Skip to main content

early riser

Sukey and I were up together at 4am this morning for an unneeded bathroom trip. She was crying and so I got dressed and took her out. Instead of immediately squatting and going she started playing. I was so mad. We came back inside and sure enough, she had wet her bed. After eating she went back to bed and slept till 5:30am. 5:30 I can deal with but 4am I can not.

So there's a pot of coffee brewing to help me through the morning. Sukey's happily chewing on a rawhide shaped shoe unaware of the way she's affected my day.

Phil and I are going to be adding a new book to our current school curriculum. We're both in book 4 (there are 5). After the 5th those who care can go on to study specialized language for a specific field of work. We're both ready to start adding "special" language to our learning and we got permission to do so. The first book in the series of special language books is simple but it only has characters, no pinyin. I can go at my own pace and if I don't know enough of the characters I can stop for awhile and start again when I learn more. The new language will really help me at fellowship times.

Yesterday evening Sheila (language coach) joined us for dinner. She recorded our supper conversation which was almost all in Chinese. She'll listen to it at home and then talk to us about issues she sees with our progress, pronunciation, etc. It was fun and encouraging.

Okay, off to get my lost hours of sleep in a mug.

Popular posts from this blog

moving time

Well my house looks like it did at some point when we moved here about 2 years ago. Boxes lying around, no pictures up, hammers, cleaning rags and tape sitting in random spots around the living room. It's a mess. Another move, more good-byes and mixed emotions. I'm going to miss... ..real CH food whenever I want it for dirt cheap, ..a tailor that made all my curtains and waves to me every time I walk past her shop, ..the little boy who's parents own the light bulb shop and yells, "hello!" every time we pass by, ..all the little kids that very politely say, "Ayi" (Aunt) when they pass me, ..our first friend in Chengdu who owns a local shop and buys birds as a hobby - bird guy, as we call him, ..the best dumpling makers, the steamed bread makers, the shopkeepers that deliver our milk for free and know our address by heart, ..the courtyard of our complex where Maddie can play by herself or with her friends while we keep an eye on her from our 4th floor, ....

blogging instead of studying

This morning I wondered why this place doesn't have laundry-mats. They have dry-cleaners but no public places to do laundry. I think it would be a big hit, as long as the price was affordable for regular guys. Most students do their laundry by hand in the dorm and lots of other people do the same in their homes. Maybe I've hit a goldmine. Dogs in this day and age like to be socialized. I'm not sure who first decided this but it's all over the internet dog sites. Your puppy needs to be socialized with humans and other dogs right away. Well, dogs are becoming more and more popular as pets here (and less popular to eat) but the socializing concept hasn't hit here yet. There's this one dog that I often see outside and Sukey always wants to "socialize" with him but he's so scared he just fidgets and shakes. His owner doesn't like it either because this morning after the appropriately polite amount of time of letting her dog have a panic att...

the number dilemna

I don't know how many kids I want.  I know how many kids Phil would like, 2.  Immediately, after giving birth to Lilian I looked up at Phil and said, "I don't want any more kids.  I don't want to do this again.  Two is enough."  I have not forgotten what caused me to passionately speak those words to Phil.  But, when I hold my sweet little girl I have this nagging thought that I don't want this to be the last little baby I cuddle with.   So here is what I think about to try to decide: Traveling...5 people boarding a plane, packing for 5, finding lodging for 5, feeding 5 while on vacation.  We travel a lot so this is something that really is good to consider.  Of course, the main time this will be a hassle is when 3 of the 5 are still young and need a lot of assistance from the 2 that are adults. Sleeping...where does a third sleep?  Is it possible to get 3 kids to nap at the same time?  Both of my girls sleep through the night well almost every night , do I wa...