Socks?

Yesterday was uneventful, thus no blog. Not that today will be any more exciting, but for those of you interested - here is what's happening. We have all of our documents ready to submit to the SDA. It took a week and Zhenia (our facilitator) says that is pretty quick. By Wednesday the SDA should return the paperwork needed to submit for a court date. John and I have been trying to get out every day to walk around Kiev. The weather is wonderful. Yesterday we happened upon a pizza place, mama mias, on our walk. While they didn't speak any english, we managed to order a bbq pizza that was very tasty. Today we are going to try to make our way into town to buy Viktor a few items of clothing. We might also eat at McDonalds - I have been craving a hamburger. John bought hamburger meat the other night to make cheeseburgers, when he opened the package the meat smelled so bad I just couldn't do it. While they looked like cheeseburgers and John said they tasted fine, I couldn't get past the smell. Maybe I will lose weight here, doubtful as I am only walking everywhere and have not run since about 3 weeks before this trip. Don't know if I mentioned before that our facilitator, Zhenia, grew up as an orphan. In fact, he graduated from the same orphanage as Viktor is coming from. Zhenia was hosted in the states to complete high school. He could not afford college so returned to the university in Ukraine. He now helps families with their adoptions. Having been an orphan he gives us a unique perspective on the life Viktor has led in the orphanage. When we visited Viktor in December we went shopping and bought him some socks. He only wanted dark socks as they must do their own laundry and white socks get dirty too fast. I mentioned to Zhenia that I would buy Viktor some white socks like other kids wear. He said, "Oh, yes, when I was an orphan that was my biggest wish, to have socks that I could change every day - white ones!". Hmm, a little humbling. While I have been educated and advised not to give too much too soon as far as material things go, I thinks socks I can fulfill to Viktor's hearts content. Thursday was a tough day as far as missing Phillip and Cassie. I cried alot and moped for most of the day. They are doing fine at home and adjusting to the changes, but I can't wait until we are home with them. Phillip has his first football scrimmage next week - I have NEVER missed his football games. Tomorrow, Sunday, we are supposed to pick Viktor up from the train station. We are looking forward to getting to spend some time with him finally. Please pray for us as I know it will be awkward for awhile with the language barriers and his uncertainties. He would probably be much happier if the kids were here too, but he will just have to put up with the old people for a while. Mom and Dad bought a ping-pong table for us yesterday, so I know that will be something Viktor can look forward to when we get home.