Leaving on a jet plane

I'm out of control. In the last half-hour, I've thrown a dozen things in the suitcase that I probably don't need. Shout wipes, dental floss, Dove cleansing pads, Tylenol PM (okay, maybe that will come in handy at 6 tomorrow morning when I'm in the air over the Pacific and want to sleep).

Last-minute task: Photocopying! Ray never signed his passport, rendering all the copies we've made to give over at various government offices useless. So, we'll get that done and then everything will go in the special paperwork envelope I should probably be wearing on my person.

I am hopeless as well as out of control; I logged on to work email this morning and sent a few last-minute messages. Must. Disengage. Now. Hey, it's more difficult than I thought. Aside from my surgeries, I've worked full-time without interruption since 1985. It's how we do.

I read an article on Adoptivefamilies.com this morning about documenting your trip with photos and video. Lots of good tips, but now I feel totally inadequate because I haven't prepared a "shot list" ahead of time. That'll give us something to plan on the plane ride.

I wonder what Loc's up to today. He has no idea what's about to happen to him.

Neither does his new mom, for that matter.

Much, much more to come...maybe from Taipei, and then from Saigon.

'Twas the night before departure

We leave tomorrow. It still doesn't seem real. This time tomorrow night, we'll be landing in San Francisco and starting a long layover before the flight to Taipei.

What a long day. I didn't get home from work until 9. I still have a lot of packing to do. Right now, everything's in one incredibly heavy suitcase. Tomorrow morning, we get out the luggage scale and start redistributing. I think we'll have one entire duffel bag o' snacks. Ray's still looking for a tripod or stand for his camera and has to get his prescriptions filled, and I've got to pull a few more things together. Extra contact lenses, headphones, cash, hairbrushes. Plus a few more emails to send.

My co-workers threw me a shower today. Make-your-own-sundae bar and cake -- what could be better? I got a stuffed Horton and some Dr. Seuss books, and a very generous donation for the orphanage. When I was asked about a shower, I said that instead of a gift, I'd be honored if my colleagues would help the Ham Tan orphanage provide for the children who won't be joining families. Boy, did they respond. They really are a wonderful, caring group of people, and I'm fortunate to work with them. I'm looking forward to posting photos from the orphanage so that they can see some of the kids who will benefit from their kindness.

It's going to be weird, being off from work for a while. I keep wondering if I'll think about what's going on, or if I'll be so absorbed that it'll be a distant memory by Saturday.

It's after 11, and I still have to take out the trash and a make a list of all the things I need to get together tomorrow. And then hit the hay, my last chance to sleep in a bed for a couple of days. Ugh, the flight is going to be so long. But I'm almost at my destination.

I hate packing

I hate packing. I just hate it. My mind seems to go in 12 directions as I try to think through the whole mix 'n match wardrobe thing. Is it okay to bring the orange Coolmax shirt, since it will go with the slacks and the shorts but not the baby blue "skort"?

I wish they had "Garanimals" for adults.

And then the luggage sizes and limits, most of which have to be converted from the cm's on the airline web sites to inches -- it makes my head hurt. We've worked out a whole scheme that relies on our eating no less than 6 pounds of snack food before we take the in-country flight so that our big piece of luggage meets Vietnam Air requirements.

We got a little way-laid in the trip prep today, due to my garbage disposal giving up the ghost last night and causing the dishwasher to drain through the kitchen floor into the basement. We are the third of the four couples on our trip to have a plumbing issue days before departure.

Luckily, my partner is a do-it-yourselfer, and four trips to The Home Depot later, I have a brand-new disposal with the fierce brand name of "The Badger." Still, we could have used those six hours to pack or spend our Sunday in a last-minute kid-free adventure.

Yesterday was far more productive. The family came up and did a massive job of preparing the house. Grass got cut, Loc's room got set up, rooms are baby-proofed and cleared out. Things are looking good, especially his room, which is so cute. My family is incredible -- everyone pitched in and worked so hard yesterday.

I should be getting ready for work tomorrow, but right now I just want to chill with a Wailua (wheat beer brewed with passion fruit from Hawaii!) and not think about the plane ride. Or what I might be forgetting to pack.

To-Do List From Hell

Plane tickets have been purchased. Visas are ready today. That's two things checked off a list of a gazillion.

Right now I'm obsessing about shoes. I am determined to take only one pair with me (and some flip-flops), one of those moderately fugly pairs of waterproof, lightweight hiking/sports shoes. They won't look too god-awful with my nice outfit for the official business, and they'll be better than taking sneakers. But this quest could consume the entire day, as I've already struck out at REI and Dick's.

Then there's all the other things to do today. Get a haircut, get the prescriptions filled, buy the mattress and boxsprings, and work on the house, which has its own subset of to-do items. Luckily, my family is coming up this weekend to pitch in. There are hundreds of little details -- this morning, I remembered I need to photocopy our passports (which are waiting to be picked up at the Vietnamese Embassy downtown). What else am I forgetting? And at some point this weekend, I'll probably need to go to the office. That to-do list almost reduces me to tears.

But I did sleep in today, despite all the stuff I have to do. I'm down to my last three opportunities to sleep in for quite some time.

The plane ride is really concerning me. We couldn't get "deluxe" for the trip over, so we'll be spending the trans-Pacific flight cramped in coach. Yes, the airline, EVA, is supposed to be wonderful, but I've got some long gams. And the layovers are looooooong. Thursday is going to be one long-ass day. Leave Dulles at 5:30, arrive in San Fran at 8 (11 p.m. our time), then leave San Fran at almost 2 a.m. local time, meaning almost 12 full hours of travel/layovers before we even leave the USA. Then another long layover in Taiwan before we get to HCMC.

I keep thinking of Lewis Black's bit on flying to New Zealand, where he says, "If you ever decide to fly to New Zealand...first take out a gun and shoot yourself in the head."

But layovers sound longer than they ever really are. The time will fly by! Right?

I'm on the fence about the long layovers on the way back. My hope is that at each one I will have enough energy to run Loc around the airport like I'm a bull and he's in Pamplona, to completely tire him out so that he sleeps on the next flight. But I wouldn't place any bets on that happening. The inverse will probably be true. To anyone on the three return flights, I apologize in advance.

Okay, it's 10:30 and I'm way behind schedule. Time to mark some things off the list.

Amazing Cake

Here's some shots of the cake from my shower.

The animals are made of fondant. Incredible detail on each of them. It's too bad fondant tastes like Play-Doh.... The cake was great, however. The chocolate layer was my fav, of course.

The piercer at my niece's work did the cake -- quite the artist.

The week that was

Talk about a roller coaster.

Over the last few days:

• I learned that my I-600 isn't going to be filed till the end of the month, pushing me into late July/August for traveling , best-case scenario. That's if the embassy continues its average 45-day turnaround.
  
  I'm so disappointed. I cried on the phone with my agency. That's more time in the orphanage for Loc, and every day it's so hard to think of what we're both missing out on. When I got my referral, the timeline was late May/early June for travel; it's brutal to see it lenghten.

• I got new photos and new videos. As you can see, he's getting to be a little boy. He still has his bracelet, but he is rapidly leaving babyhood behind. He looks so sad in the videos, but maybe that's just me projecting. I'm happy to have new photos, but they just make me miss him that much more.

• I watched the story on Vietnam adoptions on CNN's "American Morning." Tough to watch.
  

• I had an excellent shower with my wonderful family. My mom outdid herself with great food and planning. My niece hooked us up with a animal-themed cake made by a woman she works with. Absolutely amazing -- fondant giraffes, monkeys, and elephants. I'll post pictures soon.
  
  Great turnout and the most imaginative and thoughtful gifts. Loc is so set with toys and clothes now. Aunt Gail gave him three UNC shirts, which I can't wait to see him in. Really cool presents from my aunts, cousins, family friends, sisters, nieces, nephew, and parents. The welcome that they're giving Loc overwhelms me sometimes.
  

• I got my second year's worth of Happy Mother's Day to the Mother-to-Be cards. When I got these cards last year, I was bursting with happiness and anticipation. Now...the sentiment is appreciated, but a second year? Sigh...