We Just Can't Get Well

Sickness…ugh…I am so tired of it. It just seems to be everywhere right now. Liz’s fever hadn’t gone done as of this morning, it had gone up, and so off to the doctor we went (at Chung Shan). Now that we are under the National Health Insurance plan, it’s even cheaper to see the doctors! Instead of 10 US dollars, it was only 7 US dollars and no cost for the meds. Isn’t that crazy?! Turns out Liz has tonsillitis. She’s been tugging at her ear, the doctor said her ears are fine, but her tonsils are swollen. So, she’s on antibiotics and I’m hoping her fever goes down soon! She’s pretty miserable and tired since she’s not sleeping much, which means I’m pretty miserable and not sleeping much either.

I had a Chinese language lesson today, which was cut off short due to Liz not cooperating at taking a nap. Usually I have my lesson during her naptimes, but today, she was feeling so miserable, she couldn’t sleep and she didn’t want mommy doing anything other than rocking her. I won’t have lessons next week due to Tuesday being a holiday (we’re hoping to go to the zoo) and Thursday we’ll be leaving for Hualien. It’s slow going, the language classes. Sometimes I enjoy them, sometimes not. I understand more and if I take my time, can say a few things, but people talk so fast here that most of the time it just all runs together and I have no idea what anyone is saying.

I rented “The Terminal” and we watched it the other night (with Tom Hanks). Not his best movie. It had some funny parts, but I thought it would never end as it just seemed to go on and on and on…if you haven’t seen it, you aren’t missing much. We have “21 Grams” too, which is supposed to be pretty good.

One day last week, while driving back from dropping Anthony off at work, I was at a stoplight. The intersection I was at is in the middle of a circle – so there are 3 roads that go through the intersection (instead of just 2) with a middle section for cars waiting for the light to turn. There are three lanes going each way in the middle of this “circle” intersection. I’m in the far right lane, with two buses on the left side of me and a scooter on the right side (they always ride next to cars in the right lane, even if there isn’t actually a lane for them). So, right there, in the middle of this MAJOR intersection, the guy on the scooter waves to the bus next to me, takes his helmet off, hangs his helmet on his scooter, takes his keys and hops on the bus – leaving his scooter right there in the road – not on a shoulder, sidewalk, side street, nope, right in the middle of the street. So strange. At first, I thought maybe the scooter was broken, but it had been running, he turned it off with the key and it was a fairly new one, didn’t look old or rusty or dilapidated in anyway. There’s Taiwan driving for you.

On a different note, the other day, I saw a guy on a scooter stop and ask an old lady if she’d like a ride. She had a pull cart with her and was walking across a rather long bridge. It is rare that you see someone on a scooter offer to help someone who is walking. They didn’t appear to know one another and she seemed happy that he offered to help, but she declined his offer and kept on walking.

Travel Plans

Wow – I am going away for a weekend! I am so excited! To Hong Kong! It’s a girl’s weekend, with some of the women I’ve met here and some I don’t know. We are going in April. I just made my reservations and I am thrilled. It will be strange, flying with no children and three nights without children or husband. I am going to have fun though!

We are also taking a little family vacation next week to Hualien here in Taiwan. It’s on the east side of Taiwan and has an Ocean Park and is close to a supposedly gorgeous gorge which we will visit. We will all be going with another family, which will hopefully make it a bit easier on the kids, since there will be a friend for both Ashley and Elizabeth. It looks like April is going to be a BUSY month for us. Anthony also has some coworkers coming into town in April for a work visit, but it will still be nice seeing them and having some American visitors. Anthony may also end up going to China for a few days for work in April, although he doesn’t know for sure yet.

We had a great Easter weekend. On Saturday, we wanted to go hiking and last minute decided to try driving up North to Yeliou GeoPark. We had visited this place last year when we came up for our scouting trip to Taiwan, but didn’t get to go to the aquarium there so thought we’d try that. We drove up there, only taking about an hour to get there, with no traffic it would have only been about ½ an hour! The drive was great, going through long tunnels and mountains. We went to the aquarium (called Ocean World) and saw a show with dolphins, sea lions and divers. It was fun, although I think I definitely enjoyed it more than the girls. They seemed rather bored with the actual show and just loved running around up and down the bleachers of the stadium.

After walking through the aquarium, we decided to walk through the GeoPark, which is basically a REALLY long point sticking out into the ocean, with lots of really neat rock formations. It was an experience being that close to the ocean. We didn’t really talk about it at the time, but we both (Anthony and I) kept watching out for escape routes - ways we could run up the “mountain” and away from the water. I know for me, I didn’t really look at the waves much, I just couldn’t do it. I could look out at the ocean, in the distance, but found I would watch the boats to make sure they weren’t tipping over or moving around a lot. The girls did fine, Ashley wanted to be near the ocean and play in the sand and Liz just had fun riding around in the backpack carrier and occasionally playing on the rocks if we felt it was safe enough. I made us walk all the way to the end, not realizing how far it actually was. It took us about 2 hours to walk all the way, but it was SO worth it. No only physically – the view was absolutely amazing, but emotionally too, I needed to do it for myself, to be that close to the ocean and waves for as long as possible. At the end, there were some rock stairs leading up to a “gazebo” type structure overlooking the ocean and the bay. We walked up it carefully as the stairs were little, skinny and almost straight up. Anthony did really well considering he was carrying Liz on his back! He’s so brave! The view from up there was astonishing and we were so glad we did it. It was just gorgeous looking out over the ocean from that high up, seeing the bay, the mountains, the islands, the rock formations. We’re really glad we went out there and we had a great time.

On Sunday, there was a playgroup get together for Easter at a park here right next to the domestic airport (so planes fly right overhead). There was a maze there, so a few of us moms brought Easter treats for the kiddos. We “hid” them in the mazes and the kids went around “finding” them. They, of course, were all out in the open so the kids didn’t have a hard time finding them. The girls had a blast – getting together with friends and getting treats. One of the ladies also brought hard boiled eggs and decorating items for the kids to decorate. The sun was out and it was a wonderful day. The girls were exhausted after the Easter trip and took really good naps that afternoon!

Liz isn’t feeling too well today. Don’t know what’s going on, but this evening she had a fever and I rocked her for a long time while she just lay there. Poor baby. I hope she’s feeling better tomorrow. It was raining most of the day today – we got soaked when we walked Ashley to school and picked her up (Anthony took the car today). Ashley sure enjoyed it though – she loves getting wet in the rain, even though the Taiwanese frown upon that – they even dried her hair at school with a hair dryer when she showed up there this morning! I am so glad to have found her school with teachers that really do care about her. She gives them hugs everyday and is so happy going to school now and talking about her friends.

Yesterday was her ballet/dance class. She was so excited – all day – and kept talking about her friends, Claire and Tiffi, that would be going with her. Anthony joined us at her class so he could see her dancing and running around with her friends. He even brought her a bouquet of roses, which she loved and handed out to her classmates and teacher. He also brought me flowers, which is a nice treat!

I think I’ve written a book by now, so I should sign off – time to relax a bit before heading off to bed.

One of the Saddest Moments

I've ever experienced occurred this morning. Ashley, Liz and I walked to Ashley's school this morning. Ashley was in a good mood, wanting to go to school, excited about it. We got to school, I did a puzzle with her, then she gave me hug and kiss and said goodbye. I was going to leave when Liz wanted to walk upstairs, so I went upstairs with Liz (where the younger kids room is) and let Liz play around for a bit up there, getting to know the other kids and teachers so hopefully someday, she'll go there without a big fuss. After about 15 minutes, we went back downstairs to leave - there is glass in between Ashley's classroom and the stairs, so you can see into her room while walking down the stairs. Ashley was eating a snack at a table and saw us and waved. Once we got down to her room and by the front door, she was still waving bye, but her face started to scrunch up and turn red. I went over to her and gave her another hug and kiss and she started tearing up. She said "Bye Mommy, I love You" and then reached over, grabbed a Kleenex and patted her eyes. It was so sad. I tried talking to her, telling her she would have fun and I would pick her up after nap. She nodded yes, then said "Just Go Mommy" - oh, my heart just broke. Here she was upset that I was leaving, on the verge of sobbing and she was telling me to just leave, because she knew that was best. It was just awful for me! I left with Liz and took a LONG time walking home. Ashley is growing up so fast, it is just amazing. I'm so proud of my little girl.

Cops and Baby Dolls

Yesterday I had a first here in Taiwan, my first time to be pulled over by a cop. Oops. I did not get a ticket or any sort of lecture though. He pulled me over for running through a yellow/red light on the way to pick up Anthony from work. He was standing on side of road with his lights flashing, just waiting to pull someone over, and that someone was me. He came up to the car, I rolled the window down and he started saying something in Chinese and pointing back to the light (I knew what he was referring to) and I said “Bu Dong” which is Don’t Understand in Chinese. He said Oh, and looked back at the kids, looked at the dash, then asked me something in Chinese, which I recognized one word as Where? So I pointed to Anthony’s building (1/2 a block away) and he said OK and motioned for me to move on. So, got out of that one. Funny thing is, I didn’t even get nervous when he came up to the car. I thought either he speaks English and I get a ticket or he doesn’t speak English and I get out of it. I’m glad I got out of it though.

Liz has found a new fascination with baby dolls. She LOVES them. She feeds, rocks, bounces, dresses (undresses), plays with, sleeps with, puts chapstick on her baby. It is so adorable. I’ve taken some pictures and hope to post them soon.

Ashley really likes her school now. We have no complaints from her going to school at all. She is doing really well there, making lots of friends and even occasionally, she’s speaking Chinese words (without even realizing she’s doing it). She had her first ballet/dance class on Monday with her friends Claire and Tiffi. She had an ABSOLUTELY fabulous time and can’t wait until next week until she goes again. They were all so cute following the teacher and dancing around. Ashley did well and even seemed to be good at stretching, especially her legs. Must be all those exercises we do with her (or at least Anthony does with her).

I’m staying busy keeping house – cleaning, doing laundry and cooking, along with visiting friends during the day. We have playgroup today at the Children’s Transportation Museum, Liz will enjoy that. Sunday is our playgroups Easter Egg Hunt in the park. That should be fun. I volunteered to bring some treats, so now I have to come up with an idea for about 20 kids of varying ages using things here in Taiwan (not as easy as back home where you can stop at Target and pick up all kind of Easter stuff). Don’t think they really celebrate Easter here, so you won’t see little bunnies or cute springtime stuff in the stores. I’ll find something though.

Life

March 16, 2005

I’m getting flack from my husband for not writing in our blog lately – he says our fans are getting restless. HAHAHA. It has been a while, just been busy with the kiddos and getting back into the routine of things. Ashley is now back in school, doing very well! This morning we walked to school (it’s a BEAUTIFUL day out) and we did a puzzle together, she gave me a hug and kiss and said goobye. No tears, no pouting, no crying. It was awesome. The other day, she grabbed a tissue, was being so brave, had little tears running down her cheek, but she said goodbye, I love you and walked away with the Kleenex held up to her face. It was so heartbreaking for me to see, but at the same time, I’m so proud of her. She is really enjoying school now, and talks a lot more about her “friends” at school and what she does everyday.

March 18, 2005

Ashley went to an “art class” last night after school with some of her friends. It was interesting. All in Chinese. The teacher spent about 45 minutes explaining how to do the art – these are all 4 year olds – and then let them work with wires and foil to make a person. She really enjoyed the art part, just not the instruction part – too long for her. But, she did great and made "herself dancing".

This last weekend, Ashley was asking us to repeat things, saying she didn’t hear. At first, we just thought it was really cute “What did you say, mommy?” as she would lean her head closer to listen. But, last night, at dinner, she said her ear hurt – and so off to Dr. Bear’s Clinic (thank goodness it’s open until 9pm and you can just walk in!). Turns out, she has an ear infection – UGH. Her first one in years. I feel bad now, almost like I was ignoring her and let a week go by before taking her in, but that happens, right? It is nice though now that she’s older and can explain to us when something hurts and what hurts.

We ate dinner at Chili’s last night – mmm, it was good. We have become regulars there, with a certain waitress that enjoys the girls – even buys them little presents and stickers. We have fun going there, and watching people ooh and aah over the kids and give them attention.

We had a good weekend last weekend, lots of walking around our neighborhood, finding little shops and restaurants we never knew existed. We found a great local place for Tepanyaki, where the cooks were really nice and made some great food. They seemed to enjoy the kids and even cut up food in smaller pieces for them. I also like when they cater to the kids – don’t hear of that happening much in the States, at least in my experience. Anthony also joined a local video store, so we can finally rent movies! Yea! We rented three this week and it’s been hard finding time to watch them with the girls – Ashley seems to have a 6th sense when we want to watch a movie and decides that is the night she’s going to give us trouble going to sleep.

Ashley ran out of pull-ups last week, so we decided it was time to use the potty at night. She got to pick out a “My Little Pony” and we have a sticker page for her, every night she goes without an accident, she gets a sticker – 7 in a row and she gets her pony. It’s been five nights so far and no accidents! I wake her up before we go to bed and take her potty and she always goes – maybe not willingly, but she does go. She is doing a wonderful job and we are very proud of her. She’s growing up so fast. She also starts a “ballet/dance” class on Monday after school. I went today and got her some ballet shoes and little ballet outfit. I’ll be sure to take some pictures. She is very excited and can’t wait – I hope she enjoys it as much as she thinks she’s going to.

The weather has been pretty good. Playgroup this week was at Peace Park, where Liz had a blast running around playing with kids and on the playground equipment. I chased her around everywhere and got my exercise! We took the MRT there, first time to take the MRT in a long time and Liz did really well in her stroller. She even fell asleep on the way home, she had so much fun at playgroup and was so tired.

We’ve had some issues getting Liz to sleep. I don’t know what is wrong or why she does not want to go to bed at night. She seems for her naptime, goes right now, maybe will fuss for a minute or less, that’s it. But at night, she’ll scream when we put her in crib. I rocked her to sleep several nights in a row, which I’m sure just makes the problem worse, but I just can’t take her crying at night and I love sitting and holding her and rocking her, just being able to hold her while she sits still, it’s a rarity these days. It’s getting better every night, so hopefully, it’s just a temporary thing.

Finally, the Sun appears

This weekend was very nice. The weather turned gorgeous after a horrible week of rain and misery. Saturday I got to sleep in, which is always wonderful. I wasn’t feeling too well that morning, so the sleep really helped. Anthony took the girls to the park next door while I took a shower. I went to join them and there were three other families in the park from Ashley’s school – so we had a great time hanging out with all of them and Anthony got to meet some of the moms and dads. The park that is next to our house has expanded by quite a bit since we’ve been gone. They tore down this square block of storage units and cleaned it out and planted trees and laid brick and turned what was a small park into a bigger park with a large area which is perfect for riding bikes! The girls had a wonderful time running around, riding bike and playing with all the other kids. It was chilly out, but that didn’t matter. We then went to lunch with 2 of the families at this little dumplings and noodle place. It was really nice for us and for the girls. We really enjoyed it. After naps, we went to Mitsukoshi to let the girls run around inside for a bit. They had fun and Ashley even tried on a great dress which I just had to buy her, she’ll be wearing it for her birthday in a few months, so you’ll see pictures of it – Anthony called it an “80’s goth prom dress” – I know you really want to see it now, but you’ll just have to wait! Saturday night, Ashley had trouble getting to bed, while we tried to watch a movie “Bowling for Columbine” – we didn’t get too far in the movie since Ashley kept coming out with excuses – I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, I had a bad dream, etc… At 10:30, she was finally asleep and we watched “The Daily Show International Edition with Jon Stewart” and “The Cumars at No. 42”, both were fun to watch.

We awoke at 3 in the morning to the bouncing and swaying of our apartment – it was an earthquake – three of them actually in a row. The main was one a 5.9, but it was only a 3 here in Taipei with the others being 2. Not fun in the middle of the night, but we managed. It took me a while to get back to sleep – I turned the TV on and flipped around for a bit. Anthony said he was fine with it, but he did have some dreams involving waves.

Today was bright and sunny. We headed out, called Angie and went over to her place to visit with them. Angie had her baby, Alanna, last week, so we got to see the new baby (SHE IS SO CUTE!!!!) and visit with Angie and Joseph. Liz and Joseph had a blast running around playing. They seemed to remember each other and gave each other lots of hugs and kisses. It was very cute. We ordered Dominos Pizza for lunch and I have determined that Dominos is MUCH better than Pizza Hut here.

We did some shopping the rest of the afternoon, going to an electronics store so Anthony could pick up a new chassis for the new computer he’s going to build. This one seems to be running a bit slow, so he’s going to be upgrading some things. We then went to IKEA, spent lots of money on stuff we needed for around the apartment and took the girls up to ToysRUs to run around and have some fun. After that, it was time to eat and Anthony surprised me with dinner at THE OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE. For anyone who knows me, you know that one of the places I have always said “If only they had one in Taiwan!” is The Outback and guess what? Now they do!!!! Anthony had heard about it opening and not told me, just said that we needed to go to IKEA this weekend and I wondered why, because they just opened the restaurant in between IKEA and AsiaWorld. We stuffed ourselves – it was SOOO good and happy hour, so we even enjoyed strawberry margaritas. We had fried shrooms’, salad, bread, ribs, Victoria’s fillet and brownie dessert. I was in heaven. MMMM. It is dangerous now that they have opened an Outback, just dangerous.

I’ve been a bit down lately, just being back here, away from family, missing ‘home’ and getting frustrated with being sick and miserable weather. I really needed this weekend to recuperate a bit, hang out with friends, do some shopping, see Angie, Alanna and Joseph, have fun with Anthony and the girls and eat at one of my FAVORITE restaurants! It was a good weekend.

Adjusting

We are getting back into the swing of things. Anthony's been to work all week and Ashley started at school on Wednesday - for half days. She was happy Wed and Thurs, but today, she threw a major fit - screamed the whole way in. There were two younger twins going into school at the same time and they were crying also - but Ashley was screaming so loud - they both stopped and just stared at her and quit their crying. When I went to pick her up this afternoon, she was happily eating her lunch and told me that she missed me, but she had a good day.

I saw a man tweezing hairs out of his chin while driving a taxi yesterday, now I know I'm back in Taiwan. I'm back to driving around, I was nervous the first day, but am fine now. I still don't believe how horrible the driving is here - how the buses just go where they want, whether you are in the lane or not and how people on bicycles will be going down the middle of the street at 5 kmh, with no mind to the cars in the street.

Liz threw up yesterday, I think it was something she ate - she seems better today. I am doing ok. Still not feeling normal yet after my sickness and still coughing with a sore throat. I really wish it would all go away and I'd be healthy again. I can't wait until I'm not exhausted at noon and can go all day without a nap.

The sun finally came out today for the first time in what seems like weeks. It's been raining and miserable for a while now - it was really nice walking to pick up Ashley and not getting soaked in the rain.