Hurricane Gabrielle: Homeschool Reality

 Though it sometimes may seem that things are 'all together' at the Coker house, lets remember the 14-month old. She is not walking yet, but she leaves messes in her wake, ones I actually ignore for parts of the day.

 Okay, I actually do have to kick some stuff out of the way to walk, but other than that our house has been known to stay like this for awhile these days.

 I also have to pull wads of paper out of her mouth or chunks of a rubber ball that she has used her ten teeth on.

She certainly 'interrupts' our smooth  homeschool (sarcasm folks) in various ways, mostly with her standing up near one of the girls and me trying to get them to focus. "Whats the problem? Its not like there is a REALLY cute baby at your knee smiling and begging you to play! Spell your next word!"

Yes, it is all fun and games here, and often, one big glorious mess.

My Panera

Sort of. 

A bakery in town recently renovated and has such a cozier feel to it. Then consider the fact that they added 'Sea Salt Coffee' and 'Mocha' to their menu, it is now my Panera. 

Except that I don't every actually sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee in it, because who has time for that?

But I do buy bread there weekly (they sell fresh whole wheat, french loaves, and other breads that are quite tasty). I was reluctant to try the coffee, especially sense the first few times I asked, they 'didn't have it' which meant whoever was working didn't know how to make it. 

And finally during our re-wire week, I bought David and myself hot Sea Salt coffees. De-lish. And just because it was a day (you know, one of those), when I took the kids back to school in the afternoon (the bakery is right near the school), I bought us two more, on ice. YUM again. These cost 10 yuan, or $1.63. This is not bad at all for a good cup-a-joe. But it is still a treat. I certainly need to try the mocha, what am I waiting for???

 The bakery's actual name is Gartime. Its slogan: Share the Happy Time!

 The set up is inspiring, you can watch them work all day long.

 They make a lot of cakes, which are not great, though they look amazing.

I love the huge bowl of whipped cream, and the two stand mixers, not to mention tall counter tops, tons of counter space and huge ovens!

And did I mention they have a huge built in AC unit? So refreshing! Only one or two places in town can boast that! Come 'Share the happy time' with us!

Re-Wire

David kept telling me that the electrical problem in our house was serious and dangerous, wires were 'leaking electricity' among other things. I nodded, said okay, and we kept on going. 

It all started who knows when? When we moved in to be sure, and then this summer while we were gone, there was lots of flooding and the power kept going out. Our greatest friends helped big time with this, getting the power back on, etc. But not before all of my frozen strawberries melted, leaked out of the freezer, and covered the floor. Of course by the time they arrived the floor wasn't pink/red. No, it was one black swarm of a million ants.  We received this email after being in the States less than a week.

But when we returned and David checked it all out, he was seriously concerned. And, since he is the engineer and knows how it all works, I heeded his warnings of cost, time, and trouble, and we decided to go ahead with re-wiring.

We discussed it all with our landlords and they were very helpful and concerned as well. The various electricians we had take a look, blamed all of our devices overheating a wire somewhere.  Possible.

 When I told my good friend/neighbor this situation, she said: "oh! Yes, before we refinished our place (same exact apartment just two doors down), our contractor told us the original wires were all bad quality so we spent a lot of money to switch them all out." Hmm....good to know.

 The breaker box, day of. What they did was quite incredible, it only took two days of no power, and we had it back at night in most places. We did have to move everything away from the walls and remove the entire cabinet that covers up the breaker box. That in and of itself made it look like we were moving for two days. I shuttled the kids to and from school in the morning and afternoon, and I held down the fort because David was away doing visa stuff and lots of other work stuff. He kept checking in on the progress and kept in contact with the electricians about what they were doing.

When they removed the cover I saw this. One hole burnt to a crisp indeed. This is in our laundry room. But this was not the problem. No, they discovered a wire they could not pull out between the office and our bedroom, it must have melted and was causing the problems.At least they found it! This was where they had to break through a wall to get it out.

Now our whole house is grounded, which is why we were shocked (HA HA) when I got literally shocked just one day later by our water machine. We called the guy back, our landlord came over. They tested the machine and sure enough 220 volts of electricity were 'leaking' out of it, talk about dangerous, it certainly hurt me up to my shoulder and gave me a headache. We all decided it was the actual water machine shorting out.  Our landlord even said, "you know all this stuff is made in China, it is supposed to be this way (he used his hands to show) but it is really put in that way."

Go figure.

The week in a few detailed moments...

Last weekend we were supposed to go on a short out of town trip, a minority wedding, and then a dinner at a new guest house that just opened. Because of sickness, the only thing anyone participated in was the dinner. 

Sunday night I took the girls (including G) to a nice western meal at a nice new western guest house opened by our nice friends from Holland. It was pretty awesome (the atmosphere, food, people), but David and Tobin were home and that made it not so awesome. I was tired and not very engaging, not to mention chasing G around on the tile floor almost had me miss the dessert.

On Monday David was called for the third time to go to the minority wedding (they last 3 days) that our family had missed due to illness. David was still recovering but he really had to go. That particular family makes the best food, I wondered if he would eat it having just been through a gut-wrenching illness (literally). He did, he said he couldn't stop it was so good. The rest of us stayed home and ate homemade pizza.

We somehow did normal home school that day. 

David warned me previously that this was the week: visa renewal and the house rewire, don't plan on getting much done. 

Alrighty, low expectations, I got it.

On Tuesday Sophia started a dance class that would take place right after her third class in the morning. When I picked her up and watched, I knew it was perfect for her, she loved it.

For dinner we had already planned on going to another minority wedding in a different village. This was our new helper's cousin getting married, so it was a new place. It was great to meet some of her family, though we were a spectacle (always). The kids did great!

 With a toy truck involved, the kids were fine. They were also entertained by the teenage boys pouring rice liquor on the floor and igniting it. Yes, they drink that stuff.

David refused the boos and cigarettes and chatted away.

On Wednesday, it was high time I used the avocados a friend had brought from the border. Guacamole, its whats for dinner! Seriously, Gabrielle and I had it as our main course. It was delicious. 

The morning was spent with David and me getting  chest x-rays (no TB) for our visa and then blood work done (no HIV). I made it to the health inspection place (where I almost passed out two years ago) and said: "I have come back!" because they all know me. David wasn't there yet, but I was in a hurry to finish by the time I needed to pick up Sophia, so I filled out paperwork and assured them I wouldn't pass out. Sophia called in the middle of it all to tell me that the school principle said: 'no more dance class!' It is canceled, I needed to come get her right away (never shocked by the quick turn of events in this country when it comes to schools and scheduling). David arrived, the needle was in my arm and he stood by my side, like a good husband. But I was fine, and then rushed to go pick up Soph.

On Thursday the re-wire began. This will get its own post, but our whole house got re-wired. David went out to continue the visa renewal process and the kids were all in school in both the morning and afternoon because it was dangerous at our place! Gabrielle stayed home of course and watched it all unfold. It was a rocky start to the day. I did not do well with my patience, but grace won out in the end, it always does, and always includes apologies by me.

I brought David a 'Sea Salt Coffee' from our favorite bakery, this was new and I had been wanting to try it, he already had and said it was worth the $1.50. I had on my running clothes since I was not homeschooling, but it didn't happen (low expectations remember?).

David had the visa folks working on all 6 visas and we needed to HURRY over there for them to finish part of the process before their lunch break. I picked up the kids, bought them a doughnut from the same bakery and off we flew to the visa office, where they each in turn got their picture taken. 

No electricity, we did some core subjects and back to school they went that afternoon.

By Friday   They had found an electrical problem, and continued working. The kids went to school in the morning, and since we had no power I ordered food for lunch to pick up. Then we needed to help our friends in a bind and pick up their kid from school. I told David I could try to get 4 kids on the moto but..no, better not. He was at the office so he just came by the restaurant and took Bella and Tobin back home. 

This was their first time doing this, they loved it.

I love Fridays, the workers were winding down, we don't have to rush the next morning. Relax a bit.

We were figuring out what to eat when a sobbing Sophia came to the back door. One look at her mouth and I knew we were hospital-bound. She and her friends were playing with capes on, her hands were in it as she went up a cement stair case and she tripped. Her chin broke her fall. The inside of her mouth was a mangled mess. This also will make a post of its own. After the hospital visit, she finally went to sleep and we spent the evening consulting with our American dentist, and another dentist via Skype, all trying to figure out just how bad it really was. I had been in the middle of making cinnamon-sugar-cream cheese roll ups for our special breakfast and I had to finish. This took an hour and a half, longer than I anticipated. It was actually cathartic for me as I listened to David's conference call and then Skype call. It was probably the best thing I could have been doing, knowing my tendency to worry about tomorrow. Today certainly had had enough trouble of its own.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning we checked on Sophia and her (still bleeding) wound. Bella woke with a bellyache at 4:30 a.m. but was fine (in the morning she said: 'God healed me'), and Gabrielle started crying at 6 a.m. We enjoyed our special breakfast, even Sophia eating bit by tiny bit. We focused on how to avoid a private dental clinic (highest rate of AIDS in China, even locals say to avoid these) to get the x-rays we needed.

We let the kids watch 'The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe' fast-forwarding through some scary parts, they all enjoyed it. In the afternoon we got the needed x-rays. 

Another skype session with the dentist that night solidified the 'wait and see' approach. 

Sunday again. Christmas decorating. We will travel for Thanksgiving and then have a guest come and David spend the following week at the office for long hours, so this was the day. It almost went awry with attitudes and insufficient lights, but we regrouped and did what we could, except the tree and lights, which is what the kids enjoy the most.

And then....wait for it.....

I was almost thrown to the ground by a shock from our water machine. Worst electrical shock I have ever felt. 

I thought we just re-wired our house? 

What will the next week bring? 

Oh yeah, it is Thanksgiving. 

At the very least we will be thanks-giving.... we may be bruised, bumped, bleeding, have no power, have to maneuver the local hospital, get zero sleep....but we will give thanks, because this story, this week in its few detailed moments is a story of so much undeserved grace in every moment. And this we learn over and over.

Wrap Dumplings

Any foreigner who has lived in Asia any length of time has certainly been invited to 'bao jiaozi' or wrap dumplings. We have done this many times in our 10 years here, it remains a fun cultural activity that all can enjoy doing and eating! This time it was our close friends/neighbors who invited.

 Bella just kept wrapping and wrapping, the other kids had long moved on. Put the raw pork concoction in the tiny round dumpling shell, wrap up, and squeeze together.

The main chef, one of my BFs here. Love her. We can talk about anything, she gets me out of binds, I get her out of binds. All our kids love her too, even Gabrielle knows her and reaches for her.

The kids ate outside. It was a great day. 

Baby at the Table

Because G had recently up-chucked on her highchair, it was in detox. We found our booster seat and strapped her in. She looked so grown up

And she flashed her toothy grin.

 Then gave me the 'whacha talkin' 'bout' milk-face stare down.

Confessions

Our entire family has not been completely well for a full week since our return from the States.

We returned on August 25th. Almost three months ago.
Colds, coughs, stomach bugs, ear infections, back aches, and rotate them around again. 

I may be posting about school stuff, fun outings, cool milestones, kid cuteness, that is simply because life keeps happening amid the sickness,and during brief reprieves, we enjoy.

It has been tough going.

All the various illnesses have affected different people in our family in different ways.
Gabrielle had an ear infection ( I pretty much self diagnosed with an otoscope I got from a nurse friend leaving Asia), the online pics are pretty accurate. G didn't eat solid food for almost 4 days, had a high fever for five, and finally started getting better with a higher dose of antibiotics.

The throw ups came through too...
David called that the slow-bake virus (about every 5th day someone would start).

Pour in the pro-biotics (I started Kombucha tea), and rest, rest, rest in His word... which is not always as easy as it sounds (Amen?)

It is now Tuesday. Everyone has been fully well since Sunday. Thankful.
And if the midnight calls come again, thankful I will remain. Crying out for help? Yes, in thankfulness, I will petition the Throne of Grace (Phil 4).

And one more confession:
Sometimes the cold bathroom floor just feels so good. Tobin just laid there (like we all had, in turn, before him).   When I wasn't taking care of another I would go put his head in my lap and sing to him. These are sweet, tender, difficult moments.