Well, the bidding process is almost over! DH has been offered a position in DC for the next two years to start next summer (Hmm that was an awkward sentence). I'm excited, but...
ACK! We're going back to the US! This means I'm going to have to mop my own floors and clean my own toilets! And OH NO I'm going to have to get a job! Who is going to hire me? I've been at home now for more than 5 years? How do you translate overseas stay at home mom into recognizable skills on a resume? And yes, I do have skills. I can organize a move, including suitcases, airfreight, ground freight, and storage shipments across continents, seasons, and languages. I can arrange transportation for an 80lb dog including import/export paperwork requirements. I can organize a meal for over 15 people with one oven, 4 burners, and no catered or boxed dishes (meaning no stove top stuffing, or pre cooked turkey from the grocery store). I can think about what we are going to have for Xmas in October so that everything is ordered and arrives at post before the holiday. I can arrive in a country speaking only minor amounts of the language and find grocery stores, vegetable markets, bakeries, etc. I can start from scratch every two years....
*sigh* despite my whining it will be good to go back. We'll be super close to family. I'll be able to understand the dominant language spoken. Everything will be much more convenient. I'm curious to see if all my hard won knowledge will become rusty once I am back in the US and can go to the store to buy granola and yogurt and fresh baked bread. But oh the cheese, and ooh fresh milk. Oh and one stop shopping! I'm curious how much time shopping and making food will consume when I don't have to go to three different stores for my weekly shopping and still not find everything that I'm looking for. And we'll be living in our own house, so if I want to paint a wall, I can. Oh to have color on the walls! I can't wait to paint! I'm going to have to start looking now to see what colors I want to use!
Monday, November 07, 2011
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Out with Babes
So Babes and I walked up to (what I feel to be) one of the better dumpling shops in our area. We had a nice walk there, and then a nice lunch and a nice walk back. While we were there it crossed my mind that I have not done a "useful things to have when traveling with a child" post. And while none of this is earth shattering, if you've got a toddler or preschooler and you travel you might like to have some (or all) of this stuff with you.
1. Umbrella (in a lot of places rain pops up unexpectedly and it's always nice to have a tiny umbrella to keep dry)
2. Travel fork and spoon in carrying case. (I have been many places overseas and in the US where a child sized fork and spoon made all the difference between me feeding my child and my child feeding herself)
3. Scissors with protective case (CANNOT BE CARRIED ON A PLANE) these are awesome, I saw some Taiwanese mom chopping up noodles with a pair of scissors and I've been carrying them ever since. They make quick work of noodles, dumplings, large pieces of meat, vegetables and fruit. Much easier than trying to carry a knife, and easier to lean over and cut something too.
4. Hand Sanitizer.
5. Liquid soap in a travel sized hand sanitizer container. Can I tell you how many times I've gone into a public restroom and not had soap. Call me fastidious, but my hands feel yucky for the rest of the day if I have gone to a bathroom and only had water to scrub with.
6. Wet ones (I used to carry a lot more, but now this is just for emergencies)
7. Travel sized bug spray.
8. Travel packs of tissues. These can be lifesavers, not only for blowing your nose, but also makes excellent replacement toilet paper.
9. Water bottle (how many times have you gone somewhere and the only drinks they have are cokes?)
There are other very useful travel items, but these are things I carry in my purse. Because I go into public bathrooms too. ;)
If you can think of anything that I've missed, or that you've found really helpful let me know. I'm always looking to make my life simpler.
1. Umbrella (in a lot of places rain pops up unexpectedly and it's always nice to have a tiny umbrella to keep dry)
2. Travel fork and spoon in carrying case. (I have been many places overseas and in the US where a child sized fork and spoon made all the difference between me feeding my child and my child feeding herself)
3. Scissors with protective case (CANNOT BE CARRIED ON A PLANE) these are awesome, I saw some Taiwanese mom chopping up noodles with a pair of scissors and I've been carrying them ever since. They make quick work of noodles, dumplings, large pieces of meat, vegetables and fruit. Much easier than trying to carry a knife, and easier to lean over and cut something too.
4. Hand Sanitizer.
5. Liquid soap in a travel sized hand sanitizer container. Can I tell you how many times I've gone into a public restroom and not had soap. Call me fastidious, but my hands feel yucky for the rest of the day if I have gone to a bathroom and only had water to scrub with.
6. Wet ones (I used to carry a lot more, but now this is just for emergencies)
7. Travel sized bug spray.
8. Travel packs of tissues. These can be lifesavers, not only for blowing your nose, but also makes excellent replacement toilet paper.
9. Water bottle (how many times have you gone somewhere and the only drinks they have are cokes?)
There are other very useful travel items, but these are things I carry in my purse. Because I go into public bathrooms too. ;)
If you can think of anything that I've missed, or that you've found really helpful let me know. I'm always looking to make my life simpler.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Granola
Did you know how easy it is to make your own granola? It's even easier than making yogurt. As with everything else my first thought was "why make it when you can buy it?" So I never bothered, but, as with everything else, we ran out of granola and I looked into buying it, but it is expensive! So I finally broke down and looked up how to make it. It didn't look too bad so I decided to go for it.
It's messy and involves smooshing ingredients together with your hands so I enlisted my resident ingredient smoosher to help me out.
ingredients in the bowl.
then the smooshing
after the baking in the oven, add the dried fruit (if you like that sort of thing)
tasty granola in your cabinet with the rest of your cereal! Did I mention that I love oats (oatmeal, granola, oatmeal bread, oatmeal muffins)? I think I might be turning into a horse.
It's messy and involves smooshing ingredients together with your hands so I enlisted my resident ingredient smoosher to help me out.
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| From Blogger Pictures |
ingredients in the bowl.
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| From Blogger Pictures |
then the smooshing
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| From Blogger Pictures |
after the baking in the oven, add the dried fruit (if you like that sort of thing)
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| From Blogger Pictures |
tasty granola in your cabinet with the rest of your cereal! Did I mention that I love oats (oatmeal, granola, oatmeal bread, oatmeal muffins)? I think I might be turning into a horse.
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Fall is in the Air
We're back in Chengdu, and the weather has turned grey and cool. Cooler weather always turns my mind towards soups, baking, and knitting. In fact, I had to make a run to the Yarn Market near the North Market today because I realized I did not have enough grey and black yarn to finish my shawl. I've only been to the yarn market once before, and that was during the summer. Back then it was a listless place with empty stalls, and brilliant sunshine driving the merchants under awnings. But today, all the stalls were bustling, there were little old Chinese ladies everywhere fingering the yarn (and my hair... grrr!) and discussing the colors and weights of yarn. And the colors! I had to keep my blinders on because I was only there for black and grey, but oh! I wanted to stop and touch and take home everything. I wish I had taken my camera because despite the greyness of the day (a usual occurrence in Chengdu) the yarn market was awash with happy colors. *sigh* but I digress.
Anyway, I have already made my first soup of the season (actually second soup, I made a baked potato soup earlier this week). My family loves Chicken n' dumplings.
Can you believe I'd never had it before I started cooking for myself? My dad despises dumplings so ne'er a dumpling was seen in my parents' house growing up, but in my house Chicken n' dumplings is a regular on the rotation, I can't wait for the weather to cool down so that I can make some more. Then I baked a loaf of bread (another sourdough oatmeal loaf) and made some pumpkin gingerbread for Halloween.
Oh! And I discovered that I can make more than fudge! I made these Halloween pumpkins out of peanut butter and confectioner's sugar! Super easy and super cute!
Up next: make your own granola.
Anyway, I have already made my first soup of the season (actually second soup, I made a baked potato soup earlier this week). My family loves Chicken n' dumplings.
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| From Blogger Pictures |
Oh! And I discovered that I can make more than fudge! I made these Halloween pumpkins out of peanut butter and confectioner's sugar! Super easy and super cute!
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| From Blogger Pictures |
Up next: make your own granola.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
The end
We have reached the end of our vacation. Surprisingly, we did not tour any temples, or visit farms, or do a lot of shopping, but we had fun. Our vacation routine was simple but relaxing. In the morning Babes would wake us up and we'd watch an hour or so of cartoons, this was followed by breakfast at the hotel and then off to the pool. After the pool we'd hit the town for lunch, then back to the room for quiet time and then back to the pool. We'd end the day with dinner then off to bed to repeat the next day. I thought I'd get bored with this routine, after all we were on vacation for two weeks, but it was relaxing and nice. I didn't even feel the need to get a massage or a pedicure (even though I really did need a pedicure).
Some thoughts on Bali.... First of all, the weather was GORGEOUS! Big blue skies, just the slightest touch of humidity to soften the breezes, and the temperature hovering right on the edge of hot. I think part of the reason we were reluctant to do anything was that we just wanted to soak up those blue skies. Coming from the grey days of Chengdu, blue skies are worth just sitting around in.
Second, the Balinese seem very friendly. They have that old fashioned customer service with a smile that you don't see very much anymore. I saw very few people with evil scowls. I wondered if the smile was the default expression of the Balinese and they were really happy at all. But i decided that I didn't care. I can't stop you from thinking bad thoughts about me, at least this way everyone looks pleasant.
Third, like Taiwan, religion in bali was part of their daily life. In front of every business, in the entrances to restaurants, every so often on sidewalks there were these little baskets of fruit, flowers, and rice that I assume were offerings to a God (are Hindu Gods Gods or gods?). There were tons of little mini temples or mini shrines everywhere. Driving from place to place you could see larger temples with people attending services in the neighborhoods we passed. Bali reminded me that Islam and Hindu are two religions that I know very little about.
Despite the touristy nature of Bali I really enjoyed myself. It is very nice to have the infrastructure there and not have to worry about little things, for instance everyone that we encountered spoke enough English to make transactions. I had drinks with ice in them (something I generally don't do when I travel) and didn't have tummy troubles.
Bali October 24, 2011
Some thoughts on Bali.... First of all, the weather was GORGEOUS! Big blue skies, just the slightest touch of humidity to soften the breezes, and the temperature hovering right on the edge of hot. I think part of the reason we were reluctant to do anything was that we just wanted to soak up those blue skies. Coming from the grey days of Chengdu, blue skies are worth just sitting around in.
Second, the Balinese seem very friendly. They have that old fashioned customer service with a smile that you don't see very much anymore. I saw very few people with evil scowls. I wondered if the smile was the default expression of the Balinese and they were really happy at all. But i decided that I didn't care. I can't stop you from thinking bad thoughts about me, at least this way everyone looks pleasant.
Third, like Taiwan, religion in bali was part of their daily life. In front of every business, in the entrances to restaurants, every so often on sidewalks there were these little baskets of fruit, flowers, and rice that I assume were offerings to a God (are Hindu Gods Gods or gods?). There were tons of little mini temples or mini shrines everywhere. Driving from place to place you could see larger temples with people attending services in the neighborhoods we passed. Bali reminded me that Islam and Hindu are two religions that I know very little about.
Despite the touristy nature of Bali I really enjoyed myself. It is very nice to have the infrastructure there and not have to worry about little things, for instance everyone that we encountered spoke enough English to make transactions. I had drinks with ice in them (something I generally don't do when I travel) and didn't have tummy troubles.
Bali October 24, 2011
In Bali
My first impression of Bali was not a favorable one. I have heard over and over again about the beauty of Bali, but my first thought after getting out of the taxi in Sanur was "tourist trap". Indeed this is the first place that we've been that has been so built up for tourists. The place where we stayed was on a long street stuffed full of tourist restaraunts, massage parlors, and souvenir shops. It was a little weird. (what is weirder is that I'm not someone who ever wants to get in touch with the native peoples or their whatever, so for me to be saying this is very odd) However after we went to bed and woke up the next morning to a brilliant blue sky and weather that was perfect, not too hot, not too cold I began to see the attraction. Despite the various tours that we could take to jungles, native villages, farms, or whatever, we spent almost all of our Bali vacation by the pool. The beautiful sun and the perfect weather did not inspire us to trek anywhere but to the pool. We did make it to the beach (Sanur beaches are NOT attractive) and then we went right back to the pool. The same was true for Ubud, although we did make it to the elephant farm which was alot of fun, but as soon as we were done we were right back pool side again. We have reached the end of our journey in Musadooah and the beaches here are beautiful, I would write more, but we are off to the beach.
Bali October 20, 2011
Bali October 20, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Sudden Showers
An interesting thing about the tropics are the sudden rain storms that will blow in from seemingly nowhere. On our last evening in Kuching (which means cat in Malay) as we set out for dinner we noticed sinister clouds in the sky. We hurried out to dinner carrying our umbrellas with us thinking that even if it rained we would be covered. Little did we know that rain in Malaysia does not mean light drizzle or even the type of heavy rain you get in the US. No, Malaysian rain storms give a new meaning to the term torrential downpour. As we were sitting in a food court that specialized in seafood the skies opened up and it rained in a steady sheet for at least an hour. At some point we realized that it was not really going to stop so when it lightened up to a heavy rain we made a break for it.
But more on the food court... The Top Spot, which is what the food court was called, specialized in sea food. Now, as I've gotten older I've gotten a lot more picky about what I put in my mouth. I've become one of those travelers that I used to scorn. I will eat at McDonalds if I have to, rather than eat at some local hole in the wall. The problem with local hole in the walls, is that you never know if eating there is going to be a great experience or if you are going to sit on the toilet for the next three days wishing you were dead. But I digress. At first blush the Top Spot did not look like some place that I wanted to eat in. Plastic tables and chairs, sea food out on display, and dim lighting which made it look dingy. But as we got closer I noticed the smell-or rather lack of a smell. Despite all the sea food everywhere I did not smell old sea food at all. In fact, there was a curious lack of smell. And despite the dinginess of the place it was very very clean. So we sat down to eat, and we ate, and we ate, and we ate some more. And it was good. It all tasted very fresh and flavorful.
But more on the food court... The Top Spot, which is what the food court was called, specialized in sea food. Now, as I've gotten older I've gotten a lot more picky about what I put in my mouth. I've become one of those travelers that I used to scorn. I will eat at McDonalds if I have to, rather than eat at some local hole in the wall. The problem with local hole in the walls, is that you never know if eating there is going to be a great experience or if you are going to sit on the toilet for the next three days wishing you were dead. But I digress. At first blush the Top Spot did not look like some place that I wanted to eat in. Plastic tables and chairs, sea food out on display, and dim lighting which made it look dingy. But as we got closer I noticed the smell-or rather lack of a smell. Despite all the sea food everywhere I did not smell old sea food at all. In fact, there was a curious lack of smell. And despite the dinginess of the place it was very very clean. So we sat down to eat, and we ate, and we ate, and we ate some more. And it was good. It all tasted very fresh and flavorful.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Welcome to Oz
We have left the gray and gloom of Chengdu for the rain and sudden showers of Malaysia. Babes was amazed by the brightness of the Malaysian sunshine and the colorful foliage even around the airport. Her first comment upon seeing the landscape outside of the airport windows was "It's just like Oz!" I laughed her off at first, but I can see how she might draw the parallel. We just finished reading the Wizard of Oz in chapter book form last month (If you have a 4 or 5 year old Oz makes a wonderful read aloud book) and just watched the movie for the first time a couple of days ago (part of my project to get Babes into reading, we'll read a chapter book and then watch the movie). Like Dorothy we left the dull gray sunshineless Chengdu (yes, the long dark of the Chengdu fall/winter/spring has started) flew through the air, only to emerge into a country that is filled with warm bright sunshine and beautiful colorful flowers.
We are not jet lagged, but we flew overnight to get here so yesterday we walked around in a bit of a haze. Hopefully today will be better and colorful pictures are to follow.
We are not jet lagged, but we flew overnight to get here so yesterday we walked around in a bit of a haze. Hopefully today will be better and colorful pictures are to follow.
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