Richard Here: One Week to Go, But I'm Hitting the Road Tomorrow.

In seven days I will be somewhere over the North Atlantic en route to Munich (assuming my flights are going well) but the real journey begins tomorrow. Just so everyone understands, I am not leaving for Bulgaria until the 9th, but it just so happened that my trip to Bulgaria butts up directly against a work-related trip to Chicago. While I won't bore anyone with the details of the Chicago trip (unless you want to talk about information security certifications) I will go ahead and share my rough itinerary for my adoption trip with our friends, family and the rest of the adoption community that may be following the progress of our adoption.

Aug 3rd - Drive to Chicago
Aug 8th - Drive back from Chicago, arriving late in the evening.
Aug 9th: Flight to Sofia departs from Dayton ~1730
Aug 10th: Arrive in Sofia, Picked up by translator and we drive directly to Rousse (4.5 hour drive)
Aug 11th - 15th: Daily visits with little guy #1 and then drive to Stara Zagora on the afternoon of the 15th.
Aug 16th - 20th: Daily visits with not-so-little guys #2 and #3 and then drive to Sofia on the afternoon of the 20th
Aug 21st: Flight departs Sofia at 0630, arriving in Dayton around 2130.

A few quick FAQs based on what people have asked me so far:

Q: Who's staying home with the kids?
A: Val, just like every other day when I go to work.

Q: Is anyone going to be helping her?
A: Probably, we have family in the area as well as friends and other members of our LDS congregation.

Q: What can I do to help?
A: Give Val a call or stop by with A) anything healthy or B) anything made of chocolate. The hardest part about being the "one left behind" is being without adult communication for days on end in the evenings. Val and I will talk during the day but the time zones don't line up well (7 hours ahead) for talking to Val in the evening in the USA. Another way to help would be to support the fundraiser that Val will be running while I'm in-country. Little-known fact (sarcasm inserted) - adoptions are expensive... like brand-new-car expensive.

Q: Are you done adopting yet?
A: Valerie and I both feel that this will be it for the Rieben family.

Q: Do you guys drive a bus?
A: No, we drive a 15-passenger van. But yes, it will be full now. And no we don't plan on buying a bus.

I need to get back to packing. We'd love to hear from our friends and family since I'll be using questions asked by others to help me write blog entries while overseas. If there is a specific topic you'd like covered by me (Richard) let me know by leaving a comment or by responding on Facebook.