Last minute decisions

Thanks to my dear frequent flyer husband, I am flying first class on three of the four legs of this trip. Alas, on my final leg all the ff first class seats were taken - but I'm not complaining. The good thing about the Northwest Schedule is that I get to Beijing (if all goes according to schedule) at 9:20 pm, which means that when I get to Bethel I go to bed. This, combined with first class seats on the way there should cut down on jet lag problems, for sure.

Decision now come down to how to juggle things in my three pieces of luggage so that they are a manageable weight. I can take two 70-pounders, but probably couldn't get them off the conveyer belt - so forget that idea. Instead, I will try to keep my big Samsonite hard-shell fairly light, and will jostle toys, pieces of peg-board and plexiglass, ball containing bells and other games that are blind-friendly between two odd-shaped cardboard boxes. The rule: their total linear dimension (width plus depth plus height) can't exceed 62" on two pieces and 45" on the third. This became a logistical issue given the 24" square pieces of pegboard and plexiglass - but I have it down now. This involved cutting one box down, and making another.

Matthew claims that the security guys will cut my tape and thoroughly examine my scramble games and buzzing soccer ball - so be it. That is not my problem.

Getting close

Well, now that my younger daughter is a married lady:) and I have spent most of a week with my older daughter and her boyfriend in Palo Alto - it is time to get organized for China.

But first to finish my little story about "getting certified" to receive foreign students. Our school is now more than half way through the process, since we have had our "site visit" after completing our forms and paying the $580 fee. Mr. Feucht was very kind and helped me out when I stumbled on an answer or two - for which I was very grateful. Now we just have to wait for the powers that be to review our file (the pile of stuff we gave them to show that we are legitimate).

In the meantime, I will be working on scaring up $25,000 for her tuition - which is what it costs the State of Washington to provide special education for one year for a blind student at our school. I have a couple of leads already and have raised about $7000 so far - but please let me know if you have any ideas (or lose cash!). I have confidence that this money will appear if Li Qin is meant to be at our school for a year, which I believe to be the case:) All prayers for success gratefully accepted.

On a happy note, I got a comment on my last blog from Kim, who is going to Bethel with her husband and 2 older children to pick up Pei Fang, whom they are adopting. She is a doll an will find a loving home with Kim, Tony and their four beautiful biological children. They will be at Bethel at the same time as me, so we are very excited to meet each other after having communicated online.

Above you will see a photo of Li Qin participating in a cooking class.