11/13/04-A response to questions...

Your daily journal writer would like to respond to some questions and comments we have received recently.

First, let’s be clear – Gma is not being held prisoner, nor has she been sent to a gulag . Though her descriptions and some of the pictures give the effect of a Siberian wasteland, Gma is voluntarily staying with us here in Karaganda and can leave at any time. Which I guess is what the Soviets used to say to the people in gulags, but, that’s beside the point. She is not a prisoner.

Second, a few people have stated that next time, they would not give Gma permission to go on a trip like this. Let me point out that in the past Gma has visited all her children when they had babies and usually stayed two weeks. Since we have adopted two children, that means she comes for four weeks. O.K., she never realized her son would travel half-way around the world to Kazakhstan to get those babies, but then next time she needs to be careful of the precedents she sets.

So let’s summarize – not a prisoner, here by precedent.

On a trivia note, one of our faithful readers has informed us that the bird described by Gma in yesterday’s entry is a Black-billed magpie.

Some have asked if the Adoption Show will continue after our return home. Since there has been some interest, I will keep it going, but it will probably be shifted to a weekly show instead of daily. (Of course, over time, this will probably change to bi-weekly, then monthly, then bi-annually, then yearly, then just an occasional Christmas Card form letter.)

Since Gma did yestesday’s entry, I was unable to inform all of you that, yes, I finally took my first spill on the ice-covered streets of Karaganda. Luckily, there were few people around and no one laughed. (If a large American falls on the streets of Karaganda and no one laughs, did he really fall?)

Today was a little rougher than usual. The kiddies, especially Gracie, were in less cooperative moods than they have been. Toward the afternoon, she started getting fussy and clingy. It was hard to tell what was eating her – hunger, thirst, teeth, diapers, tummy-ache, tired, all of the above. We just put them both down and she is not happy. We can tell she is tired, but, as Gma has pointed out, she is a very strong-willed little girl and can hold out for some time.

We got out tickets for Almaty today. Only two more days and we head to Almaty for the last stage of our adventure. One nice thing about this stage is that Almaty has been in the 50’s and forecast is for the same next week.

One editor’s warning – I do not expect to have Internet access while in Almaty. I may be able to go to an Internet Café one of the days, so keep checking. I’ll keep writing, but they may not get published until we get back.