This cute little boy really wanted Tucker to take his picture....how could he resist?

Local life on Dongjiadu Lu in Shanghai.

This is Tim's work group taken on their trip to Hianan.

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.

Tucker and I asked Mr. Zhang if he knew were to buy fireworks. He thought about it for a while and said he did not know but would call Xiao Zhang to see if she knew. The answer was no so he said he would ask around at our apartment building when we got back to Shimao. And so he did....he asked the door keeper, who asked another driver who said no, then the door keeper radioed to the security guards at the front gate, they did not know so they asked the supervisor who came back to the driveway to talk to Mr. Zhang. That is the way you find out things in Shanghai. Mr. Zhang then asked Tucker if he wanted and I quote..."POP POP POP POP" (firecrackers) or ZINGGGGG POW (skyrockets). Tucker said yes!!! So we got back in the car and drove 1/2 block from our building. Mr. Zhang got out and went down an alley....came back a few minutes later and got Tucker............. This is the fireworks shop. When Tucker and Mr. Zhang first arrived there was no one around except the shop keeper. But they soon drew a crowd....all wanting to see what Tucker was looking for. The shop keeper climbed into the ceiling of the shop and retrieve all sorts of fireworks much to Tucker's delight.

I waited in the car while all of this was taking place. Unfortunately Mr. Zhang parked in front of a newspaper/magazine stand and the lady shopkeeper was really really annoyed. I think she thought our car was blocking her ability to do business so she was really agitated. I was happy that I am not fluent in Chinese today because I am pretty sure she was not saying anything nice or that I should repeat. She banged on the windows of the van, told everyone on the street how she did not like our parking spot. She was very animated.....I waved and smiled and pretended not to understand what she was saying, and counted the minutes until Tucker and Mr. Zhang came back. At one point I looked out the other window and she came around to that side of the car and cussed some more. Yikes.....I really wanted to crawl under the seat and hide. It was the first time since we lived in Shanghai that I was tempted to drive the car myself. Needless to say...we did not stay long after Tucker and Mr. Zhang returned.

It was all worth it.....look at that smile!!!

Tim and Tucker had a great time setting off the fireworks tonight. Happy 4th of July!!!

These are pictures from Tim's trip to southern china. Right after Tim took this picture it stared to pour rain. You can see the storm at the top of the picture.

This was also just before the storm....I love the umbrellas on the beach.

This is a picture of the "skin eating fish" at the hot springs.


The rooster

The fisherman

This is a great sign....Tim said it was pretty sound advice except it was on a boat....way too funny!!!

Tucker took these pictures....This little girl is sooooooo cute. She was rubbing her hand through her dad's hair. Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks?This is the water front park area close to our house. Lots of people hang out here in the evenings to watch the ships on the river. This section of the park is still under construction.
This was taken out our window. The view of the moon was amazing!!

Tucker and I spent yesterday morning "hunting and gathering". We went to the "underground" to find a pair of sunglasses. Tucker bought a genuine pair of fake Oakleys and I bought a pair of reading glasses. This is a picture of the "underground market" which is literally under ground in the subway station. It was a slow day at the market as you can tell from the picture. The most common phrase here is .... "Hey Lady ...you want a watch? Just looky looky". The other day I figured out why they say Looky Looky. In oral Chinese language you often repeat the verb....so to look at something is "kan kan"...pronounced "con con" and literally translated means "look look".

We spent the afternoon working on assembling Tucker's quilt. As a "good design student" should... he has some interesting features to his quilt. It has holes in it.....these are "functional holes" which in the end are handles so we spent a lot of time working on the logistics of the "holes".

Tucker uses all resources available for design including his mouth. He found it a little challenging to turn the fabric with only two hands so he used his teeth.....hey....what ever works!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!!
Guess what? They do not celebrate the 4th of July in China....go figure. Today is just a typical work day for Tim and it seems that we should be going on a picnic or having a BBQ. These are the things that I just took for granted before.... I heard a rumor that Tim and Tucker are on a mission to purchase some fireworks. Fireworks are available 365 days a year in China.

My throat is much better but my cold is in full swing. I could not sleep last night and was still awake when Tim got home at 2:30am. Poor guy. He has been on an "outing" with his extended staff. Once or twice a year it is tradition for the group to go somewhere together....sort of like an "off site" meeting in the US. I believe this is considered part of their compensation. Many of the group have not traveled much so this is a very much appreciated activity. One of the staff members (28 years old) had never been on a plane before. They were originally scheduled to go to Vietnam but at the last minute that trip fell through so they changed their destination to Hainan. They went on many different tours and Tim said the scenery was beautiful. They went to a hot springs that had several different pools....one pool had little fish in it that attach themselves to your skin. I guess this is a natural exfoliation process because they eat your dead skin.....yuk!!! Tim said something about a contest to see who could sit still the longest and have the most fish "attached" to them at one time. He also mentioned something about a leach on his foot but that happened when they were hiking and was not part of the "health springs"......double yuk!!! It was his observation that the "one child" law is not observed on the island of Hainan. He saw several 5 member families riding on one motorcycle. He also saw lots of cute bare footed kids with bamboo fishing poles, water ox pulling plows, and little huts with satellite dishes. This was also a growing experience for Tim.....add together the language difference, age difference (he could be most of his staff's father...ouch!), and being "the boss" it was an interesting few days to say the least. He felt isolated because of all these challenges. He has been teaching diversity for the past few years but truly experienced what it is like to be a minority this week.

Please pray for our friend Laura. She and her mom were going to visit us in a few weeks but Laura injured her back and is in a great deal of pain. They will not be able to make the trip and we are very sad. Please pray for relief from the pain and fast healing.

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.

Xiao Zhang left the "green" stuff on the stove when she left yesterday. I was not sure what I should do with it so I put it in the refrigerator for safe keeping until she comes tomorrow. FYI....it looks like split pea soup...and it is very green... Suddenly my cold is feeling much better!!

Tucker and I went to two fabric markets today...one inside where it was air conditioned and the other outside where it was just hot and muggy. I am pretty sure it is now "2 shower a day" season.

This evening we went to the German restaurant on the river front. Tucker has a new camera so he took some pictures.....he might let me share them later.

I took a picture of Tucker taking a picture......

Abi's Africa mission trip is in full swing. If you would like to read about their adventures check out the blog at http://www.vanfumc.org/YouthBlog/index.php

This quote popped up on my computer screen today....

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and closed mindedness- Mark Twain

Tim's plans were changed so he and Tucker will not be able to see each other at the airport. Darn!! Tim just left for the airport and I will be on my way to get Tucker in about 1/2 hour.

In the last two days I have gotten a summer cold......you know the one...sore throat...runny nose...hard to sleep because stuff keeps running out of your nose...Okay...I know...too much information. Anyway Xiao Zhang is making a Chinese remedy for my cold. She called it cold green bean soup. I am a little nervous about this because it involves green beans (that look like mini peas), water, ice sugar (fancy name for sugar crystals), boiling, straining, refrigerating, and then drinking. See why I am a little nervous? Maybe I can convince her to add some ice cream and we could call it a smoothy. Green bean smoothy....sounds yummy doesn't it?

My ride is here so I am off to the airport.

Oh my gosh!!! We had a very bizarro storm today. At about 3:00 the sky across the river got very dark. The storm moved in quickly and everything was black. No kidding....at 3:00 in the afternoon the cars had to turn their lights on. It was like a scene from a movie showing the end of the world. There was an extreme amount of rain coming down and it was moving sideways because of the wind. The sky continued to stay blackish green for about 1/2 hour. There was a little bit of lightning but it was in the distance. Wow!!! Lucky for me Tim took the day off work so he was home to hold my hand while the storm passed. It was cool and a little scary all at the same time. Tim and I had been out riding our scooters about 35 minutes before the storm appeared.

After the storm we went outside expecting the air to be refreshed and cool. But....Noooooooo...it was muggy and hot. I guess that's summer in Shanghai.

Abi made it to Nairobi and will be meeting up with the rest of the group in about 1/2 hour. Let the fun begin!!!

Tim wrote the following:

Standing in line at the Pudong Airport in Shanghai last night at 10:00pm, Abi called and talked with the mission team in Portland as they prepared to leave early Tuesday morning PDT. Technology is amazing. Half a world apart Abi was able to share in the team’s departure. Abi’s flight takes her from Shanghai to Dubai and then on to Nairobi. She will arrive in Nairobi a few hours ahead of the team.

Abi called from Dubai this morning. She had about 6 hours to burn at the Dubai airport. She was excited to get reacquainted with Roundtable pizza, Cinnibon, and Dunkin Doughnuts. She was also excited that she could order in English and get exactly what she ordered.

It’s funny how she went on the mission trip to gain new experiences yet along the way got to find something familiar and comfortable.

We are leaving in one hour to take Abi to the airport. The maglev train stops running at 10:00pm so we have to take the "slow" road to the airport. At dinner tonight we were reminiscing about our move to Shanghai and exactly 5 months ago at this time we arrived at our temporary house...The Ascott. We remembered how hard it was to find food that was familiar and how we struggled to order food when we found it. I guess we have come a long way in 5 months. Tonight we had dinner at home and Xiao Zhang made tacos. Our tacos were seasoned with the official "Taco Bell" seasoning (thank you Michelle Mehl!!!!) that Tim brought back in his suitcase. Abi made strange sounds all during dinner as she savored the taste of Taco Bell. I guess that is the best send off we could give her for her trip to Africa. Xiao Zhang also made rice crispy cookies for her to take on the plane.....how spoiled is that????

Tim started his Birthday at 6:00am with a conference call......yuk!! We fed him fresh baked, warm from the oven ,chocolate cake for breakfast and took him out lunch. He choose The City Diner which by it's name you can imagine is an American restaurant. Tim wanted a BLT sandwich and a diet coke with ice. He is an easy man to please!

Tim and Tucker will be crossing paths at the airport on Friday. Tim will be leaving and Tucker will be arriving. Tim's trip had a last minute change so we are hoping they are still leaving and arriving at the same airport.

Okay...we need to leave for the airport....Abi said there could be no "bubbling". I am not sure I can be held to this....I think I better take some tissues just in case...

Today was another very lazy day for Abi. I think she got out of bed around 1:30 after eating pizza in bed. I really love summer!!! Jet lagged Tim went to work this morning at 7:10 and I had a Chinese lesson. The language school called today to say that I have used up my first 60 hours of instruction. Yikes.....so many hours....so little progress.....so many hours to go.

My big accomplishment for this week....I finished a quilt!!

I am calling this my 20 foot quilt. As long as you stand 20 feet away....it looks pretty good. I could also call this the "what I learned about quilting" quilting. Many lessons and many things not to do with the next quilt.

Tomorrow is Tim's birthday.....Happy Birthday Tim

Today is Sunday and we are enjoying the air conditioning after our scooter ride this afternoon. Summer arrived two days ago......and just like they said.....the humidity come over night. It is now hot and humid. This is Abi and Tim on their scooters. We are on our way to Century Park. We have passed by this park several times and Tim wanted explore it today.

This is a small lake inside Century Park

Tim and Abi in the park. We did not stay at the park very long because it was too hot.

Abi at the Science and Technology Park

This is a sculpture in front of the Technology Center. We are not sure what it is exactly but it is an interesting landmark.

On our way back to the air conditioning.

Tim arrived back in Shanghai today. We went to dinner and now we are sitting in our living room watching an amazing lightning storm. A few minutes ago we were walking down by the river and just about 1/2 hour later a huge storm rolled in and we can see the lightning strikes just outside our window. It is raining sideways and the thunder is booming. Wow!!! Double Wow!!! Oh my gosh!!!!!! I have never seen anything like this. Flash Boom Flash Boom..... I am soooooooooooo happy Tim is home!!!!

Tim will be home tomorrow afternoon and we are counting the hours. Abi and I are watching the second season of Lost. We did not watch Lost when we were in the US but the television is so bad here we have resorted to watching TV shows on DVS's. We have been watching shows by the "season". Each evening while Tim has been gone we watch one episode of Lost and then one of Gilmore Girls. We have to watch Gilmore Girls last so we can go to sleep with Happy thoughts. Last night Abi spent the night at a friends home so I worked on my quilt, studied Chinese, and did not watch Lost. No Lost for me when I am by myself!!! I am such a big chicken.

We went to Puxi today to the fabric market.....more pick up and drop off. As we were driving back Abi said that she has not seen anyone lately with their bicycle loaded with a large volume of "stuff". When we first moved here we saw them all the time. I wonder if it is because it seems normal now so we don't notice it. Weird!!! I know that I do not notice laundry hanging everywhere as much. But....it is still there!!! Lots of it.....everywhere!!!!

On Saturday evening Abi and I ate dinner at Burger King in the Super Brand Mall. We needed fries. We sat in the food court area and enjoyed our whoppers and cola with ice. In our hasty clean up and desire to get home after a hard day of shopping we accidentally left one of our shopping bags in a chair. This particular shopping bag had the majority of our purchases in it for the day. We did not discover that we were missing the bag until the next morning. We were sure that it would be gone by then but we went to the mall anyway to see if we could find it. First we went to the customer service. We had a note that we wrote with Xiao Zhangs help to explain what we were looking for. The note was no help...they did not understand what happened. So....we went to BK and waited in line. The person at the counter did not understand what we were looking for ....(partly because I told her in my best Chinese that this happened tomorrow instead of yesterday.....oops...I can't imagine why she was confused) but she got the manager and he spoke English. Yippee!!! I explained what happened, he said describe the bag, I did, he went in the back room and came back with our shopping bag. I could not believe it!!!!!!!!!!!! We have been very lucky in a city of millions of people to get our "stuff" back. Remember Abi's wallet that she left in the taxi? Amazing.

My email has been down for the past few days so if I did not respond to an email it was because I did not get it. Aaaarrrrrggggg!!! Technology....I love it and hate it all at the same time.

It did not seem like Fathers Day to Abi and I because we were away from all of our fathers this year. But.....we celebrated vicariously through Tim as he was with our fathers on Sunday. Happy Fathers Day everyone!!!!