May 27th, a long day

Today began at 3:15 with a rude awakening from the alarm clock. Fumbling around in the feeble blue light cast by a cell-phone, we pulled on our clothes and gathered our things while the girls slept. Goodbyes from Abigail were short -- a mumbled 'I love you' and she was back to sleep. Goodbyes from Mik were longer and more tearful. It never gets any easier to leave your kids, no matter who they're with. We left Colora at 3:45, bound for BWI.

With our faithful Fit left in long-term parking, we boarded a shuttle for the terminal. Because we'd printed our boarding passes and declared our bags at home, check-in was quick and painless. Security wasn't too bad, except for the occasional rude traveler who didn't seem to realize there were other travelers around him. We had an hour to kill so we grabbed some coffee and plugged in the laptop to look for a room in Dallas. Upon boarding the plane, we had a pleasant surprise -- we got to ride in first class. It was my first time riding in first class; Misty had the privilege a few times before. Breakfast was good and the flight didn't seem too long. One passenger did ask us how long we'd been married -- she said we'd begun to look like each other.

Landing in Houston, we could feel the heat and humidity from inside the jetway. We grabbed our luggage and boarded a shuttle for the rental car terminal. We'd reserved a little Nissan Versa but all they had was the larger Sentra -- never imagined I'd call a Sentra larger. Luggage in the trunk, we pointed the car towards Dallas. We'd already been on the go for almost eight hours. On the way to Dallas, we grabbed some unhealthy food at Sonic. Misty has been craving a cherry limeade for the past five years -- I got her a large. About an hour outside of Dallas it began to rain -- torrents. It made me feel like I'd been at this for eighteen hours. Trying hard not to think about fluffy pillows and down comforters we plowed on and arrived in Dallas around two o'clock.

We were a bit surprised by the adoption agency. Expecting something fly-by-night or run out someone's home, we were taken aback by the legal-library warmth and subtly elegant decor. It was nice to feel at ease. We had a half hour before Gavin arrived so we signed some documents and chatted with Ashley while they made some coffee for us. Of course I'd forgotten to bring the camera inside so I had to dash to the car when Gavin made his entrance.

With camera in hand, I took some quick pictures of a tearful Misty with Gavin in her arms. Within the next half hour, somehow everyone in the room became misty-eyed. We gathered our things and settled Gavin in his carseat (he is a deep sleeper!) and headed for the hotel. The La Quinta was nice -- not the best place we've stayed in but certainly not the worst. To be honest, it's hard to recall many details as we were so tired that day -- just one of the reasons for starting this blog. We took a little break in the hotel to shower and freshen up before we headed to Super Target to grab some essentials and some dinner. Gavin needed somewhere to sleep so we picked him up a cute little collapsible bed. He also needed formula and the myriad other things that escape my feeble memory. I grabbed the important items -- a roast beef sandwich and a bottle of Fat Tire.

After a late dinner, we settled down to sleep while Gavin planned his feeding schedule -- I think it was one every half-hour. ;-)