One too many excuses.

I think it's been about two months since I last posted, but I'm afraid to look. I decided, about two weeks ago, that I was going to do a "highlights" posting to avoid feeling overwhelmed with the task. Unfortunately, there are quite a few highlights considering that the two months of blog neglect include almost a month and a half of vacation! So, maybe you understand why it took me two weeks to psych myself up enough to do the abbreviated version.

I'm not sure where I left off, but I'll start with my Christmas holiday which started on December 14, because, quite frankly, I don't remember anything in the two weeks before that. I'm sure the vague memory has something to do with working too much, but I have no details to give on that front. Back to the point, Christmas was a godsend.

I flew back to the states on the 18th. Dan decided on the 17th that he would join me, and managed to get a direct flight, round trip for about 900 dollars. My flight, on the other hand had a layover in San Francisco. Needless to say, my flight was delayed and my time in SFO was an absolute nightmare. While going from the international to the domestic terminal I was harassed by the guy who shuffles people into various security check lines. He claimed I had too many carry-ons. I was annoyed because I had just found out about the delay and knew I would have to take my shoes off in about three minutes and I almost started crying. "Well, I have already checked my bags. What do you expect me to do?" He made me go talk to the 'managers', a group of women chatting in a corner. They suggested that I shove everything from one bag into the bigger one. Thinking this was stupid, because this didn't actually reduce the size of the stuff I was carrying I said, "Why?" "Just do it and trust me." And that was it. I was just dumb enough to have small bags instead of the enormous ones that some people take as carry-ons. Oh, wait, this is supposed to be a highlights post, isn't it? Sorry.

Highlight number one, Dad, Katie and Ezra waiting for me at the airport. Ezra was rolling around on the floor because he was so tired, but I was glad to see him, even if he didn't have a clue who I was. I got to see my grandparents and enjoyed every bit of it. And what better than a picture of the motley crew to prove it!

Getting back to Bath was great! It was nice to be home, and even nicer knowing I was going to be there for Christmas. Time flew, though I did spend exorbitant amounts of time lounging around and eating. Dan was with us through Christmas, so we did some last minute shopping and the like. I also took my turn dirtying mom's brand new kitchen, but I left staining the brand new sofa to my brother and stepfather ;-)

Christmas Eve with dad was yummy as usual. We had yogurt curry chicken and lentils. It was awesome, but a LOT of food. Christmas morning was busy, like always, though our guests seem to arrive for brunch a bit later than they used to. Not having small children who wake them up at 5:30 a.m. probably helps.

Aside from Christmas and general quality time with my family, I would qualify my two highlights as my night out with Kate (See scary picture below), and sledding with Ezra in the backyard. We actually went sledding a second time because he went poopy in the potty. I was cold long before he was, both times, but he was so much fun I didn't really mind!


I also finally finished the masterpiece I started a year ago. Yeah, I know, it's been done before, but gosh darn it I'm proud I finished!


I got to bake a cake (dirtying the kitchen one last time) and sing "Happy Birthday" to my mom before I skipped town. And having had about 3 hours of sleep between Thursday and Saturday, I started my journey back to Beijing. Dad drove Philip and I to the airport in the morning and Phil had been kind enough to get the earliest flight possible meaning we had to leave at about 4 a.m. You will not live that down, brother!


Back to Beijing and back to work. The downside of three weeks of vacation is that eventually it is over :-( The upside of going back to work was that it would only be four weeks until my next week and a half of vacation. Unfortunately, that vacation is now over to, but I digress.

Back in Beijing I focused my attention on trying out my new pasta roller (thanks mom!) and learning the fine art of making bagels that taste and feel like bagels. I made pasta once and rolling it was harder than I imagined, since I had the machine and everything, but the end result was wonderful! It was the fluffiest pasta I've had in a long time, if ever. It was delicious and easy on the stomach. The half of the batch that I dried was not as good, but it was still far better than what you get in a store. The bagels were another story. Recipes for bagels are deceptively easy and the first one was absolute crap! They were the breadiest bagels ever! Not to be discouraged, I tried the recipe for Bronx worthy bagels and it turns out they are worthy. The first time I made them, they weren't spectacular, but they were a bunch better than the first recipe. The second time, I can honestly say I almost did it. I guess the third time's the charm. I'll post pictures of that when it happens.

So after four weeks of suffering, my Chinese New Year holiday started off (and continued) with a bang. For those of you who are unaware, Chinese New Year is a week and a half of non-stop fireworks in Beijing. Everybody and their mother gets the urge to blow stuff up this started around the 6th and it is still going on today (albeit slightly toned down). Some people were kind enough to set off some bombs, er, I mean fireworks, right outside the window of our hutong. Dan and I have learned what it must be like to live in a war zone, and we are glad it's almost over. I can stop shielding my eyes and running for cover, now. We did really enjoy the holiday though, especially since we finally got heating in our hutong. We did discover that the pipes were frozen, but our landlady kindly came and helped us fix the situation. So, we spent the majority of our time in the center of the city. Ignoring the fact that we were both suffering from nasty colds (lovely timing), Dan and I made the most of our week. We went to a different set lunch (read cheap food at expensive restaurants) every day and to two different places for brunch on Saturday and Sunday. The food was awesome in general, but the overall winner had to have been Assagi. It's an Italian place that normally costs an arm and a leg, but they have a great lunch menu. For 100 kuai each we got a starter, an entre, dessert, and coffee. The food was delicious and the service was amazing. I will never go there for dinner because I can't afford it, but I will be back for lunch! The second best was easily Alameda, which was also a great deal. It didn't end up being as cheap as the Italian place, but the food was equally delicious. We will, most definitely, go back.

In retrospect, I wish I had taken pictures of each of the meals. On the other hand, I wouldn't want you drooling all over your keyboard, so I suppose it's for the better.