The Prepping Whirlwind

When I was in 8th grade I took a 4-day trip to Washington, DC with about 40 other kids from my area. It was my first trip without my parents and I was excited and nervous. I wanted to be sure I thought through every last detail. I made my packing list months in advance. I actually started packing three weeks in advance. For 4 days in DC. I had shoes and jewelry sprawled all over my room. Not that I didn't all the time. But this time was for packing purposes. I even planned a bunch of in-flight activities for myself for my 2 hour flight. I wrapped magazines in gift wrap so I wouldn't be tempted to read them in advance. Everything was meticulously planned. 

Well. 

Eighth grade me would pass out cold about the preparations that have gone into this trip. I was so nervous to get my hopes up to meet my son that I packed and planned approximately zero things prior to getting our phone call. And wouldn't you know the phone call would come on a busy work day with no time to start planning. 

And, oh yeah, it would come two days before the actual trip. The trip that spans 2 days just to get there. Take note, adoptive families. Go ahead and gather donations and prepack. Or don't. Just know if you don't you'll be in a frenzy. But you'll live. 

Oh 8th grade Jess would be crying on her pink carpet. She just wouldn't deal well. 

I am thankful for growth in my life. E and I started making purchases and combing lists on Wednesday evening. I hit my work to-do list hard on Thursday. 

And you, dear friends, arrived at our home and workplace with so very many donations on such little notice. Thank you!!

At 9pm last night, our floor looked like this:

To clarify, our ENTIRE floor and every surface looked like that. But magically we stuffed everything into bags, weighed said bags, rearranged, and repacked a final time. At 11 we started to pack actual clothes for our own bodies. And by 1am we were in our beds. 

In time to hear our 4:30 alarm. 

What I'm trying to say is coffee at HyVee has never been so delicious. 

We arrived, parked, checked in, got made fun of for our luggage, explained it was all donations and made people feel guilty for making fun of us, got through security, and sat down at our gate about 1.5 hours before our flight. 

We took this cute picture:

And then I checked my email and realized our flight was delayed. 

We are having a lovely airport date just the two of us (and all the other travelers) and are hoping we won't be delayed any further on this trip. But we aren't banking on it. 

We are so close to meeting our son we can hardly stand it. And no amount of packing, lack of sleep, or airport delays can take that away from us. 

We're coming, buddy. And we're as weird as we appear in all our photo albums. Get ready.