On the Road Again

This entry is not going to be about the adoption, although I can't promise that I won't mention it in passing, and in this first paragraph. I am boycotting any extended discussion of the status right now because I have no new information except that the expedited ($$$) Visas we received last week in anticipation of travelling soon (?) may not be correct. I won't bore you with the details but please say a prayer for us that we don't have to shell out another big chunk of money to get new ones.

Early this year I decided that I was going to try to do the Richmond Marathon in November 2008. I am no great runner, nor am I even mediocre. I'm really slow but have pretty good endurance. Running a Marathon is something I've always wanted to do and I thought this year would be a good time because next year we'd probably be completing the adoption. The good news is that the adoption should happen this year. Now I need to figure out whether I'll be able to do the Marathon in November or not. Aside from the lifestyle changes that will occur with a little one joining the family, I have had some recent training issues.

In anticipation of starting Marathon training in May, I signed up for the Rock 'N Roll 1/2 Marathon in Virginia Beach over Labor Day. I did this last year with my friend Maria and thought it would be fun, and good timing in terms of training for the Marathon. Training for the 1/2 Marathon should have begun in June and training for the Marathon in November should have begun in May.

So, have I started training? Not really, not like I need to. My problem is that I have a self diagnosed myself with a strained achilles tendon in my left leg. No, I haven't been to the doctor about it and I don't know for sure if this is what is wrong, but I am treating this ailment. Nice, huh. My treatment is that I didn't run for the first 3 weeks of June, ice my leg regularly, and take Motrin sometimes. Prior to my diagnosis I had been running 3 - 4 times a week, about 3 miles a day and then 5 - 10 miles one day/week for my long run.

I had originally planned to stop running up to and throught the trip back to Russia, but I couldn't do it. I had to start back. Running helps me deal with stress and I needed a release for all the anxiety that I've been feeling recently.

I started back last Saturday and it went pretty well. My foot/heel/ankle hurt slightly for the first 2 blocks and then it loosened up and felt pretty good. The big test was whether I'd be able to walk on it without limping on Sunday morning. I could. I was happy. Since then I've been out twice. On each subsequent run, my foot/heel/ankle hurt for the first few blocks and then felt pretty good. My dilemma is whether I should continue or not. I know the leg is not normal and don't think its completely healed, but its better than it was before I stopped for 3 weeks and running is helping my stress levels. Thats good, right? I'm going to try to go for a long run Saturday to see how it does. Hopefully this isn't a bad idea.

I'm not any closer to figuring out the Marathon question. I think in the end it comes down to two options, 1) an extended period off the leg, thus missing training and stress reducing runs and potentially not being ready in time for the distance, or 2) running half injured, potentially creating a chronic condition, and not being ready in time for the distance. These are not good options, but if there is really a problem 1) is better than 2). I guess its time to see the doctor and have a professional help me figure out what is wrong and what I can do about it. Maybe there is an option 3) that I don't know about!

Thats it for now, I'll update if I hear anything of interest regarding the adoption!

I Couldn't Change the Station

I was on my way to work Friday morning, listening to NPR, when Story Corps came on. Story Corps is an independent nonprofit project whose mission is to honor and celebrate one another's lives through listening. It usually involves one or two people discussing one of their lives or an event in their lives. Sometimes I have to change the station when it comes on because it is so hard to listen to...translation, it makes me cry.

Well on Friday it caught my attention because it was a man talking about his experiences spent in an orphanage in Denver in the fifties. He talked about how back then prospective parents could check out a child from the orphanage like a library book, to see how the child would fit in to their family. He recounts that the only recollection he has of these trips to peoples homes was the trip to their home, in the front seat of the car, with the families trying to make him smile and laugh. And the trip back to the orphanage, sitting in the back seat, with no one speaking to him, feeling that they didn't like him, not knowing why. After one such trip he decided he never wanted to leave the orphanage again.

Heart-wrenching is what this story is. It was about this point in the story when I lost it, crying my eyes out for this child and the countless others. I couldn't change the station.

Luckily, there was a happy ending! When he was 5 he was adopted by a family that didn't take him home on a trial basis, they simply adopted him. He goes on to discuss finding the first two gifts his parents ever gave him in his mothers belongings when she died. More tears. If you'd like to hear the story I have included the link below. You may want to get a tissue first.

Click here to listen to: An Orphan's Adoption: 'And Away we Went'

Needless to say, the story got me thinking about our little guy and what he's thinking. Does he realize we're coming back as soon as we can? Does he look at the photo album we left for him? Does he listen to our voices in his bear, telling him we love him? I hope so. I hope they tell him every day that Mommy and Daddy will be back soon, and hopefully he understands this and hopefully he believes them.

Many people have said adoption isn't for the faint of heart and they weren't kidding. It's an emotional journey that will turn you inside out. But, in the end, when we're home with our son, it will all be worth it.

May Showers bring June Court Dates, Right?

I know thats not how it goes, but I can dream can't I. Ok, this isn't supposed to be about Court Dates, its about showers! We were very fortunate to have had 2 toddler showers last week. One we knew about ahead of time, the other was a surprise...mainly.

The first shower was hosted by my sister Jill and Bill's sister Mary. It was at Jill's home, where many of you know, Bill and I were married. We've had alot of good times there! Anyway, the day began with Mary driving down here, picking me up and we headed to Jills. Those of you that know Mary know that she loves cooking, putting parties on, and entertaining. The larger the scale, the better. She really should start a catering business. And Jill is no slouch either, a gourmet cook, accomplished artist, talented decorator, of course the house looked awesome. The shower theme was Jungle, in honor of the nursery, and everything was just adorable. The food was amazing and I think everyone really enjoyed the afternoon. Lots of my local pals attended and it was really nice to celebrate such a wonderful occasion with everyone. Thank you everyone for all the fabulous gifts. We needed 3 cars to get everything back to the house!







After the shower, Mary, my friend Maria (from Va Beach) and Anne returned to the house for a girls night. Mary's friend Melissa also joined us for a late night (2 am!) of girl talk, eating, drinking, chatting, etc., with various pop-ins from Bill. It was a great weekend and thank you to everyone that made it happen. Bill and I really appreciate it.


The second shower was given by my co-workers. It was pretty funny, the intent was for it to be a surprise. But, about 5 minutes before it started, one of the men that I work with came by and asked if today was "my lunch thing". I told him I didn't know what he was talking about. As far as I knew we were having a going away lunch for one of my team members. He said he'd go check his calendar, huh?! So, a few minutes later one of my team came and asked me if I had a minute to chat. We headed toward my bosses office and...surprise... in his office was a party. We had lunch, watched the Wiggles, opened gifts and had cake. It was very sweet of everyone and among other things our kiddo received his first sandals, sunglasses and most importantly, the first of many...a UVA Teeshirt! Go HOOS! Wahoo Wa!


Thanks to all my CC buddies, you guys are the best!

Happy Father's Day!

I just wanted to take a moment to say Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Blogging is Hard!

If anyone is still out there trying to find out what is going on with our adoption I apologize for being such a lax blogger. Putting my thoughts down on paper has been alot harder than I thought it would be. Good thing I didn't follow through on my childhood dream of being a writer. Something tells me that wouldn't have worked out too well for me.

So, the latest is that there is no latest. We have no news, no court date, no flight plans, no last minute scurrying around to figure out what outfits to bring and what books to pack. We are still waiting, and I've lost my mind. Now most folks that know me would hopefully say I'm pretty level headed and even-keeled (mainly). Well, mild-mannered Meghan has been replaced with court date crazed Meghan. What has happened is that we have passed the point that I expected to receive our date (6/6). This has caused much internal stress which is manifesting itself as a generally irritated and surly demeanor to everyone I cross paths with. Its not pretty and unfortunately I think I am at my most irritable while at work. Sorry to all my coworkers, hopefully this phase will pass soon. The other good option would be that we get our date soon and I can get on with worrying about other things like what I'm going to feed a 15 month old.

We have heard from our agency that we are the next family to get scheduled for court. I don't really know what this means. Are we the next family in the world, are we the next family from our Agency, its hard to say. We got this nugget of information on Tuesday (6/10). I pinned all my hopes for a date on Wednesday and since we didn't hear Wednesday, Thursday (6/12) is a Russian holiday and I believe Friday is a vacation day for most. So, now maybe we'll hear next week. I've set a recent record of not contacting our agency for 3 whole days. I'm sure our case worker is glad about that. I suspect I'll start in early Monday. No, I take it back, I'm really going to try to be calm about it.

So, thats it, all I know. My next post will be happy and will focus on all the fun things that have been going on recently to help us prepare for our kiddo's homecoming!

The Beach and other Diversions

Our annual spring beach trip to the Outer Banks was last week. You may wonder what we were thinking taking a vacation when we already had 2 weeks in Moscow in April and another 3 weeks coming up in the near future (we hope!). It would be difficult to justify all that time away from work, so we opted for the weekend, up on Friday night and back on Sunday afternoon. We were also able to take Abby with us which was really fun for her.

We had a wonderful time, although too short! The house was great, the weather was gorgeous all weekend and it was nice to get away and spend time with friends. The weekend was spent sunning by the pool, reading, eating and game playing (Killer Bunnies...very fun, check it out). Plus, our friends totally caught us off guard with a surprise baby shower. Well, apparently Bill stumbled upon it early but he kept quiet until they could get me up to the living room. We received all kinds of books, toys, clothing and to top it all off, a stroller. Here are some pictures of the festivities. Someone was really excited about Spider Man!

Other than the beach trip we are keeping busy with preparing for Nicholas to come home, there is always more to be done. We still haven't gotten any news regarding our court date. I'm really hoping we're going to hear something this week. This timing would be consistent that of recent families that have travelled to Moscow with our agency. I'll definitely update the blog when we get the news.