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Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

I almost feel like I'm back in the land of the living, almost.....

I managed to get to the library today after running out of reading material. We had to show our library cards at the door in order to get in, apparently as a precaution for the Swine Flu. Not sure what good it did...I suppose they can trace who visited when, if they find someone is infected?
My friend, Andrea, emailed to say that they, along with her kids and baby, are in quarantine in the Metropark Hotel in Hong Kong, until the 8th May! That's where the one confirmed case has been found, with numerous others suspected. They had to cancel Zoie's first birthday party as they won't be back in time. They aren't even allowed out of their rooms the whole time! I would be climbing the walls after 24 hours in a room, never mind 10 days!

They dogs are going to a new kennel for 5 weeks, after we've moved out of our house, and while we are in the States. It's just around the corner from our house and we've seen all the dogs playing there quite often, but thought it was really expensive. Not so much - we went to visit the other day and while it does cost more than the other place, they have an awesome program for the dogs which will be so much better for them over such a long period.
They had to go for an assessment to see whether they would go with the handlers and fix with the other dogs without becoming aggressive since it's an open setting. They did very well. Frisco blended right in. Buster sculked around with his tail between his legs, scared of all the little pooches. He got slightly aggressive, but only when the other dogs got too close and bothersome. So, before they can stay for the long period, they have to go for some doggie rehab! Today was their first full day. Frisco was fine again, Buster the same as before. They have a full day program for them - starts out with "play-time" first thing and then a 30-minute walk (about 5-8 of them together!!) then they come back for a swim! After a swim and dry it's rest and play time, just hanging out with all the other pooches, then a lunchtime snack and more afternoon play. If they stay overnight they all sleep on slightly raised cots in an open dorm, with three handlers on bunk-beds (for obvious reasons!!!) I think Frisco would be the first one on the bed given half a chance! They're totally pooped now, fast asleep! They send home a notebook everyday with a whoel page written up on how they did, how they interacted, etc. It seems that although Buster is a little shy, he has made a "girlfriend", a husky who was also there for her first day today. They'll go back on Monday for some more fun, and probably twice a week until we leave. So, yup, our dogs are in doggie rehab!

Thursday, May 7th, 2009
Since they seem to be jack-hammering up the entire tile floor of the condo's next door to us, I figured I would escape and go shopping! First stop, the American Club for a stroll around the bazaar. Nothing new though. A lot of jewelry, which I don't need or want, and lots of other overpriced stuff. From there I walked a block or two to the tailors, at last, to get my capri's copied. And then on to Plaza Singapura shopping mall to have a wander around. I got some nice linen skirts in Marks & Spencers, as well as some casual shirts for Rory. In the $2 Japanese store, Diaso, I got some more bead containers, which are actually fishing tackle containers, but they have screw-on lids which I like for all my seed beads. I also found these cute cup-cake liners in different colors, with "sweet cakes" written all over them. I thought they were really cute and now I have a valid excuse to make cupcakes! After that I was hungry for cake so I had "lunch" at Secret Recipe - mango cake, and an iced latte! Mmmmm Mmmmm good!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The first day i was in Chiang Mai. It was the most exciting moment ever. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and i couldn't resist being so happy to arrive at the Prem Center let alone jump onto the plane.
When we got to Chiang Mai the first thing we did was quickly take pictures of each other and change to go mountain biking, which wasn't the funnest thing in the world. The next time i have to choose between something and mountain biking i will probably choose the other one. After we travelled 18km we went back and relaxed for a bit. That night we enjoyed cooking barbecue meat, and brownies. After we had all finished our meals the tour guides told us we were to make up a rap about coming to Chiang Mai. Andy was the rapper along with a bunch of us, plus Elena and I as background singers. We all eventually went to bed after our group had won the rapping competition and roasted marshmallows above the burning hot campfire. That day ended and started off the trip with a lot of fun ahead.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
My second day in Chiang Mai...Repelling & Rock Climbing.
At first i was a little wary of what was to be expected today after our treacherous bike ride the day earlier. Although once Group 1 started to head out, I knew we were in for a very fun day. The first thing we did was get on the Red Trucks, also known as the taxis in Chiang Mai, to get to the repelling and rock climbing mountain. The ride there was cool since Becca, our guide, showed us very confusing mind games which took me a really long time to figure out. Most of us were super tired since that night was our first night we could actually sleep since we got up really early the night before to get the plane. Once we reached the mountain the people that were going to help us were all standing there getting ready to show us something exciting and new. To separate us, group 1 played a game where some of the people were tigers and some of them were dogs. Everyone had to close their eyes and make the noise of the animal. In the end i was a dog along with a couple others. Our first activity was to repel down a practice rock. Only 5 meters tall, but Jasmine and I were still shaking. In no time at all i was at the bottom, proud that i had sat back and pulled myself down the bumpy rock. Little did i know that our next repelling situation would be 11 times that height. A 55 meter drop was ahead of us and we hiked all the way up to the top and back through little pathways to get to our giant cave. I was 4th or 5th to last, but looking back now i wish i had been 2nd or 3rd. It made me so anxious to just be done with it and get through this. As i had slowly eased down the rocky wall I tried not to look down, only when needed incase a giant rock was right beneath me. I was proud as I touched the precious ground and looked up only to see that the wall i had thought wasn't as giant as i thought it was from 55 meters up.
After our repelling experience was over, we started hiking to the rock climbing walls. Once we got there they asked for 5 volunteers and i raised my hand. The only one left was the Chimney Sweep and it seemed like it looked easy, until i was actually on it. The rock was shaped like two big rocks a meter a way from each other. You had to push against both sides to get to the top. The 2 ways that were easiest are to either put one hand and one foot on each rock and act like a lizard and push yourself up. Or you could put your back on one side and feet on the other. I went up using the first position, although, maybe the second one would've been easier since i didn't go up very far. After i came back down i went to the 3rd rock. It was basically a really big flat rock in the front and a cave with a cave above it. I made it to the top of that one which was a lot of fun, besides the big red bugs at the top that climbed onto your hands. Everything had gone great today and i sat down to watch my friends like Ben (Spiderman), Julian, Jasmine, William and James climb the other rocks. Once i became bored i got up and attempted to Climb the hardest rock out of the 5, Happy Birthday. I got about 1/4 of the way up and realized that this was going to be very hard to do. Also, I knew that no one had made it up yet so i pushed myself. In the end i made it up after a push from my belayer, a couple rests, and a lot of effort in around 30 minutes. Once i reached the top it was time to come back down. My belayer slowly dropped me for a little bit and then decided to let go of my rope. I screamed and fell to the ground and about 1 meter form the rocky surface beneath me he stopped the rope and i carefully reached for the ground. That was the last rock i climbed since i was so tired form Happy Birthday, it was also time to go after 30 minutes on one wall. This was my favourite part of the trip and i want to go back and accomplish some of the other walls.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Part of the 2nd & 3rd day in Chiang Mai...Hill Tribe
I honestly never ever thought i would be doing this at any point in my life. Staying at the hill tribe was amazing.
At first i only thought that people who got paid to be on t.v. got to do things like this, but now i was in their position. Once i sat inside the home i was going to be living in i realized..."woah..I'm sitting inside some random persons house, on top of a mountain, in the middle of some random place in Thailand called, Chaing Mai." It was the strangest thing.
After an hour or two of walking around the village and taking pictures, Ai, Amelie, Jasmine, and I all sat down to eat dinner that our Mom for the night had made us. We were all a bit nervous to eat the food, but we were so hungry we dug in and realized that it tasted really yummy. Each of us had a bowl of rice and there were several bowls in the middle of different types of chicken and sauce things. We would say Kohp Kuhn kaa a lot as well, since we didn't really know anything else in Thai. After we finished our meal the lady brought over some fresh mango and I thought it was delicious. Finally we were full and we all repeated thank you in Thai and headed upstairs to our room.

Thinking it was around 10 at night we lied down and tried to go to sleep. Then we heard noises coming from our friends outside and peeked to see what was going on. Apparently the sun went down very early and we must have been really tired because it was only just turning 8 in the evening. I sat down and enjoyed some games with the rest of my group, Ms.O, Mr.Sarich, and Becca. More brain games were included as well. Once it was 9:00 i went to bed and everyone else did, too. I fell asleep easily and woke up at 3 in the morning, shivering, with a loud chicken running across our roof. It took a very long time to drift back to sleep because the chicken was so loud and it was so incredibly cold compared to the night before. Around 6 we woke up and went downstairs to shower, until we noticed there wasn't any hot water. All of us 4 girls agreed that we should all shower. So one by one we waited and quickly washed our hair with the paralyzingly cold water. Finally I finished and so did Jasmine, Amelie and Ai. Breakfast was served and we had huge sausages in a bowl in front of us, ready to eat. They didn't taste very good so we decided to leave them. Unfotunately, the lady noticed and brought us rice cake thingys instead. They weren't very nice either but we felt so bad that we hid them in our pockets when she wasn't looking. We got hot chocolate which was good though. Once breakfast was over I headed up to pack my things and get ready for the day ahead. All of us said our goodbyes and "thank-you's" in Thai and we set off.

Our family was so kind and loving that we almost felt bad for leaving. It was as if they loved us being there and i didn't expect that at all. I'm so happy i had the opportunity to come all the way here and spend a night with the Hill Tribe people.

Flight of the Gibbon...yay.
At about 50-150 meters up or more, group one flung past the giant trees in a hope to make it to the other side. We were on the Flight of the Gibbon in Chiang Mai, hanging on to nothing but our very own harness attached to our hips. It wasn't until the second rope that we felt okay with the whole, "hanging hopelessly in the air" thing. Most of us really liked it and couldn't wait to go on the wire pulling to the next tree. Sometimes it was really funny when the person Zip Wiring wouldn't pull the break enough or weighed enough to make them hit the tree and fly everywhere. Other people had a hard time touching the ground. I suppose i was in the middle, but sometimes i couldn't touch the ground when i got to the end. After we had gone past a couple trees it was time to go down vertically. The man put the rope to on our harness at the back and we were lifted down. Some people like me were dropped down really fast and others went down really slowly. I really enjoyed going on and when it was close to going down the really long vertical rope, i felt like i didn't want to go since i was having such a fun time. I had a great time and Flight of the Gibbon was something i had never experienced and i cant wait until i can show some of my other friends what it is like and to do it again.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The Last Nights Dinner
As Migs, Niels, James, Elena and I all ate at one of the small tables at the Kantohk Dinner, we took pictures to make sure we would remember this time. The food was really tasty and you had to eat by making the sticky rice into a spoon and scooping up meat and sauces in it and eating the entire thing, even your handmade spoon. There were several things there like chicken in sauces and many other spicy, herby and tasty things.

Niels, Elena, Migz, Maxine, James.

Then after we finished eating, everyone piled their food onto the big bowl-looking things and we sat around the stadium. Many dancers came out and performed a variety of unique dance movements and formations. Some of them were stories and some were dancers praying to certain people or things.

Once the dancers finished, the lanterns were lit and let to float into the dark sky. I let go of my wish as i let go of the big white lantern, as well as everyone else. After they all floated away and people stopped taking photos we were called back to the stadium. Becca asked for 6 volunteers and i raised my hand. She chose Andy, James, Me, Megan, Shayna, and another person. Then she explained that Andy, James, and I would have to do a call for the audience. I did it last, following James and Andy. I had to howl like a wolf.
That night was a lot of fun and it was our last night there so we weren't about to waste it.

Friday, May 8th, 2009

At flower arranging class today we made a triangular arrangement using ginger flowers, lilies and carnations. It was really pretty. There's quite a few flower substitutions you can make to the arrangement, so now I'll know what to do with all those strange flowers I get in the mixed bunches at the grocery store!

Rory sent me an email with some of the strange "western" names of some of the people in his Nanjing office. He became entrigued when he spotted "Jungle" and "Jacket" in an email he was sent. The theory is that when the kids are in school the teachers just writes random English words on the chalkboard and they choose a "western name" for themselves based on how they sound or look - believe me there's no other possible explanation! Here's just a few....Dimple, Handsome, Jacket, Jungle, Kitty, Tank, Sword, Rocket, Cherry, Ridy, Me, Magic, Sky and Twinkle. And those are just from the Nanjing office! I must say, opening an email from Twinkle sounds like so much more fun than one from plain old Frank!

Tuesday, May12th, 2009

Oops! It's been a while since I posted anything!
I had a wonderful Mothers Day. The girls made some coffee and french toast, which I had in bed! I got some really nice little sticky notes, a little teddy bear and a bookmark from Sydney and a bread knife from Maxine. Since I've had my bread machine, I've been really missing my nice bread knife which is in storage in Dallas. We've had to hack away at the loaf with a too-short serated knife! It also explained Rory's insistance that he make some bread the day before! I also got a beautiful pink rose which is still going strong - a miracle in Singapore - roses don't seem to last well here.

Today I went to pick up some watercolor prints that I'd had framed. They look wonderful. I'm still amazed at how low the cost is to get things framed here. I also went to Borders while I was out and about and browsed through the magazines, spluging on copies of the latest beading magazines! And I do mean "SPLURGE" !!!

We're still having daily thunderstorms, with lightening so close and thunder so loud it feels like your in the clouds! I must admit that while thunderstorms and lightening in general don't bother me, these ones do have me unplugging everything and bracing for the next clap.

Maxine's exams seem to be going well. She had Humanities yesterday, Language Art today, with Science tomorrow and Math on Thursday. She spent the whole weekend studying, for 50 minute long sessions, with 10 minute breaks, and an hour for lunch. She new her Humanities 100% and was doing really well on Math. Just some final brushing up to do with Science today - hopefully - she's on the sofa asleep after coming home with a migraine. Sydney had taken out her flute to practise but before she even got it to her lips she was shouted out of the room - poor thing! Uuuh, maybe not!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Yesterday Maxine came home with a huge migraine, feeling really rotten, and running a fever. It's the middle of exam week so we dosed her up with flu meds and vitamins and sent her off to bed. She was awake most of the night running a fever so we knew she wouldn't make it to school today. I was so upset for her. She'd studies so hard for her exams. Anyway, I called the school and explained the situation and they said she could write the exams at any time! Oooookay!
Next stop - doctors.....she had to wear a mask because of the flu outbreak and because she was still running a low-grade fever. Well, she didn't have a runny nose, or any congestion, but did have the really bad headache, muscle and joint pains, fever and stiff neck - all symptoms of Dengue Fever!
She had blood drawn so they can test her liver functions, general bloodwork, and her platelets to see if she does in fact have it. We should know by tomorrow. We've also got to watch out for a red blotchy rash which would start appearing on her ankles and moving up her body. It looks like a red rash with little red pimples that actually bleed under the skin - sounds awful !!!! She's really mad about it since all her friends are always getting bitten by mosquitos and here she gets one bite last week, and it was an infected mozzie!!! If she does have it we have to let the school know as well as the Ministry of Health and Welfare so they can send out the bug sprayers! Yippeee!!! Now the entire neighborhood will think we're harboring infected mozzies in our yard! We think she got bit on the soccer fields where they play every lunchtime.
In most cases Dengue Fever is not severe but we have to test her platelet count every day as long as she's running any fever. So, she's taking it easy, trying to make the most of a bad situation. I think her stiff neck bothers her more than anything at this point, as well as the threat of possibly having more bloodwork done again tomorrow. Let's hope all the tests come back NEGATIVE!

On a happy note, we got Maxine booked into Pine Cove Summer Camp,in Tyler, Texas, for a week with her friend Emily. She is so excited! We'd left it a little late to book but luckily there was a cancelation and we got in! Yippeee!

It also turns out that all our China housing woes have come to an end. While we had started out negotiating on the "left-side" of a duplex, the landlord was being a real pain and haggling about everything, over and over again. We were getting nowhere so I said to Rory that I'm done with it - there's another house exactly the same, attached to this one, that is empty - let's start negotiating that one instead! Well, a day later and we're done! Screw that old Chinese lady - she's now stuck with a big house that's empty, with loads of expats not coming, but going! Good luck renting that out now! This landlord is also happy to let us take the furniture allowance and just buy wha furniture we want! Awesome! If we don't spend it, we get to keep the cash - really awesome! Although, I'm sure I'll be able to spend it on a few select items that will come home with me to Texas!

May 2nd
Today is Buster and Frisco's first day at daycare and not surprisingly they were reluctant to go into the playpen. Frisco was easier to convince and once he was in, he started exploring and running around while ignoring the other dogs. Buster was really hesitant about going in but when we managed to get him inside the playpen, he displayed the same behavior as when he was doing the assessment test. We held on to him on a leash and corrected him when he displayed any aggression, such as showing teeth and snapping. eventually he calmed down a little and he took a particular interest in a Husky named Bella who,coincidentally, also started her first day today. After the dogs went out to the outdoor field we brought Buster and Frisco together with two other dogs on a walk. Both of them were well-behaved throughout the walk. We continued monitoring Buster during the outdoor activity while Frisco had his swim with the other dogs. When his turn came, Buster then went for his swim with a Cocker Spaniel and a Bulldog puppy. He also allowed the dogs to be near him without any problems. After the outdoor activity we let go of Buster's leash but kept it on him in case of any emergency. Most of the time he stood or sat by himself, but has moved from the fence to near the waterhose, which is closer to the pack. He is pretty all right as long as the other dogs do not startle him or smell him for an extended length of time. Frisco was very much comfortable already and was rather independent. We found it surprising as we expected them to stick rather close to each other on their first day. Buster is starting to learn from the pack on how to interact and also slowly reducing his nervousness with the influence of the pack's calm energy. We would recommend them to come at least twice a week from morning to evening so they will be able to settle down fully before they stay for 5 weeks with us.

May 4th
Buster and Frisco were quite nervous when they got to daycare today. They are still not totally used to the environment but are quickly adapting due to the pack influence. The weekday routine is slightly different from the weekend with a very packed morning. They were much calmer after the walk and other activities. Buster tends to stick to a corner and is rather quiet. However, I am sure that once he is more used to the daycare he will be able to build up the confidence to interact with the other dogs. We caught Frisco humping another dog once today. After reprimanding he did not do it again. Frisco is adapting to the daycare much more faster and is starting to play with other dogs.

May 6th
We are very pleased with the way Buster and Frisco are settling into daycare with us! Frisco is such as easy-going guy; he has few problems meshing in with the other dogs and is quite happy to go along on all activities. His afternoons are spent just relaxing in the sunshine and socializing with the other dogs.
We are particularly pleased with the progress Buster has made within his last two sessions at daycare! Today he was only a little tense when being brought in with the other dogs and did not even snap at all. Once he's had time to relax, he even made friends with a Siberian husky named Frosti. The two were very comfortable with one another and Buster's tail was wagging non-stop.

May 11th
Buster was reprimanded for snapping at another dog who was not taking the hint and persisted in trying to get him to play. The other dog was also reprimanded for irritating him. Buster's behavior did not continue after the reprimand and he was a very good boy in the afternoon choosing to relax and rest beside the handlers. Frisco was social but relaxed today, always keeping an eye on Buster!

May 13th
Today, Buster made friends with a playful, young Border Collie called Odee. His tail was wagging but when Odee began to get a bit too exuberant Busters lip began to curl. We reprimanded him for his defensive behavior so this should encourage him to be friendly, relaxed and open to making friends. Frisco as always was very friendly, especially with his handlers! He will walk around to see what is going on, but always keeps one eye out for his brother!

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Rory's off to China again. He left this morning after the kids left for school, and will be be back Friday night. He has a terrible trip ahead...flight to Hong Kong, then a couple hours wait then a flight to Nanjing, then an hour or so drive to the hotel. He should get in about 11pm tonight I think.
I had my Chinese lessons all along this morning. Angela and I made a Chinese dish - just a "breakfast stirfry" of egg, green onion, tomato and soy sauce. We were supposed to make soup, but I got the wrong Chinese vegetable yesterday. I don't think it was my fault because I even showed the shelf stocker in the produce department what I was looking for and she gave me the wrong thing! Oh well, no soup. On Wednesday we're making a chicken dish. The theory behind all this is that I'll learn all the Chinese words for the food items while I'm cooking. This morning we covered about 30, and I also learned that you can't get a lot of "western" ingredients, herbs and spices in China! We might be eating noodles more often than we thought! I also learned not to ask for plain flour, which translates to "white powder" in Chinese, and that will get you few years behind bars if you go around asking for it! I bought some flashcards yesterday so this afternoon I'll write up all the words we covered this morning, and hopefully some Chinese characters too.

I've got a long list of things to do this week with about 22 things on it - I've already done 7 things, and scheduled another 4 - yippee! AND I made coconut cookies this afternoon - that wasn't even on my list! I made peanut butter cookies this weekend too - the girls ate all those, well most of them :) I wish I could say that I've become this domesticated goddess, but, sadly, no, I'm just trying to use up all these ingredients I have before we move! I see lots of cookies and bread in my future - oooooh noooooh!

Maxine did very well on her Humanities exam - 96% - she deserved it - she studied very hard for it. She also did the first part of her Chinese exam today and thought she did very well on that too.

I think the tilers at the condo's next door must be in the "grouting" stage because it's very quiet there this morning! Thank heavens! The dogs went to day-care again this morning - here's their write-up for the day....
Buster was very "humpy" today! He tried to hump another dog but was stopped before he could continue. he played with a labrador called Toby. Frisco enjoys following the handlers and seeing what they are up to. he is curious but always runs back to Buster every now and then.
What can I say - now they've both disgraced the Carrick name. Tsk! Tsk!

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

The weather has been miserable here all week. It's only 8am and it's already 80-fahrenheit with 94% humidity! I see Friday is forecast to have temperatures around a humid 104 -uuuugh! An indoor day for sure!

After going through "food items" with my Chinese tutor on Monday, I'm quite concerned that my bread-making and baking plans are not going to pan out. Since Chinese people don't bake, bread and cake are a totally foreign food to them. Flour is used mainly for making noodles or as a thickening agent, not for baking. They usually use only, what they call, icy sugar - the huge sugar crystals that are boiled down into the soups and jellies. They also don't eat raw vegetables at all - they even pickle and boil lettuce! So you can battle to find things like salad dressing. Cheese is totally strange to them. In fact the first time my tutor tasted cheese was when she moved came to Singapore a few years ago! You can't get many of the herbs and spices I rattled off to her either so I'll be stocking up on those before we leave. And green beans are not green beans - those would be peas. Green beans are actually called five-season beans - who knew???
There is a store in Shanghai that sells a lot of western food items so I might be able to order through them and have it delivered, like lots of other expats do. There's just no running down to the local grocery store to get a bag of flour though! Well, there's no running down to the local grocery store, period - we'll have a driver that I'll need to schedule first! I suppose that's where neighbors come in handy - for that cup of sugar, etc.
I'm really hoping that the helper I get can communicate some in English, although I could probably get by in Chinese now. It'll just take me a while to think my words through before blurting them out. (Maxine told her teacher yesterday that she likes to eat Chinese people instead of Chinese food!!!) I thought of teaching her how to cook "western food" if she could teach me some authentic Chinese dishes - of the "normal" kind - no pig organ soup here thank you!
Our cooktop and oven in China is tiny so I invested in a large skillet the other day, and I have a rice cooker already, as well as a pressure cooker. I've been trying to think of other small appliances that might make cooking easier but can't think of any - a veggie steamer drives me nuts - takes far too long to cook anything. Hmm, ice-cream maker, sno-cone machine, waffle iron, juicer, espresso machine, panini toaster, popcorn machine, yogurt maker……after a quick brain-refresher on the web I see there's a whole appliance world out there waiting for me! I might still be churning my own cheese and butter though!

I think I've died and gone to cake heaven! This morning I made a cake that I sort of made up myself and it actually worked out! Okay, I started with a cake mix, but the rest was all my doing! Here's what I used / did:
One cake mix, preferably as chocolatey as you can get!
1 cup Buttermilk
½ cup of coffee liquer (when I started out I though I had Kahlua but it was coffee flavoured Baileys in the fridge, so that's what I used)
I added 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to darken the mix since I'd added the creamy Baileys, plus you can never have too much chocolate, as you'll soon see…
3 eggs
½ cup oil
And 2 cups, yes two cups, of chocolate chips!
Mix all the ingredients together as usual but stir in the chips at the end.
I put mine in a bundt pan, baked it for 38 minutes. The reason I know it's soooo good is because I had to cut off some pieces to level it off before plating it. Once it cooled I poured yet more chocolate over it - in the form of a creamy ganache! I feel like Nigella, without the beautiful locks, voluptuous figure and batting eyes!

Now, the reason I made the cake was for my last scrap-booking group meeting tomorrow! I know, the last one! I've met so many wonderful ladies, and seen so many amazing photo's and gotten so many awful paper-cuts! I really am going to miss them - the ladies - they're a fun bunch, well as fun as scrappers get - scrapping is serious business you know! We'll celebrate in style, with chocolate - lots of it!!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

22 days till we get to Dallas!

Had an awesome weekend listening to the radio - all 80's weekend! We even went for a ride around in the car this evening so we could listen - not that we don't have radio in the house…it's just soooo much more fun in the car with the music blasting and boogying away! The kids even got into it after they got over the embarassment and humiliation of their old-fart parent's selection of music! Brought back tons of great memories…..the 80's definitely had the BEST music...........Bon Jovi, David Bowie, The Human League, Prince, Billy Idol, OMD, Blondie, Depeche Mode, Bryan Adams, Queen, Tears for Fears, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Toni Basil, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Billy Joel, A-Ha, Paul Young, Bananarama, Cyndi Lauper, Level 42, Spandau Ballet, Van Halen, Kim Wilde, Aerosmith, INXS, Eurythmics, Simply Red, Guns 'n Roses, Thompson Twins, Nena, John Mellencamp, The Police, U2….an awesomely limitless selection!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Yesterday I went to Arab Street to look for fabric. I found some very pretty silks to make some skirts, one a gold-ish color with black pattern on it, and another in different shades of blues and greens. I also got some white faux-leather for Maxine's headboard. We're going to recover her existing bed and headboard and stud it with clear diamantes. It should hopefully look very pretty when we're done! I also got her a fantastic silver foil dangly thing to hang in her room. It was a bit over-priced but it was awesome and I couldn't resist!

We got Sydney a triple-bunk for her room! She's hoping to make lots of friends, for sleepovers! It has a normal height bed, with a bunk on top, and then a trundle underneath. At the back of the regular height bed there are lots of shelves and cubbies for her books, music and girly stuff. The bunk-bed comes with orange on it so she's decided to keep her bedding that we have for her here. It's turquoise with orange and yellow and pink blocks all over it. She just has to decide what color to paint her walls - she doesn't want anything she's already had before….so lilac, green, orange, and pink are out. Maxine's is going fuschia! We're painting it ourselves - not telling the landlord! I think he'll have heart-failure if we showed him the paint swatch. I'm more nervous that in the translation we'll end up with that color throughout the house! Eeeeeek!

This morning I have Beading Group so I made an Apple Pecan Coffee Cake to take. For some unknown reason it just wouldn't bake. It was supposed to be in the oven for only 25 minutes. I ended up taking it out after almost 40 minutes! I'm hoping it's done - it's hard to tell with dollops of cream cheese throughout the mixture and a generous sprinkling of streusel on top! I'm taking some beads to make a bracelet for our Chinese tutor. She always stops to admire the bracelets I've made so I thought it would be a nice personal gift. I'm going to miss her when we move! When she went to China to visit her family she brought us back a bell from her fathers antique collection! She's invited us to go stay with them and for her to show us around her city when she goes back in October. A bit nervous about that invitation.......

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Last night Rory and I went to do some grocery shopping. Since I don't have a car during the day evening's are the best time - weekends are a nightmare. While we were shopping we saw the most adorable little Chinese baby sitting in a grocery cart. She was wearing a little white outfit with a white hat and had the cutest little face. Some very, very proud grandparents were pushing the cart! Grandpa started adjusting the hat when he saw us looking and Grandma gave us a huge smile! There's been quite an explosion of babies in Singapore since the government started their incentive scheme, urging people to leave work at the proper time, not to work late, to go home a procreate! Apparently, Singapore's has an ageing population and shrinking birthrate, with most of the younger married couple leaving to work in other countries after completing their education here. The goverment has been giving tax breaks, cash incentives, education scholarships, 3-months fully paid maternity leave, and the list goes on, all in an effort to produce more Singaporeans!

Saturday, May 30th, 2009

We made my favorite arrangment at flower arranging yesterday - Bird of paradise flowers with mini carnations. It's a more contemporary style which was different for me - I tend towards more traditional bouquets - but I really enjoyed it! I learned that you can actually open up the flowers even more by splitting open the "leaf thingy" covering the petals and carefully removing the other petals from within the fold. It was amazing what a difference it made. And, they don't open up that much on their own either, so you end up wasting half the flower if you don't manually assist it. Almost all of the arrangments we've done have used a piece of oasis wrapped in clear plastic and then a decorative water-proof paper. It saves on having to buy vases, especially when your giving them away as gifts...and they still look just as good, of not better!

It seems we've been going out a lot at night, trying to avoid the heat of the day and the hoards of shoppers. Last night we were at Plaza Singapura buying storage boxes for my scrapbooking things. This evening we went to do some grocery shopping and to find some small boxes at the back of the grocery store.

This afternoon I sorted through all my boxes of scrapbooking photos and info. I threw a lot away - mostly doubles of travel info. etc. I found a few treasures from the kids Kindergarten days - mostly love letters to Maxine! And lots and lots of drawings from Sydney. This week is my last week of Chinese lessons and I'm quite sad...I'm really going to miss it. I'm hoping I can keep it up in Dallas and then find another good tutor in Nanjing.