All Good Things Must Come to an End

Just finishing up the events from the Week of Bliss...
Finally on Saturday we actually celebrated Bliss's birthday as a family. Blasen was so busy all week with work, since his boss was here. Saturday they left for Beijing for the weekend, so he had some free time. Saturday morning he did have to go out of town to do some business, so the kids and I cleaned. But that evening Bliss got to go to McDonald's again. We even went to the one with the indoor play area. After that we went on a hunt for a bakery with a good cake. We found this one place that had a couple, but the cherry tomato garnishments sort-of turned me off regardless of what was on the inside. The Chinese aren't big cake people, so when you ask what kind of cake is on the inside, they say it's just cake. We want to know if it's white, chocolate, yellow, etc. They also put a fruit jelly like filling between the layers and the girl couldn't tell us exactly what fruit, but it is usually honeydew melon. I thought I wouldn't risk it considering all my luck with all things Chinese lately. So we saw these individual chocolate cake things and we decided those would do. Bliss was really excited and said that would be fine even though he thought he was getting his Superman cake. They ended up being very yummy. There was a thin cake layer on bottom and then a chocolate mousse and topped with a chocolate fudge. Bliss really enjoyed it as did Zade.

You see Bliss enjoyed the cake.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Archibald sent a book and a card game.

Ben and Rachael sent some fun Spiderman stuff that kids love playing with.

So that ended our week of Bliss. And with Bama's win over Georgia...it was perfect!

Massages and a Blind Chinese Man

Sorry for the absence at the end of the Week of Bliss. Not much happening on day 4...until that evening. And that is the reason I didn't blog on day 5 either. You see, I was physically assaulted by a blind chinese man...
So, my loving husband has been telling me I should go get a massage. I've been putting it off, due to the awkwardness the language barrier presents. Blasen's boss, his wife, and the Chinese lady that works in their office came here for some business. So Blasen gets me to go with Nell (the wife) and Li (the co-worker) to get a massage. The place isn't that far from our apartment, so I agree. We get there and Li says she's getting a blind man. I say "Excuse me?". I figure this should be interesting, so I agree to the blind man massage too.
Now, I've had one professional massage in my life (thanks to Rachael and Ben) and it was really nice. Li tells me that this massage will be a little different, as it is more about pressure points and Chinese medicine. Okay. I'm still in. We get in the dimly lit room and there are three table there for the three of us and I think this is going to be even more awkward. Thankfully, there was no removal of clothing, however, I shouldn't have worn jeans.
Our blind men come in and he instructs me to lie on my back and starts with my head. It seems at first to be pretty rough, as I feel his fingers pressing thru my temples. He asks Li if this is good or more pressure. I definitely say enough, we may could even tone it down a bit. So, he continues with my head. It's starting to hurt and I'm thinking this is a joke on me and someone is going to stop it all soon. Once he starts the chopping move on my head and noone stops him, I start thinking this is going to be bad.
I don't know if words can explain what I felt over the next 2 hours...yes TWO hours. I thought it would never end. With each section of my body that he worked on, I thought "it can't be worse than the part before." Sometimes I just wanted to bust out laughing and other times I just wanted to cry. At times he was pushing on me so hard I thought my face was going to get wedged into the hole in the table. It was just painful. How anyone can enjoy this is beyond me! I think this was worse than childbirth...and I've gone thru that twice, with no epidural.
I just had to laugh when I got home and told Blasen about it. And then I took two tylenol and a hot shower before going to bed. The next morning, I could hardly move. I was sore like you had a good work-out the day before, but worse was to actually touch me...especially my lower back and shoulders. It burned like fire if you touched my skin. I actually thought I would bruise, but I didn't. By Friday afternoon, it was getting better. Saturday, I was pretty much back to normal. Now I have a funny story to tell of how I actually paid a blind chinese man to beat the crap out of me.

Got Milk?

Day 3 in the Week of Bliss...sort-of a soggy day. Typhoon Hagupit hit land yesterday evening and has been blowing and raining away all night and day. The nice thing is that it cools off for a few days when these typhoons hit shore.


Blasen is out of town on business and we're hoping that his flight isn't canceled due to the storm. Zade is sick, but getting better...no fever today, just stuffy. It goes right along with the yucky weather. I'm tired today. I couldn't sleep last night for some reason. It's weird not having Blasen here, for one, and then the winds were so loud and the doors to the stairwells don't close all the way so they banged the whole night.
Just a note on the milk situation here. Not sure if you're following it or not, but we're having a bit of a milk problem here in China. Some genius decided that it would be a good idea to put melamine (yes, the same stuff that was found in the pet food that killed all those animals) in the milk powder here. Apparently, when tested it shows a higher protein content. So, this genius/group of geniuses don't think that plastic might just not swing well with the human body. After all, it did kill animals already. What is apparent is that they didn't care and that is what irks me. They were looking for a way to make more money by spending less money and didn't care if they hurt someone. The people getting hurt are actually children. Several have died and many more are sick with kidney stones and other related illnesses. I thought we were okay, because I bought fresh milk. But then we realize that here they actually mix milk powder and water in with the fresh milk. So, no more milk for right now until things get straightened out. And to top it all off, the Chinese government allegedgly knew about this problem before the Olympics, but didn't say or do anything about it because they didn't want to look bad.
I'm all for finding a better/cheaper way to make a product...that's called business. But doing it at the risk of the consumer is not right. We, as the consumer, have faith in the manufacturer to do what is right. I understand that accidents happen, but this was no accident. I have to trust the people that bring me food. I can't grow it all myself. I have a feeling the Decatur Historic Association would not approve of a milk cow in my backyard. I sure hope that the US dairy industry has more moral fiber than to do something like this. I guess that was something that really bothered me. I just feel like the people that thought this up have no conscience...and that's scary.
So let's hope that we get milk soon. Ol' Bliss loves him some cereal! So day 3 of the Week of Bliss is a bit of a downer...but we watched The Land Before Time, so it's all good.

Day 2 of the Week of Bliss

I normally blog about our weekend adventure. No Saturday adventure this past week. We decided to take the day off. Blasen works all the time and Sunday really isn't a break for us these days, so I figured good ol' Dad needed a rest from being on the go. We just chilled at the apartment and played all day with the kids and topped the evening off with a trip downstairs to the ritzy Pizza Hut. Way nicer than any I've ever seen.
Sunday, however, is always an adventure. This Sunday was more so than normal. Our travel for Sunday consists of many modes of transportation, one of which is the subway/metro. Bliss usually sits in the umbrella stroller and Zade is with Blasen. This Sunday, Zade fell asleep on the way to church and we put him in the stroller before we got on the metro. On the way in, Blasen grabbed a newspaper and Bliss was determined to read along with him. Blasen finally gave the paper to Bliss right before we got off the metro. Bliss decides to read and walk...not a good idea. There is a small gap between the landing and the metro and somehow Bliss manages to fall in this gap. Thankfully, during a crisis, I think clearly and rationally and don't panic for some reason. I knew I had just a few seconds to get him out before the doors would close and the metro would take off. Bliss doesn't just get his foot stuck, he gets both feet stuck and is down to his waist. I pull him up, one foot out, can't get the other I need to turn it. Thankfully, a man sees what's happening and comes to help...which is very odd here. You never see someone stop to help someone else. We saw a lady get hit by a motorcycle and noone goes to help her. So this man helps me get his foot unstuck. You probably wonder where Blasen is. It all happened so fast that he barely realized what was going on. It was seriously like slow motion. I'm so glad that I caught him before he got any further down the gap. Like I said the scared part didn't come until after it was all over and done with.

Thankfully Bliss survived to see his 3rd birthday! We had a fun-filled day yesterday. We watched Scooby-Doo and Horton Hears a Who. We even went to McDonald's for dinner. Dad had to work late, but the boys and I walked down to the McDonald's with the indoor play area. We even got ice cream. Blasen got home earlier than expected, so that was nice. No cake yet, but soon. Blasen is out of town today and tomorrow, so maybe this weekend we'll do the birthday thing.

Playing at McDonald's.

Today he got to talk to Pa and Ma Archibald along with Talli, Solomon, Cheif and Sarene. He was totally excited that someone called him. Then this afternoon I made a brownie mix in the rice cooker. It did okay...it was edible I guess. (Blasen's boss and co-worker are here and they brought us some American goodies.) Unfortunately, with all the fun, there is a down side. Poor Zade woke up with a cold this morning. He's been moping around all day and really would like his Dad. He's had a fever on and off all day and a runny nose and his little eyes are swollen. He's not sleeping very well, just two short naps today. He's determined to play like he normally does, but really is just wandering around whining. I feel so sorry for the little guy...he's never sick.
I look forward to what else happens in the Week of Bliss. Definitely not cooler weather. It's still blazing hot and humid here, while I see back home it's in the low 80s during the day and in the 50s at night. That would be so nice!

Zade enjoying the benefits of the Week of Bliss.

In the World of All Things Bliss

Wanting to start off the Week of Bliss here. Today marks, not only the beginning of Fall, but the day Bliss entered our life. We named our little boy Bliss, because he was so blissful...he didn't even cry when he was born. My sister Lacy, suggested the name Harvest to honor the changing of the season, but we opted out of that one. Bliss is 3 years old today...hard to believe, but true. No miraculous change in behavior today, unfortunately, or sudden kindness for his brother, but we love him still the same and are glad to have him in our life.
Here are some thoughts on Bliss that I started writing awhile ago...

Bliss has a love/hate relationship with life. We have now concluded it is very good that we named him Bliss...hoping it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.
Bliss loves confrontation. Life can be peaceful...no one crying at the moment...and he decides to tackle Zade off the couch or some other violent offense against his brother or me. He hates for anything fun to end, but who does. He loves all sports and sometimes just takes off his clothes and says he wants to put on his rugby shirt. He has every ball from every sport imaginable, even lacrosse, but I keep that one put up along with the golf balls. Bliss loves to read. Bliss loves to color, play with playdough, and help clean house. Bliss loves Tom and Jerry and all things Scooby-Doo. His favorite movie right now is "Underdog"but "Kung-Fu Panda" and "Horton Hears a Who" are creeping up. He loves to pretend that he is a dog or a tiger...I prefer the dog, as this involves no biting or other such attacks from the back of the sofa. He loves riding the bus and can't wait for Sundays when we take the busride to Guangzhou for church. He loves going to the pool and park. Bliss loves taking pictures(I believe he has a little of Great-Grandma Archibald in him.) He loves visiting "my pa and my ma" aka Grandpa and Grandma Archibald or "pa and mama ford" aka Grandfather and Mama Ford. He loves all his aunts and uncles and cousins. We have to check the cousins blogs often to see pictures of what's happening. His favorite time of day is when Dad gets home for work. He survives almost solely off rice for dinner. Thankfully, he'll eat a good, healthy breakfast and a pretty good lunch. Bliss loves trips to "Don's" aka McDonald's. If he sees red and yellow on a building, he assumes it McDonald's and the Chinese love red and yellow. And mostly he can't wait to get back home so he can have his Superman cake.
Happy Birthday little buddy...this blogs for you!