Wait Day Numero Uno...

Even though I've only been here 3 days, I'm already starting to get into a rhythm. Here's a typical day in the life:

8/9AM - drag myself out of bed...feeling a bit woozy from my double dose of Nyquil the night before (Nyquil rocks to get over jet lag in a jiffy!!)

9-12 - Catch up on work stuff...emails...reports....blah blah blah.

12-1ish - Go out for a walk either to town or to the outdoor market. Have my "eat-out" meal and protein for the day.

2ish - 3 or 3:30 - Catch up on more work stuff.

3:30 go see Natasha and Pasha for an hour or so before they have to go to "homework class". Due to the swine flu scare, I may not take them out of the orphanage, but I may go in.

5ish - Walk around a bit...enjoy the sites of Kherson...see who's burning what in the streets...say "hi" to the little black dog...make my way back to Bible House by 6ish

6ish - Have some "dinner" .... usually Ramen noodles, some yogurt, dried fruit, a couple of those wafer things they have here that I love (!), and of course, a coke light!

7-ish -10-ish - More work usually as folks are in the office and sending me emails and asking me to do stuff.

10-ish - 11-ish - Watch a recent TV show using ninjavideo.net (last night I watched 2 episodes of House...it was awesome!)

Yep...that's my routine. I've been getting tired around mid-day since my body thinks it's 3 or 4 AM...but I push through it with a little caffeine.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I sat with Natasha in her sitting area. I hadn't re-installed the Russian-English-Russian translation software on my laptop since returning to the states. My laptop contracted a "virus" when Michele and I were here and I had to rebuild the entire system when I was at home. Anyway, re-installed the software and configured the Russian keyboard so that we could chat. A couple of Natasha's suite-mates were hanging out and interested in seeing what I was saying and asking questions. One of her roomies told Natasha that she would like to have a family too. Every time I hear someone at the orphanage say that, it just breaks my heart... So I'll be coming back with pictures for all you families who are feeling the tug to adopt! :)

Pasha came by for a little while too. He proudly displayed the missing tooth that was loose yesterday but came out last night. We chatted just for a few minutes then he was off doing something else (I think his caregiver called him to help clean).

By 4:45 Natasha's caregiver came in to tell the girls it was time for study classes. So, I packed everything up and headed out.

When I got back to the Bible House, I called Tanya. With all the hoopla about swine flu in Ukraine, I asked her if she would be willing to go to court and ask if they would waive or reduce the 10 day waiting period. She will be at court today (Wednesday) and will ask. She doesn't know what the judge will say, but I figured "nothing ventured, nothing gained!" Please pray that the court would decide in our favor and help us speed up the process. So far, the closure of the SDA for 3+ weeks is not affecting our process. But I don't want anything else to happen that could hinder our coming home in November.

Enough for now. Time to get some work done.

Later,

Bruce