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Monday, January 04, 2010

Happy New Year!

Happy Belated Birthday to
Christy on the 31st and my Mom on the 2nd!

We're back home…it took a while to get here but we made it. Our flight from Dallas to Chicago left on time, but the flight from Chicago to Shanghai was delayed. We waited about an hour before boarding late, and then taxi-ed all the way to the end of the runway, when they couldn't get a warning light to go off. So, we had to return to the terminal, but they had no gates available so we sat on the tarmac for a while. When we eventually got back to the terminal they had to find us a new crew since the existing one would have been on the job too long. So, they had to call in a whole new flight crew. We eventually left Chicago about 5pm, instead of 10:35am with a 14 hour flight ahead of us, and a 4 hour drive. Like I said, we're glad to be home at last.

The girls are back at school already this morning. They both got some good sleep so they should be okay for most of the day. We managed to get the suitcases unpacked early this morning with the contents placed in each room. So although everything is not really "put away" it's not in big heaps in the living room floor! I'm trying to keep the house under control! We haven't seen the dogs yet. Wang Yi has them at her flat. Michael will go get them all this morning once he's caught up on some sleep. We're very eager to see exactly how Buster is doing.

While we were away the interior baseboards and trim was painted white semi-gloss. It was supposed to have been done before we moved in but wasn't. It looks so much better, even though they missed one of the worst walls! They'll be back! The whole house feels so much better - much cleaner - and almost like it's our home at last.

It was wonderful to see all our friends over Christmas. We even had snow - TWICE! I made it back for Christmas Bunco which was great. Both Maxine and Sydney got to hang out with their friends. We also got to go the lake house for a few days and get some things sorted out there. Rory replaced some rotted decking and took care of some other minor problems. We painted the deck a tan color - the start of our new color scheme! The house is currently grayish blue, with darker grayish blue trim. Rather blah! We decided it needs some Carrick Flair and we're planning on eventually painting it barn red! With cream trim, and brown decking and shutters. Not sure what color the front door will be yet, but I think it needs to be something a bit more subdued! At that point we'll have a green house, a white house, a yellow house and then a red house! We're slowly working our way through the rainbow!

I'm freezing so off to get a cuppa - more later.....

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Buster is not doing well at all. We took him to the vet on Monday morning and he was on a drip for the rest of the day. We bought him home and Rory sat with him on the floor the rest of the day to stop him walking around. He has pancreatitis and once we get him stabilized he needs to be on a special diet that is made in the USA, that I have to order through Hong Kong. I'm hoping I can find some info on the internet that will give me some homemade alternatives. From what I've read so far, which isn't much, he has to be on a high fiber, low fat diet. Sounds like we should be doing this together, Buster and I!

The girls came home yesterday having had a great day at school. Sydney got some of her exam results….she got the best score in her Chinese class, and did very well in her Science class. The grading system in the BA program is very strange - the one thing I strongly dislike about it. Their score is made up of various categories with a high score of 8 in each. For Chinese Sydney got 7/6/7 out of 8's. Maxine, for Chinese did very well, got 7/8/7 out of 8's. They haven't got any other scores back yet, unless they're not owning up to having them!

Yesterday afternoon Sydney's friend Lina came over so they could work on their Humanities projects. It didn't take 2 minutes before they were out there on the trampoline acting like goobers! Maxine's boyfriend, Ben, also came over and miraculously my kitchen didn't turn into a disaster zone! No cookies and no cakes got made! Darn, just when we needed some good dunkin' cookies in the house for our jet-lagged 3am wake-up's.

I've been browsing through some recipes, looking for some one similar to restaurant ones we enjoy back in Dallas, as well as some healthier options. I've found a few, now I just need to see if I can get the ingredients for them…..Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad, and Boneless Buffalo Chicken Wings Salad are two of Rory and my favorites.

One of the ladies in the Hopeful Hearts group asked if I was interested in working with her to put together an expat recipe book! Of course I jumped on that offer! I think they had one many years ago but want to do an updated version. I'm not so sure this isn't a ploy to get the Apricot-Almond Coffee Cake recipe out of me! I've been very reluctant to share it with anyone!

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

I took Angela, one of the new ladies, to Metro, IKEA, and B&Q this morning to get some shopping done. We had two van loads between us. Luckily she'd organized for her driver to meet us at Metro to pack some things into her van! The traffic was horrendous - they're doing roadwork all around that area and a lot of roads are closed or just so bad that you can't use them. I'm glad I stocked up on things because I'm in no rush to go back there!

I came home from shopping to find someone in my yard digging a big tunnel! The dirt here is pretty good! Looks like I should be able to grow some nice flowers in it come springtime! Now if only we could get the landlord to plant some grass….
Seems they are replacing gas lines. Glad I'm not the one out there digging in this freezing weather! Along the road they're using a big digging machine with a big spike thing on it. It's been banding away since we got here - no end in sight! Sydney and I joked that it looked like a giant dentist drill for dinosaurs! Ouch!

Buster's condition is getting much worse. In addition to his pancreas his liver is now having problems. It's been very difficult trying to understand what's happening. Although both Michael and Wang Yi speak some English, some things just get lost in translation. This afternoon Maxine's boyfriend, Ben, who is Chinese, spoke with Wang Yi and managed to translate pretty much everything that's been told to her by the vet over the past week. Things are beginning to make a lot more sense now.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Today I spent 6 hours at the vet while Buster was on a drip. Luckily I took a book. He wasn't doing well at all yesterday afternoon so Wang Yi called her husband to take her and Buster to the vet. She has a tiny car so with Buster no more people would fit! Our driver had already gone to pick up Rory so he wouldn't be back for another 1½ hours. Frisco, who is usually very attached to us but won't really lie down with Buster actually laid down right next to him and literally snuggled up to him the whole afternoon. It's amazing how they know when something's going on. Anyway, Wang Yi and her husband took him to the vet and Rory, Maxine and Ben met her there later. She's been so good with him, sitting on the floor next to him all day massaging his tummy, making sure his drip is still running, wrapping him in blankets, taking him out for a break, giving him water by the spoonful, wiping his nose! She won't let me do a thing! So, he had a 6 hour treatment of glucose, plasma and some other med's and the same today. We were more prepared today and Michael drove me there at about 11:45 and I left around 5:30! It's so cold in the vet's rooms. There's no heating, tile floors, doors open, and draughty windows. It's basically a little shop in a strip shopping center with a small 'check-out / desk" area and through a walkway there's 5 small tables, barely big enough for Buster to lie down on. That's where all the animals get seen. So, you have people constantly coming in and out the main doors and then in the room where the dogs are seen there are big glass doors that don't seal properly. I had my big fur-lined leather coat on with a scarf and numerous layers of clothing and I still shivered the whole time. Luckily I'd taken a big blanket for Buster which I shared! The staff, who are mostly veterinary students, are very friendly and very thorough though and really take care of the dogs. I'm just thankful that we're not paying US prices! We'd be well into the thousands by now, easily! Rory called and spoke with our vet in Coppell last night and he reassured Rory that the treatment Buster is receiving is correct so we feel a bit more at ease knowing that. He was so helpful and spent about 30 minutes discussing Buster's diagnosis and treatment with Rory.
Tomorrow we'll be back at the vet's for our next round of transfusions, and then again on Saturday and again on Sunday. Hopefully, that will be the last of it. We then have to wean him back onto solid food, ten nuggets at a time. If he starts throwing up again, we have to start all over. We're hoping and praying that he'll make a full recovery, soon.

The tunnel in our yard has been extended along the entire road. When I took Buster to the vet this morning I couldn't get out our gate! There was a huge 6-foot deep 3-foot wide ditch running the length of the road! I had to cling to the fence and shimmy my way along, while pulling Buster along with me! When we came home this evening the trench was filled but now there's a huge mountain of dirt to climb over! Better than falling in a huge hole I suppose!

I'm exhausted, from doing nothing! Why is that??? I'm going now to get a cup of hot chocolate, to pull on my pj's and hop into bed……

Sunday, January 10, 2010

It's snowing! This morning we woke up to rain then it started snowing about 11 O'clock. The kids are cleaning out their rooms, bathrooms and closets - getting ready for the "inspection" this evening! It's been quite amazing what we've found in the depths of Maxine's closet! At least it's the perfect day to get it done. We've got 4 boxes - one each for donate, fix, throw-away and store. So far it's working pretty well! Not much in the fix box (phew!), a fair amount in the donate box and nothing in the store box - probably since both girls are in the same size clothing now. Sydney's grown almost 4 inches this year so she had the bulk of the donations! I'll let Wang Yi rummage through and take what she wants, and can't give away the rest. Rory put up some more shelves and hung some pictures as well - this house is going to look like Swiss cheese by the time we leave!

Buster seems to be doing much better. At the vets yesterday they said we could start giving him very tiny bits of dog food and continue with the water. We went out for supper last night and Sydney stayed at home to play at her friend's house. She called us, frantic - Buster had gotten into a box of Nesquick powder and had scoffed the lot! Darned animal! We've been so diligent about keeping the kitchen door, pantry door as well as all bathrooms closed. Maxine had taken it to school on Friday for a science experiment and left it in her backpack. The good news is that he didn't throw up! We even gave him some more food this morning and he's doing fine. He's still got another 3 days worth of vet visits. Poor dog is ravenous though. If it snows enough he might be eating that too!

Monday, January 11th, 2010

I have a new appreciation for my contractors back in Coppell. Today the painters came to do some work in our middle room that they missed while we were out of the house over Christmas. They showed up with a bucket of paint, a sheet of sandpaper, and one brush. Not a drop cloth, or any cloth for that matter, in sight. Not a stick to stir the paint. Nothing to brush off or wipe down the dusty sandpapered surface either. I just took a very deep breath, walked into my study and closed the door. I don't want to know what's happening on the other side of the door.
A while ago we also asked the landlord to send someone to take care of the huge branches that are still littering our yard from the snow storm we had back in November, as well as some branches that are still stuck in the trees, ready to come falling down any minute. Well, instead of the old man he usually sends, this time he sent an old man and woman - as old as the hills - with not a gardening tool between the pair of them. No rake for the leaves, no bags for the leaves, no saw, no ladder, no string for bundling. Then the agent showed up. I told him to tell them not to waste their time even starting. Turns out our landlord is too cheap to pay for the daily clean-up that Top Regent Management does for everyone else. Also, turns out that our water issue, that we've been told to wait for the replacing of the water pipes, which we know is not water but gas, is NOT the reason for our water pump not being installed. It's because our cheapskate landlord won't pay for it. Neither will he pay for the ONLY bathtub in our house to be repaired. So since we've moved into the house we've only been able to shower - in freezing cold, or scalding hot water, when we get some. Makes you just want to roll over and stay in bed all day having to face that first thing in the morning! I was so hopping mad - I think the poor agent was afraid for his life! Obviously he has no clue to how stressed out I am right now! I told him that he can give the landlord an ultimatum - everything done by January 31st, or we move out! There's plenty of houses out there. I told Rory and he emailed them, giving them till this Friday! So I might as well start packing!!! Hey, if we move to Dong Zhao they have under-floor heating!!!

I'm going to get some hot-chocolate and snuggle under a blanket. It's frrrrrreeeeezing outside and I've got all the windows open to let the paint odors out. Brrr.

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

It's amazing! This morning our broken kitchen light got replaced, the leaky plumbing under the kids basin was replaced and, the painting was completed! There's more…miraculously, the landlord has now agreed to put in a water pump and to repair the bath-tub. He's still trying to get out of the yard maintenance, but I remain hopeful.

They're digging up the road in front of our house again! The same hole. Again! I told Rory that it's a new gas line that they're running, and he said that the pipe that they're using is way too big. Big enough to run their entire factory on! So, when it's all completed, I'm either going to have no gas pressure, or enough to ignite my oven and send it through the roof, into the sky!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Oooooh, the stress is killing me! The worker showed up yesterday to "install a water pump" only to tell me, via two people translating, that the landlord had not given him the go-ahead yet. So why did he show up??? Apparently, the landlord wants to wait to see if the new water pipes that are being installed along the roads will provide better pressure. Uuuuh, no. We were told that they were only running new gas pipes. Turns out, after speaking with The Top Regent Management Office, they ARE running new water pipes. THAT'S why the trench is being dug up twice….the gas people came and dug their trench, lay the pipe, filled in the trench. Then the next day the water people came along. Instead of the gas people leaving the trench open, they covered it and now the water-pipe people have to re-dig it. The exact same trench! A day later! The management office says they'll only be completed after Chinese New Year - at the end of February! Holy (bleep, bleep, bleep) Crap! No water pressure till then - I think not. So, we're back to looking for a new house. Of course this is causing stress levels to skyrocket….Sydney wants to move because all her friends live in the other development; Maxine doesn't want to move because all her friends are here; Rory just wants things right; I'll stay if things are made right, or gladly move but it means we have to buy all new furniture again. The bulk of our furniture in this house is paid for by the landlord as part of the contract. I just want hot running water that doesn't trickle out of the faucet, drains that don't stink out the house, and a yard that isn't littered with broken trees. I don't think that's too much to ask?
Add to this the "daily Buster/vet issues", me trying to find time show all the new ladies where to shop and get things, trying to help Sydney with her Shakespeare homework L and animated movie project on tuberculosis (?????), Maxine's math homework and IT movie project, Frisco's increasing lack of bladder control (grrr!), the constant digging of the giant trench outside our house, and the resulting mud and dirt that is constantly being traipsed by dogs, kids and workers into the house. Oh, and the minor language barrier in trying to deal with all of this. It's a wonder I haven't cracked open that tequila bottle for breakfast already! Heaven help the next person who crosses my path.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Life is good J We have water pressure J We have hot water J Lot's of hot water J
Yesterday I came home to find THE WATER PUMP being installed. It was a wonderful thing. When I was preparing supper I turned on the kitchen tap and sprayed water all over the place, forgetting that we now have WATER PRESSURE! No more waiting 15 minutes for hot(ish) water to get to the shower J this morning I had hot water in seconds! I feel like I'm back in the 21st century!

Today we went to lunch at Bella Napoli for a farewell to Sally who is leaving to go to Singapore. She's Chinese, married to an American, so I think they're going to have a wonderful time there. It was very strange having only seven of us there - we're missing a bunch of ladies who left least year! We're just dwindling away…

Friday, January 15, 2010

No school today! The power was off the whole night in the area where the school is, so it's freezing inside, and still off. Luckily we live next door to the director so his wife could confirm - no school today! You should have heard the squeals of delight when we called Maxine to tell her. They were already on the bus to the school. So much for my quiet day that I had planned. I'd given my Ayi the day off so I could have a day by myself with no-one else around. Hmm. Instead, I'm going to have a house full of rowdy teenagers! Yippee. Oh well, I know if it was me on that bus on the way to school I too would be jumping for joy!!!

Sunday, 17th January, 2010

We did a bunch of running around yesterday…..got groceries, bead boxes, white dishes that were part of my Christmas present. I reorganized my pantry, and tidied up my bead/crafting station too. Maxine and her friends went to "computer street" to get some games for the X-box. They got something like 40 games for less than the price they would pay for one game back home! Guess what they're all doing now! I see more wireless controllers and a few steering wheels in our future….

There were no workers hammering away this morning so we actually got to have a lie in. Sydney is baking cookies….sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Maxine has gone to the coffee shop with her friend, Katie, who has just returned from Australia. Rory is in the garage making some dividers for my cabinet where my white dishes are kept - got to make more space for my soup tourines! I got a super big one, enough for when we have company over, a mid-size one for just us, and then a smaller one great for putting warm dips in. I also got a white teapot, and a long rectangular dish for things like banana bread that's baked in a loaf pan. All that, along with three ceramic ladles for the tourines came to about US$30. I think Rory's afraid I'm going to sink the house if I buy anymore.

Later….this evening Maxine talked us into playing Guitar Hero with her this evening. OMG! I think we had a little too much fun - I'm not sure I'll be able to talk in the morning! Luckily they have the Beatles disc otherwise we'd be lost!

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Back again! I think we figured out my computer problem. We may have overloaded the outlet that the computer is plugged into. We unplugged some stuff and it seems to have stopped the constant turning off, so I'm crossing all fingers and toes that it stays that way.

Today was my neighbor, Najjla's birthday. I had her friends and other neighbors over for coffee and chocolate cake. Everyone ended up staying longer because they turned off the neighborhood water not long after everyone arrived. Luckily I had a big pot of coffee and plenty of sodas on hand! We ate cake for brunch and lunch!

Sydney has been working very hard on some school projects as well as dealing with classmates who don't do their part of the project. She stresses out so much about stuff like that, probably because she works so hard on it, and then gets a bad grade because of someone else. They're supposed to have been working on it for 30 minutes every day for about two weeks now. One kid in her group of three has produced one sentence, keeps forgetting the map he was supposed to create and has just been such a horrible partner to work with. I feel so sorry for poor Syd.
Maxine has been working on memorizing a 5 minute speech she had to give today. She says she did okay…stumbled a bit but got through it. I can imagine just how she feels - having to talk in front of all the 8th thru 10th graders!
Rory's feeling the crunch…getting up at 5am to study, then exercise, and evening calls till 10:30 at night! He's going to have to ease up on something.

The cold weather was back again today, no snow though luckily. Tomorrow morning I've got to be at school for 8am for a whole-school assembly, an International Day meeting, and to judge the door decorations for Chinese New Year! This week has just flown by - I've been thinking it was a day earlier the whole week, until late yesterday afternoon, luckily, otherwise I wouldn't have had a cake to serve today!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Buster had a relapse on Friday. I came home from school and he had been throwing up again and was in obvious pain, not even able to hold himself up or walk properly. We rushed him off to the vet and they couldn't even test his blood because it was too thick! They wanted to put him on a drip and start all that over again, after just finishing up the last lot a week ago. I spoke to Rory and he said he'd come from work. We decided to take him home, rest him and his pancreas and see if he would heal himself. On the way home he started wincing and Rory was seriously contemplating turning around and taking him back to the vets to be euthanized. We didn't want to put him through another week or more of pain, with no food or water allowed either, only to have this reoccur at any time again. It was a split second decision we made to bring him home instead so the kids could see him one last time. He just lay down, still in some pain, and Rory lay on the floor with him, rubbing his tummy. He stayed like that the whole of Friday night. On Saturday morning he was walking about a little, albeit very slowly and cautiously. By supper time he was a little better. This morning he's back to his normal self! He has no idea how close he came. Talk about cats having nine lives!!! It seems he may just have bouts like this for the rest of his life so we'll just have to monitor his diet super-carefully, giving him only rice or barley, and chopped chicken breast with some veggies. At least we know that he can get through it without a drip.

Yesterday afternoon Rory took Sydney to get a bike. All the kids have them around here so we figured she be needing one sooner or later. It's nothing fantastic, just enough to get her through the next year, but is still very cute, and GREEN!

She had to go to school for a few hours to work on a project so while she was there Rory and I walked around the shopping center opposite the school, as well as a new one just opened not far from there. I was seriously contemplating, and still am to some extent, opening a diner / casual restaurant / coffee shop. It's the perfect place - near the school, near all the expat compounds, in the middle of what they refer to as "university city" where numerous universities are either open, or are being built. Consequently, there are thousands of flats and apartments in the area too. This area is in desperate need for more western-style restaurants. It's not that difficult to open a restaurant here either. You don't have all the stringent regulations like you do in the USA. Not that I wouldn't use most of them anyway. It's the perfect area to get student-age staff as well. I'm really torn over whether to go ahead with it or not. Is it something I'll regret not doing? I have every opportunity to do it - what's stopping me?

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Happy Birthday Shane

Today I met with a few other ladies in Top Regent to discuss "issues" we and others have within the development. It's quite run down, has been for some time, and there's no sign of it improving. So, we (or the Chinese speaking lady in our group) are going to approach the board to see what can be done. All fingers and toes crossed for a positive outcome.

After that meeting I ran home, grabbed a cuppa, and went to the next one, the Claudia from Hopeful Hearts, to put together an organization chart, since the volunteer group is getting bigger each month. We spent a few hours discussing the responsibilities of the different positions. Then I came back home, typed up the minutes from this mornings' meeting and typed up the organization chart and typed in a recipe for the cook book. Wah lah! I'm done. Now I can spend time looking into our next vacation, in May!

The kids get the first week in May off school so we though we might try to do some touring around China for a few days. We're looking into flying to Chengdu in Sichuan province, driving through the lakes and mountains to Xi'an to see the terra-cotta army and then fly back to Nanjing. Chengdu is about 1200 miles west of Nanjing, and Xi'an is about 400 miles north-east of Chengdu. It's really beautiful out there so I'm hoping we can get it right.

Rory is planning on writing his exams in Guam because of the small time difference. He'll go in April to write the first lot, and then again at the end of June to write the second lot. We're looking at maybe using some air-miles and joining him for a couple of days as the kids would have already finished school. Who'd ever thought of visiting Guam?

In March the school has an Expo day, which is primarily run by the parents representing each country. There's always a world war in our house to decide which country we'll represent. This year we're going with South Africa. There's numerous American families but there's only one other South African family at the school, plus the principal who is also South African. He tries not to get too involved but we're going to try and talk him into calling the South African Embassy to see if they can send us some posters or travel brochures...we'll take pretty much ANYTHING we can put on our huge table! We figured being Principal would carry more weight. Our booth is huge and it's quite a set-up! The school pays for a company to come in and set-up professional cubicle-style expo booths, about 8 meters wide by 2 or 4 meters deep, in the gymnasium. We chose 2 meters deep - less to decorate! I'm going to make mini Milk Tarts - by the hundreds. They estimate that at least a THOUSAND people will come! Yikes!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

My sewing machine was hard at work again yesterday. I got the pieces of what I'm calling my "Chinese Quilt" sewn together. The day before I spent the day pinning the pieces together - not something I would normally have to do, but this one is made up of curved pieces so pinning was best. It's not really a Chinese quilt - I haven't used Chinese fabrics or a Chinese pattern, but I am making it for a Chinese purpose. My plan, if it looks halfway decent by the time I'm done, is to donate it for the auction at the Hopeful Hearts Luncheon. I love the colors - all red, gold and black tones. I might take the pieces today to Pins & Needles, the neighborhood sewing group. Hmmm, it looks different somehow in the photo...

The other night, when Rory was in Shanghai, Maxine and her boyfriend went out for supper to Ciao Italia, my favorite restaurant. They were celebrating their 3-month anniversary. So cute! Sydney and I sat at home eating packet noodles for supper. L

Last night we all went out to Potato, the closest restaurant to our house, still a 20 minute drive. I came home wanting even more to open my own restaurant! The menu has so many spelling mistakes, the food is okay, nothing fantastic, and they didn't have half the desserts. The ones they did have were frozen. Maxine's white-chocolate mousse was frozen solid, as well as Rory's tiramisu. Uuugh. My apple pie was dry, ice cold, and served with strawberry ice-cream. Not so appetizing either. Waaah! What to do????
We came home and Rory had calls later in the evening, so I went upstairs to read. I couldn't concentrate though - too many restaurant thoughts going through my mind. L
As it was I had a sleepless night. The phone rang twice in the middle of the night. After that I was wide awake again, thoughts buzzing around my head.

This morning it's really foggy outside. The highways are closed but Rory's gone to work anyway. I think he's hoping they'll be open by the time they get to the bridges. It just looks like the fog is getting worse to me - I can hardly see the yard gates from where I'm sitting at my desk. Oh well, he's got plenty of reading material with him - all his study notes, etc.

Got to go now. I've off to a Middle Years Information meeting at the school. Let's hope it's interesting, otherwise I might be nodding off!

Friday, January 29, 2010

I went to my first "Pins and Needles" meeting yesterday morning and realized I know I bunch of very talented women! Traci, has made dozens of quilts, all just exquisitely beautiful, Bridget was working on these tiny little diamond shaped thingy's, hand-stitching them to make up a quilt, I haven't a clue what Nicole was working on because she left it at home! And, German Andrea and Maria we're knitting away feverishly on some amazing creations, using the softest yarn I've ever felt. Andrea was knitting something with 4 yarns at once! I can't wait to see what their projects look like finished. I was appropriately inspired and got a bunch of my Chinese quilt done. I'm almost half-way done stitching together all the top panels! And that's after spending the whole afternoon squaring off the 80 blocks! That was NOT fun, but I knew that if I stopped half-way that I would be reluctant to get going on it again, so persevered through them all.

Rory had a late night conference call last night and when he went into the living room to turn of the lights, this is what he found……

Buster on the sofa! Bad dog! Look at him….guilt written all over his adorable face! It must have been that irresistably soft blanket...

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

We have a new bath-tub jet pump. Now we can clean out the pipes and I can actually take a bath! I had warned Rory that New Zealand was not going to be pretty if I didn't get some loooong overdue weed-whacking done before we go! I explained to him that, although we have a shower, there is no way I can bend over to reach my calves, I'd get too dizzy and pass out. Plus the water would run in my eyes and up my nose. There's also no way I could balance on one leg and hitch my other leg up over the 5-foot high shower faucet, get all lathered up and clean-shaven before toppling over! The shower stall is only about 32-inches square, and I'm not exactly cheerleader material, and I'd probably do myself a permanent damage, which would be difficult and rather embarrassing to explain….
So, yes, I'm very, very pleased to have a bath-tub just in time for the warmer hair-free months ahead. I must say, winter has been rather….cozy…. this year!

I went to Book Club Friday afternoon which actually turned out to be Bible Study Group… something evidently got lost in the German, to Dutch, to Chinese, to English invitation translation! Maybe they were talking about "The" book! No wonder the hostess had a blank look on her face when I said I hadn't read the book! It was a nice group of ladies, and although I haven't a clue of what they were talking about for most of the time, the food was scrumptious, the people were very nice, which I suppose you'd hope for in a Bible Study Group, and I did actually learn some things, so I might just go again next Friday. After reading the passage we had a group discussion then watched a short video clip about the passage. The narrator was quite dishy and had a very nice Scottish accent. It was very difficult to concentrate! It seems I wasn't alone though, a few other women also commented afterwards that he was quite, ummm, distracting! But we decided we'd rather have to watch it twice J in order to catch everything he said, than have some old toad preaching to us! Maybe this is Gods way of getting me hooked - it was his plan all along!

Oh boy, what to do? Michael, our ever-resourceful driver spoke to one of the store owners where expats often shop to find out about rent costs. Turns out that a smallish restaurant about the size of Ole's in Coppell costs only 50 000rmb per year - that's about US$600 per month, yes, six hundred per month ONLY! Oh, geez. What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Okay. So I've been back and forth, and back and forth a few dozen times, trying to decide whether this whole restaurant thing is even worth considering. I'm still up in the air about it, but right now I'm veering towards not doing it. If I'd thought about it in July last year and done it then, or if we were staying another year I might have been more positive, but for just one year, and then have to sell it, it hardly seems worthwhile. I'm sure that tomorrow I be feeling differently about it yet again!

This morning Rory and I went to the veggie and meat market, and Rory took some photos! I know - it's about time! I went to get some chicken breasts but the lady who I usually buy from wasn't there, only her husband. When I got to his counter he picked up a chicken, waved it at me, and promptly chopped off its feet and head. Only, I didn't want a whole chicken - I wanted chicken breasts. I tried to explain to him what I wanted with hand signals which didn't go down too well! Ummm, how exactly do you hand-signal chicken breasts without it becoming obscene? I ended up with two whole chickens! At least they're headless! At this point my confidence was flagging and after walking through the beef and pork sections a few times I just couldn't bring myself to even start explaining what an eye-of-round roast is! Still, I managed to get all the fruit and veggies I needed though.

This afternoon I tried to relax, starting a new book. It's a legal thriller, and soooo dry. I keep reading the same paragraph over and over, falling asleep each time. With almost 400 pages it's going to take me the rest of the year to get through it. I hate putting away a book once I've started it - I think I've only ever done that once, that I can remember. I will persevere even if it means lots and lots of afternoon naps!