We just have so much to do to get ready for Ukraine!  Olia is so excited to go.  She took notes to school yesterday asking the teachers to send home her work for the next two weeks.  She said her teacher was excited and started hugging her.  I know it was short notice to ask them to get her work ready, but we just can't change that.  Yesterday I started packing. We pack light, but there are still so many things we need to remember.  We have our cell phone that we purchased last time we were there and I found our passport holders and our money belts.  I couldn't sleep for the last two nights.  Dan is trying to get Olya's room painted before we go.  I don't think that is going to happen!  Today I bought a new hamper and pink furry bed pillows for Olya's bed.  I bought neck pillows for the three of us for the plane.  Ten hours is a long ride and it is a night flight.  We have three seats in the middle of the plane.  The plane was just about full when I booked our seats so I don't think there will be any room to stretch out on the plane.  I bought several DVDs and then we'll just leave them there for the next couple who stays where we stay.  We still need to go to the bookstore to load up on reading materials.  SInce we have been to Ukraine before, I know that we can buy food, snacks, laundry detergent, shampoo, etc. in the larger cities like Ukraine.  I am not sure how much we will be able to purchase in a rural area where we will be going if we get a referral for Olya.  We think that we will be given the referral for her because our dossier was accepted so quickly.  I printed out a few pictures of us with Olya so that the SDA knows that she was in our home and that we spent time with her.
    This weekend we are going to visit our son and his wife.  They had a baby girl and we are going to go see her.  They knew they were having a girl. Olia doesn't want to be called Aunt Olia, she just wants the baby to call her Olia.   Renee also wants to go see the baby so she is going to take a bus halfway there from her college.  We will pick her up at the bus station and we are excited about seeing her too. I guess I am a grandma and a new mom in the same month or so. 
  Our friends in Ukraine still are waiting for a signature so that their paperwork can go to Kiev.  They still do not have a court date.  They are homesick and feeling down.  Adoption in Ukraine is not for the feint of heart.  It is long and it can be very difficult.  Ukraine does not like to separate siblings and that is what they are asking a judge to do.  I'm sure it weighs heavily on a judge to make that decision.  They have offered to pay "expediting" fees, but that still hasn't helped anything.  It would be so sad for them to have made the journey and then come home empty handed.  I don't think they would pursue another child because they would be starting the process all over again and they have been there so long.
   Another couple contacted us because they will be in Ukraine the same time as us!  We are going to meet for lunch or dinner.  They are adopting a known child in Kiev.  Their known child is their adopted daughter's best friend.  It really is a dream come true for those girls!