We Are Family!

Yes it is is certainly feeling and looking that way around here. Nastya has settled in even more than I thought possible. The only problem I see right now is that despite all our efforts at bonding and such, we have now been relagated to second place behind Mocha the cat. Go figure, we spend countless hours and effort over nearly 7 weeks and along comes this kitten and instantly has first place in her heart. I'm really enjoying watching her in action, all the things going on in her new world right now. The life and the energy that she brings is a lot of fun to be part of. I know that we will turn around twice and these childish years will have passed, but in the meantime I am going to enjoy each moment as it comes. It is a little strange to be living the reality of it all right now. The thing that we longed for for so long has happened and in some ways , I still pinch myself to make sure this isn't all a dream.
Well I have one day in back at work, and it feels sooooo-good to be back into a routine. I still felt a little jet lag yesterday but I think it is finally past. Let me take you back to just one week ago today and give you a run down of what a day in this process can be like. Debbie and Nastya had left for Kiev the night before and I stayed behind to get her passport in hand. We needed one more signature from the police chief so we headed down early to be at the station for 9 am. Once there our translater went in and told me to wait , if I was needed she would call for me. After a little wait she came out and said that the chief was in a meeting and we could see him at noon. So with nearly 3 hours to kill we went for some breakfast to kill some time. Anyway we went back at noon hoping to get things wrapped up. Again she went in soon to return with the news we would have to wait until 2 pm. I realized at that point I was in for a long day. I went for a walk just to kill time and returned for 2 pm. This time we were successful and I thought great , lets head for the bus station and get out of Dodge. Hold it , not so fast. Because of our delays we missed our bus for Kiev. It left at one pm, so then we headed , you guessed it for that dreaded train. I new that the earliest train out never left till 8 pm but at least I would get there. Not so fast, no tickets for the first train. The next option was the later train which would be the all- nighter, even so that was all that was left. Not so fast, that train is full as well, now what??. My translator told me that I would have to wait till Friday, you've got to be kidding I said. She then started inquiring about trains leaving from other cities. She was told that there was room on a train leaving Dnipro, the city we had been in the day before. The problem was it was leaving at 5 pm. It was a little after 3 pm, with an hour and a half drive to the train station in Dnipro. I looked at our driver and he motioned towards the parking lot, and I new he was going for it. Well it was a fast ride on the highway, thats for sure, that little 4 cylinder was really tested but we made it, with about 15 minutes to spare. The trip from here a 6 hour journey. The only problem was I ended up in the cheap seats with no possibility of laying down, and ofcourse surrounded by folk that I couldn't speak a word to . Afrer struggling through 3 Russian movies on an old television set, trying to follow a story line, without understanding one word, I thought I would lose my mind. Anyway I did make it to Kiev and took a cab to the apartment where I was reunited with Debbie and Nastya. Another typical day of Ukrainian addoption behind me I finally crashed some time after mid-night.
I look back now and kind of laugh bit at the time I wasn't doing much laughing. Anyway we're still getting the house back to rights so I guess I'd better go and help, besides there's a little Ukrainian girl in our midst that may need her daddy. Catch you later, love Randy.