Day 37: Sunday, 6/26

Thump, thump, thump... it's 3:30 am and the folks next to us are really enjoying their MTV. The folks on the other side of them are not and keep banging on their shared wall or maybe it's the the door. Guess who I side with... I would add to the “hey, shut up” banging if Grace weren't so peacefully asleep. Guess I'll get up and, uh, check my online bill pay? Fun.

We still don't know anything about our long-awaited visa. Our hopes of it sneaking in with the Simmons' is pretty far fetched and now that we're half way through the weekend, it seems less likely that ours, even if only a day or two behind, would catch up and get here in time to allow us all to leave together. We've re-rented Gordon's car and his sister-in-law is going to drop it off for us on Sunday morning. After that Stacy and I will be meeting Maddy, Emi and the other birth mom at the Tide Table for lunch at noon. I'm looking forward to a little adult time with the girls (defining adult time as with babies but without toddlers).

Around 8:00 Gordon's sister-in-law's husband (does that make him the brother-in-law?) knocked on the door to drop off the car key. We are now mobile! We popped down for breakfast early since I was going to lunch with the girls at noon and wanted to make sure I had an appetite. Through breakfast I was trying to get Grace to fall asleep so I could cut her nails when we returned to the room. By the way, baby nails are really, really tiny and are difficult to cut even when they're passed out. She did not cooperate until a few minutes before I had to leave for lunch... oh, well.

Maddy had called to say that while she'd confirmed plans with the other birth mom last night, she couldn't reach her this morning. I told her to stick to the plan and try again at noon and if she couldn't reach her to come to the restaurant and we'd hope that she was getting their on her own.

Stacy and I arrived at the Tide Table just about noon and were the first ones there. Just as we walked into the restaurant, Maddy called to tell me that she and Emi were on their way but her car had broken down and they were in a taxi. She asked if I could meet them downstairs with a dollar for the taxi driver. Grace was swaddled and asleep so I plopped her on a table next to Stacy and went down to meet them. Apparently, the other birth mom could not be found so the two of them came directly to the Tide Table. Stacy was convinced she would make her way to meet us so the four of us sat down to chat and wait for her to arrive.

We waited a bit but finally received a call from the other birth mom saying she was on her way. We asked what she wanted to eat so we could order it for her as we expected her within 10-15 minutes. That time passed and all of our food arrived. Her's sat for quite some time before she finally showed up. She looked like she didn't feel well and we learned she'd been out most of the night with her auntie... confirmed hangover. Regardless, we had a nice lunch with Maddy and Emi.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Maddy since she, as you know, had returned from Hawaii 3 weeks ago and we hadn't heard from her at all. I think it ultimately was a miscommunication between her, Gordon and the CAA. Maddy believes that she was on an extended vacation – two weeks in Hawaii and another two here. The others didn't understand that to be the case but they'll have to work it out between themselves. All I can say is I thoroughly enjoyed her company and, what's more, felt very comfortable with her as a translator – not only of words but of intent. What I mean by that is Stacy and I both had some questions for our birth moms that we'd avoided asking as they were of a sensitive nature. We wanted to make sure they were asked in an appropriate way to respect privacy but also get information we felt was very important to share later with our kids.

Maddy completely understood our intent and helped us broach the subjects with each birth mom. They seemed to have no problem answering questions she asked and volunteered information readily. I'd heard that all the birth moms love Maddy and get along with her very well... this was proof to us. Whatever communication issues she may have with Gordon or the CAA simply need to be worked out because she's really the right person for this role. I very much wish she'd been available to us over the past 3 weeks.

After lunch and a bit of driving around, we headed towards the airport to drive Maddy home. Her car had been towed to her home but it wasn't fixed and her husband could not come get her. Stacy, Oliver, Emi & Grace kept me company on the ride and on the way back we dropped Emi off at her house. Then Stacy, Oliver, Grace and I went back to the MIR.

The only thing I found in the room was some freshly done laundry (yay!) but no Jeff and no Mac... to the Enra I went. He was there typing so I joined him planning to order some ice cream. I went to see if Stacy wanted to join us for a bit and she did. Jeff ordered dinner and I asked for ice cream but switched to pumpkin pie when they said they were out. A low-key evening is plan now.

Tomorrow we're going to the DHL office to see if we can get more information on Stacy's visa and, by chance, if they can tell me anything about ours even though we don't have a tracking number or even know if it's been sent. It's very likely that Stacy will be able to fly out tomorrow night or Wednesday. I'm doubtful that we'll be so lucky... maybe by the end of the week?