Wednesday, September 26, 2007

The Silence is Deafening

No word yet.. And that seems to be the same story for a number of other people, if their blogs are any indication.. After a flurry of excitement four weeks ago-- Karaganda is open! Summer vacations are over! Files are being processed again! Families will travel soon!-- there is a lull once again.. One family has made it to the MOE, another family was assigned to a region, but that's all I've heard.. Anyone out there have any news?

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Waiving the white flag in the packing war



This is what my guest room (now nursery) looked like before I tried to start packing...

And this is what it looks like now!


Clearly, it is a good thing that I am not getting my LOI anytime soon-- just look at this place!! And I am getting less organized instead of more.. I have 5 suitcases of varying sizes going right now-- 3 that could be checked baggage and 2 that could be carryons.. More actually, if you include the computer bag that was part of my original carry-on plan and the diaper bag I will bring on the 2nd trip.. So, every few days, I try to fit all of my stuff into these bags, I measure them, I try to lift them, I check off things on my packing list.. And every few days, I am sent to the depths of despair by the realization that the solution that I was convinced was going to be perfect(!) has somehow been twarted by the regulations of an airline or by the suitcase itself.. Anyway, when I walked into the room last night I saw this mess, I just had to laugh-- and I thought some of you might too..

Monday, September 17, 2007

And then there were trucks..


Or what do you think about this one? Helicopters, planes and firetrucks-- and stars, for some reason..

Here is one of my other choices..


This is one of the other bedding options I am contemplating-- sailboats. It's a nice pattern, with good colors but what if he gets seasick?! Or just sick of the sea? Not every little boy is a sailor at heart..

Friday, September 14, 2007

On to more important topics..







I now have 4, count 'em 4, designs of bedding in the baby's room.. One is the sweet pink, white & yellow set I bought months and months ago for a little girl.. But the boy's bedding is giving me some trouble.. I already registered for one set of boyish bedding-- jungle themed-- but recently, my eyes have strayed and I am up to my ears in bumpers!! I think this one is my favorite-- it doesn't go as well with the existing paint as some of the others, but I think the world-travel theme is pretty cool for a little boy who is going to travel from Kaz to West Babylon.. The other two choices are variations on the transportation theme-- one is sailboats, and the other is general transportation, with trucks, plains, boats, etc. I'll try to get pics up of the other choices, and let me know what you think..

King James the First had it all wrong..

You see, James-baby is attributed with originating the phrase "No news is good news" (or at least, some old English version of it).. And I just don't agree.. I emailed my agency today, looking for an update-- knowing of course, that it was in vain because if there was something to tell me they would have.. And this is what I got: no we haven't heard anything, as far as we know your file is still at the beginning stages of the MFA, maybe more news next week.. So, no James-- no news isn't good news!!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

It's like a day at the spa: Virgin Atlantic-- Upper Class, of course!

Yesterday, I handed off my visa application to the travel agent who will be helping with my travel arrangements. When I was in her office, we started discussing some options for the plane flights and Katerina recommended flying Virgin Atlantic. My sister has frequent flyer miles I hoped to use on at least one flight, so I started to do a little research and I found the heaven of all air travel. Even before you get on the plane, Virgin offers a chauffered car service to deliver you to and from the airport.. Every first class (or "upper class" as they call it with a cheery British accent) passenger actually gets a little "suite" to call their own.. The seat flips over and converts to a fully-flat bed, which comes complete with a turn-down service (probably a mint, too!) And then there smaller amenities like gourmet meals, personal in-flight entertainment, complimentary cocktails. And the piece de resistance: spa services on the plane! Girlfriend can get a manicure and a massage on her way to Kaz! It doesn't get better than that..
The bad news? I probably won't ever even see "upper class".. Ann only has enough miles to get me as far as London. Because I will actually be dealing with 2 airline carriers, I will need more miles than usual-- 90k for Virgin, plus however many miles the other airline requires (I couldn't even figure that one out.)

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

The Long Awaited Update!

I had an email from my agency this morning (acutally dated Friday-- kudos to them for beating the deadline I set without even knowing it!) This is the story: the agency coordinator in Kaz met with an official of the Ministry of Education last week and reports that the Karaganda region will be "opening" on adoption in a week.. At that point, files should start to move, and the coordinator is encouraged that families will start to travel.. What does that mean to me? I still don't know.. It all depends on what's been happening with my file for the past two months.. I've reached out the agency to see if they know if I am still at the starting point (which is where I was at the end of July, a month after my dossier was submitted), nearing the end or somewhere in between.. I'll keep you posted!