No Sleep to Yambol!

OK, I'm having a hard time sleeping. At about 3 am each night, my brain is like a fly wheel thinking of all of the things we need to do in the next two weeks. By April 10, we need to get to a little town in the southeast of Bulgaria called Yambol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yambol) where the girls' orphanage is located. Yambol is the cultural epicentre of Bulgaria where many artisans, musicians and painters reside. This small city of about 85,000 people is located about 100K from the Black Sea and about 300K from the capital city of Bulgaria, Sofia. We have been told by our adoption facilitator in Bulgaria, Nikolay, that the best thing would be to fly into a seaside town called Burgas, a very popular summer vacation spot for Eastern Europeans. The only problem is that there aren't many flights from Frankfurt to Burgas in the off season, and it's prohibitively expensive, so we're kinda stuck there.

We had heard so much about how cool a city Sofia is and we both really wanted to see it. There are tons of flights from Frankfurt to Sofia ...and there's a train that goes right from Sofia to Yambol in about 3 hours. Seems like the way to go...

Since Gunther already has a ticket booked for Frankfurt for a conference, we book my ticket first. I am amazed at how inexpensive it is to fly from Vancouver to Frankfurt to Sofia to Munich (to visis G's mom) and then back to Vancouver. We book my roundtrip ticket (gulp)...leave on the 8th and back on the 20th (gulp of wine)...but at least I'm flying direct to Europe and back and it's on Lufthansa. Maybe I can flirt my way into first class...Germans don't really flirt though, do they:-) OK, onto G's ticket for the Frankfurt, Sofia, Munich leg of the trip. A bit more pricey but we manage to get on all of the same flights together which I'm happy about. We're done...we have our tickets booked and we're jumping up and down (well I am)...celebration part 2!

The Best Birthday Present Ever

Monday goes without a hitch (well with the exception of a very rude VPD worker who was an ass to us when we asked him to expedite our criminal check.) and we're thrilled to hear from our doctor (who amazingly is from Bulgaria) that everything looks good on the girls medical background. How blessed we are to have her! When we walked out of the doctors office with the girls medicals approved, and our medicals complete and updated, I literally skipped to my car! This is really happening!

Wake up on the morning of the big 45 and unfortunately G has a bit of a sore throat and is feeling really under the weather. I have a bunch of agency loose ends to tie up and then the rest of the day is great -- worked out with George, and went to the Kerrisdale Community Lunch. It was great to tell everyone at the Church lunch about the girls...what a great bunch of people I have met at St. Mary's.

That evening, Gunther is too sick to go out so I join the Ferrie family for dins in Kitsilano along with John and Christin. Very fun dinner -- my mind is deeply entrenched in details, details, details. Time to make our travel plans!

East Meets East...

Woke up on Thursday morning and I jumped out of bed the moment I opened my eyes. I recall Gunther's edich to me and laugh out loud: "you're going to have to learn 500 words of Bulgarian by April." After that call yesterday, I was having a hard time with stringing two words of English together. It's 10a.m. -- a great time to call my family on the east coast! My parents are with my brother Rob and Mary...and they're thrilled. My sisters in FLA and TN are super excited. Call Joe and Carmen and leave message. Send out emails/calls to everyone in New York...and we are getting in touch with everyone from Gunther's family. It feels so BIZARRE to say we're having twins! A part of us is nervous because we haven't received full medical clearance on the girls. A dear person in my life and confidant Kathleen has reviewed their profile and while there may be issues to be concerned about with regard to little Fana's behavioural issues, she is very so excited for us. I'm sure it will all be o.k.

We head out on the boat for the weekend, and it's a beautiful sunny weekend. We stare at the picture of the girls all weekend and talk about everything that we need to do on Monday. There's nothing better for a great night sleep than a good dose of fresh air and some waves to rock the boat in the night -- we slept for 10 hours on Saturday night (an unbelieveable thing for Gunther!). I think we're both just still in disbelief! Might as well sleep while we can because a good long snooze is going to be a luxury in 3 months from now! Monday is a SUPER big day -- have to get our criminal records checked, our physicals and medical clearance for the girls. So much, so fast! Kirstin and Marie at Choices are just so supportive, knowledgeable and amazing!!! Thank goodness for this!!!

March 17, 2010: The Big Day...our Journey Begins

It was 2:07 on Wednesday March 17 and I was running out the door to go to my tennis lesson with Elena at UBC. The phone rang and up popped the Choices Adoption number, as it had so many times before. I answered and it was our new social worker, Kirstin, who was replacing Rachel in managing our adoption file. I honestly thought it was just an introduction call...so didn't think much of it. I've learned not to get my hopes up when the Choices number pops up. We talked for about 30 seconds and the phone battery started to go (must buy new phone!) so I called her back from cell. We talked a bit about her transition to managing the Bulgarian adoptions and I looked at the clock and thought I'd better get going...I'm going to be late. And then these words: "I have exciting news for you and Gunther" changed my world...our world. This was "the call." I started to pace (I'm sure I was jogging) up and down the length of my living room as she described these two little girls....Yuliya and Fana, age 4...whom we were matched with. She described them as healthy and beautiful -- and she started reading their profiles. I don't think I was able to piece together the words to form a sentence. She briefly informed me that little Fana has some behavioural issues but we agreed that it was best for her to get the profiles over to us so we could read them and see them for ourselves. It was now 2:27.

I tried to call Gunther -- no answer. I tried to call Elena at UBC tennis -- voicemail. So I ran to the car to drive to UBC. I honestly don't remember even driving. My mind was racing and i was overwhelmed with thoughts of what was happening. I got to the tennis center and I saw my friend Neil who runs UBC tennis -- how could I tell him when I haven't even told Gunther! I was busting! I ran over to Elena and told her what was happening...she is wonderful! No point in playing -- how could I possibly concentrate! Bing goes my blackberry...the email from Kirstin with their bio and pictures comes to my blackberry. My cell phone rings -- it is Gunther. Here we go.

Gunther: Hey sugles, what's up?
Cheryl: We got the call from Choices -- we received a proposal...I don't really want to tell you over the phone.
Gunther: Tell me
Cheryl: We've received a proposal for twin girls, age 4
Gunther: Silence. Holy Shit.
Cheryl: Meet me at home as soon as possible
Gunther: Silence. Holy Shit.
Cheryl: I'll see you at home in 30 minutes. Love you.
Gunther: I'll be home in 30.

I'm on the phone with Kirstin from Choices when Gunther gets home. I have the pics and bios all printed out and we sit down to go through it all. Gunther looks at their picture and I think he stared at it for 3 or 4 minutes. I watched the expression on his face as he stared at their pictures -- I believe it was in this moment that our fate was sealed. We read through their bios and had some concerns about the behavioral issues with Fana -- she is so sweet but so sad. We agreed it was a cope-able situation -- love and support would be the antidote to help her. Her sister Yuliya is beautiful, healthy, fun and playful. We look at each other -- we're doing it. God willing these will be our girls.

It is a beautiful sunny day. It is 4:30 p.m. We decide the best thing would be to go for a walk along the river. We walk in silence, and then in full discussion about what is happening and what the future holds. We sit on a bench along the river, with the warmth of the sunshine upon us. I want to remember this moment for the rest of my life. We start the process of making calls to our friends to share the news. We get back to the house at 6 -- this is really happening and I can't describe how I'm feeling...no words can describe it.

John and Christin are over -- and the Champers has been poured. Shannon and Drew come by too. We are celebrating this day that we've been waiting for years to happen! I'm on and off the phone for the next 3 hours. I think G and I are somewhat in shock without sounding overly dramatic. Twin girls. Wow. We are thrilled and anxious and nervous and excited....all in one. When we woke up on this morning, who would have known how our day would end. After all the waiting and waiting and waiting, one phone call changes everything.