The House

a quick tour of our new home...

enter through the garden.
although the "gardener" never waters the grass,
and the mosquitos are rampant,
the view of trees and grass out our windows
is priceless.

through the lovely, leaded doors,
neatly framed with white linen curtains,
you are facing the living room.

turning right just before the stroller,
you enter the girls' bedroom.
they requested no photos are press-time.

open to the living room,
the kitchen and dining room.
please note that only 2 of these cabinets
is eligible for holding food
or dishes.
all others conceal major appliances
or house processes.

and so, through the black door
at the center of the photo you reach...

...the closet,
billed as the 2nd bedroom.
note the food on shelves on the left.

up the stairs and you reach
our bedroom - entirely too far away
from our babies,



...our bathroom - far too small,
and an incredible rooftop terrace.

Flying Solo

I leave Shanghai for a week in the states this afternoon. And I leave this mess of a house in the nervous hands of my sweet, overwhelmed husband and our entirely capable ayi. Something apparently caught fire in the dishwasher; the Pest Control Company will return tomorrow to avenge any leftover cockroaches; the remote control for the DVD player comes straight from the cartoons - actions have nothing to do with the button pressed, and I keep expecting the windows to open or the toilet to flush when I press a new button. Oh, and Sophia has given up her nap... about half a year too early.

I am not nervous to leave them. Everything will be fine - or at least, no worse than if I were here to manage it myself.

I am not nervous to visit the states. On the contrary, I am so excited. Excited to spend time with my family, sleep in a house without cockroaches, and go shopping. Excited to spend plenty of time with my good friend Michelle, and to share the joy of her wedding on Saturday. Excited to see a few close friends from church, and to meet their brand new babies. Excited to get a haircut.

Wildly excited that I fly back in Business Class. Whoo-hoo!

The only thing that makes me nervous is this initial flight, in coach. I've flown 14 hour flights plenty of times before. I know they're not fun, but that they're over eventually. I know that from flying with two children, and trying to convince them of that very fact. But flying alone? Who will I have to amuse and distract (and to amuse and distract me)? Who will I have to cajole to sleep? This flight will yawn on interminably without any preschoolers to keep me busy!

Roach Count

Sighted: 9
Killed: 6
Removed from the house: 2

To kill a roach:
1st - knock it onto its back with a broom (this will remove its superpowers)
2nd - place a glass over top of it (warning - this will give it power!)
3rd - fill a sink with hot, soapy water
4th - slide a plastic cutting board underneath the glass
5th - move the entire operation to the sink, and dunk until roach is definitely in the water

The roach will have drowned within 30 minutes, but the soap will have killed it in under 5.

The Unthinkable has Occurred

The roach count is now up to:

Sighted: 6
Killed: 3
Removed from the house: 2

And then the unthinkable happened this afternoon.

With the move from one house to the next, Sophia moved from her crib to her toddler bed. As such, naps have been a chore for the last week. I find that convincing her I am napping next to her generally lulls her to sleep. This is where by afternoon napping habit began, by the way. The same was true of Lilly.

However, on this afternoon my To Do List had too many unchecked items for me to fall asleep. I lay awake next to her, listening to her breathing slow. I scratched my arm, and inadvertently moved a bug. So little, I assumed it was a mosquito - this house has plenty of them inside as well. But just to be safe, I sought the little bugger out. Crawling along the folds of Sophia's purple blanket, I found him. Long antennae twitching away.

Lucky for everyone, Sophia was asleep and I had my Mama Bear hat on. There was no way I could allow a tiny little roach to crawl all over my sleeping baby, or to wake her up. Thoughtlessly, I batted him onto a magazine and quickly removed him to the bathroom where he died quickly in a sink full of hot, soapy water.

And now that the unthinkable has happened, I will admit to feeling a bit less frightened by the whole affair. Unfortunately, the creeps have not gone away entirely. New unthinkables have arisen - what if I found a roach in Lilly's birthday cake, cooling on the kitchen stove? And we have firmly established that roaches are creepier at night. How will I fall asleep in a bed my mind tonight will believe to be crawling with bugs?

The landlord has graciously agreed to have an exterminator to the house on Monday morning. He promises to return again within a week if the problem is not solved completely. We should be okay, soon. Plus, I get to sleep in America next week - my parents' house will be bug-free! But we look forward to a creepy, crawly weekend. Or maybe we look forward to a weekend in a hotel. Sounds like a great birthday present for Lilly, right?

Oh no

In the span of 4 hours, we have found 3 cockroaches.

#1: Lying on his back dead in the girls' bedroom; about the size of my pointer finger

#2: Crawling down the side of a kitchen cabinet; about the size of my pointer finger

#3: Crawling on the living room shelves; about the size of my 2nd toenail.

Screw charming. I'm ready to move out.

I take it Back

I take it back.

I just saw my first creepy, crawly bug inside the house. It is 3-4 inches long, it may be a roach, and thank God it is dead.

My love of the house has just dropped significantly. Were the bug alive, there may have been some hatred in there.

Settling Further In

I now have DSL, and can write to you straight from my couch.

My couch, where I can hear a loudspeaker speaking through the neighborhood.
My couch, where I can hear the vibrations of a jackhammer breaking apart the sidewalk.
My couch, where I can watch my children play in front of me.
My couch, only steps away from my kitchen, so I can listen to the computer (and the children) while I cook.

Even with the noise of the neighborhood, I love my house.