Help Wanted

You might notice a lot more misspeallings ans sentences that end in prepositions from now on. That's because I've lost my editor. Yep, Annie has succumbed to the peer pressure and started her own blog. Chech her out at chitchatfromchina.blogspot.com

Air travel observations...revisited

We've touched on this before, but given that we spend quite a bit of time on airplanes, with Scott's business travel and the family travel we do, we see a lot of odd things. Airplanes are like melting pots for the weird and bizarre. On a 45 minute flight from Grand Rapids to Chicago you're not likely to discover your seat mate's wacky behavior, but on a 14 hour flight from Shanghai to Chicago, one's warts are on display for all to see.

Mad farters, domestic disputes, nervous breakdowns, "BO", over talkers, etc. You name it and we've seen it ... and/or smelled it.

However, it's not just the passengers that have us scratching our heads from time to time. The airlines themselves are a bit quirky. For example, on a recent flight, our boarding passes had the words "nonsmoker" printed on them. A few perplexing questions popped in our heads. Hasn't smoking been banned on airplanes for years? Does it matter if one is a smoker ... are they called out for some reason? Was there any question in any one's minds that Juliet and Lillie were nonsmokers?

In our opinion, they should have used that line on the card to call out one of the qualities from above to alert the flight crew ... i.e. "passes gas something fierce ... don't let this guy eat kidney beans or cabbage." That would benefit everyone in the long run.

215 Days Later

Greetings friends! After a hiatus of about 7 months we're back to the blog. A lot has happened since we were in Guangzhou in April and posted that Lillie's adoption was final. Some of the highlights:

1. May - We headed south to Sanya (aka the Hawaii of China). While not exactly luaus and pineapples, it was a very pleasant smog-free beach. And where else in the world can you stay at the Ritz-Carlton and see not one, but two sets of parents strip their little boys down to nothin' to pee in the bushes?

2. Summer - The girls spent the summer in Dallas and Lillie officially became a US citizen. The only difference now between her and a natural-born citizen is that she cannot be President. Governor of California? No problem ... just not the leader of the good ole' US of A.

3. August - We moved to a new house here in Shanghai. The old house was about 15 minutes from Carrefour and given Annie's new affinity to munch on frog spleen we decided to get a little closer to the store.

4. Fall - Shanna turned one and Lillie celebrated number five. Both are doing well even through Shanna at 14 months old is now pushing 24 pounds and Lillie only weighs 28. A career as an NFL linebacker might be in her future.

5. October - For the Chinese National Day holiday, we decided not to go to Beijing for the 60th anniversary celebration of the People's Republic of China (once you've seen one tank motoring down the streets of an urban metropolis, you've seen them all). Instead, Anne, Scott, Juliet, and Lillie headed to Europe for a few days of vacation. We hit Paris, Frankfurt, and Berlin before heading back home to China.

6. October - Shanna began walking which has us all a bit on edge. Given her height and weight, a rumbling, bumbling toddler can wreak a bit of havoc.

We will get you caught up over the next few weeks on more of the going ons around here, but in summary, we are alive, well, and thriving in our home away from home.