Countdown Begins

6 days from now, A and I will be sitting in the airport waiting to board the plane to Vietnam. I am starting to get butterflies and nerves. We started packing yesterday and got most of the boy's stuff packed. I decided to take two large (but not huge) suitcases, one small pilot's bag as a carry-on and A has his backpack and I will have a tote. One suitcase has all the boy's stuff and it isn't crammed, full, but not crammed so there should be room if we buy stuff in Vietnam. My case is almost empty, but it won't take me long to finish packing. Got some clothes for Dat, toys for the boys to play with, books for A to read, picked up a couple of DS games for the airplane, but they have been opened and played with already (lol). A's task today is to find all the games so we can pack them to take. Got a new cord for the DVD player so that can be charged and packed, got some snacks for the plane and some 'comfort food' for my picky eater so there will be something for him to eat if he doesn't like Vietnamese food. Girls are good to go, they will pack later in the week, K will be coming home every couple of days to clean litter boxes and make sure the cats have water and food. Old cat will be going to vet to be boarded as he needs meds every day and special food, dogs are set to go to the kennel. Bills are paid or scheduled. Can't find my plug adapters so I may have to buy new ones and I want to get a 2 gig memory card for my camera - i have been using a 521 mbyte card for years so I think it is time to upgrade.

So, I think I am well on my way to be ready, however, it never ceases to amaze me how different this adoption is from my earlier ones. I don't know how much is the difference between China and Vietnamese adoption and how much is agency oddities but I do not know how much money I will need to have for Dat's passport, Visa or medical for the Visa. I don't know if this money needs to be in American dollars or Vietnamese money. I don't know if I am supposed to buy stuff here for orphanage donations/gifts to nannies or buy it over there. I don't know how many people I am supposed to buy for either. I know none of this is earth-shaking, but it would be nice to know what I am supposed to do. It seems odd to buy gifts for the nannies in country, I was told that the Chinese nannies always wanted American stuff. I will probably pick up a few toiletry gift bags to take just in case. This is going to be "adoption on a budget", more-so than any of the others were so it would be so nice to know what I am expected to take and how much I need.