Kara's first Christmas in America

I will put pictures later; I can't find my card reader, actually can't find much of anything since I came home, I am having a hard time getting used to being here and have been knocked down hard with a terrible cold. Consequently I missed all the Christmas shopping this year, including getting stocking stuffers. No stockings for anyone, the family forgot to get them out of storage. I of course brought home some Ukrainian keepsakes, but that was it. One day of shopping by the SDA, the weekend before I came home.

I am ecstatic to be home, but I am also having a hard time adjusting to the time, climate, and language change. I told quite a few people spaceba here since home. 6 weeks is an awful long time to be away from home, the man at the American consulate told me our adoption was longer than the average of 4 weeks. Though I met a family who was there for 8, so it was not the longest.

There are 5 large baskets of dirty clothes that need washing and 4 of my plants did not survive my absence, but all in all everyone seems to have done fine without Mom here. My kittens do not remember me, I am having to re-establish my connections to them, sadly one also was hit by a car the week before I got home. That happened the same week my oldest totaled his car, thankfully he is OK, and it was not his fault, but now he needs a new car.

So much happened in the 6 weeks I was gone from home; I missed my sons play, my daughters choral performance, my birthday, Thanksgiving, Meghan's 7th birthday and all the holiday fun before Christmas day. I am sad that I could not share those special times with my family, but we do have a new family member who is the sweetest little baby, everything we went through was more than worth it.

Well, back to bed with me, the family wants to see a movie, but Mom has been up since 2:30, and with all the coughing and sneezing, I would rather stay home than cough through a movie...thankfully this too shall pass.