Happy Mother's Day

To all the Mom's out there here is wishing you a very Happy Mother's Day!

Last night we hosted small group at our house.  This was the first big gathering at our house and lots of prep and planning went into what turned out to be a very nice evening.  We had 15 people over and started out with beverages and appetizers.  Cynthia made hummus and her famous roasted red pepper dip.  We had fresh cut fruit and vegetables and also made cheese filled phillo triangles but they did not turn out as we had hoped - might have been due to the fact that I was assigned that task.  Oh well. Our group has been studying the book of James via a video/DVD from Rick Warren of Saddleback church.

On Friday we had the difficult task of firing our ayi - Mrs. Jin.  She was obviously not happy and demanded more severance pay than we were willing to give.  Cynthia stood firm, got the key back and said her goodbyes.  On Saturday, our new ayi - Mei - came over to work for four hours helping us get ready for the small group.  What a difference!  I think we will be very happy with this new arrangement.

The weather here has turned hot seemingly over night - I think spring was about two days.  It is in the upper 80's today with high humidity and a forecast of more of the same the remainder of the week.  I am heading off to Qingdao (North of Shanghai) and the weather there will be about 10 degrees cooler but a forecast of rain.  Our president is coming into town along with our new VP of Marketing (a former 3M colleague of mine) and our new APAC leader.  Lots of presentations and lots of pressure.  Can't say I am actually looking forward to the week.

Tonight we will be going out to dinner with Cynthia for Mother's Day and then off to get foot massages with the whole family.  Should be a great way to end the day.

Back to the grind

As they say, "All good things must come to an end", and so has our Spring Break vacation. This will definitely be one that we will always look back on with great memories. I will be posting a web album on Google's Picasa page so that you can view all the photos from the trip.
Yesterday we interviewed a potential new ayi. Her name is Mei (pronounced May) and she has been working for another family for the last few years and is looking for full time work now that they are repatriating to Texas. We learned via e-mail shortly after her visit to our house that she would like to work for us. She will work from 10 to 6 each day and probably cook for us a couple nights per week. Cynthia is looking forward to some Chinese cooking lessons and the boys and I are looking forward to some dumplings! Mei is married with a 16 year old son and speaks some English but not enough to keep Cynthia from having to learn some Chinese (Yea!) Mei will start on a part time basis as she transitions from one home to the next. Now all we have to do is figure out a way to graciously let our existing ayi, Mrs. Jin, go. I'm leaving that one to Cynthia!

Home again

We finally arrived back home in Shanghai after a VERY long day of traveling.  We woke up at 4am to pack and meet the hotel shuttle by 5am.  From there we were transported via van to the jetty port where we caught a ferry to the mainland.  We were greeted by several porters who carried our bags from the beach to another  waiting van which took us on a short ride to the airport.  The prop plane we flew on was operated by Cebu Pacific Air and took us uneventfully to Manila.  We arrived at 8am and now had 12 hours to kill in Manila before the only flight back to Shanghai.  After a breakfast in the airport we were able to check our bags around 11am so then we were free to explore the city.  We took a taxi to The Mall of Asia - imagine The Mall of America but much of it outdoors - and spent the next 6 hours walking around somewhat aimlessly.  We found a bowling center that had pool tables and we had a family competition that was won by Regan - he has become a pool shark and I am not not sure how or where he has picked it up - maybe he is a natural.  The mall also had an  I-Max theatre where we decided (based upon my poor judgement) to watch a "hollywood thriller action movie" call "Sucker Punch" - I mean with a name like that how could you go wrong!  We walked out after 20 minutes of inappropriate material and decided to take in "Under the Sea" which was playing later in the day.  A much better choice - it was in 3D and the effects and photography were amazing.  We had dinner at the Pancake House before catching a taxi back to the airport where we still had 3 hours to kill before catching our 3.5 hour flight back to China.  We finally arrived in Shanghai to the smiling face of our driver - Mr. Dong at about midnight.  Lying down in our own beds around 1am never felt so good.  Today we are picking up Didi and meeting a potential new Ayi who will be able to work for us full time.  When Cynthia and the boys return to Minnesota for the summer we will need someone to look after Didi and take care of Mason and I since I will be traveling and Mason is away at school all day.  Today is a holiday in China - May Day so we have a bit of time to get adjusted here at home before hitting the routine once again.