Adoptive Family Reception at The Garden

Aside from finishing this blog and the packing I have yet to do, the week is basically over. Sure there is the travel tomorrow but that's kind of a non-issue. Either you get home or you don't. All we can do is make sure we are in the right spot at the right time. If we mis a flight or something happens we can always stay another night right? (Don't tell Kristi I said that)

I started this post with a video to show you the glamorous side of things. How much we get wined and dined as adoptive families sitting in a gorgeous lounge inside from a 38-foot manmade waterfall. It's our little respite in the middle of a highly populated city filled with honking taxis, confusing traffic patterns, and bicyclists 2nd to craziness only to the Netherlands. It is quite the life I tell ya. To be honest we've had a great stay in Guangzhou and were quite tickled to be invited to the reception, they even had mini-hotdogs and chicken wings.

Then there is the other side of life that we (Kristi) are ready to be done with. Hotel living ain't all its cracked up to be. I'm sure those of you with the big corporate expense account don't have to worry about the trivial things such as $6.50 cans of coke (2 bottle for $5.50 across the street at 7/11, also in RMB not American Dollars) or where you're going to eat your lunch. However, being raised in my family meant you appreciated the free things and filled in the rest as economically as you could. We've done so by borrowing knives for peanut butter sandwiches and purchasing other small groceries to fill in lunches. We alternated meals going between Western and Chinese foods which meant higher and lower priced meals out and about. Actually, it turns out you can feed a family for $8-$15 quite nicely if you choose to eat noodles. All of this explanation to lead up to the big finale. Moments before our fancy wine and dine I was watching a movie, half-heartedly watching kids, and Kristi was doing this:

This is by no means a complaint, simply an observation of the many dichotomies experienced while on an adoption trip. We had a great couple of weeks so far and are ready to go home. I'm still thinking through a super big deep (snooze fest alert) post but for tonight I have a wife to pay attention to, packing to complete, and I think there are some snacks that need to be eaten. Thanks for following the past two weeks and I hope to keep up on at least a semi-regular basis sharing thoughts on adoption, the color of the neighbors grass, and if I'm jet-lagged enough maybe even politics. Until them these are my priorities for the next 37 hours.

Iron/Hair dry clothes until they are "dry enough"
Pack
Hug wife
Leave China
Slip customs a crips George Washington so we get preferential treatment
Eat Chik-Fil-A
Drink Starbucks using a gift card rather than cash
Hug my daughters
Sleep
Enjoy my family of six. Hey that's enough for a hockey team!

Thanks again for the follows, here are a few final highlights of the night. See you all again in EST.

That's All Folks