Saturday April 10, 2010

Yesterday was a quiet relaxing day after having had court on Thursday. Basically we did nothing - just rested and let the stress slowly start to slip away! I slept for 11 hours on Thursday night. I could not believe I slept that long but I guess all of this had taken its toll and I was much more tired than I knew.

So today we started over refreshed and ready to go. We had a great day! I went over to the orphanage to pick up Ira and she had one of her best friends with her as usual. Ira said “mama sit” – I knew something was coming. She and her friend then asked me if it was ok with the director would it be ok with me if her friend came with us for the day. Of I said yes I would love to have her with us. Every one of the children I have met have touched me deeply, but there are 2 girls, other than Ira, that have touched me about as deeply as Ira did when I first met her. Both of these girls are friends of Ira’s and are just delightful, beautiful girls that so desperately need a family. So I went into the well trained “sit – stay” position while the two girls ran off to ask permission. They returned in just a few minutes wearing the biggest of grins, so I knew the answer was yes. So off we went – three in a row – holding hands all the way out of the orphanage heading to town to our bachelorette pad. Before we reached “home” I asked Ira if they would like to go to the market for some snacks. I thought it may be fun for Ira’s friend to get out a little and experience some fun, stress free shopping with a few treats thrown in. So we bypassed the “pad” and headed on to the store. The girls made out like bandits with ice cream, yogurt, juice, and gum. I picked up some extra food for lunch and then we headed back home.

When we arrived home it was so easy to tell how close these two girls are. Ira’s friend is 12 and is just wonderful. Ira began to show her around and show her where everything was. I started cooking. We had cutlets (which are delicious by the way – it’s a ground pork made into a patty w/ spices and you pan fry it – it is really good!), french fries, salad of tomatoes, cucumber and green onions topped w/ dill and olive oil, and ketchup (which the girls don’t like?) and Smetana (sour cream – which they love on the fries). While I was cooking they both stayed in the kitchen helping to set the table and cut up veggies – all the while saying “ummm – smells yummy”! Ira is using her English more and more and her friend has an English base decent enough for some light communication and that is so nice! Everyone ate a big lunch and then the girls jumped up and cleaned up for me – what a treat!!!

Then I sat down to write in my journal and they played games and just acted like teen/preteen girls having a slumber party. It was delightful to see them and to hear their laughter. All too soon the day had passed and I had to walk them back. That is the hardest part of the day but I was so happy to have had both girls all day long. I’m hoping she can come back again tomorrow with Ira.