Skip to main content

english monday

Tonight was our 1st English class at the seminary. We have 2 classes with about 25 students in each. It went really well. It's too bad that Sharon, Jolene, and I can't always teach together because it was a lot of fun. We all went tonight just because we thought it would be the best way to start the 1st class. Phil has the beginners and they are definitely beginners. Our class is a nice mix of high beginners and intermediates. There are a few really high level students, too. So, I'll see them again on Friday.

From what we were told Maddie did really well with the sitter. Her name is Theresa. She is a daughter of a Chinese coworker. She got a little nervous and called her mom to come over and help so they were both here when we got home. I'm not sure what made her nervous. We had asked her to give Madeleine a bath. Again, I'm not sure what she did but she told us that Maddie's shower was short because she didn't like the water. So I'm assuming she tried to give her a shower instead of a bath. Kinda funny. I would have liked to seen that.

Maddie cried when we were closing the front door to leave. That was the 1st time she's done that. I thought she would.

I was very relieved to come home and find her sleeping soundly. I hadn't worried about her at all but it's always good to come home to a sleeping baby!

I'm starting some very early stages of weening. I have a feeling that it may take Maddie awhile to get used to the idea and I'd like her to be weened by the end of December. I also just want to take it slow. So today I dropped her mid-afternoon feeding. She didn't seem to mind. She normally eats as soon as she gets up from a nap so I just fed her a banana right away. Later she had some pasta. I expect the 1st morning and bedtime feedings to be the hardest to stop. It actually makes me feel a little sad talking about it.

Maddie really likes instant noodles - like Ramen Noodles. Instant noodles are popular here with young people and we often eat them for a quick lunch. As soon as Maddie sees us eating them she starts whining for them. She's really cute because she slurps them up off of her chin.

Tomorrow Maddie and I have a morning outing. We have to go to a large grocery store and get some dishes. I didn't get any the other day because I didn't really like the designs and I want to like what I get because I hope to use them for a long time. So, in the morning after breakfast I plan on using the stroller and walking to Hualian (grocery store name). I also want to pick up some lunch meats that we were told about and some cheese. Cheese is not common here so it will be interesting to see what it's like. Lunch is the hardest meal here for me. Most Chinese cook a regular meal and I just don't want to take the time and energy (of cleaning up) for that. I asked some coworkers what they do for lunch and so they told me where to find some convienent foods. Hence, the hunt for lunch meats and cheese tomorrow.

Popular posts from this blog

happy birthday

Today I am 29 years old. I don't mind being a 29 year old. It has it's advantages, I'm sure. It's only 7:33am so I don't really know how my actual birthday is going to be but yesterday was great. After a meeting here at home with the other Seminary English teachers, Phil told me that Terri (coworker) wanted to see me the office. I knew something was up and when I walked into the office everyone was standing there, Terri was holding a cake with candles, and they all started singing "Happy Birthday". I wasn't surprised that they did something but I was surprised to have everyone there at that moment singing to me. I'm enjoying a piece of the spice cake right now with coffee. They also made me a really sweet card that was very encouraging. Terri and Buddy(dog) came over around 5pm last evening so that Phil and I could go out. I knew we were going to a restaurant and I knew we should dress a little nice. We both looked nice but we couldn't...

Fickle ol' solidarity

At some point in March when this virus deemed that it had spread so far that it could be called a pandemic, I told the girls they should do video journals to remember the days of living in a pandemic. Here now in the middle of April, I realize that I need to write for myself and the girls can just have lots of regret when they're older because they didn't do what I said. When the whole world started moving to stay-at-home orders, I felt such a strong sense of solidarity.  I looked at all of us (literally all of us - okay, most of us) in our different areas of the world facing this beast together.  Jimmy Fallon's wife filmed him hosting from home.  John Krasinski started SGN in his home office.  Everyone was joking about toilet paper, sweatpants, and cutting your own bangs. Italians were singing from their balconies.  Wuhan folk were singing from their high-rises.  Hospitals in NYC were being surrounded by patrol cars each evening with lights flashing and ...

still cooking

As of today we are 4 days late. That is assuming that man can accurately determine the day a baby should be born. Which, obviously, he can not. So, we wait. The thing with pregnancy is that most woman began to really anticipate that Big Day about a month before the due date and so when that day comes and goes it has been a long time of waiting. I keep trying to remember 2 things. One, when she comes our nice little family of 3 will be forever altered and two, she will come. In fact, she will come by the end of next week if not sooner - thanks to the ability to induce. So in the mean time I'm able to blog with both eyes wide open, take Madeleine swimming on a whim, have dates with Phil whenever and stay up late watching "Numbers" without worrying about my sleep debt. Not so bad when you think of it that way.