Happy Haircuts!

Fairy wings, worn for two days straight


Perfect for her haircut!




Quinn's First Grade 'do





Just a trim!

Aunt Rah was nice enough to give the girls some back-to-school haircuts - just a trim for Junie to even out the back - she was so good! Quinn demonstrated the process for her little sister. Quinn got about 4 inches cut off - her hair was really long! Both of them look adorable as ever. D and R had theirs done a week or so ago, so no photos - just trims.

June is excited for all of her school activities this week - screening tomorrow, open house Wednesday, meeting the teacher at home on Thursday. Busy week!

First day of school...for some!

Only 3 girls went off to school today, but the 4th little Lyons girl HAD to have her backpack on, too, for the first day photoshoot out in the driveway. She continues to talk the talk about school - saying (in Chinese and English) "my school" "I go to school" "Junie's school"! We took the big girls to school and then took ourselves to Starbucks for a bit. Junie was concerned about the girls and kept asking for them. Good thing (for her anyway) that it was just a half day. We're onto an almost-full week next week -another half day next Friday, seriously - but still no preschool.

In the afternoon, we enjoyed a performance of Snow White (oh yes, I do see the irony there) as put on by Delaney and her friends...lots of work for the organizing mom who took on all those extra kids for the afternoon. June and Quinn enjoyed a LOT of popcorn while they took in the show. She's off to bed for the night, clutching the washcloth of the day, her Kai-lan doll (well, one of them), and her Hello Kitty blanket. Hoping that there isn't a 4 am drink of water and pee break, but we'll see.

Things we have learned about June:

An alarming amount of snot can come out of her nose all at once

She has a powerful nose-blowing ability

Too many raisins are not good

She is a one-woman social committee, waving to all who drove-thru at Starbucks while she ate her pink doughnut

She can be really, really loud when she wants to be

She likes to tell stories, and they are really funny even when I can only understand bits and pieces

She likes to say "Whachya doing?"

Boy, does she like puzzles

She is STUBBORN

She has learned almost all the colors in English

She always gets her shoes on the right feet (unlike another Lyons girl)

She's ruling the roost!

Hanging out at home...

I know my posting is past due here! We've been in cousin chaos here - pretty sure Junie thinks that Delaney and Riley might just store their things here and come over for the occasional meal - they've been hanging out with Molly and Jane all over the earth for the past week!

I have tried to keep Junie home a bit more and keep her napping when she needs to. We took a visit to her school, which she loooved (while it was empty and she had the toys to herself). Still not sure what to do about starting, etc. She definitely needs a nap in the afternoons; we'll see. She is so curious and wants to know about everything. She is a true magpie, repeating everything we say: There you go, I love you, Oh man, Uh oh, shoes...she is understanding more and more each day. I am going to have to start spelling anything I don't want her to know. And speaking of spelling, she has learned how to spell her name - she'll say J-U-N-E, Junie! She seems to really like her name.

She is loving books and has some favorites...Where Does Maisy Live?, I Love you Like Crazy Cakes, What Makes a Rainbow? She sits and looks at any written words - even when no pictures are involved. She must be getting this from Delaney, who, in the last week, has plowed through the first 3 Harry Potters and is working on the 4th. Junie continues to stick out her tongue when meeting new people, altohough she mostly managed to keep it in today when at Quinn's school for a meeting again. She is a happy, happy kid...sleeping well, eating non-stop still, coloring, playing with the girls...She occasionally gets mad if told no - she'll make a little low-pitched whiny sound, but generally bounces back quickly.

The project for this week is to try leaving her with Tom for a bit. Haven't tried since the disastrous day of snot...think she'll do just fine if she is at home with the girls and Tom. I'll be sure to leave a delightful roll of Angel Soft tissue that my friend was kind enough to give me as a gift when I leave.

Big girls all go back to school on Friday - and let me say, it is not a moment too soon. Their sudden need for constant entertainment has begun to overwhelm me. Let the craziness of school and activities begin. Frankly, Starbucks and I need to become reacquainted.

Home a whole week!

Wow, what a busy week it has been! Because June was adjusting so well and having such fun with the girls we did more than I had planned to do this week - spent time visiting with cousins, went to a family picnic and made a stop at my sis-in-law's surprise 40th! Wish we'd made it to the LPA picnic, but we couldn't squeeze it all in! Still trying to keep the girlie attached to me, and not overly friendly with other people. She is so funny, teasing people...pretending to share food, but then keeping it. Um, if you need a lesson in how to clean ALL the chicken off of a bone, check with J - I rank chicken wings just slightly above eggs, so it is not a pretty sight to me. There was not a shred of anything left on the bone when I finally pried it out of her greasy hands... I am hoping that her eating slows down a bit, once the novelty of having so many choices wears off. She is eating all the time! I am going to have to start tutoring more!

While I am pretty sure that I was knocked out of the running for Mom of the Year back around January 1st, I cemented that situation today...didn't take enough time to explain to J that I was taking Delaney somewhere in the car and that she was staying with Daddy. She apparently grabbed her Kai-lan backpack and was ready to run after me. Both she and Daddy were covered in a layer of snot and tears when his phone call brought me back. It is nice to be loved (or at least be the person she most trusts right now). Classic mistake there and lesson learned. We spent the rest of the afternoon quietly doing puzzles together. D and R are off at G-ma's for a sleepover...and Junie fell asleep on the couch at 6:30, clutching a little washcloth - apparently it doesn't need to be the green Mickey Mouse one she came home with, as she selected a fresh one from the laundry Q and I were folding. Will try to get Q off to bed at a reasonable hour and maybe Tom and I can get some sleep before anyone starts waking up in the night for snacks and drinks ; )

Tomorrow will be pretty quiet - Q has requested a walk to school to check on her little potty, and maybe a trip to the park on the way home. Only 12 days until school starts and this mom is not prepared! Will post more photos tomorrow, have some cute ones!

Hi, Mao; Bu Yao Mao

Junie is obsessed with Penny, our cat. The first day she didn't want to see Penny at all. Then, she wanted the girls to constantly pick her up and take her near the cat...this causes her to say, many times a day, "Hi Mao!" (Hi, cat). This is almost always followed by a laughing "Bu Yao Mao" (I don't want the cat). It is super funny, although I think the girls are getting tired of the game. She has yet to touch the cat, but surprised me tonight by asking me to put Penny on her bed...which leads us to bedtime...

I gotta say, we totally picked the best kid in China. This girl has gotten over the jet lag in just one day - we had that horrible first night of no sleep, but Miss Ying has slept through every night since then. The second and third nights home, she cried a bit, but slept when Riley joined her. Last night, Riley was otherwise engaged, and the big, fat tears started rolling (apparently she has had enough of me and thinks the girls are way more fun)...and turned into big, fat, whole-body sobs that lasted for a full hour. It was heartbreakingly sad...Quinn decided to pitch a fit at the same time. Tom was not home from work until 10, so while my heart was breaking for the crying ones, I was considering breaking one of his legs...

In any case, I braced myself for the tears again tonight, but they didn't start when I expected them to. We went to her room, read the two books she selected (twice each) and then we said goodnight. I asked for a kiss, but got the tongue stuck out at me instead - apparently, that never gets old for her. We established that she wanted the night light on - I left the room, and moments later, she was asleep, litttle towel in hand and index finger in the mouth. Seriously, the best kid, except for when...

We were getting ready for pj time and she took off running through the house in her Hello Kitty undies. It was funny pretending to catch her...it wasn't so funny when I did catch her and she laughed and spit at me. We'll work on that one.

Otherwise, a good day of playing with sisters, meeting some friends, and not doing too much. She and Quinn did some puzzles together, and they are warming up to each other slowly but surely! Have to thank my helpers Delaney and Riley for all the toting around and visits to the cat.

"Sister, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters..."

Thank goodness for these big sisters, who have really had a lot of fun with Junie for the last two days! Yesterday, we went to the park, where everyone used up some energy; I barely had the energy to walk to the park and actually thought I might pass out from fatigue. The girls played with each other for most of the day, with Junie having a short nap in the afternoon to recharge. Tom took the big kids shopping for school supplies - a task he described as "horrible" and vowed to never do again. I looooove school supply shopping, and always buy extras for myself ; ) The day got to be a bit much by bedtime and Junie was really sad and crying way hard...the day (or night) was saved by the jie jie - Riley in this case. Crying stopped as soon as Riley came into the room and both girls slept in Junie's bed all night. I slept like the dead from 10-5 and feel like a new person today!

We kept today low-key, hanging out at home and making a quick trip out for ice cream (vanilla w/ snow caps was Junie's pick). The paper product plague followed me home, apparently. The slacker employees who took their time getting around to taking my order, finally handed me all five frozen treats. She then obtusely asked me if I needed any napkins (they don't keep them out for public access)...I looked at the four girls and said, "Yep, probably need a bunch for this group". Said slacker employee then handed me two tiny paper napkins - "Here's a whole bunch" was her reply. Sigh...

The low point of the day came when Junie was eating her hard-boiled egg...again my gag reflex kicked in as I watched her carefully remove and then speedily devour all of the egg white. The golden nugget of the yolk was cherished and enjoyed slowly, leaving me a splendid view of her yolky mouth and hands. Other than in a delicious baked good, I have not eaten an egg since 1979, and don't intend to ever do so again in my lifetime. The horrid smell; I can't believe that something I tolerate having in the house just during Easter is now becoming a staple in my home. How can I phase them out?? Hmmm...time will tell.

Thanks for checking in - it was hard to get any good photos today, because J and the girls are in constant motion! Enjoy Quinn modeling w/ J's umbrella; Quinn thinks she is very stylish.

HOME

We made it!!!

3 hours in a van to Hong Kong, 3 hours at the airport, 1 hour on the plane while delayed, 14 1/2 hours of flight time, 2 hours to get through customs, immigration, get home! The plane ride started to feel awful at about hour 10 - Junie didn't sleep at all before that and slept restlessly for a couple of hours, while I crouched on the floor of our bulkhead row since she would only sleep without being touched and so needed our two seats together! I hadn't really slept the night before either, so was really tired by the time the flight ended.

It took only seconds for her to start smiling and joking with the girls - sticking out her tongue as usual. ( I am enjoying a fabulous diet cherry Coke as I type). She jumped right in and has acquired Delaney and Riley as her personal servants - having them carry her everywhere. She was exhausted by 8 pm and I got her to sleep easily in her own bed after reading a story. My blissfull sleep, begun at 10pm, lasted only until 1am when the miss started crying. I found her crouched at the end of the hallway (I had put up a gate just not knowing if she would try to go downstairs), wearing a pair of Riley's flip flops that she found in Riley's room. She was starving - a banana, an apple, some almonds, a ceral bar, some milk, some water and five hours later she went back to sleep. I did not - feel a little crazed already today! She is doing just great, and the girls are so happy to have her here! They are really having fun together, and she is loving the swing set already.

Seeing the girls and Tom was wonderful! Missed them! Seeing June and Quinn together was funny - really made Quinn look tiny!!! Also, June is way more solid and Quinn felt like carrying a feather after carrying June around for a couple of weeks! Will post some photos of the girls together soon. Fear my typing may be crazy due to the lack of sleep so will post more later.

Last blog from China: Temple, Folk Art, I Fall to Pieces
Wow! Can't believe we made it to our last day in China! 15 days later and we are packed up to go home. We'll be getting up at 5:30 to get on our bus at 6:30 to head to Hong Kong! Chicago to Beijing, Beijing to Changsha, Changsha to Guangzhou, Guangzhou to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to HOME!
Things I am looking forward to: My Family, an ice cold Diet Coke, candy, my own bed, my Sonicare toothbrush (I was afraid it would start vibrating in the suitcase), a chocolate chip cookie, eating in my own house instead of taking a 4 year old to a restaurant 2 or 3 times a day : )
We started our day today with the usual breakfast and theft of extra fruit to last Miss J through the day. Then we met our guide and picked up another mom and her newly adopted son - the van door opened, she looked at me and asked if I had a blog, then named it! We adoption bloggers stalk each other as we find our dates are close together : ) It was great to meet some of the "Wild Rice House" and Alexander is adorable! We visited a temple - beautiful, very old, and from a different sect/branch of Buddhism than the Lama temple we visited in Beijing. The temple was originally built over 2000 years ago! Amazing. From there we went to the Guangzhou Folk Art Museum, which features gorgeous carvings. Apparently, you can carve anything from ivory, jade, coconuts, bone, etc! We stayed as long as the kids could really tolerate the heat, and what had to be boredom to them. June, enjoying one of the many fruits of her day, chomped an apple as we explored the museum.
Lunch brought us to Pizza Hut - don't remember the last time I had Pizza Hut ( I mean, we live in Chicago, seriously)...but it was a very close approximation to what I remember - possibly less sauce than at home. We successfully enjoyed some iced tea...a success which was not repeated at dinner time. We asked the guide to reccomend a place for spicy Chinese food, and we were led to Concubine - close to our hotel. Spicy it was, and my spicy Hunan girl loved it!!!! Our food was great, cheap, and spicy - Hunan style cuisine. We ordered iced tea with lemon, something we have had often here - and is always good. At this restaurant, however, we weren't doing a good job of communicating our desire for ice. With the intense heat of the food, it was really hard to recover with hot tea to drink. I had ordered water for June. Out arrived a steaming-hot glass (there are apparently no such things as child cups at restaurants - they must be storing them with the napkins) of water. I asked again for ice....the very nice waiter brought a glass of ice and added one cube to June's water...crazy.
Upon entering the hotel, there was some pretty loud music. While waiting at the front desk, I realized that the Chinese karaoke I was hearing was Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" - which is a super weird thing to hear being sung in Chinese, by a man, no less. We wrapped up the night with a stop for ice cream at McDonalds, a quick bath for June, and a sweep of the room to be sure we aren't forgetting anything!
This has been an incredible trip and it has really been an experience to spend this time in China. Hope to come back some day when the girls are grown up! Can't wait to update next from HOME and let everyone know how this kiddo is adjusting to her daddy, sisters, and home "routine" - hah! I look forward to reading all the comments on the blog that I haven't been able to see during this trip. And I look forward to catching up with the other bloggers, RQers, to hear about their trips.
My final thought from China - if you've been thinking about adopting "someday", DO IT! Research the options and see if it is right for your family. In China alone, there are 2000 kids on the waiting child list (certainly this does represent all of the kids in SWI's, just those on the list) - many of them with minor or corrected special needs - boys, girls, younger kids, older kids...all kids who need families, and all kids who have already been waiting too long.

Only 2 more nights!
And we will be home!!!! Loving China, but ready to go! Today we had our usual buffet breakfast here at the hotel; due to having eaten a cold bowl of leftover ramen noodles immediately after waking up, June ate slightly less than her usual amount of food today. I think she has developed the idea that we live in a 5 star hotel...she breathes a sigh of relief each time we reach the hotel room, like "we're home"! Not quite yet, girlie. After breakfast we wandered over to one of the many 7 Elevens...can't go half a block without seeing one. Passed up the shrimp flavored Pringles, the tomato flavored Pringles, the section of unidentifiable dried snack meats to get to the plain M & M's and a sucker for Junie, featuring her favorite cartoon character, The Pleasant Goat. So weird.
We took an early swim, where June adopted what is to now be known as her "sassy stance". Hands on the hips, one foot tapping as she looked on in annoyance when someone else came to the pool. I think she believes it to be her territory alone. She'll be a bit sad to see that we don't have a pool or an elevator at home. Sarah opted to work out in the sauna-like gym while Junie and I (along with 36 other families) went over to the American Consulate to swear that all of our paperwork was true and correct, etc. It was organized chaos as all the families, lots of whom traveled with their other children as well, waited to be called one by one to sign a document and then we all stood up together as we took the oath. Junie muscled her way into a Little Tikes plastic playhouse full of about 8 other kids while we waited for our turn. She is so funny! I dressed her up in a cute red, white, and blue outfit for the occasion. She looked adorable, of course. A few hours after leaving we returned to the sight of Sarah curled up in bed, watching CNN footage of Naomi Campbell testifying in the Charles Taylor war crimes trial - so weird.
When we were able to tear ourselves away from the frightful sight of Naomi's wig, we ventured out for a Thai dinner. The hotel is on a six lane main road, and I have already told you about the traffic situation here. To cross over to the other side of the street, we have been going down half a block, where you climb up a bunch of stairs and then walk across to climb down again. Not very stroller friendly...today, our guide told us that it was easier to go down an escalator to the underground, cross that way and back up. She neglected to mention that it is the world's steepest escalator to go up and down! I carried Junie while Sarah was stuck hauling the stroller. After arriving safely back above ground, getting J back into the stroller and avoiding the throngs of human traffic...we realized that we didn't know exactly where the restaurant was...asked one valet and he didn't speak English (wasn't expecting him to, but thought I'd try). Asked at the information desk of another building (after terrifying the elevator guy by asking him) and was pointed in the general direction of the building. Passed people lying about and smoking on the street to enter said building. We hopped in the elevator and went to the right floor...unfortunately we had used a service elevator of some kind, which landed us inside the back of a restaurant...not the right one. We were kindly shown over to the other restaurant and quickly seated...then we waited and waited and waited to place our order, I finally flagged down a server (I don't know if there is some kind of etiquette I am missing about how to get the staff's attention)...after placing the order, we received our food (delicious by the way) in approximately 4 and 1/2 minutes...only to wait for our drinks for another 20....had to find someone again and ask about the drinks. Then, after we'd clearly been finished for a while, had to flag someone down to pay and request a napkin - we'd only been given two disposable napkins...they never seem to count kids in these things - and of course, J is a fairly messy eater with her chopsticks.
That was enough for us for the night!! Gave J an early bath and she was off to bed. We're squeezing in one last tour tomorrow - the temple and museum that we skipped when J was not feeling well earlier in the week. We'll swim, pack up and get to bed early for our departure on Saturday morning!

Pizza, more monkeys, and swimming....

Guess who loves swimming???? If you know me, you know my intense aversion to wearing a bathing suit in public, so you probably guessed it was Junie! Yep, our second attempt at swimming was a big success...Here at the Garden Inn there is a pool outside on the fourth floor - there is a big pool, and around a corner, a smaller pool just for the little ones. We were the only ones at the pool, and I think that helped her comfort level; she was splashing around and jumping in within a few minutes. No other kids to distract her. She insisted on standing in the water that reached just above her top lip...then she would snort out any water that reached her nose! The only distraction was the intense scrutiny of the - lifeguard? Not sure if he was a lifeguard, or a just an attendant of some kind, but he watched us, either out of fear that the three of us would drown in the eighteen inches of water, or he just enjoyed the loud, American spectacle of us...

Earlier in the day we enjoyed a trip to the Guangzhou Zoo - billed as one of three main zoos in China it had a panda, which was a lot of fun to see! Junie enjoyed the zoo after her initial fear of the animals - I had the guide explain that the animals could not, in fact, get out to snack on her! The panda had a nice enclosure, and was kept cooler than we were (or any of the other animals, btw) by a misting roof and a surrounding of bamboo. Compared to larger zoos in the US, some of the animals did not have much room to move around, etc. There were lots of tigers - kept in traveling-circus size cages...not much room to move around - looked like they took turns in a slightly larger enclosure where they could pee and snarl within feet of the public. We also got to see the golden monkeys - really pretty, and I don't think you can see them outside of China as they are endangered. We didn't think anything could top the synchronized monkey swimming on tv the other day, but when the monkeys began enjoying a synchronized activity of another kind, we moved on...

Lunch today was nothing to write home about, but cheap : ) For dinner, we hit an Italian place, hoping for the best. It was FANTASTIC!! Turned out to be authentic, brick-oven pizza, great bruschetta, nice gelato. Well worth the walk! As with many places here, there was an abundance of staff - more than there were customers at the time. This often leads to the feeling of being watched intensely (as at the pool). It is a little freaky to be watched over so closely, but you do get good service that way! We also watched the Italian owner, in his tight, designer jeans and leather vest, as he lined up and berated the entire staff about something that he found "impossible". Never could quite figure out what he was so irate about; but it was funny to listen to his Italian-accented English being translated by a Chinese staff member and wonder whether or not she was properly translating what he was saying. As we left he was still rattling on ( a good ten minutes later) and I mouthed a silent "good luck" to the waitstaff, eliciting a few smiles.

That about wraps it up for the day : ) We are kind of on our own to entertain ouselves for the next few days. May ask the guide if there is anything else to check out around town, or we'll have some long days of swimming, hanging out at the hotel playroom, etc.

5 more sleeps
We are on the countdown to get home! Junie needs to meet her daddy and sisters for real, instead of all this Skyping! Tomorrow we'll be headed to the zoo (there's a panda there) and we are planning to try swimming again tomorrow. Last night we had dinner at a Malaysian restaurant - food was really good, lots of veggies and noodles. We chatted with another adoptive family and their new daughter and enjoyed a relatively cool walk back to the hotel. Miss Ying was feeling much better by the time we got home - I convinced her to drink some Motrin; she perked up and played for a while and then we all settled in for a good night of sleep.
Today was all about shopping : ) After a quick check to confirm that Junie is, indeed, turberculosis free, we headed over to the jade market...don't worry too much Tom Lyons, I think I only spent the grocery budget for the next few months. Kidding! It was a nice morning checking out some different pieces of jade, and then back to Shamian island for more browsing around and lunch at Lucy's. While enjoying a hamburger and onion rings (good and good) we were able to observe one of the many fashion photo shoots around the island. Oddly enough, this seems to be very common. Today, in addition to the usual wedding photo shoots (I swear every single bride has been stunning, and every groom is wearing an off white tux, often with tails), there was a model (American, European?) who looked about 15 in probably a dozen different set ups around the island. The architecture of the island is gorgeous - old European with tropical plants and flowers all around. Often, we also see amateur photo shoots - women posing in very chic outfits, not always weather appropriate...I mean, who wears knee-high leather boots and tweed jackets when it is 100 degrees with 110% humidity??? Then another friend or boyfriend is taking dozens of photos...what are people doing with all of these photos?
Other fashion observations: People here wear all kinds of different things - from sequined dresses at 9:30 am to dresses that really appear to be nightgowns. Lots of mismatched prints, and oddly, tights. I mean, it is just too hot for that nonsense. Lots of fancy....men think nothing of wandering about shirtless, or with their shirts hiked up into their armpits. I believe I have already mentioned little boys sans pants. Don't see that so much right here, though. Question: Where are all the fat people? Answer: They only appear in the form of American tourists. I am pretty sure that I haven't seen woman here who weighs in at over 110....lots smaller, and I swear I have seen like 2 people of an "average" American weight. Crazy. Meanwhile, I am sure I have managed to gain weight while here, due to my eating when not hungry, snacking, etc.
Well, we know you are really reading to hear about Junie - she continues to be awesome, other than her refusal to brush her teeth. I had to wrap her in a towel after her bath and tickle her until I could get the toothbrush into her mouth...She is repeating more English words, and seems to understand lots of what I say - if I say "find your shoes", she does. If I ask if she wants to take a bath, she answers me and goes to the tub. She is really smart! She was a champion shopper today and fell asleep in the taxi on the way back to the hotel. She scammed me into buying her a yellow umbrella today and she looks awfully cute carrying it around.
A note on the weather: It is still super hot, and still humid. Being too cheap to send our laundry out, we washed it in the room. 3 days later it is still wet. Even things in our suitcases feel damp due to the humidity. And, yes, we are in a well air-conditioned room!!!

Random Thoughts

Junie continues to feel a bit punk from having all those shots yesterday. With her fever and needing some extra sleep, we opted to stay here at the hotel for most of the day...we went with the thinking - we've already seen the biggest Buddhist temple in China, why head out to another one when we can stay in the a/c. We'll be joining another family for dinner tonight, at Lucy's, I think.

We did make an outing this morning...across the street is a "Disney Kids" store. Thought it would be fun to let Junie choose something to cheer her up. It turned out to be a bit of a junky clothes store with what appeared to be Disney cast-offs. There were a few random toys - we got some Kelly Barbies...oddly the store was playing not-very-kid-friendly American music....something along the lines of "If you think I'm sexy...", but for the life of us we can't remember exactly what song it was. That was followed up by "The tide is high..." From there we walked over to the "Friendship Store" which is a collection of every high-end designer store there is...Dior, Bulgari, Swarovski, La Perle...needless to say, we didn't buy anything there as prices were at least as high as in the US, and sometimes higher. We checked out the grocery store there and were delighted to find pretzel goldfish and M and M's...sadly both were "best by" sometime in 2009. Recklessly, we ate and enjoyed them anyway. After a lunch of Starbucks - they got it right today, awesome - expired goldfish, and some Ramen for Junie, we napped.

On television today - synchronized monkey swimming. I kid you not, people. We can't watch "Depsereaux" again....and the Chinese game shows only entertain for so long...and that was the best the tv had to offer. Oddly mesmerizing. Junie continues to love watching "Ni Hao, Kai Lan", probably in the hopes that I will learn more Chinese words! She is getting really interested in seeing the cat when we call home - she yells out to Penny and then we have to laugh about the cat running away.

Diet Coke - why don't the Chinese enjoy it??? Haven't found it really anywhere...once had the poor substitute Coke Light, which sucks...but it is never cold enough. Learn to enjoy the refreshing, cold taste, people.

Smoking, we all know I hate it. It is everywhere! Restaurants, hotel lobbies, elevators, the gym (as Sarah experienced - people working out in the 100+ heat, smoking, and listening to Christmas music.) Now that I think about it, I haven't seen any women smoking - I'll have to keep an eye out for a better analysis.

Tomorrow we go back to have the TB test read - the guide will need to explain that it is just a quick check and not more shots, b/c I can' take the tears again! Not sure what else the day will hold, but hoping for a good night of sleep to prep for whatever the day brings. Junie should be feeling better then!