Chongqing, China

We arrived in Chongqing on Sunday, November 27, 2005. Our hotel was adequate since it didn't have coffee makers available to us and Vince had to improvise. The food was good until we all started to suffer from the MSG. The grocery store in the basement of the hotel had at least 20 different brands of MSG. The Sichuan cooking requires ample spoonfuls of MSG in everything. The best part of Sichuanese food is the pepper. It's fragrant and peppery hot. We had the Sichuan version of pizza, or flatbread, hot from the oven, from a street concession and it was wonderful. The noodles are very tasty too--see Vince's enthusiasum. Fortunately, none of us got sick.
Chongqing is a very modern city, although, it still doesn't have the metropolitan mix that Guangzhou or Shanghai have. It was interesting to see real Chinese life--not touristy. We enjoyed shopping at the the local grocery store and walking around the area by the hotel. The next day though, life would change forever. On Monday, we would finally meet Ruby.

Here's Ruby!

On Monday, November 27, 2005, we finally got to meet and take Ruby home. At 10 months, she's a healthy and very active 20-1/2 pounds. I recognized her right away. She definitely has the most hair. Throughout our trip, she got many comments about the amount of hair she has. In fact, its curly! Grandma was the first to get Ruby to smile.
The trip was amazing, as in the "Amazing Race" Door-to-door, it took us 3 airplanes and over 30 hours to get to Chongqing. We were very lucky that everything went smoothly on our travels.

The countdown...

Can you believe in one week we'll have Ruby in our arms? I can't. We leave in 4 days!!! I'm so busy, it's crazy. I can't believe I'm working tomorrow. I'm crazy. I suppose it'll be good to get my mind off of things...We're leaving in 4 days!!!
Ruby's room is nearly, almost, completely done. I've got to do some clean-up and get her crib ready, and to cat proof it. Daisy has been a real pest the past couple of weeks, and Ruby isn't even here yet! Vince hung the chandelier above the glider chair and it's wonderful to have the light for reading. He also put a dimmer on the light switch so we can create a sleepy mood in the room, along with the sounds of the crashing waves from my new soothing radio/CD player. The room should also be toasty warm this winter, since Vince crawled around under the house for 3 days putting in insulation under the floor. We're testing out the heat the next few nights. Did I tell you that we're leaving in 4 days yet? Oh yeah, I'll try to upload photos of Ruby's room the next few days...Really, I will...try...I will...
Check out that crazy hair!!!

Updated photo of Ruby!!!

I just got this updated photo of Ruby. It looks like she has a cold. Poor thing! We'll we've finally gotten the tickets are we are getting ready to go. We're leaving the day after Thanksgiving and returning Dec. 7. I'm anxious and excited and nervous and stressed out and dizzy and...

Oh my gosh!!!

We got our Consulate Appointment last evening!!! Sooner than I expected, obviously. Now, I'm researching plane tickets. We'll leave on Friday, November 25th and Ruby Annalee will be in our arms Monday, November 28th. Can you even believe this??? We'll be home, December 7th. Wowie!!!

One step closer...

We received notice that our Travel Approval was sent from China. That means that we can now try to get our consulate appointment at the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China. So, we wait, yet some more. As soon as we find out the consulate appointment date, we can set our travel arrangements.
So, to keep my sanity, I pack, and unpack, and stuff various items into ziplock bags, make lists, cross items off lists, and pack, and unpack some more...

I went to China on Tuesday...

Sandy met me at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on Tuesday. Yes, it's technically China. Anyway, we applied for our visa to enter China. Our tentative travel would be the week of Thanksgiving and coming back with Ruby around December 7th. We are still waiting for our Travel Approval from China so we cannot make any travel arrangements yet.
So here's the last of the referral photos of Ruby. Check back because we might get some more recent photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!