I have been in bed most of the day.....I have a sthuffy nosth and a cough and a sthore throat. I feel mistherable. Xiao Zhang made chicken noodle soup and chocolate pudding for me. Ah...yes...comfort foods. I feel spoiled..cough cough...sniff. I hate colds.

Halloween in Shanghai

We celebrated Halloween at the Miller's last night. It is now a tradition. They were married on Oct 30 so every year they host a party for their anniversary. The first year we were in Shanghai Tim and I went as 'Volleyball parents" because Abi had a tournament that weekend. Last year I was in the Phillipines with Abi for another Volleyball tournament. This year...no volley ball....so we had not excuse not to dress up.

Here we are......the Ganster and the Flapper.

And for Abi.....We have not taken up smoking......they are just props!

What happened today?

Alarm rang....hit snooze....rang again....hit snooze....rang again....turned it off....got out of bed

Shower, makeup, got dressed, ate breakfast, worked on quilting a quilt, went with a friend to the fabric market, fabric shop was not open, walked around the underground market, visited the pearl market, introduced my friend to my favorite jewelry vendor, went back the the fabric shop, still closed, call the shop owner, she arrived 10 minutes later, helped friend pick out fabric for her very first quilt, go home, go out to lunch with Tim (he was working at home today), continued sewing the quilt, picked out some stitching, sewed some more, picked out some more stitches, went back to the underground market to help my favorite jewelry vendor choose colors for some new designs, showed her some fun ways to display her inventory, talked about the upcoming Christmas sale at Abi's old school, (she will have a table there for the first time), came home, sewed some more on the quilt, did some homework for my computer class, ate dinner (ribs, green beans, fried rice, apples), did some more homework, checked my email, loaded some pictures to my blog......oh...I guess that is where I am now. Ah....a day in the life

Loaded

This guy was just outside our apartment building on Sunday.

Where is the driver?

Oh...there he is...

Teppanyaki Dinner

I went back to Chinese school on Saturday. The teacher was sooooooo much better. She has lots of energy and seems to have a plan for us. I have a few more days to decided if I will continue with the program. The "all day" class was not as tough as I thought it was going to be. I think I need a daisy to make this decision.... continue...don't continue...continue...don't continue...continue...etc...

After class we met some friends for dinner at a "new to us" restaurant. We discovered about two weeks ago and couldn't wait to go back.

Thomas, Hanni, and Tim

The Shanghai Gang


Notice the huge block of butter looking substance that was totally consumed in the cooking of our food...

All the Kiddos

Tim is in ChongQing tonight.

I had my Illustrator class today....it was soooooo much fun! I spent all afternoon and evening playing with the new tools that I learned today. Most of it is trial and error....in my case mostly error. But...I did manage to draw two pumpkins and a ghost. And...I gave them eyes AND I made them look like they were glowing. BooRah!

We continued Xiao Zhang's sewing lesson today. I went out for dinner and when I came home she had just left because the iron was still hot....oops...I think she was late getting home tonight...maybe a little too much sewing. It can be addicting...but then I wouldn't know anything about that....ha ha

Cool Sculpture

Today is Tuesday and Tim is working at home. I love Tuesdays because I get to hang out in the office with Tim while he is on conference calls. I am not sure how much he appreciates me because I am usually sewing which can be a little noisy...especially if I fire up my speedy Juki machine. Another good thing about Tuesdays....I have a built in lunch date!

Today we went to a new Brazilian restaurant. The weather was great so we sat outside. The most interesting thing about lunch....well besides the fascinating company....was this cool sculpture.

These guys are hanging on the wall in the stairway that leads to the restaurant. The little men are about 7 inches tall.

Cool eh?

Birthday Party at Maya

Saturday evening after a long day of class (okay...I cut out at lunch time but Tim had a long day at class) we met our friends at a Mexican restaurant in Puxi. I love going to new restaurants because we sort of get in a rut and go to the same places all the time. Anyway....the dinner was a birthday celebration for Brain Miller. He is one of Tim's golfing buddies and one of "the Shanghai Gang".

Rebecca, Kathy, Deb

Aaahhhh...another night of good food, food friends, and okay...good margaritas

Confess...I totally stole this picture off Shelly Brammer's facebook.

Shanghai ATP Masters

Sunday afternoon we went to the tennis finals. This year the tournament was an "outdoor" event so the roof of the tennis center was open. It was a beautiful day for tennis.

In the finals doubles match ...

Benneteau & Tsonga (from France) VS Fyrstenberg & Matkowski (from Poland) .

This match only went two sets and the Frenchmen won 6-2, 6-4

Tsonga & Benneteau

The other guys had better shirts...but they did not play as well

Awards ceremony

Next up for singles....Davydenko (from Russia) VS Nadal (from Spain)

Start the match!!!

Fashion commentary.....Nadel wins the fashion award....although he needs some shorts that do not give him wedgies....I am just saying it was a problem during the whole match.

Davydenko wins in two sets 7-6, 6-3

Davydenko gets the big trophy and the money

I told you that I was teaching Xiao Zhang to sew. Well....she is now in my Friday class and these are the blocks she made. Don't be worried about the shape of the blocks, they are not supposed to be square or rectangle....we will cut them to specific sizes in a couple of weeks.

She finished the blocks on Saturday while Tim and I were in school. She also sewed some fabric strips together that I will use in an art quilt that I am working on. So....she got lots of sewing done...but...not much ironing. : ) Hmmmm....this sounds familiar. I told Tim this morning that she probably needs to hire someone else to do the laundry so she has more time for sewing. Tim said that I just wanted to be promoted to "mid" management. We have had a lot of laughs about this....needless to say...Tim...is THRILLED that we have another person in the house that would rather sew than do laundry!

Oktoberfest

Sights from Oktoberfest....

Deb, Rebecca, Shelly, and Angie

Four of the original "Shanghai Gang".

Good Fun, Good friends

These are stolen pictures from Angie's facebook...I forgot my camera that night

Mandarin Class

I went to Mandarin class on Saturday. I really like the other students. They are from all over the world and most of them have been in Shanghai for at least 2 years. They tried other methods of learning Mandarin and decided to try a structured class at the University. Everyone was pretty excited to get a fresh start. But....The teacher was a very nice person but I don't think she has ever taught a class. I could tell in the first hour of class that it was not going to work for me. I went to lunch with the other students and did not go back to the class. : ) I was pretty sure there was going to be a mutiny when the class resumed. I was lucky that I had not paid the fees yet....others were not so lucky.

Today....I got an email from the director of the program. It said....Please come back!......We hired a different, more exuberant teacher. Hmmmm.....Should I try it again???

Oktoberfest

Tonight we are joining some friends for Oktoberfest. One of the hotels here hosts this event every year. I believe it is way past the "real" Oktoberfest ...but...we are in China....Who cares! This is about the only time each year that I drink more than a few swallows of Tim's beer. I am not really a big beer fan....unless....it is really really cold. AND...cold beer....even slightly cool beer is a luxury in China. They like to serve it warm. Yuk! Well...I was planning to have more than a few swallows of beer tonight (it is nice and cold at Oktoberfest) except......I HAVE 7 1/2 HOURS OF MANDARIN CLASS TOMORROW! Ah....bad timing!

Friday Quilt class

My Friday quilting class is called Improv Block Construction. I am teaching several different techniques to create blocks. The goal is to make a quilt/wall hanging similar to my "Out of Africa" quilt

Out of Africa

We started with the center blocks. These will take two weeks to complete

These are blocks that the class constructed last week.

My class hard at work

More blocks that were constructed today

These pieces are cut into 4 sections and added to blocks to make borders

More blocks

We almost finished the center blocks during class today....but....not quite....so I gave homework!

I got a text message today that said the Saturday Mandarin class at Jiao Tong University was ready to start......THIS SATURDAY. I was secretly hoping that it would be postponed....well....forever! No such luck. The class is from 9:30am to 5:00pm. My head will explode if I am in Mandarin class that long.

So....I took the chicken way out.....I am going to try the first class and then decide if I want to continue. Think of all the quilting I could do during that same time.

Hmmmm....Mandarin.....OR.....quilting, sleeping in, studying for my Illustrator class, having a root canal. Yep...all these options sound better than 7 1/2 hours of Mandarin every Saturday.

Charity quilt

I hosted the SEA quilting group today. We worked on a charity quilt that we started several months ago. The top is finished....now we just need to baste and quilt it.


Working hard

Jane was our "offical" ironing expert

And of course there must be nourishment!

Xiao Zhang made coconut lime muffins and they were to die for! She found the recipe in a Paula Dean magazine that I brought home a few weeks ago.

Tah-Dah! The quilt top is complete

School Days

I am officially a student again. Today was my first day of class ....it was a good day......the teacher did not yell at me and none of the big kids teased me or pulled my hair.

I am taking a class to learn how to use Adobe Illustrator. My big accomplishment so far.....I installed the program on my computer!!! I confess I had to ask Tim a few questions but basically I DID IT MYSELF! BooRah!

And now like all good students.....I have to go do my home work.

Happy Birthday Darren

My older (much much older) brother

Ahhh...he was so cute back then

I made a scrapbook for our parents 50th wedding anniversary about 5 years ago. AND...the benefit of that.....I have lots of "blackmail" pictures on my computer now......ha ha ha

And here he is again....back in the day.....

I think he made this cake in Cub Scouts. It seems so appropriate for his birthday photo : )

Buying a new Cell Phone

It is Tuesday morning. Hmmmm.....what's on the agenda for today? Tim is working at home today so that means I have a lunch date. I have to procure some software for my Illustrator class that starts tomorrow....which requires a trip to electronic hell (EH). That is my new name for the computer store/mega shopping building. Ah...which reminds me that I wanted to buy a new cell phone.

I am simple cell phone person. I just want to call, answer, text and it has to look "cool". I don't really care about storing music, playing games, using it as a GPS (although that might be helpful the next time Mr Zheng gets lost in Puxi), or watch movies or TV on that tiny screen. I would enjoy the email feature...if that is possible. If we were in the US I would buy an IPhone and call it a day. The kids could be my "help line" and eventually I would learn to use 10% of it's features and feel good about that accomplishment. The IPhone in China has mixed reviews....some people buy them in the US and have them "broken" or "cracked" at electronic hell so they work here. Some people have had success with that and some not so much.

Last weekend we went to Best Buy to buy a new phone. We went there to avoid EH and so the options would be a little less and there would be someone that might speak English. Well....the options were enormous, most of them were "locked" ie...you could not actually see or use the features of the phone. After a very slow, language challenged search I did not find a single phone that I wanted...Really......I AM NOT THAT PICKY. I finally narrowed it down to one that was a possibility and guess what??? They said those dreaded words...Mei You...which means...they don't have it. WHAT? Why do they have it on display if they don't have it?????? Okay...so I take some responsibility for the "cool" factor. They had this phone displayed in three different colors....brushed stainless grey, pink, and another shade of pink. Sorry...but pink does not meet my "cool" requirement. No grey...no deal! So...after all that....I left without a new phone and decided to use the one I have for a while longer.

Get Well Soon!

We are sending speedy recovery wishes to Tim's dad who had back surgery this week. Please keep him in your prayers.

Tibet Day 3

More from our trip to Mt. Everest....

We left Lhasa at 6:00am as we prepared for a long drive to our first camp site. We had to be in Shigatse by noon to file papers and get permits to enter the Mt. Everest area. The road between Lhasa and Shigatse is speed regulated. There are many check points where we are required to stop. At each stop they gave our driver a piece of paper with an "official" departure time. We could not arrive at the next check point until our allotted time had expired or the driver would get a fine. If you are very bad they will make you return to the last check point and repeat that section of road again....and believe me no one wants to make this trip longer than it already is.

We stopped for breakfast about two hours outside of Lhasa.

We pulled off the main highway and stopped in front of an old monastery.

Monastery

Prayer Wheels

Our driver (left) and our guide (right) got "to go" (actually they say "take away" in China) breakfast. We each had a slice of bread, a banana, and tea.

Eating breakfast

While we were eating breakfast two little puppies appeared on the roof of the building we were standing next to.

We walked up the steps to the prayer wheels and found that the puppies were actually in their "pen'. The top of the building had a short wall all the way around the roof. The puppies were placed inside the wall so they could not "escape". It was a puppy jail. The only way they could get out was to jump and it was a long way to the ground. They seemed very happy with this arrangement but they were also happy to see us. We sneaked some of our breakfast to them and they were even more happy.

Back on the road again....only about a million more hours to go....The car sick people got middle seats...

and the three of us sat in the way back seat. It was very cozy and very bumpy. The two side seats had belts but there was not belt for the middle seat. And...we had to have the driver slow down several times because we were literally coming out of our seats and bumping our heads on the roof of the van....

We stopped several times to walk around a bit...meaning we were a little to fast getting to our next check point and needed to kill some time. So....we took pictures of things...like these flowers

At this stop there was actually something to see. We walked down to a creek bed and watched the water powered hammers that were used to make incenses.

The water turned the wheel that made a large wooden hammer looking thing rub against the rocks.

Little bits of the wood rubbed off the wooden hammer head and created a watery paste. When the paste is dry it makes a powdery substance that is then molded into incense sticks.

There were many of these along the creek. When the wooden hammer head is rubbed down to a small piece they replace it with another chunk of wood.

More of the creek

People at the creek

Back in the car......the packaging of our cliff bars are starting to expand because of the altitude.

We made it to Shigatse in time for our papers to be processed and enjoyed lunch at The Third Eye Restaurant. We ate at this same restaurant the last time we were in Tibet.

On this day we were all feeling a little bit like the cliff bars....not so good. Altitude really does have an effect on your system. Headaches, stomach issues, and the feeling that you just ran a marathon , loss of appetite ......to name just a few symptoms. Tucker too the medicine but it seemed that it made the rest of us sick....as in throwing up....so...most of us stopped taking them.

The ceiling in the restaurant

Decorations on the walls

Outside the restaurant

Back on the road again.....this is what we saw...for miles and miles and miles....sort of looks like eastern Washington and eastern Oregon

Yup...we are still in the car.....

Are we there yet? Not even close...but we are 5000 km from Shanghai. There is a monument to prove it.

When we stopped at the 5000 km sign these little kids came running to greet us.

They were very cute and needed a good scrubbing. Yup...that's snot...this was the first of many snotty noses that we saw while in Tibet.

The last time we were in Tibet the little kids asked for Bi...which means pen or pencil. So this time we were prepared and had pens and paper to give the kids.

They loved them!!! I thought about all the pens and pencils we have laying around our house and how much we take them for granted.

Still driving....we went up and down in elevation. At the top of the mountains there were prayer flags.

They are really spectacular when the wind is blowing and there are thousands of them.

We stopped at this guest house to us the "facilities". This is the door into the guest house. The "facilities" were down a hallway. The men's and woman's were separated by a wall. Each small room had two holes cut through the concrete floor which exposed the ground below. Very simple, very smelly, and I could not wait to get out of there!!!

Back in the car.......More scenery


We stopped at the top of one of the tallest mountains (I think it was about 16,ooo feet) to look at the view. There were a few people there and we gave the kids pens and paper. There were one or two adults there also...and they wanted the the same....so I made the mistake of giving them each one and then suddenly there was a mob at the van....I don't know where they came from but it was a bit frightening. After that we said we would only give them to the kids.

This is one of the women that came to our van

More prayer flags

and more....

local transportation

Oh my gosh! We found something that said Mt Everest. We were soooooooo excited. But...Are we there yet......no! Back in the van for more driving......We have some serious TB by this time.

And then...after a very very long day (13 hours in the car) we arrive at our camp site in Old Tingri. Thank heaven we can get out of the car!!!

Now this is my way to camp!

Our tents were already set up, we were greeted by our cook with tea and hot water for washing our hands and faces. And...look at that beautiful blue sky.

Our dining tent....also ready for us along with our first "outdoor" meal. By the time we finished eating it was dark and cold and windy....but we did not care because we were out of the car and ready to start hiking.

The next morning our guide told us that we had another three hour drive to our "start the hike here" location. ARRRRGGGGG!