Thursday, July 24, 2008

A Car, A Car

While I was here in the States, Anthony bought a car for us in Shanghai! I am so excited to go back and have our very own car for driving around! The renting an old minivan was becoming a hassle and costing a fortune! I will have to post a pic when we get back but it is a Nissan Livina Geniss (which Anthony said the non-English speaking dealer pronounced as Guiness). I do think Guiness will be my new nick name for it - nothing like driving around a car named after beer :) It has 3 rows of seats but is more like a car than a minivan or SUV.

I don't really know how the whole sale of the car went down between an non-English speaking salesman and a non-Chinese speaking buyer, you'll have to question Anthony on that one. I do know that he brought a friend with him to help with the process. I've been told that our temporary plates last for 6 days and they will register them when we return, then hope that 6 days later we can get an official license plate. Not sure how that works, but hopefully, it does. Anthony also told me that when he test drove the car - the odometer wasn't working - he questioned the salesman about it and his reply was that they unhook it so there are no miles added to the car when testdriving before selling it!!! Isn't that crazy?!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Staring at the Clouds

Being back in the States often leaves me breathless - just seeing the amazing blue of the Texas sky and the fluffy white clouds! I stare at the sky for minutes at a time, just admiring the beauty. Our backyard is also sometimes on the flight path for the airport, so we get lots of planes flying overhead. This makes endless entertainment for Ryken, who LOVES airplanes! Ashley commented today that the clouds in Texas have so many different "varieties" - fluffy ones, wispy ones, wavy ones, etc, etc. She loves them too. Nothing like living in a polluted city where you rarely see blue skies and rarely see clouds other than a grey cover all around to make you see the beauty of the unpolluted skies!

We are enjoying our stay here - not so much the heat - but at least visiting with friends and family! Anthony just arrived this weekend from Shanghai, which I desperately needed. Weeks without him makes me and the kids cranky.