9/25 11:00 AM - 24 hour count down . . .

Today will be filled with preparing for court. I met with the "court translator" yesterday who is suppose to be a "disinterested" party. None of the agency staff who have been working with me are allowed in court as they are considered "interested" parties. The translator came over at 11 AM yesterday to go over how the court proceedings will go and the things I should be prepared for. Nothing really unexpected here but I have been procrastinating or, possibly not wanting to jinx anything, and haven't completed all the information yet. I need to know exactly how many hours I have spent with the girls and the development of our relationship over each of those visits ! I also need to know exactly what my monthly income and monthly expenses are and, they need to match what the CPA compiled several months ago. Then, practice my Russian - the judge is interested in how much Russian parents are taking the time to learn since one of the problems with the French couple was they could not communicate with the boys. I know about 20 words and am comfortable with those but, it's a little ridiculous as the girls aren't really speaking yet. They understand their caregivers but they don't understand my little bits of broken words. But, I'll recite them when asked. Sadeesh (sit) (thanks Adoptamama for catching that!) is one word that came in handy but they now understand sit too so it's not necessary. A word they taught me without my knowing is Num-Num which is really a Russian word for food or treat! I thought they were saying Yum-Yum so that's what we've been using. Yum-Yum and then spassba and they sit and eat - very cute.

After that, Katy and I took a nap as we had plans to go see an LA couple who met their little girl yesterday. They're staying at the same hotel I stayed at during my first trip and are going through all the cultural shock that I went through - that we all go through. We met them at 6 and probably stayed for 3 hours or so. Katy did very well - which can't really be said about my meeting with the court translator unfortunately - she was excited to listen and talk to other Americans I think. It was a nice evening and I hope to see them again on Saturday before they leave on Sunday to start their paperwork marathon. Their blog is the Russian Angel link if anyone one wants to follow their journey - hopefully, it will be much quicker than mine has been.

11:00 AM tomorrow is when court is scheduled to start. I'm told to be prepared for 2 hours of standing and talking. I start with my introduction, motives for adopting and then go down a list and, at some point, the judge relieves me from this torture and begins asking questions so that discussions can begin. I will feel better during the questions and answers than I will during the monologue which I'm not very comfortable with. Even though I know she would not have invited me to court if she did not feel positive regarding the adoption, it is still very intimadating and I worry that I will not answer to her satisfaction. The court translator corrected many of my answers during our rehearsal as they would provoke more questions from the judge - which I don't want to do. Things like "why did I only visit the girls for two days on my first visit?". I answered incorrectly and was then given a more acceptable answer which is something along the lines of I knew instantly that I wanted to proceed with the adoption of the girls so I was anxious to get home and start the process.

Katy and Angela are in the kitchen playing Yahtzee so I can work for a while. Katy got a Yahtzee of fives on her first turn and had to come share that with me. She wanted me to go look at her five fives which I did. She was so excited that I got two high fives! Hopefully, that's a sign of luck to come our way tomorrow!