Leaving on a Jet Plane

Good news!

Two enormous pieces of the puzzle to return home came together this afternoon. Molly got a thumbs up to fly around 2 p.m. from our favorite doctor. Her lungs are still crackling a wee bit but sound so much better than yesterday. We've got an inhaler/puffer for her during the flight and Actifed to keep her comfortable.

And then after days of being on the wait list, we got three seats confirmed this afternoon to fly out tonight. We're not all sitting together, at the moment, but I'm hoping someone will take pity on us and let our happy family fly together. We're grateful to be flying out tonight because it doesn't like we'd get seats again til Tuesday. I am glad we can all rise to the occasion to be spontaneous. You've never seen two people organize the troops and pack so quickly.

So a very quick farewell to Hanoi. I need to hop in the shower before we embark on our 30 hour journey home. I'm just hoping that someone will be on the other end to pick us up when we get to Washington.

We're sad to leave our new friends here who haven't heard from the embassy yet. Meeting them has been an unanticipated bonus of this whole experience. We've vowed to stay in touch so that our babies can be in contact over the years, having shared similar stories and possibly even the same crib. These little infants are as close to family as they've ever known.

To all of you who prayed for Molly, thanks! She's definitely on the mend and we can't wait for you to meet her.

The oddest thing I saw today: Some dude on a motorbike carry five globes in big boxes tied together with twine. He has the whole world in his hands.

My favorite absurd observation of the day: The stratospheres of wealth in Vietnam are enormous and go from the tippy top to the bottom. There's something for everyone and the Vietnamese are very industrious people. Take, for example, the guy on the street corner who fixes flat tires. One could easily walk by him and think "oh, he's just napping on the sidewalk." But really, if someone on a bicycle needs to get a flat tire fixed or a few bursts of air inflated in their tire for good measure, this is the man to see. You will recognize him because he has an old-fashioned bicycle pump and a dirty plastic dish of water (to find out where the leaks are.) I wonder if AAA covers his services.

Tom's yelling at me from the other room to get moving. Max needs to get dressed and we have to wake Molly up.
May our travels be blessed with safety and ease.

More later.