My friends often tell me that I write very “bipolar”… This is largely in part due to the fact that I am only able to recall part facts, part stories, part ideas. I am all over the place with my ideas and these notes are not going to be much different. It seems to have gotten worse with our move to China but there are so many times that I feel like I am shocked as hell one minute here then it becomes second nature the next.
So my bipolar note begins....
We celebrated Thanksgiving much like we did at home in the states. We had two huge turkey dinners with friends and played some football.
One of the parties was a tailgate… we brought a piece of New England with us and had a blast!!!
Chris recently said to me causally, why don’t you get your nails done…. My response, “why would I spend money on my man hands???” In another fleeting moment he tells me about this really pretty ring he saw on this girl at work. Hmmmm. Then this past week, again, “you should do something about your nails… you aren’t rock climbing in China.” Personally, I think this is a ballsy statement, but because he isn’t commenting about my rear or legs, I think… perhaps I should indulge myself and get me some nails. They are super cheap over here and I had a couple of hours to kill.. and he did mention that ring?????
I sat down in this oversized chair and immediately tipped my head back, opened my mouth wide and napped. A nap I didn’t realize I needed so badly - Woke up and presto… I have nails!! If only this were as easy for a number of things in life.
When I got home from having them done ... I walked in and all three kids immediately noticed. (wow! were my hands that bad??) They all ran over to our “wrestling mat” (which is just an oversized carpet that we spend countless hours playing games, wrestling or just napping on) they pulled up their shirts and laid face down in a row on the rug chanting, “tickle my back!” over and over. Ayden took it a step further stripped down naked and made a chronological list - "Do my back first, then my head, then my arm pits... then my legs.... then finish up on my belly!" I am already regretting my decision.
They look good and I got a nice nap - I guess I feel more girly. BUT! A: I can't type and B: I can’t push going to the bathroom because buttons and drawstrings are somewhat challenging.
It is funny, after realizing that we were actually moving to China, it amazes me how easy it is to add to a “bucket list.” So this past weekend I was able to check off another notch on this list and I finished my first marathon in Asia. It was a good race, but a challenging race intellectually in math. The race was measured in kilometers. Much like making coffee in the morning and my inability to accurately count the scoops, running this marathon had similar challenges. I never really knew how far into the race I was and 41 km felt a heck of a lot further then the 26.2 miles I was supposed to be running. I ended up running it in 3 hours 30 minutes which isn't all that bad considering the iron lung I had to carry on back and the fact that I think they were serving some version of saki at the water stations. Chris was an outstanding sherpa during the race finishing the half marathon in record time or so he says however there is no record of it because I was a bit overzealous this year and signed him up for the full and they pulled him from the race 20 ft from the finish line. His version of the story is much like his fishing outings with the guys from work where they caught this GIANT fish but he let the guys bring all the filets home.
The kids are doing fantastic…. Ayden loves to cook at school and has even taught me a few things at home. I have a friend here, Charmain, that is an outstanding cook from the Phillipines and she has been teaching her how to make some simple dishes.
Garrett is his happy self, but has been confronted with his tweaking ways at school and is now on a first name basis with the counselor there. Hope it is a phase that is short lived.
Jordan is super social… no surprise there. Just finished up soccer and is starting basketball. She is super excited that she just got her black belt in recorder class and the family is secretly thrilled that she will finally be learning a new song!!!
It only took me three days to locate all the ingredients to make our Christmas cookies!!!
Chris is doing well. He is learning a lot of Chinese. I am actually impressed. We just got word that we each have 20 more hours of lessons paid for by the company. For me this is a joke. It will give me the opportunity to really get the inflections down on the swear words… kidding. Actually, now that we have been here awhile, I can focus on the things that I find the most useful. Like, telling the taxi driver to slow it down or asking how much something is and being able to negotiate a price. Bartering is a totally new concept for me and no longer do I hide behind Chris’s negotiation skills to get what I want.
Like most things... the more I drink the better I think I am at somethings. So last weekend after spending a few hours at a cooking class where I admit, I was over served; Chris and I took the kids down to eat at this mexican restaurant (Pistoleros) that is in the building next to us. Apparently, I was “trying” to talk in Chinese... and Chris told me the next morning that the Waitress’ fluent english was far better then my Chinese. I paused for a moment and said... "she was Chinese, right??" Anyway, I have been asking him when he is taking me back to Pisteleros so that I can practice my Chinese again. I don't think Pisteleros will see the Carey's for a while.
Chris still having a lot of issues with his “self diagnosed” torn ligament in his elbow. At one point he wanted to get his arms casted so that he wouldn't use them and they would heal. After getting these nails, I suggested to him to just go ahead and get the acrylics put on... they have the same effect and are far cheaper!!!
We are kicking off the weekend with a family Christmas party…
(new nails!)
Thinking of all of our family and friends back home….
