From Zebras to Plug Ins

Grab a cup of coffee and a comfy chair, this is a long one...

So, since my last contact with our case worker, I've been inspired to get to work on travel and baby boy stuff. I'm crossing things off my list (yeah!) and finding that I'm adding new things daily. It's like a perpetual list from hell at this point. It seems to grow every day even though I'm marking stuff off. I'm beginning to wonder if I've overestimated my skills...

First, I finally got around to painting Kennedi's bookcase that has been sitting in her room with only primer on it for a year now. Poor girl, I had big plans to decorate it pink, purple, and silver. Now it will be an accessory for the little boy, so on a whim I painted it the other day with zebra stripes. Kennedi told me she did not like the black. She doesn't know that her time with this bookcase is limited. As I was finishing it up last night, I realized that the nursery bedding that I was planning to reuse was going to be minuscule at best. The window treatments don't match with

the windows in the bedroom, and he'll be too big to use the bumper pad. The only thing I'll be able to use is the bed skirt and lamp shade (which I made while staying at the Ronald McDonald House while Annsley was in NICU). I paid way too much for this dragonfly/ladybug crib bedding when I was pregnant with Annsley. It was my first baby purchase and of course, I justified it by going gender neutral and deciding then that I would use it for all my children. So far, so good until last night. My whole idea in going with the zebra stripe on the bookcase was really planning ahead to his toddler room. It certainly doesn't go with the nursery bedding, but I was just going to transition it into a jungle theme later on, and then I realized how futile my attempts were going to be at using this bedding, I became inspired last night to go ahead and do the whole jungle theme now. So, I've got material ordered to make the bed skirt and roman shade. Just call me Suzy Sews-A lot. My sewing skills are just enough that I can sew a pretty mean straight seam, but don't ask me to create a wardrobe. I spend more time trying to understand the pattern and usually just improvise on my own to get something finished. And, I'm not too proud to use glue. So far, nothing has fallen apart...

We also have luggage on its way. I was in a quandary about this for many days. I knew we needed some bigger pieces than what we already own, but I didn't want to fork over the money for some large luggage that will not be utilized for the most part after this trip. I didn't want to ask to borrow any one's suitcases in case they were either torn up or some Russian guy at the airport baggage claim decided he needed it worse than we did. Doug finally helped me make my decision when he said, "Hey, all I need is that backpack and my duffel bag. I can pack a lot of stuff in there." I guess he thinks he's MacGyver or something, but it helped me decided on what to order, and two bags with wheels are coming. I also ordered a wheeled carry on for me. I'm figuring wheels are going to be my friend. Being novice international travelers, I purchased luggage locks and luggage tags. Who knows if they are really needed? I refused to pay $10 for a piece of plastic--no matter how cute it might have been--so I'm making my own tags out of some kind of self laminating kit. We'll see... Also coming is a luggage scale. It was on clearance for $6, and I figured it was better than me holding this giant sized bag and balancing myself on the scale while having my 6 year old try to read to weight and having faith that she read it correctly. We have a 50 pound limit for US flights but only 44 pounds in Russia from what I've read. I've also ordered a $12 tote from Ebags. It's University of Texas orange, (probably why it was on clearance) but it has lots of pockets, and zippers, and I figure it can double as a diaper bag in trip #2.

The adapters arrived yesterday. Call me paranoid, but I had a much better feeling about ordering them from a company that specializes in international electric issues rather than buying the adapter at Target. I bought the Russia adapter pack with grounded and ungrounded adapters and I got a nice little blue fake suede carrying case with it all for less than $23 including shipping. http://www.international-electrical-supplies.com/russia-plug-adapters.html As far as the voltage situation goes, I found out on this electrical website that most electronics are dual voltage, and you could ruin these things by using a step down voltage converter. I've already checked our stuff, and they are all dual voltage, so the only thing I would need a converter for would be my for my vanity--the hair dryer. The dryer I use is not dual voltage, so I would need a converter for it. The website actually recommends buying a dual voltage appliance rather than the converter, so I'll go that route. It is cheaper anyway, and besides, I've read stories from many many people who have used a voltage converter and it melted their curling irons or fried their hair. Maybe they used the value converter at the local Walmart but nevertheless, I shall not take my chances. I figure I'll be stressing out enough being in a foreign country that I don't need to freak out about my hair dryer "getting too hot to handle!"