Always Busy
She never stops. There is the cooking and the cleaning, the organizing and reorganizing, the plants and the flowers, not to mention the weeds that spring up from time to time. I am talking about Ping. She is non-stop action at home and at the office. In her spare time she helps clients, especially clients in China or from China, with their documents and translations. Before leaving to pick Cici up at school each day she prepares thick slices of purple sweet potatoes for the three of us to eat as a healthy snack, roasting them in the little table top oven at the office.
Of course Cici goes pretty much non-stop during the school year as well. I dropped her off at 6:30 this morning for marching band practice. She studies from the time she finishes at school until lights out at night.
One might think from what I have described that we never see each other or have any meaningful interaction as a family, but that isn't true. We actually have a lot of things that we do together, helping each other, talking and planning, shopping, plus eating together, just to mention a few.
Cici has quickly settled back into life in America, happy to be home, and not complaining about school. I think she is secretly happy to be back in school here. Ping I know is happy to be home again and she also enjoys her time at the office with me. Many of our clients know her and she has made new friends this way.
I just put a new registration sticker on Ping's car. Can it be a year already since we bought it for her? This car is her pride and joy, not to mention her freedom. She loves being able to pick Cici up at school, shop for groceries when she wants, go visit a friend, or run errands. She missed having a car in China when she was there. Traffic in Guangzhou has gotten so bad that they have instituted the type of traffic controls that are used in Beijing. Odd numbered plates and even numbered plates have designated days when they can be on the road. This has had a ripple effect. Now it is much more difficult to hail a taxi because many more people are using them.
We need not be concerned with traffic in Guangzhou right now, though, because we have years of education ahead for Cici to think about first. She also needs to prepare for and take her driver's test. So many things to do, so little time.
Of course Cici goes pretty much non-stop during the school year as well. I dropped her off at 6:30 this morning for marching band practice. She studies from the time she finishes at school until lights out at night.
One might think from what I have described that we never see each other or have any meaningful interaction as a family, but that isn't true. We actually have a lot of things that we do together, helping each other, talking and planning, shopping, plus eating together, just to mention a few.
Cici has quickly settled back into life in America, happy to be home, and not complaining about school. I think she is secretly happy to be back in school here. Ping I know is happy to be home again and she also enjoys her time at the office with me. Many of our clients know her and she has made new friends this way.
I just put a new registration sticker on Ping's car. Can it be a year already since we bought it for her? This car is her pride and joy, not to mention her freedom. She loves being able to pick Cici up at school, shop for groceries when she wants, go visit a friend, or run errands. She missed having a car in China when she was there. Traffic in Guangzhou has gotten so bad that they have instituted the type of traffic controls that are used in Beijing. Odd numbered plates and even numbered plates have designated days when they can be on the road. This has had a ripple effect. Now it is much more difficult to hail a taxi because many more people are using them.
We need not be concerned with traffic in Guangzhou right now, though, because we have years of education ahead for Cici to think about first. She also needs to prepare for and take her driver's test. So many things to do, so little time.
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