I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas

Greetings from the City of Brotherly Love where I've just attended my pre-travel meeting on Saturday. About 25 families were there -- about 15 planning to travel to the Jiangxi province (me included) and the other 10 or so planning to travel to the Guangdong province.

The room was filled with the pent up excitement of 25 families who had each waited 2 years (or more) to find out when they would get their little one. So mathematically there was at least 50 man-years of excitement filling that tiny, crowded (and very hot) room.

Everyone was waiting to hear when we would travel. Everyone wanted to hear December. Some had been told by their social worker or other members of the agency that -- if we got our referrals in early November -- they would try to get us in during December. That information had spread like wildfire through the internet world and everyone was hoping it was true.

Before the meeting, I talked to people sitting around me who had deferred any holiday planning in the hopes of being in China. Others who had horded all of their vacation time all year and were hoping to spend it on the trip that would forever change their lives. Others (like me) who had some personal and/or professional reasons why they wanted to complete this adoption before the end of 2007.

The woman who is in charge of travel stood in front of us. She began her speech in a halted, hesitant manner. She dropped the first bombshell -- the 2 travel groups will travel sequentially, not concurrently.

Energy started to leave the room. It would now be impossible for both travel groups to get to China in the month of December if they were travel sequentially.

She continued on and went into a long speech (well, it seemed long if you were sitting there) about all the steps that need to happen before we can lock down travel dates. She hemmed. She hawed. As someone sitting there, (and with no disrespect to that poor woman who was given the unenviable task of delivering this information) it sounded like, "Blah, blah. blah blah blah Blah blah."

I could only concentrate on One thing. Is my group the one more likely to go first? I have a 50-50 chance here. Late, late December may still be a possibility. Please say Jiangxi, please say Jiangxi.

I refocused on her words. She continued, "So the group more likely to travel first will be .... Guangdong. And it could be December, but it may be January."

Nothing takes the energy out of a room like telling a group of anxious parents who have already waited 2 years that they most likely need to wait 1 to 2 months more before they see their children. I'm happy for my Guangdong team mates, but I feel a little concern for them too. They still have the glimmer of hope that they will be in China in December -- but no guarantee. At least we Jiangxi folks know that January is our travel month.

I'm guessing that my travel dates will be either around Jan 5th through 19th -- if she gets the Guangdong group out in December or approximately January 17th through January 31st -- if she can't start them until after the new year.

The rest of the meeting was a blur. We were there for hours and hours more. We talked about travel to China. We wrote a lot of checks. We filled out lots of paperwork. We ate too many cookies and drank too much coffee.

I did get to meet a lot of people that I only had known through the cyber world. Really nice people. It's going to be a good travel group. I also met some folks who I had met in the cyberworld who are in the Guangdong group. Once again, very very nice people.

And I met some brand new people too. One very nice woman (who -- by the way -- has a Very beautiful baby) looked at Libby Doodle Doo's picture and said, "I know this baby. I've seen this baby. Oh my gosh -- You are Hen and Chicks!!!."

What a surreal experience for me. Several others (who I had communicated with before the meeting) commented on the blog and said nice things -- I'm blushing guys.

So it looks like Little Zo Peep and I can have a Hum-Dinger of a Christmas together -- Christmas decorations, trips to see Santa, tickets to the Nutcracker, etc. Our official Last one as a Duo. Now I can make plans with family, at work, with friends. I feel sad that Libby Doodle Doo will be spending the season a half a world away - but our time together will come soon.

. . .I just wish it were sooner.