Getting Ready and Throwing Away

In the mad dash to get everything ready, we finally did what we had been putting off for months......getting rid of the extra pieces of crib. You see, we only got part of the crib in the move - a very long story involving many emails, phone calls and bad words. We did finally receive a complete crib which we set up, leaving the extra pieces to dispose of. In New York, this would be simple.

1) Put pieces on curb
2) Watch them disappear.

In Tokyo, this requires many phone calls, trips to the 7-11 and also many bad words.

1) Find handout on "disposing of waste".
2) Read the part that deals with "oversize waste".
3) Seeing that it requires going to the 7-11 to get (and pay for) a waste disposal ticket to attach to pieces of crib - think many bad words.
4) Measure the pieces, remembering to write down the centimeter measurement and not the inch.
5) Take handout on disposal of waste, paper with measurements and digital camera that holds a picture of the crib pieces to the 7-11.
6) Apologize (for the mangling of the Japanese language you are about to speak), point to handout on disposing of waste, show them picture of pieces of crib and say "ticket".
7) Watch as the two people behind the counter converse amongst themselves, finally calling over a third person, who joins in the conversation.
8) Stand there sheepishly.
9) Listen as the one person behind the counter who speaks Enlish says "you call number, they tell you price, you buy ticket"
10) Thank all of them profusely thinking "I really need to learn Japanese".
11) Walk home and wait until Monday.
12) Call number.
13) Recite my phone number to person who answers the phone who doesn't speak English, but will have someone call me who does. (numbers don't count as "speaking English").
14) Wait all of two minutes for the phone to ring (in New York, if you ever had to do this, you would be waiting for weeks)
15) Explain what I am throwing out and then listen to the lady on the phone tell you how much it will be (200 yen, about $1.75), where to get the ticket (7-11 I knew this!) and what day they will pick it up (Friday).
16) Thank her profusely and hang up.
17) Walk to 7-11.
18) Buy ticket.
19) Walk home in garbage disposing directional haze.
20) Stick ticket on pieces of crib, after bundling them together as requested by lady on phone.
21) Bring pieces down to basement (actually, tell Jed to bring them down to basement).
22) Relax in "extra pieces of crib" free apartment.

And you were wondering why it took months to get rid of the pieces of crib....

3 More Days!!!!!!

Got the plane tickets today (thank you David), got the antibiotics yesterday (thank you Lori and Mark) and have already repacked once as the weather will be cooler than I thought. Of course, neither Arny or Jed have even begun to think about packing, but I think I am thinking enough for them, and pretty much enough for the other seven families traveling with us as well.

I've reviewed the paperwork about twenty times already, had a minor panic attack that the "blue" form was missing, until I was reassured that the "blue" form wasn't actually blue but white and sitting just where it belongs behind the other forms.

Carrie (another soon to be mom) and I have decided that we WILL get the babies on Sunday instead of Monday, if only to avoid a Sunday night anticipatory "meltdown".

Spent about an hour yesterday downloading Chinese songs for children on to my iTunes for Ariana, and then trying to learn the words so I can sing them. On second thought, this is a bad idea as I picture my daughter running with her hands over her ears, screaming as she tries drown out the scary sounds.

Perhaps I'll just stick to speaking.....

6 More Days!!!

It is Friday here in Tokyo, which means in six days (6 days!!!)we will be on a plane to Beijing to enjoy some sightseeing until Sunday when we fly to Nanchang to be united with Ariana either that day or the next.

Just finishing up with all of the travel arrangements, I am silently praying that she will like plane rides, since between this trip and our holiday trip back to the U.S., she will be on eight planes in the course of one month. Therefore, I would like to to take this opportunity to apologize in advance to all of my fellow passengers for the crying, wimpering, constant trips to the bathroon, kicking the seat, food throwing and screaming out in frustration.

Ariana can apologize for her own behavior later.

In a place far away..

Ariana is waiting for us in a place called Yong Feng, about four hours southeast from Nanchang, the provincial capital and the place we will meet her. We don't know yet if we will be able to make the trip to the orphanage where she spent her first two years; we want to even if it means sitting on a bus for four hours (I say this now). We want to be able to tell her as much as we can about her early life and what better way than to see it with our own eyes.

We also got a surprise today from one of the cyber families I met online.

She is in the middle, holding the book.



From the looks of it, she's not letting it go so easy...and look at those shoes!!!

Peking Duck...

.....will be on the menu for our Thanksgiving dinner as we will be eating it in Beijing!! I just got word that our consulate appointment is on December 5th, which means we leave on Thanksgiving day, spend a few days in Beijing and lay eyes (and hugs and kisses) on our daughter either November 26th or 27th!!!

Finally!!!! the longest process in the world is coming to an end. Arny is busy practicing reciting Dr. Seuss stories (he knows them by heart) and I am busy practicing the few words I know in Mandarin. We have two weeks to perfect whatever it is we need to perfect, because in two weeks we will have our daughter!!!!

What a Lovely Day

1) Democrats won big
2) Rummy's out
3) Got Travel Authorization!!!!!!!!!!!!!

................

On the eve of election day in the US, here I sit in Japan wondering when I will get to see my child. I sit, paralyzed to do anything much but think and worry and stare at the computer willing it silently to bring me some word. Others are angry, fuming, irate at the lack of information – Frankly, I don’t care about the whys - I just want to see my child. In the meantime, I make a feeble attempt to stay busy. It’s not working though. While everyone else seems to be going on with their lives, I wait, without being able to concentrate on anything productive. I try to make plans, I try to get away from the computer and I am stuck like glue..
and I wait.
I walk back and forth from her room, re-folding clothes for the umteenth time, wondering if she has grown out of them and if I should go buy more..
and I wait.
I reach into the crib, making sure I am tall enough to reach to the bottom so I will be able to pick her up when she needs comforting. My arms just barely touch the mattress....
and I wait.
I practice folding and unfolding the car seat/stroller, so I will be able to do it quickly and reassure her that her mother isn’t totally inept and uncoordinated. ..
And I wait……..

Eating With The Dogs

After watching a screening of "Iraq for Sale - The War Profiteers", a new documentary by Robert Greenwald put on by Democrats Abroad (yes, this calls for a whole new blog entry), Arny and I wanted to find a place to get a bite to eat. Since it had been a long day for both of us, our first choice was any restaurant that had an English menu, as we were both too tired to figure out a Japanese one. Our quest led us to an Italian cafe, where we promptly sat at a small table in front. Ordering pasta, we were chatting and eating when in strolled a young couple with two long haired dachshunds, both wearing little outfits (This also requires an entirely separate blog entry). They sat down next to us and we began to coo over the dogs as they came up to sniff us. Starting a conversation, which was difficult since they knew little English and our ability to speak Japanese does not include making comments about dogs, we discovered that they (the dogs that is) were mama and daughter. Of course, being the proud "mama" myself, I pulled out a puppy picture of Tess and showed it to them.



Note to self - 1) get a new picture of Tess for my wallet, 2) stop pulling out a picture of Tess - you are a New Yorker - you are being ridiculous.

As they were cooing (not quiet sufficiently if you ask me) over Tess, in walks another couple with a small, very cute poodle. The waiter comes over to us and motions for us to either go upstairs or to the bar where we would be re-seated. As we had finished our dinner, we opted for the bar, where we could finish our wine. As it turns out, we had been sitting in the dog section all along.

Who knew??

P.S. YES, WE ARE STILL WAITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All Ready...

and still waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Most agencies have received their family's travel authorizations and already have their travel dates. Perhaps the adoption gods think our group needs to be eating more chocolate or drinking more cosmos and therefore have delayed ours in the hopes that we will reach the chocolate/alcohol quota set by the quota setting god. Frankly, I thought I surpassed both quotas a long time ago, but I am happy to oblige if it means we will get our TA soon.

We did, as you can see, finally!!!! get the crib, after two other failed attempts. Arny and I put it together on Sunday, and I've been staring at it ever since. I made the bed and put in the stuffed animals and now it sits, waiting, just like me.

My Version of Heaven

...listening to husband-san instructing Jed-san on how to do the dishes.

You see, Jed-san has a habit of leaving things around the house..things like plates and dishes and empty bottles and things. So today, we decided to MAKE HIM PAY!!!!!

Barely awake, we lulled him into a false sense of security by making breakfast and inviting him to join us. This was his first mistake. He actually got out of bed, came to the table in the usual Sunday morning stupor and ate.

Then, the fun began. We very calmly told him that his typical teenage slobbiness was not acceptable and that his penance was to do the breakfast dishes - not just his plate, but everything else. Looking stunned, kind of like a deer caught in headlights, he slowly picked up his dish and made his way to the kitchen, perhaps thinking this was all a bad dream. But NOOOOOOO, as the realization hit him that he was not sleep walking but in fact fully awake, he did realize for the first time that he never should have woken up this morning. Slowly he made his way back to the dining table to get our dishes, taking a quick slug of husband-sans champagne for which he was promptly chastised. Diligently he cleaned and washed and cleaned some more, probably cursing us with every stroke of the sponge. Finishing, or so he thought, he quickly headed for his room. NOT SO FAST BUDDY. I laughed as I entered the kitchen, seeing the eggshells and empty coffee cups still in the sink and the bacon pan still on the stove. "Jeeddddd" husband-san bellowed as I retired to the dining room to luxuriate in the knowledge that I DON'T HAVE TO DO THE DISHES!!!!

So here I sit, listening to husband-san instructing Jed on
the proper way to clean a pan, load the dishwasher and operate the disposer.

this is the best Sunday ever!!