sore thumb

I took advantage of feeling sick today to undecorate our home.  Sick enough to skip school but well enough to get some things done in the house.  It's hard to make understandable Mandarin come out of my mouth when my head is pounding and my stomach turning. When I was younger I always felt very sad when the tree came down and we didn't have little lights glimmering in our living room.  But now, I feel happy that it's done and I have my living room floor space back.  Ah, the reality of getting older.  I think it helps that I did it on NY's Eve so that I have tonight and the new year to be excited about. Here are a few things that stick out about 2008. -Lilian Pearl, possibly the sweetest baby on planet Earth -Moving across town because of toxic fumes in the old place -Finding and decorating an apartment that we LOVE.  We may have the largest kitchen in all of China. -Living in Beijing for 6 weeks -Becoming such great friends with Natasha Tompkins -Living in Chengdu for...

If you have ever lived or passed through eastern PA you may have experienced an unspeakable joy in the form of the gas/ convenience store, " Wawa ".  Because of Wawa , I L-O-V-E hazelnut coffee.  Yesterday, a package came from our good friends in northern OH.  Among other wonderful things, was a coffee can of hazelnut flavored coffee.  happy sighhhhhh .  My house smells amazing this morning.  It's a combination of coffee, fresh baked bread and apple butter simmering in the crock pot. If hazelnut coffee wasn't enough to rejoice about, I also finished the 5 th and final book of our Chinese textbooks yesterday.   Yippeeeee !!!  With the birth of Lilian, going to Chengdu and studying this particular book only 4 hours a week, it has taken a very long time to get through Book 5.  So, I couldn't stop smiling yesterday as we finished up the lesson.  I proudly announced to the school office that I was finished and there was much rejoicing among us.  It is a very good fe...

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...

December first saw our lovely tree ascend in the living room.  December second it became adorned with little lights and lovingly made, given or bought ornaments.  Today we're enjoying it.   Madeleine helped decorated.  We have one branch that is very well decorated and then I helped her space the others out a bit.  She was really sweet looking at the ornaments and getting excited about them.  It's nice that Phil and I have collected ornaments over the years and we even have several from his childhood.  So many of them have special meaning for us.  I remember how much fun it was for me to go through the ornaments when I was little.  So we made sure to let Madeleine enjoy the process even though it meant one fragile little sled got broken.  Thankfully, we had several. Lilian was less than thrilled this morning when she saw the tree in all it's glory.  She did roll underneath it, tried to grab a branch and sucked on a stocking for awhile.  

Our heat did indeed come on on Saturday but it just got really crankin ' yesterday (Tues).  I'm not sure what the temp is inside but it's nice and toasty.  We opened the window in our bedroom last night and turned down the radiator.  I love a cold bedroom for sleeping.  Outside it's in the low 40s in the morning and just around 50 during the day.  We've had nice sunny weather for the last few days and it really looks and feels so wintery .  I love it.   Madeleine has really gotten into leaves.   Phil has taught her how to recognize the tree by it's leaves.  It's so cute as she walks down the sidewalk and says, "Look, a Ginkgo leaf!"  Yesterday he gave her a piece of evergreen.  She smelled it and said, "Smells like Christmas."  Neither of us intentionally taught her that but she's so right. Phil and I are meeting for an Indian lunch later today.   Yippeeeeeee !  It's been so long and I just can't wait.  Xi'an doesn't...

Having time to read, pry and drink coffee before the girls wake. Coffee with whipping cream. Looking out my kitchen window.   Watching Lilian's face as she watches Madeleine. Hearing Phil's voice when he talks to Lilian. Knowing Madeleine has sweet, funny friends. Starbucks on a cold day. Getting enough sleep. Crock pots . A couple days ago Phil was making a cup of tea.  Madeleine really likes tea and especially enjoys Peppermint Tea.  Madeleine, "Papa, is that Peppermint Tea?"  Phil, "No, it's Iron Buddha." Maddie, "Why it iron booty?" Yesterday was a really nice day for me.  Wednesday are my day off from school.  It's a great day to be off because Yali is here to help with the girls and it's mid-week.  I had already decided that I would use the morning to hang out by myself at Starbucks.  We have one very close to us.  I took my textbook and some other books that I just wanted to read.  I drank a latte, munched on a chocolate pastry ...

Still have beautiful fall leaves on our trees despite the valiant effort of some cleaning ladies.  3 of them stood around one of our trees the other afternoon beating it with a long bamboo pole and shaking it violently to get all the changing leaves off.  It made me furious.  I thought, "That is one of my trees that I look at from my window.  Now stop hurting it and my lovely autumn view." Thankfully, they left it alone and we have still have lovely autumn covered sidewalks to stroll along these days. I woke to clear, blue skies which made me want to get outdoors as soon as possible.  It didn't take long for Maddie and I to get it all together for a vigorous walk.  I pushed her and she commented on the trees, the cars and the smells.  "I smell something. (sniff, sniff)  Smells like bad."  Car exhaust was our fresh-morning smell.  I must be acculturating , since it only bothered me a bit. We walked towards the mountains that sit at the southern side of our city....

My clearest Halloween memory is from when I was about 4 years old.  I dressed as a cheerleader and went around with my sister and cousin, Van, door-to-door in Morehead, Kentucky.  Now, I know that I trick-or-treated for years and years but something about that particular time was special to me. I've wondered before what Maddie's first memory will be.  It may be that monkey jumping on her stroller in Malaysia.  She often talks about it.  Or riding an elephant in Thailand. This was M's first year to celebrate Halloween.  She dressed as a princess in pink tennis shoes. She made her own treat bag from a Starbuck's paperbag covered in brown paper and she put fancy tape all over it.  We went to the Tompkins for supper and then an adult (we had 6 that night) stood behind a closed door in their house and Natasha took the kids from door to door.   They knocked on the door, said "Trick-or-Treat!" and then we all had candy to give them.  You should have seen the huge smi...

From my kitchen window I can look down on the treetops and see leaves gradually changing from green to red, green to yellow and green to burnt orange.  This is the first autumn I have actually noticed here in China.  It must be because this is the first time I've lived in a place with a great view and that view includes lots of trees.  How lovely. In Georgia we had an annual apple pickin' day around this time.  My folks and family would drive up to the foothills of North GA and we'd spend a morning in the orchard.  There were fried apple pies and cider to be bought and eaten.  The sky would be that brilliant blue that I always loves so much around the Toccoa area.   Is there really anything better than a day spent outdoors in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains?   How appropriate that I'm eating apple crisp this afternoon as I type.   Our provence is the biggest apple producer in the country.  You'd think with all those apples we'd have lots of apple trea...

I miss my daughter.  I miss how I used to have the time each morning to get up and play with Madeleine for a bit before I needed to get ready for the day.  I hate how I have to tell her, "I can't play with you right now because....".  I just miss her.  And the worst part is that I know she misses me, too.  I guess that's good but at the same time I feel like it also means I'm letting her down and we both know it. The other afternoon I had helped her lay down for her nap.  As I was leaving the room she looked at me and said, "Mom, I love you SO much."  Just goes to show that even though life looks a bit different these days, she knows the love has only grown deeper.  What a relief. I'm tired tonight.  I like my new class schedule with taking all afternoon classes because I have time to study and prepare in the mornings.  The big downside is that I often don't get a nap and I think this new schedule is one of the reasons I don't have much time ...

A week ago tonight, Madeleine got her right arm stuck between a rubber ball and the moving belt on our treadmill.  It was horrible.  The belt took off skin around the wrist and on the inside of her forearm.  A doctor friend told us it was pretty much a 2nd degree burn and to treat it as such.  The hardest part was keeping bandages from sticking to it because for several days it oozed.  No blood but just a clear oozing.  Once we started putting wax paper down as the first layer of dressing (Phil's brilliant idea) things got much easier.  Tonight it looked so much better.  New skin is growing and we are just trusting for no major scars or no scaring at all. Madeleine has been a real trooper.  I came to a new conclusion throught this ordeal.  People who intentially harm children should be put to death.  I have always struggled with the death penalty because our system seems so easily flawed by corrupt judges, jurys, lawyers, cops, witnesses and too may innocent people have been senten...

So I'm having a very rare moment here as I type at 7:09am because I'm the only one up.  I quickly booted up the computer, waited impatiently for everything to start up, typed in the address a couple times too quickly so it was wrong, and now I'm frantically typing.  Why?  Because there is no way that I'll finish this post before one of my 2 girls needs me. There was a perfect time in history when my eldest would sleep till almost 8am every morning.  I would get up, run, take a shower, read, drink coffee and feel totally prepared for a new day.  Now, I'm usually lying down with her around 6am so she'll go back to sleep.  As I leave her room her little sister begins to cry and by the time I crawl back into bed, it's time for us to get up.   Yesterday, was a rainy cool fall day.  Madeleine came in around 6:45am, wide awake and so happy for a new day.  My bed felt so warm and cozy.  I had my husband there, a coolness in the air, my bed was warm, it was gray outs...

Yesterday Phil, Lilian and I went out for lunch. Lilian slept the entire time but Phil and I really enjoyed our Portuguese restaurant experience. It has got to be the tackiest restaurant I have ever seen and seeing that it's often easier to judge a book by it's cover than not, I expected the food to be pretty terrible. On the contrary, it was very good. At the end of our meal the waiter brought us two cups of coffee, which we had not ordered. When we told him this he said, "It's our 8th birthday and this is our gift to you." How nice, we thought. Then I realized it was Nescafe which is a very popular instant coffee here that has the sugar and creamer already added. It's amazing how nice instant coffee looks in a little white coffee cup sitting on a saucer. As they say, it's the thought that counts. Today Madeleine will have her first Chinese language lesson. Her teacher is my former teacher and our friend. She's our age and very good with kid...

I got a facebook site last week. I don't know if I should announce this because I actually don't like that I have a site and the pressure that comes with it concerning Facebook "friends". I also don't like that there's another thing on the internet that takes up my time. I haven't posted here in days and days and days and this is what I actually enjoy. But somehow Facebook has sucked me in and I really, really don't like that. The hard thing is that there are people I've talked with in the last couple days that I haven't seen in years and well, that's good. My life right now is really odd. Madeleine and Phil are in Beijing. They left Monday and will be back tomorrow, Thursday, evening. Being home with a newborn is just incrediably dull. The good thing about it is that I can blog, excersice, watch Seinfield, go for long walks with Lilian, sleep past 6am and pretty much do anything I want as long as it involves toting around a 3 mont...

I'm so happy to announce that my oldest daughter is officially potty trained. We really thought she'd never poop on the potty but continue to give us 2 soiled pairs of underwear everyday for the rest of her life. But thankfully she figured out "the feeling" and she's got it down pat. She hasn't had an accident for days and days and even sleeps through the night with no problems. So, just one kiddo in diapers now. My dear Steiner Dad and Mom will be boarding the plane in the morning to head to our home. We're just around the block, really. We just can't believe they are actually going to be sitting on our couch in our home in Xi'an. What a great thing. This week has gone well with starting back to school. I was so dreading it but it hasn't been so bad. My teacher is really great at speaking clearly and correcting me. It's also nice to be starting back slowly with just 6 hours a week. Lilian is doing great with being away from me a...

Here's what's been on my mind lately. Greenery - I love green space. There are places abounding with greenery here but I don't live in one of them. To give credit where credit is due, Xi'an does have more trees than other areas that we've lived in. Because of my need for green I have decided that whenever possible I will try to live on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd floor of apartments from now on. We live on the 8th and I can see trees lower down from various windows in my apartment but I'd like to be low enough that the trees where actually at my windows. This complex has a lot of beautiful landscaping and lots and lots of green stuff. That's one reason why we chose this place. Characters - I am pretty horrible at remembering Chinese characters. Tuesday (the day I start back to school) is going to be very painful since the book I'm currently studying is all characters. Milk - Today Yali stayed home with Lilian while Madeleine and I went out. It was a little trial...

We are in what we call our home now. Which means Xi'an for the foreseeable future. This, in our case, can mean anything from a couple years to a couple weeks. I have discovered that our home in Xi'an doesn't feel like home yet. We moved in on May 4th but we've actually only lived in this apartment for about a month and that month wasn't contiguous. Madeleine still considers our home to be in the other area of Xi'an that we first moved to and last night I couldn't remember were stuff was in the kitchen. Phil doesn't seem to have a problem. Today Yali came back to work and Maddie was happy to see her. Lilian seems to be happy to be anywhere that has me within close proximity so she's doing great. I'm very, very happy to be back here with my girls and my Phil.

Wouldn't it be so exciting to have a child in the Olympics? Today Madeleine and I were watching gymnastics. She wasn't so in to it but since I wouldn't play with her she sat with me and watched grudgingly. However, after awhile she got down and started trying to stand on her head and running from corner to corner of the room (floor routines) and ending with a grand throwing of the hands in the air and bowing. I was proud of her for just that display so I can't imagine having a child actually compete. In yesterday's post I mentioned that a requirment to be a stay-at-home mom would be for us to have play friends. Well, today I found out that Madeleine already has about 8 friends here. They patiently sit on the bathtub eagerly awaiting her nightly bath. They are (in no particular order) shampoo bottle, conditioner bottle, empty sprite bottle, empty coke bottle, baby shampoos bottle, wierd blue liquid in a bottle and empty juice bottle. This morning when she wal...

The girls and I are back at the office for a few days and nights. We may be here until we go back to Xi'an. Depends on when my folks return...no need for us all to share a room again when we could be at Dave's house. Dad and Mom are back in Wuhan waiting for their visas to be renewed. So hard sharing a room with Madeleine and Lilian. One or the other is doable but last night I had one girl on either side of the bed - not in the bed but Maddie was on a pallet and Lilian in her portable cradle. Everything went okay until about 5am when Lilian let out a sharp cry waking both Maddie and me. Maddie started crying and so was Lilian and it took all I had not to join in with them. But we all settled down and got another hour and half sleep before the day officially began. Phil's out of town again. 5 nights this time. The days I can handle fine but the evenings are a pain when we're here at the office. It's a vicious cycle if and when one of them starts crying. Th...

Both my girls are snoozing and seeing that I had a lovely cup of coffee over lunch with Madeleine and Lilian, I am not. We ate lunch at Peter's Tex-Mex which is conveniently located near our current apartment. It takes about 20 minutes to walk there while pushing a stroller and walking at a toddler's pace. So, not bad at all...especially if you realize how long it can take to get anywhere at a toddler's pace. Look at a rock, get to the stick stuck behind the bush, rub a hand across the side of each parked car, watch your reflection in the window of every shop, stop the stroller to make sure Lilian is still there every so often... We're in Chengdu. This is our second apartment to stay in since we got here. We've stopped telling Madeleine we're going "home" we call it "Nana and Gramp's house" or "Dave and Fan Fan's house". So "home" can still be our apartment in Xi'an. This is the 3rd city Lilian has live...

It's in the 70s this morning and drizzling. I hear it could be close to 100 tomorrow in Chengdu, the day we'll arrive. I haven't packed one single thing yet. Last night I was wiped out and went to bed earlier than normal but Lilian had a hard time falling asleep so it took awhile before we were all content enough to close our eyes. This morning and into the afternoon Phil and I have interviews to conduct for potential volunteers for work in Chengdu. I think I'll have to skip out on the afternoon stuff to pack. Thankfully, Chengdu is a big, modern city and we can buy anything there that we don't want to pack or forget to pack. Well, almost anything. It's been a really busy, full week with us learning the ropes of how CCA goes about selecting suitable volunteers for the work they are doing. The interviewing process started yesterday and was really interesting. Phil conducted them all with an interpreter and I sat in on a few of them. Everyone also had to...

Lilian Pearl will be 3 weeks old this Thursday. It's already going by so fast, so much faster than it did with Madeleine. It seemed like everyday was an eternity when Maddie was this old. We've been home for a week. Our train trip from Beijing to Xi'an couldn't have gone any better. We all slept well and got home without any problems. My parents, sister and nieces came up from Wuhan last Wednesday. They are all back at their homes now. We had a great time hanging out here in Xi'an and they got to do a lot of fun stuff and we did it almost all together! Again, it's amazing how differently we function with our second child. I could barely get it together with Maddie at this point and with Lilian we went out to dinner several times as a family and pretty much just did whatever we wanted. She's a pretty easy baby as far as babies go. Now, we're trying to figure out how life works with 2 kids. Madeleine is figuring it out very well. She has her mo...

I wish I could say I couldn't sleep this morning because I'm starting the daunting task of labor but I think it's just the after affects of a latte I had yesterday afternoon. Caffeine really works on me for a long time. It's Sunday morning here in Beijing. For the last 2 days we've had rain and gray, cloudy skies. Looks like the same for today. For lunch yesterday, Mom and I went to a quaint (which is rare in such a hugely populated land) French bakery for lunch. There's nothing much better than a ham sandwich on a freshly baked croissant. What other sandwich requires no mayo or mustard? None that I've met. And what can top a cheese danish and freshly brewed cup of coffee to top it all off? Again, obviously nothing other than a piece of baklava and fresh coffee. So, it was a nice lunch. We get to attend our 4th service at the International Fellowship here today. I'm amazed at the openness and acceptance of the people. Every couple of days I g...

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.

I've always thought we women should have been designed with one of those plastic timers that pop out of fully cooked turkeys so that when the baby is done and ready to be taken from our oven our timers would pop out and we'd just head to the hospital. Wouldn't that be so convenient? If it takes 9 months for a baby to be fully done my baby will be ready to come tomorrow, the 9th of June. If she does, she'll share a birthday with our dear friend John Littleton. Which would be really sweet. Phil just knew she's be born around 12am last night since that was when the opening game of the European Cup started. She wasn't ready to come out for the big game but she was very excited as she did flips from about 10pm to 12am and encouraged me to watch the first half with her papa. When that timer does pop I'll let you know.

Grandma's Kitchen makes a good biscuit and gravy plate. In fact, I've eaten breakfast there for the last 2 mornings and if it weren't so darn expensive I'd be back there this morning, too. Good coffee too and a bottomless cup to boot. Our Little-What's-Her-Name is staying put for the time being. Together we've gained a pound over the last week (thanks Grandma!) and her heart rate is normal. Every evening around 9pm she begins tumbling class which is quite entertaining although at times a bit painful. I'm realizing that there will be a few difficult adjustments when we move back to Xi'an. One being that Mom will be living in Wuhan and not with us. I like having her around in the mornings to chat with, going with me to the store and just being here. It will also be hard having Yali back in our lives full-time. We've really enjoyed being stay-at-home parents. And then there's the variety of Beijing that Xi'an lacks. But with these th...

Phil and I have absolutely the sweetest child in the whole world. You may be prone to disagree but you'd be wrong. I wish I could keep a constant record of every little amazingly wonderful thing that she does day in and day out but I can't or don't. So, here's just somethings off the top of my head from the last few days here in Beijing. When we were out the other afternoon playing she was running around one section of yard with her arms in the air yelling, "Goal! Goal! Goal". On the way home from that same play time she was singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" at the top of her lungs. We had just gotten downstairs and outside when she suddenly said, "My wallet!". "Did you forget your wallet, Maddie?" I asked. "Yes, give me the key and I go and get it. By myself." She said. We've been letting her take her baby stroller outside on walks with us here. She LOVES it. She also loves pretending that cars are...

We are okay. Phil had left the house and was on his way to a coffee shop with a friend and M, Yali, and myself were in the apartment when the quake started. M was napping still and Yali and I were in the living room chatting. I saw the leaves of the plant on the bookcase start moving and felt the laptop on my lap move. I casually told Yali, "Look at the hanging lamp it's moving." She immediately looked terror stricken. I tried to assure her it was no big deal. I actually first thought it was probably wind but when I looked outside I knew it couldn't be wind. Then the apartment really started moving (we're on the 8th floor) and we heard crashing sounds out in the hallway (tiles falling off the ceiling). We both ran to M's room who was startled by us barging in. Yali wanted to immediately get outside but I knew we couldn't with tiles falling and I didn't know what the state of the stairwell would be like. I really didn't know where to go be...

Our Ming De Men apartment is packed and our new home awaits. Phil and I spent yesterday detail cleaning and mopping the new place. Once we finally sat down last night it was physically painful to stand back up. Madeleine has a fun day ahead. This morning she's playing with Peter and Clinton (and giving lots of kisses to Hudson - she can't get enough of him) and going to Tabitha's house after her nap (our British friends' daughter). It looks like rain. Very Alanis Morissette. The movers will be here around 11am. It's very odd to think we'll be sleeping in a new apartment tonight.

We went by the apartment yesterday with my parents and I LOVE the colors. I really, really do. Every room looks amazing and although Phil had no idea what I meant when I said, "It's so inviting!", he likes it, too. I can't wait to get to live in there. Which actually, I can wait because we still have a whole lot to do as far as packing and getting what we need for the new place. This week will be very busy. Yesterday, was extremely full with going from market to market looking for what we needed. We ended up splitting up and Phil and Dad found exactly what they were looking for and Mom, Madeleine, and I found what we wanted. So, the day ended in success and with the purchase of a new head and foot board for our bedroom. A lovely, simple pine. I'm happy.

Every two weeks or so I wake up around 3am wide awake. This started a couple months ago. If baby girl is also awake I lay there and feel every twist and kick. If it's like today, she's asleep but my mind starts thinking and thinking and thinking. Today's thoughts were on paint. Did we pick the right shades? Will we like it day after day? Will it be soothing or too loud? Silly, I know. Madeleine is growing up. And although I've heard it said of others I didn't realize I would also someday be thinking, "She's growing up too fast." Yesterday she came to where I was studying to tell me "goodbye" before she went outside to play. She gave me a quick hug and a wave goodbye. I was watching her walk away and couldn't believe she's my daughter. She turned and saw me watching her, walked back to me and gave me a kiss. She must have sensed the need I had to hold her again. I have a friend who recently had her second child. Anna, he...

Well, as I believe I've said before, it's always obvious in blogland when Madeleine's waking up early because I never blog. And such has been the case over the last couple of weeks. Today is Sunday and since my husband told me to stay home and rest that's what I'm doing. M and P are at fellowship. The new news is that we're moving! Yes, we're moving within Xi'an to a brand spankin' new apartment. We're excited about having a place with lots of natural light and beautiful grounds. We're on the 8th floor which is why we get so much natural light but also means we have to look down to see all that greenery. It's a great apartment though and we're very happy with it. Of course, we haven't lived there yet so who knows what we might run into. That's something you just have to keep in mind when living in this lovely land. I can't think of any big thing we've done here that didn't have a few unexpected twists and ...

I'm in love. I love Malaysia. Well, I love Penang but I think I'd probably love all of Malaysia if I had the chance. It helps of course that some of our favorite people in the whole world where in Penang the same time we were and that those same people were able to show us all the best places to eat and go to. It was very hot. That's the only negative thing I can think of and even that wasn't all that horrible. In fact, when we stepped off the plane in Kuala Lumpur, I couldn't stop talking about how great it felt. So, when we went to the airport to head back to Xi'an Madeleine kept saying, "Feels so nice, feels so nice." She obviously thought that's what you say in tropical airports. The best story from the trip comes from our visit to the Eco Zoo. This zoo is special in that each section of the zoo puts you inside the "cages" of the animals. Unfortunately, for Madeleine I had given her a cookie right as we walked in the monkey s...

Phil's on the train back to Beijing. Last weekend the 2 of us went while Yali stayed home with Madeleine. Our goal was to find an apartment for our stay there this summer but we were unsuccessful. So, off Phil goes to try again. We're a bit better equipped this time knowing our housing budget and so something should work out today. He's got a full day of apartment looking, negotiating, and then making a deposit. I wish I could be there. We've spent all week looking at places online and I won't get to see any of them but the one he ultimately chooses. Poor me. Mom flew up yesterday morning. She'll hang out with us until Tuesday morning. It makes it so nice having her around. Madeleine is happy to have her here, too (even without Gramps :-) ). Mom thinks she's just the sweetest little girl - and although, she's right, I'm always glad when Madeleine is sweet to people. That's been a characteristic of hers lately. She says things like, ...

I'm listening to the Indigo Girls and about to make an apple pie. I have no idea why but these two things are making me feel so content. It's amazing that 2 ladies who do not know the Father as who He is can make such beautiful music. Yet, they do. I wonder how it makes the Father feel to hear them sing and play. The apple pie is something I've been wanting to make for about a week now. I love pies. Is there a person who doesn't? Madeleine has a play date this afternoon with her good friend who's leaving in the morning for Thailand. She'll be gone about a week so Yali felt like they needed to get together today. Yali is so great. She's even staying a bit later this afternoon so they have plenty of time together. So, this gives me the extra time to make a pie - if I stop blogging. To pie making!

If I waited 2 more days it would be a month since I blogged. But since everyone is out of the house, I've finished cleaning, and I can't imagine sitting down to study, I'd like to blog. Thailand. Where to begin...if you've been there I assume that you love it. If you haven't been there then you should make an effort to get there. My viewpoint is skewed as I never went to Thailand before living here. So, if you're coming from New Zealand it might not be all that wonderful. But after a full year here I couldn't wait to get to Thailand and once I was there I couldn't imagine coming back home. I have a friend who loves living here. She really loves it. I don't. In fact it's hard for me to imagine loving it. I love places that have trees and shrubs that aren't covered in dust. I love places that have cute little downtowns where you can buy used books, drink a latte, and then walk to the park. I love places that have fall festivals and ...

Tomorrow morning at the very crack of dawn we're heading to the airport. We've had snow for a week now and so it might take a bit longer than expected to make it to Thailand with flight delays and such. But Lord willin' and the creek don't rise we'll be there by Saturday night. I don't imagine I'll do much or any blogging while in the land of sun and smiles. We'll be back home on February 12. At this point I don't want to even imagine coming back home but probably by that point I'll be ready. It's good to leave and it's good to return. Wherever you are, enjoy your winter. I know I'll be enjoying mine.

We are about to lose some really wonderful neighbors. They're moving back to Holland. We've known for a couple months but it hit me again last night. Madeleine kept wanting to pr*y for them. She kept saying "Pr*y" and then saying each persons name in the family. It made me sad. I don't know how many cups of sugar, eggs, milk, peanut butter and garlic have been borrowed from our house to theirs and theirs to ours but it's a lot. They also have our spare key. Once M is in bed we've used their baby monitor to be in their house and and hang out while she sleeps soundly in ours. We're really going to miss them. Madeleine's first word was "bye". It was so fitting since it started when we were moving from the States to here. I realized again today that our lives have more goodbyes than I want. The wonderful thing about this lifestyle is that you end up having friends all over the world and it's great for vacationing. The bad thin...