Xiao Zhang graduated from the Community Center's western cooking school today. It turns out that her teacher lives in our building.....what a small world. Xiao Zhang has learned very quickly and we are all so happy she is part of our family. Yesterday Tucker and I were working on his quilt and she brought us appetizers.!!! She made a recipe from her class and it was really good. She cut a disc of cheese into wedges, rolled them in egg and bread crumbs, and fried the edges in butter. She arranged them on a plate and served it with raspberry jam. Oh my gosh it was delicious!!! It is really cute to see Tucker standing next to Xiao Zhang....I think she is 1/2 of Tuckers height. He is going to teach her how to make beef stroganoff (a speciality from his scouting days) next week. We have really gotten spoiled having Xiao Zhang. At dinner tonight Tucker commented how much he enjoys having his bed "magically" made, having his laundry basket empty it's self, and how nice it is to have ironed tee-shirts. Tim agreed and said it is really easy to pack because all his undershirts are ironed and folded like they were brand new. I told them to enjoy it while we were in Shanghai because it was not going to happen when we go back to the US. Our family is going to need some serious "retraining" when we return in two years. That includes myself.....maybe Xiao Zhang will teach me how to cook again just before we leave.

My cold is still hanging on so I slept in a little bit this morning. My only motivation for getting out of bed was that Thursday is my quilt group day! I don't think any of us got much work done today because we were all looking at new quilt magazines and visiting. That is the joy of the group!!! Tim brought me several new magazines when he came back from the US. One of the magazines was Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home. I have not seen this magazine before so I am guessing that it is a new publication. I found the articles to be funny, fresh, and different from the regular quilting magazines. One of the articles was titled The Quilter's Home Bill of Rights. It listed 50 different rights that quilters have. Here are some of my personal favorites...
#3 A quilter has the right to accumulate a stash any size they determine necessary--but not the responsibility to keep it organized.
#9 A quilter has the right to sew all night, barefoot and in their underwear if they want.
#17 has the right to iron fabric--but not clothing.
#31 has the right to collect as many sewing machines as they want--whether they use them or not is their preference.
#33 has the right to use the wrong side of the fabric if that works better.
#48 (my very favorite) has the right to take side trips on family vacations that will take them to new quilt shops. When I read #48 to Abi she groaned.

My good deed for the day:
I made peace with the newsstand lady today. I decided that I did not want to walk on the opposite side of the street every time I go to the market. So....I took her a "peace offering". I asked Tucker if he wanted to go with me and he said..."No...she scares me!!" When I gave her the "peace offering" I had to explain who I was.....she either cusses at a lot of people each day or she forgets quickly. Either way....I think I am safe to walk on both sides of the street without having a newspaper thrown at me.