I haven't written lately, because it seems like things are just chugging along as they tend to do and I don't have as many new stories. That seems a reasonable outcome after almost 2 years of constant chronicling. We had some really dreary weather of late. Lots of rain and gray and for me that tends to result in hibernation. Luckily I have enough friends now and have signed up for enough things at school that I can't retreat into hermit land for too many consecutive days. There have been various activities and Girl Scout planning meetings and I helped with the used book sale at school a couple days. I've been busy enough. I found out my thyroid levels were off again and have since had my medications increased--so that gives me hope for an ... read more

Welcome to the wedding recap blog. So much to share. First the background. Jiyi works with Mark and they’ve known each other for 3 years. Melody is his lovely bride. They asked the kids to be the “flower children”and for Mark to be the Best Man. We went dress and tuxedo shopping for the kids with Jiyi and Melody and Nathan even got a hair cut before the wedding. You probably won’t be able to tell, but he really did. The day of the wedding, Emily, Mark and I set out on a white shoe mission for Emily. Shoes and tights. I was pretty confident that even though we were unsuccessful in finding white shoes in Emily’s size at the 3 stores we visited in our nearby mall the previous week, we’d find the shoes at ... read more

Latest Weekend Updates from Shanghai Two weekends ago, Emily and I participated in a big Girl Scout even in Shanghai. It was called World Thinking Day and involved all the Shanghai Girl Scout troops. I saw friends from other schools there and that was fun. The girls went around to various stations that were set up to address several global themed issues. The themes were hunger, water, literacy (which involved all girls bringing gently used books to donate to a migrant school in China), and infectious disease (Malaria specifically and how to prevent it and protect ourselves from mosquitoes that may carry it). My favorite station was the one related to world hunger. The girls were in teams and they each were assigned a country and a role in a family (mother, father, child, grandmother, etc.) ... read more

Bali Continued... After getting a bit burned on the first Bali day, we needed a second day activity that would keep us out of the sun some of the time. The villa manager arranged a car for us and we set off at 8:30am to see some sights. In hindsight I wish we had been more directive in our planning because we ended up on a somewhat preplanned touristy tour which means lots of stops at shopping areas and the like. We are not into that. To be honest, I’m more into it than Mark and so again I say “we” are not into that. Truly, though, we wanted to see things, learn about the island and its people, and avoid large tourist crowds fighting for photos. We went to many temples. They were interesting with ... read more

Happy New Year! After many weeks of anticipation, New Year's Eve was a loud and colorful affair. Mark and the kids spent New Year's Eve day walking around our 'hood. They went to the park and also to have lunch at the mall. Nothing says Chinese New Year like Subway sandwiches and Dairy Queen. Not Mark's choice, I'm sure. I am fighting a cold (and so far, winning the battle), so I didn't leave the apartment until the evening when I went out front with the family to watch the fireworks show in our apartment complex. Mark and the kids bought a few sparklers and one bigger fireworks bundle called Happy Boom. Mark prepped for the launch with great caution. He unwrapped the top of the package in our kitchen. We all watched anxiously and then ... read more