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