"Please be seated..."

Interesting day… and pretty funny, too!

Started out earlier than normal as I had to get showered up and clean at a decent hour so I could be ready for Han when he got finished dropping Curt off at work… While I was waiting in between I ate some breakfast and chatted online with folks, including Ashley who proceeded to tell me that she had caught a video of Cade “talking” to me on his little fake toy laptop earlier that day… I thought my heart would literally burst with joy, I just thought it was so precious!!! (I still want that video, by the way, Ash!), and then when I talked to her and the boys on Skype (we do a combo of IM and Skype mostly), I got to watch the boys play basketball in the kitchen – both are very good, and then they showed me how they “talk” to me on their laptop, and I also got to see Cade talk to Nana, too, which was sweet…

Then Han was here so I had to run, and was prepped for a horrendous morning as Curt said getting my health check at the International Center for Exit and Entry for Health (or whatever it’s called) took him like 3 hours… so I brought a book, and off we went! Curt had told me to bring Han in with me to help because he had to fax something over that he forgot, so me and Han went in, I had my passport, passport photos, a TON of cash because it costs lots of money, etc. I filled out the proper form, and Han was busy chatting about the fax, got my picture taken via webcam, and then sat to wait…

Han motioned me back over and they gave me a ton of stuff – papers, a box, etc (I wasn’t sure at the time what the box was for – was thinking it was some sort of receptacle to pee in or something, but turns out it was a gift I guess they give everyone – a handy dandy first aid kit)! Then Han motioned me through a door and hallway and said something I didn’t understand, so hands full, I started walking… the hallway was long with many doors, so I walked about halfway and came back out looking lost, so he came back with me and led me down a corridor (he didn’t know where he was going, he just had a better idea than me of what to look for) and then we went through a door that opened up to another waiting room… this waiting room had like 8 different doors off of it, each labeled above the door for its purpose… turns out I was to hop from room to room, where in each there was a Chinese person waiting for people to come in. So here’s what I had to do (all in separate rooms): Get my blood drawn (saw them get the disposable needle out of the plastic, this was my biggest fear so good there), get an X-ray (the guy gently contorted my body around this plate to get the shot, hilarious), get an ultrasound (the first in my life, cold jelly on the tummy, behind a very thin curtain where people could just walk in?!), an EKG (also interesting, had to lift up my shirt AND my bra so they could plug me up, and clamp things on my legs and arms – keep in mind I am just chanting, trust the process, trust the process, lots of people have to get this done, I’m sure they’re professional, etc.), a dentist check (easy), and eye check (easy and I was complimented on my excellent eye sight – yea!), height and weight on some weird contraption that I was unfamiliar with (and because I was looking at it funny I got reprimanded to hold still!), blood pressure, and a couple other things I feel that I’m forgetting… in each place Han had my form, handed it to the person, I tried hard to follow directions, they did their thing, stamped my form and handed it to Han, gave him directions on where to take me next, and I was literally like a poor little calf being herded from room to room… I was literally LAUGHING OUT LOUD at one point as to how completely comical this all was… but oh my gosh I was SO thankful for Han shuffling me in and out of these rooms… like an IDIOT I totally would have waited for each person to call on me and then would have gone back to the central area to wait some more… so instead of taking 3 hours, it took us maybe 35 minutes?! Whoop! Han even helped me to land a copy of my passport which I didn’t know I needed which he did so easily, that I knew if it had just been me would have taken forever, cost me money, etc. Yea for our great driver!

Since we were SO far ahead of schedule when we were leaving I asked Han to take me to a shoe place since Vicki decided the shoes I had to wear for Sylvia’s shindig in NYC were not “hot enough,” so I drew a high heel for Han, pointed to my own tennis shoe, and asked where I could buy like the ones in the picture? He understood, and asked about Times Square which is an upscale shopping place a few miles from our house, and I said sure, I didn’t know, so we went there! He took me right to the door of a department store that I hadn’t been to yet, I told him I would try to be quick, and spent about 30 minutes looking for a satisfactory pair of shoes within my price range… I did find a really cute pair (Guess?) but they were about $110 US dollars, so I decided to wait until later that evening when we were going to go to Bar Street for dinner (they have lots of cute shopping there, and I figured for cheaper?).

So then Han took me home, I talked to Ash a bit more, ate some lunch (an amazing PB&J) then started to do stuff around the house – dishes, laundry, then packing!

Then I went over to Ono and got my nails repainted (THIS time a pretty dark purple with very subtle sparkles that shimmer in the light), so that took awhile, and then home… Curt got home a few minutes later and Han took us to Bar Street and then we sent him home… after about 30 minutes we finally found me a pair of VERY cute shoes that were about $50 US dollars, so much more reasonable, even though not cheap, but I love them more than the other ones so it was a good buy…

Then we headed to Mario’s for dinner since it’s my last night, had a yummy meal, and now home where I’m writing this and Curt is having a meeting in the living room!

So a great day, and really excited for NYC even though I’m NOT excited about my full day of traveling tomorrow, PLUS my flight… ugh… be thinking of me!

Love,