Happy New Year!

Guess what? We just received our tentative travel dates to China!!!!!!

It appears we will be leaving January 11th and returning on January 26th.

Also, a quick check of ticket prices shows that it will be around $3,000 total for the both of us. Not too bad at all.

As you can see on the right sidebar, that puts us about $1,900 short of our goal. If any of you know of other sites that could link the fundraising post, that would be great. Although, I think all of you did that last time, with amazing results. But I thought I’d ask again.

This is so amazing. One moment I was doing work, not thinking about much at all and then the phone rings and now we are leaving for China in a week!

Wow!

We are on cloud nine!

Yeah, I’ve been meaning to write more, but since we got our notice that we will most likely be traveling next week, things around here have been crazy.

We have been in this holding pattern for so long that it almost felt like we were never going to go. As a result, I stopped thinking about it. Now that it is 6 days away, it’s all I can think about.

There are so many things to do…

Since we will be gone right when I get a paycheck and right when I have bills due, I have to show Jon and Jo how to pay my bills online and what my budget is.

Then there are the various things about the kids. What they like to eat for lunch. What time to get them up. What time to put them to bed. How to help WunderKid1 get set up with his homework each night. WunderKid3 has ballet twice a week. Then there are medicines and doctors instructions for if they get sick…

Remember to feed the cat and dog. If it is going to be 30 or colder, put the cat in the shed so she doesn’t end up as a cat-cicle…

I think it is time to make a list. Things seem to go easier with a list….

WunderWife needed to clean the house today and the lovely WunderKid3 is not what you would call “helpful” in that regards. Unless you define “helpful” as going behind you and messing up the rooms you just cleaned…

Anyway, I needed to go to the store and we are having our dear friends Mr. and Mrs. Crotalus over for a cookout tonight, so I needed to stock up on goodies. I offered to take WunderKid3 with me. It would help the wife and it gives me some time with my girl.

I’ve always called her the prettiest girl in the world, but now that we are about to bring home our second daughter, I’m going to have to rework that because, gosh darnit, they are both the prettiest girls in the world!

Since we are most likely leaving this Thursday, I wanted to take her out to breakfast for some daddy-daughter time. It will be the last time she will be my “Only Girl”. She is very excited about Baby Mei coming home and she will be a wonderful big sister, but we have noticed some behavior issues lately that tell me she is struggling with not being Daddy’s only girl. It’s been like this with all our children. It’s a transition period for them all.

So where does one take their 3 year old daughter for breakfast? Why Waffle House of course!!! (points to the banner at the top of the site)

It was very crowded and as I drove through the parking lot I told her that I didn’t see any open seats. She piped up and said, “That’s ok. We can sit and wait and someone will leave.” Hey, when my baby wants Waffle House…she wants Waffle House…a girl after my own heart….

We waited just a little bit and then two chairs came open at the counter, so we ordered up waffles and bacon for her and the biggest, greasiest breakfast for me!

No it’s not coffee, it’s a Coke…

Me and my girl

Daddy’s breakfast!

From there it was off to Target and then Wal-Mart. All in all, a pretty good day.

Just think, in a week, I will have two Daddy’s Girls!

Unfortunately, Albany is becoming like many midsized towns. Pawn shops are starting to pop up, even in “good” parts of town and there are two newcomers: Tattoo Shops and Porn Shops…

We will use this shopping center for an example:

Talk about convenience!

You can drop off your Harley to have more chrome added, buy some porn and assorted “adult novelties”, get matching tattoo’s and then rent Toy Story for the kids…

*sigh*

The only thing that would make this the best one stop shop ever would be a liquor store…Maybe they could be combined into a Super Porn, Tattoo, Liquor, Harley, Video Store.

Such nice sites in Albany. It really improves the property values.

Yes, I’m being sarcastic.

At least the City took some proactive steps and banned alcohol sales at places where “exotic” dancing takes place. This has kept your local strip clubs from taking shape, which judging by the number of trailer parks around, is both interesting that they haven’t found a loophole and scary if they have.

Stay Classy Albany!

Crotalus has an amazing post about the how some things in the Bible get lost in translation.

He points out a great passage of scripture about the relationship between Jesus and God the Father.

Amen, brother, amen.

…there was a college football game on last night?

It involved two teams I could care less about?

One team is now the “National Champion”?

ZZZzzzzzz

I told you guys last week that we would be leaving for China this week…well, we got notified yesterday that our trip and been delayed.

It’s not as bad as you think. It was only delayed for one week.

It is official! We are leaving for China on January 19th and returning home February 2nd! I made the travel arrangements today. The tickets were more than I hoped, but not as high as I feared.

We will be flying Continental from Atlanta to Newark to Beijing on the way to China.

We will be flying Continental from Guangzhou to Hong Kong to Newark to Atlanta on the way home.

So, we went from being on Go! to being postponed, to being on Go! again in 24 hours. Man, this adoption thing is going to make me an old man.

Sorry for the lack of posting. We’ve been a bit busy getting ready, but I should almost be done. I am setting up Skype tonight and I will be trying out my new webcam.

Fun for all ages!

You know it’s a slow news day in South Georgia when the local NBC station has this story on its website…and probably on the 6 o’clock news:

Area funeral parlors pay fines for minor violations

You know me, I just had to look. I find the whole embalming/undertaking business to be intriguing. I have a very large morbid curiosity. Sue me.

Here is one of the citations:

Nance & Sons Mortuary, Inc., Cordele: Inspection citation of $350 which includes a $50 fine for failure to display current licenses for the establishment, embalmer, funeral director, or any apprentices licensed with the establishment; and a $300 fine for failure to maintain the required minimum inventory of eight adult caskets. The inventory was deficient by three caskets.

It’s almost as if you can actually see the paint dry…

The Jawa Report has your War Porn Fix.

This time it’s delivered by a cute talking head who can barely keep herself from smiling while describing the death and destruction leveled against al-Qaeda.

Also, I forgot to link this from the other day.

Two for the price of one!

I was just in the van picking up some take out for me and the WunderWife and since the “rock” station had crap on, I was surfing the radio waves looking for something good to listen to.

That’s when I heard it…

The enchanting beat…

The mesmerizing harmony….

Then it started, a smile grew on my face and my head started swaying side to side…

I found myself enjoying the song and wishing I could hear more of their music…

So what had I found that captivated me so?

ABBA

My God…what the hell is wrong with me???

PS: My favorite ABBA song has to be Dancing Queen. Will someone please shoot me now…

Ok, why has it taken me this long to discover Skype?

I heard from some friends that it is the best way to talk for free to the States while in China. All you need is a computer, internet access and a headset/microphone and you are in business!

I even bought two webcams so we can see the kids and they can see us while we are away.

So, hello to all you out there in Skype land!

Because Ken did it.

Some professor made up a list that shows you privileged you are. Crap, crap and more crap.

If this professor was to look at my life now (my income, education, standard of living) he would probably assume my success has come more from my “privileged” upbringing and less from my own hard work.

I’ll give you something; I have wonderful parents who always believed in me, who always helped when they could but let me learn my own lessons in life. What they gave me was more “privilege” than money could buy.

Anyway, here we go:

Premise: bold each of the statements that applies.

Original source: The list is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. The exercise developers ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright.

And now on to the list:

Father went to college [two year and he started when I was a teenager]

Father finished college [he finished night school late in my teen years]

Mother went to college

Mother finished college

Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor [Dad's first cousin is an attorney, but they hardly know each other. Not sure if that counts]

Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers

Had more than 50 books in your childhood home [I have and still have a WELL stocked library of books on history]

Had more than 500 books in your childhood home

Were read children’s books by a parent [Goldbuggie!]

Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 [I took guitar lessons from age 16-18, but I PAID for the lessons myself from money I earned working fast food]

Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18

The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively [If you mean the faceless crowd in a back ground shot, then yes]

Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18 [Dad got me one when I started college. It had some ridiculously low limit, but he told me to put $50 a month on it and he would pay the bill. That way when I graduated, I would have credit. I still have the same card. Member since 1992]

Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs [I went to college on student loans. In fact me and Mr. Stafford became good friends and I fully expected to pay them back over 10 years. To my utter surprise and amazement, Dad offered to pay back my student loans for me as my graduation present. Dad, I am eternally grateful for your generosity.]

Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs

Went to a private high school [I spent two years at the local private Baptist school and my last two years at the Public high school. I can tell you for a fact that I received a better education at the Public school...there is a good post to write about...for later]

Went to summer camp [If you count Boy Scouts]

Had a private tutor before you turned 18

Family vacations involved staying at hotels [Like Ken, most of our vacations involved either camping or staying with relatives]

Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18

Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them

There was original art in your house when you were a child [WTF?]

Had a phone in your room before you turned 18

You and your family lived in a single family house [3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1960's ranch, maybe 1,800 square feet]

Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home [Mom sold the house just before I left for school. She rented an apartment for years]

You had your own room as a child [It was only me and my sister, so yeah.]

Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course [Best SAT score: 1,080 back when the best was 1,600. Maybe I needed a prep course]

Had your own TV in your room in High School

Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College

Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16 [Two times. Once for a family vacation to see my grandparents and then two years later to burry my granddad]

Went on a cruise with your family [Nah, those boats sink, burn and have stomach viruses]

Went on more than one cruise with your family

Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up [We went to the Smithsonian museums a few times when we would go back to DC for family vacations. Art? What's that?]

You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family [Nope but I've got to put down what Ken said. It fits perfectly: "I don't know how much the bills were but I know religion was involved"]

What does all this mean? The heck if I know.

All I know is I came from a broken home but with two parents who loved me. I had to work fast food while in high school. It took me 6 years to graduate with a four year degree from Georgia Tech because I would work a quarter, go to school a quarter. I have had 3 very good jobs in my 10 years of work since graduation that have given me an incredible resume and made me a very well rounded engineer.

Was that because of privilege? I think it has more to do with God given ability, loving parents and hard work. Lots of hard work.

WunderKid2 has been struggling with bronchitis for the past week. His cough has gotten worse over the past few days and he was still running low grade fevers. Both of which should have stopped by now.

WunderWife took him to see the Pediatrician this morning and she called me an hour or so later.

The doctor thought he may have pneumonia so he sent them to the hospital to get a chest x-ray.

It turns out he does have pneumonia in one lung…BUT… it look like they caught it early enough so they are going to put him on a big antibiotic and breathing treatments.

And to think, we were suppose to fly out today to China…It’s amazing how the Lord works…

So, keep Charlie in your prayers.

xkcd tells me that Blogging is the safest thing I can do:

Never leave the computer…never leave the computer…

Reminds me of the great scene in Apocalypse Now when Chef almost gets eaten by a tiger

Never get out of the boat…

For full appreciation you have to see the movie or at least read the script.

UPDATE: Thanks to the power of the internet, here is the scene in question. Content warning for language.

We had a great time yesterday. My Mom’s sister, Aunt Ada, and her husband, Uncle Lee, from Northern Virginia were in town this weekend. We haven’t seen them in two years, so it was very good to see them again.

Since WunderKid2 is still struggling with being sick, we needed something to do yesterday that would get us out of the house, yet not be too much for him. Our solution?

The Flint RiverQuarium!

The Flint RiverQuarium

Sure the Georgia Aquarium and even the Tennessee Aquarium are much larger/better/whatever…but for Albany, the RiverQuarium isn’t too bad. The only part that kind of stunk was they side exhibit. They were in the midst of changing it, which is good, but that meant it was closed, not good. Also, the movie that was showing at the time we were there was a one hour movie on…the weather…Yeah, my 3 and 5 year old are going to sit through that…

Anyway, we had a great time.

WunderKid3 and 1 at the Blue Hole

More pictures after the jump… (more…)

I took WunderKid1 out to the mini-golf/go-cart/game room/batting cages place Friday night. Since we are leaving for China next weekend, I wanted some time with just the two of us. Every time we drive past the place, he mentions how much he would like to go again…hint…hint…hint.

It had been raining off and on all day, but it was dry and breezy when we went. Unfortunately, the go-cart track was still down because of the rain.

Bummer. That was the ONE thing he really wanted to do. No problem, I bought one of those activity tickets, so we have two go-cart rides when we go back.

That meant miniature golf!

I won, but let me tell you, he had me a bit scared. I was only ahead a few strokes after the first 9 holes. He fell apart on the last 9. I guess he couldn’t handle the pressure, but I was very proud of him. He almost made a few hole in ones.

Number 1

For dinner we went to Subway. There was a time when I would eat Subway most every day, but I think I got burned out, so it’s been awhile since I had one. WunderKid1 loves to go and is always lobbying for it when the family goes out to eat. He was happy as a lark eating his ham sandwich with pickles.

I did good. I only got the 6″ sub. Shockingly, it filled me up.

We had dinner over at my Mom’s house Saturday night. As mentioned earlier, my Aunt Ada and Uncle Lee were in town from Northern Virginia, so my Step-Dad cooked up steaks.

Dinner was amazing:

Steak
Potato
Salad
My sisters Home Made lemon meringue pie….

Well, so much for having Peyton Manning and Tom Brady play head to head in another AFC Championship game to determine who is the greatest.

Colts lose to the Chargers. Wow. It was a good game, but still…the Chargers?

I am very sorry I will miss the games this weekend. Yeah, I think we are going to China or something…I can’t remember, but I just know I will miss the games.

Man, Lambeau field is going to be frozen solid. There probably won’t be any snow, but if God is a football fan (and I think he is), then snow will come regardless of what the Weather Channel says. Right now, it says the high on Sunday will be 12 degrees. That’s F…not C… my bet is that Favre pulls it out again on the frozen tundra!

Green Bay Baby! Catch the fever.

Alas, I fear the Patriots will destroy them, but then again…if God is a football fan…Bret will win the Super Bowl and retire in glory!

In the end, Cullen had it right. Who’s the greatest playing quarterback?

It’s a tough one, but you have to want him to win it one more time.

Jeff from The Shape of Days has a nice post up about drugs and the law. One of the things I respect most about Jeff is his willingness to look at both sides of a story or to look at an issue without partisan passion.

Yesterday’s post follows the same mold. What do you do about drugs? He starts by talking about a girl suing her dealer for selling her Meth. That then leads to a discussion on drug laws.

The strict Libertarian model says that everything should be legal because we are all adults and if I want to buy drugs that is my business. Or something along those lines.

Then there is the strict Conservative model which says, “Drugs are bad. Mkay” so let’s put everyone in prison!

Where do I fall? I think I am somewhere in the middle. My views have changed much over the years and honestly, I don’t know.

The War on Drugs has succeeded in one respect…many, many, many people are behind bars for nothing more than possession. Not for dealing or hurting someone, but just for possession…I liken it to an underage kid being caught holding a beer. Yes, he broke the law, but do we put him away for 5 years where he will really learn to be a criminal? No, we call his Dad. I know, it’s not quite the same when you are talking about crack, meth or heroine.

Anyway. I like to have discussions where people actually think about what they are saying. I think we learn more and the discussion is actually productive if we can do that. Wrong is still wrong and right is still right, but when you approach a complicated subject like drugs, just saying they are bad and people who use them should be locked up isn’t going to cut it with me.

Now on to the funny:

If I had a goldfish bowl full of blow and a drinking straw, the only person who’d be harmed by my hoovering the whole damn thing — assuming I didn’t subsequently do something that would put others in danger — would be me. In the absence of an aggrieved second party, there’s nobody there to sue me, and the state’s interest in protecting me from myself is modest at best.
—
Possession? Doughnuts are bad for you, but you don’t get hauled off to jail for carrying a box of Krispy Kremes.

“Hoovering” – Priceless!

It’s a very well written post, as most of Jeff’s are. Go take a gander.

Oh, by the way…no one bought me a copy of Jeff’s book for Christmas and my heart still hurts from the disappointment. If you care.

Check out previous editions of “I Wish I Had Written That”

You may remember that I tried to kill this site back in 2006. March 6, 2006 to be exact.

Why?

Mainly because of personal reasons, but partly because I got tired.

Back in the day, I was churning out 3 to 5 posts a day on hard hitting political issues. I built my audience, got linked by some big names and then I peaked. At that point I had a choice to make: would I push through, redouble my efforts and become above average or even big or would I just drop off the face of the blogosphere? I chose to drop off the face of the blogosphere.

My hiatus lasted exactly 1 month. When I returned, I was different. Politics no longer held my interest. I mean, how many times can you write about the Mainstream Media being biased? How many times can you point out the hypocrisy of the Left? How many times? It gets old. You get tired of bloggers on both sides, Right and Left, screaming like little school girls. Finally, you reach the point where you begin to wonder “What’s the point?”

That happened to me, but because I am a sentimental fool, I couldn’t quit blogging. So I changed my style. Now I write about my life, my job, my family, you know, boring stuff. But you know what? I don’t care. I enjoy writing. It soothes my jangled nerves. But I no longer do it in hopes of being a big name or of making a difference. Those that read me, like what I have to say, the other 280 some odd Google Image searchers per day just want my pictures.

In the end, I’m happy with where I am and what this blog means to me.

I was reading Ace of Spades today and I got bored. I had already caught up on my regular reads so I figured I would begin hitting random sites from Ace’s blog roll. I found out two things: first that Ace hasn’t maintained his blog roll in several years and second that there are a bunch of former bloggers out there.

It was like walking through a cemetery. Some sites would have the customary Final Post, while others just stopped. There were also some whose domain no longer existed. It was actually kind of sad to see.

So what happened?

Most probably just got tired of blogging and reached the same conclusions I did. Some just walked away one day, forgetting that they were ever a “blogger” while others said farewell and almost reluctantly walked away.

They were bloggers just like me. They had passions and dreams and pet peeves, and they wrote about them every day. Then one day *poof* it’s over. Some had been at it for years, while others blogged for two months.

The sites where there is no Final Post but only the last random post they wrote, intrigued me the most. What happened? Do they ever stop by their old site? Why not write that final Farewell Post?

Rest assured, there are bloggers springing up every day who more than replenish the ranks, but there are still those that trudge on. Some adapt or change their style, while others still sound like screechy little school girls.

Me? Like I said, I’m too sentimental to give up. This little blog means a lot to me and I can’t even imagine life without it.

I went out to my truck a few minutes ago to put my new insurance card in the glove box.

When I bent over to stick my head in, I scraped the top of my head on the roof of the truck.

It hurt.

It hurt real bad.

I said a bad word and thought another.

The only other words I could get out besides “Ow!” were “What the hell?”

Tears came to my eyes.

It dazed me.

If I’d hit the roof square on, I do believe it would have killed me, or at least knocked me out.

Now I have a headache and the top of my head feels swollen.

And I’m grouchy.

So, how was your day?

Some of my long time readers (all 5 of you) may have noticed a new face in the comments of my posts named Michael.

I confess that I have been so busy I haven’t taken much time to check out what he is writing about over on his blog. We’ve been having a pretty good discussion in my post about drugs and the law and so I headed on over to really dig into his site. Good stuff. You need to stop by. Crotalus, I especially thing you will enjoy his site.

Today I learned that Michael is a recovering addict. He has a wonderfully poignant post about his walk away from the edge. You really need to read it.

Most of us have issues in our lives that we deal with. Sometimes they are private issues, just between me, myself and I, and sometimes they are “private” issues that affect everyone around you and sometimes they are issues that will kill you.

Understanding addiction is hard for people who do not suffer from it. Just stop doing it. I don’t get it. Those are two phrases often heard. Many times, it is hard to explain.

It may come as a shock to you, but I am a recovering addict too. My addiction may not seem as “bad” or as dangerous as alcohol or drug addiction, but it has been a very destructive force in my life.

I am a recovering porn addict.

What? That doesn’t even count. So you like to look at naked pictures, congratulations, you’re a man…

But it isn’t like that as all. I’ve known people who could see a picture or movie here or there and it never phases them, while it captivated me and fed my addiction even more. Porn addiction can be just as devastating to a family. You may disagree and think I am belittling “real” addictions, but I can tell you, from my experience, the heavy toll it put on my wife and friends.

Most importantly, it stood in the way of my relationship with the Lord. As a Christian, I never seemed to grow. I always seemed to be battling the same things. As a result, my walk with the Lord grew stagnant and all the potential that was inside of me to do amazing things was left unused. All because of porn.

I know Christ is the answer and He has done amazing things in my life. Back during Christmas of 2005, I had an amazing encounter with Jesus in my den. I have never been the same since. That night I came to understand the depth of Gods love for me. Have I been perfect? No. Have all my issues just disappeared? No. Do I still struggle at times? Yes.

BUT….

I no longer wallow in my self-pity and sin. I take care of my mess and move on, not looking back. When I sin, the thing that breaks my heart most is not the actual sin, but the realization that I am living so much below the potential God has given me.

That is what has changed. Sin, yeah, it’s not good, but I don’t dwell on it anymore. I see it for what it is, confess it and move on. I no longer try to justify my actions or hide behind some past hurt or grievance.

It has been amazing to watch what the Lord has done in my life. I am not the same person I was 2 years ago. It is hard at times, but only when I listen to the accuser and begin seeing myself through his eyes instead of the eyes of my King.

If you are struggling with an addiction, chemical or other, there is hope. I don’t say it flippantly, but all you need is just one glimpse, a tiny glimpse of Jesus, and your life will be changed forever. I have known people who were delivered and never had the urge to drink again and I have heard of others who have been delivered, yet still had to walk out their deliverance. Why the difference? I have no idea, but I do know that Jesus holds all the answers.

I know this is probably the most religious post I have ever written, but it is a post I’ve wanted to write for 6 months. I just never had the guts to do it. Michael’s post finally gave me the courage to write it.

Thanks man, I needed that.

Today the Nanny State just got a little more under my skin. The FDA is saying no cough and cold medicine to kids under the age of 2 and they haven’t decided about kids ages 2 to 6.

What the heck?

What’s their reasoning?

Over the past two years, 1,500 babies and toddlers have wound up in emergency rooms after having bad reactions to cold medicines, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2007, the FDA completed a review that found there were 54 reported child deaths from decongestants and 69 from antihistamines between 1969 and fall 2006. Most of those involved children under 2.

How many millions of kids are their ages 2 and under each year? And only 1,500 had problems. I don’t see the issue here.

The part about 123 deaths in 37 years, yes 37 years, is just plain stupid. How many kids have died from pulling TV’s on them in that same time? How many have been backed over in the drive way? How many have tripped, hit their head on the corner of the coffee table and died? Something tells me that the numbers they cite are meaningless.

How many kids have there been in those 37 years who were 2 and under? Let’s see, there are about 300 million people in the U.S. and about 80 million of those are aged 0-19. That would mean there are about 8 million kids between 0-2. Roughly. So let’s say that the number is 5 million ages 0-2. The U.S. population was around 200 million in 1970, so let’s revise our number down to 4 million kids at any one time in the past 37 years have been aged 0-2. That means 148 MILLION kids. They said 123 deaths in 37 years. That means that a whopping total of 0.00008% of all kids have died from issues involving OTC medicines. Explain why they are wasting my time?

Then there is the 1,500 emergency room visits in the past 2 years. That means there have 8 to 10 million kids aged 0-2 in that same time. That works out to be 0.019%. And I wonder how many of those cases were accidental, like the kid got into medicine?

Here is the part that really pisses me off:

These medicines, which treat symptoms and not the underlying condition, have not been shown to be safe or effective in children under 2.

No crap. They only treat the symptoms? Really? Wow! You went to medical school to learn that?

Of course they only treat the symptoms. That’s the point.

What do you want me to do with my 2 year old who cant breathe and is coughing her head off? Make her suffer and not get rest? The scary part is that they may say the same thing for kids ages 2 to 6. That is just cruel.

We have a 3 year old and when she gets a cold with a congested nose and a cough, we turn her humidifier on and give her OTC meds to help her breathe so she can sleep.

Hell, I do the same thing myself with Nyquil and other medicines. Is the FDA going to come after my OTC medicines too?

I wonder how many adults have died in the past 37 years from taking to much OTC cold medicine? I bet it’s higher than the number of kids. So, even though I am responsible and don’t o.d. my kid, my freedom to choose medicines to help them sleep better and feel better is now limited?

Jerks.

ALSO: If they ban OTC for kids, guess what will happen? More kids will die. Not less. Want to know why? Because parents in a frenzy from lack of sleep because little Suzie has been up five nights in a row coughing her fool head off will resort to giving ADULT medicine and trying to figure out what the children’s dose should be. Way to go guys. Way to go.

I guess this shouldn’t surprise me. I’m already treated like a criminal when I want to buy some Advil Cold and Sinus because the government sees me as a potential meth producer.

At some point, the Nanny Staters will be coming for your Nyquil….From my cold dead hands…

This is it.

We leave for Atlanta tonight and we fly to China tomorrow morning!

We’ll be traveling in a shiny Boeing 777 flown by Continental. Artist depiction below:

Not actual size

Here is our brief itinerary:

Saturday Jan 19th: Atlanta to Newark to Beijing - We will be landing in Beijing at 3 am EST, but it will be 3 pm China time

We will be returning on February 2nd: Guangzhou to Hong Kong to Newark to Atlanta - We will be landing in Atlanta at 9:30 pm EST and we will be staying the night in Atlanta and coming home the next day.

Just so you know, it is a 12 hour time difference between EST and China time.

You can follow our journey on the internet. I will be trying to update this site but I’m not sure I will be able to from China. For all I know, I could be banned. So, we have a backup. Good friends of ours have an adoption site where they will be posting what we send them every day. Each day we are in China is listed, so click and enjoy our trip with us.

We should be getting Mei on Wednesday. I’ll try to have pictures and video for you all to enjoy. Just be warned, there will probably be lots and lots of ugly crying…You know, the kind where snot comes out your nose? Yeah, that kind of ugly crying.

Next time you hear from me, we should be in China.

Well, we’ve landed in Newark. Yay us!

Phase I of trip is a success. Phase II will be 7x’s as long and a bit more complicated, but I am sure we can manage it.

Our crap

Getting Ready to go

There is a winter storm heading into Georgia. Jus the thought of anything with the words ice and snow is enough to send Atlanta running for the hills. As a result, Delta was cancelling flights left and right. Actually, they preemptively cancelled flights for today, last night. So, it was good that we got out.

Flying into Jersey, we could see the New York skyline and we even caught a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. Silly me had the camera packed away so I missed it, but I did get this shot from our concourse:

New York

It’s a little less than 14 hours from here to Beijing. I’m not sure what I am going to do to pass the time. I may do some Sudoku and a few crossword puzzles. I’m not sure of the movie selection.

Jen

Well, we finally made it to Beijing, China!

Man, what a long flight. I remember thinking how much longer could it be, then I realized we were only half way there.

I did not snap any shots of Beijing yet as just getting from the plane to our hotel was a blur.

We left on time from Newark in a Boeing 777:

Honestly, how long of a flight can it be?

I got a few shots of the land near the north east extent of Canada, just before we passed over to Greenland.

Confused as to how we got here? Well here is a handy dandy little map that charted our progress. Yes, we really did go over the North Pole, and no I didn’t see Santa. It was too dark.

Over the North Pole

Just as we headed into the long winter night of the North Pole, I got a shot of the moon.

Jen was sleeping at the time, so of course I had to get a shot:

Asleep at the North Pole

While flying over Russia, I noticed we were near a giant lake, so I took a picture of the southern shore line with massive mountains:

View of Mother Russia

I looked it up and it is called Lake Baikal

We made it through customs ok, found out bags and found our guide. Sim is our guide. He took us to the hotel and he will be the one dragging us around Beijing later today. I say later today because as I write this, it is only 3:45 in the AM MONDAY.

There was only one bad thing about the whole trip. I got sick.

Yep. I was doing great. I took Dramamine before we left and did great. Great until I woke up from my last nap. I felt nauseas. So I had some water and some crackers, but no dice.

I held it together until about 30 minutes before we landed. They had already made everyone sit down and buckle their seat belts, so I was trapped. I felt it come on, so I grabbed the little bag you are suppose to use and ….

Apart from Jen there is only one other person reading this who has ever witnessed me vomiting and that’s Jen’s sister, Aimee…

Let’s just say that the noise is akin to one screaming into the pits of Hell. No seriously, if I am hugging the porcelain god, I almost levitate as the evil leaves my body….

So, imagine if you will, a very quite airplane. Everyone has settled down and is just sitting quietly, when out of the blue comes this noise. A noise that does not sound of this world….

I can’t even figure out how to spell it…it was just very loud…and nothing….

Then it happened again…still…nothing. Every time it happened I would say I’m sorry. I could hear the people around me groan as they realized what was happening…Not my finest hour.

I was able to make it until we landed and we had arrived at the hotel. But it finally caught up with me in our room. A good 8 hours later and I’m still queasy.

So, be praying for me today as we head to the Great Wall and all the other sites today. I really want to enjoy myself.

Will write later as time permits.

Just some snap shots of our hotel here in Beijing. It’s snowing today. That should make for some nice pictures.

Hotel

Lobbey

And here is some video I took, well, I will put it up after YouTube finishes it’s thing with it

Wow, what a day. After spending the better part of a day in airports or in the air, today was very different.

Today we toured Beijing.

We started at 8:30 AM and we got back to our hotel at 8:00 PM. It was go, go, go all day long.

To start off we saw Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. If you’ve ever seen the Last Emperor, it was filmed in the Forbidden City.

At Tiananmen Square

In front of the throne, Forbidden City

Then we headed to the jade factory and lunch. After lunch we hit the Great Wall.

Let me tell you, these pictures do not do it justice. It was absolutely amazing and much steeper than I ever thought. It was in the low 20’s to teens and the snow had stopped, but we hiked up as far as we could make it.

We made it to the top tower in the center of this picture

Nice view

Steep steps

And here we are on the wall together.

Isn’t she cute?

I’m tired, so that is all I am going to write today. Tomorrow we fly to Nanchang and Wednesday we get Mei!

We just arrived in Nanchang and were told we would be getting our babies today!!!!!

In about 20 minutes we head down to the lobbey to go to the adoption place. We will have Mei in our arms within the hour.

I will post as soon as possible, however, the internet connection is not very good. That may prevent me from loading video today, but we shall see…..

And away we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: We got her!

This is just a brief followup to my post about getting Mei. To recap, we flew to Nanchang today and were told we would get our babies today, not tomorrow. I am too tired to write how I feel and what all this means to me, but rest assured I am on the verge of tears. I can’t believe she is finally here.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Continue to pray for us and our bonding time with our new daughter.

Here are some videos from today. I did not get the moment Jen was handed the baby as I was taking a picture.

Part I

Part II - about half way through. The first half is of another family (Moore’s). Then you see us.

Part III

Thank you Jesus. Man God is too good to me to have blessed me with four wonderful kids and a perfect wife. He has blessed me. I don’t deserve any of it, but He loves me enough to bless me.

I am a blessed man, a blessed man.

Just some more pictures.

She took her last bottle at 8pm and slept through the night. Her paperwork says that she usually sleeps from 8 to 6:30. We shall see. We are just praying that she does not freak out when she wakes up. Heck, I would, so please be praying.

We head back over to the adoption affairs place this morning. We have our interview with the orphanage and we give our gift (cash) to them. I think we will give the Nanny gifts as well as we are not sure if we will be going to the orphanage or not.

The adoption affairs building is like many here in China…about the same temperature inside as it is outside. I could see my breathe in their yesterday. So, 3 hours of that will not be the most fun in the world, but then we have the rest of the day to ourselves.

Later I will write about being the ONLY American in the Super Happy Fun Go-Go Store!!! Mom, you think Wal-mart is a zoo…you ain’t seen nothing until you’ve been to Chinese store. It wasn’t even the Wal-mart, but it was crazy!

On to the pictures:

Yes, that is my hairline…or what’s left of it.

I have seen some funny things here in China. So, I figured I would do a series of post on what I see.

I wonder if there is an advertisement for “Munchie Snack Cakes: When you need something to munch now!” on the other side of the truck.

Sign at the Great Wall:

You must be this high to climb wall

Today we completed all our paper work for adopting from this province. We still have to do some stuff once we hit the end of our stay and get her U.S. Visa, but for now, it’s mainly a waiting game. Waiting to come back to all of you.

We boarded the bus at 8:30am for another adventure in traffic. My goodness, next time we go I plan on taking some video. Unreal.

Anyway, we finally made it to the adoption affairs building from yesterday. We had some more paper work to fill out. Then several of us had to go back to pay the donation and other expenses. After that, we had our interview in which we had to explain why we wanted to adopt a baby from China and we had to promise to never abuse her or abandon her.

There was a mistake on Mei’s paper work that I caught at the last second. Our guide, Bruce, had to rush around getting it fixed before everyone left. I tell you, it was a madhouse, with poor old me left wondering what in the world they were saying.

Then it was off to have everything notarized. We had to answer basic questions as to who we were, our age, occupation and if we were satisfied with our baby. It was a bit odd.

We thought we were finished, but Bruce said we had one more stop to make. It was at a security administration office. The only thing we had to do was put our baby on the counter so they could get video of her face from a webcam. It made all of us a bit uneasy and not sure of what was going on. When we got on the bus I asked Bruce what was all that we had just done. He laughed and patted my shoulder. Not a good sign. He has been very up front with us about everything so far. It could be that it is some new government policy that he isn’t suppose to talk about or who knows. Anyone know?

We finally got back to our room around 12:30 and Jen was hungry, so I took off for a KFC we had seen down the street. It is odd being a foreigner. You feel totally isolated and at the mercy of others. There were lots of people out and about on my 1/2 mile trek. Once at the KFC I had to fight for my place in line. Lines here are only suggestions. When it was my turn, I simply pointed at the giant bucket of chicken for 60 Yuan (maybe $8). The girl took my money and gave me my bucket o’ chicken. Then I had to trek back the 1/2 mile. It is very cold today, mid 30’s, with a misty wind. But when I got back to our room Jen was so happy to have something familiar to eat, that it was worth it all.

The Chinese Love The Colonel

It is 2:20 pm and Jen just got Mei to sleep for a little nap. She had a small one on the bus and was very tired. Still, all she wanted to do was play on the floor. She is a bit wobbly, but can stay sitting up. We put the classic three pillows around her for when she falls. I can’t believe how long it’s been since we had babies this small. She likes to look at Jen and I. She and I are head-knocker buddies. She will lean in for me to knock heads with her. Very cute. Jen had to lay on the bed facing Mei for her to fall asleep. She just wanted to look at Mommy.

Here are some cute pictures of her from today:

Tonight we hit the super fun go go store from last night. I plan on taking video…

I decided to post a video of the Great Wall. It still fails to capture the size of this thing and then to realize how many miles it goes on for….

Jen feeding Mei this morning.

Today was going to be easy, but it just didn’t work out that way.

We ended up going to both Wal-mart and the Super Happy Fun Go Go Store. It may have been too much for us and Mei. She is asleep now, early and I fear Jen and I are not far behind her.

We can’t seem to kick this jet lag. We were up from 3 till 4 or so again this morning.

Mei’s cold is better today. She had a pretty good day playing and sitting up, but that coupled with the two trips to the store, wore her out. She finally went number 2 today. That was her first for us and helped her mood tremendously, but it was still an ordeal to go through. Lots of crying.

She has been very attached to Jen all day. She is definitely bonding with her, but as you can imagine it is wearing her out. There were lots of giggles and smiles today. She played on the bed with me and looked at pictures of the kids. She seems to really like looking at Charlie’s picture.

We went to Wal-mart with our friends the Moores and their baby and later this evening we stopped by their room to let the two little ones play. They have a very pudgy and active 10 month old. She and Mei are from the same orphanage.

Tomorrow we get to go to her orphanage. It will just be us and the Moores and it will be good to see where Mei spent the first 10 months of her life. Keep us in your prayers tomorrow.

Also, we are trying to figure little Mei out. Even though she is 10 months old, it is like having a newborn in the sense that we don’t know what makes her tick, what works best for her. Like a newborn, it can be tiring.

Also, since the weather has been so bad, there is not much to do. Today we took to pushing her in a stroller up and down the hallway. Hopefully the next city will have better weather so we can get out more.

Well, that is about all I have to say about today in Nanchang. Tomorrow will be exciting! There will be more pictures then, I promise.

Good night.

Well, it’s 5:30 am here in very cold Nanchang! I bet this town is wonderful in the fall and spring, but wow…we caught it in the midst of a cold spell.

Mei and Jen are still asleep. Mei did great last night. She was a bit restless for the first half, but settled down for the rest. We will be getting ready soon so we can eat breakfast and be ready to leave by 8:30 for the trip to the orphanage.

We are very excited about going to the orphanage. I’m a bit nervous, but very excited. It is obvious from looking at Mei that they took great care of her. I hope we get to see her Nannies so they can see how good she is doing and that we are a great family.

Sorry if my post from last night seemed down. I didn’t mean for it to be. It just threw off what we had hoped to do by her going down so early, but like Jen said, if she wants to sleep, we let her sleep, we will worry about a schedule when we get home. She is right.

At the Super Happy Fun Go Go store, we found the cutest clothes in the world. They were very pricey, so we didn’t get them, but we may before we leave. By pricey I mean like $15 to $20. That may not seem like much, but we are trying to watch our funds. We paid all but two fees and have only our meals to pay for in Guangzhou, but I am not sure how easy it will be to access my accounts from here if I need more. I think it will be one of those things where the last day we will go on a spending spree as we will know exactly how much we need.

Due to the weak dollar and inflation, things are more expensive than we were told. There are lots of hidden costs such as tipping your guides and bus drivers and getting your laundry done. I was thinking we had access to a laundry center, like many hotels have where you can wash your clothes yourself. But what we actually have is a service that picks up our dirty and brings back our clean, all for a cost. We had a good bit washed for $15. Things like that just eat away at your money. But the good news is we unloaded almost all our fees to date. That makes me feel better walking around town now!

But, you should’ve seen the cute outfits! Yes, this is Mike writing this…I couldn’t help myself. Something tells me we will be back to buy Mei and Madi matching outfits.

Walking around town is an adventure. Poor Jen gets stared at the most because she is holding Mei. I’m not sure how the average Chinese person feels about Americans coming over to adopt. I guess many of the looks are just out of curiosity. Some of the people we come into contact with, may not see Americans very often, so they stare. The Moore’s have it worse. They both have blond hair and blue eyes and he is probably 6′-2″. They almost got mobbed at Wal-mart by curious onlookers!!!

Mei ate cereal mixed with formula from a spoon yesterday for lunch. That is the first time we have been able to get her to do that. We are thinking she has never had anything but bottles her entire life. A spoon or something in her mouth is just totally foreign to her. So it was good to have her eat from a spoon. We will probably just keep trying.

I’ll write more later.

We went to the store yesterday afternoon. I tell ya, it is a different world out there..

I’m sure you noticed all the mopeds and bikes there. People in China use them in tremendous numbers. How they aren’t run over in 10 minutes is a mystery to me. Somehow the traffic just flows. Kind of like water. The bikes/mopeds fill in the spaces between the cars and the busses. I need to get video of that.

This next video shows people staring at Jen in the store. It eventually grew almost comical. The Chinese in general love little babies and little Chinese babies being held by Americans is too much.

Finally, they have a lot of the same stuff here that they have back home, but it is just a little different. Take a bag of potato chips. I had to find “Classic American Flavor”..that meant just plain old chips back home, but here it is a flavor. There was also “Savory Pron Flavor” and the good old standby “Meat and Vegetable Flavor”

One of the funnier things I saw were their version of Moon Pies:

I wonder if I can get an RC Cola with that?

Today we went to the orphanage (Fengxin County SWI) where Mei spent the first 10 months of her life.

It is in Fengxin County, which is about 1:30 hours from here. Together with the Moore’s, we loaded into a small van for the trip to the orphanage.

It seemed to take longer, mainly because it was raining/sleeting and the roads were a mess. Once we got out of Nanchang, things picked up a bit.

We passed through very poor countryside. The houses and fields are what I would call dirt farmers. In fact, the side road we had to take to get to her city reminded me of south Georgia. Very rough road, farms and red clay.

Once we arrived, the orphanage director met us and we followed him to the orphanage.

Like most buildings here in China, only a few rooms have heat. The hallway was the same temperature as outside, but when we went into the room, it was warmer. It was probably 50 degrees in the room.

The room had about 15 to 20 little cribs in the center of the room. About 5 Nannies were standing around looking after the kids. When we walked into the room, two Nannies came running over to us. One pulled up Mei’s hat and said, “Yun Man!!!!” which is her Chinese name. The Nanny lifted her from Jen and just loved all over Mei. They did the same with the Moore’s baby. Here is some video of the moment:

And here are some pictures of Mei with the Nannies.

We got a chance to talk with the director. He answered what he could. They brought in a bag of clothes that had Mei’s name on it and said they were the clothes she was found in. They let us keep it. That was pretty cool.

Us and the Director

After that, he took us to where they found Mei. She was found at the gate of the local power company. It was in the middle of town on a busy street.

Where Mei was found

I am very glad we got to see her Nannies and where she was found. These will all be things she may want to know about as she gets older.

For lunch, the director treated us to a lunch at a local restaurant. It was the best food we’ve had since we’ve been here. No joke. The area is known for rice noodles and bamboo…both were wonderful! It was a nice lunch and the director asked us many questions about what we do for a living and where we live. I tried to explain what a pecan is, but they were clueless. Next time, someone remind me to bring a bag of pecans with me. I think he would have gotten a kick out of them.

It was a long day, but very worth it. Jen and Mei are sleeping now and I am heading that way myself. I hear we are doing more sightseeing tomorrow. I hope the weather breaks. We have not seen that sun since we have been in China.

Until next time, good night.

Yeah, so apparently we hit China right in the middle of a gripping cold wave. There have been reports all across the news here about ice storms and record snowfall. Luckily, we have escaped most of the ice…

That is…until today.

We woke up this morning to ice on cars and on our balcony. It was sleeting pretty hard when we boarded the bus at 9:30am for some local sightseeing.

I’m not quite sure why we decided to venture out into the frozen world, but we did. We visited a Buddhist Temple first. It confirms for me that the Chinese have some of the oddest art in the world. After we survived the Temple, we headed on over to some other religious pagoda/tower. We barely made it up the icy stairs and then across the frozen courtyard. What greeted us was about a 150′ tall tower.

Of course you know that the dads HAD to climb the darn thing. Bill (in the Army) took off first, with me quickly on his heels. Then on his shadow. Then on is voice. Then I had to stop. Then I got passed. Then I stopped again. Then I got passed again. Then I stopped again. Then I made it to the top…

It was a nice view and all, but I’m not sure my heart and lungs felt it was worth the effort.

Coming down was tough too, but only because the stairs were so steep and the railing was ice cold. See the title of this post.

Then they took us to a porcelain shop. I tell you what, if I had a way to ship the stuff back to the U.S. without it breaking, Mom and Nanna would have a few nice things. I thought about you guys, I really did, but it would have been prohibitively expensive to ship them and there would be no guarantee of their condition. But it was some pretty stuff.

For lunch we packed up Mei, grabbed some of our new comrades and hiked 1/2 mile to the local Pizza Hut! Yay Pizza Hut!!!

Jen had an honest to goodness Mochachino and slice of cheesecake. She was in heaven. We had pizza as well and it hit the spot.

Coming home was tough. It started sleeting on us and we were walking into the wind. The ice stung our cold faces and we had to watch out for ice on the sidewalk. We finally made it home and warmed up in the hotel room.

Mei took a late nap, as did Jen and I. I’ve got to stop taking such late naps. I woke up in a total stupor. I couldn’t keep my eyes open and my stomach hurt. I took me a good hour to snap out of it.

We had a special dinner up on the 8th floor tonight. Our guide must have heard us complain about the buffet, so he arranged a nice dinner. I could not eat and barely made it through dinner due to the after affects of my nap. I found a couch near the door, because they had the room temperature set to “Sun”. I played with Mei on the couch while Jen talked it up with the other moms. I think it was good for her to have some girl time. Mei smiled and played with our waitress girls, who talked and touched Mei to their hearts content.

We have an off day tomorrow. That is good and bad. Good in that we don’t have to get out in the nasty weather, but bad in that I am afraid the day will drag on. Monday and Tuesday will both be whirlwind days. Monday we fly to Guangzhou and Tuesday we have our medical appointment. The flight will be a dry run for bring Mei home on the 777 for 14 hours….

Welp, time for a hit of bottled water and then some sleep.

Later gators.

This guy is China’s version of Hank Hill:

UPDATE: Since Aimee doesn’t know who Hank Hill is….

Doesn’t
Know
Who
Hank
Hill
Is…

Here is a handy link.

Hi, I’m Huang Chang, I sell propane and propane accessories…

Jen and Mei on the bus

Even with two layers of warm clothes AND a full snow outfit, we STILL got disapproving looks from old Chinese ladies.

Jen tried actual baby food for lunch today: applesauce.

Mei almost ate a full 4 oz jar. We should have up to fighting weight soon.

Because of the weather, the airport here in Nanchang has been closed off and on for the past two days. We found out tonight from our guides that if the airport does not open up for our flight tomorrow afternoon, we will have to find another way to get to Guangzhou.

Since Chinese New Year is just around the corner, all the trains are full. That leaves a bus trip. A 20 hour bus trip…

20 hour bus trip…

With 8 babies…

On icy roads…

Please, please, please pray that the airport stays open and we can fly out tomorrow afternoon.

Yesterday (Sunday for us) we had an off day. Nothing was officially scheduled so we took the opportunity to get out and about.

It was still very cold (32) with a good wind, but it wasn’t sleeting anymore. However, everything was still very much frozen. We saw one lady slip and fall flat on her backside. I still cringe when I think about it. We had to be extra careful as we navigated down the streets.

Our friends, the Moore’s, went with us. We headed down to where the Pizza Hut is located because we saw a bunch of shops and thought there might be another restaurant.

We found several places to eat which were selling “food”, but nothing we cared to try. We walked a few blocks past the Pizza Hut and finally decided to give up.

So we ate at Pizza Hut again!

Once again the pizza was pretty good and we all ended up good and stuffed.

Heaven On A Plate

The funny thin is I don’t even like Pizza Hut back in the States, but here, it tastes great.

Now if I can just get my hands on a big, greasy hamburger….

We were talking yesterday about how sad it is how much our life revolves around food. The lack of familiar food can affect your mood. It’s really odd.

Anyway, the walk back was interrupted by shopping here and there. It sure felt good to be back in our room to thaw out. Oh, bonus points, we managed to avoid the Nanny Police today. I guess we had Mei bundled up enough for the old ladies.

But, we head to Guangzhou today and with it, food closer to my heart.

Next stop: Guangzhou…then home.

We miss everyone more than you can imagine, especially our wonderfully, awesome kids. Nathan, Charlie and Madi, we are coming home soon. I love you!

It is now raining. That is a good sign. It is warmer and it is raining. We just need it to stay warm until we can fly out of here.

We are heading to the airport at 2:30. Jen is finishing re-packing our bags.

Depending on how things go, you may not hear from us for quite some time. Hopefully, we will be in Guangzhou and at the White Swan by 9 pm tonight!

Keep on praying.

On a different note:

Thank you for all your comments. Even long lost friends have commented. It means a lot to Jen and I to know that you guys are praying for us and following our journey. I have not had the time to respond to most of the comments, but I look forward to sitting down at the computer to see who has commented. A familiar voice in the world. Thank you so much.

We are stuck in Nanchang.

The weather is terrible.

It started sleeting again and while the airport was open, they were putting stranded passengers ahead of others. We hung out at the airport for 2.5 hours only to find our flight was not leaving today.

The Moore’s

Plan B.

There is no Plan B…Ok, just kidding.

We are boarding a train tomorrow evening (6pm) for Guangzhou. Normally, it is a 12 hour train ride, but there are portions of the track that are out of service due to the storm. If, and this is a big IF, we make it to Guangzhou before noon on Wed. we should be able to make our Consulate appointment on Thursday.

However, if we are later or things do not work out, we will miss our appointment. At that point, I have no idea what we are supposed to do nor do I know if how badly we are screwed.

Liping wants us to call the U.S. Consulate tomorrow to see about getting a new appointment for Friday, but again, I’m not sure what will happen if we CAN’T get a new appointment.

They took us to a new hotel here in Nanchang. The roads are terrible. The full extent of the storm only became apparent once we left the city. The bus driver had to driver VERY slow, maybe 25mph. The bridges are iced and they have straw mats down to help drive across the bridges. Apparently they do not have any snow plows or salt/sand trucks and most of the clearing we have seen has been by hand.

For the moment we are ok. Jen is trying to put Mei down to sleep and then we will try to sleep some ourselves. But we are a bit scared/worried about what the next few days will hold for us.

Will we have to stay longer? How long? Can we reschedule our Consulate appointment? What do we do and how do we do it?

We have an email in to our agency asking the same questions. All the families are in the same boat. I’m sure somehow his whole thing will work out. It always see