Rutabaga?

Only four more until Nanny gets here on Sunday morning.  We are all super excited to show her where we live and the sights around our home.  To pass the time I have actually been productive today.  Yesterday was blah with Nicholas going to school the same way he has been, crying.  I had my Chinese lesson in the morning then a wonderful massage in the afternoon.  Last night I just didn't feel like writing.

Today was much better.  Before I even got up Nicholas had himself dressed with jeans on and a belt.  He looked really nice and was very proud of himself for getting the belt on properly all by himself.  After Ryan dragged me out of bed we had some breakfast and got ready to go outside.  We were babysitting Caroline and decided that a walk around Eastern Venice and lollipops were in order.  It was a lovely day for a walk and we had a nice time.

After some lunch Ryan went for a nap and Nicholas and I took on the daunting task of cleaning out my closet.  When we moved to China I brought all the clothes I own (with the one exception of my wedding dress) and it was a lot.  I thought it would be best if I waited until fall came to go through everything and see what still fits and what doesn't.  I got rid of all my capri pants, most of them were too big and others were just worn out.  I also relieved myself of several pairs of jeans and pants and old sweaters.  I also went through the kids clothes and purged from those too.  In total I have five garbage bags of clothes to get rid of but I'm not sure what to do with them. I am working on that though.

When I was going through some of the containers we keep in our dumping ground office, I brought down a hockey bag full of gear, most of it given to Nicholas by his cousin, Brett.  He took out every piece and tried it on and while he did Ryan found a helmet for himself as well as skates, two different ones.  When I reminded Nicholas that the gear had been Brett's he said that when he goes home he will thank him for it.  Just in case he forgets, Brett, "Thanks!" from Nicholas and me.  That gear kept the boys busy for about two hours this afternoon and evening and gave me some peace for a while.  It was great.

This afternoon we went back outside, the boys in the mood for hockey.  We took two nets, seven hockey sticks (just in case we had joiners), two balls and two water bottles.  We played for about a half hour until they had enough and wanted to go to the playground.  Back inside with all the gear then out again to run around.  It was such great weather, the kind I love.  Along the way a Chinese man stopped and spoke to me in English about Nicholas and Ryan.  He wondered what school they went to as he is thinking about sending his grandsons to an English school.  He lives on the first floor and invited us over to see his garden.  We went but didn't stay too long.  His wife didn't seem to keen on us being there and he explained that he had two homes, one here and another near the airport, and spends time at both.  Wonder why.  Anyway, he gave us a vegetable out of the garden although I tried to refuse.  I had no idea what it was, still don't, and didn't want to waste it.  He said to wash, peel and cut it up to put it in a salad.  It may be some strange Chinese vegetable or perhaps it's something simple and I'm just not veggie savvy.  I think it could be a rutabaga and rather than google it just yet, I will challenge my worldly readers to inform me.

I don't eat salads much these days so I will likely try it raw and if that's no good I will attempt to stir-fry it, since that's what I do now.  If you have any better ideas, I'm all ears.