This just in...

So, I just heard back from my coordinator in Russia who informed me that I do NOT have to make a speech in court (whew!) but that I should come prepared to discuss everything on my home study and financial documents - guess I'd better commit those to memory!

She also sent me seven new photos of my first outside visit with RP and I just HAD to include this one, as it's my favorite and brought tears to my eyes:

I can't WAIT to go back now!!!

Pregnancy brain?

So, I guess my first question is whether or not you can even GET "pregnancy brain" without physically being pregnant? No offense to my pregnant (or formerly pregnant!) friends, but my understanding of pregnancy brain is that you become very forgetful, scatterbrained, or just out of it on some level, which is pretty much what I have going on right about now.

I spent Friday night filling out dual-entry visa applications for my mom and I to fill out and sign, so we could get them Fed-Ex'd out straight away today. Filled out the forms, my mom signed hers before our big shopping excursion on Saturday, and I was content knowing that everything would be sent out first thing this morning.

I kept hearing rumblings on the train on Friday, and seeing people posting things about "three day weekends" on Facebook, but it honestly wasn't until YESTERDAY that I realized that MLK day was today. Uh, hello - MLK day equates into banks being closed, which also equates into no way possible for Teri to go and get that money order for the visas that was required for the package to go out. Okay, no biggie - I'll grab the cash out of an ATM and find a scary Currency Exchange to get the money order (figuring if I could manage a Currency Exchange in St. Petersburg I could CERTAINLY handle one in Chicago, right???).

Problem number two comes in that you have to send your passports, along with the money orders, and along with the visa applications, in order to have them processed. YEP - you guessed it - I left my passports, safely locked up in the lockbox at home. AARRGGHHH - I am SO frustrated with myself right now - we are cutting this right down to the wire, and we'll have just a little over a week to get our visas AND let's not forget that I still don't have my FBI fingerprint clearance back yet.

The good news??? Two weeks from today I'll be seeing my little RP again. I can't wait. :)

Court dates!!!

Literally hot off the presses is that I JUST received my court dates!!! I am in utter disbelief (and a bit of a panic) that the dates are finally here!

Court is scheduled for February 2, so we need to leave here on January 30 to be there in time to visit RP (they built time in on the 1st - I am SO excited!), head to court, then come home on the 3rd. Yep - a whirlwind trip, but by my calculations the 10 day waiting period would be up (at the latest) on February 16!!!

My nerves are shot because I just found out from the FBI yesterday that my fingerprints are NOT done yet and I'm not looking forward to another 'go-round with them, so please keep your fingers crossed that everything is done and comes back ASAP.

There truly is light at the end of the tunnel - and with that, here we go!!! :)

Frustrated!!!

So, I called the Customer Service department for the FBI this morning (which, by the way, still weirds me out!) and after speaking with a MOST unpleasant girl (unlike the guy I spoke to the first time) I am beyond frustrated with this process!

First off, the girl talked to me like I'm an idiot. I spelled my name for her THREE TIMES and she kept asking me, "Are you sure?" Uh... yeah - I'm pretty sure I know how to spell my.own.name.

Then she told me they didn't have it. Um - I don't think so, since I called on December 23 and the guy I talked to was not only able to find it, but also able to tell me that it was in process. Please check again.

Oh.... yeah, we have it. But it's not done. It's only been SEVEN WEEKS. It takes anywhere from eight to ten to process. You knew this, right?

Yes, I knew this - from the first time I called. I let her know that all the paperwork I received, one of the documents which is from the FBI itself, says that this process takes four to five weeks. As we've already determined, it's been SEVEN. She acknowledges this and tells me that it USED to take four-five weeks, but now they are so busy it takes eight to ten.

I let her know that I am waiting for a call to go to Russia to go to court any day now and I REALLY need this done, and despite my reddened face and palpitating heart, I ask her nicely if there is anything she can do to flag it or put a rush on it. As you may have already guessed, the answer was "no." Not just "no," but "no I can't - call us back in two weeks if you haven't heard anything yet."

I usually keep my opinions about our government to myself but this is ludicrous. Not to open up a sensitive subject, but this is exactly why government-run health care is a bad idea - if this were a pre-surgical consult I was waiting on, life or death, I would be dead before the government was able to make any decision and get back to me! I realize this is apples-to-oranges, but to me this IS life and death, and the apathy of the girl I talked to set the tone (and my mood) for the entire day.

Guess I'll keep waiting, and hope that I get this back before I have to call these people back again. I'm pretty sure if a third phone call becomes necessary I might not pass this background check after all...

Quickly approaching six weeks...

So we're not there yet, but two days from now will mark six weeks of waiting for court. While I am working VERY hard on remaining an eternal optimist, this date is a bit bittersweet for me because when I left Russia my coordinator told me she was hopeful that I'd be back in six weeks for court. Which would be THIS.WEEK.

My little RP is blissfully unaware that I am over here, pining for her - and as weird as it sounds, that makes me happy. Happy for her because her life is going on as usual as she is too young to truly understand what is about to happen to her. The people that we met at the orphanage truly appear to care for the children and do their best to ensure the happiness of the little ones, and in the midst of all the excitement and anticipation of her finally coming home with me, I do feel badly for ripping her away from that love and care, away from the only home she has ever known.

I am hoping to hear any day now of my impending court date and am anxious to make that day and a half trip again. Of course, I STILL don't have my FBI fingerprint clearance and I desperately need that before I can go to court, so I guess everything happens for a reason. Timing is everything. (insert your favorite, appropriate, cliche here!) However, I can't WAIT to be holding my little RP, once and for all, and begin our new adventure in life. Together.

Five weeks, no word yet...

I can hardly believe it, but it's been FIVE WEEKS since my mom and I left Russia to come back here and start the waiting game all over again. Five weeks - wow. The coordinators over there said to anticipate a wait of no less than six weeks, and hopefully now that the Russian holidays are coming to an end, maybe we'll hear something soon. Considering the fact that we are having blizzard-like conditions today and United and American had already cancelled a number of their flights by 6:30 this morning (you learn a LOT when you are up at 5 a.m. to shovel snow!) I guess it's a good thing we weren't trying to leave today, or even this weekend. Also considering the fact that I don't have my background check back from the FBI, I would be a wreck right about now if I were trying to leave.

Still, I miss my little RP terribly and can't wait to go over there and make everything "official." I have started telling people at work (the more gossipy ones are at the end of the week - I am going to need extra-strength Tylenol to get me through those discussions - well, that or vodka. Lots of vodka.) and the reactions make me chuckle. My supervisors were all very excited and nice about it - and truly surprised and amazed that I kept such a big undertaking secret for as long as I did. I told a colleague (not a close one) yesterday in a meeting because I am trying to get some communications issues cleared up between our teams before I am out on my leave, and she didn't bat an eye - no congratulations, "are you nuts?," nothing. I am not entirely sure she understood what I was talking about/getting at, but it was still pretty awkward. People are funny - and I guess that was my first taste of someone finding out and not being happy for me, and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. Sad, but true.

So from here we'll keep waiting and hoping for a quick court date and an even faster 10-day waiting period to go by so I can bring my little RP home once and for all. Until then, we'll just keep waiting... :)

New Year, New Adventures

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had an incredible holiday, and that 2010 holds nothing but good for everyone! I, for one, am beyond excited at the prospects this new year, and new decade hold. Hopefully very soon the waiting will be over and RP will be home, for good.

2010 is a new beginning, but also an end. An end to being a "family of one" (aka - bachelorette!). An end to waiting for my little princess. An end to the endless amounts of paperwork that had consumed the better part of 2009. An end to red tape, frustrations, and impatience that had ALSO consumed a great deal of 2009.

2010 is the new beginning I have been longing for. A new beginning with my little family. A new beginning as a Mommy, when I am sure to make mistakes, am sure to be confused, but hopefully never fully fail. Most importantly, a new beginning for RP, who will hopefully be home for Easter this year, or at least her 2nd birthday.

The 2009 holiday festivities are over, but hopefully that does not end the good news and glad tidings that are in store - the best is truly yet to come!

Happy New Year everyone!!!