Moscow

So here we are. In Russia. The glass half full, I suppose. The good news is that we made it on our connecting flight in Chicago. Our first plane was an hour late leaving because they wanted maintenance to check a bird strike on the engine. Hard to complain about that. But it did take the pilot calling 3 times for them to finally arrive. So in Chicago we arrived about 2 minutes before our plane to Moscow was departing. In a different gate. Jim was amazing. You might think he is just a 41 yr old salesman, but I tell you, when we got off that plane he might have been a 20 yr old hockey star. He left me in his dust. I've never seen a man move so fast carrying a 25 lb weight (he has the carry-on with all the electronics). I tried to keep up, but my 15 lb bag was like a rock on my back, and I started to think I might pass out. Jim was able to tell the gate lady that I was coming, and they re-opened the door for us. It took about an hour of being able to taste our lungs with every breath, but it was worth it getting on the plane.

Bad news is that our luggage was not so lucky. Not only did it not arrive, but they tell us there is no way to get it to Novokuznetsk before we are ready to come back. So we will have no luggage the entire trip. So much for painstaking packing of toys and cheerios and snacks to ensure that Owen warms up to us. So much for the album of family pictures and the little snuggly that I slept with all week to give it my smell.

Glass half full...glass half full...

So, we did bring the camera battery, after a close call with that. Three-fourths of the way to the airport I took out the camera to check it, and realized that I left the battery and charger plugged into the wall at home. Luckily we had left with plenty of time, so we had time to go all the way back home. Grandma didn't even seem too surprised to see me run in, grab a battery, and run out. There was no way I could forget that, not only because we need to have pictures of us with Owen when we eventually go to court, but also because Liam gave me strict instructions before I left: "Mom. You have to take LOTS of pictures of Owen. Click, click, click, click, click, click. Nap. Click, click, click, click, click. Nap. Click, click, click." The boy wants pictures. He is very excited about this. So we will get pictures. I may look like a homeless person in dirty clothes and no makeup, but we'll get pictures. Oh yes, and I forgot the sweater I was supposed to stick in my carry-on to complete my "layers". So I'm only in my base layer. It's just Siberia, right? Here's hoping they have a mall of some sort.

Don't know what the access will be when we get there, but we'll try to keep updating. Not much else to do since most of my books were in my bag.