Back so soon?

Boy, just when you think you can get unpacked and stay somewhere for a bit ...

The agency called us and said they expect that we could have an Oct. 30 court date in Russia, and are advising us to book a flight to be in Russia by Oct. 25. We would be in Novosibirsk for about a week and Moscow for about 4-5 days. We still have to log three days' visits with Yana in order to comply with govt regulations (we've only seen her once), and we need one more visit with Ruslan. We hope we can see both children for three days straight leading up to the court date, so when we finally take them from their baby homes, they'll know who we are and be reasonably comfortable traveling off with us.

I'm dreaming of course. They'll probably be kicking and screaming the whole way. That's the effect I have on all children. And we couldn't afford the extra tariff that Russia charges for the non-kicking, non-screaming, well-behaved, polite, intelligent, potty-trained, scholarship-athlete children in their baby homes. That may come back to haunt us.

So Fran and I are now trying to book a flight, try and get an awards travel flight -- which is frustratingly difficult -- and inquire about airlines adoption rates. But their adoption discounts are off their $4,000 airfares, which only make the flights $2,000 which is really not much of a deal at all. They allow you to change for free, but it's still not much of a deal.

Had we known this was going to be such a tight turnaround, maybe we could have just rented an apt and stayed. Would have been cheaper. And given me a chance to bone up on my Russian. Or adjust better to the cold stares from people who don't appreciate the time and effort I've put into butchering their language.