It's Monday...and still no word.

We made it through the looong weekend with not too much more whining on my part. Sunday was broken up for us thanks to our friends here...while we didn't get to the Comfort store, we did go to a ski resort about 30 km outside of town. No, there's no snow yet...but they have horseback riding and a lovely cafe. We took two cars, Yulia, Jenya, and the kids rode in their car and Olga and her boyfriend drove us in Andrei's car. It was a beautiful day with temps in the high 40's-low 50's, sunny and clear and the air was as clean as Yulia had promised. Jenya and Andrei decided to go horseback riding and some noble steeds were brought down the mountain...at the last minute, Andrei offered his horse to Craig who had mentioned that he'd like to ride a bit. Suddenly, Craig was mounted and following Jenya up the trail on a horse that wanted to canter instead of walk. As they disappeared from sight, Andrei told us that the ride was an hour...I knew Craig didn't realize that he was in for an hour's ride and told them so. We all giggled a bit but thought it would be fine...until Yuliya found out. She was concerned that it was too cold and the ride too long...so she whipped out her cell phone and called Jenya on his cell phone, ordering him back early from the trail. Craig wasn't sure what was happening when Jenya suddenly turned his horse around and headed back toward the horse stalls but he followed along...good thing the ride ended when it did as Craig was a bit saddle sore already. After the ride, they joined us in the cafe where Yulia had shepherded the rest of us. We enjoyed a snack of hot green tea and crepes with sour cream and sweetened condensed milk and then we headed back outside. This time, Andrei convinced Olga to ride with him, just a short loop because Olga is afraid of horses...but she did well if you overlooked the expression of abject terror on her face. We left the resort and got back to Ust around 2pm.

Hmmm...what to do with the rest of the day? Of course, a walk and coffee at the Korona, then leftover Chinese food for dinner. Kids, we had our family movie night here; Dad and I watched “The Spiderwick Chronicles”. Our evening was brightened considerably with a phone call from our kids, always a mood lifter. We also had a call from another adoptive family from Ireland; they have a son from here and are adopting a baby girl now. Their son was born in Ridder and they were calling to ask if we would take pics of the town so they would have a few photos of his birthplace. We spent some time after our movie selecting and copying pics of Ridder to a memory stick for them; we'll give them the photos we have. We know what it's like to crave information, pics, even small details about our adopted kids' early lives.

It's Monday evening now. We've passed another day walking, shopping, drinking coffee, and chatting with other adoptive families. Craig finally convinced me to walk to the Comfort store, a bit of a hike but what else were we doing? The store is another indication of the changes here; it's filled with light fixtures, small appliances and electronics, home repair supplies, bathroom fixtures, and even some grocery and household items; none of these things were easy to find here a few years ago. We bought a bar of soap and some gum...we know how to party. We've finished our dinner, more homemade soup and some bread, and leftover mac and cheese.

Still no word on our court date; we've been trying to call our coordinator this evening but haven't reached her. Sigh...