Last week of stuff - from Kimberly
Editor's Note: Yep, it's me, and we still don't have internet access. You'll know when I know, I'll have my people call your people. Until then, you'll get massive data dumps from my wife, via me. So just be prepared to read and read and read. Good info in there, as usual. I sometimes think our life is boring until I read about it. P.S. I'm keeping an eye on the typhoons, and I don't think they're going to interfere with our trip home. We'll be arriving this Saturday early evening. Hope to get to see everyone while we're back in Austin. -anthony
October 14, 2004
Today was another interesting day in our lives here. We woke up this morning to Liz screaming, went in and got her and poor baby, she looked like she’d been beaten up – eye lids so swollen she could barely open her eyes and when I took off her pj’s, she had a horrible rash on her legs and butt. It was awful. She was breathing fine and was in a good mood, so we decided to wait until Dr. Bear’s office opened right down the street from us at 8:30. We took her to be seen and the doctor said she was having an allergic reaction to something, probably ingested, but she didn’t know what. We went through list of food she’d eaten the last 24 hours, but she’d had everything before and we couldn’t think of anything new or different. The doctor gave us some syrup medicine, along with powder medicine to mix in with the syrup to give to her three times a day for 5 days. She was better after taking a nap and by one pm, her rash was gone, but she still has the puffy eyes. Anthony stayed home with us this morning to help keep an eye on her since we don’t know what caused it (and also to watch the 3rd presidential debate).
I’ve thought of everything she ate and just can’t fathom what would have brought that reaction on, especially since it started this morning and she hadn’t eaten since the night before. Or other thoughts are clothing/sheets (stuff from our shipment) and being bitten by something. We have these ants in the apartment that have bit me and caused me to swell up and itch at the bite site, so maybe she got bit and is severely allergic to them? We have no idea? Just have to wait it out and see, I guess. Poor baby! I washed all her bedding today, along with stuffed animals and have started on all her clothes too, just to make sure. I haven’t seen any ants in her room either, but they are the little buggers, so I may have missed them. She was in a pretty bad mood starting around 5 pm; she hadn’t taken an afternoon nap, so that didn’t help. I made some really good veggie soup (with a little leftover chicken added) that was great for dinner this evening, and then Anthony got Liz to bed while I played a game of Sequence with Ashley. It was a nice evening with her until I mentioned bedtime, then it all went out the window. She starts crying and throwing fit, but I managed to get her to bed at a decent time tonight.
October 15, 2004
An earthquake today – a 7.0 at the center and a 4.0 here in Taipei. This makes me very glad to only be on the 2nd floor since I’ve heard its worse the higher up you are. It was at 12:08 pm, this afternoon, right after lunch with the girls. I was in the kitchen; both girls were in the living room. I heard a thud and then some weird noises and I saw Liz on the ground, doing what seemed to be hitting her head against the wall (it was later that I realized she had fallen and couldn’t get up because of the quake). I picked Liz up and then realized that everything was shaking and Ashley asked me what was happening. That’s when I knew it was an earthquake. I grabbed Ashley’s hand and we walked over to the front door (I’ve heard you are supposed to stand in/near door frames, away from windows). I counted and watched the living room chandelier sway. It was only after the chandelier stopped moving that I knew it was over, since my body was still moving and I felt like it wasn’t over. My heart was pounding and I was dizzy. It was very strange, since I’ve never experienced a quake before. The girls were fine, in fact, Ashley was excited, asking what that “bumpy” was and then wanting to sleep in the living room because it was “bumpy” there. I called Anthony and he didn’t answer his phone, but he called me right back to make sure I was ok since he knows how freaked out I am about the earthquakes here. I’m glad to know that it was a fairly decent sized one and I got through it just fine, without letting the girls know how nervous I was. Helps me know that I can handle it in the future. And Taipei 101 is still standing J I think many people here are afraid of having the tallest building in the world where there are earthquakes.
Liz is doing better today, the rash and redness is completely gone and her eyes are slowly returning to normal. I was trying to get her to drink a lot today since the doctor said it would help “clear” her system out of the toxicity.
We went by the Taipei Montessori School this afternoon and spoke with one of the teachers who speaks English. We both had a positive reaction to the school and have signed Ashley up. She will start going ½ days once we come back from our visit home. She is very excited and so am I J It will be in Chinese with ½ hour of English per day, but she will have one teacher who speaks English and there are at least 2 other kids in her class that are foreign (French, I believe).
We also went over to Beth’s house this evening (Beth has two kids, 3 years and 11 months). Anthony got to spend some time seeing how Ashley and Liz play with other kids (there were also some other children there – some other friends of Beth). Everyone had a great time. Beth asked us about our earthquake experience and told me that I should be glad I’m on the 2nd floor since they are on the 12th floor and were “rocking and rolling” during the quake. She’s also from California, so she’s been through a fair number of them before. Ashley had great fun playing with Claire and didn’t want to leave. We eventually managed to get her out and we headed over to Chili’s for dinner. It was very good and the girls got a lot of attention. Some of the waitresses are beginning to recognize us and even remember the girls names. They get quite a few foreigners in there, I always see others when we go, so they are used to seeing them and yet, they still declare our girls beautiful and cute J
October 17, 2004
This weekend was a good one. Yesterday, we walked to a supermarket called “Geant” in a mall called “New York, New York 2” to buy some necessary supplies for the apartment. We have a cleaning lady (Frances, also babysitter) coming once a week to clean the apartment and she had a list of things I needed to buy for her to clean. Along our walk, we also realized there is a street market near by, within walking distance, that sells fresh fruits, veggies among clothing and odds n ends. It’s a good place to buy produce since it supports the locals and is usually a bit cheaper than in the supermarkets. The girls took good naps once we got home and then around 5 pm, Frances came to watch the them. Frances is a woman that I found by posting a wanted ad for babysitter on one of the English bulletin boards here. She will be cleaning our apartment once a week (with all the dust and all tile plus wood floors, I just can’t keep up!) along with babysitting once a week so Anthony and I can get out. We both were pretty tired and didn’t find any movies worth seeing. We had dinner at the Dining Room, my favorite Chinese restaurant and split a bottle of wine. It was a great meal. Then we just walked around the Mitsukoshi mall near by to take up time and enjoy some relaxing window shopping with no children present. We got home early, around 9pm and both girls were asleep and apparently had been very good all night.
Today, Ashley and I went to the neighborhood Wellcome store to grab some groceries (very small store, not a large selection and almost no imported foods). She rode her bike there and back, which makes it a bit faster than her walking. After everyone took an afternoon nap, we headed out to find a park nearby, we walked through our neighborhood and came upon a little park a block off our main road. The girls had lots of fun playing and Ashley got lots of attention from a group of school girls there. She gets along well with other kids, even if she can’t understand them. After the park, we walked some more through alleys and lanes throughout our neighborhood, attempting to figure out where we were and how to get places. It’s amazing how easy it is to get lost in the alleys of Taipei. We saw some great shops and little stores along the way and I realized how you can survive without big chain stores, you just have to find all the little shops that specialize and remember where they are. I like our neighborhood a lot. It’s been a nice weekend weather wise, with some sprinkles, but the temps have been great, cool enough to walk around without breaking a sweat and breezy too.
I still have no idea when I’ll get internet access. I am not very happy with that situation but there is nothing I can do about it. I’m trying to wait it out patiently, but Anthony can attest to the fact that I haven’t been very good at that. I did find an internet café nearby, so I was able to check my email this weekend, although I didn’t have time to write any. I miss everyone from home and I am looking forward to our visit next week (although I have some anxiety about flying with the girls again on such a long trip and the jet lag, at least they are on some sort of schedule, so hopefully that will make it easier!).
October 14, 2004
Today was another interesting day in our lives here. We woke up this morning to Liz screaming, went in and got her and poor baby, she looked like she’d been beaten up – eye lids so swollen she could barely open her eyes and when I took off her pj’s, she had a horrible rash on her legs and butt. It was awful. She was breathing fine and was in a good mood, so we decided to wait until Dr. Bear’s office opened right down the street from us at 8:30. We took her to be seen and the doctor said she was having an allergic reaction to something, probably ingested, but she didn’t know what. We went through list of food she’d eaten the last 24 hours, but she’d had everything before and we couldn’t think of anything new or different. The doctor gave us some syrup medicine, along with powder medicine to mix in with the syrup to give to her three times a day for 5 days. She was better after taking a nap and by one pm, her rash was gone, but she still has the puffy eyes. Anthony stayed home with us this morning to help keep an eye on her since we don’t know what caused it (and also to watch the 3rd presidential debate).
I’ve thought of everything she ate and just can’t fathom what would have brought that reaction on, especially since it started this morning and she hadn’t eaten since the night before. Or other thoughts are clothing/sheets (stuff from our shipment) and being bitten by something. We have these ants in the apartment that have bit me and caused me to swell up and itch at the bite site, so maybe she got bit and is severely allergic to them? We have no idea? Just have to wait it out and see, I guess. Poor baby! I washed all her bedding today, along with stuffed animals and have started on all her clothes too, just to make sure. I haven’t seen any ants in her room either, but they are the little buggers, so I may have missed them. She was in a pretty bad mood starting around 5 pm; she hadn’t taken an afternoon nap, so that didn’t help. I made some really good veggie soup (with a little leftover chicken added) that was great for dinner this evening, and then Anthony got Liz to bed while I played a game of Sequence with Ashley. It was a nice evening with her until I mentioned bedtime, then it all went out the window. She starts crying and throwing fit, but I managed to get her to bed at a decent time tonight.
October 15, 2004
An earthquake today – a 7.0 at the center and a 4.0 here in Taipei. This makes me very glad to only be on the 2nd floor since I’ve heard its worse the higher up you are. It was at 12:08 pm, this afternoon, right after lunch with the girls. I was in the kitchen; both girls were in the living room. I heard a thud and then some weird noises and I saw Liz on the ground, doing what seemed to be hitting her head against the wall (it was later that I realized she had fallen and couldn’t get up because of the quake). I picked Liz up and then realized that everything was shaking and Ashley asked me what was happening. That’s when I knew it was an earthquake. I grabbed Ashley’s hand and we walked over to the front door (I’ve heard you are supposed to stand in/near door frames, away from windows). I counted and watched the living room chandelier sway. It was only after the chandelier stopped moving that I knew it was over, since my body was still moving and I felt like it wasn’t over. My heart was pounding and I was dizzy. It was very strange, since I’ve never experienced a quake before. The girls were fine, in fact, Ashley was excited, asking what that “bumpy” was and then wanting to sleep in the living room because it was “bumpy” there. I called Anthony and he didn’t answer his phone, but he called me right back to make sure I was ok since he knows how freaked out I am about the earthquakes here. I’m glad to know that it was a fairly decent sized one and I got through it just fine, without letting the girls know how nervous I was. Helps me know that I can handle it in the future. And Taipei 101 is still standing J I think many people here are afraid of having the tallest building in the world where there are earthquakes.
Liz is doing better today, the rash and redness is completely gone and her eyes are slowly returning to normal. I was trying to get her to drink a lot today since the doctor said it would help “clear” her system out of the toxicity.
We went by the Taipei Montessori School this afternoon and spoke with one of the teachers who speaks English. We both had a positive reaction to the school and have signed Ashley up. She will start going ½ days once we come back from our visit home. She is very excited and so am I J It will be in Chinese with ½ hour of English per day, but she will have one teacher who speaks English and there are at least 2 other kids in her class that are foreign (French, I believe).
We also went over to Beth’s house this evening (Beth has two kids, 3 years and 11 months). Anthony got to spend some time seeing how Ashley and Liz play with other kids (there were also some other children there – some other friends of Beth). Everyone had a great time. Beth asked us about our earthquake experience and told me that I should be glad I’m on the 2nd floor since they are on the 12th floor and were “rocking and rolling” during the quake. She’s also from California, so she’s been through a fair number of them before. Ashley had great fun playing with Claire and didn’t want to leave. We eventually managed to get her out and we headed over to Chili’s for dinner. It was very good and the girls got a lot of attention. Some of the waitresses are beginning to recognize us and even remember the girls names. They get quite a few foreigners in there, I always see others when we go, so they are used to seeing them and yet, they still declare our girls beautiful and cute J
October 17, 2004
This weekend was a good one. Yesterday, we walked to a supermarket called “Geant” in a mall called “New York, New York 2” to buy some necessary supplies for the apartment. We have a cleaning lady (Frances, also babysitter) coming once a week to clean the apartment and she had a list of things I needed to buy for her to clean. Along our walk, we also realized there is a street market near by, within walking distance, that sells fresh fruits, veggies among clothing and odds n ends. It’s a good place to buy produce since it supports the locals and is usually a bit cheaper than in the supermarkets. The girls took good naps once we got home and then around 5 pm, Frances came to watch the them. Frances is a woman that I found by posting a wanted ad for babysitter on one of the English bulletin boards here. She will be cleaning our apartment once a week (with all the dust and all tile plus wood floors, I just can’t keep up!) along with babysitting once a week so Anthony and I can get out. We both were pretty tired and didn’t find any movies worth seeing. We had dinner at the Dining Room, my favorite Chinese restaurant and split a bottle of wine. It was a great meal. Then we just walked around the Mitsukoshi mall near by to take up time and enjoy some relaxing window shopping with no children present. We got home early, around 9pm and both girls were asleep and apparently had been very good all night.
Today, Ashley and I went to the neighborhood Wellcome store to grab some groceries (very small store, not a large selection and almost no imported foods). She rode her bike there and back, which makes it a bit faster than her walking. After everyone took an afternoon nap, we headed out to find a park nearby, we walked through our neighborhood and came upon a little park a block off our main road. The girls had lots of fun playing and Ashley got lots of attention from a group of school girls there. She gets along well with other kids, even if she can’t understand them. After the park, we walked some more through alleys and lanes throughout our neighborhood, attempting to figure out where we were and how to get places. It’s amazing how easy it is to get lost in the alleys of Taipei. We saw some great shops and little stores along the way and I realized how you can survive without big chain stores, you just have to find all the little shops that specialize and remember where they are. I like our neighborhood a lot. It’s been a nice weekend weather wise, with some sprinkles, but the temps have been great, cool enough to walk around without breaking a sweat and breezy too.
I still have no idea when I’ll get internet access. I am not very happy with that situation but there is nothing I can do about it. I’m trying to wait it out patiently, but Anthony can attest to the fact that I haven’t been very good at that. I did find an internet café nearby, so I was able to check my email this weekend, although I didn’t have time to write any. I miss everyone from home and I am looking forward to our visit next week (although I have some anxiety about flying with the girls again on such a long trip and the jet lag, at least they are on some sort of schedule, so hopefully that will make it easier!).
posted by The Armstrongs at
10/18/2004
