Sleepy!

What' s up with the 5:3o revelie? Gracie thinks if the sun comes up she should be up... glad we don't live in Alaska! This kid is full of energy at 5:30 and won't give in until we are up and playing with her. Yaaaa! I'm so tired. This morning she decided to take an 8:15 nap.... wonder how long that will last? One thing is for sure, she won't sleep at her regular naptime and will most definitely spoil our shopping plans for the afternoon. Such is life... she is in control for sure!

Service with a smile!

I have had this pair of cropped pants with a big hole in the crotch that has been there for several months, well since last summer actually. Anyway, the other day I loaded Gracie up in the stroller and she and I went to the dry cleaner. I thought I might be able to get my pants sewn too. Sure enough I came across a set of tailors who had set up shop in an alley between our place and where I was going. I stopped and showed her where the seam had busted and left my pants there for her to repair. On my way home I stopped by to pick them up and they were good as new. Quick service with a smile - and all that for 5 mao... oh that is the equivilent to about 7 cents. Can't beat that deal!

An Amazing Testimony

Crash = Death
That is what the Chinese think of when they think of traffic accidents. You would just have to experience the traffic here to understand why they think this way. I, by the way, agree with them.

My friend came over this morning and told me an amazing testimony. She was riding her bicycle on her way to work, I think after lunch, and was hit by a bus in an intersection that didn't have any traffic lights. She said she thought she was dying at that moment when she realized she couldn't avoid the accident. Both her and the bus driver applied the brakes, but it was too late. She was thrown to the ground and even hit her head.

To everyones amazement she stood up and seemed to be unscathed. She began to praise the Lord because she knew He had saved her, and the collegues that were with her even acknowledged that her God should be given thanks.

The bus driver wanted to take her to the hospital but she said she felt fine. Her friends persuaded her to go in the case that she might really have injuries that weren't visible. She went and had a CT scan and everything was fine. The bus driver then took her back to her office.

When they arrived at her office her collegues began to berate the man and demand he give my friend 200 yuan as compensation. She said she didn't want it - she was ok. Her collegues continued to blame the man and ushered my friend to her office area so that she could not return the money. (This is a common occurance in China - and sometimes in an accident the guilty party will flee to escape demands for compensation. People often fake injury just to get money.)

After work she called the driver and talked to his wife. She told them she did not feel comfotable taking their money and wanted to return it. The wife was moved and said she wasn't like most people. My friend suggested that the lady call her when she had time and maybe they could get together and even become friends. The lady agreed. Today my friend is having lunch with the man who potentially could have killed her, thankfully her life was not in his hands. NO - indeed her life is in the Lord's hands. As a result of all this my friend had an awesome opportunity to be salt and light to the world around her.

Chinese Flavor

People often ask me if I can cook Chinese food. Well I think I can, and although I don't use as much oil or salt I think it usually turns out pretty edible. I just thought I would post a photo to prove that yes. indeed, I can cook Chinese food Chinese style.

Here is one of our favorites: Green peppers with black bean sauce
Also being served is carrots with red peppers and garlic, and of course a bowl of rice.
This was our lunch today! Yummy!

I'm pooped

This has been a long week and its only half over.

Matt went out of town to visit with some friends and Gracie and I have been hanging tough for 4 days now. I'm so tired; it's only 9pm and I feel like I'm about to pass out.

I thought I'd be snuggled up next to my sweetie on the couch tonight watching some downloaded show from the States, but he missed his plane so he's hanging out in the airport waiting for the next flight and I'm playing around on the computer. What a bummer. I feel bad for him though, after rushing to catch a ferry in HK only to find out there wasn't actually a ferry leaving at the time he desired, he hopped a train then waited in immigration and customs lines forever, only to be ripped off by a taxi driver who got him to the airport about 20 minutes too late. To top it off he lost one of his packages... a gift for Gracie. So after an already tiring week Matt will come in around midnight and of course we will want to stay up and talk and then we'll be even more tired tomorrow morning. 6 am comes too early and 4 hours of class is hard to endure, especially when you're dead on your feet.

I'll be really glad for Matt to get home. I have no idea how single mothers do it day after day after day. I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful husband!!! I just wish he were here now to help me with the load of homework I've been putting off all afternoon. Yuk!

Gracie loves her baby

While in Hong Kong we ran into Connie, an old friend from our days with ELIC. It was such a blessing. She still lives in our city and was returning the same day as us so she offered to have her friend drive us to the airport - which was an answer to prayer since I had purchased a few too many taco shells and cookies for Gracie. I had no idea how I would manage my luggage, Gracie, her stroller, and the new bag of food I had collected. I just asked Dad for some favor and he put Connie right in our path. It was great getting to spend time with her, at home she is so busy and we live about an hour from each other (even though it is the same city). Amazingly we got to check in together at the flight counter and ride next to one another all the way home. In the airport she blessed us again by purchasing a doll for Gracie.

This baby doll is really special because she is Chinese. Connie and I agreed that in all our time in China we have never seen a Chinese baby doll (other than the porcelain type that should be kept well out of a child's reach). So Gracie got a new doll. I didn't think she would pay it any more attention than she does her other stuffed animals and toys, but I was wrong. She drags that baby all over the house. She has a bigger baby that Mimi bought her for Christmas that she adores and I didn't think she would allow another baby to share her space. She gives them equal attention, pretending to put one to bed while hugging the other. It is really cute to see her mimic the things we do with her. Yesterday she did something really cute. She woke up well rested and happy and commenced to playing independently while we got ready for class. I walked into her room once and she was reading a book, the next time I walked in she was reading to her baby. She had that little doll sitting in her lap and she was just a babblin as she turned the pages.

Grass-less

Oh what is a tree hugger to do?

The weather here has been quite nice for the past week. It seems that we just about skipped over Spring and started Summer early. That is fine with me because I like warm weather and it is nice to finally be able to go outside and get some fresh air without freezing to death.

Matt and I decided to take Gracie to the park a few days ago so that she could run around freely and play. She really loves other children and there are always plenty at the park. She also loves bubbles, so I took a bottle with us. When we were at the park earlier in the year we noticed some people practicing Tai Qi and other exercises on a lawn in the park. We thought that would be the perfect place to let Gracie chase bubbles, but when we got to the lawn we noticed a flimsy fence made of rope wrapped around wooden stakes circling the grass. THere was also a sign which I can only imagine read, "Stay off the grass" when what they probably wanted to say was,"Don't poop, pee, throw cigarette butts, sunflower seed husks, or trash on the grass." The latter would have been ignored, so they just simply made the lawn inaccessable. Why is there no place for a child to play in this city. All the playground equipment is actually some sort of exercise equipment and we were told Gracie was too little to play in the inflatable fun house. It is amazing how fragile most people think a 16 month old is... they follow close behind her and try to prevent her from ever falling and gasp when she does. Don' t they know she is a weeble wobble (aka Toddler) and is in fact very fond of falling, climbing, bumping into things, and getting dirty. Of course the only problem is that when she falls here we have to make sure she dodged the spit, poop, pee, etc that can be found on any given sidewalk, road, garden, step, restaurant floor, etc, etc, etc.

Oh what is a tree hugger to do? No I'm not actually a tree hugger, but I do love the great outdoors and the thought of Gracie not being able to even play in the grass unsettles me a bit. Especially after seeing her have so much fun in Thailand. (see picture below)

Oh, well I guess her rice box will have to suffice for now. Yes, she has a rice box in lieu of a sand box since there is no clean sand to found. It's a close second! If you have any other ideas pass um on, I'm always looking for more ways to entertain our little adventurer.

Thailand Adventures

Sawadee Ka
Who ever said vacation with a one year old is vacation? I think they should have a pseudonym for such an adventure, something like: no-nap-innovation or won't-eat-vegetation or something like that. Actually, Gracie was really good, but travelling can be hard on the little one especially when she leaves everything she is accustomed to for 3 weeks.

In Bangkok, our first stop, we stayed at the YWCA. The taxi driver couldn't find it - drove right past it several times - and we were dead on our feet when we finally crawled into our bed(s). The Y is actually a hostel, so our room had 3 beds, which we pushed together to create a sort of haven where Gracie was able to sprawl and roll without bumping into us or falling off the bed. She slept well (at night anyway).

Oh, I almost forgot that on that first night in Bangkok I had to go to the hospital to have my eyes irrigated. Matt was helping me wash Gracie's hands and when he squeezed what he thought was the little soap bottle it burst and spewed hand sanitizer all over my face and in my eyes. Ouch! I wasn't sure what effect alcohol might have on my eyes so I called the hospital and of course they said I better come in. I don't think it was necessary, but I went and they did basically the same thing I did, except they used saline instead of tap water. 1200 baht and 2 hours later I returned to our room with the incredible mattress island and finally slept.

On our second day in Bangkok we went to the hospital again, but that visit was planned. All 3 of us had check ups and Grace got some immunizations. I was very impressed with Bumrungrad International Hospital - and I understand why it is becoming so popular for Americans to go there for medical care. It was clean, professional, and relatively cheap.

Day 3 was spent at the dentist, also located inside the hospital.

On Day 4 we tried to go sightseeing. Well, we did go sightseeing. I don't know why, but it seemed that every time we got in a taxi there we were taken to the wrong place. On this particular day we asked to be taken to a specific dock to catch a type of ferry that would take us along the river and drop us near a museum. The driver decided to take us to another dock - and the business there wanted us to pay 2000 baht for a private boat. No thanks. We had to walk about 2 miles back to the right dock. As if that weren't enough walking we then got off the boat at the wrong dock (not our fault, I might add) and had to walk about 2 or 3 more miles. It was so hot! To top it all off the museum wasn't even that interesting. The best part of the day - the payoff for all our hard work - was the patch of grass where Gracie was able to play. We captured it since it was her very first time to play in the grass.

Day 5 we had to go back to the hospital again for more immunizations. Then we just walked down one of the major roads there in Bangkok and spent the evening at the night bazaar where we had a fairly nice dinner. I was vacationed out already, even though the vacation hadn't even started yet.

Jom Tien

Our second destination was Jom Tien where we met up with some other Americans and enjoyed fellowship with them and Gracie got to play with other kiddos. She loved that but of course they all swapped germs and Gracie got a cold. The best part of Jom Tien was making new friends and seeing how the Lord just provided exactly what we needed to be rejuvenated. The worst part of Jom Tien was the ever so present prostitutes. Those were mostly in Pattaya (the neighboring beach) where we went to get diapers and enjoy Western food and Starbucks.

In Thailand most people ride from one place to another on a tuk tuk (3 wheels contraption) or a Song Tao (a truck whose bed has been modified with a bench seat down each side). We took Song Taos to and from the grocery and restaurants. There were these neat little signs affixed for passengers that read "Normal fare is 20 baht" but somehow we kept getting charged 150, 200, 250.... Of course I always bargain and once even got away with paying only 30 for me and Grace to get to the grocery store.

We went out to Starbucks one night and regreted it. Although the iced coffees were nice the view wasn't. We were so ready to get out of dodge but of course the drivers all wanted to charge us 300 baht to get home. I negotiated for 200 and agreed to let the driver pick up a few more passengers. This guy drove down every street in Pattaya trying to pick people up. Matt was so mad. Of course it was all my fault and I was banned from bargaining for a fair rate from then on. We were all pretty sick to our stomach at seeing the foreign men attached to the Thai ladies and the bars doubling as brothels where women sat ready to swarm the next man that approached them. Sex is a big industry there, which made us wish we weren't there at all.

Oh I almost forgot the one other really great thing about Jom Tien... big swimming pool! And Gracie went swimming for the first time! She loved it, of course. She wanted to swim away from us... guess she's going to be a little fish like her daddy. Unfortunately the beach was really nasty so we didn't dare take Gracie out for her first date with sand in Jom Tien.

Phuket

Our third stop was Phuket. By now we were wishing we could just go back home but we were glad when we arrived and saw our room that was located right on the ocean (although we didn't have a view - contrary to the false advertising we bought into when we booked the place.) Oh well, the room was splendid and I wasn't too sore about the view since the bathroom had a huge free standing tub and separate shower, the room itself was well furnished and great for lounging, and there was even a shower right outside our door. We did however have to walk through a restaurant to get to the beach, that experience would have been a bit more uncomfortable if every one who ate there hadn't also been in a bathing suit.

The beach was great! Gracie played in the sand, tore through all the sandcastles Matt built for her, and charged the surf with no fear! Seeing her have so much fun made the trip! That was what I wanted - to see my baby girl enjoy something new.
I'd say we saved the best for last, except for the fact that we all got sick our last full day there. I am sure it was food poisoning for me and Matt. I ate a skewer of half raw chicken before realizing it was raw which left me moaning and miserable in the bed all the next day. I did lose a pound and the french fries I tried to eat for lunch. In the midst of our sickness Gracie ran a fever for 2 days and we had to take her to a clinic. She ended up on antibiotics and couldn't even get her follow up immunizations before we left. Oh well, I guess we needed a reason to be ready to come home again. Needless to say it was good to get back to China.

Thailand is nice in small doses. Maybe we'll go back next year.... but definitely not for 3 weeks!

Boys will be boys... and girls will be girls

Grace is always doing something to show us how intelligent she is... for example she started shaking milk out of her sippy cup a few weeks ago and when I told her to clean it up she promptly began wiping the floor with a cloth.

Recently we received a box of clothes from a friend. Her daughter is two so she sent us some of her summer things. Gracie really enjoyed going through the box with me and I let her play with some of the clothes we decided not to keep. She started trying to pull each piece onto her head, which pretty much resulted in a pile behind her. She was able to finally get this little dress over her head and I helped her get her arms through. Some get-up! She is soooo stylish, even at a year old.
I am happy to see that she has taken an interest in clothes. She also knows what to do to with a brush, pony-tail holder, and chapstick (lipstick). Girls will be girls. I look forward to a lot of sleepovers, makeovers, and shopping trips!!!

"Gracie, Show Mommy how the piggy eats!"

One of Gracie's favorite new foods is spagetti. I saved all the whole grain I mailed myself for her and about once a week she has a feast. On this particular day sometime mid-December she decided it was taking entirely too long to pick up each little piece so she found a quicker way to get the sketti in her mouth. It reminded me of that little kid on "A Christmas Story" , Randy was his name I think... anyway his mom is trying to get him to eat and asks him to show her how the piggies eat.... go piggy go! If you look closely at the photo below you can see the spagetti all over Grace's face and coming out her nose. That kid is something else!

Gracie turns one!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

On December 8th Grace had her first birthday party at McDonalds. We were thr first to arrive so Grace and her friend from the neighborhood (above) hung out and played with their baloons while we waited for the other 3 children and 11 adults to arrive... wah! It was something else.

Gracie seemed a little grumpy when we first arrived and I was worried she might not enjoy her own party, but A-Yi (her nanny) soon arrived and she turned on the smile. I had planned to let Gracie eat cake and icecream but she endulged on hamburger buns all night and wasn't the least bit interested in the sweets. I guess that was a pretty good trade off.

We bought two cakes because we figured she would have her way with one of them... and she did. Below is the fancy shmancey one. It was the best cake I have ever eaten.... just below that you can see Grace checking out the minature we bought her to destroy.

She loved digging into the foamy icing, but to our surprise she didn't taste it... instead she decided to share it with her favorite person - Fan A-Yi. It was really cute watching her feed several handfuls of mushy cake to our nanny before giving up to open presents.

Grace got a lot of presents and had no trouble tearing them open. Among her gifts were clothes, a singing, dancing flower with the face of a child, a windchime, a ball, a playhut in the shape of a bus, a cell phone, a book, and some other little stuff. Her favorite thing though was none of the things I listed above... no, she loves the musical clam. Shown below, it sings techno (yes, club style music) at a very high decibal and has a spinning flower in the center. She points at the clam several times a day and request it be turned on. I can only take it in small doses, but she loves it. When we opened it I thought to myself, "What is this and why would anyone buy it for a one year old?" But I guess they know something we don't know because she loves it!


So we partied hard, everyone got their fill of cheeseburgers and french fries , Gracie got a load of toys and other dong-xi, and at the end of the night we left a huge mess. You can see that for yourself down below. I learned something new that night. Although the Chinese have many customs about gift giving and seem to give gifts all the time, they were surprised that the children at the party received a gift bag. I had fun buying little things like a tin piggy bank, little markers and notepad, candy, and a small game. My friend Stephanie said this was the first birthday party she had ever been to that she took home more than she brought. Her daughter now comes regularly to play with Grace... maybe the small gifts did the trick???Leaving we were met with torrential rains and no taxi. I got drenched standing next to the road trying to flag one down while everyone else stayed in the foyer of the department store where Mickey D's is located. It was a pretty fitting end to a whirlwind of a night. I cannot believe my baby is finally a toddler. WOW! I love that Gracie!

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving! It was pretty good on our side of the world. Matt, Gracie, and I had dinner with another couple at a ritzy hotel here in town. They had a turkey shipped in and everything. The only problem was the large group of Americans staying at the hotel who also wanted some of that turkey. So we only got a slice, but it was good. We didn't really mind having Thanksgiving with so many white faces either. Especially since they were here adopting babies. They had a lot to be thankful for, some had waited years to come pick up there little bundle of joy.

My little bundle had turkey for the first time and I'd say she liked it! What she enjoyed more than turkey was tearing a napkin to smitherines. That is her favorite pasttime when she can manage to get away with it!


We celebrated again on Saturday with about 30 Westerners potluck style. My friend and I cooked the turkeys... my 3rd turkey, and the best yet! This guy went all the way to Shanghai to procure the birds and brought them all the way back. We cooked because we have the ovens. We had to cut the thing in half to get it to fit, and of course that meant I cooked turkey for about 7 hours instead of 3 and a half. But it was well worth the effort and since I was the cook I kept the bones and made what is becoming a tradition... turkey dumplings! Yum dindly yum!!!

We have a lot to be thankful for this year! God has been so good to us. We have had a great time with our sweet baby girl. She has proved to be the biggest blessing we could have ever hoped for, and on top of that the Lord has kept her healthy and strong. We are all thankful for our health and know that many are lifting that request up to our Father daily... we are so thankful for those who remember us back home! We finally made it back to China this year. We have longed to be back in this land, and here we are! Our house sold, we drove cross country, we saw a lot of our family, and we celebrated our 3rd anniversary this year! That's just the beginning of all the blessing we have had showered on us. Most of all, we are thankful for our Jesus! He is so faithful, even when we are not. He not only died for us and saved us from eternal death, but He feeds us daily the bread of life. Praise Him for He is good! And remember to give thanks in all things.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chinglish... just an example

The more I study Chinese the more difficult it becomes. One would think that having a large vocabulary and basic grammar in a second language would make translating simple text somewhat easy, but that is not the case at all. I think, for this reason, maybe I could find a job writing manuals or something for Chinese companies. It seems they really need some help.

Matt's coffee pot broke this week and that is a minor catastrophe. Somehow we managed to find the receipt and warranty, so I went online to see how to get it repaired or replaced. While I was searching for our product I discovered a plethera of Chinglish examples on the company site. I copied the description of our coffee pot below, but if you want to see more just go to www.acachina.com. If you have nothing better to do, it's a fun way to spend a few minutes.

		vcm683t Classical style and color, the market accepts degree tallly; 1. High-power of 825 watts is designed ; 2. 12 cups of large capacity, the coffee delicious food not enjoyed to the limit; 3. The filter screen of canning separate type , durable and easy to be clean; 4. LCD shows , the electron is controlled, more intelligent; 5. But filter the basket portably; 6. Defend a water clock of protectors ; 7. Prevent outside and overflow the protector.

Wo de Jia... aka - my house!

Our house, in the middle of the street, our house... it is something to behold. Beside the fact that something undoudtedly breaks every week, we are very thankful for our humble home. It is relatively nice and clean. I've decided to give you the grand tour, so sit back and enjoy!

This is the view from the front door. Our living room is pretty kid friendly. We removed the coffee table and bought a rug so Gracie would have a place to crawl around. I know it is a little dark, but we rarely turn on the lights during the day. That is the Chinese way.
Straight ahead is a hallway where you can find the entrance to our bathroom, our refridgerator, and washing machine. The kitchen is at the end of the hall.
Our Bathroom... no shower stall, but we did bring a shower curtain with us which keeps water from splashing on the toilet. That's one less thing we have to dry off when we are finished bathing. After trying several kinds of mops we finally found a cool squeegie with a long handle to dry the floor.

Our kitchen. 2 burner stove and 2 fans in the window - very cool!

This is the view of the living room as you leave the hallway
(kitchen, bathroom, laundry room)!
The door you see to the left is our room...and next door is Gracie's room.
Across from Gracie's room is the office (not pictured due to clutter!)
Entering our room!

The balcony connected to our room. These are my plants!!!

This is our room again, taken entering from the balcony.And last, but not least... Gracie's room. She was not happy that I was
taking her picture in lieu of getting her out of the bed when she summonsed me.
Hope you'll come again soon. I know the hike up to the 6th floor is tiresome,
but we always enjoy your company!

Herbal Treatment

Well I pulled my back out about 2 weeks ago and was laid out. I couldn't even hold the baby. Thankfully I had a lot of people praying for me and Dad answered, so I'm all better now. I did try to get some relief from a few Chinese remedies which led to some interesting experiences.

First of all I had a massage which started out like any massage, but gradually became more and more like some kind of ancient torture. After rubbing vigorously on my lower back the doctor pushed his thumb into a pressure point in my hip (well I think it was more like my hiney...) That just about shot me off the bed. Then he pushed in on a few more spots down my leg... oh and then he did the other side. He also did this thing where he pushed down on my back and held my leg up and kind of bounced it??? Then to top it all off and he pushed down really hard on my lower spine and released quickly. It definitely loosened all the muscles up, but the next day I was so sore. It felt like my back was bruised and I could hardly stand to lay on it. It didn't really do the trick... so I laid on the floor for the next few days.

Last week my best friend Dora said she wanted to come and give me a treatment. Dora is a traditional Chinese medical doctor and has taught me a lot about what they do. She has also whipped up some really interesting things for me to take including mule skin cooked with other herbs and sticks. A lot of the medicine is cooked in water and then you just drink the "soup". When she called she knew that I would not be willing to take anything like that because I am still nursing Grace... and she also knew that I would not be willing to have acupuncture because I am so afraid of needles. So she came bearing Moxa.

Moxa is a herb that is widely used. As she began to tell me about it I wondered if it was safe, and she assured me it was since it is used on pregnant women all the time. I check WebMD and sure enough it is even used in the States from time to time to help breach babies turn around. So the adventure began. She had these 2 sticks that resembled cigars, only they were wrapped in white paper with green writing on the outside. She said she needed to light them, but we didn't have a lighter so she lit them on the stove. The not so wonderful aroma of moxa proceeded to fill our home as we walked back to the office.

Dora showed me how to find the points myself and then she held the burning sticks about 2 inches from my skin. The first point was on my abdomen just below my belly button. It did exactly what she said it would do... it felt very warm, but not only at the point but also inside. It moved to an area near my side. I could feel the warmth on the inside but my skin was still cool. It was really interesting. Then she held the sticks near a point just above my ankle, then on my back. I was amazed! It was really great but I think next time I want to go outside because the smell of the smoke almost overtook me.

When I lived near the Chinese medical hospital we used to always smell the moxa, but we didn't know what it was. We thought someone was smoking mariguana. I couldn't believe how it filled the air and noone ever seemed to notice. Now I know why... it was just someone getting a treatment.

Thank you Dora for always loving on me! You're the best!!!!

Scrabble War...

Future Scrabble Champion!!!

Matt and I have an ongoing battle to see who will win at Scrabble... usually he does. This week we have played almost everyday and I have had some of the best tiles in Scrabble history. All week I have been kicking his tail and then right at the last moment he hits some triple word score with a tile worth 8 or 10 points and wins... and by 3 or 4 points which makes it even worse. I must admit that I am a pretty bad sport about it too. I just hate it... he always wins and he can always think of Q words that don't need a "u"... who does that?
Well today I waged war once again. Immediately I started drawing great tiles and I won the draw which meant I got to place the first word (very strategic in this game)! It was a beautiful sight as the board began to fill up. Once, Matt spelled some word and got 38 points or something and I thought I was through, but I came back, and YES I whooped him! Final score 247 to 236. Have a look at that board! For today, I am queen of the hill.

Oh, the Bakery

Check out those cakes! I am always amazed at the detail, I mean look at those horses and that is all icing! The wedding cake below is the eyecatcher in the front window - I'm sure it's pretty stale by now. Oh yeah, I also give this bakery extra kudos because the owner has given me dough several times so that I could make pizza, bread sticks, etc. Friendly, talented people : )

Mania!

We are currently in the midst of the National Day Holiday which officially lasts 3 days; however most schools and businesses take 7. Matt has no class this week, but we decided to stay put in lieu of traveling along side 1.3 billion others. Tonight we thought it would be fun to join some friends at a local food festival, so we loaded the baby up in her Kelty Kidpack and headed across town. We were supposed to meet our friends at a busstop, but we arrived first and had to wait a while. There were so many people! It was like an antbed that some little kid stirred with a stick. Unfortuneately it was too much for me and we never made it past the entrance of the alley that led to the food :( There were people all over Gracie, some were coughing and others were just prodding her with their finger. The worst part was that she as eye level with most of them so I was really having to work hard to keep her from being inspected. It was a bummer!

My teacher offered to let me have class this week, so I took her up on it. I plan to take off a day or two at Thanksgiving and Christmas instead. Yes, Matt will be in class dreaming of turkey while I am at home hopefully cooking some. Even if the school did allow a holiday for the foreign students they would have to make up the days on the weekend. That's how it works. If you want a week off then you'll have to go to school Saturday and Sunday. For the current holiday Matt made up a class this past Saturday and is expected to have another make up class next Sunday, but that's our Sabbath, so he's going to opt out of that one.

Yesterday I decided to write out my daily goals in hopes of getting myself back into a routine. I haven't been very disciplined this past month, but now that class has started back I have to get it together in order to get everything done. One thing Matt and I both want to do is spend more time listening to inspirational radio broadcasts each day. For the past few days we have enjoyed listening to Tony Evans over lunch and I even caught up with James Dobson this afternoon while I was folding clothes. It's good to hear familiar voices and listening to meaningful broadcasts way outweighs watching King of the Hill (which we finally ran out of) and Monk. We do love to watch Survivor though, so we download and watch it weekly!

Oh well, not much else is going on at present. Send us a line or two if you get the chance.
Blessings, Jenny

Happy Birthday to Me!

That's right, I am officially another year older. Here in China most people consider themselves another year older on January 1st... but not me. Case in point, we were told our former babysitter was 18, but later when we were discussing Gracie's birthday with her we found out that she doesn't turn 18 until December. Actually, most Chinese pretty much count themselves as one when they are born. I guess that makes pretty good sense. I mean we are actually 10 months old when we enter the world. Still though, I think I'll wait until next September before I start telling people I'm 33. Of course I could do like Billy Bob, he celebrates his birthday twice. Once on his international birthday (his actual birthday) and again on his lunar calenday birthday... or maybe it is his lunar calendar birthday and then his international birthday. Either way, that's a good way to get a lot of attention and a bunch of presents!

I actually celebrated my birthday twice this year. Some friends had a party for me Sunday which was in essence a Mexican food fest, and then I celebrated again Monday with some other friends. So Sunday we chowed on some homemade tortillas, fajita fixins, bean dip, salsa, pico, and corn chips. E made a pinata and filled it with Chinese coins, jujube candies, and minature Dove bars. To top it off 3 muchachas served my cake wearing painted on mustaches and singing Happy Birthday in Spanish. It was Fun-Fun!

Monday we did the traditional take everyone out for your birthday dinner. You heard me right, here your friends don't take you out to dinner, instead you take them out to celebrate your birthday. We went to a fancy place near our home and ordered about 13 dishes. One of my favorites was the black chicken soup. Are you wondering how I knew it was a black chicken? Well, because it's feet were still attached and sticking up out of the soup, and they were black. And yes, the head was still attached as well. That is one thing I had to get used to... having the head on everything being served. Only the chicken and the fish were lucky enough to stay in tact for this meal, and our buddy Mark feasted on the fish head after we had disassembled its body. The food was really good!

I also racked up on presents this year... from my Chinese friends I received 2 bunches of flowers, a scarf, a handmade cell phone cover, videos of my province, and a case of milk. From the Meiguo pengyous I received lentils and brown rice (YES!), snickers, cheetos, cranberry sauce (Yes, Yes, Yes!!!), a vase, handtowels with a Grace logo, UGA glasses, a candle, a frame, roses from my sweetie, and a balcony full of plants!!! Then I got a new corduroy LLBean shirt, a magazine, and a cool bag along with two wonderful cards from America!!! It was a great birthday! So far I am already enjoying the flowers and the milk!

Happy Birthday to me, or as we say here, "Sheng Ri Kwai Le".
Adios my friends,
Jenny

Kinder wheels

They do a lot of things differently here in China and sometimes I have to gasp. I remember when I first arrived we took a minibus to our campus and there were no seatbelts. Of course it had to be raining. I thought my knuckles would never regain their true color. Anyway, that was the first time Gracie rode in a car without a child restaint. Now we are very accustomed to jumping into the back of a taxi with her on our lap, but I still often direct the taxi drivers to be careful or slow down... not that they really listen to me.

You may think this is careless until you take a second look and see all the little families cruising around on a scooter or motorcycle. Sometimes Dad will be driving and mom will be balancing on the back with baby in arms. Or maybe a small child will sit between mom and dad, but my favorite is when a child stands on the foot rest of a scooter between the driver's legs. All of the above are quite common. For a twist and little more adventure I noticed that one mom had purchased a little wooden stool and her 2 or 3 year old daughter was actually sitting on the footrest between her legs. Now imagine all this taking place in the busiest intersection in Atlanta or Dallas. Yeah, and here they don't even pay attention to traffic signals or traffic lanes. And of course no one would even think of wearing a helment. Don't worry, I won't be teetering little Gracie on any two wheelers for a long time.