Pre-Travel Woes

Ready to leave KC!  Wait, did we remember Mommy? Is she still in the shower?

Well, we are already faced with a few dilemmas and we haven't even departed from our house!

As I frantically scurried around today, prepping my house for the grandparents to come and leaving the boys well-equipped with all of their necessities, making last minute purchases, giving haircuts, washing up every single bit of laundry, completing our banking transactions and bill paying for the next 3 weeks, I decided to go out and visit my horse.

The big guy has been a little neglected by us for the past few weeks and I just had to see him before we left. Lydia and I took out a big bag of apples and some molasses treats for him and his friends.  Beau was so glad to see  us!  Can't wait for spring when we can ride again...Vivian will love him (hopefully!)  It was a great visit and we were also able to say good-bye to our dear friends and horse buddies.

As I drove home to pick up a Z-pack (oncoming sinus infection!), dilemma #1 one surfaced.  I called Jason to request the hundredth errand/favor for the day...call and confirm the flights.  I had already checked this a.m. and all was well, but we wanted to do e-check in.  After 45 minutes of waiting in the CVS line, anxiety began to creep in...we still hadn't really packed and were leaving in 12 hours!  Everything was sort of set out and waiting, but I had not yet placed things in bags or arranged things strategically.  My new carefree way of thinking was coming back to bite me...I pushed down the anxiety as we left the huge pharmacy line, thinking all was going to be fine.  However, as I drove, Jason called....his announcement came through the ceiling of the SUV like a heavy brick...our flights had been cancelled!

We already gets lots of staring...they are intrigued not only to see Westerners, but trying to figure our how we have a Chinese child!  Lydia is such a GREAT traveler...so thoughtful and kind-hearted.
As we stopped at the first squat potty in the Beijing airport, she said "Wow, Mommy traveling is so much work!  Thank you for bringing me to China" sweet, sweet girl.

I have become pretty savvy at springing into action when faced with calamity...but being trapped in the CVS parking lot with these words coming through BlueTooth made me lose it!  I believe I blurted out something really freakish and began to panic a little as I traveled the two blocks home.  That little drive was all it took, to get my mental gears turning....what to do?

Thankfully, we booked with the sweetest, most diligent travel agent I have ever met.  She is so calm, kind, and eager to get people going AND understands adoption trips. Once your trip is mapped out, there is not a whole lot of room for messed up travel plans...which would mean missing connecting flights in China, then delays in meeting up with your child, processing paperwork, etc.  

Keeping busy in the Beijing airport waiting to transfer to Zhengzhou

I ended the panic with a plan, but at 5:30 on a Thursday, it was questionable.  Thankfully our agent, Sue, was still in her office!  She was surprised that our flight out of Chicago was cancelled because she had no alerts, but sure enough, she checked her system and those flights were gone. She set to work scouring for new options that would get us to our connection in Beijing....in the meantime...G'ma and G'pa arrived to get the boys situated.  Yay!  We had already planned to catch a little dinner out together before our flight.  As we headed out to Longhorn at 6:00 pm, Sue called back, "Well, I think I've found something, are you packed?"  I replied, "Ummm, how packed?  Do you mean stuff planned out/checking off the list or bags in the car?"  She said, "Hmm, bags in the car...we could get you out of KC tonight at 8:15 but you would need to hurry"  Say WHAT?!  Holy cow, leave in 2 hours!??  Well, that seriously wasn't happening (as we were walking out the door to share steaks, suitcases were still empty, I still needed to compile a schedule/notebook for G'ma, and print out/copy documents)....blah, stress settling in.

Thankfully Sue didn't shame me, and thankfully she set to work once again doing magic with the flight system reservations.  The problem was that now all people booted off were trying to get other flights and also were trying to avoid bad weather in the northeast.  She feared that we might not get in until Sunday (which would mean no travel recovery day and meeting Vivian the very next morning).....nearing panic mode.

I managed to calm myself.  My new mantra "it will all work out" was quickly spiraling through my head.....set to playback loop mode. Over and over, "it all works out" "everything works out" "shift your thinking and experience the solutions"

Doing some stretching after the 12+ hours of flying!

Steaks delivered, Sue provided the remedy...flights found and diverted from bad weather.  Leaving a bit earlier in the a.m. and a few more stops in the US, but avoiding the snow and getting us to Beijing in time to make our connection to Vivian's province.  Hallelujah!   The rest of dinner, was eaten in peace....then off to tackle those bags....flying out in less than 12 hours!

Dilemma #2...packing was a little more challenging than I remember!  I have traveled to China twice, once to get baby Lydia, and again with 3 of the kids.  We must have tossed out a few suitcases since then, because as I went to pack the bag situation was ridiculous.  There was no way things were going to fit into the bags we had AND I needed to do some serious purging of non-essential stuff!  Blah, again!!

The clock ticked, the hours passed, 1 a.m. and after a trip to the store to buy another suitcase (!) the bags were packed, weighed, purged, weighed again, items shifted around, etc. Finally by 2 am. it was done, Jason had vanished (sleeping) and I set to work typing out instructions for my parents of the boys' 2 upcoming weeks.  Panic settling in again and procrastination bug biting me in the butt!  We were to leave in 1.5 hours and I still had docs to copy and to get myself ready for the long 30 hours of travel....BLAH!!

Somehow, in some way, everything DOES in fact work out....I do my very best work in panic mode..the adrenaline push is most effective for my best work.  We made it out of the house at 3:30 a.m. and off to the airport...to my knowledge I have not forgotten a thing and have every single thing I need for this trip!

3 hour layover in Beijing...writing in her journal

Well...everything except getting to wash my hair.....at the very last moment, I had 15 minutes to shower, dress, prep Lydia, and get out the door....quick decision, speedy shower, fluff the hair with powder and hair spray and hope that I will survive without looking like a stringy haired hippie girl when I arrive in China.  I do recall that happens anyway, so why waste the effort and I was seriously pushing it.  Jason was starting to pace the kitchen with a stomach-ache.  Poor guy....I really do cause him a lot of grief with my haphazard ways :)



In the end...it ALL worked out and we made our flight.  Happy travels...next stop China....one step closer to our little one.

Finally!  After nearly 30 hours of travel, we are at the hotel at midnight...hope to sleep in!