Home again home again...jiggity jog

 Our monkey and his banana on Halloween

We went trick-or-treating at our friend's expat neighborhood

I would be embarrassed about how long it has been since my last post if it I wasn't working full-time. In the meantime a lot has happened and changed. The biggest change has been that I finally feel settled in. I feel that where we live I consider more home than "China" now. When I say "Let's go home" I really mean home and not America. Life has a dependable routine again. The kids have adjusted. This shift in feeling/thinking has come from a few massive steps.

 

Paul on a Dragon Boat in front of the Summer Palace

Step 1) Our home: We moved out of my Dad's house into an apartment across the street from my work. That place was nice, but the landlord was a heel. So we had to move again after a month. We found a place that was less nice and absolutely filthy. The floors were coated with dirt and cigarette ash and the kitchen was veiled in oil. When we moved I spent 3 WHOLE days scrubbing it from top to bottom. Luckily no mice or roaches had moved in because the place was actually only 2 years old...max. Anson had a hard time adjusting because he liked apartment #1 better (we all did) and was sick of moving (first from OH to SLC, then to Qingdao, then to Dad's house, then to apartment #1, then to our current place), and I was sick to tears of moving too. I had brochitis when we moved to apartment #1 and then pneumonia when we moved to apartment #2. It really affected my attitude because I was feeling really under the weather for at least a month while moving and working full-time. After we moved life started getting better.

Panorama of the view from the Dragon Boat at the Summer Palace

Step 2) Our Ayi: Expats call their hired help women "Ayis," but the Chinese call them baomu...and Americans call them nannies/maids. Our first attempt at hiring an "ayi" was an epic failure because she didn't enjoy the work and made it a three-ring circus with us and my dad. So she lasted just a week. Next we imported my best-friend, Wang Zi Yu, but as I anticipated it was too difficult to have your peer/equal working for you. After we followed several spiritual prompting that landed us at our current housing location, I knew that things would start falling into place. In just a couple days, our friend recommended a woman that has ended up being a wonderful "ayi." She loves the kids and they think she is great. She minds her own business and is very dependable. She is a good cook and keeps the house neat as a pin. She goes grocery shopping on occasion and is very cheerful. So far her worse foul up has been that she used my Thanksgiving pumpkin to make dinner :)

Step 3) Transportation: Just before moving to apartment #2, I got a reference from a friend for a good driver. He picks Anson, me, and one other teacher up in the morning and delivers us to and from school everyday. This one little thing has really helped life feel routine.

 All our branch members at church are taking pretty good care of us (they are all totally loaded). Between their charity, Dad, and some freebee clothing we found, our winter clothing needs are almost all taken care of. I am finally feeling better and the kids' 2-month-cough is fading. So life is basically all good.

Funny side note--On our way home from work/school dialogue:
Anson: I want a cookie! Because I want a cookie! Waaa, I want a cookie Mommy!
Me: Anson, I know you want a cookie, but I don't have one.
Anson: I want a cookie!
Me: I don't have one, where is Mommy supposed to get a cookie for you?
Anson: From America.