Tuesday, Day 35 After enjoying another wonderful breakfast at the Hyatt, we wondered down to the beauty salon and inquired about the cost of haircuts. Surprisingly reasonable, the cuts weren't too expensive so we decided to go for it and clean up our images a bit. The staff was very cognizant of just trimming and very kind, asking about which side we liked our hair parted and other little questions one takes for granted with one's own stylist. The beauty treatment and Kevin's work out for the day both completed, we decided to head back to the Promenade Mall for bit of shopping.  As we were about to leave, the phone rang and it was our friend Mike--he and his son Drew were in the lobby for a bit and wanted to say good-bye. Drew greeted Luda with "Woo-dah!" and they spent a few minutes playing in the lobby while Mike caught us up on his travel plans. Hopefully they will make it back safely to Wisconsin tomorrow night. The weather was especially warm today, perhaps around 45 degrees, making for a pleasant walk to the mall. After shopping a bit, we ate lunch at a nearby pizza place that we visited when we adopted Luda. She had an amazing recollection of the restaurant, which was interesting because she doesn't remember as much as we thought. Time has a way of blurring the past, doesn't it? We had a late lunch of beer & pizza, came back to the hotel and took a quick nap. Waking refreshed, Luda and Kevin went swimming while I worked out in the fitness room right next to the pool. We are headed downstairs shortly for our last dinner at the Hyatt. Tomorrow we bid adieu to Almaty and will head back to Kostanai on a 9:00 flight, arriving  at 1:00.  (Sadly, the breakfast buffet doesn't open until after we need to leave...)

Wednesday, Day 36 Today was spent traveling from Almaty to Kostanai. We did find out that the buffet opened at 6:00 am, so we met the hotel staff right on the hour and enjoyed their wonderful breakfast one last time.  Oleg's father, Yvgenie drove us to the airport and told us very interesting stories of his life as part of the USSR. Born in northern Russia, Yvgenie and his family were forced to relocate to the central part of the country during WWII. Times were very hard during the war and there was little food. After the death of his brother from these conditions, the family located some relatives living in Siberia and relocated. When he was a young man, he went to the University in 1960, in Almaty we think (his English is a little broken), where he studied engineering. He had a career building bridges and tunnels and now is retired, just doing part-time work for his two sons. Eugene (English version of his name) said that is was very difficult when the Soviet Union first broke up because there was no food or work available. Now, things are much better and his children and grandchildren have a much brighter future than they would have in the past. We must all count our blessings every day for the small things we take for granted, such as food, work and freedom... The ride back to Kostanai was in another Soviet era prop-jet, but this one was warm, really warm! No difficulty with the heat on this aircraft. Interestingly, they have few rules regarding trays, standing, seat backs during landing and/or take-off. In fact, one rather stout Russian woman sitting behind Kevin was putting on her coat during the landing, bumping him dramatically when she lost her balance. It was a bit of a comical scene, straight out of Saturday Night Live. :) We were met by Dinara, who wished us "Happy Valentine's Day!" We would like to share the same sentiment to all of our family and friends back home! We love and miss each and every one of you!

Court Update-- Thanks to the efforts of many people across the US, the necessary documents arrived with a very kind couple from Philadelphia. Our coordinator rushed them over to the courthouse to show to the judge and to ask for a court date as soon as possible. The good news is that the judge didn't find anything wrong with the documents. The bad news is that she is "busy" and wouldn't let us schedule a court appointment until Monday, Feb. 26 at 2:00. Thinking Out Loud: Upon hearing this news about another delay that appears to be an intentional jab at us/the system because her dislike of international adoption, the words that went through my mind were quite colorful and truly reflective of Irish ancestry. I won't share them, but my Murphy ancestors would have been impressed. After calming down and realizing that we are completely powerless to do anything, the thought of retribution entered my mind. I fantasized about sending her a dead fish in the mail, but upon further thought realized that it would freeze and therefore not remain smelly, so decided to abandon the plan. Hmm...guess I could hit her over the head with it instead. Or perhaps I will just hide a can of old sardines in her office... Our coodinator was as disappointed as we were, and we stood in our Medeo Hotel with very long faces. She is going to try to call someone who may know a friend of the judge, who may be willing to intercede for us. Most likely, we are stuck with this court date. Fortunately, there is a flight leaving here on that evening at 6:30. We are going to book ourselves on it and pray that we will be able to leave for home at that time.

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