With the good advice from my sister-in-law Bon, Doug and I are finding pleasure in those things we won't have time to do once Roman arrives. We are sleeping in... going out to dinner... hoping to make plans with local friends (Flint and Royal Oak) that we don't see often.

I've also begun cleaning out corners of the house that won't get touched again unless we move. :) We sorted through our CDs and are going to sell back about 80 of them. I cleaned out the drawers of my dresser. Cleaned out the front closet and - we can actually hang our coats in there! And see our gloves & mittens! And put wet shoes somewhere!

7th grade is planned up to my leave. 8th grade is semi-planned (working on that this evening). A shower has been organized on my mom's side of the family for Feb. 21st. I also did some online shopping last night of essential clothing for Russia - a hat, thicker gloves, silk under-socks (a must!), and Doug recommended some disposable handwarmers (my circulation is very poor, and last night it was -2 F in Ekaterinburg).

We're also starting to toy with the idea of getting the wood floor refinished in the dining room, which leads me to think about getting our carpet cleaned. So although we're still annoyed about having to wait longer and almost don't want to admit the silver lining - we're going to be able to get a lot done.

Received a gift of an infant swing and infant car seat from the VE brother-in-law family. Their 2nd has outgrown both, and although we may not use it long (only good up to 20 pounds!) it may get us home from the airport, and a week or two of use afterward.