HKG030: Culinary Cultural Revolution

quinn was so tired from boycotting naps for two days that he couldn't muster the energy to play with his trains sitting up.

the bug had a lot of fun on this part of the playscape...here she's up....

and here she's down

i don't know what taro is, but taro-flavored wafer cookies are GOOD!

this is how many items thor can handle at one time. and this is only if they are light cotton. if the items are made from a heavier material, such as denim, thor can handle no more than 3 items. thor and i are still not seeing eye-to-eye, but we are in negotiations.

this was the state of our fridge for dinner tonight. blueberries, grapes, ricotta cheese, and some condiments. and thus the reason for tonight's cultural revolution (not pictured is the pizza box and polish sausage i had already removed).

culinary cultural revolution in progress. it turned out surprisingly good!

steamed pizza. this looks really gross to me, but the kids hoovered it right up!

olivia using the vacuum hose as a microphone pumped right into her own ear

the kids had a blast unpacking the boxes that were delivered from fortress today. fortress is a local electronics store where we got some household items this past weekend. who would have thought two kids would be so excited to see a vacuum cleaner and an iron ;-p

today was a combination of slow and crazy. we took it easy this morning and didn't even make it out to the park until almost 10:45. we hung out there for an hour or so until quinn looked like he wouldn't stay awake another second. we headed home for lunch and a nap. along the way, we met the most soft and cuddly chow-chow i've ever met. she was cream colored rather than red or black, and she was super sweet and tolerant of all of us. her name sounded like loh-gee. i hope we see her again...petting her gave me a tiny bit of the fur-baby fix i have been needing. i miss our fur babies so much i can barely stand it.

anyhoo, so we come home for lunch and a nap and everything's going fine until nap time. quinn boycotted his nap. we changed nap to quiet time, which allowed me to tinker with my computer and get some laundry done. you see, thor (the washer/drier thingy) and i have begun trying to repair our relationship. i try to ignore the fact that it takes him 5x as long to do a quarter as much work as our laundry machines at home, and he tries not to hold it against me. i'm getting way deep here, i know.

so, after some quiet time, tinkering (internet connectivity issues), and laundry, the kids and i hop on the apartment shuttle to head into central so i can find the main post office and pick up a package from my dad (quinn passed out cold less than 10 seconds after the shuttle started moving). i failed to plan this very well. you know, not having a smart phone is cramping my style. we walked around until we found a road called connaught. that took more than an hour (no smart phone to let me google map myself silly), and then we walked around some more looking for a street called connaught place. along the way we were bumped, jostled, shoved, and glared at. you see, by the time we left the apartment, it was nearly the end of the work day. and it was crowded. one young woman shoved herself in front of us, and then turned and glared at me when i accidentally caught her heel with the stroller. um. that prolly wouldn't have happened if she did not shove right in front of us...i guess i was supposed to stop and give way.

fortunately, i was able to remember our way back to where the shuttle dropped us off, and we were able to catch a shuttle back to the apartment. this saves us so many headaches. using the shuttle lets us avoid the crowded city buses and the frustration of trying to flag a taxi and/or the expense of paying for one.

by the time we got home, it was past dinner time and there was no time to stop at the wellcome. as a result, i created quite the culinary cultural revolution using polish sausage, soba noodles, onions, garlic, sesame oil, and cantonese marinade for me and josh. the kids had spam, leftover noodles, and steamed leftover pizza. i steamed the pizza b/c i could not think of a better way to reheat pizza without a microwave or oven.

tomorrow promises to be quite adventurous as we try to find a pediatrician and get an appointment. based on some complaints she's made, i think livie's got a UTI. wish us luck.

oh, and the computer woes are due to my computer having an outdated network adapter that is using an old communication protocol, which is not compatible with the wireless modem we got with our new cable service. i will not be able to skype until we get this situation resolved (i can maintain an internet connection for only a minute or two at a time most of the time). since i am single parenting most of the rest of the week (and we have to leave the country on friday (longer story about visas later)), i will not be able to resolve this issue until the weekend at the earliest. this makes me SAD. very sad. there will be some burning skype lines next week when i can get back in touch with folks far away.