To say the last few months have been riddled with anxiety, would be putting it lightly. Probably the wisest decision I made, in order to keep my mind off of the waiting, was to work during tax season. I was able to sufficiently distract myself with W-2's, 1099's, and all that deliciously fun tax work for a full two months. Apart from having to up my hygiene...aka..take a shower and put on clothing that didn't resemble my pajamas...I really enjoyed working again. And the best part, it reminded me of how much I enjoy being a stay at home mom. How does that make sense? I'm not sure.
But God's timing is good. As soon as tax season was over, I had to begin the visa process and all the fun trip planning. And when I say fun, I really mean "hit me over the head with a frying pan because this is torture" type of fun. What's the big deal, you ask? Here's a small amount of items on my to-do list:
1) Figure out flights and the best path...should we stop in Taiwan or Beijing where we have awesome friends that we can see? Should we go to Hong Kong at the end to Disney? Compare and contract the cost of each option and have travel agent find best possible price and route for each. And then compare travel agents price to Expedia, CheapTickets, etc to make sure it is, in fact, the best price.
2) Book flights for mom and step mom from Ohio to our house. Detroit, Columbus, Dayton... can I use my Delta miles to help defray their cost? No? How about my Capital One points? No? Ok...move on.
3) Which hotel in Guangzhou should we stay at? Half my China facebook group says to stay at The Garden while the other half swears by The China Hotel. My agency recommends The Holiday Inn. But which one is farthest from traffic and closest to a park and fun things for a child? Do I have any Marriott points to use? Not enough? Ok...let's sign up for Holiday Inn points so I can get a free nights stay.
4) Make a binder with all our information, along with schedules to each of the moms who are helping. That schedule must include a day-by-day schedule of what's going on with the kids (days off school, snack days, field trips, etc).
5) Get crisp new money from the bank. If it is not perfectly crisp and unmarked, wash it and iron until it's perfect.
6) Buy gifts for all the random Chinese people such as notaries, nannies, etc. Worst thing on my list because I don't know who these people are so how do I buy them a gift? End result: Scarves. Everyone likes scarves, right? Except me. I hate scarves.
7) Download VPN onto my computer so I can get in contact with my husband and family to blog and facetime. Note to self: Don't turn on my phone. Bad Russian experience that cost us $1800 in cell phone usage fees.....
8) Don't forget converters, adapters, computer, chargers, swimming suit, rain gear, every possible medicine I could need plus medicines I will never use......
9) Pay ahead credit cards and make sure there's enough money transferred into our checking account that we don't bounce checks while I'm gone. This brings back nightmares of my vacation last summer.....don't ask......but it involved getting on the highway to start the long cross country journey home and not having any money for the toll roads in my personal account. It was all sitting in our business account....in another bank....where I didn't have an ATM card. Doh!
10) Make a reminder list for my hubby while I'm gone. And then add all the reminders to my mom's daily schedule so she can remind my hubby that he has a list.
11) Have a breakdown. Stuff my face with chocolate and Dr Pepper to take the edge off.
Ok...you get the drift. So it's a wonder I can even function. Anticipation? That'll happen once I have my sweet Ava girl in my arms. Anxiety? Yep - that's what's happening now. But for all those reading this that are just starting this journey or considering the process....it's worth the gray hairs.
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