Can You Hear It?

I can.  It is called silence and it is wonderful.  Tim had to work late this evening, both kids were in bed AND asleep by 7:45 and the dishes are done.  So I am sitting here with no television, no whining (except for the glass of red beside me) and the only noise I hear is the tapping of the keys as I type.

I want to thank you all for your words of solidarity through comments, emails, and the thoughts that, those of you who didn't write, were having.  Last night was much better with only Nicholas getting up to crawl into bed with us and then going right back to sleep.  The only problem I had was getting up this morning.  I guess I took those Advil PM a little too late because when Ryan woke up at seven I crawled back into bed after getting him settled with some cereal and television (bad Mommy!).  I managed to stay awake until Nicholas got up to keep Ryan company then I dozed on and off until 9:20.  I awoke just before Ayi arrived and even then it was only guilt that got me up.

While making breakfast for myself and the kids Celine called to see if we were coming to Carrefour.  She wanted to go within a half hour and I knew there was no way we would be ready by then so I told her to go ahead without us.  I also figured that if we were going to Happy City that it would be for a long time and Celine was only going for groceries.  As it turned out, on our way to Carrefour we met up with her and Caroline as they were on their way home.  It was a good thing she didn't wait for us.  We arrived at Happy City shortly after eleven and didn't get home until two o'clock this afternoon.  The boys had a lot of fun even though it was very busy and there were a lot of small kids there today which means they have to take it a little easier.  We finally left when Nicholas wasn't feeling so well anymore.  I guess he hadn't fully recovered from his bug.

When we got home I was hungry and was trying to decide on a late lunch or a snack and I asked the kids what they wanted.  Nicholas replied, "Can't you just sit down for a few minutes and relax?".  Okay, I guess if my four year old is telling me to relax I had better do it.  I'm not sure if I mentioned it on another post and I'm too lazy to go back and look but one day, after we grabbed some snacks in the kitchen and were heading to the living room he said, "Mommy, let's go and be French".  Earlier I had described French people as being very relaxed so I think he got the words confused, or maybe he was just being accurate.  Anyway, I sat down for a little bit until I got too hungry and made milkshakes for us.  My 'milkshakes' consist of banana, blueberries, pineapple, strawberries (when I can get them) and soy milk mixed up in my Magic Bullet.  Nicholas likes them a lot and Ryan will have some once in a while.  It's a great way to get some fruit into them.

A little later on Celine and Caroline came over for a visit, their first time to our place.  Caroline loves to watch the boys and she just started crawling two days ago so she is a busy bee.  Poor Celine, who is also having trouble with her kid getting up too early, had been awake since four in the morning.  I really think that if China would consider having time zones, a lot of this trouble could be avoided.  Perhaps if we all write a letter to the government...

Back to reality.  When Celine and Caroline left I made supper and got the kids to bed.  Then I did the dishes and now, here I sit with my glass of wine enjoying the quiet.  I am very excited for tomorrow when I will finally get to visit the Wu'ai market as well as the fabric market again.  I need to find a purse and wallet for myself and who knows what else.  Then tomorrow evening we are going to Cristina and Daniel's for supper which should be a lot of fun.  Another busy weekend in Shenyang!