called back to inform me that if they canceled Y's trip, they would have to cancel T's trip to visit the B's as well.  It seems there is a strict policy of a minimum of 2 kids from any given orphanage per trip.  Since we did not want to adversely affect anyone else's holidays and because Bill really wants to get to bond with Y again, we decided to go ahead with the planned hosting.

So, now I need to join my puppies outside and check to make sure all of the Christmas ornaments and decorations in the garage still work.  Wow, we haven't decorated for Christmas in about 10 years!  We plan on going to a local tree farm and picking up a re-plantable tree on Christmas Eve and then planting it in the hole that Ike so graciously left for us after he toppled over our beloved oak swing tree in the back yard. 

I also have to call the tree company to set up a date next week for them to come remove our oak and two other trees that it knocked down when it was blown over, as well as trim one large branch off of a pine tree that was struck by lightening during Ike, and they're gonna grind all of those stumps and three more in the front yard for $1100.  Not a bad deal.  Monday a plumber is coming out to give us a guesstimate on fixing all three toilets that either leak or rock back and forth and fixing the garbage disposal that makes nasty noises (it's almost brand new).  Maybe I can even get them to install the second Cat Genie that has been sitting up in the master bathroom for a year.  It is wonderful in that it automatically scoops the poop and then treats it with a solution that dissolves solids and cleans the litter box at least once a day.  Tiggy and Daisy love it.  Tiggy even sits there and watches the entire wash cycle.  Tiggy thinks he is a dog, until Goofy wants to chase him, then he somehow remembers that he is a cat.

Until next time.

Natalie, Bill

Tigger, Daisy Duck, Nala Bear, Miko, Squirt, & Goofy (the world's largest yellow lab at 105 lbs and he's not fat - he's three inches taller than the next tallest dog!)

Miracles on Thanksgiving or This Turkey is Gonna Freeze Her Tail Feathers Off!

At about 11:20pm I received a call from M with some interesting news.  Needless to say, I had to wake up Bill and now I don't think either one of us will be able to sleep.

Let's go back a couple of days.  On Wednesday morning I read an email from M saying that she had heard from our facilitator on Tues evening that he may not be able to submit our paperwork today because there may not be enough slots left open.  Apparently there were less than two dozen slots available after dossiers were submitted on Tues.  He didn't think that would be enough to leave us an open slot on Thurs (we couldn't submit on Wed because of Y's age).

So, needless to say we were prepared emotionally to tough it out until next year.  Then my laptop died.  D-E-D dead died.  Apparently the hard drive is ok, but the motherboard quit, and if you know laptops, that means "go buy a new one."  So now I have a nice new MacBook and a 40gb external hard drive that my new Mac may not be able to get files and photos off of.  But, I can use the PCs at work in the union office to email files to me so that I can save them on my new Mac.

Anyways, back to M's late night phone call.  She said she had some interesting and exciting news for us.  Apparently our facilitator was able to get our dossier 'submitted' today (insert angels singing here), along with another couple from KY in the same boat (married adopting single).  BUT, there was a 'bit of a discussion' and it turns out that the SDA wants "one more piece of paperwork."

Imagine that, in the Ukraine no less!?!

Oh, and they want it by Monday.  So ... we can get the paper, apostilled and everything to M Fri, that's not a problem, but how to get it to Ukraine in time?  Well, it seems the father in the other family in our situation is retired and he has offered to fly the paperwork over to Ukraine for us.  He only asks that we split the cost of the airfare (about $1300).  Otherwise, we take our chances with being submitted (or not) next year.  Wow.  How nice!

M also advised me that she had received three invitations on Wed for families that had submitted less than two weeks ago.  Each of those invites were for early to mid Dec.  Ouch!

That kind of conflicts with when we were planning on hosting Y again!  And his internat caretaker and her translator at our house!  So, first thing tomorrow I am going to stop payment on the check for Y's hosting and then call the host agency and tell them what is happening.  If I end up getting a date in Jan, I don't know what we'll do yet, but if I get a date in Feb then I'll see if I can send them another certified check.  They may not be able to get him a plane ticket, though.

I was actually going to go out and shop early tomorrow morning and get Y something for Christmas and his birthday.  Well, I guess I probably won't do that now.  Gotta go email the hosting agency after I throw Tiggy off my desk for messing up all my paperwork (don't worry, he's a cat and he has at least three lives left).

Natalie

TX

Speed Racer - or - Around the State in 8 Hours

452 miles in one day. Whew.

Thank goodness gas is only $1.85/gallon and I drive a hybrid. Total trip cost, about $50 (including gas, tolls and food) and 4 hours of sick leave.

After several phone calls yesterday morning, I was told that the updated page of our homestudy had not yet arrived at the agency as of 10:45am, but that they would provide me with paperwork that could be apostilled in its place, so I took 4 hours of sick leave and left work a few minutes after 11am. I endured I45 traffic for about an hour driving from IAH to Friendswood to pick up said paperwork. Just as I exited I45 and was about 15 minutes from the office, K called to say that DHL had just arrived with the back dated paperwork. Woo hoo! It did not need to be apostilled, nor did I need to pick it up, the agency would overnight it to M directly. So, I turned around and sped back up I45 to the Sam Houston Tollway to catch Hwy 290 westbound. Not the cheapest way to go, but at least I didn't have to deal with traffic on I45 or the 610 Loop.

Oh, yeah - speed 'limit' signs miraculously all turned into speed 'suggestion' signs as I approached. And my normal average mpg went from 34-35mpg (in an SUV hybrid) to about 28mpg. The left lane was my new best friend. And so were all those nice tractor trailer drivers who blocked the cops radar guns for me! I also found out that there is a whole lot of nothingness between Houston and Austin; especially after you pass Brenham, aka "Blue Bell." And I didn't even take the time to get some ice cream, bummer.

Total trip time from Friendswood was 2 hours 50 minutes and I arrived in Austin right at 3pm. I found the correct building very quickly, but it took another ten minutes of circling two blocks to find one open parking spot. After I poured all of my change into the meter and earned my 51 minutes, I walked one block over to the state building on Brazos. I signed in at 3:16pm and rode the elevator down to the basement. There was already one person finishing up her apostilles when I walked in and another man waiting ahead of me. If it wasn't for that one guy who was in the wrong department and who wouldn't take no for an answer, I would have been in and out of there in less than five minutes. But, the nice clerk finally got through to him and about 20 minutes later I had my apostille for our I171h in hand and directions to the nearest UPS store. Five minutes walking down the street, two minutes petting a gorgeous do, and another five minutes later I was out of the UPS store with my I171h on it's way to M. Heck, I even got back to my car with 16 minutes to spare on the meter.

Total time spent in Austin - less than one hour.

Then it was back on I35 headed north to Hwy 290 until I could find the nearest pit stop. I actually had to make two pit stops on the way back. It seems all that caffeine was catching up to me. Unfortunately, I also saw all speed limit signs again on the way back home, so that trip took about 3 hours. And what is it with dark winding country roads that you are unfamiliar with - why is there no opposite direction traffic on the straight parts, only the curvy parts so that you have to turn off your high beams just when you need them most? Is that some sort of Murphy's Law or something? (I'm referring to FM1488 from Hempstead to Magnolia here.)

So, our dossier will be on it's way Wednesday morning to hopefully be filed with the SDA on Thursday!!!

The Prettiest Piece of Paper I've ever seen!

I have it right here in my hands. The most unassuming piece of paper you will ever see that will change your life drastically:

Our I171h approval is here!!!

Now all we are waiting for is the changed final page of our updated homestudy. Hopefully I will be able to pick that up this afternoon. Now I have to call the agency, so I'll say 'bye real quick now!

Natalie
TX

Not all politicians are completely useless!!!!!!!

Last week I contacted Congressman Kevin Brady's office to ask for some help with our adoption. We had our fingerprints taken last Wednesday, November 5th by the USCIS over off Hwy 290. As I was instructed by M from the adoption agency, I immediately contacted our congressman (and both senators, too) to request that he help expedite the processing of our fingerprints. J from Mr Brady's office emailed me back on Friday, November 7th with a privacy act form that needed to be filled out and faxed back to the congressman's office. I filled it out and faxed it back along with an explanation letter first thing Monday morning. Monday afternoon, J called our home number, but I was already gone for work and did not return home until 10pm. Tuesday being Veteran's Day, the congressman's office was closed, so I could not return J's call until Wednesday morning. She then contacted USCIS for us and said she would call me back when she heard any news from them.

I worked a midnight overtime last night and returned home at 6:30am and went to take a nap a little after 7am. At 10:30am my cell phone rang. It was J from the congressman's office. She had some news.

USCIS HAS APPROVED OUR FINGERPRINTS AND WE SHOULD BE RECEIVING OUR I171H IN THE MAIL ANY DAY NOW!!!!!!!!


So now, my frantic journey begins again. Once I get that document plus a revised final page from our homestudy (our facilitator said the language of the last paragraph has to be changed in order for the SDA to accept me as a married single applicant), then I get to put some money in the pockets of Exxon/Mobil and Shell and Chevron and whatever other gasoline stations I pass along the way. I need to take both the I171h and the revised homestudy page to Austin and have them both apostilled and then get them to the Dallas area by Friday November 21st. From there they will travel with another potential adoptive couple to Ukraine and be handed to our facilitator sometime right before Thanksgiving. If all goes as planned, our facilitator will be able to submit our dossier on Thanksgiving and hopefully we (I) will receive an appointment with the SDA sometime in January.

However, that throws another wrench in the engine. We were planning on hosting Y again for the holidays. He would tentatively be here from December 20th through January 7th. There is a possibility if our dossier is submitted on Thanksgiving that I could receive an SDA appointment during that potential visit!!!

Yikes!!!

The hosting company is requiring payment of $3500 by Thursday, November 20th. So, Bill and I have decided that IF we get our I171h and get it apostilled and sent off to Ukraine next week as planned, then we will not be hosting Y for the holidays. We will, however, still honor our commitment to the other two families and pay one-third of the costs of travel for S and the translator. We will also host S and the translator for however long is needed. If we do not receive our paperwork in time, then we will continue with plans to host Y for the holidays.

Our reasoning is twofold:

1. $3500 is a lot of money to spend for less than three weeks of visiting if you are just going to be seeing each other again the next month.

2. There is the possibility that our SDA appointment would conflict with when Y is here visiting. I'm pretty sure that he has to be in Ukraine at his internat for us to be referred to him.

Either way, S will be here chaperoning the kids that do come for a visit. Hopefully that will not increase my time in country if we get an appointment date before January 7, 2009. At least we will get to visit with S before I go to Ukraine. Maybe she will agree to allow one of her subordinates to give permission for me to visit with Y while she is away and to begin the process so that I do not have to increase my stay in Ukraine too long (yes, I know, we're talking about Ukraine here).

Well, now that you've wasted your day reading this post, I think I'll go have some breakfast. I've had three hours of sleep and now I'm wired!!!

Natalie

What a wonderful day!

Tuesday November 4, 2008 was certainly a historic and wonderful day for us!! Congratulations to President-elect Barack Hussein Obama (funny how the Republicans never mentioned John McCain's or Sarah Palin's or Joe Biden's middle name).

I spent my early morning walking the brats and dealing with paperwork associated with a mortgage refinance. Yes, they are still doing mortgage refinances even in this economic climate. Seems we are good candidates because we have enough income and we actually owe less on the house than it is worth.

Then, I reported for duty as a poll watcher at the Montgomery County central library. What an enlightening experience. It was a very well spent, energizing day of learning exactly what goes on when you vote. I watched a well organized precinct deal with about 500-600 voters, many of whom were at the wrong polling location or who had thought they were registered to vote but were not on Montgomery county roles. All were handled efficiently and with respect.

After polls closed, I went to the Montgomery County Democratic Party headquarters to watch the returns come in. Before I even got there, (and it only took 7 minutes), I heard that Obama had over 100 electoral votes to McCain's 30 or so. At about 10-10:30pm McCain came on TV to give his concession speech and about 30 minutes later Obama gave his victory speech in front of an estimated 250,000 supporters. Wow. I was able to go home to sleep at a decent hour knowing who had won the election. How unusual.

Once I got home I picked up the mail and noticed a letter from USCIS with ORPHAN written in green on the front!!!! We had officially received our notice to get our FBI fingerprints done! So, I woke Bill up and informed him we would need to be there between 8-11am the next day. M told us to go as soon as we got the letter, don't even wait one day, and that's what we did. It only took a painless 20 minutes or so of waiting and then the electronic fingerprints again. Only about the 5th time we've had our fingerprints done during this process.

Now it is time to bother the newly re-elected K Brady and J Cornyn and also K B Hutchison to see if they can speed up the processing of our fingerprints. Hope they don't find out that I voted a straight Democratic ticket.

Natalie
TX

almost done with paperwork

We have been informed by HouCIS that our fingerprint letter should be mailed out today! Finally! We have also been informed that we should have our fingerprints taken the day we get the letter if at all possible. Then we get on the phone/email/mail and annoy our congressman to implore USCIS to expedite our I171h so that we can have our paperwork over to Ukraine by Thanksgiving.

Hopefully we will get Y here for another 3 wk visit over the holidays and then hopefully I will be submitted and invited to Ukraine not long after that.

Natalie

Crossing our fingers

All of our dossier papers have been forwarded to the agency for apostilling. Hopefully everything is there and correct. Now all we are waiting on is the invitation for fingerprinting from USCIS.

Hope to see everyone Saturday afternoon!

Natalie

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Birthday!

Woo Hoo! The kids will be coming to visit us again! The B family will be hosting T again, and the C family will host older brother V for the first time. And we will be hosting Y again! S will be coming as the guardian and we expect her to stay most days with us.

They will be here for a little under three weeks. Tentatively just a few days before Christmas and leaving the first week of January. That means that Y will spend his first Christmas and New Years with us and his first Birthday with us! He will be a teenager, but maybe I'll buy him one of those first birthday thingys for kids.

We are planning on having a party at our house sometime after Christmas and before the kids go back to Ukraine. I should have off on Thursdays and Fridays (barring any OT), so most likely it will be the evening of 1/1/09 or 1/2/09. Email me at adoptyaroslav@yahoo.com and let me know which day works best for y'all!

Gotta go now.

So excited I could pee.

Natalie

Progress!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, we had our updated homestudy done early Sunday morning, and then I got to go to Reliant and watch the Texans actually win a game.

What was even more amazing was that Goofy behaved while the social worker was at our house. Okay, he spent most of that time outside, but at least he didn't bark or whine or jump on the fence demanding attention. Nala did all the whining for the three dogs that went outside. Miko is a people dog, so he stayed inside and gave a tour of the house. Tigger gave tons of head-butts as well. He thinks he is a dog.

We are almost done with our dossier as well. We are waiting on a visit with the CPA to verify Bill's income and verify that we own our house and are up to date on our mortgage. We are also waiting on the Doctor's forms and our fingerprint releases. Just picked up my employment letter update today, got the marriage certificate update on Monday, rewrote my letter to the SDA and added some new pictures.

Also, I will be sending our I600a off in the mail right after work. Express Mail, of course. With a nice little cover letter explaining that I will be traveling alone and that Bill and I will re-adopt Y after we get him back to TX permanently.

Ahhhh. It's nice to feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Natalie

Survived Ike

Well, we survived Ike relatively unscathed. At least three big trees down (60 ft+). I will post pictures as soon as I can figure out how to transfer them from my new phone to the computer.

Still no passport for Bill, so we are now attempting to get paperwork together so that I may get approved as a married "single." Ike has put a damper in that as well, since the main office of our agency had to evacuate.

Got to go back to work now. Will post again soon.

Natalie

Still no passport yet

Well, we got official papers from NY dated 8-6-08 that showed that all previous judgments etc from Bill's back owed child support had been satisfied. Bill was a little annoyed when he saw the date, as they were supposed to have done it the third week of July and not the first week of August.

On 8-8-08 (if we were Chinese this would be very lucky) Bill received a sort of a rejection letter from the passport agency. They said they could not approve his passport at this time because of back owed child support, but that they would keep his application on file for 90 days. They included phone numbers to contact whichever state you owed child support in. So, Bill spent two days on the phone talking to NY, to TX and to his lawyers in NY trying to see where the hold up was. He said he only got hung up on twice. That's kind of a record for Bill.

Apparently the paperwork was still sitting on someone's desk in NY and they just hadn't found time to file it properly or notify either TX or the passport agency in over a month. Supposedly it will be handled this week.

Bill then called the passport agency and they said they will expedite his passport as soon as they get the notification from NY.

I'll believe it when I see it.

Natalie

Goofy on the Treadmill

It only took three tries and about a dozen treats, but Goofy will now walk on the treadmill at 1.5mph for about 15 minutes! He looks so funny, with his tail in the submissive position, head down and tongue hanging out of his mouth! Can't wait till I have a picture to upload. Bill keeps saying he'll take one, but he hasn't yet. Maybe I'll take the camera up to the room today and do it myself. I have to stand right next to him to make sure he doesn't falter or try to get off the treadmill before I say he is done.

I have to shut the door to the exercise room (aka the front bedroom) so that the other three dogs and the cats do not distract Goofy from his goal of releasing his pent up energy. Yesterday, after Goofy was done on the treadmill, I decided to go for a run. It was a little hot in the room even though I had the a/c turned up and the ceiling fan on, so I opened the door and rushing in were the three other brats, Nala Bear, Miko and Squirt. Everybody had to sniff the new Bowflex and treadmill before I began. When I stepped onto the treadmill and pushed the speed up to 5.0mph, it only took Goofy about 5 seconds to try and get on the treadmill with me! I shooed him away and then Miko tried it, so I shooed him away,too. Then Nala Bear, bless her little doggy heart tried to get on with me as well. Poor thing has arthritis and hip displasia and can barely walk when the ground is solid beneath her paws. Maybe I'll let her try a couple of minutes today at .5mph. Miko doesn't want anything to do with it after it begins to move. Squirt will only look at it. No treat in the world is gonna get him on the tread!

Needless to say, after less than 2 minutes, I had to "paws" the machine and shoo everyone out of the room and close the door before I could go back to running. A little extra sweat never hurt me before.

Busy Birthday

I had a busy birthday on Monday (8/4). Started out with a quick turn around from a night shift the evening before to a 7am shift on Monday. Then, when I got home I had to spend 1.5hrs picking up all of Bill's stuff (and some of mine) laying around on the side & back porch and beside the garage so they wouldn't fly away when Tropical Storm Edouard came to visit the next day. Bill did pick up all of his tools and put them in the garage, but he complained about it the whole time saying Edouard was just going to be a thunderstorm. Yes Bill, you were right, but I did get you to clean up finally!

After I finished up outside, I had to do several loads of laundry. If the power goes out in our subdivision for more than 4 hrs we lose our water pressure. Luckily that didn't happen. Then, last but not least, I had to go to Kroger's and wait in line for gasoline for the generator and then replace the empty propane tanks and do a little grocery shopping. No water was to be found anywhere. Imagine that.

I got about 4 hrs of sleep before a 6am shift the next day, too.

Gotta go catch up on my sleep.

No Passport Yet

Well, no passport yet, but it should come any time in the next week or so.

Still waiting on an updated homestudy before we can send in our I600a as well.

This waiting is really getting to be annoying (and it's made me gain 40lbs as well)!

OMG! It costs WHAT to send that to Ukraine?!

Well, yesterday afternoon, after visiting Target and getting some great deals on clothes and school supplies, I made my way to our local shipping store to send my package to Yaroslav. Everything cost about $100 to purchase. When the clerk told me how much it was going to be to ship, I about sh*t a brick.

$700.00

That's right, seven times the actual cost of goods. I shipped a package of almost the same weight three months ago for $125. So, we went through the process of taking all of the school supplies and the new tennis shoes out of the box to save on weight.

The price went down a whopping $100. No way in heck I was gonna pay $600 to ship anything anywhere.

So, I pared it down to one tshirt, one hat, two yo-yos and three Russian comic books. That was a little more acceptable at $55 via USPS. Seems the other boxes were all too big and had to go either UPS or DHL and the fuel surcharges were outrageous. I will be writing Yaroslav a letter very soon telling him that we will not be able to ship any school supplies this year because of the cost. I kept the clothes. Either I will send them in smaller packages or keep them until we need them for our trip.

Do you want to hear the Good News first or the Good News first?

Yesterday morning Bill called up to tell me that he was at family court in NY and was very nervous as he waited for his attorney. His ex-wife was there and being her usual self. The two of them get along like oil and water.

Bill called me after I got home from the dog park to tell me that his lawyer was there and they needed to know how much his monthly support obligation was, so that they could correctly figure out how much he owed before they went before the facilitator (or whatever they're called in NY). Seems that was the one piece of paper he forgot to take with him.

It seemed like forever before he called again, but it was only about 2 hours. Then he finally called back and wanted to know if I wanted to hear the good news first or the good news first? I was almost speechless - Bill using the words good news in reference to his child support payments? I had never heard those words strung together like that in over 12 yrs.

Here's the shortest version I can give anyone (as verbose as I am). Bill's ex tried to say that she never agreed to a settlement, she only brought it up as a question to his TX lawyer in a phone call. Then Bill's NY lawyer produced the statement that his ex signed last November stating that she initiated and agreed to the settlement. That document was written on NY Family Court letterhead and notarized by an employee of family court. Then Bill's NY lawyer stated that his ex did not actually speak to Bill's TX lawyer, she spoke to the Assistant State Atty General who was handling his case for the state of TX, therefore she made an official request of the court, which was then accepted by Bill when he paid the $19k by the appointed date. So, her feet were held to the fire, and she had to accept the deal she made almost two years ago. The court ruled that the $19k had to be deducted from his current amount owed and that the interest on said monies for the past two years had to be deducted as well, and Bill's petition was approved by the court. This saved us about $24k in back owed child support. Bottom line, he owed $5600 after all was said and done. Bill had taken $3k in checks with him, so now he only owes $2600 by next month, and then he is free and clear of all child support obligations.

I know some of you would say that this was the kid's money and it should have been paid. However, I think of it as his ex-wife's penalty for not permitting Bill any contact with his children (to the point of returning anything we sent them back to us, shredded up) for 11 yrs. Well, now that is all water under the bridge and it will be up to the boys if they want to have any contact with their father.

The other good news is that his passport has been released by NY and the passport agency should have this information within the next two weeks. That means that if we expedite our request, we should have his passport sometime before the middle of August. Woo Hoo! Finally. Only a year and a half after we started this whole process.

Finally a light at the end of the tunnel. Now onto getting all of our paperwork done AGAIN so that it is current, etc. Lovely. Hope we don't have to do everything a third time right before we get submitted like some people that I've heard about.

Bill says he just can't wait for that 18 hr plane ride. What does he care? I'm gonna ask the doctor for a sedative for him so the rest of us can enjoy our ride in peace!!

Bill Off to NY

Bill is off to NY today for a hearing on his child support issue. He settled with his ex wife in August 2006, but NY did not properly record the settlement. Hence, his passport is being withheld due to non-payment of child support he doesn't owe! His hearing is scheduled for Friday. Hopefully they will be able to do it in the morning. I've been to those courts before and they are an absolute zoo. At least he has a lawyer this time. They always take the cases with lawyers first.

We could've saved a lot of time and cash if he'd just read the paperwork his lawyer sent him down to the fine print. He could've done his interview over the phone if he had contacted the state atty general's office down here and scheduled it with them. That not paying attention to detail will cost us about $700-$1,000 in gas and lodging fees, not to mention his lost time from work. Stuff like this makes me very thankful that I don't have testicles emitting lots of the stuff that occasionally clouds your brain function.

Gotta go back to work now. Feel like a mushroom - they keep me in the dark and feed me sh*t.
Natalie