Awe Funk!

Today I was in a funk.  I was tired, as usual, and did not want to get up.  The idea of going for the blood test went out the window in the middle of the night when Ryan was hungry and wanted some yogurt.  They have to have an empty stomach for the test.  I guess we will try again another day.

Although it's been hot here, 32 degrees today, there hasn't been much of a blue sky and it's very humid.  This isn't my favorite kind of weather so it puts me a little out of sorts.  I wasn't doing too badly until we got on Skype with my mom this morning and she was showing us the yard and swing set and Nicholas decided he wanted to go home.  That got him quite sad and I actually started thinking about maybe the three of us, me, Ryan and Nicholas, making a trip home during the summer.  This was especially tempting since just last night Tim mentioned to me that if we wanted to go home for a visit to go ahead anytime.  Just out of curiosity I had a look at the price of flights.  Michelin does give us one trip back to Canada each year but we are saving that for Christmas.  So, the prices for a flight home in the near future - $2500!  Each.  I don't think so.

Really, I don't want to leave I just have to get back to doing more stuff.  This morning I played indoor soccer with the boy, did some puzzles and practiced letters with them until Rachel came at 10am for my Chinese lesson.  It went very well and I am now learning how to pronounce different countries, how to introduce myself and other people and how to ask questions.  I already had an idea of how to tell people our names but at least now I can better explain that I am Canadian.  Most people here assume we are Meiguoren (American).  Now I can set them straight with "Wo shi Jianadaren".

After the lesson I made some lunch then put Ryan to bed for a nap.  Nicholas has been quite fascinated with whales and dolphins lately so I looked on Netflix for something that he and I could watch together.  I found Ocean World from BBC's Blue Planet and I decided to lay down on the couch while we watched.  It started with a big blue whale and showed other whales, dolphins, etc. so Nick was happy with it.  I only lasted about five minutes before I dozed off and he watched the rest of the show himself.  I don't think that was such a good thing.  When it was over he woke me up and described how he had seen an orca, one of his favorite whales, attacking a baby whale of another species.  Apparently the orcas kept pushing the baby down to drown it while the mother would keep trying to get it to the surface.  In the end, the orcas won and after the baby whale was dead it showed them taking bites out of it.  He said it was scary and then added, in a sad voice, "Then the mommy whale had to continue her journey alone".  Why does nature have to be so brutal?  I guess we won't be watching that one again anytime soon.  Perhaps we will stick to Diego.

Just after Nicholas woke me up my phone rang and I couldn't be bothered to get up off the couch to answer it.  Then it rang again so I decided I'd better see who was calling.  It was Celine so I called her back and I'm glad I did.  She wanted to know if she could bring Caroline over for a little while so she could get some of her cleaning done.  I said, "Of course!" and within twenty minutes they were here.  Nicholas came to the door with me and I'm not sure whether it was him or me but Caroline was very happy to see at least one of us.  We brought her in and she played with the toys that Nicholas had brought out to the living room for her.  He is quite the mother hen, always concerned about what would be too small for her to play with and whether or not she could, would or should chew on something.  We listened to music and danced around and it was a nice pick-me-up.  When Celine came back we had a chat while she fed Caroline then it was time for them to go home and I started on supper and the did dishes I had failed to do all day.

Tonight we had a quick supper then I had to go to the store right outside our complex for bananas.  I asked the boys if they wanted to come, thinking it would be a quick ten minute trip.  This was around 6:30.  When we got outside, except for the hazy look around us, it was a very nice evening.  On the way back from the store we decided to go to the playground for a few minutes.  The boys got into the sand and were having a great time so we stayed out for a bit.  They ate four of the eight bananas I had purchased while they played and even though it was getting quite dark, it was too nice to come inside.  Even though this is the longest day of the year the sun had set by 7:30.  Another little boy and his mother came out and he had a new set of sand toys so Nicholas and Ryan played with him for a long time.  When we finally came in it was 8:30 and the boys then had to have a bath because the were filthy from the sand.  It turned out to be a great time to play since it was cooler and although there were bugs, they weren't the biting kind.  Nicholas asked if we could do it again tomorrow night.  If they sleep in a little or have a nap we will go out again.  It was actually a little energizing.  I guess Ryan thought so too since it's ten o'clock and he's lying here on the couch next to me asking for more yogurt.

I think I am out of my funk so now I just have to get Nicholas out of his.  Tomorrow I have my massage and after that I will find something fun for us to do.  Next week we are going to go to the water park and hopefully we can make that a biweekly outing for the rest of the summer.  It's a lot of fun there.

I have a few pictures from the weekend now.  On Saturday I went to Celine's apartment and saw the dresses she had made for herself and Caroline.

Isn't she adorable!  That is the largest I could make the picture without having it blurry.

This is Sue (the seamstress) and Celine at the fabric market:

Here I am at the fabulous Wu'ai market which looks more like a shopping mall.

My new purse that I am absolutely loving:

My "Hermes" wallet:

I may see about going back to the market on Sunday.  I would love to look around some more and Tim wants me to get electric clippers and a good pair of scissors to cut his and the boys' hair.  Is he crazy?  Perhaps, but I will give it a try.

I hope everyone is doing well.  Enjoy your day/night!