The Same But Different

Have you ever taken a big trip? A trip to Paris, to New York or even to Blog Her?

In the days leading up to your trip, you are filled with excitement, anxiety and dread. Excitement because the trip is going to be fun. You are going to a place you've never been before. You anticipate all of the things you'll get to do and see, all of the memories you are going to create.

Anxiety because the trip is so big, so momentous. You prepare like you are heading into battle. You make lists. You double check the lists. You add, subtract and add some more. You pack. You unpack. You pack again, for the 37th time. Do you have everything you need? Have you forgotten anything? You check the list once more.

Dread because the trip is so big, so momentous. You worry about all the things that could go wrong. What about this? What about that? This is the trip of a lifetime. It has to be perfect. It just has to be.

Have you ever felt like that?

Then you know a fraction of what I am feeling right now.

One Week

Months (years) of agonizing waiting comes down to this, one week.

On June 9, 2010, one week from today, Frink and I will be on our way to Ethiopia. Our long, long journey to Lion will be over. We will meet our son for the first time on Friday the 18th.

It seems unreal to be typing this. I will see my son. I will hold him in my arms. My son, my life, my love.

One week leads to a lifetime, to forever.

One week.

Lion Is Coming Home!!

We got the call on Monday that we had passed court and that we were going to be included in the April travel group. This means that we are leaving in less than two weeks to bring home our son! I cannot believe this. Everything we have waited so long for is finally coming true.

I was so excited. I called and e-mailed friends and family. I shared the news on Twitter and FaceBook. I thought I had covered all the bases but I hadn't. I forgot to tell you, my faithful readers of this blog. For that I am sorry. You have followed our story for a long time and you deserved to know when something good finally happened.

And this really is the best news of all.

Whirlwind

My life is typically boring. I have a routine that gets me through the week. The weekends are usually spent with family time. We rarely have any engagements or special events. Even in the summertime when weddings, barbeques and vacations usually clutter the calendar, ours is relatively clear.

But for some reason, we are busy this summer. And everything we have to do is crammed into the month of July. A family reunion was followed immediately by a trip to a circus carnival, followed by a barbeque.

We will then add parties and concerts to the mix. Saturday will bring us to the triple bill of Poison, Def Lepard and Cheap Trick (admit it you are so jealous). Sunday a garden party at the Zoo for my husband's company's annual meeting. Then a concert on Tuesday with the annual meeting featuring ... Kool and the Gang and ... Danny Gokey (and now you are even more jealous of me).

Then I'm off to BlogHer and LobbyCon on Thursday for a fun filled weekend of meeting and greeting a bunch of really cool bloggers. There will be all sorts of cool parties and events to go to. I am really excited.

To finish off July and usher in August, we all jet off to New York City to visit our very best friends.

And then we come home and pass out.

Virtual Vacations

I want to go on vacation this year. I could really use a relaxing week lounging by the beach just letting go. Or maybe I could take a trip to a city exploring all that city has to offer.

Or maybe I'll just go to the bookstore and flip through the pages of a travel magazine staring longingly at all the places I could go. If only the economy didn't suck and my cars didn't breakdown all at once. If only.

But then it hit me, I could take a virtual vacation. We all could go together. In fact we could visit eachother through our blogs.

The way it could work is each of us could post a travelogue of sorts about our town or our favorite vacation spot. We could share pictures of all the places we would go if we were there with you. And we would be there, virtually.

So what do you think? Does it sound like fun? Would you want to do it? Am I completely off my rocker? Wait, on second thought, don't answer that last one.

Day One

It was two years ago today but I remember it as if it were yesterday.

Bubs and I checked and double checked everything. We set the timers for the lights. We made sure the cats had enough food and clean litter until my mom could stop by and give them more. The house was okay.

The suitcases were loaded in the car and we were off to the airport. I was so anxious I could hardly control myself. I reached out to grab Bubs' hand to make sure that this was real, that it was not a dream.

We arrived at the airport, the sun was shining. I was sure there would be no delay. We would be on our way in no time.

But when we arrived at the gate, we were told our flight to Chicago was overbooked. They offered to send people to Chicago via a bus arriving at 10:10. Our connecting flight was at 10:48 so we chose not to take the bus. We did not chose wisely.

We boarded the plane and it pulled back from the gate. This was it, we were on our way. And then they told us there was a delay in Chicago so we would have to wait on the tarmac. So we waited, for an hour. There was still a delay in Chicago so they allowed us to go back to the gate and wait for the ok to fly. So we waited at the gate, for another hour.

We had already missed our connecting flight. I was in a panic. We were supposed to be on our way, not sitting in the Milwaukee airport.

We were finally allowed to takeoff and after 45 minutes arrived in Chicago at 12:15. We didn't know what to do. I tried calling to find out what plane we were re-booked on. But I could not get through.

So we, along with countless others who were delayed, got in line and waited to talk to a customer service agent. After waiting for another hour we found out that we had indeed been booked on another flight, the 12:18 flight. Which left 3 minutes after our flight had landed. That didn't quite work. So they rebooked us on another flight for the next day.

I had been waiting for this day for two years. I knew that one more day would not kill me. We would arrive in China. We would meet our daughter. Soon.

Are We There Yet

Four simple little words. Alone they are fine, but used together they will strike fear in the heart of any parent. Especially if they are repeated ad nauseum over the course of a road trip.

Yesterday was one such day for us. Our cousin who got married in Las Vegas a few weeks ago was having a reception picnic at a park near her house in Illinois. We decided to go so we could see some relatives who weren't at the wedding. We also decided to bring Bunny along because the family hadn't seen her in about a year.

Now we live in Milwaukee which is about 2 hours from the greater Chicagoland area. B.B. (before Bunny) we used to think nothing of driving down for the day. Well we really didn't do it that often but we could have if we wanted to. But adding a toddler in the mix always complicates matters.

We had Chinese class in the morning. We decieded to have lunch after that and then hit the road. This puts us at about noon, which in theory should induce napping. In Theory.

In reality, not so much. We made the mistake of telling her we were going to a party. So the conversation in our car went something like this. "Let's go to the party." "I'm not gonna nap." "Let's go to the party." "I'm not gonna nap." Lather, rinse, repeat. For two straight hours.

I refused to pull out the DVD player to entertain her because I was hoping she would give up and fall asleep. Man am I stupid.

So we finally get to the party to see all the family. It was nice to see people we hadn't seen in a while. The park where the picnic was was on a river and really pretty. It was a beautiful day, 75 and sunny. The food was catered. It was worth the two hours of torture we had just survived. It was perfect, almost.

Almost because the pavillion where the food and tables were was covered with those little Asian Beetles (lady bugs) that are everywhere now. Now I may have mentioned my intense dislike of all things bug. If you get one or two of those Asian Beetles in your house, no big deal. But hundreds, nay thousands, yeah that is a big deal. And they were flying everywhere, getting in your hair, on your face, down your (my) shirt, on your food. Oh yeah and they bite. Not fun.

Bunny lost it. She loves all things bug. Except for flying bugs. Those she hates. So she wouldn't eat her food. She just kept saying "I don't like flies, go away flies. Make flies go away momma."

So in order to fend off a total meltdown, grampy took her for a walk and all was well. She found a bench under a tree where she proceeded to collect acorns, leaves, bark and wood chips. Yeah, that's my kid. If mommy were to venture down to her little oasis, she was told in no uncertain terms to go away. Only grampy and grandma could be there. Well alright then.

When it was time to go, we went back to the pavillion to say our goodbyes. Bunny gave hugs and high fives like a champ. And then she noticed the lady bugs. But this time they were on the ground, and she wanted to stay so she could watch them crawl around. "I love lady bugs momma."

Luckily for the sanity of all involved, she fell asleep as soon as the car pulled out of the parking lot and we managed to survive the trip.

Later that night, I turned to my husband and said "That was nice, let's not do that again."

Sangria For Everyone

When I was 15, just after my sophomore year in high school, I went on the Spanish Club trip to Spain for two weeks. It was my first real taste of being away from home, away from my family. And I really could not have imagined a better place to go.

Because part of the trip was to experience the culture, our parents had to sign a permission slip that we could drink alcohol while we were there. I assume it was so we could have wine with dinner, but we took it as carte blanche. I mean what were they thinking giving 15 Catholic school girls (from an all girls school, no less) permission to drink?

So we took advantage of the permission slips. We went out to bars and clubs. We'd make it back to the hotel for bed check at 11 and then sneak out again. We thought we were so cool ordering drinks like we were adults. The drinking age in Wisconsin at the time was 18 so some (not me at the time) had experience going out to bars.

But Wisconsin is/was a beer and brandy place and they don't really serve beer and brandy in Spain. It was funny to see what everyone ordered. Some people stuck to the old family standbys of Old Fashioneds and Manhattans (sweet of course). I thought it would be cool to drink Tequilla Sunrises (thank you Madonna in Desperately Seeeking Susan). Basically we had no idea what we were doing but we had loads of fun doing it.

One night we were in the Plaza Mayor in Madrid at about 9 or 10 at night. Everyone was out walking around before or after dinner. We were sitting at an outdoor cafe with our teachers and the tour rep from Wisconsin. We thought it would be totally lame but then the tour rep decided to order a pitcher of sangria. Well one turned in to many. And soon it was "Waiter, Sangria for everyone. For all my new friends."

It was one of those magical nights. I soaked in the culture. I think it was there that I decided to study the language for good. I fell in love with Spain and all it had to offer a midwestern girl. And yes, I fell in love with Sangria. What's not to like? Wine, mixer, alcohol soaked fruit. Its genius.

I went on to major in Spanish in college. And my Spanish accent is shaped by what I heard on that trip. After college I studied in Spain for a summer, living with a family in Madrid. One of the first nights I was there, I went to the Plaza Mayor and sat at a cafe much like the one I was at when I was 15. My friends and I ordered a pitcher of Sangria and then a few more for our new friends.

That summer I retraced many of the steps I took on my high school trip. I was older and wiser and I appreciated things a bit more. But I still had that wide eyed innocence. I still saw things through the same lens. And I still love Spain and all it has to offer this more cultured midwestern girl. To me its that dream place, representing what is and what could be.

As you know I've been kind of in the dumps lately. On Monday I got an e-mail from my friend Beth, inviting me to a Sangria party. It could not come at a better time. I thought about my past and the adventures I've had. And it made me realize that I have so many more adventures to come.

So I raised my glass and toasted to the past and to the future. And although my Spanish isn't what it used to be, I say Sangria for everyone.