Rocking Chairs

During our visit, I could not help but notice that Hannah's Hope is a bit short on seating, especially with parents like me milling around.  In the day-room for infants, where about six special mothers and up to ten parents hang out during feeding and nap time, they have two very old, very uncomfortable couches and two equally old, equally uncomfortable armchairs at one end of the room.

Outside, where we also spent a lot of time, there are only two or three lawn chairs. 

I finally asked whether we might bring a couple of rocking chairs in lieu of other donations on the request list.  While it made me sad every time a special mother offered her seat to me, I understand that chairs may have a lower priority than other needs, notwithstanding my personal sitting-on-the-ground wimpiness.  For some inexplicable reason, it made me happy to learn this morning that Almaz would love more rocking chairs.

I have since discovered that delivering chairs is easier said than done. In the "Things You Never Wondered but May Someday Need to Know" category:  most unassembled rocking chairs come in boxes with H+W+L dimensions well over the 62" allowed for standard checked luggage.  Also, most people do not care about the dimensions of the shipping box, so this information is not readily available. 

After over two hours of searching online and making telephone calls, I finally found this unassembled, small rocking chair in dark brown, with total box dimensions of 58" and a packed weight of just under 25 pounds:

I am still a little doubtful that the box diminensions are correct, but I called the customer service rep back twice to doubly-confirm...  Andy and I are now on a first-name basis, and two chairs are set to arrive by December 21. 

Please pray that the box size is correct and that the ticket agent waives the fee on two additional pieces of baggage.  Otherwise, we will have to leave something behind, which will not make me happy.

For those of you with upcoming trips, if you have room, another idea is to bring steel folding chairs.  Folding chairs would be handy because they are portable inside/outside for extra seating, easily stored, hold up well  under heavy use, and are generally packaged in boxes with total dimensions less than the 62" maximum. 

Off I go to repack, repack, and... repack again, in the hopes of paring down our current luggage situation and/or prioritizing tub contents so that we know which tubs to leave behind if we have to...  At least it keeps me busy while I wait!