Change could be in the air

Nothing stays the same except change... A wise piece of advice dolled out by someone likely far more patient than myself. While I have never professed to be patient, I am self declared resilient and resourceful. I feel like in order to find some sense of calm and direction, I NEED to research, discover, figure out and understand all angles of that which I seek to know (when possible... which I'm discovering in International Adoption is quite rare but I digress). I spoke to my SW yesterday and asked the hard questions from a document I titled, "Questions for 2009" - I had to explain to her that although it was a few pages long it was not indeed 2009 questions lol. The biggie was this: "is the summer the BEST I might hope for in terms of a referral?" Long........................ awkward.............................. pause........................perhaps a slight fumble for words................................ and "it could be Stacey... but I don't want to promise THAT and then not have something for you by then". WHAT!!! WOW... I choked back the disappointment and tears as I pondered a 10 or 11 or more month wait for a boy already sitting and just waiting to come home... a boy that nobody visits or wants or loves... Deep breath... I think I muddled through some ream of additional questions but the answer I didn't want to hear kept echoing in my head... the summer... maybe not even by then... you are first on the list for a single boy your age request.... HUH??? Not good enough. So, one of the questions I paid attention to the answer to was, "At what point does a change in region become warranted?" (this question is in light of the fact that the last agency news letter indicates that they will be opening St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk shortly). She told me that it is possible and likely that I could have my documents registered in a new region. She asked if I had a preference (bear in mind that all I could hear bouncing in my cranium was Dear God please don't make me wait until the summer...) so I answered "no... whatever you think is best"... then I promptly consulted with the regional expert... my Russian friend who will be traveling with me. She suggests registering in St. Petes (which in my heart is what I wanted but the words didn't come out right... part desperation, part stunned). So many things could go more easily there... Ole has friends, the city has so much to do and see, it is close to Moscow, Scott was there before we met - I could see the things he told me about and I might even have a place to stay without paying for a hotel. All this and given the size of the city, the baby homes seem to be well funded, staffed and repaired. There are hundreds of little boys born in 2005 and 2006 there... way more than Perm... and at least I remember reading that people are bringing home children from St. Petes which is more than I can say for Perm. So... time will tell but change is in the air... and, if I have to wait until the summer for a referral and travel when it is warm, I'd rather do that in St. Petes than Perm... but I'll go where my boy is. I just hope you hurry home.