Slacker

That would be me.
Two weeks since my last post! Uh, I'm so embarrased. Thanks to Becca for not letting me slide!

In my defense, that first week nothing was really happening. Well, life was. School, work, the normal stuff. We were healthy, enjoying our last few weeks eating on GE's dime, getting to know people around here.

Oh, quick shout out. Ben's grandma turned 90 on the 17th!! 90!! Isn't that amazing??? So, Happy Birthday to Bette Barrett. We love you and miss you- Sophie talks of you often and how she misses you. Hope your party was fantastic!!

Ok, so, this is what we've been up to. On Tuesday the 7th, Sophie's school held a literacy meeting for parents of the younger kids. The intention was to introduce how they teach our kids to read and know phonics. It was really informational! Ben and I have been amazed at how quickly Sophie has learned to read words- in just 6 weeks she can sound out and pronounce words that are 4 or 5 letters long. When we moved here she didn't even know all her letters. We've been really impressed!

That day I was also invited to go to coffee at another friend's house where I met her lovely ayi, Tai Ping. Have I explained the ayi thing? An ayi is basically a housekeeper/nanny (if you want). EVERYONE has one. It's so odd. I work in the States and don't have a housekeeper so having one here is just so bizarre! Tai Ping will be working at our place Mon thru Fri from 1230-530 and, once we get comfortable with her, doing the occasional babysitting. She's actually quite amazing and we're really lucky to have gotten her. She is one of few ayis that speaks english, she has taken official courses in home economics and CPR. She recently was nominated to take a special senior home economics course and received the highest grades in Shanghai! She had to give a speech thanking the government for choosing her to take the course, etc... Anyway, she started today! I was so nervous. :) I actually spent quite a bit of time last night picking up so she wouldn't think we're messy people (I know, it's exactly what she's there for...).
I'll let you know how it went later in the post.

On Wednesday the 8th I attended my first women's Bible study. A woman from Alabama who I met through church invited me to it so we go together. It's on being a significant woman for God in this day and age. It's a good study and the ladies are all very nice but, wow, are they into it!! There's a lot of hand-raising and rocking and spontaneous prayers being vocalized in the middle of whatever. I guess it's just really different from my Coffee Break at home that I love SO much. Here they do 30 minutes of singing and reading of verses, then 45 minutes of study with the book, then more singing, then praying. It's good to glean from these women their enthusiasm for God and His word. Already I am getting more comfortable with the different way of worship and look forward to each week.

On Saturday the 11th we took a family trip to the textile market to have Sophie pick out what fabric she wanted for her duvet. This is a dangerous thing. Dangerous only because most of the fabrics are REALLY ugly so we were taking our chances that we could guide her to something cute. The kids were, once again, the center of attention. A group of older ladies were just obsessed with the kids. Sophie said "Ni Hao" (she's getting used to the attention and loves it when they just squeal with delight at her Mandarin) and, to my surprise, one of them started speaking english to us. "They all think you look like a doll- you are so beautiful". Sophie looks at me to see if this is ok. I tell her to say thank you and just turn around so she does. I found that comment so interesting at that moment bc at home we think of China dolls as the prettiest type of dolls. Wait a minute- just had a thought. Does that phrase "China doll" refer to the Chinese or to bone china that the dolls are made of? Hmmm, I may have been misinterpreting that phrase my whole life. Oh well... :) Another great moment was when one of the workers asked Sophie something in Mandarin and she then responded in Mandarin. The woman just giggled and giggled. I apologized and explained that sometimes she makes things up and says it's Mandarin. The lady said, "no, no! She said the right thing. I asked her how old she was and she said- "I'm 4 yrs old". I was amazed she knew what I asked and how to answer"! You're not the only one, lady. She can also ask someone "What is your name?". I guess she earned that Mandarin Star of the Week. :)
Here's a pic of one aisle (of hundreds) there so you can get a glimpse:

So, after only a few minutes, we found a cute pink fabric with little hearts on it. She fell in love with it, they offered to make a duvet cover and 2 pillow cases for $22 (can't go wrong- we didn't even barder) and they'll have it done in an hour. Thank you very much. We had another place make some fitted sheets and flat sheets (4 total for about $20) and went off to McD's for some lunch while we waited. An hour later, they were all done and off to home we went. Success!!

On Sunday we had another great China moment. We get to church only to find that the neighbor to the church (20 feet away) has decided that it was a good day to burn...stuff. He had a small shack-type thing with a smoke stack that was just billowing out the blackest, stinkiest smoke. The wind was just perfect to bring this delightful smoke monster right through the front door of the church. See, the church is all outdoors except for the sanctuary so it's not like we could just go inside and escape it. Ugh, SO nasty and went on the whole service. Thankfully once we went inside and closed the doors for service it was better. Gotta love China.

Monday was supposed to be my first day of normalcy- exercising, maybe the store, you know, whatever. Unfortunately at breakfast Cooper decided to vomit everywhere so all those plans went out the window. My poor baby. Really, he wasn't that bad- he didn't vomit again but was definitely clingy and cuddly all day (loved loved LOVED it- is that wrong?). :) When Soph got home from school she worked on the 6 Valentine's that Nana had sent. She picked her 6 people (Dad, Aubrey, Colin, Mia, Ms. Hafseth and Ms. Zhang) and it took and hour and a half to write out their names and her name but, she did it! She was very proud. :)

Tuesday was Valentine's Day!! Sophie got to wear her heart tights that Nana sent (thanks, Nana- HUGE hit!!) and Ben bought Sophie and I some beautiful flowers (and I got some chocolates- another huge hit). Soph said they didn't celebrate Valentine's Day at school and I thought that was just so odd considering at home there would have been a party for it! Although, I was super glad she didn't have to write 22 names....

The school also had another meeting that day where they taught us parents how they do numeracy and problem solving (let's just call it what it is, people- math). I came away with a ton of great ideas and websites for games and crafts that teach her without her even knowing it... heh heh heh...

That night the family enjoyed a lovely candelit dinner of blueberry pancakes, real Hormel bacon, real maple syrup, scrambled eggs and Champagne for the grownups. The meal was probably about $60 or $70 so it was quite a luxury (thank you, GE). It all tasted like heaven, though...

Wednesday morning- back at Bible study then at night I was back at Soph's school for a reading workshop put on by the teachers. Another brilliant idea. We could choose 3 20-minute workshops to attend that would give us real world ideas and take-home games or crafts that would help nurture our kids' love of reading. Mine were, of course, all based on Soph's age but other friends went to more advanced ones for their older kids...it was great. I came away with how to change a recipe so that we can read it together and cook together, several games that uses phonics and ways to tweak reading at night to help them learn it easier and enjoy it more. So, so brilliant. Loved it. And, I loved going for drinks with my girlfriends after. Just one, settle down- no repeats of before...it was a school night!

Ok, so, Thursday was the big move but that is truely another blog in itself. So, I'll post this one and work on another tomorrow that explains the move (with pics) and I'll tell you how my first day with a housekeeper for 5 hours went (It's like she's magic...) :)

Another shout out- this time to my sweet big boy nephew, Luca John, who turned 1 yesterday (the 19th). I hope he enjoys his pirate ship water table this summer! It blows my mind that he's a year old already. He looks just like his papa (my bro) and, if he's lucky, he'll turn out just like him, too. Not to say that turning out like his mama would be bad- bc it wouldn't. I love her to death. :) It just means I think my bro is super duper as well.. Ok. Good. Set that straight.

Hope you all are well. We miss you like crazy but are doing fine here as well. Each day is easier, more relaxed, less stress. Although cab rides are still super scary (no seatbelts, highways, crazy driving...). I feel a bit like life is passing us by over there so don't forget us, ok? We'll be back before you know it. ;)