My Parents, the Mules -- I Mean, Our First Visitors!

In about two weeks, my mom and dad will be coming to Beijing, where we'll spend a few days before heading off for a vacation in Vietnam. Scott will then return to China and I'll get some much-needed one on one time with my parents as we head to Nepal for a conference my dad is attending.

Our expat friends have told us their visiting relatives and friends become "mules", bringing as much stuff as possible that they miss so dearly. This is our first experience with it, and bless my parents' hearts, we're asking for a ton of stuff. Below, a list of the random things we've asked for. Fingers crossed all of it gets through customs!

Natural peanut butter. My sister bought us two giant jars, which we can't wait to devour. Skippy gets really old, really quickly.

Deodorant. They mainly have spray kinds here, which I can't stand and don't work that well. Thank goodness for U.S. value packs.

OTC medicine. I had a really bad cold about a month ago that I couldn't kick without antibiotics, partly because I still can't read Chinese and don't know what to ask for in the pharmacy. Mucinex and Claritin are on the list.

Coffee. I've already mentioned the void of good coffee here. When my mom told me she can bring over a giant bag of Dunkin' Donuts, I practically burst into tears.

Cat stuff. Sure there are pet stores here, but not with SSSCAT, a cat training aid that we desperately need to keep the kitties away from our plants and kitchen table.

Brands. Sometimes, you really just don't want to give up on that type of eyeliner that's been serving you well for so many years. In that vain, Chi hair smoother, Neutrogena men's face lotion, Loreal eyeliner and Garnier's anti-dark circle eye roller are on the list.

Sandals. With a lack of summer shoe shopping, I decided to order a pair of sandals on Zappos. My mom will cart them over and if they don't fit, she can return them once she's back in the U.S., because of Zappos' amazing 365-day return policy. Poor Scott; he thought maybe I could go half a year without buying a new pair of shoes. Sorry honey!

I've promised to make this up to my parents with a nice dinner and made the (excellent) point that the space filled with our stuff on the way over will leave space for souvenirs on the way back. So for anyone else thinking of visiting us: consider yourself warned! We may ask you to be our next mules :)