Traveler's woe

Well... I've officially begun to feel sorry for myself. It appears that I've developped TD...Ironically, I have been the most careful of the bunch. We are even doing the vegetarian thing while here...but I have to admit to a weak moment for mayo and fries... the mayo seems to have done me in.

Cindy is also feeling under the weather. Thankfully, only the "moms" have succombed! We're the tough ones, right? (hmmm....not!...especially not when that means that I am stuck here, without being able to go visit Annabelle.)

Sven's visit by himself yesterday was a success. Trying to see the positive in all of this! It means that Anna is now comfortable enough to be alone with her dad!!! A HUGE success. She sat on his lap and devoured a banana before looking at picture books with him. Sven was a pretty happy chap once he returned home. Another positive...perhaps I'll lose a few pounds! I haven't been able to eat in 2 days now.

By the way, what would be do without SKYPE? I got scared last night since I was feeling so ill....well...we just called our friendly neighbourhood Shoppers Drug Mart back home for some advice on antibiotics. The pharmacist was not only helpfull..but was really interested to know that we were calling by Skype from Siberia. Felt good to be talking to someone from Fredericton!

So, now I sit, with my de-fizzed Sprite and Anna's baby cookies, armed with antibiotics, hoping that it quickly goes away. (actually, now that I'm munching on those cookies, I know why Anna loves them so much...for a 6 grain cookie, they're delicious!)

For those of you who asked...here is a summary of the remaining steps:


1. Expiry of a 15 day waiting period for the judge's decision to be final. That brings us to January 9 (the weekend of course!). So, we can only begin filing our paperwork with the local authorities on the 11th. They have to de-register Anna from the registration books and file what seems like tons of paper with the Immigration police in Petro. We can then get custody of Annabelle.

2. We can then apply for a new passport and visa for Anna. We've decided not to go to Moscow..I think it would just be too much for Anna. It will have to be for another visit. We're going to stay put in Petro and courrier our papers to Moscow. It will delay us by 5 days, but in the end, is much less expensive.

So...we're looking at beginning of February....At least we'll have good friends here. Cindy is staying put and the Yaegers should be arriving any day. It also means that we'll be able to meet our friends from Paris at the end of January...so positive things to look forward to.

Have to admit that this is a LOOOOOOOOG stay.... I'm even catching Sven complaining a bit - that's telling since he's the constant optimist! Actually, the only one who has yet to complain is Yannik. He has his two parents night and day, a new sister, new friends...and well, a bunch of movies, books and toys. What a life!

PS - Spoke too soon... Yannik's stomach is bottering him as well....