Backwards Pricing

How can gas be $3.07/gallon and still be cheaper than a gallon of milk?  Something doesn't seem right when milk is more expensive than gas....

We went around last night for Family Night listing one of our New Year's resolutions.  The kids all said nice things like do better in school, finish Eagle Project, etc.  It took me a while to narrow down the long list of things I need to improve on down to one.  I had to plug my ears and close my eyes to think because the kids were all asking me at the same time "What? What is it?" and even Henson was leaning over with his nose touching mine saying, "What's yours mom?" 

That was a fun contrast to what Maren mentioned in her paper about her home.  She wrote a paper on how her house is her favorite place to be and one of the reasons she listed is that it's QUIET!  Now there are a lot of things I would've guessed she might write about our house, but quiet isn't one of them.  Scott and I just smiled -- wonder what she'd think about a home with only 1 or 2 kids!! :) 

I love our gas fireplace.  It's doesn't have quite the same charm as a real log fire, but I use it WAY more than I would a log fire.  I turn in on practically every morning to warm up the family room and the kids love to get dressed in front of it.  It keeps me warm in the evenings and I never have to scoop out the ashes.

My birthday came and went without the world stopping because I'm 40.  I guess that's the way it should be - so what.....I'm older......nothing is different and I still have a lot to accomplish so quit thinking about it and get to work.  We went to the Symphony where we heard 'Rach 3' piano concerto.  I've always dreamed of hearing it in person so it was a dream come true.  On Sunday, the kids made signs that said "We love you" and they made a paper chain to drape on the mantle where every link was colored and said Marcie on it.  It was fun to see them work together for a celebration.  We had cake with the BEST frosting on it - Root Beer flavor!

Missing Hot Pot but Love the USA

What happened to 2010?  Oh, I guess it was spent:

• deciding to move to Arkansas
• family vacation to Australia
• end of school year festivities
• house hunting and packing up
• moving
• unpacking
• starting 4 kids in 3 different schools
• unpacking
• getting called as Primary President
• unpacking
• taking my kids to their first High School football game in my hometown
• and unpacking

I guess that left blogging forgotten by the wayside.

I miss Hot Pot in China.....



Actually, I miss the chatting of friends around a circular table more than the food.   I'm so happy I got to return in May to visit friends and goto Book Club once more.  Laughs, books, friends - what more could I want (besides kids who would go to bed on their own JUST ONCE)

But I love.........


....Bentonville, AR.  Our home, schools, church, friends, 4 seasons (the kids freaked out when I went outside to try and spot a tornado), blue skies, 6 hour drives to family, patriotic concerts in the park and the friendly mid-Western folks.

Transition

We packed up our house and put it in storage in China. We are currently in TX visiting family and will travel to Yellowstone on Wed. to go to a Bayles family reunion. We'll visit my sister in Spanish Fork, UT the 2nd week of August and then who knows after that. Scott has been interviewing at a few different companies and we think something will come of it this week. We'll see....

China Team Building

Scott's office consists of one American (Scott) and about 20 Chinese. They did team building last August where they went on a river trip and then ended up at a farm with deer. There was a nice lady who gave a presentation about the incredible properties of deer products (all in Chinese, of course). This is the kind of thing that makes it so darn fun to live in China. Below are some comments that Scott sent to me from his Blackberry during the presentation.

"So we ended up at a farm that has deer. The lady is pitching the benefits of eating thinly sliced horns, how to tell which are good quality and things like that. She just said not to put them in the refrigerator. She said in the fridge they only keep a year and a half, but in the cupboard they keep 5 years. Wow, that's special stuff. Maybe we should put some in food storage.

"Next to discuss: Lu4bian1 -deer you don't want to know what part of the male anatomy. I guess they put it in alcohol like the worm in tequila."

He ended up learning that men love this last part because it increases their libido. :)

Depeng Fortress

I finally found some historic places in Shenzhen that are interesting! Shenzhen is such a new city that it is hard to find old places that show the great China architecture and history.

Below is me at a Hakka Enclosure. The Hakka minority migrated to southern China hundreds of years ago. Their name means "Guest people" because of this. They are very numerous and have since migrated to Taiwan, Hong Kong, the US and many other places. It would not be surprising if some of the chinese people you knew were Hakka.

They built their homes in clusters. Some were round and some square. The round ones remind me of stadiums because they are 3-4 stories tall and are open in the middle to a courtyard. The one below is square and held many families. It had room after room of old tools and furniture: baskets to sort rice, simple grain grinders, typical chinese 4-poster-type bed, wooden wedding chair, and even a raincoat that was made of feathers and bamboo leaves sewn together in a cape to be worn over their shoulders.

Here I am at Dapeng Fortress. This is an ancient walled village with the arched entrances on each side with a tower and drum. I love the view of the roof tops from the tower.

Next, in true Chinese style, I wrote a wish down on a paper, hooked it to a mandarin orange for weight, and now am throwing it into the wishing tree. Only if your wish lands in the tree without falling to the ground does your wish come true.

I had a great throw. My wish went in towards the top of the tree, but continued to fall down through all the branches. Luckily, it caught on the very lowest branch! My wish is the one on the right (not the withered one on the left).

Here are two super cute girls who were running through the town playing. We stopped them and chatted with them for a while -- all in Chinese of course! The little one on the right finally smiled at me as we turned and left.


Some ladies in the town were sewing the tops of fabric shoes. I asked if they were for sale to tourists or for their own use. They said they were for their own use! So interesting. All in all it was a great day.

Interesting Chinese traditions in the Making

Somehow you always come across some interesting Chinese traditions as you travel. This article leans a little bit too far to 'making fun' that I usually like, but it is still interesting. I've never actually been to the Hainan Island beaches, but we've thought of going.

http://www.chinatravel.net/feature/Gettin-Hainan-China-Beach-Fashion-Food-Fun/1678.html

Obsession with Cute

Asia has an obsession with 'cute'. Or is it that we westerners have a complex about what is 'cool' or 'macho'?

This is from a blog I was reading but it captured my exact thoughts on the matter.....

"Do you all know just how darn cute everything and everyone is here in Asia? They all have a thing for what we would consider little girl stuff, that includes adults, teens, & kids of both sexes. It is a weird cultural aberration that I don’t get. Reason I bring this up now is the packet of paper napkins we received at the restaurant - they came in a plastic folder decorated with cutesy Hello Kitty characters. It is common to see, dangling from a backpack or purse, a colorful trinket or two. Truck drivers line up stuffed critters and toys on their dashboards. Good luck charms dangle from rear view mirrors. T-shirts abound decorated with spangles and ever so sweet sayings. Squeaky shoes for toddlers are hip. Restaurants have whimsical names like Dumbo or The Hystevical Wave or The Happiness Cafe. Are Westerners just too serious? Did the Puritans strip away our fun loving souls? I think I wear too much black. " http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-15376.html