Sunday Posting

Dear Friends and Family,

7 days to go! We are starting to be treated differently at the orphanage, since we've made it past court. We also suspect that the caregivers are talking in more specific terms to Lawrence and William about their new family, because Lawrence has been more and more interested in looking at the family album, and has started to memorize everyone's names. He's also giving each of us a kiss when he leaves. Kelly also completed the sweep by getting a "Ya-teeb-ya-lyoo-blyoo" ("I Love You") from Lawrence. The only name William has yet memorized is Uncle Dean, so he appears to be the early favorite.

Hey, Brooklyn, thanks for the email! We can't wait to bring "Larry" and "Bill" home, as well. We can't wait for you to help them learn English. As soon as we get measurements for the boys, we'll post them. Our best guess right now is that William is a size 3t, and Lawrence is a 5. There have been many offers for help from home, but the two grandmothers have mobilized and taken care of everything we can think of. We appreciate all the offers for help; if we can think of anything else, we'll post it! If you want to see if the grandmothers can think of anything, by all means call the nearest one.

Yesterday afternoon we went to a botanical garden. It was closed for the season, but after our driver slipped inside and found a caretaker and gave her 20 greevna ($4), we got the grand tour. It was interesting to see all the tropical plants packed into several atriums, in the middle of Ukraine in the winter. We went before lunch, and were kind of hungry, and had to resist the temptation to help ourselves to some of the oranges that were growing in there!

We had another nice dinner out last night. We really like the European service. In America, your waiter serves multiple tables and stops by at random intervals. At the places we've been to, they serve a smaller number of tables, or only one, and wait nearby until you need them. We haven't ran into a server yet who wasn't patient in trying to help us decipher a menu in Ukrainian or Russian. It's also nice not to have heard "is everyone saving room for dessert?" even once.

Speaking of service, it's kind of ironic, but the worst two incidences of service we've ran into is with two American companies. The first was with Northwest when we were trying to buy return tickets for the boys. The cheapest quoted price was for $2700 apiece. After asking about several different dates and finding none cheaper, the service attendant finally informed me that for one-way fares, there are no discounts. Huh?!? She did not have a reason for why this was, and seemed impatient that I dared probe into the source of this lunacy. I then asked her what the round trip fare would be, and she said "$900." I'm finishing up business school, but still can't imagine why half a trip would cost three times as much as the full flight. I asked if there would be any reason why I wouldn't just buy a round trip and not take the second half. With a cold 'how dare you' tone of voice, the attendant informed me that: "If that's what you choose to do, then this airline can not stop you." The punchline was when she asked me on which date I'd like the return flight! I re-iterated that we had no intention of flying the boys back, when she said "I know, but I still need a return date." Apparently, she needed help picking a random date...

The second poor service isn't as entertaining, but shouldn't surprise anyone. We were in a hurry yesterday, and decided to make a rare visit to McDonald's for lunch because we knew it would be quick. They totally messed up the order, giving Kelly a large regular Coke instead of a medium diet, and me no drink at all and missed one of my burgers. You have to admire McDonald's for making their service standard across the globe, I guess. Lunch was pleasant, nonetheless, as it was nice out and we ate in Lenin Square. There is a large Christmas tree that was constructed using a frame much like the ones we use for our artificial trees, but it was used with real branches, so that it looks convincingly like a 30 foot tree.

TOP 10 THINGS THAT ARE HURTING

10. Bill's back from roughhousing with the boys
9. Kelly's pride when she uses one of those "hole in the ground" restrooms
8. Our ears after a 2 hour play session with 13 kids and 12 adults in a small room
7. My head after asking 4 people where the matches were in the grocery store (to light our stove)
6. Bill's faith in the BCS
5. Kelly's hands after wringing out the laundry
4. Kelly's scalp after her hair gets caught in the blow dryer
3. Our appetites after being introduced to horse sausage
2. Our whole bodies after a night's sleep in the two cot-like beds (only 6 feet long, much to Bill's displeasure).
1. Our hearts every time we have to say "Pah-kah!" ("Bye!") to the boys


Peace and Love,

Bill & Kelly