Today is my birthday, and I’m counting all the things I love about my life right now. The darling, temperamental girl shown above, certainly–and the fact that a front loader can excite her to no end. Dan, my best friend and husband. Loyal friends you can count on. Health. The beauty of the smallest things, […]
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
We venture out of our Simferopol apartment in the morning. There’s a river parkway a block away, with gardens and ponds and waterfalls and ducks. Liliana explores, sings, babbles, and picks up more trash. We’re not sure which baby we’ll get from second to second. One minute Liliana’s saying “spa-SEE-bah” (“thank you” in Russian) to […]
Bad News Somehow Turned Into Good
This morning Dan leaves early with the driver and the translator for Liliana’s village (Zolotoye Pole, or Golden Fields in English) to get the necessary documents. They allow me to stay behind in the apartment with Liliana. About six hours later, Dan returns, and he’s visibly upset. They’ve returned from the village and attempted to […]
Liliana Becomes Ours
Please forgive the infrequent posts right now. In the Ukraine, you either have to go to an internet cafe or center to use Wi-Fi, but first you need to be able to find one, and second, you need to have purchased a time card at another location. As you can see, this presents all sorts […]
Walking Along the Black Sea Boardwalk
See the glass toy cubicles in the background? You know the kind where there’s a pair of metal pinchers inside, and you have to manipulate them to grab the toy you want? Well, Dan’s able to nab one for Liliana–a light blue elephant holding a red velvet heart. Afterwards, she doesn’t have as much interest […]