"THE" phone call!

July 8, 2002 (Monday) It was like any other Monday--until about 8:30 a.m. John and I drove in to work together, I arrived early, greeted coworkers and chatted briefly about their weekend adventures, and then got busy in my office.

Around 8:30 I answered my phone, on the other end of the line was Jodi S. from our adoption agency. Her first words were, "Connie, are you sitting down?" When I told her that I was sitting down, she replied, "Seriously, are you sitting down?" I assured her that I was in fact sitting down. Jodi proceeded by saying, "You both will need to be in Moscow on the 14th, on the 15th you'll fly from Moscow to Yekaterinburg where you'll meet the girls and sign the necessary paperwork. You'll spend the night in Yekaterinburg and return to Moscow on the 16th. You'll leave Moscow on the 17th and return to the U.S."

After hearing this little itinerary I casually commented, "In August, right?" Jodi then said, "No, July!", to which I responded, "THAT'S THIS WEEKEND!!!!!" Once the reality of this timetable sank into my brain I asked Jodi to repeat everything she'd already told me! We discussed various details, instructions regarding obtaining our visas, suggested flight plans, details about our host families in Moscow and Yekaterinburg, and various other matters.

I got off the phone and immediately called John at his office! He was just like me--in a state of shock and disbelief! We had known things could--and most likely would--move rather quickly at some point, but up until now we'd understood that our turn would most likely not come until August or September!

After telling John, I eagerly told my boss and coworkers--all of whom were very excited for us. My boss suggested that I take the rest of the day off, and I didn't argue. I tied up as many loose ends as possible in my office that morning and decided to have lunch with John--which normally was working out together at the YMCA nearby.

After our "working lunch" together, I headed for home and began to operate what I lovingly began to call "command central" because not only was I emailing and phoning friends and family to share our news, I was working the phone and internet trying to arrange flights for halfway around the world in less than a week!