Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Our Hotels, The Families, My Village [Adoption Series Pt 4]

We stayed in three different hotels in China. In Beijing we only stayed in our hotel for two nights, and since we stayed there for so little time I don't think I even have a picture. What was significant was meeting the other families from our agency. My friend Laury, who introduced us to CHI, commented before we left that it is not uncommon for families to get close during their time together. Here is what was so neat for us. There were four families together from our agency. The families split in pairs to two different regions to meet our children and then came back together in Guangzhou. In Xi'an we met two other families who shared our Xi'an experience and the same hotel. One family walked through the whole time with us.

Neat is not a strong enough word. It was all such a blessing. I met some amazing people. AMAZING families. Beautiful families. I often send off my students with the phrase "Be amazing." because there is a choice to be made to go beyond ordinary. I met and saw so many people being amazing. People adopting their second or third child from China, giving kids with an array of special needs a forever home.

Our Xi'an hotel room

The opposite view and me on the bed jet-laggin'
Our hotel in Xi'an was very fancy looking. However, it sometimes had a smell of sewage and/or backed up plumbing. Bummer. On the plus side, we were put on the same floor as two families, one from our agency and one from another. This was great because we could have play dates in the hallway. I cherished those times. It gave us the opportunity to share our experiences. For me, I needed to hear other's joys, struggles and progress. I also enjoyed just laughing. Amy brought her whole family to adopt a second child from Xi'an. Her family is a hoot. And just precious. I have occasionally called my son, Chicken, and I have Amy to thank for it. Spending time with the families, with my new family member, was a great support. When the ladies went to the baby store and to the department store it was an adventure. We enjoyed different restaurants together. One of the families spoke Chinese, and we got the opportunity to experience a local hot pot/bbq meal that I would have missed without them. I laughed hard during a stressful time, and it was good for me.

The Xi'an families
When we got to Guangzhou we had to say goodbye to the families from the other agency in Xi'an as they were in another hotel. We did see them on different occasions like the boat tour and at the consulate. Another blessing. The Garden Hotel was amazing. I have used the word 'opulent'. We didn't take a panoramic of our room but the lobby took my breath away. Our room was huge. A couple of the families got rooms that were actually apartments. Huger huge.I am thankful that we could use their washer-drier to do our laundry. Nothing dried in Xi'an, and we were living on the edge. It was so nice to see the other families again and share our stories. And we all had stories. Then we got to share our time in Guangzhou together to build more stories. We went on outings, to restaurants and shopping with some or all of the other families. The Malaysian restaurant was fantastic and by the third time our family went, it was like Cheers when we came in.

The CHI families in the hotel lobby
The other awe inspiring thing was that most of the other families in our hotel in Guangzhou were adopting children, many with special needs, so breakfast in the hotel was a beautiful rainbows of families. People, it brought such joy to my heart to see, like almost to tears when I looked around the room, and that room was big. As the week went on the number of adoptive families dwindled, but it was still marvelous to see all the families. We got used to seeing certain families, asking how they were doing and sharing our stories. We were one of the last families to leave, and the last morning for breakfast there were only three adopting families a breakfast.

Clinic craziness
One other event I want to note was the medical checkup morning. Apparently there were 90 children being adopted to the US that week. All those children needed to have their medical clearance before they could get their visas. Saturday morning is check-up day for all the kids at the clinic. Children over two had to get TB tests. Every child had to get a general physical in accordance with their paperwork, vitals, passport photos and ear/nose/throat. That place was a madhouse. A madhouse. There was a lot of hurry up and wait. It was a great opportunity to chat with other families with a lot of background noise, mainly crying. At one point I looked around, and I got choked up. There were children with so many special needs - missing appendages, Down's Syndrome, wheel chair bound, older children, facial issues, and more. And they were all getting ready to go home. Home. Families were opening up their heart and sharing their lives. It was BEAUTIFUL. I get why people go back to adopt again. There is such a need. A huge need. From an institution to a family. Beyond surviving to flourishing. To thriving.
At the zoo. Our last day all together. 
To all the families we met, have a memorable wonderful first Thanksgiving together.

A Flashy Crafty Headwarming Giveaway

It's that time of year again. The time when the sun goes down at 4:30 pm, and I'll probably be running in the dark and cold until March. Thankfully, I am running again, but I am doing other things to round out my muscles. I think my physical therapist was fantastic, but I don't want to see him again if I can avoid it. Tomorrow is my longest race this year, and my first race in a long time, the Mayor's Turkey Day Run 10k in Kenosha. More on this later (as well as finishing up my adoption series). Much to do.

Back to topic at hand. There's a guy running in my neighborhood that scares me when I drive because I can BARELY see him until I am practically on top of him. I've 'seen' him twice. He wears red, black and NO reflective gear. Good for you for running, but don't be stupid. It is dark out there.

When trolling through the yarn area at the store the other day, I was so excited to find that Red Heart makes a reflective yarn. And in lots of colors. So excited.

Look at all the colors and possibilities.
Check out how cool they are. With the flash on they reflect everywhere. There was a pattern on the package so I bought the same colors and made a couple of headbands.

No flash. I swear by those pocket guides.

Will the flash on. Super cool!
You may wonder when I have time to be so crafty. My answer is in two parts. These are fast to make, and I don't sit still well. I never thought I would be a crocheter or a knitter. My mom was and I didn't understand. Now I do. It's rhythmic, it can keep me awake when the day is long, and it keeps my hands busy. I don't make big or involved things, but I do have a sense of accomplishment in a short time. It is rather mindless. Considering I feel like I get nothing else done, it helps.

Blue trim.

Purple trim. 

Flash on! Look at Me!
In the spirit of Thanksgiving and giving in general, I am doing a little giveaway. The winner will get to pick two colors, and I will make them two headbands, one in each color trim. One is to keep and one to give. In order to enter, leave a comment on the colors you would choose, who you would give the other headband to and follow the blog if you haven't already. The giveaway will end on  midnight Sunday 11/30, and a winner will be picked using a random number generator on Monday (Remember, the headbands are handmade so they are not perfect, unless perfect means flashy and cozy. I have worn mine around the house.)

Happy Thanksgiving!