This ain't no Disco...and it ain't no country club either...this is LA!

Well, it's been about 48 hours since we landed at LAX and boy, have we learned a bunch already!

1. In and Out Burger is all it is cracked up to be! (not that we're hard to please when it comes to food)

2. Many people here don't have air conditioner, which would lead you to believe that it doesn't get hot enough to really need it. That is not completely true. The air was not working correctly at the apartment when we got here, although at first we though it was just taking a while to cool down. By "bedtime", which is relative because our bodies and the clock are sending two very different messages right now, it was still around 80*. And if you know my husband, you know he does not do hot. Especially while sleeping, which I sometimes find hard to comprehend since he spent lots of summers living in a boy scout tent. I kept thinking it was punishment for not being at band camp. Either way, we reached out to our host and, as of yesterday evening,  there is a brand new AC unit and we are COOL! Hallelujah!

3. The traffic IS as crazy as everyone has said. We have learned to add a zero to the end of the # of miles and that's how long it'll take to get there AT LEAST. As an example, it took over an hour to get to Dr. Lewin's office, 16 miles away.

3. You should always take an extra set of clothes for each person when leaving the apartment. And baby wipes. Turns out that when Brynn keeps asking to put the windows down because she doesn't like the "new car smell", what she means is, "we're driving through lots of hills and curves and I'm going to puke now". Now Brynn has an awesome new "Earicles" shirt from Dr. Lewin's office to commemorate the occasion.

4. Dr. Lewin and all her staff are as wonderful as we were told they would be! It felt like we were coming to see old friends. And my (almost) daily phone call buddy, Sharyn, Dr. Lewin's care coordinator, was every bit as sweet and helpful in person as she has been on the phone.

5. It really is a small world, after all! We are leaving in about 10 minutes to walk down to the corner coffee shop to meet up with a friend from Bertie High who I haven't seen since I graduated 20 years ago! Crazy how much time has passed and that it took coming to LA to see her, but, as I said to her, we look forward to talking to someone who "speaks our language" and getting more of the real scoop on LA.

We walked around the block to CVS and saw this.

Clark with Dr. Lewin

Clark being silly with Sharyn

Santa Monica Pier- we are amazed to be on the beach, looking at mountains!

It's just like Baywatch!! All I need is a red one-piece...and LOTS of plastic surgery,,,or at least a few less In-N-Out burgers!

We weren't born to run, but Cali Here We Come

It's Monday night. THE Monday night that we've planned for and mentally previewed at least a few times. We catch the shuttle from the hotel at 5:45 am to make our 7:20 flight to LAX. Then just a few things to check off an ever dwindling list before Clark's medpor microtia repair surgery on Friday. (Priority one: In and Out Double-Double). Most people don't know this, but this trip has been almost three years in the making for us. I have said to several people that my anxiety level (although surprising low for the past 72 hrs.) will decrease exponentially once we are all through security and the head count still equals 5. No more, no less. I hope I wasn't lying. This is the first flight for all three girls, so of course we had to make it a semi-long (I know Oki friends, no biggie), 5 1/2 hour flight. They have enough to do in their carry-ons for a trans-continental, so let's hope that everybody is sufficiently entertained. It took a few minutes for the girls to grasp the concept of no Wi-Fi for multiple hours. ("So, what do we do?), so we downloaded a few Peppa Pig episodes for Clark and hooked her up with a mono-bud. Everyone else will have on their big girl (and one boy) panties.
My plan is to keep the blog updated during our trip, then post those to the Book. Not everyone that we know would like updates is on FB, so hopefully we are reaching a full audience this way. The other reason I wanted to blog this experience is to hopefully help a future family that may be taking this same journey, just like my NJ friend (who I've never met or spoken to, but hope to) Ed Kittings did for me with his blog "Ethan's Ear". I have read his posts over and over and have laughed, cried a little, but mostly laughed (with teary eyes, of course). There is no way I can hold a candle to Ed's blog, but maybe my type of message will speak to just the right family that needs it.
Some things I have learned so far:

1. The new checklist feature in Evernote is amazing (even when one of the 378 things on the packing list remains unchecked because you can't find the Airline rewards key card even though it's got to be SOMEWHERE! )
2. You can no longer get your renewed drivers' license at the DMV. It has to be mailed. And it takes 7-14 business days. In my case, exactly 12. As in, FINALLY at 2 pm today. 
3. If you lose your wallet, the best place to look is in your wife's glove box, because that was an absolutely logical place to put it 3 weeks ago. (Reaaalllyyy...?) Also see #2, in relation to replacements).
4. Losing your voice completely during the final preparation can prove to be challenging, but also helps to add a little humor (at my expense, of course) to what could have become meltdown mania. 
5. We are surrounded by a level of love and care by friends and family, near and far, that we cannot even begin to comprehend or fully appreciate, due to the sheer hysteria that it would cause. We literally would not be here, able to do what we are doing without this outpouring of support and love. People have given and given and given some more. And I'm not talking small beans here. I am talking the kind of giving that hurts, in a sacrificial way. Like, we were probably a part of some family budget meeting discussions giving. Folks we know that are doing without so we can do instead. Families that have known, or are in the heat of fighting, their own battles. Friends who have sacrificed their time to ask and listen, read and care. Friends who reminded me over and over "It will happen. It has to." when I doubted. Friends who have never once said, "Are you crazy?" (to our faces). And prayer after prayer after prayer. Christ's love and grace personified in a thousand different ways by hundreds of people. 
6. God's grace is truly sufficient. (This was just a review, not new material). I asked him to move a couple mountains and part a few seas, and, as always, he was right on time. 

We appreciate all continued prayers as we venture onward. Goodnight and see ya real soon!