stuff

it's the day before we leave for a three week vacation to the US, and like usual before a big trip, I am not having a good day. It's one of those days where Morgan won't stop crying, and after repeated, failed attempts at getting her to go outside or play with her toys, I finally give up and plop her in front of Barney so I can get some packing done. Today I am not mommy of the year.

Nor am I housekeeper of the year, laundress, or even, probably, wife. (All day long I've been silently cursing Bob for being able to go to work everyday while I deal with a whiny Morgan.) All I really want is to do is blink my eyes and appear at my mom's house on Tuesday afternoon. No list making, packing, airport, 15 hour flight, immigration, rental car woes, etc. I want the impossible - I want magic.

Genie, where are you?

Income

I have to admit, I've never made much of the green. As a teacher in rural Ohio, my top income was about $25,000. This was over halved when I became a full-time graduate student for five years. So, I've been used to not making much money. When Bob and I hastily got married to move to China, and I abruptly had to quit school and my job as a graduate assistant, I then had to get used to not making any money. This may not sound like such a big deal to most married folk - the whole "his money is my money" concept is pretty common, but my independent spirit really asserted itself in the beginning (I know, big suprise). It seemed wrong not to be working and making money. Of course, I eventually got used to this life of leisure and then Morgan came along, the whole stay-at-home mom thing happened. . . What I'm saying is that I eventually stopped worrying about it. Until this week.

I posted a few weeks about about Morgan taking some test pictures for a catalogue shoot. She was grumpy and didn't photograph well so I didn't expect anything to come of it. Well, yesterday I got a call from the photographer that she actually did get a gig - shooting baby carriers - this Wednesday. It's all in good fun - I thought it would be cool to show her some flyer when she gets older with her in it. Then I realized, Morgan actually makes money from this. Ok, it's not much money - somewhere around $40 for an hour's work. But, that $40 is more money than I have contributed to our household income in the last three years! Does that make me feel small and unimportant? Yeah, a little bit. Am I a tiny bit jealous? Yup, I think so. My slightly-less-than two year old daughter makes more money than I do. Again, I am faced with a bit of moral discomfort that somehow this is wrong on several levels.

I comfort myself thinking that in less than a year I will be back home and, hopefully, soon thereafter reenrolled in school to finish my Ph.D (yep, look at me throwing that out there to make me feel big and important again). Of course, that graduate income that I'll hopefully be getting again will only just pay for Morgan's child care while I finish that degree. But, that's a whole other topic of guilt and discomfort. Until then, I'll just suck it up and probably go have a lavish lunch or shopping spree - courtesy of Morgan, of course. ;-)

How I Wish I Could Read Chinese. . .

We came across these (what I can only imagine to be) public service messages on our walk Sunday. They were too funny not to take a picture of. Is it just me or is the one about masturbation????

Walking the French Concession

Since leaving the downtown area, I have really missed being able to walk the former French Concession tree-lined streets. So, this weekend, we decided to head back downtown for a little walk. Before heading out, we stopped off for breakfast at Haya's, a Mediterranean restaurant nearby. They had excellent omelets and Morgan and I both enjoyed our first foray into pancakes with Nutella - who knew chocolate could be so yummy with breakfast?

Afterward, Bobby (our driver) dropped us off near O'Malley's, an Irish pub downtown. Our walk was originally supposed to follow a planned route from a book I bought at a recent x-mas bazaar, but I misread the start point, so we ended up just walking around instead. Luckily, we found Pantry Magic, a store with imported kitchen goods I've been meaning to check out. There were some great items in the store, but we had the best laugh at two of the signs posted in the store. Someone should really tell them that if they are going to cater to expats, they might want to change the descriptions on some of their products!

It was a nice day for December in Shanghai – sunny and in the 50s, so lots of people were out. Many of the Chinese love to stop and say hello to Morgan, and she loves watching them, too. We saw several fresh roasted chestnut carts (I never realized before living here that people actually do eat roasted chestnuts!) beside roasting sweet potato carts – it’s definitely x-mas time when these show up. We also admired many of the older homes still standing amidst office buildings and skyscrapers.

We had a great walk, but we ended up cutting it a little short due to the cold and Morgan’s cough that’s returned in the last few days. It’s a good thing there are lots of restaurants around where we could pop in for a coffee. We ended our walk on Huai Hai – a main shopping artery in downtown. Before leaving, we stopped for a photo op for Bob and Morgan beside the ubiquitous triangle x-mas “trees” in Shanghai. When they do x-mas in Shanghai, they do it big, and most large shopping areas have some version of the triangle tree. Hmmm, that might be a good photo blog in itself. . .

Saturday X-Mas Party

This last Saturday, our compound hosted their annual Christmas party for the residents. Coming from our former residence Shanghai Centre (and associated with the 5 star Ritz-Carlton hotel), we didn't have quite as high hopes as our x-mas spread last year. It's a good thing or we would have been a little disappointed. The SC food was gourmet catered by the Ritz hotel. This year we had mayonaise and mystery meat triangle sandwiches, oreos, and crackers. It was all in good fun, though, and we realize that food at a party isn't really the main thing. At x-mas, it's SANTA! Santa at Ridgewood (our current compound) did come loaded with presents for the kiddos. We really must have lived here long enough because Bob and I weren't the least bit shocked to see a thin Chinese Santa arrive. Morgan still wasn't very impressed and refused to sit on his lap without mom's arm around her. Maybe it was that fake beard or pillow belly that came up a bit too high. Whatever it was, Morgan was in a hurry to get her present and get out of there!

The compound employees did try hard to make a nice party. To start and end the festivities, they sang Christmas songs karaoke style. The residents all joined in, and Morgan even clapped after every song. Morgan liked her gift from Santa - a miniature version of himself playing a saxaphone (a loud, tinny sound only Chinese toys seem able to accomplish), although she was often more intent on chewing it than playing with it since a tooth was coming in. Mom wasn't as impressed with the toy and has not allowed the sound to go back on since! Overall, we had a great time and appreciated our compound's efforts to make our x-mas season festive.

Morgan's Bedroom/Bathroom - 2nd Floor

These pics are of Morgan's bedroom. The furnishings here (except for the curtains) are all ours. The crib is from the US, but otherwise, most of the furniture pieces have been (usually custom) made here in China. The last pic is of her duck-themed bathroom.

Master Suite Pictures - 2nd Floor

ok, so here we are in my master bedroom. Our 2nd floor consists of the master suite and one other bedroom and bathroom (Morgan's). We really haven't done much with our bedroom - many things are the compounds, and I haven't been motivated to decorate it much because no one ever really sees it. The first two pics are the actual bedroom area and the 3rd and 4th are of my bathoom and closet, which are located as you enter the suite to your right and left, respectively. The closet is nice, but Bob has too many clothes and he keeps wanting to encroach on my space! Traditionally, shouldn't the woman have more clothes? I guess I am anything but traditional. . .

These two bottom pics are of the office/study, located in the master suite. You can see the entrance to this room in the top two pics. It's like all my offices are: messy and cluttered. It drives Bob nuts, and he can't wait til we buy a house of our own where he'll have his own office.