Play That Funky Music Matthew

I was going through some pictures of China and I came across this movie of Matthew practicing his Alto Sax so I decided to post it for your viewing pleasure. Look for the secret message at the end of the movie.

Valentines Day Surprise

Hi, It's Matthew. Today I came home from school and I saw a big box with my name on it. When I opened the box there was a note inside from my Uncle Anthony that said "I found this in my closet. I hope this was what you wanted." Wrapped in bubble wrap was a Hess truck from 1997. That is the year that I was born. The truck has two cars in it that light up when you flip a switch.

I was so excited, I was jumping up and down. Uncle Anthony knows that I started collecting Hess trucks as a hobby.

 That is something we both have in common. He has been collecting Hess trucks since he was my age too. He gave me this truck from his collection that's why I love it even more. Thanks you so much Uncle Anthony you made me very happy and I love you very much.

A Day in the City with Uncle Tony

It's me, Matthew. I am writing about the great day I had in the city with my Uncle Tony. He took me to New York to see the "Soul of Shaolin." It was awesome. We had front row tickets and I met one of the characters that was in the play. The play is about a child named Hui Guang, who was separated from his mother when he was just a baby. He was rescued and raised by the monks of the Shaolin Temple and taught the ways of Shaolin Kung Fu. Years later, he was reunited with his mother. One of the scenes that I loved the most was when one of the monks threw a needle through a very thick piece of glass. Seeing this play makes me want to study Kung Fu again.

After the play, I talked Uncle Tony into taking me to Times Square to visit the largest Toys R Us. I have been bugging my parents to take me every weekend and they tell me to wait until the weather gets warmer. (Not going to happen!!!) I think it was because they were afraid I was going to go crazy in the store and want to buy everything. After visiting Toys R Us, Uncle Tony took me over to the M&M's World. I met Yellow (the Yellow M&M) and I wandered around all three floors and loved everything in the store. The store was amazing. The weather in New York was cold but it was really nice to spend the day with my awesome Uncle Tony. Thanks Uncle Tony for the great day! We'll do it again soon!

Lock Down

We all know that kids would rather play then study. I feel the same way about work but we all have to do what is necessary. So we wake up at 5:00 am, commute in traffic, get beaten up by bullies and play dodge ball. On occasion, we actually argue with ourselves, "Should I go in or should I play hooky"? We've all done it so don't deny it. 

Anyway, Matthew is starting his mid terms exams next week. So like all students his age he is contemplating, "Should I study or play with my Wii"?  It was a real struggle but he decided to study. To make sure that he would not be distracted, he handcuffed himself to the table. I am not lying. He locked his hand to the table, threw me the keys and said, "Don't give me those keys no matter how much I beg"  and then proceeded to study. Five minutes later he's asking for the keys. Well at least his intentions were good and he did have to pee. So he relieves his bladder, hopefully washed his hands, and went back to work. Fifteen minutes later, you guessed it. This time it was something to eat. 

As kids we all found it difficult to stay in on a sunny day and study. I am not exactly sure when we decide to give in and work rather then play but it eventually happens, kind of sad really.  In case you were wondering, they were toy handcuffs so not having the key was not really a deterrent.  Although, the handcuffs didn't work at least he's trying.  Maybe I should use the handcuffs at work or maybe I should just just play the Wii.

Fat Bastard

Okay, so for the past two years in China, Susan was a "Tai Tai" which means women of leisure, boy she hates that expression. Anyway, she basically stayed at home and did laundry and cleaned, you know, fun stuff. You see, Susan has been working since she was 13 years old. At first, I thought not working was going to drive her crazy but then she made some good friends and she was never at home again. In fact, she would wait until I left for work in the morning and she was out the door with her friends, shopping, getting her nails done, eating at the best restaurants and only God knows what else. This was fine because she was able to focus her energy and time into something she enjoyed.

Susan is like a hamster, she can't sit still for more that a couple of seconds at a time. Luckily, she found some friends or I would have had to install one of those wheels that hamsters run in just to calm her down. Well, we are back in the US and she is still not working. The job market is in the crapper and there are not many jobs to be had right now. So she needed a new outlet since her friends are now 8,000 miles away.



The outlet, my friends, is cooking and baking which she does very well. "So what's the problem?", you ask. Well you see I am like a dog. I will eat until I explode if someone didn't take the plate away from me. So everything she makes, and I mean everything, I eat. As a result, I am now a quivering mass of fat, like jello in plastic wrap. Even my lunches are a gastronomic delight. I am the envy of the lunch crowd at work. The three courses of food, the anally retentive way she wraps each individual piece of lettuce and tomato in plastic wrap so they stay fresh to the two desserts she packs. God I hope she gets a job soon so I can fit into my pants again.

So Long, Farewell

We had a wonderful week with Nicholas and of course, Sandi and Jeff. Nicholas had such a great time that he told his parents "I want to stay in Connecticut." He arrived before Christmas and played in the snow. As if Mother Nature knew what he wanted, it snowed again before they had to leave for the airport. Nicholas and Matthew were busy shoveling the walkway and parts of the driveway. They had a good time and even made snow balls. We headed into Flushing to meet with Jeff's parents for some quick dim sum before they had to head to the airport. We'll do this again sometime soon. I may head down to Boca Raton soon. I am getting tired of this weather.

Christmas

Sandi and her family arrived on Tuesday to spend the Christmas holidays with us. Nicholas, my little nephew has been very very excited that he was going to spend Christmas with his cousin, Matthew. Since their arrival, Nicholas' booming voice can be heard all over the house, the State of Connecticut and in New Jersey as well. They arrived and we just experienced snow which we've received over 10 inches of accumulation. He got to see snow and play in it. On Wednesday, they went into New York to spend the day and Nicholas was upset because he thought he was going to miss Christmas. Needless to say, he cried, no, more like wailed because he wanted to get home to Connecticut to spend Christmas with Matthew. Sandi was able to calm him down and I picked them up at the train station. Matthew and Nicholas tried to con their way into staying up as long as possible.

We woke up to two very excited kids who ripped open all the gifts in about 15 minutes. We packed the kids up and headed down to Jersey to spend the day with May and her family. It was great. The conveyer belt of appetitzers, food and dessert too. We ate, drank, spent time together and then once we got our fill, we all rolled out of the house with doggie bags to boot.

Sandi and her family will be with us until New Years Eve and we'll be eating left overs until we ring in the New Year. That's what the holidays are all about.

The Great Fire Wall of China

For several months, the Chinese population has enjoyed access to Voice of America, BBC and other websites normally restricted by the Chinese government. Well, no longer. The Chinese government has now reinstated the firewall that blocks access to this information. The same firewall that would hinder my efforts while I was in China to post to my blog. However, being a persistent person, I would always find ways around it. I wouldn't be able to see my entry when I posted it, but I managed to get it out there. Mind you, I wasn't writing about anything political. It would be the normal day to day stuff that we experienced. I would know my entries were posted when my sister would call and tell me she couldn't believe I wrote it. Yeah, yeah.

Fast forward, just when one thinks progress is being made, the population is reeled back another ten years. Typical of the government. Earlier this year, there were riots that erupted in Tibet. While watching the news, we would experience news forecasts that were blacked out. You'd surf the channels and find that the other channels were just fine and miraculously, the news would come back on at the end of the forecast on Tibet. The news in China was routinely edited but I would get snippets of the information sent to me by my sister. There were some disparity between the Chinese version and the U.S. version. The numbers would always be alarmingly low while the U.S. and other media would broadcast higher numbers of the casualties. Which version did you think I believed?

Holiday Gatherings

Today was the official start of the seasonal marathon of eating. We headed up to Duracell this morning for the annual holiday party. Matthew was really excited to attend since he missed the last two when we were living in Shanghai. We arrived, we ate, we socialized, we left. Mind you, we didn't go home. OH NO. We headed straight down to Margaret and Rick's house for a holiday gathering. They were gracious enough to host 22 of us. Yup. 22 that's the total number between kids and adults. The boys were pasted in front of the WII, the girls were making arts and crafts and the adults, well, we were parked in the kitchen island grazing non stop. Tidbits, crudite, wine, beer, you name it. We grazed and then we ate dinner on top of that. More like inhaled the meal. Shameful but true. We finished the night with dessert and coffee and waddled out of Margaret's place with full bellies. The kids were sugared up but we were all very very happy. Now we just have to figure out where the next gathering will be.

Projects

Matthew has been working on a project for school for almost a month now. This assignment is for a nativity creche. Nothing could be bought. Everything has to be made from scratch. We took a trip to Michaels and purchased all the supplies we needed. Total damage- $100.00. That's right- you read that right. I wished I were kidding. Armed with all the supplies, Matthew painstakingly started to craft the nativity scene with wooden sticks. He molded all the people in the manger with clay- Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, Three Shepards, a cow, a horse, a goat and Gabriel on top of the manger.

I must say, I am quite impressed with his skills. I can't draw stick figures without anyone asking me what it is. He came home from school and prepared a sketch of what he wanted the manger to look like and he was off. In the final days, the office was transformed into an art studio. He would use the lazy Susan to paint his figurines and then mount them onto the board. I delivered him to school this morning with the project and I think his looked the best. Perhaps I am being a bit biased but I may have the next up and coming artist in my house.

Soups On!

Thanksgiving is a time for all to give thanks. We have always participated in community service and this year is no different. Matthew and I signed up with our parish, St. Leo's to help prepare the food for distribution to the New Covenant House. We wanted to serve dinner this year to the needy but couldn't due to time constraints. I helped out in the kitchen by washing the pots and pans and Matthew was busy taking out the food trays to the awaiting cars for delivery.

We finished and went home to prepare our own Thanksgiving dinner. Tony smoked the turkey on the barbecue and it was very tasty. I prepared lots of side dishes and chilled the wine. We had our friends Al and Dawn and Tony's parents over to share the meal. It is our first Thanksgiving back in the States. Quite a difference from what we experienced last year in Shanghai. Last year, we were dining at the club house with our friends Anne and her family and Tony who arrived from Hong Kong to visit. This year, we're back in our house, settled and grilling.

So, to all of friends, we wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving. You are always in our thoughts and prayers.

Interruptions

We've been chugging along. Matthew's been really busy with school, Kumon and Chinese school. It's Sunday morning for us and it's our usual routine...except today, no cable, no internet and no phone service. Early in the morning. What the ????

Called the cable company and reported the issue. No reported outages in the area. It became an emergency call. Two hours later, the cable guy shows up and he couldn't figure out what happened. He checked every wire in the house upstairs and downstairs, checked all the equipment and it was a complete mystery. For giggles, he decided to check the wires running from the pole down the road from the house. Bingo! It turns out that the wires were chewed through by our resident squatters- the squirrels. They've done a lovely job since all the wires had to be replaced from the bottom of the road to the top of the house. Total time, three hours to replace all the wires. Now we know why the squirrels love squatting in our yard. They must be getting a jolt each and every time they chew the wires. Hey, some like it that way. Me personally, if I were a squirrel, I'd rather keep digging around the yard for nuts.

HIstorical Event

Election day in the United States. Millions of citizens turned out to vote for the next president. Some even waited as much as four hours for their chance to vote. Tony and I were at the polls bright and early this morning at 6:15 AM. We did our duty and cast our votes for the change to take place in this country. The economy has been sliding downhill and the Bush administration, well, let's just say no one is happy with them. I never thought I would live to see this day but it has happened. Senator Barack Obama has been elected the 44th president of the United States. It's been a very tight and very grueling race and it's finally come to an end. I am so glad that we have had the chance to witness this historical event.

The tension between Republicans and Democrats are pretty apparent. Matthew's classmates were clearly divided. My nephew Nicholas almost incited a riot in the first grade class in Florida as well. He was telling all the kids that Sarah Palin was not the right choice because "she shoots and kills animals." Well, that's a fact that can't be denied. My sister Sandi received a phone call from a parent informing her that Nicholas is sharing this information with his classmates and almost caused a riot on the school bus. OK, maybe not quite a riot but let's just say my little nephew has gotten the attention of the first grade class. He's got a bit of me in him. Yeah, that's right. You're doing me proud kid! My sister Sandi should leave him with me for a few weeks. Good Ol' Auntie Sue will teach him right! If I do this right, he'll never get a visa into any foreign country!

Halloween

Halloween fell on a Friday this year and many kids were quite thrilled to be able to trick or treat on a Friday evening and stay up to count their goodies. We had an unusually warm evening - 60 degrees and it was perfect. Since we never get any action on our road, we took Matthew back to the old condo on Hope Street and spent the evening knocking from door to door. He dressed as his favorite- Indiana Jones and Tony went along as a SWAT team member. We came home two hours later and Matthew's sack was filled. While he was busy counting up his stash, Tony and I were busy checking out all the candy to make sure it was safe. We did find some candy manufactured in China which went straight into the trash. Need I say more?

Tainted Eggs

Looks like China will have to ramp up the food inspection process and buckle down on the food issues that keep spewing out of the country. It's been announced that Hong Kong inspectors have found eggs from northeast China to be contaminated with high levels of melamine, the same toxic additive that sparked the milk scandal last month. The same scandal that reported more than 50,000 children in China have fallen ill and several deaths have occurred. What is so unnerving about the tainted eggs is that this did not happen once, but twice in less than a week. Tisk, tisk.

There are many "regulations" on the books in China, but are hardly followed. Anyone can be bought for a price if you know what I mean. So, yet again, China is thrown into the headlines about food safety. So now, there is a mad scramble to start inspecting eggs in cities such as Shanghai. Let me recap the things that I recall since 2006- honey contamination, rice wine contamination, pet food recall, lead paint found in toys, moon cake filling, toothpaste, heparin, milk and now eggs. I am very grateful that we made it out of there without any serious side effects. Tony's stint at the hospital for E. Coli or salmonella was pretty hair raising. I handed over the hospital records to our family physician, Dr. D. He reviewed the file and stated that he's never seen "bacteria numbers as high as Tony's and he's actually survived without any serious problems." Usually, "numbers that high, people die." OK- so Tony rolled the dice twice and won. He was very, very lucky.

Scientists in China are worried that the melamine being used to adulterate dairy supplies, may have been intentionally added to animal feed in China. Uh, gee, you think? This would mean that chicken and possibly fish and hog feed could result in poisonous meat and seafood. I am worried for all my friends in China. This limits the food choices. Of course, they can shop at the expatriate markets and pick up meat from New Zealand and seafood imported from outside of China. I used to buy only fish from Japan. You can't imagine my food bill. I'm glad I did it.

The Chinese government has started to arrest individuals "responsible" and has of course, pointed the finger at someone and will probably start executing to show good will. That still doesn't solve the issue of the global food problems and how the world is watching China very, very carefully. Maybe now, China will really start to take things seriously. This on top of the fact, I am positive that the number of effected people has been seriously adulterated. If it's public that there were 50,000 children effected and four deaths, the real number could be double or triple and most assuredly, there are many more deaths than reported. You know how it is, China's got to keep it all hush to save face. The ancient Chinese custom of keeping the dirty little secrets hidden under the carpet and deny anything is wrong. Everything is rosy and just perfect. Nothing like living in denial. It all comes back to bite you in the ass.

The milk scandal surfaced in September, slightly more than a year after tainted pet food was exported to the United States, sickening cats and dogs and touching off global criticism of China’s food safety controls. Beijing responded defiantly to some critics of its record, but late last year it also announced a crackdown on shoddy and unsafe food producers and ordered the closing of thousands of slaughterhouses and food factories.

During that time, several Chinese melamine suppliers admitted in newspaper interviews to selling melamine to animal feed operations and fish feed providers in China. The government, however, never reported finding melamine-tainted fish or animal feed in China’s food supply.

I guess I'll never be granted a visitors visa to go back to China. I'm technically persona non grata. That's the beauty of living in a democracy. I have a right to my opinion and I can express it without being monitored. God Bless America.

Lunch Menu for Ina

While we were living in China, Ina would often wander over to see what Tony brings in for lunch. Never mind that lunch was available at the canteen. It just didn't meet his high standards or Ina's as well. She would often smell the food warmed up and would go have a "taste" of what he brought in. There were days when I would send in a double lunch. One for Tony and one for Ina. On the rare occasion, Mr. Miao would benefit as well from the baked goods included. This arrangement was going quite well except for the weeks when Tony was traveling and Ina would be looking for lunch. Sometimes, he would be gone for two to three weeks at a stretch. Let's just say, when he returned, she was very happy to see him back at the office again.

It has recently come to my attention that Tony's colleagues here in the U.S. do the same exact thing. They all covet his daily lunch. Yes, there is a cafeteria available at Duracell but the food....just isn't quite up to snuff. Just the other day, Tony went to work with roasted chicken, mashed potatoes and an apple turnover. All homemade. None of that prepackaged stuff. Let's just say, his friends are a bit envious of his daily lunch choices.

So, in the spirit of the daily lunch menu, this photo is for Ina. To recapture the moments when she would share and covet Tony's lunch in China. He''ll be bringing in pork saltimbocca with prosciutto and fontina cheese, roasted cauliflower and polenta with mozzarella and sauce tomorrow. When you come visit, I'll pack a lunch just for you!

Fall for Monteith

Catchy title. Matthew came up with that one as a tribute to Mr. Monteith, his former fifth grade teacher. One of the greatest teachers we've had the privilege of working with while in Shanghai. Of course, he ranks up there along with Mrs. Kuehn and Mrs. Wink, Matthew's elementary school teachers as well. I must apologize to Matthew's current teachers. They're great but no one will ever take the place of Mr. Monteith. If we can only figure out how to ship him to the United States and have him teach middle school. Hey, how about shipping the Shanghai American School campus out here as well?

Mr. Monteith has often mentioned that he would like to have the opportunity to visit the New England area and see the fall foliage. Since he can't be here due to teaching commitments, Matthew decided to send it to him with a picture.

We're in the midst of beautiful fall foliage in New England. The tree leaves are changing colors and its very beautiful to see. Not so great to have the trees dropping their leaves all over the driveway and property though. The weather is brisk and its apple season as well and I've been busy baking lots of apple pies. Tony and Matthew attack it straight out of the oven with their forks. Never mind that it is piping hot and that they risk third degree burns.

In the spirit of the season, Matthew has decorated the windows and house with Halloween decorations. We watch the squirrels and chipmunks preparing for the winter hoarding their nuts. Tony has even carved the Halloween pumpkin with the Batman insignia.
So here's to you, Mr. Monteith. You can't be here to see it but we hope that this will inspire you to visit us next fall. I'll even bake a pie just for you!

Milk Scandal

The latest food scandal that has China in the headlines has exposed information about the political elite of China. It appears that the political elite are served the choicest, safest delicacies. It seems they can get hormone-free beef from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, organic tea from the foothills of Tibet and rice watered by melted mountain snow. This is all supplied by a special government outfit that provides all organic goods from farms working under the strictest guidelines.

This secure food network is in stark contrast to the frustrations of the ordinary people of China who have faced numerous food scandals. While we were living in China, we lived through the honey contamination, moon cakes filled with bacteria-laden filling, eggs colored with industrial dye and fake liquor that caused blindness or death. We were lucky that we were able to pick up imported goods from shops that specialize for expatriates. The cost of groceries was mind blowing for what we paid for a box of cereal from the U.S. I could have purchased cereal produced in China but was often hesitant to do so. I scrutinized where products came from and would often purchase items from anywhere outside of China.

It is absolutely inhumane that the politically elite are offered food that is deemed "Nation A" which stands for "top end, irreplaceable, the best". These food products are offered to senior politicians or government offices and are not released to the general consumer market. The fact that rice is watered by melted snow from Mount Changbai, which straddles the China-North Korea border, fish is brought in from Hubei province- which is known traditionally as the "land of fish and rice" and tea from mountainous Yunnan area abutting Tibet and beef and mutton from the Inner Mongolia steppes. It has been documented that the rice comes from the northeast, grown seeds specially cultivated by experts from the Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It has a very small output, doesn't involve any genetic engineering and it tastes very good. Ninety percent of the rice cultivated goes to the Beidaihe Sanitorium which is a seaside resort for retired party cadres. The remainder is sold on the market. The market price for this rice is five times higher than ordinary organic rice and fifteen times more than the price of ordinary rice.

Reminds me of the time when my friend, Ina told me about the rice she saw drying on the highway between the car lanes. The farmers laid out the rice in the middle of the road amidst car exhaust fumes and locals riding their bicycles. Yummy. I always purchased Thai rice that was hermetically sealed from Thailand and never the rice available in the open buckets at Carrefours. We would often find the locals manhandling the rice with their hands. They would never use a scooper to put the rice directly into a bag. The rice was incredibly cheap versus the bags of rice I was buying. Uh, no thanks.

I have previously stated this before and I'll say it again. China has a very long way to go before the world can trust any and all products that come out of the country. The government goes through the exercise of cleaning up their image for the Olympics. The government manipulates and as soon as the Olympics packs up and leaves town, all the scandals come creeping out again. Coincidence? Nope. It's the government controlling the information that creeps out. They manipulated the Olympics by putting the "cuter" kid as the singer at the opening ceremony and dubbed her voice of the kid with the better voice that also happened to not be so cute. Let's see when the real numbers for HIV, AIDS and drug abuse come through. When the Chinese government can really be honest and address these issues, there is hope for the country.

Happiness is.....

Happiness is being back in my home turf and being able to get to and from errands by myself. No need to schedule a driver, ride the shuttle bus and tool around town in a taxi. Happiness is being able to walk into a store and find clothes that will actually fit me AND not have a sales person trailing behind me invading my personal space and watching me like a hawk. My friends in China know about the freedom I am writing about which they currently cannot experience. Happiness is being able to go to the supermarket and buy anything I want and not worry about food or milk being tampered. Yeah, that's right. That is my happiness.

I had to run a few errands this morning after Matthew left for school. I cleaned up the house, ran a few loads of laundry and got in the car to start my day. Yes- got in MY car to start my day. It was great to be able to listen to what I want on the radio and play with the radio knob. I was able to sing in the car and be off key and not worry about anyone snickering at me. It was nice to be able to do what I wanted and not have to schedule a pick up time. I wasn't on any schedule and wandered into a store to peruse the latest fashions. I was quite pleased that there items in the store that would actually fit me. I didn't have a sales person trailing after me or have to hear the snide "Xiao jie, ni hen pang" followed by the giggle and the smile. Chinese translation "Miss, you are very fat." Yes, I admit that I am carrying around extra weight since college but I must say, I am not obese. In China, I was something of a freak show. The Chinese women there border on the anorexic side while I am on the uh.... pleasantly plump side. Yeah, pleasantly plump. Mind you, I would not qualify to be painted by Sir Peter Paul Reubens if he were alive but I can't claim to be anorexic as well.

I'm out of a job......

Matthew's been in school for a month now and I have been his private taxi driver. When we arrived in July, we submitted an application for bus service with the City of Stamford but, we were informed in late August that the City never received it. As a result, we weren't on the list for bus service. This didn't make me a very happy camper since we found out about this one day before school started. We resubmitted the application and had to wait for Matthew to be input into the system. Should be easy right? Wrong. This whole process from start to finish took four weeks. Ridiculous by my standards but when you're at the mercy of the administration that dictates who gets on the bus, you kind of have to play along. I was a very good girl and I played along by calling the transportation office daily to get a status update. You knew I was a regular when all I had to do was say the last name and not even spell it. The staff knew me by voice, not by face. You get the picture of how persistent I was.

My follow up calls have finally paid off. As of this morning, Matthew was officially picked up by the Stamford school bus for the daily ride to/from school. I was giddy as I waited at the bottom of the driveway with Matthew and watched the bus approach. Now that he's been squared away, I face the reality that I am nothing but an unemployed homemaker and will need to concentrate my efforts to find a job. I really despise the term "homemaker". Then again, my nick name is Susie. I guess that kind of works.

Living in the wild

Living in the suburbs has it's ups and downs. Last night, I was awaken to the howling of several coyotes. Loud and clear in our back yard. This went on for about half an hour. The coyotes were howling at the beautiful moon and I was trying to sleep through the noise. It's nice that National Geographic likes to cut through our back yard as it makes its way through North Stamford. Since I am still Matthew's private limousine driver, this morning we saw an opossum who was sadly mowed down by a vehicle. In fact, we see lots of animals big and small who meet their unfortunate demise on the road.

Sometimes, I can hear the raccoons trying to break into our garbage cans. Luckily for us, it's locked pretty tightly. Otherwise, it would be a bloody mess in the morning. A skunk passing through our backyard will leave the tell tale sign that it's passing through. In Shanghai, we didn't see anything like this. If we did, they were in a jar located at the local herbalist or at Carrefours. The Chinese believe that the animals help with their inner qi mixed with the right herbs. It's not uncommon to find deer, bear claws and what not. So, in China these animals would be fermented in some type of rice wine or in some sort of soup stock. In the U.S., we find them running free until their unfortunate demise.

When it rains, it pours

I've been busy getting things back into order. To date, I am still the limousine service that takes Matthew to/from school. We do the daily jockey of leaving the house by 7:00 AM to beat the school buses on the road and I promptly drop him off at 7:10 AM. Enough time for Matthew to get to this locker and sort out his school bag. I proceed home to start the laundry list of items that need to be done that day. Most of the time, it involves locking myself in a room and facing the items that need to find a home.

Today, my routine has been blown. For starters, I've started the morning with a flat tire. One that won't come off the wheel base at all. I've called the service and someone was supposed to arrive to help me get this thing off the wheel base. So far, no show. In the meantime, I've kept myself occupied by calling the neighborhood tire repair place so I can schedule an appointment to get my tire repaired and putting things away. In addition, I have my eye on the clock because I need to pick Matthew up from school this afternoon.

Oh, did I mention that I've got follow up calls to the insurance company about the paint damage and for the damage to our items? Yes, that is the ongoing saga that doesn't seem to want to end. I've got to make follow up calls to the City of Stamford regarding the school bus situation. I've been desperately trying to get Matthew onto the bus route since the beginning of school. Ridiculous that this has been ongoing for the past three weeks but I have to exercise patience since if I tick off the wrong party, he may never be put on a bus route. So, I am exercising my karma and remaining calm. Hopefully, the rest of the day will be better.

School's Back in Session!!!

I love my son immensely. Those who know me, know that there isn't anything that I won't do for him. However, we have been joined at the hip every single day since June 12 when school was officially over. I have had eleven weeks of unadultered bliss of together time. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week for the past eleven weeks. That's been a barrel of laughs. We have had our moments where we really didn't like each other and some unkind words have passed through our lips. Sad, but true.

I am happy to report that school is back in session. Half days but who the hell cares. I get a few hours of time to myself and not have someone screaming "Mom, Mom, MOM, MOM!!!!!" He's happy to have had a reunion with Rafel, a child he went to Piper's Hill with. He's met up with Nick and is busy making new friends. I've met some moms who are part of the school community and will be busy with school activities again pretty soon.

In the meantime, I will start my job search once I get this place under control. The boxes are being worked on and things have been donated to Goodwill. Lots of books have gone to the library and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my friend Margaret so I can pawn off this huge contractor's bag and humungous box to her.

Stay tuned for Matthew's reintroduction to Chinese school. That's going to take place right the weekend after Labor Day. I can't wait!

Reunited

Boxes arrived together with the furniture and I must say, I am very happy to be reunited with the contents of the house. Although, there is quite a bit of work to be done.  There is stuff everywhere and it's a bit overwhelming when I go from room to room and scan what needs to be done. Let's just say, I'm not going anywhere for the next several weeks. It's going to take me about that long to get this place together. Don't let the picture fool you, there was another truck that came just as packed.

I've packed up and unpacked three times for this return journey home and am relieved that this is the last of the shipments. I'm not happy about the mess and I have to learn to over look what the place looks like.  Oh, did I mention that thing have disappeared and we've found clothing with mold and some furniture has been damaged.

The good news is I've found some things that I've long forgotten about and am in the process of "cleansing" the house and doing a massive donation.  The local library has received about 100 books so far, my nephew Nicholas has taken off with some books and my friend Margaret's son, Nicholas will inherit a lot of clothes and books from Matthew.

We're going to do a give away of furniture and clothing. Let us know if you need anything- we're always happy to help out!

Anticipation

We got official notice that our sea shipment has arrived in the U.S. and has cleared customs. YEAH! We know that U.S. customs has reviewed the boxes and we did not receive notification that anything has been removed. The big question is, did Chinese customs take anything out besides the liquor? We'll find out tomorrow when we get the delivery. In addition to some furniture, we're supposed to receive approximately 200 boxes. After weeks of living on the bare minimum, we will finally be reunited with the contents of our kitchen, closets and the rest of the house. 

It's been a long journey to get to where we are but, its close to completion. I'm convinced that Jose (the contractor) and his gang of merry men, really just want to move into our garage and stay there. The punch list items are slowing diminishing but it's still there. The lawn still hasn't been mowed, the litter is being cleaned up and garage door is down. Finally, we can get rid of all those animals that keep using the garage as a cave for the past six weeks. Oh, I really mean insects which are not so small. Some are large enough to pick up a small car on their backs to go back to their hiding spots.

The other day, I ran head on into a very large and UGLY cricket. I screamed, I'm sure it screamed as it took off for a dark corner in the garage while I ran the other way back to the laundry room and slammed the door shut. I'm not used to the "wild life" that insists on squatting around the house. I'm from New York where the only animals I had to worry about were rats and roaches. I'm in a whole new realm when it comes to the suburbs. I have to listen to the cicadas, watch the yellow jackets insist on building a nest in the eaves of my roof line and watch the deers as they stampede through the back yard. I even saw a coyote in my back yard the other day. What is this the Wild West?

Matthew has become quite adept at identifying the smells along Long Ridge Road. At any given time, you'll hear him scream "skunk" from the back seat and sure enough, about two miles later, you'll find the carcass of the skunk and some other freshly killed animal. Sad, but it's the reality of living with the animals in the area. It's not uncommon for me to find a raccoon that has met an untimely demise at the bottom of my driveway. While living in China, we really didn't see any dead animals on the roads since, they're usually skewered and simmering in some kind of broth ready to be sold as dinner. We're adjusting to life back in the States where insects and animals are not part of the daily menu offerings.

Stay tuned for the updates on the status of our delivery. I'm truly looking forward to finishing up this part of our move. I'll get to hand out eviction notices to the little squatters and focus on looking for a job. My status as a "kept woman" will come to a screeching halt once I am able to procure a paying position.