Thursday, July 30, 2009
Waffle Iron, Waffle Iron...where art thou waffle iron?
Well, it doesnt take long for TCF to kick in. The kids have been on a waffle kick, and normally, I admit, I buy frozen ones. They do have eggo waffles at a few places here, not cheap but they do exist. I decided to buy a waffle iron here when we got back. easy, right? I have seen them at various places before, no problem. Except. I can't find one anymore!!! Drives me absolutely insane. I have been to 3 places that I was expecting to have them...and no. nothing. I have a couple more places to check next week, but please, how hard can this be? I am sure all waffle irons are MADE IN CHINA...so why oh why can't I buy one here????
Monday, July 27, 2009
another tasty find????
Check this out? Walnut Peanut MILK? EEK! just really sounds odd. These are individual UHT milk boxes. They only had it by the case, so I didnt buy but I will keep an eye out for just one to try...sounds nasty? but ??? who knows?
shopping trip to carrefour....those are small lobsters in the buckets
Too bad they are likely from the east china sea and they may not be too tasty!
women hui jia le....
we have returned home.....
It's funny as I often don't know how to refer to being here - is it home? is it going over there? where are we going, anyway? but yes, it feels as much like home as anywhere, probably because our things are here and of course, Wrigley.
The trip itself was long....but uneventful, though we were quite close to missing our connecting flight in San Francisco due to a weather delay. I was literally sick to my stomach thinking of the effort to get our bags - all 6 plus carry ons, about 500lbs worth, by myself, getting what we needed for an overnight, checking it all into storage, getting a hotel and of course conducting a site seeing tour for the kids...when all I wanted to do was go into " way too long airplane ride mode" and just get home! Luckily, we made it with about 15 min to spare before take off. We treated ourselves to business class on the way home, we usually are too cheap to do so, but used some upgrades and it was well worth it! Everyone rested better, tons more room, better food and United actually had some service for us!
We are all still a bit goofy on sleep, but should straighten out in a few days. Getting into our routine here, with Tennis and basketball camp for Connor, art for Delaney, and a few other things mixed in. Everyone seems glad to be here, playdates started the minute we arrived home for C, and D was not far behind.
We arrived in time to celebrate e's birthday on Sunday....neighbors had us over for a bbq, he went for a massage and we all just laid low, unpacking and putting away. Will be back soon, once I get my china mind going...you have to rethink things again that you had figured out before..as it seems the minute you leave here, you just free your mind of all things chinese. hope I get it all back soon! later -
It's funny as I often don't know how to refer to being here - is it home? is it going over there? where are we going, anyway? but yes, it feels as much like home as anywhere, probably because our things are here and of course, Wrigley.
The trip itself was long....but uneventful, though we were quite close to missing our connecting flight in San Francisco due to a weather delay. I was literally sick to my stomach thinking of the effort to get our bags - all 6 plus carry ons, about 500lbs worth, by myself, getting what we needed for an overnight, checking it all into storage, getting a hotel and of course conducting a site seeing tour for the kids...when all I wanted to do was go into " way too long airplane ride mode" and just get home! Luckily, we made it with about 15 min to spare before take off. We treated ourselves to business class on the way home, we usually are too cheap to do so, but used some upgrades and it was well worth it! Everyone rested better, tons more room, better food and United actually had some service for us!
We are all still a bit goofy on sleep, but should straighten out in a few days. Getting into our routine here, with Tennis and basketball camp for Connor, art for Delaney, and a few other things mixed in. Everyone seems glad to be here, playdates started the minute we arrived home for C, and D was not far behind.
We arrived in time to celebrate e's birthday on Sunday....neighbors had us over for a bbq, he went for a massage and we all just laid low, unpacking and putting away. Will be back soon, once I get my china mind going...you have to rethink things again that you had figured out before..as it seems the minute you leave here, you just free your mind of all things chinese. hope I get it all back soon! later -
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
3, 2, 1......blastoff!
Countdown of our final days here has begun. Has been extremely busy - appts that bred other appts, way too much work, just literally running from day to day. Most of our things are packed (um, stuffed) with everything one could imagine you might need for a year in the netherlands of China. (ok, shanghai is not exactly a new frontier, but they don't have Luna bars!!!).
I think we are all ready to go, or we could have been ok staying, but I dont think it would make much difference to be here another week or so, and we really have no more room for things in our bags, so the shopping would have to stop. We will all be so glad to see the big pigman - we miss our man so much! I have spoken to him a few times since E returned, and he knows its me, with his tail wagging. I will also be glad to go before my clothes no longer fit, as my daily ice cream needs to come to an end! The fasting will start on Sunday, without a doubt.
We managed to work an upgrade for the trip home, we normally hoard those but in this case, I felt it was necessary to use it....about 13 hours from San fran, tired mom, tired kids, coach seats ....ugh. priceless. At least we will have something to entertain ourselves with - the fun seats, the tv's, the bag of goodies, lots of food, and some wine to boot. will take some pictures of the kids in their royal thrones, as they are most excited to be flying in the upper deck on the way home...and I hope the enthusiasm lasts the whole way there!
See you next week from the Big City!
I think we are all ready to go, or we could have been ok staying, but I dont think it would make much difference to be here another week or so, and we really have no more room for things in our bags, so the shopping would have to stop. We will all be so glad to see the big pigman - we miss our man so much! I have spoken to him a few times since E returned, and he knows its me, with his tail wagging. I will also be glad to go before my clothes no longer fit, as my daily ice cream needs to come to an end! The fasting will start on Sunday, without a doubt.
We managed to work an upgrade for the trip home, we normally hoard those but in this case, I felt it was necessary to use it....about 13 hours from San fran, tired mom, tired kids, coach seats ....ugh. priceless. At least we will have something to entertain ourselves with - the fun seats, the tv's, the bag of goodies, lots of food, and some wine to boot. will take some pictures of the kids in their royal thrones, as they are most excited to be flying in the upper deck on the way home...and I hope the enthusiasm lasts the whole way there!
See you next week from the Big City!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
gone but not for good....
I failed to update with a "gone for summer break" posting! well, we are gone for summer break!
not all of summer, but we are in back in the valley of the sun for 6 wks....enjoying the 110 degree temps, mexican food, lifetime fitness, nordstroms and target. Yes indeed, we are making up for lost time at many places!
The blog will be up and running again, with plenty of china tidbits..no worry. until then, I am enjoying driving, folding my own laundry,doing dishes, taking the kids everywhere, going into the office for work, grocery shopping, cooking....hmmm did I say ENJOYING??? I will be heading back to the big city in about 3 weeks to rest and recover from all this hard labor!
I will leave you with one chinese thing that is hovering the back of my mind...and that is the process to get back to the country with the flu virus rampant. I can only cross my fingers and say a prayer - as they are so strict...they take temperatures of all on the plane an hour or so before landing, then again upon landing and if someone within 10 rows of you has a fever, then you can just say goodbye. You are wisked away to a luxury suite in the middle of nowhere, where they only speak chinese, come in to check your temps hourly in their "space suits", feed you rice and some soggy vegetables. ugh. They will keep you till they determine if the one with the fever has the flu - if so - you remain in quarantine for 7 days and if no symptoms from you, you are free to go. If they find the person does not have the flu, they will release you but the whole process can take up to 2 days. Let's hope for no fevers around our seats, please..as 7 days with 2 kids in a chinese motel 6...not good.
On that note, off to get some work done, and a quick trip to our onsite health clinic to replenish my RX drug stash!! Happy July!
not all of summer, but we are in back in the valley of the sun for 6 wks....enjoying the 110 degree temps, mexican food, lifetime fitness, nordstroms and target. Yes indeed, we are making up for lost time at many places!
The blog will be up and running again, with plenty of china tidbits..no worry. until then, I am enjoying driving, folding my own laundry,doing dishes, taking the kids everywhere, going into the office for work, grocery shopping, cooking....hmmm did I say ENJOYING??? I will be heading back to the big city in about 3 weeks to rest and recover from all this hard labor!
I will leave you with one chinese thing that is hovering the back of my mind...and that is the process to get back to the country with the flu virus rampant. I can only cross my fingers and say a prayer - as they are so strict...they take temperatures of all on the plane an hour or so before landing, then again upon landing and if someone within 10 rows of you has a fever, then you can just say goodbye. You are wisked away to a luxury suite in the middle of nowhere, where they only speak chinese, come in to check your temps hourly in their "space suits", feed you rice and some soggy vegetables. ugh. They will keep you till they determine if the one with the fever has the flu - if so - you remain in quarantine for 7 days and if no symptoms from you, you are free to go. If they find the person does not have the flu, they will release you but the whole process can take up to 2 days. Let's hope for no fevers around our seats, please..as 7 days with 2 kids in a chinese motel 6...not good.
On that note, off to get some work done, and a quick trip to our onsite health clinic to replenish my RX drug stash!! Happy July!
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