It has been exactly 3 weeks since I spoke to the agency and was assured that I would get my LOI [letter of invitation] by the end of the month. Now it’s the end of the month. I am on pins and needles, waiting. I keep hearing that Tom Petty song wailing in my head “the waiting is the hardest part.” Patience is NOT my strong suit.
I was reminded of the weather in Kaz this morning, because it was 19 degrees here when I got ready to go to work. I wore my heavy new coat and my lined leather gloves and I was still cold in the car with the heat on. I didn’t wear my new Crocs boots, but I was tempted. They are awesome. They look like standard rain boots but with the lovely Crocs design and materials. I tried them on and they instantly felt great. They even came with their own little carrying bag. I can carry them in my suitcase and not work about them weighing down the suitcase too much.
Alesia and I went through Matthew’s photo album and, using an online translation service, created a list of the captions in Russian. She is helping me make sure they are accurate – sometimes those services aren’t. We are pasting the Russian translation right under the English caption. I think it’s going to look very nice when it’s done. I have heard they want to see photos in court and I hope the judge will be impressed, too. When I adopted Alesia the photo album with captions in Russian was a huge hit with everyone.
I have Alesia say prayers every night before she goes to sleep. Her prayers lately always include “Help Mom to have a safe trip to Kaz.” Poor baby, she worries about me flying. I only worry about fitting my butt in the seat, surviving airplane food, and boredom. [I wonder what’s worse, airplane food or hospital food?]
Alesia is taking a terrific painting/drawing class for teens on Saturdays. She showed me a page from her sketchbook last Friday titled “Things I Hate.” The list included crying, ghosts, a broken heart, and tulips. Yes, she hates tulips. She says they smell funny. Mother and I think this is hilarious. I personally love tulips. I wonder if this is why she was so reluctant to plant bulbs with me last fall…?
The really ironic thing is, I can control her exposure to tulips, but I can’t do anything about ghosts… LOL I just tell her if she’s scared of ghosts to ask Grandpa Tony to keep the mean old ghosts away from her, and he will, since he’s her guardian angel. I’ve told her I have seen ghosts, which I truly believe I have. In retrospect, maybe that was a stupid thing to tell her. However, I argue with myself, how can I get her to believe in the unseen world – therefore in God – and deny the presence of ghosts and ESP and other paranormal phenomena? I think it’s totally illogical to expect her to believe in God and Jesus and the afterlife, but not in ghosts. I did tell her the other day that ghosts are simply leftover energy in the earthly plane, and they cannot hurt us, which I believe. I said “The only thing that’s problematical about ghosts is fear, Alesia. If we live in fear of something then it has power over us. You must not let fear rule your life.” I truly believe that. I believe Churchill’s words “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Right on, Winston.
BOOK NEWS
I finally checked Amazon and found my book. I was so excited until I noticed it said “This title is currently not available.” I am hoping some of my friends who have read it will post positive reviews, and maybe they will go ahead and order some copies from the publisher and get the ball rolling. There’s always a lag time between posting it and actually having the copies available to sell. Very frustrating.
