Full time parents!

We received word today that Jessi and Barry assumed full custody (physically) of Sveta. She apparently did very well on her first day and night with her new parents. At the time of this writing, 1:15 P.M. Cincinnati time, it's 10:15 P.M. in Russia. Sveta is currently sleeping as Jessi gently rocks her. Didn't we all rock our new babies to sleep? On another note, they are battling some sort of stomach bug. Please pray for them. This could make their next few days quite difficult.

GOTCHA!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, January 31, 2012 is the day Jessi and Barry pick up Sveta for good. In the world of international adoptions this is referred to as "Gotcha Day". Jessi says they will probably call it "Family Day" because "Gotcha!" sounds too scary. I have to agree. This is an adoption not a kidnapping.

Presenting... The Mortons

This is the first photo we have of all 3.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Morton Family!

And so it begins...

We Skyped with Jessi and Barry today and got to hear a funny story. First a tidbit of background information. In their short visits with Sveta, Jessi and Barry have learned that she doesn't like milk or eggs. Anyway, during a recent visit, there was some question as to whether Sveta had drunk her milk or not. Jessi (already knowing she hadn't drunk it) asked Sveta if she drank her milk. Sveta answered, "Da!" (which means yes). Jessi put on her best mommy face and questioned her again with a very skeptical tone. Sveta fessed up and said, "nyet" (which means no). When asked why, Sveta said, "I don't like it". And so begins parenthood for Jessi and Barry. Sveta hasn't even left the orphanage yet and she's already lying to her parents.

If you could see me right now, you'd see a big grin on my face. You know all that stuff about kids getting paid back when they have kids of their own? Well... it's all true!

Passport News Part III

We've gotten word that Jessi and Barry will pick up Sveta from the orphanage on Tuesday, January 31st... Forever. The passport should be available for pickup that same day. After some time in Moscow for a physical examination and to get a visa for Sveta to come to the U.S., the happy family of three will return to the states shortly thereafter (some time in the first half of next month). The time is getting so close. Please pray for safe travel and for Sveta's transition from life in the orphanage to her new life with Mama and Papa. Her world is about to be turned upside down. We all know this is a good thing for her, but she doesn't. She is only 3 after all. Imagine what she's facing. She'll be uprooted from the only home she's ever known. Taken away from the only caregivers she has ever known. She'll be leaving with two relative strangers. She'll be going to the airport and boarding a big, loud, scary airplane. She'll have absolutely no idea what any of this is all about. She'll be immersed in a strange culture where she can't understand a word anyone is saying. I'm an adult and the idea of going through this scares the daylights out of me. I cannot imagine what it is going to be like for a 3 year old. But... I also know that Sveta will immediately feel the love from her parents and will be calmed by their gentle care and kindness. Please pray for this transition as the journey of bringing Sveta to the U.S. ends and her life as Sveta Grace Morton begins. It's going to be a long, winding, sometimes difficult, wonderful, glorious road. Hurry home Fireball. Your Grandpa Meyer is waiting for you.

And Papa makes 3

And Papa makes 3! You've seen the picture of Jessi and Sveta. Now here's one of Sveta and her Papa (aka Barry). Jump over to Jessi's blog if you'd like to see some interesting photos from Russia. Ummm... just one question though. What's up with the hair, Barry?

One Step Closer!

Regular readers of this blog know of my almost daily obsession... the story of the adoption of my first grandchild, Sveta. Jessi's post from Russia today further indicated that we are almost there. Rather than try to summarize what she said, I thought it would be better to just copy and paste a tidbit from that post in this space...

God is so good. Barry and I have been blessed beyond measure by the way God has been orchestrating Sveta's story for SOOOO many years.

Today was our best visit yet with her. She held her hands out to papa to pick her up (and let him do so a few times), she shared her cheerios and cheez-its with both of us, she let me hold her and talked my ear off for a while, she hugged us a few times before we left, and grabbed Papa's hand to have him lead her back to her group. She's amazing. And she's ours!

We also met with Sasha, saw his church, and are deciding when to go and stay in Gus at the church. He's a great man, and so so helpful and kind. So glad God allowed us to connect with him. He also got the director to allow us to come everyday this week to visit Sveta. (Oh, and it's quarantine for the flu, not chicken pox...which makes WAY more sense)

We'll pick Sveta up from the orphanage for good on Tuesday the 31st and head to Moscow for about a week or so.

If I'm reading this correctly, it looks as if the passport will be ready on January 31st and the new family of 3 will be heading home late in the first week of February or early in the second week. Praise the Lord! This long process is in its waning stages. I am so eager for Sveta to come home and begin her new life in Greensburg, Indiana. Hurry home, Fireball!

Snow Bird Wannabe

After waking up Saturday morning, I looked outside to see the world encased in a quarter inch of ice. Yuck! Cold temperatures are a fact of life in January. Snow is (gulp!) tolerable as long as it's not 6 inches or more. Ice is a different matter completely. There's no shoveling ice off the driveway. Getting ice off the car is a pain! Driving in ice is out of the question. Thankfully the ice came late Friday night and did not affect my commute. Power outages and downed trees were minimal (and nothing affected my immediate area). All in all we dodged an ice bullet.

This only furthers my extreme desire to escape winter when I retire. I know, I know... retirement is a lifetime away, but I can't help but dream when the winter turns ugly. I don't have to spend my winter in a tropical paradise. I wouldn't be able to afford that anyway. I'm simply talking about someplace where the weather is relatively warm and there's no ice and snow. I'm not sure when I developed such disdain for winter. I'm guessing it's when I stopped sledding and having snowball fights and started driving in it and shoveling my driveway. As I get older I get chilled to the bone easier too. What used to be winter fun is now pure dread of getting out in the cold.

My mom(Edra) and Cliff spend their winters in Bradenton, Florida. These two snow birds usually head down just after the new year and return in early to mid April. They're still home for Christmas and get back home in time for the Reds Opening Day.

They're not gone too long, but long enough :-) They're on the the Gulf Coast and have a BLAST. Cliff golfs, bowls and hangs out with his buddies. Mom does line dancing, Wii bowling, mixed couples bowling and hangs out with her friends. Not a bad way for a couple of retirees to spend the dark, drudgery filled months of winter. I know they miss their grandchildren, but it makes for a happy reunion in April and the kids are no worse for the wear anyway.

I won't say I'm jealous, but I do dream about the day I can fly south for the winter and come back just in time for baseball season. Now THAT sounds like paradise!

Webcam 101 for Seniors....

Michael went to his Grandma and Grandpa Bauer's house last night to set them up on Skype. I'm talking about Tami's parents, my in-laws, Frank and Nancy. They wanted to be able to Skype with Jessi and Barry in Russia. Today we got a phone call from Frank and Nancy saying they were having some technical difficulties. Basically they could see Jessi, but could not hear her. They called to see if maybe we could help. The next few minutes on the cell phone and messed up Skype feed reminded me a lot of the the video at the bottom of this post. A lot of wondering what certain icons meant and wondering what will happen if a certain button was pushed. It was all quite comical. To be fair, Frank is one of the smartest guys I know. He can literally fix anything and his knowledge of computers is far superior to mine. So I hope he doesn't mind me poking a little bit of fun at him. I only wish we had recorded the actual exchange. But since we didn't, the video will be a suitable substitute.

Passport News Part II

We got on Skype with Jess and Barry this morning. We had just gotten out of bed and they were getting ready to go to bed. WEIRD! They found out that Sveta's passport will not be ready on the 24th. They were not surprised because the 24th was a real long shot anyway. The next available date will be January 31st. (Remember, in Russia passports can only be picked up on Tuesdays) We're praying for that. We also got to catch up with them and got to hear some funny stories. These stories will probably be a topic for another blog post in the future. They are in good spirits and really seem to be enjoying their time together.

They got to visit with Sveta on Thursday and Friday. They will see her again on Monday or Tuesday. They generally don't visit on weekends and there is a chicken pox outbreak at the orphanage anyway. So, waiting until Monday or Tuesday seems best.

Your First Look

Jessi posted this photo on her blog, so I am assuming it's okay to post it on this one.
Here's your first look at Miss Sveta Grace Morton.

English is a Crazy Language

This says it all...

Good luck learning English, Sveta!

In order to read this you'll need to click the image to enlarge it.

Love Birds Reunited

We received confirmation that Barry made it to Russia safely. The love birds have been reunited at their temporary home away from home in Vladimir. The upcoming days will be spent visiting with Sveta and waiting for the passport. Please pray the passport is ready to be picked up this Tuesday the 24th.

Once more in Russia?

At the time of this writing, Wednesday, 9:15 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, Barry's plane was scheduled to land a few minutes ago. Jessi arrived at the airport in Moscow shortly after 8. The young couple is probably celebrating a happy reunion right now. If not now, within a short while at least. I will post more when I hear from them. Thank you all for your prayers.

Straw Poll

I have placed an informal poll on the right side of the blog. The reason for the poll is to help me decide if I should post something daily (currently I'm good for about every other day). It's just that I sometimes refrain from posting on consecutive days because I want to give less frequent visitors to the blog a chance to see the posts. If I post daily, older posts are pushed down the page and my writing is not SO INTERESTING that people would want to scroll down to see older posts. I'm not on an ego trip here, but I would like to post a little more if there is an interest from my readers. Golly, I make myself sound like some kind of columnist or something. I guess I don't have readers... just friends and family who want to hear news about the Mick Meyer family on occasion. Anyway, if you're so inclined, vote in my little poll. Believe me, my feelings won't be hurt if you vote for less posts or if you vote that it doesn't really matter to you. I don't think so highly of my literary masterpieces that I think you all need to hear even more from me.

P.S. Poll removed due to lack of interest

Passport News

We were able to Skype with Jessi today. If you are like me (technologically challenged), Skype is basically face to face video communication using computers. This was a new experience for an OG(Old Guy) like yours truly. Anyway it was nice to "see" her and talk with her. She gave us a tour of the flat and we caught up on family news. We asked about progress in the application process for Sveta's passport. It's strange to think a 3 year old would need a passport, but she certainly needs one to leave Russia. Anyway, all the paperwork has been filed and we are now waiting for the passport that lies at the end of the long trail of red tape (no pun intended). We are praying that Russians can process passports more quickly than Americans. One strange thing... Russian passports can only be picked up on Tuesdays. Ummm.... okay, I'm not even going to try to figure THAT one out. If the passport is ready by January 24th, the new family will fly back to The States on January 28th. If the passport isn't ready until January 31st, they'll fly back on February 4th. If it happens to be the latter, here's the fly in the ointment... February 4th is the day before the Super Bowl. Guess where the Super Bowl is being played this year? Indianapolis. Guess where the new family is scheduled to land? That's right, Indianapolis. Can you imagine the Indy airport the day before the biggest sporting event on the planet? Please pray that the passport is ready on the 24th and that they can be safely home before the craziness of the Super Bowl hits Central Indiana.

Also... Jessi sent us the CUTEST picture of she and Sveta. However, for safety and security reasons, we cannot post photos online of Sveta's face. But believe me, once Sveta is safe on American soil, this proud Grandpa will be flooding the internet with pix of the newest addition to our family. This blog will be "Sveta Central" for quite a while :-) The photo at the top of this post was taken shortly before Christmas. I can't wait until you all can get a good look at her. Trust me. She's worth the wait.

T-Boned!

I didn't expect the Broncos to win in New England tonight, but I also didn't expect them to get completely dismantled either. I guess you can say Tebow got T-Boned by Tom Brady and the Patriots. Ouch! That was painful to watch. It was a good run. Thanks for a season of fun, Mr. Tebow.

Every parent knows...

Every parent will know what I'm talking about here. When your children hurt, YOU hurt. Maybe even worse than they do. I'm not talking about those famous words uttered before a spanking... "This is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you". There's truth in that statement, but I'm talking about something different. I'm talking about emotional hurt. As you know, Jessi is in Russia alone. Barry is not scheduled to join her for another full week. She is struggling mightily without him. A lot of tears, a lot feelings of "missing" him. My heart is breaking for her. 10 days away from your best friend and loving spouse is too much. This temporary separation doesn't seem temporary to her at the moment and it's causing much heartache and pain. Hence the title of this post. Her hurt is my hurt. I want to help her, but I can't. I want to make her feel better, but I can't. Isn't that what Dads do? Rescue their kids when something's wrong? She's thousands of miles away from her whole family and I feel helpless. However, there is One who can be a comfort to her. I will ask everyone to accompany me in praying for Jessi. That her time away will pass and that her husband can join her quickly. That the adoption process is successfully completed and the new family of three can return to the U.S. safely.

BTW--- If you would like to read further details of her time in Russia. You can find a link to her blog on the right side of this blog.

Absence Makes the Heart...

*Note- This photo was taken the night Jess and Barry announced their adoption plans*

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, then Jessi and Barry will be mighty fond of one another during the next 9 days. On January 9th, Jessi flew to Russia alone. She has begun the process of filing paperwork for Sveta's passport and visa. Barry remained here in the U.S. in order to get some work done and to preserve time off for when Sveta gets home. Barry will fly to Russia on the 19th to join his wife and they will make final preparations for bringing their daughter home. Jessi reports from Russia that she already misses Barry terribly. I can't say that I blame her. In 20+ years of marriage, Tami and I have never been apart for that length of time. I think two days was the most time we were ever apart... and those two days were brutal. It makes me think of military families where loved ones are gone for weeks or months at a time. How terrible that must be. It reminds me also of how fortunate I am to have never been separated from Tami for any extended periods of time. This will be a long week and a half for Jessi and Barry, but imagine the happy reunion when they will be within days of bringing their little girl home.

An Improved Look

**** CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE****

Okay... there's a double meaning to my post. The improved look of my blog comes from the addition of photos. Before today, my posts included text only. Thanks to some minor research and assistance from my tech-savvy kids, I can now add photos to the blog. I'm very excited about the new possibilities this opens up. Additionally any post that includes a photo of my gorgeous daughter Abby is going to improve the look of my blog. Here she is all dressed up for her first high school dance. This scares any dad half to death. She's definitely NOT a little girl anymore. Let me know what you think of the new look.

I have also added a feature where you can sign up and follow my blog by e-mail. I have no idea if this works. If you sign up, please let me know if it's working or not. Stay tuned for additional features to this blog. I'm always looking for ways to make it more fun and more interesting.

Tebow-Mania!

Denver Broncos quarterback, Tim Tebow has been a major topic of discussion around the nation this season. He's the outwardly vocal Christian who crouches down to pray before and after each game and when his team scores a touchdown. This even spurred a national phenomenon called "Tebowing". Tebowing involved people being photographed while crouching down and praying (like Tim Tebow) in every imaginable location. The Eiffel Tower, Mt. Rushmore, The Grand Canyon, The St. Louis Arch etc... The current issue of TIME magazine has an excellent article on this topic and shows people "Tebowing" on the summit of Mt. Kilamanjaro, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, The Parthenon in Greece and at the Pyramids in Egypt. The fad has died down some, but Tim Tebow himself has caused quite a bit of controversy. Many people like the overt display of his faith, but even more think he is doing it to showboat for attention. They think he is a Bible thumping, holy roller who needs to tone it down. These same people think he is using his celebrity status to cram religion down peoples' throats. Saturday Night Live did an offensive skit showing a Jesus character telling Tim Tebow to cool it. Disgusting! These people have it all wrong. I believe Mr. Tebow is sincere. I think his actions are for one purpose only... to glorify and praise our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I say, "You go, Tim Tebow!". He is a breath of fresh air to the sports world which is now filled with a bunch of trash-talking, tattoo plastered thugs.

On another note, I was happy to see Tim Tebow's Denver Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night. Not just because Tim Tebow is a clean cut, All-American boy. It's because I've been a Broncos fan since I was 10 years old. I really have no idea how this happened. I think it goes back to the days of the "Orange Crush" defense, but for whatever reason they became my adopted team 35 years ago. Every year after the Bengals are eliminated, Denver becomes my NFL rooting interest. True to form this year, the Bengals have been eliminated from contention and Denver marches on! So here's a Mile High Salute to my Denver Broncos!

Here's an article a good friend of mine sent to me. Copy and paste the link.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/09/tebows-passing-yards-bring-up-biblical-number/?hpt=hp_c1

And this one...

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/09/tebows-biblical-game-316-yards-invokes-key-verse/?test=faces

Monster Lurking?

Have you ever watched a scary movie where a person is creeping through a house and you know there's a scary monster lurking somewhere, ready to pounce on the victim? You KNOW it's coming. You just don't know when or where it will happen. And even when you think you're ready for it, the attack still causes you to jump out of your skin. I'm feeling the same way now about the monster waiting for me... WINTER. We've enjoyed some mild weather lately, but I think I may be getting lulled into a false sense of security. We've had virtually no snowfall and the temperatures have been quite bearable. I know what's going to happen though. Just when I think we're in for a mild winter and the early onset of spring... Whammo! Sub-zero on the thermometer and a crippling snow storm will strike. I am trying to have a positive attitude. Maybe, just maybe this winter will pass with little more than brief periods of cold and snow. I won't hold my breath however. Trying to predict the weather in Cincinnati is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree.

Hot Bliggity Blog!

I am astounded. I am amazed. I am dumbfounded. I am honored. I am in disbelief that...

this little corner of the blogosphere would get more than 700 page views in the three months I've been doing this. That amounts to approximately 235 page views per month. That may seem like a trivial number compared to the sheer immensity of cyberspace, but knowing anyone is interested in anything I have to say is humbling to say the least.

I try to give everyone a glimpse into the lives of the Meyer family and more specifically a peek into my tiny little brain. I try to keep things light, but I also try not to be too silly and waste everyone's time. If you're looking for heavy-duty religious or political topics, this is not the place for you. However, I'm guessing anybody that visits this space regularly knows what to expect. A Christian based, family friendly, lighthearted blog to maybe bring a smile to your face. I plan on continuing this and do not want it to be a flash in the pan.

Several people have said, "I like your blog, but it won't let me comment on your posts." I would love to hear more comments from my small group of readers. You need a G-mail account, Twitter, Facebook or your own Blogspot Blog to comment. I'd love to get some suggestions for possible topics. Sometimes I get "Blogger's Block" and have trouble thinking of something to blog. Your help is welcome. Check back regularly and we can continue the fun :-)

The radio gets old

My commute to work takes 35 minutes. Counting the return trip I spend a minimum of 70 minutes in the car each day. Add a traffic jam or some bad weather and my weekly total could easily eclipse 6 hours. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoy the time alone and make very good use of it. I spend a great deal of time in prayer. Many times a beautiful sunrise or a flock of geese overhead will spur me to thank God for his beautiful creation. But being honest and realistic, I don't pray the whole time. Much time is spent just thinking. Much time is spent in quiet reflection. But my time is not always spent in such noble ways. Some mornings I crank up the radio and rock and roll my way to work. If I'm in a more mellow mood I may tune to a contemporary Christian station or hum along to the classical music of Beethoven, Bach or Mozart. Some mornings I tune to sports talk radio to check on the latest scores and highlights. But sometimes the radio gets old. Some days I can flip through stations and not find anything I'm in the mood to listen to. That's when I turn to a relatively new form (at least for me) of in-car entertainment. I'm talking about audio books. Books on CD or formerly known as books on tape. I've gotten to where I truly enjoy listening to a good story. Tami doesn't care for audio books. She says they move too slow. In other words she can read faster than a narrator can, well... narrate. As for me, I love these books on CD. Sometimes it's a fiction novel and sometimes it's nonfiction. Have you ever driven around the block just so you could hear the end of a good song? Lately I've found myself driving around the block to hear the end of a chapter. That may sound pathetic, but getting out of the car in the middle of a chapter is unthinkable. The wonderful thing is some books are so good I find myself surprised that I've gotten to work so quickly and disappointed that I have to wait until after work to hear more. This is only another sure sign of my age. Only old guys listen to audio books, right? It won't be much longer and I'll be driving all the way to work with my turn signal blinking and going 15 MPH below the speed limit. It stands to reason. I WILL be a grandpa in a few weeks.

Winter. The very word...

Winter. The very word stirs feelings of dread to the depths of my soul. I warned everybody several months ago this post would be coming... Here 'tis!

It snowed yesterday. Only about a quarter inch, but it snowed. The temperature dropped well below freezing. We've been fairly lucky until now. December days in the 50's and even a few in the 60's made things tolerable. But that's all over now. I have nothing but disdain for everything winter. I don't like snow, ice, sleet, freezing rain or the ever popular wintry mix. I don't like the cold. Period. The older I get, the stronger my feelings against winter. As a young man, I never understood people who felt the need to go south in the winter. Being a snow bird seemed silly to me then. Now, in my mid 40's, the understanding of those snow birds is abundantly clear. If I could, I'd be headed south... TODAY! You'd see nothing but the rear of my Honda Civic as I headed to Florida. But as you may guess, my job prevents that. At least for 15 more years. My mom and Cliff left for Florida on Monday (just in time to escape this paradise we call winter in the midwest). See you in April, Mom! Have I mentioned I don't care much for winter?

In addition, people in the Tri-State have no earthly idea how to drive in the snow. The aforementioned quarter inch of snow caused a 41 car pile up in Northern Kentucky. Were the roads slick and did they catch people off guard? Sure. But a pile up like that? Gee whiz! I can hardly wait for the real snow to hit. A commute that normally takes 30 minutes can easily turn into 2 hours. The White Death hits the roads and all of a sudden it's Snowmageddon! It's not that tough. Slow down. Allow extra space between yourself and other cars. Lightly apply brakes and know how to steer into a skid if it happens. Driving in winter conditions should cause anyone to be cautious and bit nervous, but there really is no reason to panic. Have I mentioned I don't like winter?

I'm an outdoors kind of guy. Winter is an indoors kind of season. Those two do not go well together. I miss sunshine. I miss warmth. I miss working in my yard. I miss my pool. How many days until spring?

I should have thought of that...

A few days ago I restated a desire to keep a written record of the year's events. I've always wanted to do this in order to give a "Year in Review" report for the Meyer family. What I failed to realize is I've already got a good start (and didn't even know it). This blog is an electronic record of the really big events in my life. Now all I have to do is stay diligent to this blog and fill in the details with a pen and paper record. This is going to work out better than I ever expected. Not that most people care about most of the mundane stuff I will record. Shucks, I avoid FaceBook for this very reason.

The year Y2K+12

Remember Y2K? The world's computers were going to crash and life as we knew it was going to be thrown into chaotic anarchy. People were stocking up on food, water, medical supplies and in some cases weapons. As it turned out, 1999 turned to 2000 with little more than a whimper. New Year's eve parties went on as planned. The ball dropped in Times Square. Everybody yelled, "Happy New Year!". January 1st, 2000 felt like any other day.

Here we are 12 years later. The economy is in shambles. Gas is projected to hit $4 by spring. This fallen world seems to be getting worse by the minute. But we are certainly a far cry from anarchy or chaos. Life is so good! We live in the age of information and the world is at our fingertips. I can go anywhere in the world without ever leaving my reclining La-Z-Boy. Isn't the internet great? Everything in my life is coming up roses. I have everything I need and I've never been happier. I am glad to see the arrival of Y2K+12. Our Sveta will be home in a matter of weeks. I have a great job and I'm one year closer to retirement. I have the best wife and kids any man could ask for.

Happy New Year family and friends. May your 2012 be blessed.