In which we're fingerprinted for posterity

Seems like it's been so long since I posted. A week is a long time in the life of a blog, I guess.

We left last Wednesday for home, a 8-hour drive away, and the driving actually wasn't so bad. The boys slept (we drove from 8PM to 4AM), mostly, whining a few times. We spent the entire trip visiting family, seeing friends, and enjoying the gorgeous weather. It was a really good visit. The trip back wasn't bad, either, even though we got in at 4AM Monday morning and our alarm went off at 7AM. Still working on catching up on sleep, and unpacking, but laundry is done and both boys have clean clothes.

I am working on my travel schedule for the next couple of months. Lots of cities in my future. I was in Baltimore last Monday, tomorrow I'm flying out to Austin, and Friday I'll be in Orlando. Racking up the frequent flier miles, I am.

Keith and I went last Wednesday for our fingerprinting appointment at CIS. It was wonderful. We were in and out in less than 40 minutes. We got there before they opened, and there was already a line forming. Actually, there were people sitting in their cars in the parking lot. I walked right up to the door to wait, and Keith was like, "You can't cut all these people in line!" and I was all, "I don't see a line anywhere! I see a bunch of suckers sitting in their cars!" It's like when you fly Southwest, and people sit in chairs close to the line, but they aren't actually in line, and then when the line surges forward, they jump up and run over to the middle of the line. Forget that, morons. Same goes for CIS. We actually ended up third in line, because there were two guys who drove in from Georgia, and forgot about the time zone changes, and had been waiting since 6AM (opens at 8AM), and I kind of felt bad for them so I back off a little, and there was one woman who acted like she wanted to go in front of us, so I let her. Keith was totally holding me back, what with his courteous-ness and being all mannerly. But I managed to get us in front of lots of people, those two formerly mentioned not included. Once we get the elusive I-71H form from Memphis, we'll have everything we need for our dossier. After the dossier is sent to our agency, it takes about a week to translate everything, and then it's sent to Kazakhstan. We've heard that it's taking about 8 weeks to get the I-71H back, but we're hoping and praying for less! I'd take 6 weeks, but I'd really like 4 weeks! Say a little prayer for that piece of paper to make it's way to us as soon as possible!

Ari crawled into the bedroom last night and patted Dante and said, "Dah (dog)! Dah! Dah dah dah dah dah dah!" And so on. He is such a smart and squishy little baby. He is trying to crawl, like, for real crawling and not the army crawl, and he is pulling up on everything. Especially in his crib, which is not so good for the sleeping. 'Dah' is his third word. He says Dada and Bye-bye (which, if you were anywhere near NW Arkansas this past weekend, you probably heard), and now Dah. What a genius baby. What is it with me and my gorgeous, smart offspring? Must be in the genes.

Speaking of genes, I've been tossing around an entry on good stock. I don't have time to write it, probably never will, but it has to do with family history, legacy and the such. Also on my list of things I'd like to do but never will: Write an entry to NPR's This I Believe, sew up some shorts for Owen, mow the lawn, upload lots of pictures, file the paid bills, read anything at all, clean out Ari's closet, shave legs.