Detailed Travel Itinerary (or "Where in the World is Lucy Boo?")

We received our detailed in-country travel itinerary yesterday from our adoption agency.  I've put the information into the table below:

DATES	FEB. 10, 2011 – FEB. 25, 2011
LOCATION	BEIJING
THU, FEB. 10	Depart for Beijing
FRI, FEB. 11	Arrive in Beijing
SAT, FEB. 12	Beijing Sightseeing: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace
SUN, FEB. 13	Beijing Sightseeing: Church Service, Great Wall
LOCATION	NANCHANG, JIANGXI
MON, FEB. 14	GOTCHA DAY! A.M. – Flight to Jiangxi P.M. – Meet Your Child & Civil Affairs Appointment
TUE, FEB. 15	Adoption Paperwork / Sightseeing & Shopping
WED, FEB. 16	Adoption Paperwork / Sightseeing & Shopping
THU, FEB. 17	Adoption Paperwork / Sightseeing & Shopping
FRI, FEB. 18	Flight to Guangzhou for Consulate appointment & paperwork
LOCATION	GUANGZHOU
SAT, FEB. 19	Child’s Medical Exam
SUN, FEB. 20	Sightseeing & Shopping
MON, FEB. 21	Consulate Paperwork / Sightseeing & Shopping
TUE, FEB. 22	Consulate Appointment at 9:00 am Consulate Oath-Taking Ceremony
WED, FEB. 23	Free Day in Guangzhou
THU, FEB. 24	Pick-up Child’s visa Depart from Guangzhou (Bus)
LOCATION	HONG KONG
FRI, FEB. 25	Depart from Hong Kong

So it is now official (without any major calamities), Valentine's Day will be BSP's Gotcha Day!  We're psyched that we're getting the most awesome Valentine ever!
And we're down to (just over) 14 days to go!

Preparations Continue (or "How to Do a Million Things and Accomplish Zilch")

Preparations continue... (adult language warning on the link there)

So we're at that stage of the game where we make lists.  And lists.  And lists, lists, lists, lists!

List to the left! List to the right!  Stand up! Sit down! Fight, fight, fight!

Lists of lists to be listfully listed while listening to Liszt.  Things to do and things to buy.  Things to find and things to pack.

At some point, I guess I'll post our packing list for posterity, but since it is still under development, I wouldn't want to make anyone think that it's ready for prime time.

One of the families that is tentatively in our travel group (we have a secret email exchange underway even though the adoption agency hasn't officially announced who is in our travel group yet) asked for those of us who previously adopted from China to impart some of our Travel Wisdom tm.

I went back through all of the journals that we kept from our 2004 trip only to discover that I had not properly performed an After Action Review.  Silly me.  So, lessons learned:

• Lesson #1, keep track of your lessons learned.  
• Lesson #2, most people giggle like first graders when you say, "Number Two."  See.  My point exactly.  
• Lesson #3, keep track of your lessons learned.  Oh wait, that was lesson #1...  

Anyway, I'll need to make another post of lessons learned so that the world will be a better place from our wisdom.  I'll add that to my "to do" list...

Slight Let Down (or Whiplash, Whiplash Good)

January 13th. Still unconfirmed as a travel date, yet so close that we have no choice but to take it seriously.
Cancel that. We just got an email that we were not able to get the Consulate appointment that would have us travel early. Our confirmed travel date is now February 10th. We're still excited, still happy, but we got our hopes up. And now there's a bit of a let down. *sigh*
Thank you all for your prayers.

, you have to wait another month. Please be patient.

GAAAAHHHH!!!! (or How to Find Your Inner Zen)

Ok, we are in TOTAL panic mode here and we need to calm down a touch...

We got a call today from our Agency asking if we might be interested in getting BSP a little sooner. "Why good heavens, yes, we would!"  I said in my best King's English. Then came the words that shook the world, "Would you like to travel on JANUARY 13TH?!?!? (hyperbolic emphasis added)"

{insert reflective pause}
"*ahem*, I beg your pardon, miss, but you appear to have misspoken.  You said January 13th. Aha, a-hahaha. Ha."
"No, I meant January."

{insert reflective pause}
...and as my inner voice was screaming "CR@P!!!!" as loud as it could, I said, "Why yes, yes indeed we would, then."

Now we're working frantically in the hopes of traveling in less than ten days.  Wish us luck and don't blink - you might miss us!

Planning to Plan (or How to Make Your Brain Explode in 739 Easy Steps!)

Plan a trip.  
Plan a trip to China.  
Plan a trip to China to adopt an infant daughter.  
Plan a trip to China to adopt an infant daughter and take your 7 year-old daughter (also adopted from China) along with you.  
Do this planning in six weeks three weeks.  Over the major holidays in both the US and China.  Sprinkle lightly with delayed furniture shipments. Fold in work deadlines, pets, birthdays, vaccinations, and changing travel regulations.  Mix with the possibility of having to choose how we want the TSA to humiliate our daughter.  Pour into a blender labelled "HowAreWeGoingToPayForAllThis?" and hit "Liquefy" for 30 seconds.  ("Wow! That's terrific bass!")


And yet, I wouldn't trade all this chaos and headache for the world... I love my new daughter. My family loves our new little girl.  And we can't wait!