Here we go...

So, I'm not much of a blogger any more, but I am hoping that I will be able to record some of my thoughts and experiences here on the trip to the People's Republic of China, as my sister and my niece go to meet her 2nd daughter (younger sister), Ellie, in the Hunan Province. Ellie is currently in Dao Xian Social Welfare Institute in the southwest of China, and we will meet her in the Hunan provincial capital, Changsha.

My sister got her Travel Notice this past Tuesday, and received her U.S. Consulate Appointment (CA) yesterday. The CA is the last thing you do to finalize the adoption while in China, so it determines your travel dates. Well, today we bought our tickets and we are leaving TUESDAY!!!!!!!!! That's right, December 5! Talk about a fast turnaround- and much faster than I thought it would be! As such, I'll be missing the Magic Hips dance recital (dang it) in which we were (ok, everyone else still is, LOL, just not me) doing a drum solo and Khaleegy mix choreographed by Yas. I also had planned a solo to the song "Slow Descent" by Knossos (those of you at Kara and Dolph's wedding saw me dance to that during the reception)- and this style of music is so out of my usual comfort level, so I was quite proud of myself... but it's not to be.

Not that I am complaining, because, HELLOOO- I am going to CHINA to meet my new niece!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, we'll be landing back in the home city at 6:30am on December 24, after which I will get picked up, go home and take a shower, change clothes, and head to C.'s family in Hotlanta to celebrate Christmas Eve (and a belated solstice). I'll probably be completely jet lagged and half asleep the whole day- not the way I wanted to be to meet his mom and renew ties with his siblings, dad, and L., but hey- I'll be the one driving us back home at the wee hours of the morning (probably 2am- my body will think it's afternoon) so we'll be in good time for Santa to arrive at my sister's house.

I bought a new camera- my first digital- just last weekend, and am still learning to use it. I hope to be able to post some pictures on the blog while in China if I can make the camera work with my laptop. It's a Canon Powershot A630- and I know I am going to love it because my sister has one and I watched her take pictures over Thanksgiving in Phoenix- the quality was fabulous, the features were wonderful, and the 8 megapixels with 4x zoom is just enough for me (who wants to be able to take pictures of people on stage without them looking tiny or grainy) but not too much as I am not a serious photographer.

My other splurge for this trip is an iPodNano, 4GB (no video)- have I finally actually joined the 21st century? I got with my points I earned at work, so didn't spend a dime- now that's a treat. I've been loading music this week to it and hope to finish that up tonight or tomorrow, and maybe set up some playlists as well.

So this weekend will be trial and error packing (I have a list, just need to figure out how much is actually coming with me). All of my bags must be based on the smallest luggage restrictions between all the flights- and that is the internal China flights, where I believe i am allowed one checked bag not greater than 44 lbs. and one carry on. I may just suck it up and pay the extra baggage fee because, gosh darn it, I am bringing some goodies home with me!

The other thing we did today is get our plane tickets- I haven't had real paper tickets in so long, it makes me nervous as all get out to have them be my responsibility. And there's so many of them! Flight from Charlotte to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Taipei (Taiwan), and Taipei to Hong Kong. Plus the return tickets. Add that to the ones I'll be getting from the adoption agency that allow me to fly from Hong Kong to Changsha, and Changsha to Guangzhou, and Guangzhou back to Hong Kong. EEK! That's alot of flying- I expect I won't want to see the inside of a plane again for long time once I'm back home. (Heck, I don't particularly want to see the inside of a plane since I came home from the flights from Phoenix!). At least one good thing- I forked up the three grand to fly 1st class from Charlotte to LAX (and that same leg returning) so my legs won't be completely cramped, and i get good food (relatively speaking). No businss class seats available from LAX to Taipei/ or to Hong Kong, but we have "Premium Economy" which I am assured is pretty darn nice on the airline for those legs (Eva Airlines- a Taiwanese carrier- anyone out there know anything about them? First time I'd heard of them was yesterday).

If I can make my digital camera upload pics to this computer I'll see if I can post a picture of my tickets- I am THAT excited. And maybe my visa... yes. I'm a geek.

I get my itinerary for the whole trip Monday night, I think (hopefully earlier), and I will share that with y'all so everyone can come along for the ride. This promises to be exciting... and probably a little nerve wracking... and I'm sure filled with moments of frustration (for me, my family, my sister, my 4.5 year old niece, and probably most of all for Ellie, is going to be stuck with people who sound funny, who smell funny, and who aren't feeding her exactly what she's been getting- like eel!!!!!!!!!!

More later!