do you blog?

Really, I used to post.

The posts were often well-written. Go troll through the archives and have a look. There's good stuff in there!

Recently, we had a visit from my Russian sw. She says that Lexi and I now look alike. Actually, we hear that often from Russian friends. They seem very relieved.

Tomorrow we head to Frankfurt to see our American sw. Fortunately, she has scheduled our visit at a series of swimming pools/water slides/saunas. Fun! We'll either take in the zoo or do some shopping Friday and then come back.

I'll see what I can manage to post that is mildly entertaining or informative but not too revealing. That's a tough line to walk!

(For the car fans out there: I have invested an absurd amount of money in a parking space nearby. So far, so good.)

Thanks for sticking around!

Happy Family Day!

ONE YEAR
as a happy family

Then:

(Looking at the gate, trying to understand everything and then...oh, that picture in the car of my brave, BRAVE little girl just breaks my heart. Can you imagine leaving everything you know to set out with a stranger--even if it seems like a kind one--yet again? The last one is the glimpse we got of Lexi--before all the overstimulation caught up with her. I love that one. And then her patience as we waited and waited amazed me.)

height and weight were both at 10%

That night she chose to eat watermelon and cheese.

and now:

Yes, the weather is worse, but just look at how much happier and more comfortable she is! (This is the only photo where the photographer didn't move.)

height 118.5 cm
weight 45.5 lbs.
(both just over the 25%)

Tonight she chose chicken pie (okay, she might have wanted fish...but I wanted us to eat the same thing, so chicken it was) and bulochka (little poppy seed sweetrolls--these were chocolate-covered) and some of her favorite chocolate bar.

I am so grateful for the gift of this amazing child. More photos this weekend!

5 w's

who: my car (not strictly a who, but the subject nonetheless. think personification.)
what: towed
when: saturday afternoon, apparently
where: (this is new) to a police impound lot that costs 600r/day
why: just to provide me with blog fodder, i guess

we have to find the lot, go and get my papers out of the car and get a paper from the lot-keeper, go to the central police station, find the person who signed off on the tow of my car (stop laughing), calculate the fine--and pay it, i think, go back to the lot and get my car.

in the rain.

with a rotten cold.

and a tired seven-year-old.

and the invaluable and always cheerful help of my dear friend, marina.

seriously--without her and my red plates, i don't think i'd drive here.

this time last year

A year ago today this post graced the www:

This is Kate's friend Kat. Kate does not have a phone or laptop in Moscow however she wants everyone to know that court was a HUGE SUCCESS!!!

She is the proud mother of Alexandra Eleanor.

LEXI is coming home soon!!!!!

I enjoyed my time in court. The full court story didn't get published until two days later when I was back home with internet and phone access. I don't count this as our family day, as the decision wasn't final yet, but it is an important, special day.

i'll try

Your comments and e-mails were so kind and encouraging. Some of the most powerful ones come from the people who e-mail telling us that we've made a difference to them--people who have adopted, who are adopting, who are thinking about adopting an older child...

I'll work on it.

And, there are always car stories, right?

We haven't had our car since we got back. It's registration expired. My kartooshka expired. When they went to renew my kartooshka, which had to be done before they renewed my registration, they discovered that when they last renewed my visa (only until 1 April--but we don't know why. I suspect it was a handwriting problem and was supposed to be 1 August. ) they didn't register me. So I had to be registered, my kartooshka had to be renewed and my car needed to be re-registered. And the battery died while this was happening, stranding it at the consulate. Add in the fact that the ever-helpful consulate motor pool staff is now not supposed to provide support for foreign-hires at the school (I don't know why), and it has been a long process.

Big surprise.

Today was our school's welcome picnic. We were eating scrambled egg sandwiches (yum) under the awning as it insistently drizzled when Lexi said, "Mama, there's our car." Without looking up I said, "It probably looks like our..." and looked at it.

Of course, I still don't know our new license number, since we've barely had the car since it got re-plated, so that didn't help. And it was cleaner than our car usually is...but we washed ours on one of our last days here..

"It IS our car! Good eye, Lex!"

Yes, we have a car again. Lexi scrambled into her carseat and sighed, "Oh, it's so nice to have our car again." And it started. And we drove it home.

Lexi is sitting in the window right now telling me, almost incredulously, "Mama, that's our car parked right outside!"

Simple joys.

I plan to have it vacuumed tomorrow on the way to pre-church shopping and to find out how to disconnect the battery (it's hidden). I'll just do that every time we park it.