We are here!

We arrived yesterday afternoon into Shanghai. The flight was long (very long) but uneventful. The kids were amazing. Especially considering that there were NO movies on the flight. The airplane had this fancy "Personal movie system" that unfortunately wasn't working. The kids read, slept and played. In fact, Josh and Tori fell asleep even before takeoff on our long flight. Then all of us slept the last part of the flight. We were met at the airport and the drive to Suzhou took almost 3 hours (rush hour). By the time we got here, everyone was tired but I was miserable. My head ached so bad that I felt nauseous. It reminded me of my migraine days. Since I had been the pillow for the girls during the flight, I got very little sleep. Thankfully, I am feeling better today with just a lingering headache. 

Last Post

Can you believe it? We leave in the morning! This is my last post in the U.S. Next time you hear from me will be in China. Crazy thought! Over the last 24 hours I wondered if we would get here. So, the washer overflowed last night. Our carpets will take about 3 days to dry out. Then this morning our large garage door broke. All these things combined to put us off schedule. In fact we didn't get done packing until after 1AM last night. When we left our house, Becca took about 10 minutes to say goodbye to all the rooms. Andy, Becca and I sat in her empty room staring at the flowers and butterflies on the walls and had ourselves a good cry. We all agreed that this has been a great house and we were going to miss it. Then we got to the hotel near the airport and the kids were so excited they couldn't get to sleep. The window by their bed overlooks the airport. Tori called out to me. "Mommy, I need to get down!" (She was sleeping on a reclining chair near one of the beds) I wondered why she was bothered. She said, "I need to be down THERE (looking out the window)!" When I asked her why, she told me that she needed to be down there on the plane not in bed. We talked and I think that I clarified the confusion, but with a 2 year old one never knows!

When it rains,

.... the washing machine pours forth. Well, at least that what happened at the Wilcoxen abode tonight. I had started washing a load of clothes and Andy went in to the laundry room on the way to the garage and he yelled. I came running because I thought he was hurt. It turns out that the washing machine never stopped filling, in fact it kept filling until there was almost a couple of inches of standing water on the floor. So, now we have someone drying out our carpets and the vinyl is going to need to be replaced in the laundry room and entryway. As if our stress level wasn't high enough! Okay, here comes my optimistic attitude -- at least we were here and the whole house wasn't flooded! Can you see all those fans and the dehumidifier in the picture? There is even a fan back in one of the bedrooms!

Bittersweet

Today has been a good and a hard day. I am excited because Andy's visa arrived yesterday! HOORAY!!! I won't be flying solo with the kiddos on their first overseas flight. But today has been hard because I think that it is really sinking in that I am not going to live in this city anymore. I was able to spend time with two women who are really dear to me today. I had coffee this afternoon with Angie and really enjoyed being able to talk. It was so hard to leave! I feel like this is a relationship that is just starting with a woman that I would love to know better and I am leaving. Then Andy and I had dinner with Doug and Lori, great friends of ours. They were the couple that we knew when we first moved to Indy (our only Indy friends at first). We have been friends through the addition of kids, job changes, and just all the life stuff. More than that, they were our extended family here in Indy. So, dear friends, know that we will miss you. More than I can express. While I do enjoy change in life, change in relationships are hard! I am crying (yet again) as I write. Somehow it seems to be the theme for my day. I think that we have been rushing through with so much to do that I have not had time to stop and feel. Today my emotions caught up to me and somehow I can't seem to stop crying.  What an emotional roller coaster! I think I just need to go to bed....

Weighing In

We have no more furniture!  I am so excited! Now our house is a little crazy and I am definitely done cooking in our house. Because we have no more pots, pans, dishes, and even little food left. Now that is left is to pack and cart the remaining things off to Goodwill. Our clothes are mostly packed. In fact, we have been living out of suitcase for a while (because we sold the dressers). We have several large suitcases and were concerned if they would be overweight (checked bags can weigh up to 50 pounds). So, we borrowed a scale from our friends to double check.

This bag weighed in at 39 pounds. Hey, there's room for more things!

Josh's loft

Our furniture is disappearing at an alarming rate. Yesterday the friends who had bought Josh's loft came to pick it up. We were a little concerned with how he was going to take this. I mean this is our little buddy who didn't want to leave his Colts room. So it was with great trepidation that I watched them cart it all away. How would he do? But Josh was smiling and fine! Later that night as prayed before bed, Josh thanked God that he got to sleep in his sleeping bag on the floor. After we were done, Becca wanted to know why she couldn't sleep on the floor. Probably the hardest thing for me (as far as our stuff goes) has been thinking of selling the kids furniture. Not because I have sentimental attachment to it, but because I wanted to provide consistency for our kiddos. They are showing me time and again that their sense of well-being doesn't come from the things around them. Wow, aren't kids amazing?!

Visa?

Well, I think that we have good news on the visa front. Andy talked with the visa service center and was told that his visa has been approved (hooray) and that it should be here Thursday or Friday. Call me a skeptic, but until I see it with my own eyes, I am not quite ready to rejoice. All day I have been gearing myself up to fly solo with the kids. So there will be some serious celebrating on my part (as well as Andy's), once/if the visa comes.