A Day in the Life of Carleigh

I know I've got typos and I could have spent a bit more time, but that's time I don't have! Enjoy it. :) (Just click on the thumbnail below to view the slide show.)

Elias: The Little Businessman

The other day, Elias got it in his head that he needed some more money. He asked me what he could do to earn money and I told him that he was expected to work around the house for free.

So he decided to make a whole bunch of paper airplanes and paper "twirly things," take them down to the sand pile where all the kids play after school, and sell them. I felt sorry for him because I knew he wouldn't sell anything and even worse, the wind was blowing pretty hard and I just knew they would all be swept away.

But he came home with 11 RMB.

Watch out Wall Street, Elias Marler is on his way!

I was in another wreck.

This time, I was on my pedal bike, though. Four men on electric bikes decided to all go around me at the same time, but rather than all going on one side, they went on both sides and they were REALLY close to me. It was luckily the last bike that knocked me down and I hit my bum HARD. It hurts so bad! In true Chinese fashion, we just got back on our bikes. He spoke Suzhou-nese to me, as if I would understand that, but so that he wouldn't have to explain anything. I think--my brain wasn't really listening to him as I was trying to make sure the body parts worked--he also said, "Bu hao yi si" which in my opinion, is just like saying, "I'm sorry that happened," rather than saying "I'm sorry." I kept jumping every time someone else passed me.

We've had a good weekend. Ate Burger King for lunch this afternoon. Brad ate TWO Whoppers, more than half of a Junior Whopper, the rest of the kids' ice cream and tons of fries. I joked that he had about 150 fat grams but considering ONE Whopper has 47 grams of fat, I'm pretty sure he really did reach 150 grams. That's just gross.

Zuri screamed (literally) for some kimchi, so I gave him some and he now knows what "spicy" is. I kept pointing to it asking him what it was and he would say, "picy!" That kid talks so much. Honestly, he won't shut up. I think he's like a little girl. If he has nothing to say, then he sings. And if he doesn't feel like singing, then he just makes up gibberish. Sometimes, my brain just feels like it never gets a moment of peace.

Elias is one of those kids who always has food all over his face. How can he not feel it?

"Big Garlic" Revisited.

I forgot to mention that "big garlic" is simply what the Chinese call regular garlic. Ezra's teacher explained that they basically pickle the garlic by putting it in vinegar for a few days. It must also have sugar in it because Ezra KEEPS eating it.

Today, he told me he had five cloves. FIVE WHOLE CLOVES of garlic. It is obnoxious. I walk by him and my nostrils burn. Literally.

Apparently, the Chinese believe that garlic kills viruses. It's true, Ezra hasn't been sick since he started eating the stuff but I'm not sure anyone else in the family has either.

Ezra now thinks it is funny that we talk about how much he stinks and I'm sure that encourages him to eat more. I just keep telling myself that it's better than if he was so embarrassed that he never would eat it again; the kid's got confidence. We were in the car the other day and my friend's son (who is Ezra's age but goes to a different pre-school) said to Ezra, "You stink! I'm sitting in the floor [away from you]...Here, take this gum." No one had mentioned it either. It's a raunchy smell.

Brad left the camera today! I tried to hide it yesterday under Zuri's coat but he found it, haha. But today, I got a few fun pictures.

I just don't understand what the Chinese have with neatness. They love gardens and nature and yet can't accept that petals on the ground is also beautiful. This guy was shaking the trees to make the blossoms fall off and then "raking" them up.


This isn't the weirdest thing I've seen on an electric bike. I once even put a lawn chair, the kind you can lay down in and only folds in half, around my neck and pedaled it on my bike to our new apartment. When in Rome, er, China...


And my pretty red-headed boy:

Funny thing happened today.

My body has been aching pretty badly today. In fact, it felt the same way I always feel at the beginning of my pregnancy. I jokingly mentioned to my friend that I was going to take a pregnancy test (since Brad had the big V back in December but has never been tested to see if he's sterile Terrell yet). She said she had one from America in her closet that she didn't need and she'd give it to me. So I went into the bathroom and took it.

And it came back positive.

I was a bit freaked out, unable to decide which emotion I felt. My body was smiling and my heart was happy but my brain was thinking about breastfeeding for a year (or 19 months), diabetic diets, getting fat and all the other unpleasant things that come along with pregnancy.

I took another Chinese made pregnancy test and it came back negative. So I started reading about false positives. While they happen very rarely, they can happen in some situations, one of which is if the test is expired. I called Sarah and asked her to look at the box for the expiration date and she happened to look at the picture on the back of the box. Being an old pro at pregnancy and pregnancy tests, I had neglected to do it.

While most tests give you two lines if you are pregnant and one if you're not, this one gives a PLUS sign or a NEGATIVE sign as well as an additional line (that's let's you know the test is finished). So, I mistook the negative sign as my second line. I wasn't ever pregnant.

My reaction was bittersweet. I know that our family is complete and I'm ready to move on to the next phase of my life but I will definitely miss those sweet, cuddly moments with a small baby.

Zuri has potty mouth

Today, ayi was vacuuming and Zuri couldn't hear the TV and he started yelling, "AYI! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" and when she didn't understand him, he went to her and pulled her around to face him, "SHUT UP!" This is funny as I type it, but it's NOT really funny because A. I have no idea how he learned it and B. it's freakin' rude!

Pictures (Tai Hu, Elias' presentation)

Elias had a presentation Thursday at school. He made a poster board about America and even his own Power Point presentation. He had downloaded the Star Spangled Banner as the background music. I made banana bread to feed the others American food. It was good and a LOT neater than I would have ever thought of him. Afterwards, we went to the gym and had a relay race. Of course, they transferred bears from one plate to another using chop sticks. His team won. (And he did better than a few adults.) The parents then played the children and it cracks me up how surprised Chinese/Koreans are when this white girl shows proficiency with chopsticks.









Here's what Brad makes (and what he's always doing with my camera):


I mentioned last weekend that we went to Tai Hu to see the Plum Blossoms with two other families both of which also have three boys under the age of seven. Here are some pictures of that excursion:











Ezra was doing his usual goofy smile for the picture and I told him to look thoughtful so this is his pose:






We had a great time!

Zoobedoo likes the green stuff.

Zuri scared me this morning. I was cleaning out the cabinets (I have lots of containers full of crackers and teas that we haven't touched in a long time) and he reached up and grabbed my hot cup of coffee off the counter. He began wailing. I quickly jerked his clothes off. The coffee had landed on his face, neck and hands. They were so pink.

Ayi and I applied cold water and he calmed down. The pink is almost completely gone so it must not have been too hot. I'm so relieved.

He has done something TWICE now that is so funny. Here's our conversation, both were similar in nature with the same outcome.

"Zuri, do you want a haircut?"

"NO!"

"Do you want a cracker?"

"NO!"

"Do you want a diaper change?"

"NO!"

"Do you want a kiss?"

"NO!"

"Do you want to go play?"

"NO!"

"Do you want daddy?"

"NO!"

"Do you want a million dollars?"

"YEEEEEEESH!!!"

That's all, folks.

We've been busy today! We woke up early and went swimming. I swam 18 lengths straight, which is almost 400 meters. The kids had a wonderful time. Ezra really is becoming a daredevil...Elias is getting good...Zuri floated on his own a bit for me.

Afterwards, we had to run back to our complex for Elias' piano lesson. He did good, I think, although it wasn't very long because we were a bit late.

From there, Elias and his friend had set up a play date. So we went over to their house for about an hour. Zuri and I stayed out in the sand pile for a little while because he was having such a good time playing with a little girl there. I really need to get him some new shovels and pails because I think ayi has left all of ours outside. I'll just have to remind her to be more careful.

We ate lunch at Mr. Pizza and got new movies and coffee from Starbucks. I convinced Brad to stay for a back massage at "Dragonfly" and I took the kids on home (check Elias' blog). After about a half-hour struggle trying to get Zuri to fall asleep (that kid is so freakin' stubborn!), I began straightening up the house. In the meantime, Brad came home and fixed my bike. I then biked for about 4 miles. I have always enjoyed biking but today it was so boring. I need to remember Elias' iPod next time (which also has my play list on it).

Back home, I studied some Chinese, Elias went to another play date, Ezra played some Mario Wii tennis and then dinner.

I am EXHAUSTED now. Besides wrestling Zuri to sleep(which is oh, so relaxing *roll eyes*), I've barely sat down all day.

According to WiiFit this evening, I weigh more than I have in a long time but I feel like I'm constantly having to pull up my pants so I guess muscle really does weigh more than fat. (I've been trying to do some hard exercise every day but I haven't mentioned it.)

Yesterday, we went to Tai Hu with two other families who have three boys all under the age of 7. We had three red heads, three cotton tops and three black headed boys (that's NINE boys). I'm sure we were the talk of many conversations. The kids had fun. I'll post pictures tomorrow but I'm off to take a hot shower and enjoy a glass of wine for now.

Blue SLIP

Elias got a blue slip today for play fighting. Three blue slips and you're expelled. We had had a discussion with his teacher about how next time she caught him, she was going to give him one and Elias shaped up, even so much as to receive a second email home about how much improved his behavior was. And now this. I'm so angry.

I told him he was going home to public school if he got kicked out and he just wouldn't ever see us. His response?

"What's public school?"

The problem with dialects

I was a couple of days late paying for Ezra's school. I went in there today to pay and there was another woman in there with her son who was also paying.

She knelt down next to her young son and started saying things in Chinese like, "Foreigner! Those are foreigners. Look at the foreigners." I've done similar things many times with Zuri trying to teach new words. Of course, I would never point out "foreigners" (even in America) but I don't think it's rude to point out the trees or birds to your child.

Anyway, one of the women working in the office said, "They don't understand." I get this all the time and I as usual, I just ignored it.

So then the mother started saying to her son, "Doggies! Doggies!" She was saying it over and over again and I began to take offense. Why was she calling us dogs? That's even ruder...is this some kind of name the Chinese call foreigners (like "long noses" or "devils") that I've just never heard before?

In true Carleigh-fashion, I couldn't help myself. I turned around and said in Chinese, "Are you calling us dogs?"

They all laughed at me. Apparently, in standard Chinese, the word for "big brother" (which is the relationship between Ezra and the little boy in China)is the same as the word for "doggie" in Suzhou-nese.

Guess ya really do learn something new everyday.

It has rained for over a week

One rainy day, I came home from school and ayi and Zuri were watching a movie. They're not allowed to do this but I didn't mind because it was raining so hard. Anyway, they were watching it in French which cracked me up. Neither one of them cared what was said. Zuri is mesmerized by the movie "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." I've never known him to have such good concentration.

Yesterday was a good day in Carleigh-world. Last week, I had misplaced my favorite metal-ish, double-insulated cup that I bought in the states (because they're so expensive here). The first place I went actually LOOKED for it for me (and in several places). In the past, when you lose something here and go back for it, they just tell you, without looking as if they are all-knowing, that they don't have it. Alas, no cup. The second place HAD it! I was so happy; I had even run into a friend and told her that I thought it would be a miracle if they actually would return my cup.

Secondly, because it was STILL rainy, I asked the cab driver to wait for me. I told her that I would give her 5 yuan if she would. Later, she refused to take it! This is actually the second driver to do this in just a few days so maybe I should change my opinion on the "All Chinese are out to steal money from Westerners." There are some honest people out there, I'm VERY happy to report.