The Littlest Blessings

There are many things that I am grateful for as I remember my trip to Moscow....and I dont' want to forget them. Here is a small list.
I'm thankful for...
• Aisle seats – I need to move when I’m on a long flight and so sitting on the aisle is ideal for me – so I may get up and down to my heart’s content without being worried about disturbing anyone else. Even though I had to change my flight to a day earlier at the last minute – I still had aisle seats on the long flights – I’m so grateful!
• Making connections – I only had an hour in Frankfurt and somehow, even after we arrived in Frankfurt 45 mins early and then sat on the tarmac for an hour an fifteen minutes waiting for a gate, somehow I made my connection in only 30 minutes! Thank You Lord
• Sitting next to an American business man on the flight from Frankfurt to Moscow. He was a wealth of information and information is always a comfort to me. I like to know what to expect – (OK I’m a closet control freak)
• Baggage that arrived when I did! Two years ago when I went to Kyrgyzstan I landed on Sunday and my luggage arrived on Friday. It was a long week in one hundred degree heat with very little air conditioning!
• An uneventful trip through passport control and customs – I’ve seen one too many Bond movies :)
• Finding my hotel! That was a challenge – the shuttle stop was not marked well. It was dark and snowing and the paths were a bit icy, but finally I found a cab driver who spoke some English and was willing to direct me without pushing me into his cab.
• Clean hotel rooms! I don’t need fancy, but I do require clean – everywhere I stayed was very clean. The airtel even had decent room service and most of the staff spoke enough English to communicate. (Although I have to admit I’m so embarrassed that I only speak one language!)
• My daughter’s music teacher – she is a gem! While I was there she had my little angel and two other little girls come in for a music class so I could observe. It was so sweet. She let them each try multiple instruments; she sang to them, she danced with them. She was so loving and kind to each of the kids. It just warmed my heart. She is also the one who found five pictures of my angel and gave them to my coordinator for me. They are just precious.
• My medical exam is OVER! AND I passed! I cannot tell you how nervous I was about this. I can’t really pinpoint why – but the thought of being examined by eight different Russian speaking doctors filled me with fear (again - too much 007). For some reason, I just feared they would keep me from completing this adoption. It was an intense couple of hours, but it was just fine and it’s OVER! Woo hoo!
• OK this one is going to seem really silly, but I have a “thimble bladder” and one of the things I was nervous about (I know – silly, but!) was the long drives – I tend to stop often when I travel and I just wasn’t sure how I would do on the three-four hour trips – would there even be a place to stop? Somehow, my thimble bladder turned into the bladder of steel for the long car rides! (Hey, I said this was about the “littlest blessings”.)