Red Ink and Ink Stamps

Our busy Wednesday begin before my Tuesday ended. I received a call from Steve at 2:00 a.m. telling me that the physicals that were needed in order to get our visa's were needed in China by Friday (that's Thursday Arkansas Time....for those keeping score at home). I had already made the appointments for the girls last week, but none for Mare and me. Mare was able to rouse me from a nice deep sleep at 8:20 (why is it that we sleep best when we least need to....) with a call from work. She informed me that she had appointments to have our physicals done at 9:00 a.m. No problem, except I had to download a medical form from the Chinese Embassy website (not there)... googled it... (still not there).... finally found it on a forum about Chinese travel requirements. So at 9:00 a.m. with Chinese Medical Forms in hand, Mare and I were at a new doctor's office completing new patient paperwork hoping to be finished by 10:15 a.m. so that I could meet the girls at their appointment and Mare could get back to work. (Thanks to my mom who helped get the girls there on time). After x-rays, ekg's, blood being drawn and a couple of personal questions concerning my mental health (I need to see if that was on the form or just because I am moving to China with my wife, 2 teenager girls and a four year old).... I made it to the girls Dr.'s appointment... only 1 minute late. The girls have a great Doctor.
My mom, the girls, and I finished a busy morning with a quick lunch at the Harrison's iconic resturant... Master Chef.... Mom took the girls to Wal Mart (LP and Aub scrounged change from the cushions of the sofa and from old pants pockets to buy more iTunes gift cards). I sit hear with heated up coffee listening to Christmas music wondering what have I got myself into......

~ Brad

Counting Down The Days

We have started counting down the days until be leave for China. We spent the weekend packing suitcases, seven,so far, and boxes. I am wondering how much space those spacesaver bags really saved us. We have turned mom and dad's camper into a staging/storage are for all of the items that we are taking/shipping to China. What a blessing they have been. Time has passed quickly and our time grows short. We are looking forward to leaving with a bittersweet anticipation. We have a very busy December coming up with, last days at work, family get togethers and holiday parties. We hope that you enjoy these posts as we try to convey our life through words, pictures, and sound. Feel free to leave us comments. Have a great day or night wherever you are.

- Brad