Soon Mike, who is much more patient than I am, was also getting "cranky" about waiting. Vica did say 2 weeks in early April, right? Well, the phone didn't ring until about 2 months. It was a Sunday. It was early evening. We were trying to cook dinner. It was June 8, 2008. Mike was grilling a steak, carrots, and potatoes for dinner when the phone rang. I was folding laundry. Such mundane, every day tasks. But, we were together. I had emailed Christine on Friday to let her know about my job situation. When the phone rang Mike looked at the caller I.D. and saw that it was Christine. He was immediately worried that she had read my email and he wasn't sure what her thoughts would be about it. My only thought was, "Oh my gosh! Mike! It's Monday there!". You need to remember that we were waiting for a referral from an area in Russia that is 10 hours ahead of us. I know that being dinner time here, it was only about 5 AM there, but my crazy brain was off and running, perhaps in hope. I'm not sure.
Well, it was Monday in Russia but the referral had actually come in to Christine on Friday June 6th. She had been out of the office and didn't receive the call. She received it on Sunday and immediately called us. I couldn't believe it. Finally, the referral was here. We were tentatively matched with 2 children. That was all we knew. This was a blind referral and we wouldn't be given any more information until we went to the Ministry in Yekaterinburg. We were to leave on June 20th. Yikes! That was only 12 days away. How could we possibly get ready, get our Visas, pack, and get plane tickets by then?
Luckily we had received the information for a great travel agency and they were extremely helpful. I had already spoken with Alex from the travel agency in March or April and had sent him our tentative information. Now that we had a set travel time, things really moved quickly. He was able to get us plane tickets, stopping in Frankfurt, Germany, and the whole Visa thing was sorted out too. No not the credit card Visa, a Visa that allows you to enter a country. It is a highly expensive paper placed inside your passport. I had never had to deal with Visas before, although I had a passport and I have traveled out of the country. Mike was completely knew to traveling outside the US, except for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
I am quite thankful that we had the travel agency to help us. It gave me the time to pack the camera bag, the carry-on snack bag, and the suitcases. Mike must have been extremely excited about finally going because he was all packed by the 16th, even with a very busy weekend. Waiting the last couple days became very difficult and I am not sure how much sleep either of us had. So many questions were churning in my head. Are we really going? Will the plane take off on time? What will we do with an 8 hour layover in Frankfurt? Do we have everything we need? How will it be going to the baby home? Will the baby/babies like us? What will happen? So many things to consider, and so many feelings chasing butterflies in my stomach. I was overwhelmed yet worried. How will that first meeting between Mike, myself, and our new baby/babies turn out? Will it really be love at first sight? Will I really be a mommy? Time would tell.....
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