Tiny Bubbles

So about two weeks ago I gave up soda.  Maybe a little for health reasons.  Maybe a little for "because it seems to be the hip thing to do these days" reasons.  And definitely because I was tired of spending money on it.  As we head into the home stretch of the adoption, we are tightening our budgetary belts around here and that seemed a pretty easy thing to cut.  Of course, Sloan is NOT giving it up, so I'm still buying it in 2 liter bottles.  Because that's cheaper and well, I'm too lazy to pour myself a drink.  Which is kinda what got me addicted to Diet Dr. Pepper in the first place. 

And I miss it.  A lot.  Many of my facebook status updates are about how much I miss soda.  And how all those people who say sparkling water is yummy are charlatans.  Yes, the lie is so egregious that I am forced to use fancy words to describe the lie's enormity.  And I have it on good authority from friends who kicked the habit months and years ago that this longing for soda does not go away.  So that's awesome. 

And yet.

Monday I drank 1 soda.  And not just any soda, but an Orange Fanta.  I drank it slowly.  Deliberately.  At one point, I misplaced my glass of orangey deliciousness and I had to call in a search party and offer a reward.  (By search party, I mean I texted Sloan to "COME UP FROM YOUR OFFICE AND HELP ME FIND MY FANTA OR I'M GONNA CUT SOMEBODY."  And by reward, I mean that I did not, in fact, cut somebody.)  The soda was by my cellphone.  Which was also lost.  Because it was in the middle of the kitchen island. 

Why Fanta? 

Well, folks, we had a court date in the DRC.  And in the Congo, Orange Soda is the drink of celebration.  It is the penultimate sign of luxury.  Well, that and eating protein.  (This is the part of the blog post where we all get a little perspective.  When we pop champagne and sear the filet, the Congolese drink a Fanta and boil an egg.)

So what does this mean?  Well...unfortunately, it means we still have a ways to go but that we are on our way.  I am hopeful we will be traveling this summer.  Could something happen between now and then to push that back, of course.  The adoption laws in the country have changed even since we began.  Because of the popularity of the country's program, the US government is keeping a more watchful eye on agency's and the kids.  And this is a GOOD thing. 

But basically, there is paperwork to be translated and checked.  Then some wait times.  Then some more paperwork and certificates.  Then a judge says, "YUP!  They are yours."  Then we can apply for immigration stuff and visas and passports.  Once those are in, then we can pick our kids up.  Oh, and at some point in the process our agency will fly our kids from where they live now to the capitol to live in a foster home set up there.  (Remember, there are no roads in DRC and this would basically be like going from Miami to St. Louis.)  We will also have to fly up our children's living relative to the capitol so that they can be interviewed by the Embassy to make sure that they understand what international adoption is and is not and that they were not coerced or bribed.

So while the majority of the adoption has certainly been paid for (and God has been so gracious to meet every adoption related need when it was necessary), there are still some pretty big things coming up.  Not the least of which is airline travel.  We've learned that it is typically impossible to use frequent flyer points for travel to DRC because we will receive our letter of invitation to travel on a Wednesday or so and leave the following weekend.  We are looking into other avenues such as credit card points and such and will certainly reach out if that looks like a possibility. 

But we've got some exciting things in the works as to fundraisers.  I've designed a cool Tshirt (yes, I designed it and I'm the one declaring it cool) and will also be gathering items for a Facebook Auction. 

But for now, I'm looking forward to the next tiny step towards C & A, when I will raise my glass of orange bubbly and toast their sweet faces and how dear they are to me. 

(But I will most certainly not be pouring any of the bubbly out for my homies, my kids or anyone else, because y'all, Fanta is really freaking awesome.)