I was very brave and tried the "green" stuff. Xiao Zhang strained it and put it in a glass for me. It was cold because it had been in the refrigerator. Even after it was strained it was cloudy and a little thick. As I was working up my courage to drink it some of the "cloudiness" settled to the bottom of the glass. When I tasted it I was surprised that it really did not taste bad. It was a little sweet and slightly thicker than orange juice. I can't really describe the flavor because it was different from anything I am familiar with. The big surprise......my throat felt better after the first swallow. I think it coats your throat like a lozenge. I drank the whole glass with the exception of the sediment in the bottom.

Tucker and I have been working on the mechanics of his quilt design and experimenting with different ways to make it work. It is a bit challenging but I think we finally figured it out this afternoon.

This morning we went to IKEA to get a new light fixture for our guest room/Tucker's room. Yesterday the old fixture fell out of the ceiling. With no warning....we all heard a big crash...I thought it was something in the kitchen but later Xiao Zhang found the fixture broken in the middle of the bed with wires hanging out of the ceiling. Yikes!!! Just a few hours before that Tucker was sleeping in the same bed. The light fixture falling out of the ceiling is what we call TJC. It stands for "That's just China". This is a term commonly used among expats here for things that you just can't believe happen. For example,a new clubhouse with a swimming pool opened last week. There was a rain storm on the first day it was open and the ceiling over the pool leaked in about 50 different places. That is a TJC. Yesterday Tucker and I were in a restaurant having lunch when the man at the next table belched really loud. That is also a TJC.

Today the maintenance men came to install the new light fixture. This is always an entertaining event and Tucker got to witness it first hand. Two repairmen, one ayi, and me all trying to communicate...part English, part Chinese, and a lot of charades. Eventually we got the light fixture hung and the one over Abi's bed checked to make sure it would not be falling out of the ceiling anytime soon. The repairman offered to hang Abi's mirror so we negotiated a price and they went about hanging the mirror. They did a good job so I hired them to hang two cork boards and a wire photo holder. Two men, 1.5 hours and a few dollars later all of these projects were complete. I might add Tucker thought this was all quite humorous.