Snow

Last night I dreamed that we were snowed in, and that my husband and I had nothing to do for the next five days but ski. There were no kids around. I'm not sure where my subconscious would have me ski unless Admiral was closed to traffic and the snow lasted for more than a day in this banana belt-part of Seattle. One interpretation is that I need some alone-time with my husband. The correct interpretation is that I am loving not only being home with my family and not working, but I am loving the fact that my husband is home. Not an hour goes by that he doesn't crack me up somehow.

Re-entry wasn't particularly easy. The first several days were a bit of a blur because we were all sleep-deprived and sick. Now that we are sleeping and healthy, our priorities are (1) making Georgia and Anna comfortable and happy; (2) preparing for the pending move; (3) and scrimping so that we can stretch our remaining income until closing on the sale of our house which is scheduled for July 19th, in that order.

Meredith (MCS's sister) and I are searching for a part-time nanny to care for Anna and Meredith's ten month-old son, Teddy, beginning the third week of July. In a mere two hours after posting the ad, I have received numerous e-mails from young women (mostly) with quite a bit of childcare experience. Of course we will conduct the necessary criminal and driving record background checks, but the most effective part of the selection process will be the in-person interview. Between the two of us, no one can possibly get past our collective bulls**t detectors. Most people submit stellar resumes, but if we can't stand to be around the person for more than ten minutes, then it won't matter what is on the resume. Here are the questions I am thinking of asking:

• Does female-pattern baldness run in your family? If so, what do you plan to do about it?
  Why do you think Paul Newman hasn't made any movies in awhile?
• If you had to pick between two left feet that couldn't be surgically corrected or being chased through the jungle by Pol Pot, which would you pick?
• Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
• Do you think there'll ever be a pill so that men can breast-feed?
• Use the word "bulbous" in a sentence.
• Clowns - funny or not?

After these questions the candidate will have to bench-press 320 lbs then make one of these in fifteen minutes.

Anna won't eat anything green or red. We must deprogram this trait.

Home - Day 3

When Marie Antoinette left Austria to marry Louis XVI of France, she left by carriage accompanied by French courtiers. At the border between France and the Hapsburg Empire, Marie Antoinette was required to complete the ceremonial act of stripping off all her clothes, leaving behind all her belongings, and dressing in French clothing before she crossed over into France. There is some dispute as to whether she was allowed to bring her dog with her into France.

After sixteen hours in the air we arrived home on Friday morning. Anna is now an American citizen. All the paperwork was completed in China, we took an oath at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou that all our documents were true and correct, and Anna was issued a Chinese passport and Immigration Visa. She became an American citizen at the first American portal through which she entered the United States, which was the immigration desk at SeaTac Airport. No ceremony.

Our days and nights have been flip-flopped since then, and last night was the first time we slept when everyone else slept. Sort of; I awoke at three a.m., but it's an improvement.

Anna is a dream-child. Other than her habit of falling over face-first like an infantryman when she doesn't get her way, she is pretty darn easy and well-adjusted. She's bright, happy, and inquisitive. Last night when I made dinner she hugged my legs and looked up at me and said, "Mama."

We're staying home for two more weeks to adjust to this big change in our family. We've sold our house and have purchased a larger house with a big yard and more bathrooms.

Anna is sleeping in our friends' Pack and Play because we don't yet have a crib. We thought she'd sleep in a toddler bed or in a twin, but she would most definitely not stay in bed.

Guangzhou - Day . . Um. . I forget.

Did I mention it's hot here? A couple of days ago we visited some botanical gardens during a heavy rainstorm. The rain didn't really cool us off, it just made the ground steamy. My skin is constantly "dewy." (read: sweaty).

I'm not complaining. Oh, except for one more thing. The staring.

There's staring and then there's staring. Before we arrived, I read that in the Chinese culture staring at others is completely acceptable. The city where we are staying caters to Americans adopting Chinese infants. Americans are everywhere and the economy depends upon American tourism. And whether it's sincere or not the Chinese people here are warm and gracious. I suspect it's sincere. Other than one time when a Chinese man stared at my boobs in the elevator all the way up to the ninth floor, the staring is usually fine because it's in a "oh, isn't it cute how that blond woman is carrying a Chinese child?"-sort of way.

Today we decided to venture off the beaten path without our guide so we took a taxi to an upscale shopping district larger than anything I've seen except maybe in Manhattan. Rolex, Cartier, Tiffany, all the expensive stuff that I don't pay attention to at home was there, as well as hundreds of shops and department stores full of merchandise I can't afford and don't need. There were no tourists, and no one spoke English or would help us find the elevators or the bathrooms. I asked one clerk for directions to the elevator and she smirked and looked away. Here, they stared at us in a "how dare you come into our county and take our Chinese baby back with you and, by the way, you are very fat and ugly"-kind of way. Time and time again Chinese shoppers stopped dead in their tracks, stared at us for two or three seconds, wrinkled up their noses then loped away like frightened woodland creatures. It was as if we were leading a herd of goats through the mall while wearing lederhosen.
I am not sure if I have a point here other than basic human kindness has no nationality, and neither does the cold shoulder. It's a good reminder to consider a similarly situated foreign person in the U.S. who needs to find a bathroom or an elevator. Even if they were herding goats, I would hope I would offer some help.

Guangzhou - Day Eight Part II

For family recreation, we swim every day. There's also a "gym" adjacent to the pool, which resembles Sears showroom floor in about 1975.

There's a treadmill,

a leg press, and

- what is Song Song laughing at?

She's laughing at Mommy, trying to reduce her hips and buttocks.

Guangzhou - Day Eight

The great thing about having a Chinese guide while we're here is being able to travel off the beaten path, away from the touristy spots. Yesterday we visited a Chinese herbal medicine market. If you've ever read Shakespeare's Macbeth, you'll recall the initial scene in which the three witches sit around a cauldron throwing weird stuff into it and agree to meet again to discuss Macbeth's fate. I think the witches probably shopped at a medicine market like this one.

The place smelled a little bit like a fish tank, made so much more fragrant by the stifling heat.

Tiger's feet apparently play a role in Chinese medicine, though I can't hazard a guess as to what it could possibly be. Each of these "paws" is probably about six inches across.

Right before I took this picture Georgia announced, "this is the last picture I'm going to pose for this year." Greta Garbo.

Sea horses, and

Centipedes, and

more centipedes. We then found a family that sold live scorpions who took a liking to Georgia. In Chinese they said, more or less, "You're beautiful. Look at those eyes. We like you. Here, have a a live scorpion." They put a big black scorpion in a Gatorade bottle and punched a hole in it with a knife. They handed the bottle to Georgia who looked at it for what it was - a poisonous crustacean. I asked the woman how long it would survive in the bottle. "Just throw it some meat now and then," was the response. Fortunately for Georgia a little Chinese boy asked her if he could have it and she said "Sure."

Check out the bottle in the middle of the front row of the following picture. Pickled snakes. Apparently they're used in Chinese wine. I hope not the Great Wall cabernet I've been buying at the 7-11 next to our hotel.

Cicadas.

We left the market a little less hungry than when we arrived.

In other news, Song Song can say, Mama, Dada, Gama, Jah Jah, and bye bye. She also bites and pinches. I didn't have to deal with that before. If anyone has any good advice regarding biting and pinching that doesn't involve child abuse, please let me know.

Guangzhou - Day Seven

Today we visited a 1500 year old Buddhist Temple. This is the tower, which is one of many buildings and temples on the site. The tower appears from the outside to have nine stories but there are actually seventeen levels on the inside. The number nine in Buddhism is a perfect number, which is obviously why Jerry Seinfeld filmed for nine seasons. There are seventeen levels inside to hold 1,000 Buddhas. I know this is a gross over-simplification. Hundreds of Chinese were there today lighting incense to pay respect to the Buddha and to pray. The haze from the incense was thick and smelled good. The monks were chanting, which was interesting. I tried to high-five the monks but they didn't respond.

Worshipers buy turtles from Buddhist monks which the monks release into the nearby river so the turtle can be free. Apparently this symbolizes a soul's release of karma.

Three two-story Buddhas sit in the temple shown below. The Buddha on the left symbolizes one's past lives, the Buddha in the middle one's present life, and the Buddha on the right one's future lives. I'm not having any future lives. I've made up my mind so I sort of gave the Buddha on the right the cold-shoulder.

It was difficult for us to walk through the grounds without being stopped by Chinese grandmothers. This happened to us probably three times during the hour we were there and each time they'd stare for a few seconds, then smile and touch the girls' hair and pinch their arms. Apparently, when an old person does this it means they find the child attractive; it's a compliment. Georgia felt a little like a spectacle, but Anna enjoyed it. The Chinese grandmothers are also very free with advice, such as the child needs a coat (it was ninety degrees and muggy!) or the child is too skinny.

Anna is beginning to assert herself; if we take something away from her she falls down limp, face down. At precisely four p.m. every day she takes off all her clothes, takes me to the bathtub and points to it so I'll give her a bath. Despite her early attachment to Elliott, I'm the only one who can hold her now and she screams if anyone else tries to. The agency told us not to try to break her of this habit just yet, thinking it's her way of adjusting. It's o.k with me generally, but it's too hot to carry her all the time and I'm constantly soaked with sweat.

Souvenier update: MCS's souvenier's are purchased. I've chosen a theme. Good times.

Sign of the Day - Friday, June 15th