As I said . . .

As I said . . . we leave in two days, and the nerves (good ones and some that are a bit worrisome) are starting to kick in.  When my train of thoughts are lying in the more "Flying across the ocean, staying in a closed in space for 16 hours--what if . . ." area, then  I get a bit anxious. But, when I think about why we are going these anxiousness nearly dissipates. It is really a cool God thing to me.
I still haven't put a single thing in my suitcase, but I think I will enjoy it so that is probably why I am procrastinating-- so, technically it is not the negative type of procrastination.

Zaijian! (for now)
(I will probably post again before we leave)

Read on 16 hour flights . . .

A bit of entertainment for a flight which at a length that I have never experienced.

We leave in 2 days!

Finally! An idea!

Yes, I have an idea, but it is still very premature. I will share more if anything "solid" comes to pass.

Thinking . . . .

 A few months ago I read Do Hard Things, by Alex and Brett Harris which focused on the low expectations our culture has of teenagers.  Alex and Brett's aim is to unite teen under one banner of rebelling against these low expectations.  They give you story after story of teens doing extraordinary things for the glory of God.  Things like raising money to build wells in Africa, igniting the hearts of youth to bring an end to modern day slavery, and much more. Of course, it is a compelling message.  It made me want to do something. We went to one of the conferences in 2008, which made me totally "pumped".  I wanted to do something!  Something extraordinary.  Naturally, I would be interested in doing something involving orphans, for I have had a burden for them for years.  I know it is unreasonable to think that they could all be adopted, but I do think it reasonable to think that we could work toward the betterment of their lives and living situations.  I don't really have a plan, but just premature thoughts. I really believe our generation can make a difference and get involved in the lives of orphans.
Any ideas?

French Toast

French Toast Breakfast

These are important to have at least once a week.

And now . . . my super secret, super complex recipe . . . . .

1. some milk (I have no idea of what amount)

2. an egg

3. some cinnamon

4. a bit of sugar

5. mix it up and slap a slice of bread in and then onto a skillet.

Then you must cook it until the eggs don't have an appearance of Salmonella poisoning.

Honestly though, the real recipe from which I contrived this super-secret-super-complex-pitiful-excuse-for-a-recipe recipe is in the Better Homes Cookbook.

I'm sure you have eaten French Toast, but if not, you must, or you will be risking offending the Secret French Toast Society.

Xiajian!

(I'm not quite sure why everything is underlined--if you know, let me know)

Still Sick-- Quite Sick (and a bit of China)

Two posts back I stated that we were all sick with something that sounded like "microplasm", but one doctor thought it was whooping cough-- a diagnosis we thought not very probable. Well, we are back to square one. Yesterday my dad talked to a doctor that goes to our church who said that they had had 20 confirmed cases of whooping cough in his office this past week (I think). Now we are pretty sure this is the case with us. He said that even though we have been immunized against it that it could have worn off. The good news . . . he called ALL of us antibiotics in yesterday, which are now in our system. I leave for China two weeks from this Thursday, and I am so grateful to have the medicine in me.

A bit of good news regarding the China trip:

Our passports are back, which contain our visas. Everything seems to be on track, for the date of departure is quickly approaching.

Little Women

I read  Little Women  about six years ago ( I would have been ten or eleven) and cried my eyes out.  I literally felt sick because it didn't play out quite like I wished.  Laurie (a guy)asks Jo(a girl) to marry him, and then-of all things- she refuses him!  I was utterly and completely disturbed . . . .  Then, Jo falls for a German professor of philosophy, who has to be 15-20 years older than her, and, in the end, marries him.  Laurie marries Jo's youngest sister, Amy.  So sad.  Also, Beth, next to youngest of the Marge ladies dies of what I believe to be heart failure, but, when I read the book I was glad (don't think me evil!) (I feel bad now)because she apparently was interested in Laurie and I thought that would inhibit he and Jo from marrying-which didn't matter because they were not destined for one another anyway.  Once again, anyway . . . .  I watched the movie a few years ago and felt about it just like I had the book- unpleasant and disturbing.  But, today my feelings and thoughts are reformed, or conformed to the more positive. I loved the dynamic between each of the sisters.  The late night theatre in the attic was so much fun. And, surprisingly so, I was totally okay with Jo marrying someone other than Laurie; I rather liked the professor this time.  I also like that they go on to found the school for underprivileged  boys.  Ideal for both of their characters. 

I am now comfortably arriving at the conclusion that, on my first reading the book, I made a rash and thoughtless decision.  Little Women is, to me,  a happy and beautiful story. 

Sick

Happening now: 

 I am blogging, my mother and brothers are watching Fox and the Hound 2 (which is strange because Reba McEntire plays a dog's voice), and . . . we are quarantined to our house.

We have been coughing our brains out for weeks, and the doctor seems to think we have whooping cough--people used to die from it! So I'm sure that you can see how this news could be a bit disconcerting. Now, another doctor seems to think it nearly impossible that we could have whooping cough because we have all been vaccinated against it, but thinks we have something that sounds like "microplasm".  

The fun thing is that we are not expected to do anything but rest.  After a while this can become cause enough to feel insane, but eventually the feeling passes.