DIY: washing the windows

After being in our apartment for a couple weeks, we noticed some things that needed to be fixed. I contacted our agent to get these things done. One of these items was washing our big windows in the living room. Our agent said that it was too dangerous to wash the outside of the windows (keep in mind that we live on the 16th floor). We asked around, but all our friends living here said that it had been taken care of by their agency. Huh.

A couple weeks later, it was still bothering Andy so he decided to take matters into his own hands. And I was worried. The 16th floor, remember?!

He headed to B&Q for supplies. B&Q is China's version of Home Depot. Strangely enough, their logo is quite similar.

But I should not have been (too) worried.... he had a plan. Is anyone who knows my husband surprised by this? Mind you, I was still worried.

This was the part that worried me.

And this would be why as you see just how high we are.

But the end result was amazing. The photograph does not do it justice, but the top window was cleaned and the bottom one was not.

Mud football

After a week of rain almost everyday, the weekly Saturday morning football match was destined to be an interesting one. Or should I say soccer -- we have gotten so used to calling it football after playing with so many Europeans. At the beginning of the game, there was a small patch of mud in the middle of the field. But before long, it grew.

People fell. And slid all over. And that little patch of mud became bigger.

That would be my husband on the ground.

Yes, there he is again. Slide tackles became common but with the potential for a spill.

And yet the game forged on.

But as the spot of mud grew and turned into a mud pond, some of the boys (our son included) were drawn away from the game by the allure of wallowing in the mud.

Starting with the little boys.

Even the bigger boys had to have a turn in the mud.

And still, even amongst wallowing boys, the game continued on.

Even penalties were carried out in the mud. It is tradition that if you have a handball, the required penalty is push ups. Today's were done in the mud.

Midway through the game, my boy was still fairly clean.

But the mud was too difficult to resist!

End of the game shot.

Sunday Snapshot: The Pool Party

After much waiting we celebrated Josh's birthday party this weekend in grand style. We had scheduled a pool party the weekend before his birthday (30 May) but the weather did not cooperate -- rain and a high of only 20°C (68°F). And the pool was freezing! Very unexpected weather for us in Suzhou in late May. So we decided to move it back a couple weeks due to availability. All last week, I anxiously watched the weather as it rained most of the week.

Then for the actual day of the party the forecast according the Chinese weather site: high of 30°C and cloudy. The English site: high of 27°C and rain. Actual weather: high of 29°C with sun that came out in the afternoon. I think next time I will believe the Chinese site!

We had such a great party. We swam for several hours, and after we were all too cold changed and enjoyed a BBQ.

Look at my three beautiful fish.

Becca and Andy played so hard in the pool that Andy had scratches on his back! Each time she would stand on his shoulders, she would scream when he first stood up.

The love of my life. He works so hard at his job that we often see the serious side to him. But at the party I also saw the crazy and ridiculous side that I  fell in love with. As he would jump into the pool countless times showing off belly and back flops, and played for hours with the kids, my heart sighed. I truly love this man.

Josh with his best buddy Matteo. We are going to be so sad when they move in a month. In fact, I am currently in a state of denial that it is happening.

Showing off their zaniest faces.

Are you taking my picture? AGAIN?
How is it that a look can say so much?

As I approached with the cake, Josh was really concerned that the wind had blown out one of the candles.
I am asking him: "Josh, please move the cups so I can put this down?"
"Mom, the candle. . . "
"Josh, do you see the cups? Can you move them?"
"Mom, that one isn't lit."
I could tell that I was fighting a losing battle and moved the cups myself.

He huffed and puffed and blew all the candles out.

At the beginning of opening the presents, the kids were spread out watching. But soon, . . .

they were drawn in like magnets. I think that China has helped us to get rid of any spacial boundaries that we have, don't you?

And through it all, my sweet boy was celebrated. Happy (delayed) birthday, Josh!

It's true - I'm going to India!

My passport with the new Indian visa affixed inside made it back today. Yes. So that means that . . .

I. am. going. to. . . INDIA!

Time to start planning. Both for here and what we will do there. I have less than a week to get things order for the kids here and for us to decide what we are going to do and see. Words are failing me right now. I am so excited to see this unique and fascinating country. So excited to travel and see the Taj Mahal. But mostly I am excited to be with my love for four days. When we traveled early on in our marriage, it made me fall a little more in love with him. We just travel well together. I don't know how to describe it more than that. So I am going to take a ton of pictures and just soak it all in. The time together. The exotic location. The heat. Ok, I could do without so much heat, but we can't have everything. 6 days, baby, and then India here I come!

A sleepy, sick week

This has been a week filled with tea, lots of vitamin C, naps, and not much else. Because when Mom is sick, then just not a lot of other things get done. I spent most of Monday and Tuesday on the couch. Fever, sore throat, chills, the works. This would be one of those times where I am so thankful for our ayi (house help). Yes, one of the perks of living in China is house help. And while I used to feel guilty (and honestly, if I could share her with you all, I would), but really I don't anymore. She is such a blessing to our family, and I know that we are same to her (she has said as much). But anyway, she made dinner, picked up kids and just kept things running smoothy. 

Finally, Wednesday as I was turning the corner, Tori stayed home from school complaining that her tummy was hurting. That afternoon, I got a call from the kids' school that Becca had a headache and wanted to come home. This would be one of those moments where it is more difficult being in China. I couldn't just drive over and pick her up. In order to get her, I need to call my driver and have him pick me up, wait for the 20 minutes for him to arrive from the company, drive to her school (another 25-30 minutes) and then back. No, not a simple solution. So, since the school was letting out for an early dismissal in just an hour, I told her to hang in there and just come home on the bus. Seems heartless, but it was going to get her home quicker than the other method. And last night, Josh complaining that his head was hurting and he didn't feel well, voluntarily went to bed at 7. Today, he woke up with a fever of 39°C (103°F). I debated going to class, but even though our ayi was going to be here this morning, I stayed home. Cause I just had a feeling that my boyo would want me. About an hour later, I knew this was the right decision. "Mommy! Mommy!" Josh was hollering for me. I ran upstairs to see what he needed.

"What's wrong, buddy? Can I get something to drink for you? What do you need?"

"Nothing. I just wanted you, Mommy." My heart melts to hear my big boy say this.

So as he dozes, I am sitting here beside him. Typing and loving on him. That's the kind of week it has been for us. I hope that your week has been healthier than ours!

Birthdays and other random musings

Last week was Andy's birthday and tomorrow is mine. And for both of them we are apart (he is back in China and I am currently at my parents'). So maybe this is one of the reasons that the birthday does not seem like a big deal. Though I am told that this number is the beginning of middle age. Really? Huh. I don't feel middle aged. My response to that is that I won't be middle aged until I have a teenager. Somehow those are linked in my mind. No clue as to why. . .

Sure I will go out to eat with my parents tomorrow. And I really don't dread the day or even the getting older. But for some reason it just seems like another day. I think a bigger day for me is our anniversary. Which coincidentally is next week. And you guessed it, we will be apart for that one too. For me that seems like a more significant marking of time. This year we celebrate 12 years. 12 years of wonderful life -- challenges and adventures and through it all just walking it together. So to my wonderful companion on this journey, happy birthday and anniversary (though you can't read this due to the great firewall. hmm, maybe I will email it to you). We will have some celebrating to do when I get home!

Goodbyes abound

Yesterday I dropped off Becca at camp for the week. I am so excited for her and the fun things she will get to experience this week. But my excitement does not even begin to compare to what she was feeling. She has been looking forward to this for months. She was all packed up and ready Saturday (honestly, if we had been in Cincy earlier I think she would have been packed up way before). Then this morning Andy boarded a plane to return to China. While I don't regret our staying longer, we miss him so once he leaves. But it is worth it to get extra time with family and friends. I mean once we have come all this way (and only returning to the US once a year), it seems silly to return after only 2.5 weeks. Right now the younger two are outside enjoying Josh's new rocket launcher. We are off to run one errand (I have promised the kids that it will be only one. I think we are just a bit done with shopping). Then we are off to enjoy this beautiful day at a park. Quiet days like this are the whole reason it is worth it to stay. So I hope that you too can enjoy this wonderful day.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day! To all you wonderful Dads, thank you for all the love and countless hours you give your kids. And to Andy, you are such a great Dad. I love watching you with our kids. Watching you experience their joys and hurts with them. All the small things that you do for them each day. We are each so blessed by you! So thank you for the many things you do for each of us. So thank you for . . . .

For taking special time with each of the kids.

For your sense of adventure. And passing that on to our kiddos.

For your tender heart.

For your exuberance.

For being there when one of the kids are worried.

For being the help that they each need.

For being the the love of my life. And my partner in adventure.

We love you and are thankful for you each and every day. I am grateful to be able to go on this adventure of life with you.

Dates with Daddy

While on a boat ride we saw some ocean kayakers and Becca was intrigued by them. Andy and I got to talking and he commented that it would be fun to do when the kids were older. I looked at him and said, "Why wait? Take Becca." So later that day, they set out for a trip to several of the islands and had a terrific time. The next day Andy rented a motorbike (something he really wanted to do) and took both Becca and Josh on rides along the coast. There is just something about a date with Daddy!

Feeling the stress

While on break, I am really enjoying time catching up on reading, running, and being with the kids. Andy on the other hand is seriously feeling the stress in life. Business is booming, which is great. But there have been several situations (machines breaking, problem getting certain materials) that have really brought production to a halt. Or are threatening to. The last several Fridays he has been working from home well into the night and is at work today (a Saturday). Hopefully, some of these problems are being turned around, but in the meantime be thinking of him. We leave for vacation in 2.5 weeks and I know for Andy it can't come soon enough!

Great grilling saga

If you remember, the grill that we inherited had rusted through. Two of the legs had fallen off and the bottom was getting a little shaky. Now, that didn't stop us from using it several times and prompted some red-neck grillin'. Before we left for the summer, we had priced out grills and they were crazy-expensive! It was over $100 for just a basic Weber charcoal grill. Yikes. So Andy took the grill into work and had someone from maintenance fix it. 

Before:

After:

They ended up slicing off the bottom and fixing a new bottom and legs. I think that they did a great job! Probably better quality than the original. ;-)

Date night

For some crazy reason, we took pictures of us separately and none together. Who knows what we were thinking?! (If you can't read the sign, this is the Purple People Bridge)

While we were in Cincy, we left the kids with grandma for a night and had a night out. We went to Ambar Indian (one of our absolute favorite places) and then headed to Sawyer Point to walk across the Purple People Bridge and on to the Newport Levy. Even though I did not grow up in Cincinnati, it seems like home to me because I went to college there and then we lived there for our first couple years of marriage. As we walked along the levy and looked across the Ohio River to Cincinnati, I was struck with how small the city looked to me. I wasn't even comparing it to anything else in my mind, but it just seems a bit smaller than I remember. Maybe it is similar to when you are a child and certain things or places seem huge, but when you come back years later those things seem to have shrunk. Obviously, nothing around me has changed but I know that I have. And often until you come across moments like those you don't even realize how you have changed. So Andy and I sat there on the levy watching the sunset and reminiscing. On our time in Cincinnati, but also over our last year. Sometimes as I have been back this summer it has seemed so surreal. Here are places that are so familiar to us but yet at the same time they seem different. While I know that my perspective has changed, I can't always point at something specific and say, "That. That is the difference in me." But I do think that one of the biggest differences this year has brought about in me is my willingness to adapt. And really the expectation that I will need to adapt on a daily basis. This last year has often brought me to the point where I realize that my attitude about an event or circumstance makes all the difference. Because I often have little control about the circumstance or problem, only my reaction to it. Really that is true no matter where we live, but I think it just becomes more pronounced living in such a radically different culture. And as I have had ups and downs, I am realizing more and more that choosing to have joy and see humor in crazy circumstances drastically alters the outcome. Not necessarily of the event but maybe my remembrance of it and how it impacts me and our family. Wow, how did I get from our date night to here? I guess as I remember all that we were talking about, I got to thinking. One conclusion that Andy and I realized is that we are so glad that we took that step and made the move last year. What an adventure it has been!

Redneck-Chinese grilling

After sitting outside for the last several years, 2 of the legs rusted off our grill. We discovered this just before getting ready to grill. Andy being my engineer rigged something up. But c'mon, isn't this totally redneck grilling?! Don't worry, we didn't catch anything on fire.... this wall is total concrete.

huh?

Andy was driving one of women from his office to have dinner together with a customer. As he drove, they were making small talk. Since it has been more than 6 months, she asked how he liked living and working in China. Andy responded with, "I really like living in China!" She gave him a strange look and an awkward pause followed. After a couple of minutes, she asked "Why did you say that?" Andy inquired into what she thought he had said. She thought that Andy had said "I really like women in China!" How hilarious is that!? I am so glad that she asked (as is Andy!). We have decided that there is a lesson to be learned here: SPEAK SLOWLY. 

Yes, he ate that!

I have mentioned before some of the crazy things that Andy eats at business dinners. He recently traveled to see some customers and was treated to this:

This is Hokaido Crab and he said it tasted a lot like Alaska king crab. Yum. But then how often do they bring the live crab to your table first?