What an incredibly busy day! I slept in –
until after 8 – and slowly waked up. Michael and Alesia rolled out around 9.
Michael and I had an appointment to go see
my cousin Tim at 10:30. He trimmed my bangs, and gave Michael a more thorough
hair trim. Tim is my cousin, and it’s always fun to go to his house and see all
his cool gadgets.
Tim was a drummer in a band, for years, and
he had his drum set out in the main room. I told him Alesia has suddenly
developed a real interest in the drums, and I want to take her over there so
she can just try playing and see what it’s like. She really likes the big bass
drums you hear in a marching band. I have always loved the sound of a marching
band, too. Tim, always gracious, said sure, bring her over. [She was with
Mother, getting a manicure.] Tim played in the University of Georgia marching band when he was in college.
Michael and I headed next to Party City.
Michael was fascinated by everything in there. He hadn’t been there before. I
had to get tablecloths and balloons for tonight’s MAPREC party. MAPREC [Metro Atlanta Parents of Russian and Eastern European Children] is the
parents’ support group I formed when I was in the process of adopting Alesia.
We meet a couple of times a year, and eat, and the kids play and we visit.
Every year, the Russian Christmas potluck
dinner is well attended. This year was no exception. We had around 60 people
there. It was held in a church fellowship hall. It was a small place, but
certainly adequate for us. There was a piano, plenty of tables, and room for
folks to chat. We had a huge variety of food – everything from borscht, to
chicken nuggets. Several folks try to bring authentic dishes, and others bring
American food, which is fine. We also had a large pizza! Everyone ate well,
even the kids.
I have found, over the years, that MAPREC
parents are always great about helping me with events. People come and bring
really GOOD food. Everyone meets and greets easily. It’s always a thrill to see
couples or singles who didn’t have a child last year, with their kids home the
next year.
My only real regret is that I am always so
busy, I never get enough photos. Next year, I am going to assign someone to
take photos. I have added a MAPREC photo album on the side, if you scroll down
to the right, and I will be adding to it in the next couple of days, hopefully.
We have had more than a half dozen events in the past several years.
My friend John came and helped, which was
really nice of him. He is always great help, and he was a gracious co-host, even
though he's not an adoptive parent. He IS a parent, so he understands.
When we got ready to leave about 8, and the
kids didn’t want to go! The church has a nice little playground in the back,
with swings and a slide, and there were so many kids there, they played tag and
ran around a lot. Michael got a huge scrape on his knee, but he said he had a
blast. Several parents reported meeting him, and what a nice boy he is. One
parent said “He’s a wild man out there!” Yep, he is that. One parent had to
call him down – he was fixing to jump to the ground from the top of the slide!
I thank Andrew profusely for getting him to NOT do that.
I brought Alesia’s friend Elena with me, and
her sister Anya. Their mom was too busy to get them there, and I didn’t mind
bringing them. They are good girls, and good helpers.
We came home and I gave Mother a
blow-by-blow account of the festivities. One little girl, Marina, newly arrived
from Ukraine, was astonished to meet a teenaged boy at the party named “Luke.”
His father is the pastor of the church. In Russian, the word “Luke” sounds
exactly like the word meaning “onion.”
This same child, only here in the USA for a
few months, came home the other day and told her mother there was a boy in her
class at school named Hamster. Marina was blasé about it. Melissa finally got
it figured out – the child’s name is “Hunter” but Marina had never heard that
name, so she calls him “Hamster.” LOL
The pastor of the church was there
throughout, with his wife. They are lovely people, truly gracious and generous
with their time and their church. I really enjoyed chatting with them. They
have one boy in college, and the aforementioned Onion – I mean Luke.
My feet are killing me. I plan to do as
little as possible tomorrow.
