THREE FUNNY STORIES

We are in our last day in Mykolayiv and are frantically trying to get all essentials bought and all tasks we can do done before we pick up those little squirming bundles of joy. We skipped a morning visit today as we got everything packed and did our last shopping run. Diapers, bottom cream and cereal are a few. We are ready except we are finalizing a few gifts for the boy’s caregivers and the local directors. Wow, we have a lot of stuff. Olga and our driver from Kyiv will arrive here sometime tonight and we will have one nights sleep before picking the boys up at about 9:30am. This is perfect for us. We get to say goodbye and not in the dark of night. We will be giving our cake and coffee for the caregivers and medical staff, getting any final information we can, taking pictures, and dressing our boys in their new clothes to leave the baby house for good. We are hoping that at least a couple of them have written notes for our boys to take. All the paperwork is done so they are ready to go. We may have some down time as we travel but we will get some kind of post up to let you know we are in Kyiv. Olga has a very nice apartment reserved for us and we should have a comfortable stay there with the boys.

Now that the update is done to the funny stories!

Yesterday we did another donation to the baby house as we withdrew the boy’s social money and took it to the accountant of the facility. We didn’t think much about it but Sasha said let’s take the car so we don’t have to walk with cash. We’ve been walking with cash for the last month! When the cashier called us up when our withdrawal was ready, we then knew what she was talking about. They gave it to us in twenties which made it look very big in large wraped stacks. Eight stacks of bills plus another thousand in 100’s. The bank was filled with older people waiting as well. Greg said that the lady behind me was counting along with us and had big eyes. It wasn’t until we got home and looked in our Ukraine book to determine how much money that is in relation to most citizens. It was equal to about an average years salary for a Ukrainian. For those older women it must have looked amazing and Sasha said it is the biggest she has taken out because there are two children. This money is going to help them replace the windows in the area of the house the boys lived in for the past 14 months.

Also, while I was standing in line at the processing window where we gave them all the paperwork and showed our passports for the social money, a women behind me noticed something on my coat that she just couldn’t let pass. She grabbed my coat and pulled me towards her so she could do a better job. She licked her fingers and rubbed out the whatever-it-was. She was talking to me the whole time and Sasha and the social worker were snickering while Greg was trying to keep me from pulling it out of her hands so she could do her work.

The other funny story is from 3 days ago. Greg and little Sasha had been following a pigeon when we were outside for our walk. They walked away from Losha and I and then I heard a "Whoa!" from Greg and a covey of birds flew off. Then I saw a cat run off with the pigeon that Greg and Sasha were following in its mouth. Greg didn’t know whether to watch or pull him away but didn’t want to startle Sasha so they just turned quickly and walked away. There are many cats on the property and we fear for the happiness and sanity of our cat at home. At least Baci will loose a few pounds running away from small hands.