Have "New Bills," Ready to Travel

I know those of you who have adopted from China (or many other Asian countries) can appreciate this post. I got our New Bills today. They are now locked safe away until it's time to travel, and what a RELIEF to have them ready. (For those who have not experienced this, to put it simply, those of us traveling to China must bring brand new, PRISTINE U.S. money with us. The banks in China will scrutinize each bill and reject it if it is not 100% perfect (no folds, etc.) And, forget Traveler's Checks...not in China...)
Citizen's Bank ordered us our brand new 100s, and exchanged $40 into Chinese Yuan (for tipping, water, food, whatever, the night we arrive, before we are able to exchange our USD the next morning at a bank), and $75 into Hong Kong Dollars (basically, just for a meal before we leave to come back to the U.S.). I met with the branch manager and we took care of this in her office.
However, our IBM Credit Union (while they cannot order new money as they are not a commercial bank), let me know yesterday they had received $10,000 in 50 dollar bills in December - all brand new, never in circulation, and did we want some of those. Well...not $10,000 worth of course, but yes, we did want to bring 50s in addition to our 100s. So in I went today, told the receptionist who I was, and she said, "I know who you are. The head teller is out sick today but she emailed all of us telling us to expect you today." No sooner had she congratulated me on our upcoming adoption, then the bank manager appeared, escorted me to the a teller, soon joined by two others, who triple counted the bills. Let's just say it caused quite a scene. They talked about how the bills had never been in circulation before and the first teller to count them had trouble because the bills were so stiff and hard to separate.
And I must admit I'm a bit embarrased but I am laughing at what happened at the end of all this. It's a bit ironic that after responding to far too many rude, idiotic, and just totally inappropriate comments and questions the past few months about "it must be very expensive to adopt," "how much is it costing you exactly," etc. etc. ect., that as they finished counting the money out, one young teller said, "Oh you must be so excited to pay that money and have them hand over your baby." I looked up at her smiling from ear to ear, so excited for us, and I didn't even bother to explain what the bills are really for, I just looked at her and sweetly smiled, and said, "We are so excited to meet our son. Thanks so much for your help!" If she had been anyone else I think I would have used my line of, "Of course we are not buying a baby. You know that's illegal, don't you. These new bills are to exchange into Chinese yuan once we get to China to pay fees associated with adopting our son, such as a medical exam, his Visa, our guide, and a payment to the orphanage who has cared for him for 3 years and has many more children to care for now and in the future."
So, while we might not have our travel approval yet (heck, we don't even have our darn LOA yet, but we hear it's on its way), at least we do have our "New Money," and won't have to worry about that.