What Ava's name?

Chloe and Ava are reaching the age of funny things they do and say.  So, for all you grandma's out there in viewer land- I title this post "How cute are my grandkids"

Cute thing #1: 
Chloe: "Mommy, what your name?
Self: "You know my name, what is it?
Chloe: "Header"
Self: That's right, What's Daddy's name?
Chloe: "Deff. What Ava's name?"
Self: You tell me, what's Ava's name?
Chloe: hmmmm, Bubby Sissy?


Cute thing #2: Ava pointed at me and called me mommy today.  So sweet.

Cute thing #3:
(yelled through the bathroom door)
"Mom, you there? It's me Chloe.  Mom? Can you hear me?"

Cute thing #4 Ava twirls in a circle and then does a funny little shake whenever she hears music.  It's pretty wild.

And I leave you with update pics of Ava.

Happy Chinese New Year

It's cold.  Too cold. And Wet.

Last Sunday marked the beginning of Chinese New Year and since that day it has not stopped raining.  Each day has been colder than the day before and tomorrow does not appear to be any better.

Chinese New Year is a huge celebration where everyone returns to their families for a few days and most stores are closed.  Taipei has been quiet.  The streets are no longer bustling with people and buses and cabs and bicycles and motorcycles.  No, it's just rain and cold.

It's been a nice refreshing break for us.  We have been soaring through life at the speed of sound since stepping off the plane last November.  So, a few days of isolation without anything to do has been needed. Chloe and Ava however have started literally climbing the walls.

This morning, I stepped out of the shower to see Chloe straining to pull herself up along the door frame to the bathroom.  She was fortunately unsuccesfull at making it more than just a few inches but it was a clue that it is time to get out of the house- rain and cold and all.

Tomorrow we are going to try to find a mall with a big play gym area for kids.   Let's hope we are successfull.  Until then, Xinnian Kwai Le (Happy New Year)

I Wish I Owned A Ladder

We have mold growing in our bedroom.  It really shouldn't surprise me that mold could just spontaneously erupt and grow as rapidly as it has this last week.  We live in a humid, moist climate and the walls are made of concrete.  Factor in the bi-monthly earthquakes which form tiny cracks in the outside walls of the building add a weekly downpour of rain which creeps in through the cracks and you have something akin to a highschool biology experiment on how quickly mold can form in near-perfect conditions.  Trust me it's exponential.

This evening I attempted to clean the mold on our ten foot ceiling.  As I hopped up and down on a $15 chair from Ikea I wished I owned a ladder. And I got sad.

It seems a little strange to get sad over a ladder but I used to own a great ladder.  Jeff and I used it to hang Christmas Lights on our beautiful, brick home that never grew mold and to clean out the gutter in the spring so that our luxury car would not get dripped on coming in and out of the garage and to climb onto the roof to watch the Fireworks on the 4th at RiverParks.  Owning a ladder denotes permanence and alas that is not the life we have chosen. At any time we may have to move cities or even countries due to instability in the region, organizational changes or job relocation.

We knew all that going into the job and have tried to keep a distant relationship with our stuff.  Don't get me wrong, I love our new home and our new city and learning our new language.  But sometimes I miss the permanence and simplicity of what I used to have- sipping hot tea on our covered patio on a crisp fall evening and hearing the locusts strum their final tunes for the year. The only tunes I hear now is the city trashtruck whistling a sing-songy version of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" calling all the neighbors to come dump their garbage.

I am grateful for where we have been led in our lives and our ministry.  We have accomplished far greater things than I ever dreamed possible but still sometimes a little stinging reminder hits me like one of the mosquitos that I vehemently search and destroy and ....

I still wish I owned a ladder.

Language Lesson #2

Jeff and I have been studying nine hours of Chinese each week.  Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning a sitter comes to watch the girls and we go to a local language school for three hours.  We each study seperately with different teachers.  It is set up much like a high school class period. Each class lasts 55 minutes and we have a 5 minute break to move on to the next classroom with the next teacher.  The only difference is that we are the only student in the class and the only subject is Chinese.

We began studying almost 6 weeks ago and we have both started picking up on certain words we overhear frequently.  Oddly enough, the first two sentences I learned to say were "I want to eat a sandwich" and "I am Japanese."  The first being mildly useful, the second not so much.

Jeff nor I have EVER been coffee drinkers. We have been married almost 9 years and in that time we have never owned a coffee pot.  However, three hours of mind-numbing repetition drills can cause your brain to fog over.  So, out of sheer necessity we have resorted to stopping at 7-11 next door to our school and getting a cappucinno with two sugars, please.  The 7-11 coffee machine is not the do-it-yourself variety.  No, it is a very complicated machine of the starbucks variety and you must place your order with the staff at the checkout counter.

The biggest accomplishment by far of our language school experience is the fact that we can now order our coffee in Chinese.  So, this is your second language lesson. 

How To Order Two Medium Cappuccinnos with Two Sugars each

"Qing ni gei wo Liang Bei Cappucinno, Zhong Be. Dou You Liang Bao Tang. Xie Xie"

Literal Translation:
Please you give me two cups cappucinno, medium size. Both have two packs sugar. Thank you.

I urge you to try that phrase out next time you're in Starbucks.  ;)

7-11

Did you know that 7-11 is an international company?  Aside from the usual daily conveniences of coffee, soda and candy, you can also pay your electric, phone, cable, water and gas bills, purchase a lottery ticket and buy a sticky rice roll.  And if you are really hungry you can purchase an egg boiled in tea, or an assortment of sushi.  7-11's are conveniently located approximately every 100 feet even in the middle of nowhere.  In fact, by my calculation there is one 7-11 for every 10 people.  :)

Who knew?