What a Crazy Week

Things have been kind of crazy this week.  Monday (1/3) morning we received our TA (Travel Approval), with the primary thought being that we would not be traveling to China until mid-February due to the Chinese New Year celebration.  Tuesday morning (1/4) we received an email that our Consulate Appointment had been set for 1/26 and we needed to be in China on 1/16…”would that be ok?”  Would that be ok?!  Heck yeah that would be ok.  So the somewhat hastened but still manageable task of planning, booking and packing for a two-week trip to the other side of the world began.  Then….we woke up Wednesday morning (1/5) to an email from our China travel guides explaining that a quick review of our file indicated our daughter was in Beijing.  Uh, yeah…so far, no big revelation.  “If your daughter is in Beijing, you have an extra week of appointments and process so can you be here on 1/9?”  Keep in mind this is the morning of 1/5…and “be here on 1/9” means we would need to leave the US on 1/7 to ensure plenty of time for travel.  WOW!  Talk about some emotions running through a person’s body.  Book tickets, book hotels, gather up funds to pay for the aforementioned tickets and hotels, pack THREE weeks’ worth of clothes for us and Maggie (ok just one week…laundry service the rest), prepare to close down the house, make arrangements for mail, bills and whatever else happens around the house within a month’s time, gather funds for remaining adoption expenses, go over and over and over and over adoption paperwork to make sure we take what we absolutely need (and bring along most of the rest just to be sure), charge batteries, gather cameras and computer and associated cables, and a plethora of other mind-numbing activities…and oh yeah, close down the year-end financials at the firm and make sure the next two payroll cycles are entered and in place (bills paid, instructions for keeping it going rendered, etc.).  Whew.  And then figure out a way to say goodbye for three weeks to two of the most awesome big brothers in the entire world.  All in a matter of 36 hours.  Done.  Accomplished.  God showed up as he always does) and showed off.  It’s the only explanation we have.