Gotta Travel On

FINALLY... we got our itinerary Saturday evening. PHEW... I was really starting to get nervous... looks like we will be seeing lots of Parks while we are in Changsha. I also realize our agency is clueless about discount flying! They are charging us $210 per person to go from the Hunan Province to Guangzhou. I found flights online for $80 a piece... but the rest of the itinerary isn't too bad... I sure am glad I booked my own hotel in Guangzhou...

I have SO much to get done before we leave... only 8 more days!!! after I wake up today I'm going to pack all the things I plan on taking... I know I will unpack and repack a few times before we actually go, but I need to get started now so I can clear it all off the floor of the nursery! Then I'm going to paint the ceiling in there. I'm just going to paint the sky and leave the clouds for when we get home. At least then Charlie can put up the ceiling fan while we are gone. I also have a TON of cleaning/organizing/etc to get done. I started doing some of it Saturday afternoon when I should have been sleeping.. :-)
This weekend I am going to test out Skype with Marla... then on Tuesday after dad does my hair I'll show mom how to use it. I'm also bringing her a headset with a mic attached. Not sure if she'll use it since dad will want to be in on the calls too, but just in case it's too hard to hear without it, I want them to be prepared!

Could We Start Again Please

This was really a horrible night. On my way to work, I saw a little kitten that looked injured trying to climb up onto the sidewalk. It was on a side road I almost never turn down. I stopped to see if it was ok. The poor thing had apparently been hit by a car. It was in terrible shape, and was crying so loud. My heart was breaking. I called the emergency vet's office and they refused to see it unless I would take financial responsibility for it. Then I called animal control and they said it would take at least 45 mins to an hour to get there... in the meantime, this poor thing was in agony. A couple of Sheriff's Deputies came by and told me there was another ER vet in North Ft Myers. They gave me some rubber gloves, and I picked up the kitty and put it in a box and rushed it to the vet. I knew what the outcome would be, but I had to put it out of its misery. The NFM vet was wonderful. They took the poor little thing and put it to sleep, and never asked me for a dime. It's spine was broken so they said it was probably crying out from fear and shock, not from pain because it probably was paralyzed from the accident. But it was also covered in fire ants, so it was probably getting bitten on top of everything else it was going thru. I was absolutely heartbroken. It was such a sweet little kitty. I kept petting it while waiting to hear from animal control and it was actually purring, despite it's injuries. I really think G-d meant for me to be there to help this little baby. But it was SO hard to see. At least it's not in any more pain. I wish people would take responsibility for their pets! This should have never happened if the owners would have kept this little thing in the house!

They're Coming to Take Me Away, HaHa

So in case there was ever any doubt, I have now convinced myself I'm a blithering idiot... I woke up after just 2 hrs of sleep to realize that I had never actually purchased our airline tickets from here to NJ or NJ to home... I guess with all the searching for Hong Kong flights and trying to get all our other things straight, I just totally blanked on that minor detail!! Thank goodness I realized it in time... So I just booked our flights to and from NJ.... I'm really losin it! LOL... Ok... time for me to go sleepies... maybe that's my problem... yeah, probably not.

Running Down a Dream

Well, I managed to get another OT day... probably the last one ever... I can't believe we leave in less than 2 weeks... but I'm really freaking out since our wonderful agency has YET to provide us with any of the details for our in-China travel!!! So as it stands right now, I have my tickets from the US to Hong Kong, and from Hong Kong to Changsha. I booked my own hotel in Guanzhou, so at least I know we will have somewhere to sleep during the 2ND half of our trip... but what we are missing is the hotel in Changsha (supposed to be the Dolton if they ever reserve it for us) and the flight from Changsha to Guangzhou and from Guangzhou to Hong Kong... and so naturally, we recieved an email from the agency that our travel advisor is taking tomorrow off! Isn't that special... yes, I am getting a bit... uh... bitchy?? it's just so frustrating not knowing what's going on!!! I know I've said it before, but I sure do miss the girls on the referral team... I just hate the fact that I feel like we have to chase them down to get any info. If they don't give us anything by the end of the week, I'm gonna book my own! (They keep telling us we are not allowed to do this. They have to book our in-China stuff... why? so they can make $$ from it, I'm guessing... )

On the Road Again...

So today was my running around day. Started out really nice. Met another adoptive mom today and we had lunch - we had been emailing for a few weeks now, and finally got to meet in person. What a nice afternoon it was...
Then after lunch, I hit Home Depot and bought the paint to do Rachel's ceiling. Since Z's trip was canceled, I'm going to make an attempt to do it myself.. (GULP)
after home depot, it was off to the bank to order the new money to take on the trip. Still pissed that GW won't wire the money for the donation over. but there is nothing I can do about it. Other than make sure everyone thinking about what agency to use in the future will know about how much things changed after we got our referral.
anyway, after that I ran to Publix to see what they would charge for the prescriptions we got from the pediatrician.. HOLY COW... no way would I go there for a script! I'm gonna check Sam's club tomorrow...
Finally hope and the satellite is apparently out... gave me a good excuse to write here quick and maybe start inputting some of the recipes I am trying to clear out of the box. I have been movingn all my recipes onto the computer. There are a few that I use a lot, so I'll keep those in the box, as well as the little recipe cards that are MEANT to be in a box... but all the recipes cut out of magazines or the paper.... or scribbled on little scraps.... those are the ones I'm going to get rid of!

Where is Felix Unger when I need Him?

I have been cleaning most of the day already, and I don't think I've done more than the kitchen!!! Just scrubbing down everything I can, including under the microwave... I found 4 mini marshmallows under there... I don't think I've used them since last Thanksgiving! how did they get under the microwave?
Tommy is outside FINALLY clearing out the veggie garden. I want to get some of my winter crops in before we leave for China. I'd rather get them in a little early than late like last year... My brocolli didn't do nearly as well and this year I'm gonna try snow peas and maybe parsnips. hopefully the cabbage will do lots better this year too..
Yesterday my girlfriend notarized the Immunization form we have to take to China. So naturally, as I'm walking in the house juggling everything in my hands, including the forms and my breakfast leftovers, Penny jumps up at me, almost knocked me to the ground, dumped everything out of my hands INCLUDING the leftovers and the newly notarized forms... which naturally landed UNDER the leftovers... Needless to say, they are no unusable... So, waiting to hear back from my friend Rita to see when I can meet her so she can notarize ANOTHER copy of the stupid form.... what joy, what fun.... LOL

Happy Birthday Tommy

What a nice evening we had. It was Tommy's birthday and we decided to go all out and have a nice dinner. Margie & Charlie joined us, and so did Mom & Dad... it was wonderful. We went to Red's, which has become our new favorite place for special ocassion meals. (Way more expensive than we are used to, but really worth every penny)
Then we went back to my parents house for coffee & birthday cake. It was just really pleasant! and thank goodness for Margie... she managed to fix mom's camera, when I was ready to toss it in the trash!!!!

People and other Aggravations

ok, maybe I'm just being... well... I don't know how to say it without cussing... so anyway... I had gotten a couple of emails from other families that have already been and that currently ARE in China picking up their daughters from the same orphanage that we are going to. They are all advising that their agencies were able to send the orphanage donation as a wire transfer and that the total was the same as it has always been - $3000. Well OUR wonderful agency is advising that they can't do the wire transfer anymore because the fees keep changing... HUH???? I'm probably going to be SO in trouble but I wrote a little email back to our advisor... ok, so it was probably a little snottier than it should have been... but it so irked me that yet again, we are not being treated like any kind of a priority... I always used to hate that whole "I pay your salary" mentality when it came to public service, but this is private industry, and gosh darn it I DO pay their salary... Oooo... I'm too angry... I shouldn't be writing this while steam is escaping my ears... but what the heck... years from now I'll want to remember why I would never recommend this agency to anyone! OY... another day... breathe deep...

We Made it Through the Rain...

So Fay was just as I expected... just a strong rain storm... nothing major... just bad enough for Continental to totally mess up our plans for the week. I can not believe they cancel a flight and don't make any provisions for the passengers. Totally obnoxious. We are still hoping she can get here, but boy, they sure don't do anything to help.
And the reality is, they could have just delayed the flights instead of canceling. It was really not that bad at all...

How to Blow a Vacation

So Tropical Storm Fay is projected to be nothing major here... but it sure has screwed up our lives, just the same! Continental Airlines decided to cancel Z's flight down here... ok, we can understand that... sort of... I think they could have waited until they had more of an update and they would have seen that it is not going to be anything major... but ok... so they canceled... fine... BUT.... They did NOT make any arrangements to handle all the people who will now have no flight in to Ft Myers... they basically told her she could upgrade and pay for a 1st class ticket or just get a refund on her flight. They are NOT going to arrange for another flight! So she tried to book something on another day... yeah... well... the first available flight is next week!!! THIS STINKS... I can't believe they are not going to schedule a different flight down here!!!
Well I called and pitched a fit... finally got a supervisor on the phone... long & short is, they will put her on a flight on Friday but it changes over in Tampa... ok, not the ideal "non-stop" but at least it will get her here... and she can stay until the following Thursday.. better than nothing... but now she has to find out if they will let her have off from work next week instead of this week.. what a pain in the A%%
On a lighter note, went to Gaige's birthday party at Chucky Cheese tonite... it was crazy... I think everyone had fun...