October 22, 2006
Sitting in the Dark (No Dancing Going On…)
We landed in Kokshetau around 1:00 this afternoon and Assel was there to greet
us. It was so good to see her! I can’t believe how much we’ve missed her while
we were gone. She’s like part of our family now, and in a way it felt like
coming back to our home on this side of the world. I keep threatening to just
throw her in a bag and bring her home with us – after all, we’re already paying
HUGE overweight fees on the luggage, so why not? We spent the whole afternoon
just catching up with her. She’s still got a few more weeks of driving lessons
before she can get her license, so she’s been pretty busy while we were gone.
She said she found herself saying “How ‘bout that?” the whole time we were gone
(her favorite Dave saying” and thinking about us.
We saw Shaizada, the coordinator here in Kokshetau, for a few minutes today to
pick up some last minute paperwork, and she told us that my paperwork was
unusually easy – no bumps in the road at all. Now if we can just keep that run
of luck going for another week and get home with the girls I’m going to be
thrilled. Just a few more steps along the way and then the girls will be the
Amazing Hunter Girls forever. How ‘bout that?
I crashed on Dave and Assel pretty early this evening and then woke up around
8:45 panicked. I couldn’t figure out if was 8:45 a.m. or p.m., but if it was
a.m. we were going to be in a whole lot of trouble. We’re supposed to meet
Assel at 9:15 in the morning to go get the girls. I started hitting Dave and
trying to wake him up when it finally registered with me that it was still
awfully dark outside to be nearly 9:00 in the morning. This jet lag thing is a
pain in the tail! My body’s having a heck of a time trying to figure out if
it’s coming or going, up or down, or even if I’m awake or asleep. It’s
definitely making for some interesting dreams.
But during all the excitement of trying to get Dave up and moving 11 hours
before he needed to be, we had a little glitch in our otherwise wonderful suite
here. I tried to turn on the lights and – nothing. Well, that’s not true…
there was a little “pop” and then nothing. I just thought we had blown a bulb
in the light fixture in the living room, but now none of the lights are working.
So while Dave’s trying to have a shower and shave in the dark (I’m a little
worried about that one…), I’ve been trying to get the rest of the girls’ stuff
packed and ready to go. There’s no telling what these poor children are going
to end up wearing on their last day in the baby house! I’ve just been grabbing
anything that felt like shoes and throwing them in the bag. I just hope they
both have something to wear. Oh – can you imagine what those caregivers are
going to be saying about me if I take those poor children from there wearing
mismatched shoes? I’ll probably find out that that’s exactly what causes
ingrown toenails – or some other interesting superstition.
I don’t care! In just a few more hours the girls are going to be with me
forever – mismatched shoes or not. Even in the dark, it doesn’t get any better
than this!
