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Abundant Blessings

February 28, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

Today was an incredible day. Its incredibleness is most of the reason I haven’t blogged until now–much past my bedtime. Being blessed is a position–something we already possess whether we know it or not–but on certain days, it’s obvious. Today was one of those days.

It started with an email.

My husband wrote to say we have an apartment. He’s been searching for the last week, and his success was mixed. Although the very first apartment he sent pictures of made us all want to move right in, having walked through it, he felt it was just too small. He held out, and in the end the apartment he found exceeded all our expectations, and met every qualification the kids and I had for it on our dream list of features, which included the following:

Western toilets
a bathtub
two bathrooms
balconies (Sprout’s request)
a nice-sized kitchen
storage, if possible

The apartment he found has it all! I’m overwhelmed! We all are.

This is the stack of money he paid for the apartment. Chinese culture lesson #1: you pay your rent advance, usually every six months.

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And the day just kept getting better. Here are the blessings I’m counting today

120. We have an apartment!!!
121. Our apartment is everything we could have wanted and more.
122. The landlord is providing us a refrigerator. The refrigerator has double doors! (Our previous refrigerator in China was relatively small. This one won’t be.)
123. It’s strawberry season in China, and my wonderful husband is going to buy some and freeze them for me. You’d have to understand that there are very few berries sold in China. You can’t buy them frozen, so you have to buy them fresh when they’re available. We get strawberries in February-March, mulberries (yum!) in June, I think. (I can’t quite remember). And blueberries for a very short while at the end of the summer (they’re expensive). I usually try to freeze batches so we can enjoy them longer. This goes very well with the fact that the refrigerator is larger. I’ll have more capacity for berries! I was concerned we’d miss the season, but JavaMan was already thinking of me. Isn’t he wonderful?

NewImage — Our apartment is on the top floor. The bay window will be our new homeschool room!

124. I am making headway on the bins. Still trying to focus on the positive and believe I’ll make it all fit.
125. I found out we may have the chance to visit with friends while we’re on our 12-hour layover in Hong Kong.
126. We had a bit of a financial mix-up last week that meant I was short some money. But we were blessed unexpectedly today–very well-timed for some of those last-minute purchases.
127. I had a chance to teach my daughters this week about needs and wants and how to make wise purchases. 128. I have wonderful children.
129. I have a wonderful husband.
130. I am so blessed to have such trust in my husband that he can be half a world away and I know all is well and he is thinking of me and his children.
131. There was a bit of a snafu with JavaMan’s visa. However, it looks as though the situation will be quickly resolved, and without too much extra hassle or financial repercussions.
132. There are only [fergcorp_cdt_single date=”March 12, 2012″] more days until we get on a plane and go!
133. I seem to be recalling lots of Mandarin, and I think I won’t have too much trouble getting my stride back in the language when we get there
134. JavaMan is feeling better about his language abilities since we had the chance to invest in Rosetta Stone last year. It’s wonderful to hear his confidence in the language improving. (When we lived there previously, I had more opportunities for practice than he did, since in his interactions with his colleagues, he mostly used English.)
135. It’s wonderful to be in a small town for this bit of our waiting period. I received some wonderful help on my last-minute-quilt-finishing-up as well as some help with knitting this week. Neighbors and small-town business owners are wonderful.
136. I’m grateful for several opportunities to reconnect with friends before we leave. I had a lovely chat with a friend this week.
137. Made another little schedule change and have been really enjoying homeschool since I decided to relax about what we achieved before we left. Packed away the Math books today.
138. Sprout has been making great strides in reading lately.
139. She’s also doing better with her lisp. More on that later this week!

See what I mean? Overwhelmed.

Multitudes on Monday - Carey Clark

February 3 in 30 Wrap-up

February 27, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

Well, it’s been predictably busy. And I haven’t met all my goals this month. In the end, I’m wondering if I entered into this month’s goals in an effort to give myself busy-work so I can keep my mind off the big changes on the horizon and the stress of making sure all the details are taken care of!

What were my goals?

Go to bed on time. Not so great at that this month. And it’s been complicated this week by Sprout who hasn’t slept well most nights. We think it’s just because Daddy is away. But one way or another, I’ve ended up with one of the kids sleeping in my bed each night.
Get up at least an hour earlier than everyone else. Well, we’ve all shifted to about an hour later than normal, but I have actually been getting up earlier than everyone else. I dropped 750words.com during the last week, but at least I’ve still been getting a jump on the day.
Establish a regular exercise routine. I jumped into Turbo Jam again this week, and at first I was ready to give up, but I stuck with it, and I must say, it’s actually getting to be enjoyable. I downgraded myself to the Learn and Burn until I get it right and I’m more comfortable with a faster pace, but I can see it’s going to do something for me. I alternated Turbo Jam with Pilates and I think I got four days of exercise. Things were a little nutty so I’m not sure–maybe three.

There are only [sct date=”3/12/2012 23:56″ align=”none” size=”1″] days until we get on a plane. I haven’t finished packing (still repacking bins and eliminating things I know can’t go in the light of the volume of things that are sitting waiting to fit into a suitcase), and I still have a list of things to buy (things like makeup, vitamins, chicken boullion without MSG). I haven’t a clue what I’m going to try to accomplish in March. One thing about life in China: it’s never predictable. I’m going to take it easy on myself and set reasonable goals like get over jet lag. Watch me. I will. I promise.

The Snow Queen

February 24, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

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It’s funny what happens when you begin to stroll down memory lane. More pathways spring up before you. Areas that seemed foggy and dim suddenly show signs of life and activity. When I sat down to consider the books that made me love reading for Emlyn Chand’s reading challenge, I realized there were many that I loved dearly and hadn’t thought of at all much since I was a child. The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Anderson was one such story. This story is full of wonderful memories for me, since it was one I knew from a book at my grandmother’s house.

While I was growing up, my grandparents lived next door. My parents built their house on an acre of what was once my grandfather’s hundred-acre apple orchard. There’s a Walmart and subdivision going up around those houses now, but they are still there: our old house and my grandparents’. My grandmother had two spare bedrooms: the peach bedroom and the blue bedroom. When I slept over at their house, I’d stay in the peach bedroom. My Nanny had all kinds of old toys and games, but my favorite treasures were the books. And if she asked me if I’d like a bedtime story, I often requested The Snow Queen.

I thought it was high time I shared this story with my own children. We read it this week. While my Nanny read to me from a compliation of stories, I found a picture book version of the story to make sure Sprout was engaged. The pictures in this edition were stunning, so after we finished the story, my youngest sat and simply looked through the pictures once again.

Snowqueen

It has been so long since those cozy nights snuggled in the peach bedroom that I had forgotten many of the details of the story. It’s much more a struggle of good and evil than I remembered, and there is much more detail about the story of Gerda, the little girl who looks for her captured friend Kay. What I remembered was the tragedy Kay endured. (I think I may have been more wired toward tragedy in my younger years–hence the tales of kidnapped insects.)

The story of The Snow Queen concerns the evil consequences of the creation of a “wicked imp” who fashioned a magic mirror with a special power that shriveled everything good reflected in it to nothing, and everything evil and ugly reflected back larger and more hideously. When the mirror is shattered, little splinters of the magic glass lodge in people’s hearts and eyes, and some are made into windowpanes and spectacles. They all warp the lives of those who are unfortunate enough to be influenced by them.

“And, as we tell this story, little splinters of magic glass are still flying around in the air.”

The story centers around two young characters who were neighbors, but grew up like brother and sister, Gerda and Kay. They lived a quiet, simple, happy life until one day a splinter from the magic mirror enters the little boy’s eye and heart and his nature is transformed. Shortly thereafter, he is spirited away by the Snow Queen who keeps him prisoner in a castle near the Northern Lights.

Gerda misses her companion and goes out in search of him. In the end it is her goodness that heals him and restores him to the good child he was.

My children enjoyed this book, but I’m not sure if it will be as special to them as it was to me. After all, they weren’t in the peach bedroom, and two of them never even had the pleasure of meeting Nanny.

We all really enjoyed the stunning illustrations. And I enjoyed the stroll down memory lane.

Signature

Possibilities

February 20, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

JavaMan is in our new city, looking for an apartment. We already miss him. And we all wish we were there with him, our feet on the ground of the city we love, seeing the familiar sights that have no doubt changed since we were there last.

There are [sct date=”3/13/2012 20:30″ align=”none” size=”1″] until we leave. Sometimes it seems like an eternity, and sometimes it seems like hardly enough time to do all the last-minute things.

Our flights are booked, as of today. Tomorrow, after homeschool, the kids and I will go to apply for our visas.

There is so much to be thankful for.

ourcity — One of the parks in our beautiful city

100. Medical and dental appointments are all behind us, and with the exception of a couple of cavities that are now taken care of, everyone was just fine.
101. My shoulder continues to heal, and should be in great shape by the time we leave.
102. I am making progress on my giant list of things to do, and feeling much less pressured.
103. We saw JavaMan off and he has safely arrived back in China.
104. JavaMan has a place to stay while he searches for apartments.
105. He already has a number of good leads to great-looking places.
106. The last time, someone searched for our apartment for us. This time we get to look for ourselves. It’s exciting and promising!
107. We were (finally) able to connect with friends in China who helped us with our move the last time.
108. The same friends picked JavaMan up at the airport.
109. The kids and I have had some time to relax and reconnect since JavaMan’s departure. We all feel refreshed.
110. We have some fun things to do before we leave to help us keep our minds off Daddy’s absence.
111. I was able to get some much-needed perspective on homeschool last week, and feel much better about how we’re spending our time until we leave.
112. I’m organized! My plans for upcoming weeks of homeschool are organized and in the CM Organizer. We had our first chance to really see it in action today. I’m really happy with it, and think I’ll plan into our time back in China so we can get back into things as soon as jet lag wears off and we’re settled in.
113. Because of the aforementioned shift in focus this week, we’ve slowed down and spent some much-needed time out of doors together–a walk to the library on the weekend, and a nature study time last week.
114. I’m so grateful for my children. They are such a blessing to me.
115. I’m grateful that I have a wonderful husband, whom I can implicitly trust to find us the best place to live.
116. I’m grateful that this season is drawing to a close, and I’m grateful for the shift in focus it will bring.
117. I’m looking forward to speaking Mandarin again on a daily basis.
118. ’m grateful for all the things we’ve been able to do while we were back in Canada–for visits with family and friends and wonderful experiences.
119. I’m grateful for snow (you won’t hear me say this much) My kids have been hoping and praying for a good dose of winter before we leave Canada, and the weather hasn’t cooperated. They got a good dose of it in the last week–enough to have fun building a snow fort with Daddy before he left.

- Carey Clark

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