the word is that there is no word

R. called C. this afternoon only to find out there is STILL NO WORD. Today is the 7th day we have been waiting for a definite travel date. C. said there is still a 90% chance we are going on the 9th, but did not recommend buying our plane ticket yet, unless we wanted to gamble. We are not risk takers by nature, so we will wait until Friday. Booking the apt. early was as much risk as we feel comfortable taking right now!

My mother and sisters all called, anxious to hear if we were getting on the plane, and I had to tell them yet again that I don't know yet! My family has been so wonderfully supportive. (Love you guys so much!)

Our dossier is supposed to be registered in the Moscow region on Friday, and we should get our definite travel date then. That means we will only have 1 week's notice. We do have the apartment reserved, but we do not have plane tickets or a visa yet. ARGH! This increases the cost for us, as well as the tension. I am not as upset as I was earlier today, but I'm still stressed.

Karyn thanks so much for your email this afternoon! You have been such a great friend during this journey! Sorry I haven't posted sooner. I had to leave the house and take a break from the computer for a while.

After we got the news that there was no news, I was really upset. The most upset that I have been during this whole process, I think. I was at my limit with anxiety and frustration. I changed clothes, and we went downtown to get our fingerprints done for the FBI clearance. When we arrived, they asked us if we had brought the fingerprint cards with us. They do not use their criminal cards for this type of clearance. Of course, because I was already having such a good day, we forgot to bring the fingerprint cards I had downloaded from the FBI website. We had left them at home, sitting on the dining room table. We told the woman at the desk that we would be back, and we drove home to get them. After we returned, we paid, and went downstairs. The police sargeant met us, and took us to the booking room. I told A. I felt like I was on a bad episode of "Cops"! We gave him our fingerprint forms, and they did not fit into the card holder. That did not help my stress level. He took our cards and left us in the room. After a few agonizing minutes, when I'm thinking he's going to tell us he can't take our prints for us, and I'm going to get in big trouble for having a meltdown in the police station, he returns. Some nice person trimmed the cards. We got our prints taken finally. We happily took them to the FedEx drop box and sent them on their way!

Then we decided as long as their was no news. and as long as we were out and about, that we would go do some shopping for gift items. We actually had some success. We went to the local University Bookstore, 2 other local bookstores, and a local market/deli. We found some good regional items that reflect this area. Then I felt a little better, because we did get something accomplished today.

On the way home, we stopped at Starbucks, which we don't normally do, and it was a nice treat.

So now, I have had a little time to calm down. Big sigh. I think this means Friday will be a very busy day, hopefully getting our plane tickets and sending our visa application on its way. I don't want to think about these travel details anymore! I want all this resolved, and off my mind, so I can focus solely on Baby F, and finally seeing his/her sweet little baby face.