Waiting Day 12

The last day of waiting and our last day as a couple of DINKS, (Dual Income No Kids). The important part of that is that our lifestyle for the last 20 years will be changing and we are so ready for it. OK, once all the laughing parents catch their breath they can continue reading now. We are not naïve and we know it is going to be a tremendous challenge and no matter how ready we think we are, there are going to be surprises around every corner. We are expecting the unexpected and planning the best we can, knowing that there will be bumps along the way. We are looking forward to both the challenges and the rewards.

While we have been able to come and go as we please and do what we want when we want, we know those days are coming to an end. We know that starting tomorrow, and for the next several (20-30) years, we can never just go out without the thought of Tyler. Either we are going out and he is with us, or we are looking for babysitters and wondering if he is OK . . . or is the babysitter OK. No longer will it be easy to just say “I don’t feel like making dinner tonight let’s just go out.” Taking Tyler to a nice restaurant may not be the easiest or best thing to do right away. While Tyler is already a Raven’s Season Ticket holder, he may not be ready for the games on Sunday for a few more years and for both of us to go may not be that easy. All things we will work through together.

We recognize that it is a total change to our lifestyle and our being. Our responsibilities have increased and we now have to answer that call. Failure is not an option.

OK, enough of that . . . so, we were going to walk to the US Embassy today to check the place out and see if Jeff could find his old colleague Joe Moone who works there. Thankfully, we called first. The US Embassy was closed, except for emergencies, because it is President’s Day. So, while they are here is Russia, they still celebrate the US holidays. They also celebrate the Russian holidays, and therefore they are also closed on Friday for Defender’s Day (18 total Russian and US Holidays for the Embassy staff). No one seems to be working with us in our effort to get out of Russia sooner than Wednesday February 28th.

We also were told that the Russian Passport agency does not accept applications on Wednesday, which is the first step in our process for Wednesday. Our agency is working on this to see if we can get in anyway. And finally, we also read that the US Embassy does not do Visas on the last Monday of the month, which is of course next Monday. The process as best we can tell is this. (1) Apply for a Russian Passport for Tyler (Wednesday). It is usually ready the end of the next business day (Thursday). (2) Get Tyler a medical exam (Thursday) in preparation for his US Immigrant Visa application. With the Russian passport and medical exam in hand, (3) apply for and receive the US Immigrant Visa. This normally would have been on Friday, but since this Russian holiday is celebrated by the US Embassy, they are closed, so we must wait until Monday. (4) With passport, visa and Tyler in hand, go home!

We are only concerned now that if we cannot submit for the Russian Passport until Thursday, it will not be ready until Monday and we will be doing Tyler’s visa on Tuesday before leaving on Wednesday. No room for errors or any further delays. Just to make it more fun, the temperature the next three days, starting tomorrow, are not getting out of the single digits Fahrenheit with lows in the -12 range at night.

Tomorrow we will get Tyler and hope to be back to the apartment by 6:00PM. We will get a post on the blog as soon as possible with some picture of our day . . . OK, pictures of Tyler!!

This will be Tyler's Crib for eight nights starting tomorrow!

That is it for day 12.

Maria and Jeff