Letting the Cat Out of the Bag

The long absence of new content lately is almost entirely related to preparations for and then actual travel to Russia. I've been asked if the purpose of the trip was business or pleasure, and it was certainly pleasure, but not quite a vacation.

And at this point, I don't think there's anyone that I know well who hasn't heard, overheard, or just figured out what's going on. So here it is, officially and in writing: we're trying to add a human to the group of creatures that we already feed, bathe, and act as poop handlers.

Specifically, we've been going through the painfully drawn out and bureaucratic process of adopting an orphan from Russia. We just finished our first visit, where we met the boy, and I have a lot of stories and pictures to post from that trip. Also, I've been keeping some little files offline with information about the process all along. To shorten a long story -- I make up for weeks of aging content with 20-25 pages of new stories and two new photo collections for you.

Here's where to read more:

• If you're reading this in March or April 2007, start with my main home page. I should have links to everything new, and at least one or two things that will only appear there.
• If you're reading this as an older entry, then go ahead and start with the main adoption page.
• Jump right to pictures from Yaroslavl -- city where the orphanage is.
• Jump right to pictures from Moscow. (This gallery has nothing to do with the adoption, other than that the pictures are from the Russian trip.)
• I have started another post about Russia that has nothing to do with adoption. It will probably (but not definitely) be my next entry.