leaving for Kazakhstan on July 1st!!!!

Woo hoo! Kathy from Children at Heart called this morning to say they have received my Letter of Invitation (the long-awaited, much-coveted permission from the Ministry of Education for me to travel to Kazakhstan to adopt a child)! My visa is being processed and the flight arrangements are set: I leave on the evening of July 1st from JFK and travel through London to arrive in Almaty, Kazakhstan at 4:40 am on July 3rd. On either the 3rd or the 4th, I will take the short flight to Karaganda to visit with children at the Malutka Baby House. [Someone has already joked that this year's 4th of July will be my "loss of independence day."]