And then there were Flights!

At last, we have flights, we have hotels, we have organization...at least on the part of my itinerary! DEFINITELY NOT in my house!
I'm a little freaking out about being organized and ready at home, but at least all of my To China and In China travel plans & hotels are finalized! We fly to Guangzhou next week, stay one night in Guangzhou, then go to Guilin for 4 days to relax and have a little fun before the real excitement begins! Then back to Guangzhou the weekend after next, and we meet our children on March 9! I cannot wait!

I spent the last week booking tickets for both domestic & international flights. So far I've been impressed with the service I've gotten from Japan airlines. I called to book the "lap seat" back from China for Madeline, and they asked me, "Do you want baby food or baby meal?" Huh? So I asked, what's the difference? They said, "baby food is for babies up to 9 months, baby meal is up to 2 years." Okay, so I went for "baby food". Actually I thought, uh, I'll have formula and snacks, won't I?? But that's okay, if they are offering it, I'm accepting it! Then they said, "and one paper diaper..." I said, 'Oh, it's okay, I don't think I'll need one..." (again, isn't it my responsibility to pack enough diapers?) So we were talking a bit more and he said again, "and one paper diaper?" I said again, No, no worries, we don't need one. So about an hour or two later they call back for a few missed points, and one of which is "do you need a paper diaper?" So finally I relented and said, yes, okay, a paper diaper. After all, I'm paying $211 for the joy of holding my child for a 14 hour flight, I might as well get a free paper diaper out of the deal along with the "baby food!"

In other news- Jeremy is taking care of my Kitty while I am in China. We started introducing his two kitties (1 year old) to my Kitty (8 years old) last Friday and it's been...interesting. We've kept them separated for the first 3 days, then started to let them see each other and now we are letting them wander around the house at the same time while we are here. Right now Josie is very curious and wanting to see everything, but Cato & Clouseau are very anxious and hissing a lot. The problem is Josie has a very LOUD MEOW. So He meows, they think he is grumbling at them (he probably is), so they hiss, he meows in response, they hiss....just a little back and forth conversation like that. No one has been too aggressive- Clouseau has made one or two times like he's GOING to be aggressive, but so far okay. Just lots of standoffish behaviour and hissing. When we checked the Humane Society paperwork for their tips on introducing cats we found a line that said "it would be inappropriate and rare for a fight to occur..." Uh....do we really think that cats care what is appropriate or inappropriate????!

Let the 7 day countdown begin!