12 Days Left!

Only 12 more days left -- and I'm not talking about Christmas!  Twelve days until we are on a plane on our way to China!  Aghhhh (that's the sound of excitement and unbelievable discombobulation)!   At this point, I am trying to figure out how I am going to get everything done before we leave.  Mainly, making sure that my oldest son Josh (18) is settled.  We have some good potential places, just hoping he will agree to them.   After that, everything else seems manageable.

I'm  stocking up on some things, such as toilet paper, paper towels, medications, vitamins and linens.  Although we may be able to find these items there, I have heard the quality may be different than what we are used to and some things such as medications, spices may be hard to find.  And even if you do find it, it could be much more expensive.  Rumor has it that a box of cold cereal could run anywhere from $8 to $15 (I will find out when we get there).  I was so happy to hear that I should be able to get white sugar (too heavy to carry on the plane).  I love to bake, but I also hear that baking is not common in China.  This might prove to be a good thing for my waistline, since baked goods call out to me like sirens to the sailors.   However, I'm taking a few spices, some "small" pans (ovens are about 16" wide) to increase my odds of being able to bake.  I say "bring it on!"

As part of our China experience, we are making sure that we get all recommended immunizations.  We are taking some pills for typhoid that must be kept in the fridge and taken every other day for a total of 4 pills.  The catch is you must drink it with 2 "full" glasses of water.  No problem, unless you don't like drinking a lot of water at once.  I only drink when I am thirsty.  This preference stems back to my high school years, when one of my teachers played a short film starring Brook Shields and Brook's glamorous recommendations for a beauty regime.  I was impressionable back then and tried to follow her suggestions to be beautiful, which included drinking 8 glasses of water every day along with using 5 million brush strokes to keep your hair silky.  If she could do it, I could do it, right?  Wrong!  All people are not created equal.  I don't know how some people do this, but unless I want to be chained to a restroom all day long, I cannot chug said "8 glasses of water."  Needless to say, I gave up all hope of being glamorously beautiful and resorted to drinking water when I felt like it.   Chugging down 2 glasses of water in one sitting today--  I used mind over matter.  I felt like a champion. Two down, two more to go.