It's been almost four years since we were last in Russia and almost as long since I offered any practical advice about Russian adoption. Well, those of you who've been there too know how much time you spend waiting for something to happen and how much uncertainty there is in all of it. It's easy for a sense of despair to creep in; the longer you're there, the more you think you'll succumb. This post is about fortifying you against that feeling.
Well right now I'm up in my attic. AB is is playing with
Thomas the Tank Engine toys and I'm working on my computer. While he plays and I work, Jimmy Buffet's
Songs You Know By Heart plays in the background. Listening to
Margaritaville my mind meanders back to some of the
worst times on our first trip to Russia. And my mind comes back to how listening to Buffet made me feel better regardless of how bad the situation looked.
After singing along to
Cheeseburger In Paradise,
Pencil Thin Mustache,
Why Don't We Get Drunk And Screw, and the like, I couldn't help but feel refreshed and reinvigorated. Just listening is OK, but it works a lot better if you sing too.
I'm no Parrot Head, but odds are that when you're waiting in a Cold War vintage provincial airport or in the hallways of a government office building waiting to meet with another official on a cold overcast day, the time will pass easier singing along to
Boat Drinks. Your mind might even wander to Key West forgetting where you are, if only for a fleeting moment. You'll feel better when it returns.
Greeting a new cousin...
