OOPS! Waitaminit, the Wayback Machine is jumping around... it's picking its own date... and we just landed back in MAY of 2010 -- specifically Monday, May 17th. (Darn machine is smarter than I am sometimes!) This is one of the days we've all been looking forward to: it's time for AJ and I to formally apply for our travel visas at the Chinese consulate! Knowing how crazy parking can be downtown, Mom & Dad drive us in, and then spend some together time at a nearby eatery. Meanwhile, AJ and I nervously find the correct waiting room -- the correct crowded waiting room! -- and settle in. There's a cluster of big TVs on the ceiling in the center of the room that are playing a thoroughly ridiculous "Chinese for English Speakers" show (I could practically hear the director in the background shouting, "EMOTE! EMOTE!" to the actors), and every now & then another person will finish their business as the bank-style windows set into one wall of the room and leave, sloooowly bringing our turn closer.
It's finally my turn (long after I had given up on actually learning anything from the TVs, which had now changed to other programming) and nearly melt into my shoes when the polite but ultra-businesslike young woman behind the glass goes through all the IDs and papers and passport and such only to tell me that she also needs a photocopy of the ID pages from my passport -- a photocopy that neither AJ nor I knew we needed. She points to a copy machine near the entrance to the room and says I can use that (an absolute lifesafter, since otherwise we would've had to leave and then come back another day), so my equally-shaken sister and I drop some quarters into the machine and return to the windows with the requisite copies. As my papers are again being reviewed (apparently just in case I had swapped identities with someone else in the room while desperately telling the copier to work faster), I notice that a LOT of people are being sent to the copier because no one, it seems, knew they needed one more copy of their passport as part of the process. Eventually everything is stamped and initialed and noted and whatever else had to be done, and the young woman tells me to come back on Thursday to pick up my passport and visa.
I meet up with AJ near the exit and we're all good... and as we leave I notice that the copier has run out of paper with several desperate visa-seekers left high and dry due to a lack of the passport copies no one knew were necessary. (I still think about those people from time to time... I hope y'all got through the process, whoever you are!) We call our folks with a cellphone and wait outside until they are able to drive up to the building, and head home with fingers, toes, and eyes crossed that all will be OK. We return on Thursday and, after a shockingly short stay in the same room, are driving home with passports in hand, each with a shiny new Chinese tourist visa glued firmly inside. (This is when we also realized AJ had the old-style passport and I had the newer chipped version, leaving her feeling jealous, which I remember finding hilarious. Such is sibling life.)
Okay, NOW we can jump to Sunday, June 6th, 2010 -- and AJ's first baby shower, organized by one of the other moms-in-waiting. (She eventually had three: this one, with our MIT group; another organized by a friend & featuring longtime family friends; and a much later 3rd, organized by some of the staff at her job.) It was a lot of fun, with a lot of smiles & laughter (and a few tears here & there), and everyone had a great time... but I'll let some photos do most of the speaking...
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| Panda cupcakes! |
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| AJ got some help from Miri's future friends |
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| AJ had so much trouble getting fingerprinted, she got a do-it-yourself kit! |
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| More help from one of Miri's future BFFs |
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| Sporting the latest in hair accessories... |
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| "I'd better learn how to sort these things out...!" |
Oh, I almost forgot... While all the final preparations to complete the Pipsqueak's adoption were going on, one day Mom noticed a little kitten meowing through the screen of the open back door. She took it in, fed it (very well, I might add), and she & Dad took the little furball to a local shelter. Once there, they were told that if no one claimed the kitten after 30 days, it would probably be euthanized so they claimed the kitten as theirs... so of course the little guy got very ill and needed all kinds of special care, but eventually it all worked out and our folks adopted a cat. (We still joke that they were just practicing for July.) And that is how Tigger joined the family...
So now let's jump forward just a bit and take the Wayback Machine to Sunday, June 13th -- AJ's second baby shower! This one was organized by one of AJ's neighbors (also a good family friend), and featured a lot of longtime friends that in some cases we'd known since they were all together in 2nd grade. Again, I'll let the photos do most of the talking...
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| One of many, many, "Aww, cute!" moments |
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| Taking a photo of me taking a photo of her taking a photo of... |
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| One of our friends is very good with origami |
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| "Mother" in simplified Chinese characters |
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| Grandma-to-Be enjoying the festivities |
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| The last family photo in which there are just 4 of us! |
There's one more photo from this happy day which kept us very grounded... For several months, we had noticed that Midnight, AJ's oldest cat, was declining in health. The word from the vet was that she was really an old lady and that what could be done for her was increasingly limited, and AJ was growing increasingly worried that she'd come home from China with her new daughter only to learn one of her beloved pets had died while she was away. We came home from the baby shower to find Midnight again not doing very well, but she managed to get up onto the couch and cuddled with AJ for a while.
I snapped a couple of photos, which turned out to be the last I ever took of AJ's "California cat" (she was absolutely the most laid back, zen animal we'd ever shared a home with). We lost poor Middie just a few days later, despite a truly heroic attempt by the staff of the veterinary hospital. Despite the tears, we all felt some (guilty) relief; all our emotional paths were now clear for the amazing change that was about to happen to the family.
And there it is, a look back 10 years into the past. And today? Well, today we're celebrating the end of 5th grade and Miri's "graduation" into middle school. The last few online sessions and assignments are (thankfully) done, all her work has been submitted, and earlier today she & AJ were able to return to the school to pick up all the things that had to be left in Miri's cubby (they don't have lockers in this school) back when everyone thought schools would just be closed for a couple of weeks. As I type this, she's (very carefully) spending some time with friends and I'm getting ready to head over to Mom & Dad's where we'll all have a celebratory dinner this evening. (She's also going to get a couple of birthday presents a little early to help celebrate -- my niece has become a major-league fan of history books & historic fiction novels and requested several that she doesn't know we've bought for her.)
Looking forward... Well, how does "oy vey" sound? Miri may participate in some summer school classes (online, of course) that the county is recommending for everyone to help fill in some of the blanks left by the sudden shift out of physical classrooms into the virtual realm. We know what school she'll be attending, and AJ already attended a special event there so we know the curriculum, what classes Miri will be taking, and all kinds of general "need to know" and "nice to know" stuff. The problem is that literally no one in the county knows if school will open as usual, if the system will continue with online learning and/or to what degree, and if actual physical attendance at school will be 5 days a week, every other day, every other week, or some other schedule. Meanwhile, Miri is somewhat aware of all the unrest & protests and what it's all about, which (of course) is bothering her; is feeling unsure of what next season will hold for dance classes & the dance team now that this heavily-shortened season has ended; and is quietly stressing over the change from the elementary school she's been attending most of her life to another, much larger, school she's unfamiliar with. You know, all that "growing up in unsure times" jazz that we all love and appreciate as adults and that kids just shy of their 11th birthday don't really have all the tools they need to deal with yet.... <sigh>
On the other hand, the nearly bald, scrawny baby we still hadn't gotten to meet in person 10 years ago is turning into a strong-willed but caring & empathic girl with an old soul and inner strength that never fails to impress Yours Truly. Equally importantly, she knows we've got her back and will support her to the best of our ability no matter what, and draws even more strength from that knowledge. (I'm not just saying this; she has told me this herself several times, often seemingly out of the blue.)
And on that hopeful note, I will close out this (long!) post and start preparing for the next... because ten years ago, a lot was happening at a pace that increased daily. I'll see y'all again real soon... 
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