Another post from Jason

So this is what a crack addict feels like…

Usually, the routine is, as soon as I wake up I call and talk/see my girls over the internet phone.

Well, today I awake to find out they are downtown, which in and of itself is a good thing. Let me take this moment to say just how proud I am of Shannon. To be willing to go to the other side of the world, in a world that is not only a cultural shock, but leaves a lot to be desired in the ways of translation. (Have Shannon tell you about trying to explain to a hotel staffer that the hair dryer works; the outlet does not) Anyway, Shannon is in another world, and is taking it all in stride. While over there, I never once feared for their safety, with the exception of one incredibly BONEHEADED move on my part one day…another story, another time. Therefore, the more they get out and experience the culture as it truly is, in my mind, is a good thing,

As I was saying, the usual routine is to wake and call and talk. Not happening today…at least not right now. So, I am forced to look back over the blog and try and appease my desire through still pictures. Well, that is about as effective as placing a band-aid on a wound that needs a tourniquet. I have heard/read so many accounts of people that are already transfixed by Halle-Grace and her magnetic personality. Let me just say this, you people haven’t got a clue! I am not going to carry on now like most parents about how instantaneously I fell in love with her as her father. This is a true fact, but it is not limited to just me as a father. Time and again, when we would be out complete strangers would come up and comment on Halle-Grace. There were times I chose to come back early because I was exhausted from the onslaught of her admirers, “oh she is such a beautiful baby,” “look at her eyes, she has such beautiful eyes,” and so on and so forth.

I look forward to being able to introduce all of our family and friends to her, for many reasons not the least of which means I get to be around her again. Actually, today marks one week since I left Vietnam. To say it has been a long week is an understatement. However, I look at it from the opposite perspective, I am one week out from seeing them again, one way or another that is. If we get approval and they are cleared to come home, fantastic, you folks will get a short notice invitation to a welcome home party that will rival New Year’s Eve bashes in New York City. Or, if we have not heard anything from the government by Wednesday, then I am flying back over…but like I said “addict” and you will do what you have to do to get your fix.

Jason