Hot Boots!

Here they are! (Now I realize we all have varying opinions about what HOT BOOTS look like, and while these boots don't have spiked heels and fringe, I think they are pretty tasteful considering they have to do double-duty in Russia.)

Yesterday I received the document list for Ekaterinburg from our dossier coordinator. Whoa! About 26 different documents with all their pieces and parts. It didn’t take my breath away this time, but it sent my head spinning just a bit. I went through it all last night and wrote down all my questions. Everything’s sorted according to when it can be started: now or after Trip #1. The challenging ones will be the 8-doctor medical (which needs to be done here, not in Russia) and all the Letters of Good Standing I need from the Medical Specialties Board, and the Letter of Good Standing I need from the certifying board for our Tax Preparer. It will be interesting to see if I can get something like this from the Department of Treasury, or if I need to find a real CPA for our assets letter. It will all work out. Usually if I write the letter and leave room for letterhead at the top then everyone is very accommodating about signing it. Still waiting to find out how many copies I need of everything.

My grandma and I went shopping on Saturday. I needed to get the converters, plus wanted to look for a decent hat. Well, no decent hat for the Russian winter can be found in a California mall! However, I bought the HOTTEST boots! I am so stoked about these boots. They are Clarks, they are super comfortable, they still have a stylish midsize heel, they have tasteful decorative stitching, and they come up to my knees. They fit snug and perfect with my SmartW**l socks. The pic is finally posted for you all to see.

Despite the fun shopping, Saturday night Kevin and I watched a very bleak and depressing film about two Russian boys on a trip with their estranged dad. I would recommend that no PAP watch this movie. It’s not adoption-related, however, it was depressing and I was so tired, and so worried that we would get mired in the neverending wait between Trip #1 and Trip #2 that I completely hit bottom. Poor Kevin had no idea how to console me. The next day in church God gently told me that I need to have more faith. I’m so in control of everything else (I always think, anyway), but this is beyond me. It’s hard to let go, but this week has been so much easier. I know there is a lot of work to do, but I’m not stressing about it as much. I also called my friend Veronica, who has been through this whole process and she sympathized with me and told me that I would inevitably go through periods of uncertainty and despair. She said we have to guard our hearts through this process, because we are all very vulnerable. So true. Tomorrow my friend Jennifer is coming over with Nicole and Zach (twins from Russia in previous post) to play and visit. I can’t wait to see how the twins have grown over the summer. It will be good to talk to someone who has made it through this process.

I promised C and K I would take them out to breakfast this morning if they finished their homework yesterday. They finished it and turned it in yesterday and it’s not due until Friday! Good job kiddos! So we’re off.