Are ya kiddin' me?

I hate pity parties, but today I feel I’m entitled. This is NOT one of my better days - not by a long shot.

First of all, Mike returned home yesterday to find we have no phone service. The last missed call on the ID was the 17th! Verizon is “looking into it”! Then when he went to pick the dog up at the kennel, they charged him about $200 more than we thought it would be! $620 for three weeks! Argh!!!!!

Then Mike & I couldn’t use the webcam we’d been counting on to make this separation a little more manageable. We finally got hooked up on both ends of the world (a computer in our house, and my laptop) and all the software installed, but as they say, it doesn’t work as advertised. We can see each other, but no sound. If we try both, it freezes up our home computer. We tried just using voice first, but even that just fades in and out, and then hangs up. SO FRUSTRATING! Mike is all messed up as far as sleeping, so when he gets some sleep and time, he’s gonna reinstall all the software on another computer to see if it helps…

Then Levi called to tell me he had just arrived in NY’s JFK airport. Without his briefcase. Apparently the shuttle between terminals in Moscow was SO overcrowded that he had a hard time getting both his suitcases on, and thus put his briefcase down to cram his bags on…and never saw it again. Luckily his passport, tickets & rubles were in his coat pocket. BUT his credit cards, debit card & license were all in the briefcase! Irina was gonna call the airport to see if someone turned it in, but…

Plus, when he went to board in Irkutsk, they charged him almost $200 to check the second bag! The thing is, we fly Aeroflot because you get to bring 2 50lb bags if you fly from New York to Irkutsk on the same itinerary. Mike brought two bags back with him and had no problem… His problem was that his flight left Irkutsk 3 hours late. He thinks it was fog…

Anyway. When Levi got to NY, he ended up in the wrong terminal, and got to the Delta gate 10 minutes before it left so they wouldn’t check his bags for him, and wouldn’t fly them over either… With no credit cards and his cash spent in Irkutsk to pay for the bag he shouldn’t have, he had few options. Mike is driving to NY to get him. What a nightmare.

On top of that, all horizontal surfaces were a sheet of ice this morning. It was very difficult just getting to the BH! When we got there, Harry was just plain nasty! He wouldn’t dress, wouldn’t do anything. Finally two caregivers managed to get him dressed. When we got downstairs to the Exit doors, he wouldn’t go out. I picked him up and we started to walk through the grounds to exit the property so we could walk to the trolley stop. I slipped on the ice and we both fell. Not hurt, except maybe my pride.

He wouldn’t talk all the way home so we just let him be when we got inside the apt….until he started playing with the telephone charger and wouldn’t give it to me. He got insulted when I scolded him loudly, making his already bitter mood even more bitter. Then he insisted on sitting on the toilet with the seat up. Anyone who has ever seen these big honkin’ Russian toilets will understand why that is not a good idea. When I insisted the seat go down, he began to play with the toilet water! Another scolding, more sulking, and crying. He emerged from the toilet FIFTEEN minutes later, still sullen, but not nasty.

First Levi called from JFK, since a automatically recharging telephone card was all he had on him. I asked Harry if he wanted to talk to him, and for the first time all morning, he smiled. When we got off the phone, Mike called. He also spoke to Harry, and he is fine now. Other than making me feed him his soup for lunch (I have way to many issues going today to argue that point), he’s him old self

I suppose each incident, isolated, wouldn’t amount to much, but since Mike left, I’m already on an emotional teeter-totter. I’ve been here 5 weeks, I still don’t know when we’ll finally get a successful court hearing, and I’m tired. Just plain tired. Today is the day of the regional court hearing. I have no idea how many of the people (6 families & the birthmom) will show up. I have no idea what will happen if they don’t. I miss “normal” food! I miss my family and friends. I miss our wonderfully supportive church community. I miss all things USA. I want to come home, with both my little boys!

But, I’ve got to let this play out. It’s only 12:35 p.m. and already I’m ready to curl up in bed and sleep. That ain’t gonna happen so I suppose I’ll just pray that this is it for today. No more catastrophes, no more financial surprises, and certainly no more tantrums from a short but cute little person.

I’m VERY GRATEFUL for all the support from ALL of you, and really happy I can vent my frustrations away! Thanks for listening!