Soulmate and I are now over the Yukon or Alaska in a 747-400 at 32,000 feet. The ride has been smooth as silk. Hey, maybe we’re on the famous “silk road” ourselves. Or maybe we’re just following the red thread to our destination.
Let’s see, where did I leave off yesterday? Oh yeah, it was 12:15am, and we weren’t packed yet. We finally fell into bed at 3:00, too tired to keep up a coherent conversation. It’s amazing how 5 hours of sleep (and serious anxiety) can wake you up to a high level of concentration.
We got everything into three suitcases (did I say 2 yesterday? Silly me), and jumped into the truck for the trip to Roseville to meet the In-laws. On the way I talked to my Mom, who is pretty much beside herself with joy and anticipation. She said, “I love you both, and I love Katie so much I don’t have words.”
That’s maybe the first time I’ve ever heard that from any branch of the family tree.
I also spoke with Jon, my youngest brother, who was not at a loss for words (he never is), and my nephew Joel. I got the lowdown on all the happenings in the Seattle area, and lots of very good parenting advice from a real expert. If Katie turns out half as wonderful as Sam, Caleb, Joel, and Tirzah, I’ll be very happy.
I called the Houston branch as well, and heard from the Duchess, Kooza, and Pops. The Duchess is also beside herself, and made it known that Thanksgiving was not acceptable for her first audience with Princess Katie. We’ll see if the royal entourage can assemble earlier than that. The Princess herself will likely have the final say (even if she can’t actually SAY anything yet).
We have been somewhat overwhelmed with the volume of well-wishes from friends, relatives, and in some cases, people we’ve never met. We’ve been emailing with Kim, the niece to my friend John, an anesthetist I work with. She and her husband traveled to China last year to adopt a little girl, and she has been a wellspring of good advice and information.
As have been George and Brenda, who traveled to Nanning a few months ago to adopt their little girl. Since we’re going to the same town (how likely is that!), Brenda gave us oodles of insider info that will make our trip low-stress. Or at least lower stress. Soulmate is finally asleep after a long bout of sleep deprivation, and hopefully she will wake up feeling refreshed and less stressed.
Myself, I subscribe to the “What me? Worry?” school of thought, so I’ve been telling her not to worry, it’s all gonna be fine. After 25 years together, she’s on to me about that, though, so it doesn’t really work. Truth be told, I’m usually right, but when she’s wigged out over something, it doesn’t help to remind her of that. Trust me on this one—it’s a lesson I seem to learn over and over.
Let’s see, the list of experts goes on and on: Drew and Cindy, our good friends and colleagues who adopted from China 2 years ago; Paul and Carol who have 3 Chinese daughters; Deanna who runs the local chapter of Families with Children from China; Dave and Teresa, whose Chinese daughter Madison first stirred Soulmate’s heart to adopt a Chinese daughter; and many others. Sorry if I missed you by name, but know you’ve impacted our lives immeasurably.
By now we’re probably over the Bering Strait, or maybe Russia on our way to Tokyo. I just finished Bourne Ultimatum, a 2 hour adrenaline rush, which probably used up all the adrenaline I had left after the chaos of the past few days (which wasn’t much). I forgot that I rode with Big Jim, Luke, and Crash last night for a 2.5 hour tempo ride, which together with the late night pretty much drained me.
Sorry this post isn’t chockablock full of the pithy humor you’ve almost certainly come to expect from Doc’s blog, but the muse deserted me when Bourne was somewhere in Morocco or Spain. I’m sure she’ll reappear when something important happens. Hopefully.
My trusty Toshiba is warning me that I’m running low on batteries, so I think I’ll sign off for now. It’s 9pm Minnesota time, but 11am Tokyo time, so I’m trying to decide which one to pay attention to. Bedtime or “Bucket List.” Hard to decide, but with the Confiteor from Bach’s B minor mass caressing my ears, and the entire cabin dark except my neighbor’s and my computer screens, I feel the sandman calling.
More to come. Hopefully you’re not already asleep from reading this, and you’ll visit early and often. Insider tip: tune in Monday morning (CST) for video and commentary from “Gotcha Day,” the day our family starts. And you were there…
Let’s see, where did I leave off yesterday? Oh yeah, it was 12:15am, and we weren’t packed yet. We finally fell into bed at 3:00, too tired to keep up a coherent conversation. It’s amazing how 5 hours of sleep (and serious anxiety) can wake you up to a high level of concentration.
We got everything into three suitcases (did I say 2 yesterday? Silly me), and jumped into the truck for the trip to Roseville to meet the In-laws. On the way I talked to my Mom, who is pretty much beside herself with joy and anticipation. She said, “I love you both, and I love Katie so much I don’t have words.”
That’s maybe the first time I’ve ever heard that from any branch of the family tree.
I also spoke with Jon, my youngest brother, who was not at a loss for words (he never is), and my nephew Joel. I got the lowdown on all the happenings in the Seattle area, and lots of very good parenting advice from a real expert. If Katie turns out half as wonderful as Sam, Caleb, Joel, and Tirzah, I’ll be very happy.
I called the Houston branch as well, and heard from the Duchess, Kooza, and Pops. The Duchess is also beside herself, and made it known that Thanksgiving was not acceptable for her first audience with Princess Katie. We’ll see if the royal entourage can assemble earlier than that. The Princess herself will likely have the final say (even if she can’t actually SAY anything yet).
We have been somewhat overwhelmed with the volume of well-wishes from friends, relatives, and in some cases, people we’ve never met. We’ve been emailing with Kim, the niece to my friend John, an anesthetist I work with. She and her husband traveled to China last year to adopt a little girl, and she has been a wellspring of good advice and information.
As have been George and Brenda, who traveled to Nanning a few months ago to adopt their little girl. Since we’re going to the same town (how likely is that!), Brenda gave us oodles of insider info that will make our trip low-stress. Or at least lower stress. Soulmate is finally asleep after a long bout of sleep deprivation, and hopefully she will wake up feeling refreshed and less stressed.
Myself, I subscribe to the “What me? Worry?” school of thought, so I’ve been telling her not to worry, it’s all gonna be fine. After 25 years together, she’s on to me about that, though, so it doesn’t really work. Truth be told, I’m usually right, but when she’s wigged out over something, it doesn’t help to remind her of that. Trust me on this one—it’s a lesson I seem to learn over and over.
Let’s see, the list of experts goes on and on: Drew and Cindy, our good friends and colleagues who adopted from China 2 years ago; Paul and Carol who have 3 Chinese daughters; Deanna who runs the local chapter of Families with Children from China; Dave and Teresa, whose Chinese daughter Madison first stirred Soulmate’s heart to adopt a Chinese daughter; and many others. Sorry if I missed you by name, but know you’ve impacted our lives immeasurably.
By now we’re probably over the Bering Strait, or maybe Russia on our way to Tokyo. I just finished Bourne Ultimatum, a 2 hour adrenaline rush, which probably used up all the adrenaline I had left after the chaos of the past few days (which wasn’t much). I forgot that I rode with Big Jim, Luke, and Crash last night for a 2.5 hour tempo ride, which together with the late night pretty much drained me.
Sorry this post isn’t chockablock full of the pithy humor you’ve almost certainly come to expect from Doc’s blog, but the muse deserted me when Bourne was somewhere in Morocco or Spain. I’m sure she’ll reappear when something important happens. Hopefully.
My trusty Toshiba is warning me that I’m running low on batteries, so I think I’ll sign off for now. It’s 9pm Minnesota time, but 11am Tokyo time, so I’m trying to decide which one to pay attention to. Bedtime or “Bucket List.” Hard to decide, but with the Confiteor from Bach’s B minor mass caressing my ears, and the entire cabin dark except my neighbor’s and my computer screens, I feel the sandman calling.
More to come. Hopefully you’re not already asleep from reading this, and you’ll visit early and often. Insider tip: tune in Monday morning (CST) for video and commentary from “Gotcha Day,” the day our family starts. And you were there…
1 comment:
"Never at a loss for words?" "Never a loss for words?"!!!!! Yep, I fit that description, although the easiest way to cure that seems to be an old family tree favorite....a huge bowl of ice cream and a couple of O'Henry bars!
Speaking of which, Joel and I made a batch last night in celebration of your going to get Katie! (Course, when does a Cragle ever need an excuse to eat sweets?)
We're thinking of you 1/2 way around the world!
Post a Comment