Ok, ok, ok....

So yes, I have been gone far too long. Lots of stuff has happened, and I haven't felt like I've had time to sit down and process it all, much less actually put it on paper (or on the screen!)

Let's see...the biggest news since my last post way back when is that we have been accepted a new agency--CSS--and we're in the process of getting our home study switched over and getting our dossier redone. It has taken longer than it probably should have, since we're still trying to figure out how to keep our old social worker (we really like her) and have her just redo things for us. But, we're moving forward, and hopefully all that stuff will soon be done and our new dossier will be on its way to Russia! I have to admit that all this seems a bit unreal. It is very different to have some hope about things, and it's almost frightening to feel excited about it. So, I'm fighting against my old feelings of just trying to be numb to everything and trying to enjoy the expectancy again.

Other news...our boy kitty passed away a couple of weeks ago. It was so very sad--he had cancer in his mouth, and he got to where he couldn't eat or drink. Steve and I both agreed that it was time to let him go, but it was still hard. He was such a great, loving cat--even when he couldn't eat, he would come and sit next to us and just want to be petted and loved...in fact, even more so than normal. We buried him in the yard, with a pink peony bush planted over him. He loved flowers, although he usually didn't smell them, he'd eat them!

Following up on that---this afternoon, Chris, the lady who is the custodian at the church, called and said that someone had dumped a momma cat and 3 kittens at her house. She asked if we would be interested in taking one of them. Long story short--we took TWO of the kittens and the church secretary took the other one. They are incredibly cute, but they were also terribly dirty. They've been bathed and are now holed up in the laundry room in the carrier until they're a little less scared (and our girl cat is a bit more friendly!) I'll post some pictures as soon as I can get them to pose!

Other things are going well...my class has been amazing. I just finished grading their first papers over "Nicholas and Alexandra" (another reason why I haven't had time to write) and they all did really well. It's so much fun to have non-traditional students. They actually read the books and think about the assignments. They love to discuss things, and so our classes have been really interesting. One of my students decided to study the process of collectivization in the Ukraine under Stalin for her research paper, since her family is from Ukraine. It turns out, when she called to talk to her father, that he had lived through that period in Ukraine and told her his perspective of what had happened---she had never known that about her family. How cool is that?

I also totally remember that I have been blog tagged--I promise to do that asap. Please know that I am still here, and I'm still going to post, but it has just taken my mind a few weeks to readjust with the change from our old agency and no action to our new agency and so much support. I am SOOO grateful to all of you who were part of that process...those of you who prayed for us, those of you who gave us advice and suggestions, and those of you who encouraged us to make the jump. Thank you all so much--I don't think I have enough thank yous and gratitude to even come close to being adequate.

I think that is enough for tonight. I hope that all of you are well, and I promise to be better in the future!