Carol's 365

Goodbye, Ningdu

2010-08-17T12:35:00.002-04:00

This is video of the incoming orphanage director at Ningdu (blue shirt), the outgoing director (woman in back), one of the government officials (pink shirt) and the SWI doctor, (woman on right) waving goodbye after our visit last summer. As we were leaving the incoming director lit fireworks for us.

Kitchen Demo Begins

2010-03-22T22:15:00.005-04:00

The first step to the kitchen remodel was to take down the soffit. The cabinet above the microwave is where we've kept the liquor. It's new temporary home is on a card table in the living room. But it's probably going to be moved from there, too. More on the reasons for that in a later post.

This is what was inside the soffit. Which poses a problem. We don't want any soffit at all there, so the pipes that lead up to Rachel's bathroom need to be moved. I have a good friend whose husband is a plumber and he's going to help us out. Thanks, Ralph!

Next up, taking out the cabinet and microwave. The microwave is on the top of our baker's rack in the dining room for the time being. It's a bit high, but it won't be there long. The next cabinet over was the next victim.

Now what?

The wall comes down next, of course!

So far, so good. There is still the soffit to take down completely and electric that needs to be moved. We also need to figure out how to support the granite breakfast bar that will go on this half wall. Flooring is an even tougher question....

Spring...Finally!

2010-03-20T22:34:00.002-04:00

I like winter, I really do. But this winter was long. But my favorite times of year are definitely spring and fall. I love the change of seasons. Everything is so new, so fresh. I love how the grass gets a little greener every day, how seemingly overnight the trees have leaves budding on them.

Today we celebrated spring the way so many do: At Rita's for free water ice. I took a picture, and I searched and searched for the picture, but couldn't find it. Then I remembered I took it on my cell phone, which I don't know how to upload to the computer.

Rachel and I also planted some flower seeds. We are starting them inside. We planted zinnias, forget-me-nots and delphiniums. Can't wait to watch them grow.

Taylor Swift Concert

2010-03-19T23:52:00.000-04:00

Fred surprised us tonight with tickets for the Taylor Swift concert.

It was Rachel's first concert, and it was a really good one!

After going into the crowd to sing a song, Taylor walked through the audience to this small stage at the opposite end of the arena to sing a few songs. Then she walked through the audience back up to the main stage. It was a really nice touch, hugging and shaking hands with so many of her fans.

This was the set for "Love Story," which I loved. It's one of my favorite songs of hers.

This was the finale, and I'm pretty sure the song was "Should've Said No." She had water raining down on her, and gaps in the water would spell out words, like "no." It was very cool. Overall, I think Rachel really enjoyed her first concert. It was hard to tell sometimes, though, because, as with everything, she seemed to be studying it. She has always been a big observer. She takes everything in.

Kitchen Makeover

2010-03-18T15:16:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we started remodeling our kitchen. Below are the "before" pictures. I have hated our kitchen since we moved in here 7 1/2 years ago. Our kitchen in Florida was pretty big, and I guess we were spoiled. What we're doing to the kitchen won't alleviate all our problems. The only way to do that would be to take out the wall completely and move the stove (which means moving the gas line) and replace our hard wood floor. So we're going to do the next best thing and give ourselves much more cabinet space and the feeling of more room.

This is looking at our kitchen as you come in from the garage. One of the problems Fred and I have when cooking is that we bump into each other around the stove and island. I realize that there are worse problems to have. After all, not every wife takes the role of sous chef at dinner time so her husband do the bulk of the cooking. The basic layout here will stay the same, but everything will be replaced (except the appliances).

This is our barely-used dining room. The table was my grandmother's, the desk was my dad's and the china cabinet I bought used a few years ago. It's all going away. Well, I'll be keeping the table, chairs and desk, just not in this room.

This is the view from standing next to the desk. The wall that has the picture on it will be coming down...half of it anyway. It will become a breakfast bar. The window is staying as is. We decided to get rid of the dining room because, in the 7+ years we've been here, we've used it only a handful of times. More often than not, this table is covered with a bunch of stuff, whether it be Rachel's school projects, craft projects, or just random crap that lands there and doesn't get put away. I have a backup plan if and when I ever do have a big holiday dinner.

This is a view of the kitchen from the bay window, near our kitchen table. The mess to the right of the refrigerator is a bakers rack that holds all my cookbooks, my mixer, clean dish towels, a wine rack (filled mainly with cooking wines), Fred's coffee and other incidentals. It, too, will be going away and in its place will be cabinets and the microwave.

We are planning to do this project entirely on our own, with the exception of some minor plumbing work which I will outline in a later post. So yes, it's going to take quite a while to complete.

Some of the things I'm stuck on are what to do with the floor in the dining room. Right now it is carpet. I'm thinking of putting down slate tiles. But will that be too many different kinds of flooring? Getting hard wood to match what's in the kitchen will be next to impossible, and replacing all the hard wood will be way out of our budget.

And what should I do with the walls? We're going to do a tile backsplash above the stove and countertops, but what about the walls that will still be exposed in the dining room and the remaining walls in the kitchen? The walls of the "formal" living room (more like a sitting room) that is off the dining room are red, very red. The walls of the family room, which is where I took the first picture from, are a textured blue. Not too dark and not too light. It's almost like a light denim blue, I guess. And the walls of the hallway from the front door into the kitchen are white with thick stripes. The prior owners painted them. They alternated flat and satin or glossy white to make subtle stripes, which I like. Unlike the circus tent strips above the counters that I hate.

Of course, I'll take pictures along the way and I'll try to get them posted more frequently!

Battle Bound!

2010-03-17T15:41:00.001-04:00

Eeks! I haven't posted anything since the 1st? That's pretty bad, even for me.

Friday, March 5th, my friend Kim and I drove the girls to Washington D.C. for Battle at the Capital a huge cheerleading competition. We drove down on Friday to do some sightseeing before the competition started on Sunday. Emily's brother Nick went along.

Emily broke her toe a couple weeks ago and all the walking we were doing was making it hurt, so she got a lift from Nick.

It was very windy, but we were lucky the sun was out and it wasn't raining.

Rachel took this picture of the Washington Monument. We only had a couple hours, so we went to the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian. Then we went back to the hotel for dinner before letting the girls swim before bed. We were going to go the Outback Steakhouse, but found out it was 6 miles away from the hotel. Plus, it was Friday and since Kim and her kids are Catholic, no meat. So we ended up at the little mall area under our hotel and had pizza from Sbarro. BAD CHOICE. That's all I have to say about dinner.

The girls swam for an hour or so with some of the other cheerleaders staying at our hotel, and then it was time for showers, hairdrying and bed. We have to dry their hair real good before bed because the coaches want it straight. So even though Rachel has straight hair, I blow it out and put Chi Silk Infusion in it, and it turns out real soft and very straight.

First Place Again!

2010-03-01T15:55:00.002-05:00

Rachel's team came in first place again this weekend! There wasn't a whole lot of competition there, but still, a win is a win! And they did really good. The stunt they're doing here is an arabesque. This stunt starts as a pop-up, then she changes to a heel stretch, then a scorpion and ends in the arabesque, and then she cradles out of it. Rachel's job in this stunt is the back spot.
Rachel's team is a Youth Level 2. Youth designates the age group; 8 to 12 year olds, basically. The Level 2 part is their skill level. I don't really know all the details, but I know that for tumbling they can't do anything above a back handspring. They can do front and back walkovers, forward rolls and roundoffs. I think there's some rule about their stunting, too. Maybe something about the flyer's hips can't go higher than their head. But like I said, I'm not really sure. Anyway, the organization where Rachel cheers has several different levels. They have tiny 1, mini 2, Junior 3, Junior 4, Senior 3 and Senior 4.2. The 4.2 means their tumbling is a level 2, but the stunting is level 4, or something like that. Our Junior 4 team is phenomenal. I hope to get some pictures of them at this weekend's nationals.
This will be our first big competition. It's a two day event, and the teams perform both days. Your best score of the two days is the one that counts. It should be a fun weekend. I'm driving and taking Rachel, her friend Emily and Emily's mom Kim, who is also my friend. :) We are leaving Friday and will be home Sunday night.

MORE SNOW!

2010-02-27T12:12:00.003-05:00

I took this picture on Wednesday, 2/24/10, which was two weeks after the last big blizzard. Most of the snow disappeared on Tuesday the 23rd when we got a lot of rain.

This was Wednesday, also. For the life of me, I don't understand why the snow plows plow the way they do. Is it so hard to plow along the curb of our cul-de-sac? No cars were in the road. Instead, they piled a bunch of snow right here, between our driveway and our next door neighbor's driveway. Where there is maybe a foot or two of curb space. If that. And this pile has shrunk considerably in the last two weeks. It probably extended out into the road 15 feet or so. Which means that we had to shovel that much out into the road. I'm really quite upset at the crappy plowing job they've done this winter. We pay a lot in property taxes, and I'm sorry, but I just expect the snow plows to get closer to my driveway than 15 feet. Especially when there is 2 feet of snow on the ground.

This picture was taken on Thursday, during our most recent "blizzard." The school superintendent sent out a message on Wednesday evening saying that Thursday would be a one-session day, which means the kids get out of school two hours early, because of the expected blizzard. It snowed all day Thursday and into Friday. But it seems like there's hardly any on the ground. It was very windy, but still. Where did it all go???

This was Friday morning. This is after the plow came through. Nice, isn't it? They made one straight line, backed up, plowed that line that goes from left to right, and then left. I understand that there's only a few inches out there, but come on. Last night it was all ice, chunky, slippery ice. They didn't even salt the cul-de-sac this time. I'm so annoyed. Can you tell?

So is this robin and all his robin friends. They flew back up north just a bit too soon. I think we're going to have nests under our deck again this year. They've been hanging out on this railing a lot, and the nest from last year is right under this part of the deck.

I love the snow, but I am so ready for spring.

No Dog is an Island.....

2010-02-20T20:41:00.003-05:00

.....but Ferris seems to be stuck on one! I had him out in the backyard for a little bit today. While I spent 10 or 15 minutes picking up the pool cover clips and trying to put them back on, he spent the time sniffing for critters around the shed. Earlier this week he had been able to fairly easily walk on top of the snow to go potty. However, the last couple days were warmer and the snow was mushier. If he took his time he was okay, but as soon as he started to run he would sink. When I was done trying to fix the pool cover, he started to follow me on the snow, but gave up and just stopped walking. So I picked him up and carried him out front. I threw and he chased a couple small snowballs around the front yard. Then he went to the raised landscaping bed, which has almost no snow left on it, and just stayed there. He walked around it trying to figure out a way to get back to the concrete without getting on the snow. Eventually he just sat down and waited for me to go get him. I think Ferris, and just about everyone else in the Northeast, is ready for spring!

Hello Gorgeous

2010-02-19T17:57:00.000-05:00

This beauty was delivered today. It is a GE Cafe Dual Fuel Range. You can use it as a convection oven or a regular oven. The drawer in the bottom is also a stove. It has an extra burner/griddle on the middle of the stove.

We decided to get a stove without the back guard/back splash because we're hoping to redo our kitchen in the very near future, and the top half of that wall (the one with the circus ten stripes) will be removed and a breakfast bar put in it's place. Whoever painted those stripes didn't remove the stove when they painted, obviously. So even if we don't redo the entire kitchen, at the very least we will be doing a tile back splash.

For Fred's first meal on the new stove, he made Pioneer Woman's Chicken Scallopine. Yum. The stove has two rapid boil burners, so boiling the water for the pasta took no time at all!

More Sledding

2010-02-15T11:43:00.003-05:00

We tried a different sledding hill and went with our friends, Kim and Emily. The part of the hill that is to the left of the big trees has a little creek at the bottom of it, and as we were walking across the bridge, we saw a kid leaving who had just landed in the creek. So we stuck to the hill on the right which did not end in the creek.

This was Emily's first time ever sledding. I think she enjoyed it!

I went down the hill once, too, and of course had to take a picture on the way down. And I only took out one or two kids at the bottom of the hill. :)

Rachel's 11th Birthday

2010-02-15T11:18:00.002-05:00

~*~*~*~*~*HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY TO MY BABY!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~

She's so happy with the box, how will she react to what's inside?!?!?!?

I think she likes her Hollister t-shirts!

My friend Kim and her daughter Emily sent Rachel this candy basket. Later in the week they took her to the mall to pick out her present. Good friends are priceless.

Rachel's birthday was on February 10th, the day of the third blizzard of the winter. Fred had to work, so he actually went and stayed in a hotel the night before. Rachel and I spent her birthday watching Pirates of the Caribbean movies and shoveling snow. This snow was heavy. We shoveled 3 or 4 times throughout the day/evening to try to keep up with it. Fred got up the next morning before work and shoveled again.
Because of the blizzard a few days before this one, Rachel's school was delayed 2 hours last Monday. Tuesday was a regular school day. Then they were off Wednesday and Thursday. Friday and Monday were scheduled days off for President's Day weekend. Personally, I think they should have used those days as make-up days. If we have any more snow days, they won't get out of school until July!

Vulture

2010-02-08T22:36:00.003-05:00

We had a visitor to our roof yesterday. One of the neighbors called to say there was a really big bird on the roof above the garage. Rachel had been watching it, too. He kept flying back and forth from the porch roof just outside her bedroom window to the garage roof outside my bedroom window. He landed in our maple tree once, too. I think it was a turkey vulture, but I'm not sure. I was thinking maybe there was a dead rabbit or something in our yard, but I looked around and couldn't find any carcasses.

Violet was watching him the whole time, too.

We often see vultures and hawks flying overhead, but this is the first time we've seen them this up close.

More Snow

2010-02-08T21:55:00.005-05:00

We had our second blizzard of the winter this past weekend. We got right around two feet of snow. We were so impressed when the snow plows showed up early. It was still snowing when this big plow came into the cul-de-sac. But then he plowed two straight lines, and that was it! He didn't get anywhere near our driveway. I waited patiently, and he did come back, with a friend in a backhoe. They plowed together, but they still didn't get anywhere near our curb. So, in addition to shoveling our driveway and sidewalk, we had to shovel ten feet out into the road. They also plowed the snow almost right up to our mailbox, which we then had to clear away so the mail lady would deliver our mail. I don't understand how you can pay THOUSANDS of dollars in taxes a year and get such crappy service when it snows. There were no cars in the road at all, nothing to keep them from plowing right up to the curb.

This is the path we shoveled for Ferris in the middle of the storm. Check out his little footprints leading to and from the patch of grass where he tinkled. Yeah, we had to shovel this a few more times during the course of the storm.This was after the snow stopped. Unlike last time when my van had so much snow piled on it, thanks to the wind, Fred's car didn't have much at all. This picture is a little deceiving; the snow wasn't nearly as deep further down the driveway.

Sledding on the little hill in our neighborhood. It's actually a retention basin known as "the ditch." In the summer it's used for pick-up baseball games.

Ferris went with us to the ditch.

He even went sledding with Rachel. He stayed on her lap the whole way down the hill, multiple times. He didn't try to jump off at all. I took him down once, too, and I hit a bump at the bottom and fell backwards. He still stayed on me. In fact, he made himself at home and sat down on my chest as I was laying in the snow. I guess his feet get cold in the snow. I'm thinking of getting him a pair of booties. He's so good about wearing coats, maybe he'll keep booties on. Of course, the only bad thing about sledding is climbing back up the hill. But seeing as how Ferris didn't want to really be in the snow that much, he stayed in the sled and let Rachel and a friend push/pull him back up the hill.

Back at the house after sledding we tried to make a snowman again. And just like December's snow, this snow wasn't packing. It wasn't just us....I haven't seen any snowmen in any neighbors' yards. So Rachel settled for making snow angels. I kept telling her she had to wave her legs, too, but there was too much snow and she couldn't.

All this playing in the snow makes you tired!

University of Delaware Competition

2010-02-07T11:57:00.004-05:00

Here they come!!! On their way to a First Place finish!!
This was actually last Sunday. We pulled out of today's competition because of all the snow. (More on that in the next post)

What we didn't know at the time was that Emily hurt her knee pretty bad at tumbling the day before. She was a trooper and did everything in the routine, including her back handsprings. But my friend Kim took her to the hospital and she's now on crutches. She's waiting for an appointment at AI DuPont Hospital for Children next week. The first hospital told her it was her ACL, but the follow-up orthopedist said her patella punctured a hole in the bone behind it. Either way, she's off her knee for ten days. So for Emily, it's a good thing we pulled out of the competition today.

I'm having hardware issues....the card for my new camera won't work in my computer, and the card reader I use is broken. So I can't access those pictures until Fred gets me a new one, hopefully today.

Pyramid

2010-02-06T22:57:00.001-05:00

Here I showed you how Rachel's team begins their routine. This is how they end it.

Toe Touch

2010-01-30T14:28:00.003-05:00

Rachel went to a friend's birthday party last night. It was a tumbling party. She practiced her jumps on their trampoline and into the pit. Her toe touch looks pretty good.

This is a herkie. It's my favorite jump.

Trade Fair

2010-01-27T16:35:00.003-05:00

Rachel is in the EXCEL program at school, and every year the fifth grade EXCEL students have a Trade Fair. They have to create a "business" -- whether it's a game, a product or a service -- and try to make a profit at the Trade Fair. Rachel created a "Wishful Wheel." It is basically a spinning wheel game for prizes. She had three different prizes: 76ers beads, friendship bracelets and super balls. They can purchase various forms of advertising, such as hanging posters, making a commercial during morning announcements, etc. Any money they spend they have to keep track of and pay back out of their profits. So they were supposed to try to make prizes or use things from around the house and not use food as a prize.
Rachel's Wishing Wheel did pretty good. She didn't make the highest profit, but she followed the rules and had a lot of customers, so it was successful.
I think her next big project will be the wax museum. That should be a fun one.

Villanova Competition

2010-01-24T21:18:00.000-05:00

Rachel's competition this weekend was at Villanova University. Her team took first place out of three! They looked so good, too. The middle of the pyramid that ends their routine collapsed, but aside from that it was a great performance. It was a long day. We thought we'd be home by 2:00, but we didn't get out of the gym until 2:00 or so. After stopping for lunch, we didn't get home until 5:00. It was a fun day, though. There was a parent team that performed, and they did surprisingly well. In fact, I think they inspired our organization to start one. Should be interesting!!!

Scenes from a Bus, Xian

2010-01-23T14:40:00.006-05:00

Xian was our second stop in China. (Click here to read about our train ride from Beijing to Xian, here to read about our first day in Xian and click here to read about our visit to the Terra Cotta Warriors.)Okay. Technically, this is a scene from the overnight train we took from Beijing to Xian. I like the mountains in this one. This was taken probably about an hour before we arrived in Xian. The best part of the train ride was when the sun came up and we could see the scenery going by. It helped me forget how dirty and gross I felt from the day/night before.

We saw a lot of pool floaties being sold along the street in Xian, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out where they would be used. China's not like the U.S. where every other house has a pool in the backyard. The only pools I saw while we were in China were the ones in our hotels.

A woman doing wash outside a shop.

Wires. Lots and lots of wires. Can you imagine working for the cable company or phone company and having to replace a downed wire!?!?!?!

Employees participating in team-building exercises before their workday.

Day laborers waiting to be hired. The little signs say what type of work they do.

Old folks in a park doing their morning exercises. We saw this happening everywhere we went. Sometimes it would be just one or two people; other times it would be large groups.

Scenes from the Bus - Beijing

2010-01-22T00:02:00.004-05:00

While in China last summer, I took TONS of pictures through the windows of our buses. They are some of my favorite pictures from the trip. On days when I don't have any current pictures to post, I hope to post some of these pictures. I'll start tonight with ten photos from our bus in Beijing. (Click here to go to read all about our trip to China.)

Traffic. Sorry; I'm not sure why the picture is so crooked.

Punch Buggy!

This was a pretty cool building. If you click on the picture, you can see it bigger to see all the detail.

I have pictures of this theme park in my scrapbook from our first trip to China ten years ago. It was abandoned then, and it still sits empty.

It was interesting to see all the different modes of transportation and the many configurations of bicycles. There seemed to be no limit to the amount of stuff piled on bicycles.

Scene ON the bus.

Fascinating.....

2010-01-21T23:52:00.000-05:00

.....simply fascinating.
Now if I could just get her to start doing the laundry instead of just watching it....

D.A.R.E. Graduation& Sixers Game

2010-01-20T22:02:00.004-05:00

Rachel graduated from the D.A.R.E. program today, along with the rest of the fifth grade class. Over the past several months, they were taught drug prevention, how to avoid peer pressure and how to get themselves out of sticky situations. They each prepared a poster and an essay and awards were given out. Rachel's friend, Bianca, won the essay contest for the entire fifth grade, and she read her essay during the graduation. She did a great job.

The blurred faces is a little creepy. Sorry. I don't like putting kids' faces on the Internet without their parents' permission.

Our Mayor was there, along with our State Assemblyman and the Superintendent of Schools. They are public officials, so I don't have a problem putting their faces on the Internet!

Tonight we went to the Philadelphia 76's game. It was not exactly a sell-out. And it was boring. Basketball is definitely not our sport. But it was interesting to come to once.

I spent most of the game reading the manual for my new camera. I might have learned a few things. I was so frustrated after the D.A.R.E. graduation, because I got very few good pictures. Even closeups were blurry. The two pictures I posted here were from the old camera. One thing I did learn is that I need to get a telephoto lens. We left the game after half-time.

Bath Time

2010-01-19T23:15:00.002-05:00

Ferris was a little stinky, so he had to get a bath.

"No! Please! Not a bath!!!"

Tomorrow will be a long day. Rachel has her D.A.R.E. graduation at school at 9:30. Then I have a 2:00 job in the city, after which I'll come home, pick up Rachel and then head back to Philly for the Sixers game. Hopefully I'll get a little work done in there, too.

First 2010 Competition!

2010-01-16T19:59:00.002-05:00

We were in Trenton this morning for a cheerleading competition. It was Rachel's (and my!) first all-star cheerleading competition. She did cheer for six years for a rec squad (pee wee football) and did competition with them for four years, but this is her first year doing all-star.
We woke up at 4:45 and left the house at 6, got to Trenton by 7:30. I played with the camera while watching the other teams perform, but I still need to figure this new camera out. Once again, every single picture I took, except for the close-ups, was blurry. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, so I'll have to get the manual out I guess. I also need to invest in a telephoto lens sometime in the next month or two.

This is how Rachel's team lines up to begin their routine. They did so good. I'm so proud of Rachel and all the girls. The looked great!

Rachel and Emily having some post-performance Dippin Dots.

This is all the teams from the morning session on the mat for awards. It was fun, but I'm exhausted. I am not a morning person, and when I have to get up earlier than usual, it just knocks me out.

Window Painting

2010-01-15T22:35:00.003-05:00

Rachel has a cheerleading competition tomorrow, her first one with this organization. I am SO excited to be able to go and just be a spectator/parent and have nothing to do with coaching! I can just sit and watch and cheer the girls on. Our van windows are now painted red, white and blue and have Rachel's and Emily's names on them. Emily and her mom will ride with us to all our competitions. And tomorrow we'll have an old friend with us, too.

So check back some time later tomorrow or Sunday to hear all about our first all-star cheerleading competition!

Italian Hoagies

2010-01-12T22:10:00.000-05:00

Fred made us baked Italian hoagies for dinner tonight. If they look like they're missing something, it's because none of us eat tomatoes. They were yummy, though.

Pueblo Project

2010-01-11T22:02:00.002-05:00

Rachel's pueblo project turned out pretty good, I think. She's happy with it. I drove her to school this morning so she wouldn't have to worry about it getting bumped into on the bus.

Dress Rehearsal!!!

2010-01-10T17:08:00.004-05:00

This morning was dress rehearsal where Rachel cheers. Competition starts next weekend, and the dress rehearsal gave the girls an opportunity to perform in front of a crowd. It also gave me an opportunity to practice Rachel's makeup. I don't think I did too bad. We had to buy the makeup. The gym decides what colors and how they want it applied. But you can go as dark or light as you want. Rachel's was pretty much right in the middle - some girls had it much darker and some were much lighter. By the time they actually performed, Rachel's lipstick was much lighter. I might try putting something on her lips next week to make the lipstick last a little longer.

This is Rachel's team. There are 36 girls. She is not one of the flyers. She is the backspotter for the second stunt group from the right. The stunt they're doing is called a scale.

Rachel and Emily's friend Morgan came to cheer them on. We were so surprised to see her there!! She cheers with a different organization, but the teams are on different competition levels, so we will never compete against Morgan's team. It's the same with another cheerleading friend who cheers for yet another organization and who we will see at our competition next weekend. They're at the same competition, but different levels.

After the dress rehearsal we went to look at kitchen cabinets. We're seriously considering remodeling the kitchen....we're talking knocking out a wall and everything. So we're doing some shopping around to see if we can afford it.

After cabinet shopping Rachel had to finish a project for school. She and Fred have been working together to build a pueblo. Rachel designed it and picked out the materials. Fred is help assemble, mainly with the hot glue. I think the cheer bow adds a nice touch.

Rachel did the gluing of the smaller parts. I'm so proud of her in so many ways!

New Year's Eve

2010-01-01T09:00:00.002-05:00

This is how the day started out. More snow, and Ferris wasn't liking it. When I first opened the door for him to go out, he took two steps and turned around and tried to come back in. Then he tried to go under the table on the deck. Finally he realized he had go thru the snow go potty.

We went to our neighbor's annual New Year's Eve party. They live two doors down, and it's always a lot of fun.

This year we played some Rock Band. Fred was playing guitar, and so was Mike. Or one of them might have been doing bass. I don't know for sure. Kevin was playing drums and Dave was singing. Brian was watching. We did get him to sing once. Dave's wife Frani and I were the only women who played Rock Band. But there's no pictures to prove it. You'll have to take my word for it. Frani played drums on a couple songs. I played drums, then sang, then played guitar. I'm definitely best at guitar.

Look out, Brian!

The kids played some games, too. Here they're playing Apples to Apples.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-12-27T12:15:00.000-05:00

Two days after Christmas and about a week after the big snow storm, there's barely any snow left thanks to a day of rain yesterday. I can't believe how quickly two feet of snow disappeared.

Christmas Morning

2009-12-25T19:45:00.007-05:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

After waking us up around 7:30, Rachel waited patiently at the top of the steps for us to tell her she can come downstairs. We like to videotape her coming down the steps. This is the first year we didn't use "caution" tape to block off the top of the steps. As far as we know, she didn't peak before we got up.

First she went through her stocking. Usually she does that last, but this year she wanted to e different. Then she really got into the unwrapping. Look! She got a doorknob!!! She had seen this at Antropologie a couple months ago and thought it would look cool when we redo her room this summer.

Of course, Ferris had to be in the middle of everything all morning!

This is a "Harrods 2009" Christmas bauble.

Yay! Another bag! Because a 10-year old girl can never have enough bags!

The aftermath. Both cats and the dog love all the wrapping paper and Violet especially loves the boxes.

This was around 10:30 a.m. She was a wee bit tired of having her picture taken. That's a new DSi she's playing with.
When we went to China in July, we left Rachel's Nintendo DS and her Gameboy on the plane, along with ALL her games. I blame myself...I neglected to put her name and address on it, and I didn't look under the seats very god when we arrived in Beijing. Fred was playing with the DS (AHA! It's his fault!!! I kid, I kid.) and I distinctly remember him handing it back up to Rachel and I watched her put it in its case and put the case in her carry-on. And she didn't get it back out to play with. I think it must have slid out of her carry-on under the seat and got mixed up with all the blankets and pillows under there. As soon as we got to the hotel I called United, both in Beijing and in Washington, where we departed from, and they took a report, but of course we never heard anything. It was pink and totally blinged out. So maybe there's some boy out there somewhere enjoying a blinged out pink DS!
So now Rachel is starting from scratch with a DSi. She got one game for it on Christmas Day, Style Savvy, and played it ALL day. A couple days later she got another game from her friend Emily.

We actually had a white Christmas! It wasn't fresh snow, but we'll take it! Fred took this picture (with my new camera) in the afternoon. Yes, Fred got me a new camera, a Nikon. What did I get him? A frying pan! I really wanted to get him a good cast iron one by Le Creuset, but I couldn't find one anywhere. I kept finding the big casserole pots that cost about $250 and I thought, he'll kill me if I spend $250 on him for Christmas. Oops! So I get a nice camera and he got a $15 cast iron frying pan! Oh, and I also got him a nice knife. But he uses his frying pan every day, and I'll get him the Le Creuset one as soon as I find one.
I stopped buying Fred tools for Christmas a couple years ago. It seemed whatever tools I'd get him were never quite what he wanted. Plus, he has just about every tool known to man. He likes cooking almost as much as he likes working on cars and repairing stuff, so Rachel and I usually get him cooking gadgets now. Last year we got him a chef's coat, which he wears quite often when cooking.

The rest of our Christmas Day was quiet. Fred made baked ziti, per Rachel's request. (Last year's request was lasagna) I baked cookies. And we watched TV and just chilled out. It was perfect. Hope yours was too!

Wanamaker's Light Show

2009-12-23T19:43:00.000-05:00

Surprisingly, school was not cancelled today, and Rachel's class had a Christmas party scheduled, and I was invited in for it. It was a lot of fun. They played games, did karaoke, and were treated to chicken fingers and fries. I did take pictures, but I don't have permission to put all the kids' pictures on the blog.

After school (it was a half day), we went into Center City to see the light show at the Wanamaker building, which is now a Macy's. This year we watched it from the third floor, instead of sitting on the first floor and having to look up.

Sledding!

2009-12-22T19:33:00.000-05:00

School was cancelled again today. Rachel spent a good part of the day working on school projects while I worked, and then we went sledding!

Jacques in the Pantry

2009-12-21T19:30:00.000-05:00

This is where we found Jacques this morning....in the pantry, holding onto the Poptarts I was planning to have for breakfast. But no worries; I was able to get the Poptarts away from him.

More snow and Quick Trip to Harrisburg

2009-12-20T19:05:00.000-05:00

This is what my van looked like when we woke up today. We had to shovel out the driveway for the third and final time for this storm. We decided to shovel the entire driveway this time, not just half, since I had a job scheduled Monday morning.

Almost there. What I didn't take a picture of was the horrible job the snow plows did. They didn't plow very close to the curb, so we had about 10 extra feet out into the street we had to shovel. Plus we had to shovel out our mailbox so the mail lady could get to it.

These are the pathways we shoveled in the backyard last night for Ferris. They were covered up again by morning. We had to shovel pathways for him because the snow is taller than he is. And he likes to walk around and find the perfect spot to do his business. We waited until tonight to clear them out again.

After shoveling the driveway (and street) we drove to Harrisburg to have an early Christmas with Fred's family. These are all of Rachel's cousins on Fred's side.
We made fleece blankets for all the kids and Fred's parents. Soccer blankets for Kati, Delaney and Haleigh, cheerleading for Jade, and Phillies for Zach and Meemaw and Pawpaw.

Rachel got a Rubiks cube 360 from Aunt Karri and Uncle Drew. Here she's explaining it to Uncle Jim and Jade.

After all the presents were open we had dessert. Pies, cakes and 17 different kinds of cookies. My mother-in-law always serves a great meal, and the desserts are to die for. What I didn't get a picture of was the earlier commotion in the kitchen. She had made seafood bisque, and it was in the crockpot. One of Fred's brothers was trying to heat up the bisque a little faster, so he took the pot out of the crockpot and put it on a burner. Needless to say, the ceramic pot broke and seafood bisque was everywhere. They got it cleaned up pretty quickly, but for the rest of the day the dogs kept going over to the stove and licking underneath it.

Half an hour later, another brother got a pan of rolls out of the oven, burned his hand and sent the rolls flying. The rest of the food was served with no problems! And it was all very good.

After dinner we headed home. We were worried, with good reason, about the roads in New Jersey getting icy. When we got home it was obvious they hadn't plowed our neighborhood since before we left for Harrisburg. It would actually be three days before they plowed again.

Snow!!

2009-12-19T10:21:00.005-05:00

This is snow hanging off the roof right above my van, which has snow piled so high it almost reaches the gutters. Two seconds after I snapped this picture, SOMEONE threw a snowball and it knocked the snow off the roof. :)

Update #3: 5:00 p.m. Fred is back out shoveling again. There's probably a good 6 inches on the driveway since the last time he shoveled. I didn't help this time...I'm working on a job that has to go out Monday.

Driveway, right after we finished shoveling.

Update #2: 3:00 p.m. We shoveled the driveway, and by the time we finished, it was covered again. It's snowing heavier now than it has all day, and it was even thundering, which was kind of cool. It's supposed to continue snowing heavily until midnight....I'm sure we'll hit the two foot mark.

Update #1, 12:00. First plowing of the cul-de-sac. We're hoping he puts it all in one pile so we can make a good snow fort. And look! My neighbors are actually having furniture delivered, on a snowy Saturday!

Saturday, 12/19/09, 9:00 a.m.

2009-12-18T10:25:00.000-05:00

I think Ferris was pretty happy to see Santa, don't you?

2009-12-11T22:19:00.003-05:00

If you squint your eyes and look closely, you'll see that this is Santa on top of a fire truck. He visited our neighborhood, courtesy of the local fire department. Sirens were blaring for a good half hour before he finally made it to the corner we were waiting on with neighbors. In prior years they handed out candy canes. No such luck this year.
And I let Santa know he needs to bring me a better camera for Christmas so I can take a decent picture of him next year. :)

Violet's Feet

2009-12-10T23:04:00.002-05:00

The cats, and sometimes the dog, love to sleep in this box that sits in front of my bedroom window. Today, Violet was in the box, and the only parts of her that were sticking out of the box were her feet and the tip of her tail.

Jacques

2009-12-09T14:02:00.005-05:00

Meet Jacques. Jacques is our Elf. Our Elf on the Shelf.

Jacques' current position is not a shelf. Today he is perched on a string of lights over our kitchen sink.

Yesterday, Jacques was here, on this reindeer's antlers. You see, Jacques is one of Santa's elves. Every night Jacques, and millions of elves like him, fly to the North Pole to report on the children they're staying with. They re-appear the next morning in a different spot in the house.
Well, Jacques picked a bad spot when he landed on this reindeer. You see, it's a little too close to the floor....and a little too close to Ferris. Sadly, Ferris thought Jacques was a chew toy. Santa's elves are not allowed to speak when they're staying watching to see if children are naughty or nice, so Jacques was not able to holler for help. Rachel and I discovered Jacques lying on the floor in the kitchen last night after dinner. Minus his cute little white collar. And an arm. And his head appeared to have been bitten.

Ferris, what did you do?!?!!??!?

Unfortunately -- or fortunately, depending on how you look at it -- I have no pictures of the carnage. Please rest assured that Jacques is magical (how else could he fly to the North Pole and back in one night?) and therefore he feels no pain. However, Jacques really needs his arm to fly. So after a short surgical procedure last night, I'm happy to report that Jacques is nearly 100% healed. He had no head injury after all...just a small tear in his hat which was easily fixed. His arm is a little wonky, though. (I love that word, "wonky") But I think that just makes him more endearing. And now he has a "history," a story to hand down to the next generation. I think Jacques learned his lesson and will only land on higher locations in our house. As for Ferris:

"I'm sorry, Jacques!"
It's okay, buddy. I'm sure Santa will still bring you some presents on Christmas, too.

One of my Favorites

2009-12-08T23:00:00.002-05:00

I took picture after picture tonight of our Christmas trees and they were all blurry, so I gave up and decided to post one of my very favorite pictures of Rachel. This was taken 6/17/05. She had her kindergarten graduation and her ballet recital both on the same day. She just glows in this picture. She danced to one of the songs from The Nutcracker, and she had such poise on stage. I know I'm her mom and I'm expected to see everything she does through rose-colored glasses, but even one of my neighbors remarked that he had never seen her smile the way she did when she was on stage. And she was good, too; very graceful, and she knew all her steps. But that was the only year she took dance. After that, it was all about cheerleading. Which is fine, because she loves it and she's good at that, too.

Open House at the Vet

2009-12-05T22:22:00.004-05:00

We took Ferris to the vet today, but not for an appointment. They moved into a brand new building this month, and today they had an open house. Winslow Animal Hospital has a beautiful facility. They were giving tours of the whole building, and Ferris had a lot of fun sniffing some other dogs that were there. The new facility's is a therapy room that includes a small pool for aqua therapy, which Ferris wanted to try out. There were also free samples, free toys and photos with Santa. I'll post Ferris' picture when I get it back.

In one of the operating rooms, Rachel got to "help" with a simulated c-section. It was cute. They had a stuffed animal on the table, and they pulled baby stuffed animals out of the belly.

The best part of the day? Snow! We only got a dusting, though.

Best Buds

2009-12-04T22:18:00.000-05:00

I have so many pictures of these two like this. It's almost an everyday occurrence that they lay together in the sun. In colder weather they seem to snuggle up together more.

Trimming the Tree

2009-11-29T22:10:00.000-05:00

I am really slacking lately when it comes to taking pictures. I took this "before" picture, with four of our eight Christmas boxes, but I never took an after picture!
Rachel alternated all day between helping me decorate, reading a book that she has to do a report on and playing outside with friends.
We do two trees, one in the living room (pictured here) and one in the family room. The one in the living room has white lights and red and gold ornaments. The family room tree has multi-colored lights and has all the fun ornaments collected over the years and all of Rachel's hand-made ornaments.

Rachel was able to reach the top of the tree by herself (with the help of a step stool) this year to put the angel on top.
I'll post after pictures soon....

The Day After

2009-11-28T22:03:00.001-05:00

The day after the wedding we went over to Dennis and Amanda's before we headed back to NJ. They were just getting ready to open their cards and gifts.

This is Abby, one of their cats. At first she wasn't too crazy about Ferris, but she never hid from him. Even when Amanda's sister came in with three big dogs, Abby stayed right there on the step. Ferris loved having the other dogs there. Playing with big dogs is one of his favorite things to do.

Congratulations Dennis & Amanda!

2009-11-27T21:54:00.000-05:00

Today, Fred's brother Dennis married Amanda. His grandfather officiated the ceremony, just like he did for Fred and me, Fred's other siblings, Fred's parents and aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a beautiful ceremony, and the reception was a lot of fun.

This is an ice sculpture that was at the reception of the Penn State Nittany Lion. This picture does not do it justice.

Instead of a traditional wedding cake, they had cupcakes. Very cute, and very good!

Rachel loves her Uncle Den-Den and her new Aunt Amanda. And she was so honored that they asked her to help out at the wedding (she manned the guest book and handed out programs) and asked her to go to the reception.

Happy Thanksgiving! (A little late)

2009-11-26T21:40:00.004-05:00

For Thanksgiving weekend we went to Harrisburg. We drove up there on Wednesday afternoon. Dennis and Amanda were getting married on Friday, the 27th, and Wednesday night was the rehearsal dinner.
For Thanksgiving dinner we were at Fred's parents' house. Fred's mom always makes everything herself, and she does a great job. It's always a wonderful meal.

She also makes all the desserts. Pumpkin pie, apple crumb pie, lemon sponge pie, banana cream pie, pecan pie, Montgomery pie, shoe fly pie, pineapple upside down cake, banana cake, fudge and......apple dumplings!

2009-11-23T15:14:00.004-05:00

So much for posting a picture a day!!! Some days I forget; some days it just seems there's nothing different to take a picture of.
I'll try to catch you up on the last couple weeks.

On Saturday 11/14 Fred had to go to Harrisburg for his brother Dennis' bachelor party. My friend Kim and I made plans to go to Atlantic City for dinner, shopping and gambling, and Rachel stayed over night at her house. We did shop and we did have dinner, but neither of us really felt like gambling. So we did a little more shopping. I was home by 10:00.
I had planned on getting some work done, but made the mistake of turning the TV on and saw that The Wedding Singer was on. I've never seen it before, so I grabbed the laptop to check out Facebook and watched the movie in bed. Well part of the bed. I had a little company. And I fell asleep right before the end of the movie.

One day last week we realized that our spare refrigerator was dying. This is the one we keep in the garage. It's mostly for drinks and we stock, obviously, frozen foods in the freezer. So I took all the beer I had in it (about a case of Heineken) over to a neighbor's garage to store in their extra refrigerator. Quite honestly, the beer was mostly for the neighbors anyway! Fred and I don't like beer, so I just keep it on hand for friends. We have to get something to replace the fridge. Fred wants to get a Coke machine. But how are we going to store stuff like extra milk and orange juice, or even leftovers, in a Coke machine? Not to mention the lack of a freezer.

This was Rachel working on her "Daily Geography" cards on a Sunday night.

Yesterday there was a little mini hot rod parade in our court, led by this Trans Am and followed by a few Grand Nationals and Monte Carlos. Turns out they were there to meet up with a neighbor who goes to a lot of car shows.

Also yesterday, we hung our outdoor Christmas lights. It was a beautiful day, and since we won't be around much this weekend and we don't know what the weather will be like, we took advantage of the sunshine and warm temperatures (about 60 degrees). We transitioned to all LED lights outside this year. Last year the lights on the roof line were LED and the lights in the bushes were just regular bulbs, and it drove me nuts that they didn't match. I'm old-fashioned when it comes to Christmas, so I don't like the looks of the LEDs quite as much. They're so bright! But they save on electricity. Our meter stayed the same after turning all the lights on.

Rachel climbed the ladder and got on the lower roof for the first time! It's a little harder coming back down the ladder, but she did good.

With both Thanksgiving and Fred's brother Dennis' wedding, I'm hoping to have more picture opportunities this week. Tomorrow I have a 9:30 job, and Rachel has an 8:30 orthodontist appointment. If Fred can't take her, we'll have to reschedule that. Then tomorrow night I have to make a cheesecake for the rehearsal dinner, Rachel has cheerleading, and Fred has to pick up his tux. Wednesday morning I have to clean the house and pack, pick Rachel up at school at 1:15, stop in Philly for my check, pick up Fred at work and head to Harrisburg, drop Ferris off at my in-laws and be at the church in Hummelstown by 6:00. I'm praying for few traffic delays. Yeah, right. On the day before Thanksgiving.

Ten Years

2009-11-08T22:31:00.005-05:00

Ten years ago today we were standing in the hallway of the Lakeview Hotel in Nanchang China waiting to hold our baby for the first time. We watched the four Ningdu girls as they were carried past our room to the end of the hallway, and we watched as the other three families received their Ningdu babies. Then it was our turn. The woman with the green jacket, a nanny, was holding Ning Wen Ling, our Rachel. She handed her to me, and I'll never forget what it felt like to hold my baby for the first time. She looked at me for a few seconds, and then started crying. The nanny came back and would stroke Rachel's face, then take Rachel's hand in hers and stroke my face while saying "Mama, mama." After a little bit, Fred took her and she stopped crying, until she looked at me. Every time she saw me she'd cry, then stop. Finally, Fred's dad (Fred's parents had travelled to China with us) held Rachel and hummed softly to her, and she started to quiet down and fall asleep. I took her again after she was sleeping, and she slept soundly for 12 hours. And from the moment she woke up in the morning, she bonded to us. It only took a day or two to get her first smile.

This was about a week later, on a shopping trip in Guangzhou. No wonder she's such a shopper now. We started her young!

Ten years later. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. She is my baby, and I'm so, so proud of her.

We celebrated by going out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, PF Chang's.

We gave Rachel a jade and silver pendant that we had gotten at the jade factory in China in July. She really liked it and subtly hinted that for Christmas she'd like a jade bangle bracelet to go with it. :-) I love this kid. Rachel, you're the best.

Pig Sitting

2009-11-06T21:59:00.003-05:00

We took care of our neighbors' guinea pigs while they went on vacation this week. This is Snowflake, and he's not as skittish as their other one, Frosty. I've never been able to get Frosty out of his cage when I pig sit. But I think Snowflake really misses his owners when they're gone, so I like to get him out every now and then and let him eat parsley on my lap. My parsley garden is still going strong, so there was lots for them to eat this week, and they love it. They also got banana peels a few mornings.

Snowflake chews to a beat. Munch, munch, munch, munch. Pause. Munch, munch, munch, munch. Pause. And so on. I think Snowflake and Frosty will be very happy to see Sarah and Michael tomorrow.

Leaves

2009-11-05T21:52:00.002-05:00

Rachel was off school today (NJ Teachers' convention) and as part of her chores, she raked leaves in the front yard. These leaves are from a silver maple tree that we planted our first summer here, the summer of 2003. The tree cost $16 from Home Depot and fit in the back of our Expedition. Six years later and it's as tall as the house.

Of course, you can't rake leaves without having a little fun.

Violet enjoyed being outside for a change, too. Ferris is almost always out with us, and if the cats are out at the same time, all he does is chase them. So this time Ferris had to stay in and Violet got to play in the leaves.

Snoozing

2009-11-04T21:44:00.001-05:00

Rachel and I were watching the World Series tonight. As soon as Rachel laid down like this Violet jumped up and got comfortable on her legs. It didn't take long for them both to fall asleep.
A short time later Violet woke up.

Come on, Phillies!

2009-11-01T15:45:00.003-05:00

I took this picture crossing the Ben Franklin Bridge going to work on Friday. The Phillies are down 2 games to 1 in the World Series. :(

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T20:46:00.005-04:00

Aren't they adorable!?!?!? This Halloween was different than the previous nine Halloweens. Yes, decorations were put up, a pumpkin was carved and costumes were worn.

What made this year different is that I was told I had to stay home and let Rachel go off trick or treating with just her friends!

This is how I felt watching my baby go off to wander the whole neighborhood with no adult supervision! I did call her cell phone to check on her every 15 minutes or so.

Then I put this on and scared some kids! Only one or two. I kind of felt bad. But only a little. It is Halloween, after all!

Ferris was none to pleased about being left behind either. He sat on the front porch with me through three hours of trick or treating, patiently waiting for the next group of kids to come and say hello to him.

But now Rachel is safe and sound at a friend's house having dinner and I'm sure a little candy. And I'm trying to accept the fact that my trick or treating days are over.

Pre-Halloween

2009-10-30T23:47:00.002-04:00

This is my neighbor's son at the bus stop this morning. How cute that he's dressed just like Ferris! Rachel wore her costume to school, too. Pictures of her will be up tomorrow. Her class had a party today. One of their activities was for each group (4 or 5 desks make up a group) to decorate one of the kids in that group as a mummy with all kinds of crazy accessories. Rachel was the mummy for her group, and they won! I know she wore a coconut bra as part of it, and maybe a cowboy hat. A room mom took pictures, so I'm hoping to get a copy.

This was on one of our neighbor's front yards. Very cool!

I've had more work this week than I have in months. That's a good thing, and I hope it keeps happening, but between long jobs and cheerleading/tumbling, I haven't been taking many pictures. I'll try to do better next week.

2009-10-26T22:45:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday, Grandma. We love and miss you very much!

Yes, we took Ferris to my grandmother's funeral in March of '08. And yes, she would have loved it. She loved animals. I can remember at her and Grandpa's apartment in Harrisburg when I was growing up she would feed all the critters that came around. Chipmunks, squirrels, even the moles. You name it, she fed it. It was always fun to sit and watch them come up to the patio to eat.

My grandparents meant a lot to me, and played a huge part in my childhood. When my mom started working when I was very young, Grandma would be at our house first thing in the morning. She'd be there to meet us after school. She was there when our dog Whiskers decided to chase the mailman one morning. She threw a bag of garbage at him. Whiskers; not the mailman. I can still picture it, and it still makes me laugh. She took me to Grandpa's therapy, and made me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cut them in quarters. It's because of her that I love to bake. All my friends even used to call her Grandma. She was the best, and I'm so glad I had her around as long as I did. Love you, Grandma!

A Friend's Birthday

2009-10-25T22:53:00.004-04:00

We went out with my good friend Kim and her family to celebrate her son's 18th birthday. We went to Texas Roadhouse, which of course required Nick to have his picture taken on the saddle. For his birthday, Nick got a tattoo of a Celtic cross on his right shoulder blade.
Kim and I have been friends for about five years, beginning when our girls started cheering together. She's a good friend, and I was honored to be included in Nick's birthday celebration.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NICK!!!!!~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cheerleading

2009-10-22T22:49:00.001-04:00

This is where Rachel goes three or four times a week for cheerleading and/or tumbling. Tonight she was there for five hours. They bring a choreographer in to teach them the dance portion of their routine, and he's only there for one night per team. Actually Rachel's team got out a half hour early because they were so quick picking up the moves. By 9:00 they looked pretty good. I can't wait to see them at their first competition in January.

Boo!

2009-10-20T14:29:00.003-04:00

Ferris can be the most patient dog in the world sometimes. Rachel got these glasses at Zack's party over the weekend. They're WAY too small for her head, but guess who they fit perfectly! I tried them on Violet, but she was going to rip them to shreds the second they touched her.
So I think these will go very nicely with Ferris' skeleton costume. :)

Homework with a Friend

2009-10-19T16:08:00.004-04:00

Rachel and a friend did homework together today. I like it when she does homework with a friend, because if Rachel is having trouble figuring something out, especially in math, they can usually work together and figure it out. Today they were figuring out averages. They had to drop the piece of paper, which had lines on it denoting tenths of a second. One had to drop the paper and the other had to catch it between her fingers, and they marked down how many tenths of a second it took for them to grab it. They did that ten times each and figured the average reaction time to grab the paper. They also had language homework, subject/predicate stuff.
Yes, they both have Phillies shirts on. It was Phillies day at school since there is another playoff game tonight.

Chilly at the Bus Stop

2009-10-18T21:00:00.001-04:00

Ferris at the bus stop, wearing his Phillies jacket, waiting for Rachel. This was the day before the rain started. We had rain for four days. Rachel and I were supposed to go on the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation with our neighbors this morning. Their son was diagnosed last year with both diabetes and celiac disease. Rachel was saying her throat was hurting a little, and it was cold and rainy, so we didn't go. Instead I stayed home and cleaned the house all day.

Zack's Birthday

2009-10-17T22:51:00.000-04:00

Saturday we went to Harrisburg for my nephew Zack's 4th birthday party. I think in this picture both him and his friend are thinking "clothes? Really?"

Now that's more like it!

Book Fair

2009-10-14T22:55:00.003-04:00

There was a book fair at Rachel's school tonight. These are the books she got. The Lemonade War is for her classroom.

While at the school, we looked at her two projects hanging on the walls. This one is her computer class project.

Her scarecrow is the one on the left. The wreaths were pretty cool, but she didn't get to make one of those.

This was the second night this week I went to the school. Monday I went to a math workshop to better understand "Everyday Math," which is how they're teaching math now. I think I understand it, but division has me a little confused. But division the old way had me confused, too.

Sunday Stroll

2009-10-11T17:33:00.002-04:00

We went for a walk today in the woods at the back of our neighborhood. There's a pretty lake back there, and if you look closely on the top right corner of the picture there are Canadian geese swimming. The leaves are starting to turn, and I'm hoping to take another walk back there when the fall colors more abundant.

Milkweed pods.

Have I mentioned before that I love fall?

Ssssttttrrrreeetttcchhhh!!!!

2009-10-10T17:42:00.001-04:00

Violet and Beavis enjoying some time in the sun.

Beautiful Fall Weather

2009-10-09T16:33:00.003-04:00

After school today, Rachel enjoyed the beautiful weather with some friends in our side yard. Temps were in the high 70s to low 80s today. A little warm for me, but cooler weather is coming. I'm ready to enjoy the leaves changing color, break out the blankets and make some hot chocolate. I love this time of year.

Rachel also spent some time working on a friendship bracelet for her friend Bianca, who has a swimming tournament tomorrow.

What season is this?

2009-10-07T23:23:00.000-04:00

Whoever came up with the name "Endless Summer" for this hydrangea plant wasn't kidding. It still has new blooms coming in! I'm glad, though. I love these flowers. And yes, I know it's time to trim the old yucky looking blooms.

And yes, I know I've been lax in posting. I've been lazy and just haven't been taking pictures.

Darren Daulton

2009-10-06T22:30:00.000-04:00

There was a pep rally for the Phillies today at One Liberty Place in Philadelphia. I was on my way to a job there, but stopped by to see what was going on. Darren Daulton, who played with the Phillies in the '80s and '90s was there signing autographs.

Let's Go Phillies!

2009-09-30T23:38:00.003-04:00

We went to the Phillies game tonight, just Rachel, Fred and me. They played the Houston Astros, and a win for the Phillies would cinch a playoff spot and the National League East Championship.

This and crab fries from Chickies and Pete's was pretty much my dinner. We need to plan better next time we go to a game. I forgot how expensive everything is! $4.25 for a bottle of Coke!

Houston had the bases loaded in this shot. I think it was near the beginning of the game, and I think there were already two outs. The rally towels were out, hoping to get the third out before any runs get in.

This is the big Liberty Bell that lights up and rocks back and forth when the Phils hit a home run.

Raul Ibanez....he was the only one to light up the Liberty Bell tonight.

The rally towels came out once more in the top of the ninth inning and the Phillies beat the Astros 10-3. Fireworks were set off to celebrate the NL East Championship.And the team celebrated at first base, where the last out of the night was made.
It was a great game and a fun night.

And I almost forgot! We were on TV. Our seats were right next to one of the cameramen, and he recognized Fred and put us on. The funniest thing was the Phillies weren't playing too well before that, and after we were on, they scored a bunch of runs! Of course, being the airhead I am, I forgot to set the DVR to record the game, so we didn't get to see ourselves. Oh well, what can you do!?!?

Hersheypark Happy!

2009-09-29T12:17:00.003-04:00

Last weekend we took Rachel and her friend Emily to Hersheypark. We've been wanting to go all summer, but there was so much going on this summer we just didn't have time. Until now. We picked Emily up at 9:00 and hoped to be in the park by noon, but with the Schuylkill Expressway traffic, you just never know. We've been stuck on the Expressway and been as much as an hour late to where we're going. Fortunately this time there was just a little bit of construction traffic and, even with dropping Ferris off at Fred's parents' house, we were in the park by 12:15. And stayed until almost 10 p.m. We had beautiful weather and so much fun. I just love Hersheypark. It takes me back to when I was a kid and Grandma used to take me and Eileen there. In fact, at one point Rachel and Emily were running ahead of us and it totally reminded me of me and Eileen.

This is the Great Bear roller coaster. We rode this baby twice. All four of us loved it.

Rachel and Emily rode the Scrambler while Fred and I watched.

Riding the Skyview. Earlier in the day when we walked under the Skyview, someone on the ride had been dropping popcorn onto people below. When we were waiting in line Rachel and Emily asked for popcorn. Yeah, that wasn't happening.

The giant swings. One of my all-time favorites. But I got really dizzy this time. I must be getting old. Or maybe it was because I was turned around taking pictures of the girls. Yeah, that's it.

Overall shot of Hersheypark from the Kissing Tower. If you click on the picture you can see it bigger. Rachel loves the Storm Runner roller coaster. It shoots you out of the starting gate at about 72 mph. and then you go up the big hill and straight down at 90 degrees. Fred rode that with her. I rode Fahrenheit with her. Oh. My. Gosh. We rode it after dark, and it takes you straight up in the air at 90 degrees. All we saw going up were the stars in the sky. Then you go down. The drop is 97 degrees. Yes, more than a 90 degree drop. I screamed the entire ride. What insane person designs these rides!?!??! It was fun, though. I'd ride it again. Maybe I'd scream fewer obscenities next time.

This ride I won't ride again. This is the Wildcat. It's one of several wooden roller coasters at Hersheypark. This was the first ride we rode that day, and I had a nagging headache the rest of the day because of it. Don't get me wrong, I love wooden roller coasters, and this one was great until the end. There are a couple little bumps and jerks at the end that just killed my neck. I know jerky rides will do that, but I thought this one would be okay. I was wrong.
Even with a little nagging headache, we had a great day. It was so much fun, and we're hoping to go back in December for Christmas Candylane. We try to go to that every year. It's so pretty with all the lights. I just love Hershey, both the park and the chocolate!

Closing the Pool

2009-09-26T15:59:00.003-04:00

We closed the pool for the winter today.

First thing is vacuuming it really good and testing the water. Ours was a little low in pH, so we increased that.

Then you add the winterizer. Then you realize you were supposed to lower the water level and get mad because half the winterizer was probably wasted when you finally did lower the water to the appropriate level.

Then, because the pool is taking a nap for seven or eight months, you give it a pillow. Actually the pillow will keep the cover up and hopefully any rainwater that accumulates will drain off the sides.

Then you make your husband crawl under the deck to clip the cover on. Under the deck is where all the nasty spiders go during the day, and there's NO way I was going under there. What is up with all the spiders this fall?? There seem to be so many more than usual. They give me the heebie jeebies something awful. Ever since that giant wolf or wood spider or whatever the giant hairy thing was that got into my house in Florida, I have been terrified of them. HATE them. They make my skin crawl.

Anyway, now the pool is closed until next April/May and I'm sad. I love fall and winter, but it's so much prettier to look out my kitchen window and see the pretty blue of the pool than to see they yucky cover that gets dirtier and dirtier as the winter goes on.

Back to School Night

2009-09-22T20:46:00.003-04:00

Fred and I went to Rachel's school for Back to School Night. This is her desk. I asked her if she cleaned it because she knew we were coming. She told me she always keeps it clean. The book on top of her desk is is their "Author's Pad," which they use for writing assignments. It cracks me up that she has a big Harrod's logo on the front. On the back she has pictures of Ferris, the Ningdu orphanage, the orphanage director, an Aeropostale logo and a few other little things. The remote control is a responder they use in classroom. Questions are put on the overhead projector and the students enter their answers. So far she is enjoying fifth grade. Let's hope it continues for the entire school year!

Why We Went To London

2009-09-21T20:33:00.009-04:00

This is a photo of my grandfather from the book that my dad donated to the library in Kew/Richmond. Grandpa served with the U.S. Army's 660th Engineers Topographical Battalion, B Company, which during World War II was stationed in Kew, London, England. The United Kingdom's National Archives now sits on the same location where the 660th served. B Company's work was photomapping. They made maps of France from aerial photographs in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. The first U.S. soldiers arrived at Kew in September 1942 and the last ones left in October of 1944.

In January 1945 the site became home to former Italian prisoners of war. After Italy became an ally, the Italians helped to rebuild bombed locations in London while waiting to be repatriated.

Ruskin Avenue and the Second World War

"The land on which these buildings stand was originally called Kew Meadows. In 1916 a large, single-story complex was built here to house the Claims and Records Office of the Ministry of Labour. It was evacuated in 1939, just after the start of the war.

In November 1942, an American Topographical Battalion moved in. Their job was to turn aerial photographs of Northern France and the Normandy beaches into detailed maps for use in the D-Day landings in June 1944. Millions of maps were printed.

The American soldiers also took part in training exercises and marched in Richmond parades supporting war bond sales. The soldiers enjoyed fraternizing with Kew residents and several took local British brides home to the United States.

Despite numerous air raid warnings, the building on the site only once took a direct hit from a V-1 rocket. Three men were killed.

In the autumn of 1944, the Americans moved to France. Early the next year, they were replaced by an Italian Labour Italian, created from former prisoners of war. The men worked clearing London bomb sites until they were repatriated in 1946.

A handful of German prisoners of war were later held here for a short period. "

This is the way the site looks now. This site sits at the end of Ruskin Avenue in Kew.

There were at least 100 people present for the unveiling of the plaque, many of them local residents. A fair number of them were probably living there during the war.

Including these two folks on the right standing with my dad. They were children during the war and were present at a Christmas party thrown for local children by the 660th. The book they're holding is the present the soldiers gave this woman.

The woman on the far left was a resident there during the war. In fact, she fell in love with one of the Italian POWs. Two years after he was repatriated back to Italy, he came back to London and married her. How romantic is that?!?!?! Their daughter unveiled the plaque with my dad.

Sadly, my grandfather passed away October of 1993, before I had any kind of appreciation whatsoever of history. I wish I had asked him more about his time serving in the war. I miss him every day, and I'm grateful I was able to see where he spent his time during the War and learn a little bit about his life there.

Garden Visitors

2009-09-21T15:54:00.002-04:00

More London and China pictures to come, but first, I found some of these little guys in my parsley this weekend. I've waited all summer for them to appear, and was beginning to think, because I planted flat-leaf parsley instead of curly, that they wouldn't come at all. But finally they're here, about ten of them, and soon they'll be beautiful swallowtail butterflies.

Buckingham Palace & Changing of the Guard

2009-09-18T11:47:00.003-04:00

This is Rachel and Fred standing in front of the main gates to Buckingham Palace on the day we arrived in London. We had arrived at Heathrow around 6:15 a.m. When we got to our hotel we were able to check in, but our rooms weren't ready. So we drug our tired bodies to, where else, Buckingham Palace. We walked through Hyde Park to get there. It was a pretty walk, and we had great weather. We actually had wonderful weather the entire time we were in London. Blue skies and sunny.

I love the uniforms of the Palace guards, with their big furry hats. I always wonder how much the hats weigh. In September, the changing of the guards ceremony happens every other day. This was not one of those days.

This was. This is the crowd starting to gather outside Buckingham Palace on Saturday, 9/12. We got here about an hour before the ceremony was to start, and I'm glad we did. We had a heck of a time getting there, though. The Underground closes several of its stops and/or lines on weekends for construction. I had had our route planned out ahead of time....Jubilee Line south from Bond Street, one stop to Green Park. Then we would walk through the park to the Palace. We got to the Bond Street station and found out the Jubilee line wasn't running between those stops. So we took the Central line east one stop to Oxford Circus, where I thought we could pick up the Victoria Line to Green Park. Victoria Line wasn't running either. So I pulled out my map of London and we started walking. We hadn't gone that far out of the way, so it was no big deal, and we made it in time to get a good spot along the curb.

And we waited at that spot for about an hour. It was interesting, though. Lots of people watching to be done.

It was funny when these two palace guards walked by, because a lot of people were walking alongside of them while someone else would run ahead to get their pictures with the guards.

Finally it started. The first band that appeared went into the gate that was down farther to our left. This band came right past us.

After the two bands and the different units were inside the gate, we had more waiting to do while the actual changing of the guard took place. Only people who were right along the gate were able to see what was going on.

This police officer was very nice, but his poor horse seemed sad. Every time it went by us his head was down like this. The horse's name is Lincoln. When I commented that that's a nice name, the officer said "after our city," meaning NOT after our president, which made me laugh.

Then they opened the main gates, which were right in front of us. I noticed when they closed the gate back up, the guard used an actual key in the lock on the gate, which struck me as kind of funny. Huge palace, huge gates, and a huge skeleton key to lock everything up.

The bands came out first.

Then these handsome fellas. With their really big weapons. These guards went to the left.

These went to the right.

And then we headed for Richmond and Kew.

Richmond & Kew

2009-09-14T17:34:00.005-04:00

On our last full day in London we rode the Underground back out to Richmond and Kew. Dad wanted to pick up a couple more copies of the book Kew at War from the National Archives store. This was the book written partially from Grandpa's maps and books and Dad's research. We also wanted to explore a little more since we were kind of rushed the day of the ceremony.

The top picture is taken looking through the gates of the National Archives down Ruskin Avenue, which my grandfather used to talk about.

This is Burlington Street, which Ruskin Avenue runs into. This street was frequented by US soldiers stationed at Kew. I'm not sure if the brothel that was here at the time had anything to do it. ;-)

We at lunch in Richmond, at the Pitcher and Piano, which I guess was a pub. It had pub food, but didn't look like most pubs. We sat on the patio outside under the big umbrellas. This is on the walkway right outside the Pitcher and the Piano, along the Thames River. It was just beautiful. There was ice cream being sold, row boats to rent and a lot of people enjoying the beautiful weather. This was one of the many shops in Richmond.

For dinner we had 2 metres of pizza! I'm told by Tony's friend, Jean-Carlo that this is the best pizza outside of Italy. I was going to get the risotto, but when I heard the pizza was so good, I had to get that! For large groups, you can order pizza by the metre, and each person gets whatever toppings on it they want. I got funghi pizza, or mushroom pizza. Dad's is in the forefront of the picture, and I'm not sure what it is. Even though we started with fried calamari and some kind of eggplant dish, there were only 2 slices left when we were done, and Jean-Carlo took it home.

This is where we had the 2 metres of pizza.

Rachel got marghareta pizza, which was your basic tomato, mozzarella and basil. I asked her if she liked it. Her response was "No. I love it!" She was happy, because we had Italian food three nights out of the four.

London

2009-09-11T17:18:00.003-04:00

St. Paul's Cathedral, where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married.

This is not really called Big Ben. It's either the Clock Tower or the Tower Clock. I'm too tired to remember which right now.

Westminster Abbey. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

From left to right, the CEO of the British National Archives, the director of the Kew Society, Dad, Angela DeMattia (whose father was a POW on this site, fell in love with Angela's mother, and after being repatriated back to Italy, returned to London and married her) and the Mayor of Richmond Upon Thames.

Dad and the Mayor of Richmond Upon Thames at the National Archives in Kew, unveiling a plaque recognizing my grandfather's Army unit which was stationed there in WWII and prepared millions of maps in preparation for the Normandy landing.

First day of fifth grade......and leaving for London!!!

2009-09-08T11:02:00.002-04:00

Rachel started school today, and we also leave for London later today. I think Rachel is a little disappointed to be missing pretty much the whole first week of school, but she's okay with it, since we promised to take her to Harrod's. :-) The girl loves to shop! And she's excited to see Grandpa. It's been too long.
I'm so grateful her teacher invited her in a couple weeks ago to take care of some things that the class will be doing this week. She also gave Rachel her first week's assignments, which she's almost done with. She just has two writing assignments. And she'll do her reading on the plane.

Tubing!!

2009-09-04T15:29:00.004-04:00

Rachel and I went to Long Beach Island to visit our neighbors at their shore house, and they took us out on their boat. We went in the bay, and Rachel got to try tubing for the first time. The water was a bit chilly, or I would have gone. We used to enjoy tubing when we lived in Florida, except that one time on Lake Tarpon, because I was scared to death I'd get dumped out of the tube and an alligator would get me. We liked the Intercoastal better, and the water was nice and warm there.
Notice how far forward Rachel is on the tube in the first picture? That was a mistake. As soon as the boat started to pull her, the front of the tube went under water and so did Rachel. Lesson learned! She kept freaking herself out thinking about what could be swimming around under her because the boat had a fish finder, and it kept beeping that there were fish below us.

She did enjoy it for a little while. And then she was done. She refused to get off the tube and swim back to the boat. She made Kevin pull her in. She did the same thing getting on the tube. Climbed right on the tube from the boat. What a wimp, right?!?!?! Yeah, she kinda takes after her mom on that one.

Now here's the pro! He was even being a hot dog and not holding on at all. Or he would change positions without asking to slow down.

Then he was a good boy and took a turn with his little sister.

Then Kevin was a good boy and towed in another Boston Whaler just like his. Poor guy just pushed back from the dock and the engine died. He drifted a bit until Kevin rescued him.

On the Couch

2009-09-03T15:36:00.004-04:00

This was the scene on my couch this morning. Rachel came down for breakfast, laid on the couch and went right back to sleep.

Getting Ready for School

2009-08-29T15:27:00.003-04:00

Rachel starts 5th grade on September 8th. This week we got her hair cut and went to the orthodontist. She got pink and black bands on her braces to match her first day of school outfit. I have a confession...I let her get her eyebrows waxed, too. Just a tiny, little bit in between the eyebrows and some of the strays underneath.

On September 8th we are also leaving for London. We are going to send Rachel to school for a half a day and pick her up around lunch time. Then we'll drive to Newark for our 6:30 flight to London. We're meeting my dad in London. He's been invited by the Kew Society to unveil a plaque honoring my grandfather's Army unit that was stationed there in World War II. We will also be donating my grandfather's books from the war to a library there. My dad donated his maps a few years ago. The U.S. soldiers stationed at Kew during WWII prepared maps in preparation for the Normandy Landing. Dad is going to be introduced at the ceremony by the Mayor of London as a descendant of a US Serviceman who was stationed in Kew.

Got Milk?

2009-08-24T21:13:00.002-04:00

Violet has to have a little milk every morning. This morning when she was drinking it, she looked up at me and had little droplets on her eyebrows, her whiskers, her nose and her chin. I think she was really enjoying it.

Corn, Glorious Corn

2009-08-23T17:13:00.003-04:00

This is one of my favorite things about summer -- yummy Jersey sweet corn. All the 12 years we lived in Florida, I never found corn as good and sweet as Jersey corn. All it needs is a few minutes in a pot of boiling water, some butter and salt....oh, my goodness. I can't wait until dinner!

Yummy!

Happy Birthday, Fred!

2009-08-16T20:27:00.005-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

For his birthday "cake" Fred chose a banana cream pie. He also bought it himself when he and Rachel were at Sam's Club. Rachel and I were going to get him a cake when we went out later, but he came home with this. Hey, it's his birthday....he can have whatever kind of cake he wants! He also cooked his own breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mainly because he's a much better cook than I am, but also because I'm working on a big job and didn't have the time to cook a big elaborate dinner. Fred made tortellini with chicken in a homemade sauce. Not sure what was in the sauce. It was tasty, though.

Ferris wasn't too sure about the card we got Fred. It barked and talked, and that freaked him out a little bit.

He was pretty interested in all of Fred's presents, including the little hair trimmer. He really wanted a piece of the whiffle ball and bat.

But Ferris was most interested in the Milkbone that was in the bottom of the bag!

His birthday was pretty low-key due to my having to work almost all day, but I hope he enjoyed it nonetheless!

Workin' the Runway!

2009-08-13T21:55:00.003-04:00

Rachel modeled in a fashion show at the mall today. She was hired by Fashion Mystique Modeling, who are looking for models, so if you or someone you know is interested check them out. Rachel's done two other fashion shows, but it's been several years since the last one. I was very proud of her. She did great. I thought she'd be nervous, but she was confident and was even high-fiving the male model she would pass on the runway.

This was my favorite outfit. It was so cute on her.

Mannequin posing.

I wanted to buy all the outfits, but I was good and only bought one pair of jeans. :)

Contest

2009-08-11T10:30:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite bloggers, Suzanne McMinn, from Chickens in the Road is having a contest, giving away a $200 Visa gift card. Click on the link for your chance to win! Then check out her blog about building a farm from scratch in rural West Virginia.

Base hit!

2009-08-11T10:20:00.005-04:00

Rachel got a base hit at the softball picnic at Fred's parents' house in Harrisburg. She was eventually batted in after her single. Not bad for being barefoot and wearing a swimsuit cover-up! Notice she's batting right-handed. For everything else she's a leftie.

Toilet Paper Bride

2009-08-09T21:26:00.004-04:00

Today, Rachel and I went to a bridal shower in Harrisburg. It was for Fred's youngest brother's fiance, Amanda. One of the obligatory games was making a wedding dress out of toilet paper. I think we did pretty good with Rachel's wedding dress, but we didn't win. It was fun, though. We love Amanda and Dennis and can't wait for the wedding in November!

Down the Shore

2009-08-08T23:36:00.002-04:00

We hit the beach for a few hours today. But the water was pretty cold, so we didn't really get in past our thighs. The air was cool for a while, too. It's crazy. August is usually so stinking hot. But it was a relaxing day, which was nice.

Wheeeeee!!!!

2009-08-05T17:45:00.003-04:00

Ferris loves to swim. Actually, he loves to chase things that are thrown in the pool. We have an above-ground pool, and he'll run around the edge of it (about 6 inches wide) and jump in when he gets close to the ball or whatever. He'll even dive under sometimes to get whatever it is he's chasing. Then he'll play with it on the deck, knocking it into the water and try to get it out again, reaching with his paws or biting at it. He swims pretty good, too, and we're training him to swim to the ladder. It's not easy for him getting up the ladder, though, so we have to help him with that.

Here Comes the Sun(flower)

2009-08-04T09:07:00.003-04:00

Wow....have I been lazy!?!?! Actually, I've been busy and haven't been taking a lot of pictures. I still have more China pictures to post, but decided to post this picture of the sunflower I'm growing in the back yard. The flower right now is the size of a dinner plate and is so heavy it bends the stalk. I planted four seeds in the spring, but only one grew. Right now it's at least six feet tall.

Squatties

2009-07-25T12:42:00.003-04:00

This is a squat toilet. They are very common in China. This particular one was at the Panda Breeding in Center and was fairly clean (for a toilet). Most places we went would have only one Western-style toilet, in the handicap stall. (In preparation for the Beijing Olympics, bathrooms had to be equipped with handicap stalls.)

One of the recurring conversations everywhere we went was "Is there a Western toilet?" Eventually we all gave the squatties a try, whether through necessity or just because someone didn't feel like waiting for 10 people to use the one Western toilet.

The squatties are in a regular stall, and were actually kind of easy to use. But I won't go into detail about how. You can use your imagination.

Meals in China

2009-07-24T22:15:00.008-04:00

ALL of our meals in China were wonderful, and not solely because the food was so good. As I've already said, our guides were wonderful, and they made our meals so enjoyable. They took care of everything. We simply sat down and waited for our food to come. The girls would sit at one round table and the grownups at another. Bing and our local guide would do all of the ordering and every meal had pork, chicken, beef, tofu and white rice. Sometimes there were dumplings and sometimes there were noodles. Bing did ask if anyone in the group liked spicy food, and Fred told her he did. As the trip progressed, the food got progressively spicier. And every now and then some French fries magically appeared at the kids tables. Bing was watching out for the kids as well.

Poor Bing even ended up helping us with a few meals when we were supposed to be "on our own." She helped us to order at a food court during free time, and when we ordered pizza at the hotel, she helped us secure a space where we could all eat it together.

This restaurant was outside the Teng Wang Pavilion in Nanchang. We were escorted to a private room, and we all sat at one large round table. At every meal there was a lazy susan in the middle of the table, and the food was served family style. Serving spoons and napkins were not readily available at every meal. We simply used our chopsticks to grab what we wanted off the dishes. Halfway through the trip we joked that if no one was sick by now, we weren't going to get sick because of all the germs exchanged during meals.

This was the meal served to us at the orphanage. We were assuming we would be hosting a lunch for the staff at a local restaurant, but instead they prepared this meal for us. There was corn on the cob (eaten with chopsticks), beans, and a delicious eggplant stuffed with pork. I don't usually care for eggplant, but this was very good. They also served an egg and tomato dish that we had at several restaurants as well. It was basically scrambled eggs with tomatoes, but it was yummy. My biggest worry with the orphanage meal was the raw fruit we were given. We didn't want to offend the orphanage personnel by refusing the fruit, so Rachel and I discreetly used a napkin under the table to wipe it off as best we could. We were worried about bacteria from the water used to wash the fruit. Fortunately we had no ill effects from it. We also were served watermelon, but didn't worry about that since it had a rind and we didn't have to worry about it having been washed.

This was a meal in Xi'an. Xi'an is famous for its dumplings, or jiaozi. And there wasn't a dumpling served that we didn't like. The bronze pot was soup, and they lit a fire under the pot to cook/heat the soup right at the table.

This was inside The Noodle King. It's a chain restaurant whose specialty is, surprise surprise, noodles. Bing said it's like a fast food restaurant, except they do serve you at the table. The food was good, but the rest rooms were not. And that's all I have to say about that.

These were called glass noodles. I believe they were a kind of rice noodle. The kids really liked them. Believe it or not, we were all pretty good at serving/eating noodles with chopsticks.

This was at the restaurant in Beijing where we went for Peking duck. During this early part of the trip, Rachel was not being very adventurous with what she ate. She was filling up on rice for quite a few meals. She did get braver when she realized they weren't going to serve us some of the more, shall we say, interesting foods we had seen on TV. She even tried some of the spicier foods we had later in the trip.

She did not, however, try the Peking duck. The duck wasn't bad. They wheeled it out and sliced it up at our table. You had to pick around the bones, though.

This was a cucumber dish that was very tasty.

We did break down and have McDonald's for a meal or two, but only because Bing wasn't available and we didn't seem capable on our own of deciding where and what to eat.

Coke/Pepsi and Sprite were available at every meal, as well as bottled water and beer. Many times, though the soda and water was served at room temperature. The Chinese don't like to drink cold things. They think it's healthier to drink warm/hot drinks.

All of our breakfasts were western-style buffets at whatever hotel we were at. Interestingly, there was banana bread, no nuts, at every single buffet. There was also an omelet station at each buffet. Sometimes we had trouble communicating that we wanted the eggs well done, though. If we didn't order them well done, they tended to be a bit undercooked.

After worrying about what the food would be like in China, and after some initial hesitation, Rachel really enjoyed the food there. She's eager to try to Kung Pao chicken here so she can compare it to what we had there. Fred and I aren't quite ready to have Chinese food again, though! Even though we didn't really get sick from anything in particular, I think everyone in our group had some sort of belly issue along the way.

h1n1 virus

2009-07-23T16:27:00.003-04:00

Everyone I talked to in the weeks leading up to our trip knows how worried I was that we would be in some way affected by the h1n1 virus during our stay in China. Now that we're home, I feel safer confessing how we were affected by it. I didn't really mention it during our trip because I didn't want to jinx anything! I can't help it; I'm a little superstitious.
During our flight to Beijing, we were very cautious. We used Clorox wipes to wipe down our tray tables and arm rests. We used hand sanitizer even after we washed our hands in the lavatories. I would even turn away from the aisle if someone lingered near our seats too long.
Once we landed in Beijing, we were instructed to stay in our seats until health inspectors came on board and took everyone's temperatures. They wore protective eye wear and masks and gloves, and they pointed an infrared thermometer at everyone's foreheads. It was very quick. It probably took less than 10 minutes for them to scan everyone on the plane. I did notice that when the woman who took our temperature was walking back up the aisle to leave, she was stopped by another inspector, who then pointed at a passenger. That passenger's temperature was taken again, and then the health inspectors left the plane.
We were then allowed to gather our things (unfortunately, we didn't realize Rachel's DS case and all her games were NOT in her carry-on, but that's another story for another time) and leave the plane. Walking towards immigration/customs there were several thermal scanners we went through, and at one checkpoint, Rachel was pulled aside into a curtained-off area. I was not allowed to go in with her, but I could see her the whole time. Other people were also being pulled aside. After they took her temperature again, they tried to turn her over to a Chinese woman who was standing next to me. That woman and I both laughed about it a little, and I tried to remember how to say in Chinese "She is my child," but I was flustered and couldn't get it out. Motioning did the job, and after we got her passport and papers back, we went through immigration. No problem there. Walking towards the train to get to the main terminal, Rachel was stopped again, but this time they only looked briefly at her carry-on bag.
We made it to our hotel and took it easy for the rest of the afternoon and the next day. The next night we had an orientation dinner with OCDF staff, and I was informed there that someone on our plane did test positive for h1n1. Fortunately, they were not within three rows of us, so we were not quarantined; however, we were required to take our temperature every day for three days, and we were given three kits, pictured above. The kits each included three masks, a thermometer and a bunch of literature written entirely in Chinese. Believe it or not, I did not panic or freak out.
The next morning we dutifully recorded our temperatures and gave them to our guide, Bing, who I assume then called them into the health official responsible for the district we were staying in. When we came back from our tours that day, I half expected to see people in hazmat suits waiting for us in the lobby, but that didn't happen. (That's what happens: folks in hazmat suits come to take you away to a quarantine hotel in an ambulance.)
During our stay in Beijing, there were some drunks staying on our floor, who we believe were from Kazakhstan or someplace like that. That night one of them tried to get in our room around 3 a.m. I heard the distinctive "beep beep beep" of an incorrect key being tried in our door, and since it was 3 a.m. and I was kind of out of it, I immediately thought it was the health department coming to take us away. I didn't open the door, mind you, but I did look under the door and through the peephole to try to determine if whoever it was was wearing hazmat gear. Only the next morning did I realize it was our drunk neighbors, who I believe were still up and drunk at 7 a.m.
Long story short, we took our temperatures for the three days, tried to avoid the thermal scanner in our government-run hotel lobby and expected to see the hazmat suits every day. On our last day in Beijing we turned our final temperatures in to Bing. She told us to keep the kits, that she had spoken to the health official and when she told them we were leaving that day for Xi'an, the health official basically said "bye-bye!" I think she was just happy to have us out of her district!
We did turn this around into a positive, though. We donated the three thermometers to Rachel's orphanage, along with our other donations. When I handed them the thermometers separately from the bigger donation, there were no questions asked. They just seemed genuinely happy to have them.

Nanchang

2009-07-21T09:35:00.005-04:00

On Monday, July 13, we visited the Teng Wang Pavilion in Nanchang. (We had also been here when we adopted Rachel ten years ago.) It was hot. I probably don't have to keep repeating that. I can just say it was very hot every day we were in China.

Every level of the Teng Wang Pavilion has shopping. So we were able to pick up some small things. It seemed a little different from 1999. I remember in '99 there was a man painting names on scrolls and we had gotten one for Rachel. Every letter of her name was a different object, like a palm tree or a butterfly. The one from '99 faded, so I was hoping to get her another one. Oh well. I did manage to buy a very overpriced fan for myself. Just a fold-up hand fan, and I paid 40 yuan for it, or about $6. The girl had originally asked about 80 yuan for it, and I was hot and just wanted a fan, so I didn't really care that I spent too much.

There are only six girls in this picture because one of our families had two orphanages to visit, so they didn't meet back up with us until Monday night.

View from the top of the tower. There are gardens on the grounds as well.

The girls walking across a stone foot bridge in the garden. After leaving here, we walked to a nice restaurant and were seated in a private room. Our local guide ordered for us, and once again everything was very good. Walking to the restaurant, I saw something at a stand that I really wanted to buy, but we had to keep up with the guide. I thought we'd be stopping back by that way when we left the restaurant, but we didn't. Lesson learned; when you see something you want in China, buy it!

Our hotel in Nanchang was very nice. It was the Galactic Peace International Hotel. This is the bathroom. There is a glass wall between the tub and the toilet, but the shower area near the window is completely open, and it had one of those big shower heads in the ceiling, too. We kept saying we wouldn't mind having a bathroom like this at home; however, I'd want a lip of some kind near the shower area, because every time we took a shower, the water came the whole way to the glass door near the toilet.

At some of the airports we flew into and out of in China we would ride a bus from the terminal to the plane and walk up the steps to the plane. It reminded me of flying to Orlando one time when I was 15 or so and I was on crutches and had to hop down the steps of the plane on one foot. This is Rachel and our guide, Bing, in front of our plane in Nanchang. We flew from Nanchang to Shanghai.

Xi'an Day 2, Terra-Cotta Warriors

2009-07-17T20:52:00.005-04:00

We began our second day in Xi'an with a trip to the Terra-Cotta Warriors. I'd been anxious to see this since I first heard about it years ago. And it did not disappoint.

This is the entrance to pit number 1. There are currently 3 pits, all still being excavated, with a total of 7,000 clay soldiers and thousands more not yet unearthed. The Terra-Cotta Warriors were first discovered in March of 1974 by local farmers drilling a series of wells in search of water. A cool surprise we had during our visit was that the farmer who first discovered the army was in the museum signing books. He does not allow his picture to be taken, but we did buy a book with his autograph.

This is a picture of "the hospital," where they assemble the unearthed soldiers, piece by piece. They do not add manufactured parts to complete a soldier. If a part is never found, that's the way the soldiers stay. That's why in some pictures you'll see some with missing heads, hands, etc.

The Terra-Cotta Warriors are from the Qin Dynasty, and the pits were in later years set on fire and collapsed.

Originally the soldiers were holding weapons, such as archery tools. If I remember correctly, the weapons were looted thousands of years ago.

As I said, the pits are still being excavated, and there were workers there during our visit.

This tour was one of the highlights of the trip for me. How many times in your life will you have the opportunity to visit two wonders of the world in a period of a couple days? Even though it was very hot this day, I think we all enjoyed seeing the clay soldiers and learning about how they were built (it took 37 years!) and how they were discovered in 1974. Interestingly enough, the farmer was not compensated for his discovery in any way, even though he lost his farm land.

If you ever get to China, go see the Terra-Cotta Warriors. Truly amazing.

Xi'an Day 1

2009-07-16T18:03:00.009-04:00

After arriving in Xi'an via the overnight train, we checked into our hotel and took much-needed showers before heading to a Muslim temple. It was hot, and we decided not to climb to the top. But the grounds were very pretty.

We did a little shopping near the temple, and Rachel tried her hand at bartering. Most stalls and some shops we visited expect you to barter. Our guides told us to try to get sellers to a third of their original price. Rachel was pretty successful at doing this. I was proud of her. In this picture we were buying a package of chopsticks. I forget what the price was, but it wasn't much.

After the temple we went to an art institute where we learned about different art styles found in China, such as papercutting and paintings done by farmers. The girls then had a calligraphy lesson and we did a little shopping. There was a painting there of two children that I fell in love with, but just couldn't justify spending a couple hundred dollars for a painting that I didn't have any room for in my home.

For lunch we were treated to dumplings, or jiaozi, a specialty of Xi'an. Some of the dumplings were shaped like pandas, some like flowers. They were pretty and delicious! Most of our meals in China were served family style. The kids (8 girls) would be at one round table, and the grownups, (9), would be at another. Each table had a lazy susan on it, and the guides took care of ordering food for us. There were many selections placed on the lazy susan, and you helped yourself to whatever you wanted. Rice and some kind of soup was served at every meal. The flower shaped dumplings at this lunch had some kind of peanut filling. Most of the time the dumplings had pork in them. Sometimes there were mushrooms inside, too.

Coming up in the next post....the Terracotta Warriers!

Orphanage Visit

2009-07-13T07:36:00.002-04:00

We just finished our visit at the Ningdu Social Welfare Institute. Upon pulling up to the entrance, firecrackers were set off to welcome us, and there were red signs welcoming Ning Wen Ling back. Unfortunately, we did not have the camcorder going so we missed getting the fireworks on video. The first thing we did was review Rachel's file. One surprise in it. Most of the papers are things we already have. They had three copies of a certificate of some kind dated 2/12/99. Rachel's birthday is 2/10. We'll have to have it translated, but I think they said it was the certificate signed by the person who brought her to the orphanage. The best part is it includes a newborn picture of Rachel, and since there were three copies, they actually ripped one out of the file and gave it to us. Rachel had asked us before what she looked like when she was born, and now we have a picture to show her! Priceless.

The current director, Ms. Cai, is getting ready to retire next year, and the new director was the one we dealt with the most. I have to get his name from our guide. But both were there, as well as the doctor, who has been there since July of '99. I recognized her from some of the pictures we received when we got Rachel.

We gave them the photo album I made, and they all took their time looking at it. They seemed to really enjoy it. After exchanging gifts, we drove to Rachel's finding location. It's an old building that will most likely be torn down in the next couple of years. Ten years ago the area was a village, but it is now more of a suburb of Ningdu, and was about a 20 minute drive from the orphanage. I haven't decided if I want to post those pictures here, or if they should stay private for Rachel. I will say that Rachel was fine and didn't really seem affected by the location. She was more affected by the heat. :) I will say there were a lot of people around, and that made me happy.

After that we drove to Cui Wei Mountain, a famous mountain in Ningdu, and I know a lot of adoptive families with kids from Ningdu get a picture of Cui Wei. It was beautiful, and I'm posting a couple pictures of it. It was a heck of a climb, though, in 100 degree heat! I wasn't prepared to climb a mountain. I was still dressed in capris and sandals, and Rachel had on a dress and flip flops. The one picture of Rachel has the city of Ningdu in the background. The view was gorgeous. I am really happy we had a chance to see Cui Wei Mountain.

We then went back to the orphanage where lunch was prepared for us. The food was all very good, especially a pork-stuffed fried eggplant. They were a little insistent we eat some fruit, so after carefully wiping it off with tissues Rachel and I had a couple bites of fruit. (We took some pepto as soon as we got back in the van) They offered Fred some kind of alcohol, but he declined, which was probably a good thing, because many toasts were made. The new director is the only one who had alcohol, and it was acceptable for us to toast with Sprite.

After lunch we went outside to take pictures, and then we were on our way back to the hotel. Fireworks were again set off for our departure. Rachel felt pretty special, having firecrackers set off just for her. We are now relaxing and waiting for our friend Xiaoting to show us around Ningdu.

Finally in Ningdu!

2009-07-13T07:33:00.002-04:00

After a two-hour flight (on which they served a hot lunch....when was the last time that happened in the U.S?), followed by a 4+ hour drive, we finally arrived in Ningdu! What a beautiful drive it was. There was a LOT of construction along the drive, but there were way more rice fields and lotus fields, not to mention huge mountains. Our local guide, Alicia, noticed me pointing out the water buffalo and when we saw one standing alongside the rode, the driver pulled over so I could take pictures. The locals got a kick out of that.

Tomorrow morning someone from the orphanage will meet us and our guide in the lobby and we will head to the orphanage where we will be able to review Rachel's file, see the babies, ask questions, give our gifts, host a lunch and most importantly meet the person who found Rachel and brought her to the orphanage. I have to remember to bring tissues.

The best part of today was finally meeting me email friend Xiaoting. We no sooner got to our room when she rang our bell and we greeted each other with a big hug. Tomorrow after we are finished at the orphanage, we plan to meet up with Xiaoting again so she can show us Ningdu. We will probably to go Cui Wei Mountain. Then we will have dinner together. I can't say how happy I am that we have a friend in Rachel's hometown.

The internet connection here is slow, but at least we have it. If I have time tomorrow or Sunday I will try to post a few pictures, but since I am relying on the kindness of a friend to do my updates, I won't do too many. (Thanks again, Dave!)