No need to rush.

Kirsten just celebrated her 23rd birthday. Really??!!! Am I old enough to have a daughter that old?
She is amazing. She moved to Kansas City this fall, started graduated school in Speech Pathology and just loves her life. I know she misses some friends and Owen every now and then, but over all she has just spread her wings and taken off. I am so proud of her. I love when we talk about our clients and compare notes. We are on a different level than before and she is so supportive and knowledgeable in her field already. Of course we still talk about shopping, what to eat, how to cook something, Owen, friends, parties, all the everyday things, but I love where our relationship is going. She is still my baby girl, just growing up....Slowly I hope!!  There is no need to rush, as we know time already passes to quickly.

Trying to feel like like home

I just finished unpacking the last of the boxes. Our apartment is a good size for here in Shanghai, but the closet space is a bit of an issue. I have plenty of hanging clothes space, so I decided to add some shelving. Anything we do in the apartment needs to be run by the management office, so today the engineer came. He, two assistants and the office manager showed promptly at 3:00. Only one spoke english. The 5 of us stood in the tiny closet for 20 minutes. I drew a few pictures and in a few days I will have their sketch. I am looking forward to this drawing as Mike's large sweatshirts and sweaters along with my excess shoes and boots need a home.
Our pictures were hung as well. No offense to Mike but hanging anything,  even a shower curtain was an ordeal. This gentleman showed up today with his toolbox. I showed him where to hang each picture and he had them hung within minutes and beautifully. I highly recommend this. He marked, measured, hammered, drilled, and hung my paintings or pictures. It really feels like home now.

I go to work with E tomorrow. She's my client who has Autism. She loves Elmo and today at the International Book Store I found some Sesame Street workbooks. This is very exciting as E loves her I pad and can identify many of her letters and even trace them with an application that was downloaded. I need to get her to transfer this skill away from the I pad. I hope the workbooks help.
I may also have another client. A girl with selective mutism. She is 3 years old and has very good language skills at home. She is very verbal at home where she is comfortable and for the last 8 months in preschool no language/speech at all. I will meet with the teacher and parents next week.

On the social end. Mike and I got up early Sunday to watch the LSU/Bama game. It was 8:00 am for us, like college days. Eggs and Kegs. Mike had a couple of beers with breakfast and I had a Bailys with mine.  I do miss my college football.
Let's see this week ... I have a coffee / jewelry class.... a Chinese Cooking Class.. My Art Class... A Luncheon,  Ladies night out and I am going to the Flower Market on Friday. Plus I tutor E for 2 hours on Tues. /Thurs. I even workout 3 to 4 times a week at 6:45am. Yoga when I can fit it in at night.

Even though I stay busy. I still miss home. I miss my family, my sister, my mom, my kids, and my friends.
Maybe thats why I fill my days up so much.
Peace.
 
 

Tokyo, Japan

I left after Art Class on the 27th to meet Mike in Tokyo. I have been flying International for while and have made a quite a few trips solo, so this is nothing new. Not speaking Chinese or Japanese does present some issues at times. Thank goodness Mike was waiting for me and I did not need to figure out the transportation. Getting through customs and security was enough. We used the bus and subway system all weekend mostly by choice. I say this only because on Friday morning Mike had set up a tour for me as he had meetings until 3:00. That was so thoughtful! Only problem was he did not realize that the tour ended on the other side of Tokyo. Only a 30 minute bus ride from the main bus station and then a 2 block walk to the subway and another 25 minute ride to the Nikko Hotel where we were staying. Again, I have traveled quite a bit with Mike on business and I am use to touring foreign cities on my own. I even get lost from time to time, but this was a whole new ball game for me. Thank goodness the tour guide spoke enough english and saw I was on this tour alone. He got me to the main bus station and I figured it out from there. Do you think Mike was trying to loose me??...It didn't work. I was waiting for him in our room when he got back at 3:00.
We had a great weekend. We had wonderful meals, one at the famous Kill Bill Restaurant. The wait staff there was so much fun. They shouted out friends names as they come in, much like on the old CHEERS show ("Norm"). We meet Mike's old high school friend Jeff Zink, who is the dean at the American Expat School in Tokyo.  He has been in Tokyo for almost 5 years and most importantly knows how to order off the menu. We was a fun evening.
We eventually nailed the subway system and could get anywhere we wanted. We saw temples, statues, Palaces, tourist sites, many stores we could not afford to shop in, restaurants we did and did not want to eat in, high fashion, questionable fashion, the bay and beach volleyball. This is by far one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen. The people are so polite, friendly, and respectful. It is crowded, but very orderly and neat. It is hard to believe that less than a year ago they experienced such a horrific earthquake. I know Tokyo is miles away, yet the city had effects from it. We heard many stories. No transportation and many walked home for 4 to 6 hours. Stores had to shut down with no power to check out and shoppers would have carts filled with groceries, the shoppers would put all the items back on the shelf before leaving. They did not leave full carts or see it as an opportunity to steal. The stories go on and on.

I enjoyed my learning experience in Tokyo.