Sue - We Leave in Two Days!

Sue – We Leave This Week!!!

Okay it is Wednesday; I just spent the better part of my afternoon using Connor’s laptop camera to film a video project with Bryan for Latin III.
So far, I have :
- Met with Marsha, turned over all the guardianship/medical consent papers, the forms with ALL the families involved, the forms with all of Connor’s medical doctor’s and emergency room info, the clothes he needs for the weekend at their house, and the band competition, and the meds he needs to take.
- Met with Jill, and turned over all the forms and meds mentioned above (not the clothes he needs for the 3 day band trip down south and for the 4 days with her, though…).
- Met with Kristine, and turned over all the forms/clothes/lunch stuff, etc. She has him the longest, through 3 days of no school.
- Met with Mary, who is running the Halloween scary house we do each year for the kids. She and her daughter, Taylor, are helping Connor pull it off with two other parents.
- Spoke with Larry (helping with Halloween)
- Spoke with Wendy – also helping with Halloween
- Spoke with and turned over papers to Mallik – doing the carpool each morning while we are away… needs to know where Connor will be and when he’s part of the carpool
- Met with Pat, who’s taking Falkor the WHOLE time we’re gone – Bless her!!! Gave her the Homeagain microchip info, vet and vaccination stuff.
- Met with Tami, who’s watching the cat and turtle and plants (both indoor and outdoor) and mail, and bird feeder,… and??? Turned over all related paperwork, including Homeagain microchip stuff, vet, and vaccination paperwork.
- Emailed all the teachers letting them know about the trip
- Gave the school office a copy of each family guardian/consent form, the master list of families and dates, the list of doctors, and the medical/prescription cards, and master calendar.
- Gave the band office a copy of everything, since Connor is going away on a 3 day band competition and he needs the consent forms and the medications he is on.
- Sent both my brother and Jeff’s brother a copy of the contact list.
- Emailed the church contacts.
- Packed one 45 pound suitcase that is filled with clothing/gift donations for the orphanage.
- Started packing a second suitcase, but I think I need to change to a duffle bag to stuff the clothes and then use the large suitcase for the toys, etc…
- Been cruising the stores for toys, clothes, and all kinds of supplies we might need over there (things like iodine tabs – they say don’t drink the water if you don’t boil it, and I have invisalign braces, so I have to brush and rinse both my teeth and braces every time I drink or eat… yikes!)
- 32 oz water bottle, iodine tabs, money pouches, electrical converters and transformer, oatmeal, coffee/tea bags, cold tablets, immodium, Tylenol, Airborne, vitamins, powder creamers, and a bunch of other medicine-type-stuff-you-don’t–usually-need-to-take-on-vacation, boots (it is very rainy and mid-30’s), winter coats, nice clothes for court, umbrellas, travel stuff (earplugs, eye patch, neck pillow), oh, and you know – all the usual stuff you travel with.
- Charged my camera.

So, for the past several weeks, I have done contact lists with everyone’s name/address/phone, and also a Master Calendar with the carpool info, so they know where he is, and where they are taking him, and basically almost everyone has a backup, in case of their own emergency.

About 3 weeks ago, Connor had a bad cough, but no fever, so I kept him home 2 days from school. The cough never got better, so the next week I took him to the family Dr. She put him on the Azithomax antibiotic. A week after finishing that medicine, he was not better completely, so back we went. She put him on Amoxocillin for 10 days. She said if he was not better after 5-6 days on THAT, to take him in for a chest x-ray, to see if he has “walking pneumonia”. Oh, NOOOOO! I guess she will try another med if he has it…Jeff just took him there – they just got back. I guess we will know tomorrow…
The thought of Connor being very sick while I am gone is a very bad feeling for a mother.

Seems that a LOT of kids at the high school have a cough, cold, or flu. Late last week, and early this week, ALL the families I spoke with or visited or met with to turn over supplies and forms, all had some sort of illness in their family, some mild, some severe. Then this week, I had a slight temperature, and a headache that would not quit. I pumped up with Airbourne, extra C, and Emergen-C, then took a nap yesterday afternoon. As of this morning, I have neither a temp nor a headache, so I guess I might have chased it away.
Connor, Jeff, and I all got our regular Flu Shots early in October, so I don’t know if this is simply a cold, or a very mild version of the flu, or what, but there is definitely a lot of illness circulating right now.

I have to say it here, because I don’t do this often enough, but, I am able to do all this running around and planning the practical stuff, and shop for the orphans, BECAUSE Jeff did all the Ukrainian paperwork, dossier, etc, etc, etc…!!!!!! I could not have done all this planning and doctor visits, AND tried to keep up with the travel documents! So BLESS that man in your prayers! I do!!! And I am very, very grateful I have him…(he’s going to blush when he reads THIS!) What a great team we make!

So, at this point, I only still have to
- Pack my own stuff for travel
- Drop off the clothing stuff to Jill, along with the 3 day Southern Cal band trip stuff for Connor
- Contact my tenants and make sure they all are on target… by the way, did I mention I have done two property turnovers since Anastasiya was here? One in August, and then a different tenant is moving out Oct 26th, when we are gone, so I did everything, lease signed, deposit, etc… the locksmith is all setup, as is the carpet cleaner, and the turnover is going to be “virtual”… never did this before! I’m a little nervous… but my realtor friend, Kathy, will help me out if something goes wrong. Two turnovers in two months is a lot, on top of all the adoption/Connor/travel stuff!
- Get the results from the chest x-ray today… and get any additional meds needed before we go.
- Try and download my pictures again, so I can delete a bunch so I have room on my digital camera.
- Clip the cat’s nails (fun!)
- Do Revolution (flea and heartworm meds) on cat.
- Drop off dog (tomorrow morning) to Pat’s house.
- Water inside plants (tomorrow)
- Do the turtle cage & feeding (tomorrow)
- Pick up some Halloween candy for Anastasiya

Why, I’m practically out the door! Don’t forget the passport!!
I cannot describe the stress, excitement, overwhelming feeling I have been living with; I guess I am MOST nervous about the Halloween night at my house… it will be the same big, scary, walk-through haunted house, at my home, without Jeff nor me being there… talk about a SCARY HALLOWEEN… what’s more scary than candles, and hundreds of strangers walking through your garage haunted house, when you’re not there??!!?? Of course, we have wonderful adults in charge, so, no worries, right?.… RIGHT?!

Well, God has brought us this far, so I am stepping out in faith and trust.
There have been setbacks all along this journey, to the point that I just shake my head…“Now what?!”
I feel that we are embarking on this journey in faith…and pray that God will help us.
James 2:14-26
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend…. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.