TA “The Back Story”

Okay so we didn’t get out TA (travel approval) out of the blue today, we had a heads up on Monday that it might come this week. But let me back up to the weekend of pictures, videos and dreams come true. Going into last weekend my Mom and I had already set it up that Eden would stay with them at her house for a couple days after we left on Sunday. This was to give me some time to really focus on our pending trip. I wanted to crack down and get the packing sorted out and purchase all the “stuff” we would need. This was my Monday/Tuesday goal and then I would get Eden back on Wednesday.

So it is Monday night, 5 pm, and I’m in Walmart in the “nut” aisle (this is important and appropriate might I add)  buying things for the trip when Eric calls me. I answer not with, “Hello.” But I immediately launch into:

“Do you think Noah would like cinnamon covered pecans?”

Eric calmly interjects my name, “Angie.”

I ignore him and continue with my train of thought, “Or do you think he would prefer the maple sugar covered pecans?”

“ANGIE.”

“Cuz I really think he would prefer the maple covered, what do you…”

“ANGIE!!!!!!!”

“ What?!”

“Come home and pack your bags we are going to China in two weeks.”

“WHAT!!!!???? We got TA?!”

So I am standing in the middle of the aisle gasping, exclaiming, praising God etc. and I can see an older man out of the corner of my eye stop his shopping to focus his full attention on me. I hang up the phone and turn to him and explain that nothing is wrong but that I just found out I can go get my little girl I am adopting from China. We talk a bit and he at one point said, ”Babies are born all the time…it is something different and really special to choose to adopt one.” Then as we were parting ways he turned around and blessed me in the name of our Lord. It was a really neat thing.

The rest of the shopping trip was a blur, I arrived home and told Eric, I have no idea what is in all these bags but I just paid $238.00 for it all. I was tickled as I unloaded them…”Yogurt covered raisins? I never buy these.” (Any guesses where those items reside in the Walmart…yep, the nut aisle.) So then I threw myself in high gear for Tuesday. We had been sent an email asking us if a May12 arrival date would work for us because they thought we’d get TA this week. We said, “YES!!” So Tuesday I busted it both shopping, packing, calling everyone in creation…Lifesong, Lifeline, IAC, pharmacy…I could go on but I won’t. Made a lot of progress Tuesday. Eric got us in suitcases for the most part. We have some carry on issues we need to resolve but other than that we know what we need to pack…it is however, strewn all over our bedroom currently, it looks like a bomb went off in here. Today I did some more good ground work for details, got the IAC appointment for when we return, called the pediatrician to get Noah some “just in case” antibiotics and called our doc to get ours. Called the health department to make sure our Hep A and Tetanus had not expired. Talked to the cleft clinic finally, God love them, they had lost power all this week! I am going down there tomorrow to get some cleft bottles to take on the trip. I found out that my photographer will be out of town as I realized we are coming home on Memorial Day weekend. I wonder who will be in town to meet us at the airport? I cancelled work for the week before we leave and I went back and forth with my INCREDIBLE travel agent! (Who by the way was able to save us $1,000.00 today on airfare!) AND I was with my sweet Eden all this morning at the zoo…she fed a giraffe…I was so proud, her and I had a great day together. I’m currently avoiding doing any packing right now and my back hurts so I’m going to bed now.