Thank you and updates

THANK YOU so much to everyone that attended the shower, and to those of you that didnt make it but sent the friendly comments and gifts. We were both totally overwhelmed by all the great gifts. This baby already has a better wardrobe and far more shoes than one of us (guess which one!!) and we're totally set with all the assorted 'gear' that will make caring for her much easier.

We appreciated ALL of it way more than you can imagine.

We both feel a lot more comfortable about being new parents knowing that we have such an awesome gang of friends and family (many of you fall under both categories, as far as we are concerned) around us.


We just finished our pre-trip conference call with the agency and the 4 other families that will be picking up their new babies on this trip. Very informative... and perhaps a tad unnerving - little things like the meal we get at the orphanage may include things like whole (ie: staring back at us) fish and only semi-hardened chicken eggs (again -- visible eyeballs could be part of the presentation).

Also learned that we may be on our own getting from the Hanoi airport to downtown Hanoi. A one-hour taxi ride minutes after arriving in a new country... well, lots to start getting ready for.


With that said, we are getting totally excited. Its starting to feel more and more 'real' every day. This time next week, we'll finally have this little creature in our arms. Actually, if we're lucky, at this time next week she'll be sleeping, because we'll probably need a nap.

Thanks again to everyone, especially those of you that helped plan the shower and those who came from longer distances. We had a great time and are looking forward to the final step.

Unless there is any major news (we are hoping there isn't) between now and Friday, this will probably be the last post from the US. Hopefully, the internet gods will bless us with high-speed internet access in our hotel room, as advertised, but who really knows. We'll be in touch through this blog as frequently as technology allows.

Time to get busy packing and making final arrangements. whew.

I'm blogging! I'm a blogger! I blog now!

Here we go. It's official, we leave Saturday Nov. 3rd at 1:20 a.m., from SFO to Taipei, Taiwan, then on to Hanoi. We'll arrive in Hanoi at about Noon on Sunday, the 4th. It's going to be a loooooong ride. We plan to mix a cocktail of Ambien and red wine when we board and see how long we can knock ourselves out for.



Really, other than the fact that we have secured a flight and hotel and everything, there is no "news" yet... just getting ready to go. We've learned a lot about Hanoi and Vietnam in the past few days -- apparently you can buy 'pho' (noodle soup) from street vendors for about 20 cents. The prison grade meat contained therein will bring back fond memories of the lodge. Also, there are apparently numerous street vendors that sell snake blood cocktails. (note: thats not a just a clever drink name...its really made from snake blood). Evidently drinking snake blood 'cures' pretty much anything. We appreciate their culture and everything, but we'll probably stick with tylenol and whatnot.



The (still nameless) baby's room is taking shape...we both are fascinated with our printed out pdf images of her, but eagerly await meeting the 3-D version. Here's one of the photos that we have for the time being. More updates when we have more information....