Well, I just got back from spending 4.5 hours in the car driving to and from Richmond, the state capitol of Virginia...because of delays in getting our paperwork to us in a timely manner, I decided that I should hand-deliver the documents to be apostilled* in person. So, as soon as the FedEx truck pulled up in front of our house at 12:11 p.m., I ran out the door and proceeded to tell the driver that I loved him. Yes, I really did tell him that I loved him and when he looked at me strangely, I told him that I had to drive the envelope down to Richmond. He smiled really big and told me to have a great day...

If he only knew how happy I was to see that little white, orange & purple truck...after my meltdown last night when we didnt get the paperwork yesterday. Big time meltdown (even Andrew got a little teary-eyed by my sobbing, poor thing)!! Then, this morning, our coordinator calls and tells me that the company that I sent our passports and Visa applications to on Tuesday went out of business and she had to find someone else to do the invitation** and process the Visas at the Russian embassy. That almost started another crying jag, but I held it together...

My friend (and neighbor), Kathy took the rest of the day off work today and happily got in the minivan with me for the drive to Richmond. We had fun...talked, listened to music, etc. It took us exactly 7 minutes from the time we entered the building that houses the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office until we were back in the car. Unfortunately, they don't do expedited service, but me dropping it off sped it up a day or two. I was hoping that if I told her my story again (I had already told her on the phone), that she would give me those pretty little stickers while I waited. No such luck...

So, then we were on our way home...and we decided to hit the great southern classic dive restaurant, Waffle House. We realized that they don't take credit cards and between us we only had $13, so we split a double waffle order and a large hashbrowns. We were so proud of our ability to budget :0) We must have looked like dorks pulling up in our expensive minivan and then having to count coins to be able to eat. We were able to give the waiter a $2.00 on our $10 check.

On our way home after that, we thought about stopping at Potomac Mills outlet mall and shopping for baby stuff...we were both so tired, we changed our minds and headed across the street in opposite directions to take naps. What a day, huh??

*an apostille is a piece of paper that states that the person who notarized your marriage license, criminal record, passport copies, etc is a valid notary in the state. They type up a simple page and put a pretty gold sticker on it all for the bargain price of $10.00 per page. We had 18 pages today, so I wrote a check for $180. Over the past year, we have spent $850 on Apostilling fees. Hopefully, this is the last of it.

**The Russian government has to send you a letter of invitation for you to visit their country before you can apply for or receive a Visa to travel there. All for the reasonable price of $225 per Visa for a one-time visit within 30 days.