The answer was no!

I got home right at 5 and the doorbell was already ringing! It was quite a frightful (and kinda stressful) night to start! So many kids at one time. I started with 2 pieces each, but quickly went to one. Some were dressed up and some not. Some said trick or treat and thank you...no matter what I said Your Welcome! I'm not sure what area of town everyone came from because we only had a few neighborhood kids.   Some parents even had bags...however, at 7 the police came through telling everyone Halloween hours were over and it cleared out pretty quick(thanks neighborhood association)! Ray and I went for a walk once we ran out of candy around 6:30.  We talked to neighbors along the way, ran into the mayor who was giving out adult candy (Jell-O shots) and sat on the patio at movie and a pizza with some friends. All in all a fun night! Thanks mom for helping hand out candy!
Images below are the calm before the storm!



And I wish I could have see these cuties today, but since that wasn't an option I sure loved the pics their mommas sent!



Good bye Halloween...see you again real soon!

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Will 1,000 pieces be enough?

Only time (and the weather) will tell! Happy Halloween!!

Need a few more days...

Why are the weekends so fast? Molly and Mullen were here this weekend for Molly's best friend Kristie's wedding. While she did all her bridesmaid duties, I got to keep sweet Mullen!






Then on Sunday after church, I went with him and his mom and Nonna on his 1st shopping trip!


Finished out the weekend watching football and the fire with Ray! Counting down till next weekend all ready!


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Friday Night Lights

I forgot how much fun it was to be under the Friday Night Light! Tonight we went to Kirby High School to watch Addison (Ray's secretary, Wanda's son) for senior night. He quite the star and plays offense and defense! It was unseasonably cold tonight, but oh so much fun and Wanda was so happy we were all there!






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We got 'boo'ed

A couple of nights ago we got 'boo'ed, so tonight we got to boo other neighbors. I thought it was pretty fun, Ray on the other hand really didn't get it!

Good to be home!

Enjoyed a great weekend at home. Caught up on sleep, watched the Vols win, hung out with old friends at the steak cook off and spent Sunday with Molly and Mullen!





My blog goal for the week is to read my China posts (since I couldn't see them in China), correct my grammar mistakes and add pictures. Here's to a good week!

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Tuesday #2

Pretty relaxed morning in that we were actually in the same city as the two factories we were touring, so we didn't have to leave till 8:30.  The Sofitel had a great breakfast and was an overall pleasant experience.  We visited the factories, had pizza with the owners and then headed to the airport where we flew a 787 (super cool, quiet, new and very large plane) to Beijing.  I slept the entire 3 hour ride and it felt fantastic!  Got to the Hilton about 9pm, grabbed dinner in the lobby and played some left, right, center (it was my VPs idea this time).  Typhoon Wilpa is in full force over Japan now, so glad we are not in the air as the original plan.  We are all hopeful to get on the 5pm flight tonight (Wednesday), but will not be sure till 2pm today.  In the meantime, we have a free day in Beijing, but since the airport is a 1 hour train from the city and we are all exhausted the overall vote was to stay at the hotel.  I really wanted to go to the silk market, but didn't want to force anyone to go with me and after reading the travel advisor reviews, I think it is more knock offs than actual silk.  Oh well...next time!

Monday#2

We had a 6am flight on Shanghai Air to Guangzhou.  Overall it was a good flying experience. From Guangzhou we traveled by cars to Dongguan to visit some filter factories.  It was noon when we got to the factory and they had McDonalds waiting...everyone had double cheeseburgers and fries.  Not a very healthy choice, but one that was well received by our group at this point in the trip (especially my boss who only eats fried rice at the Chinese meals!).  It was an awesome factory and I hope to do business with them.  We got checked into the Sofitel in Dongguan.  Hotel is very nice (I actually have a suite), but the beds are on plywood.  Since nothing phases me these days, I triple folded the down comforter and took off the bottom sheet to place on top and to wrap up in so all is good.  We had a HUGE Chinese dinner with the owners of the factory we are visiting tomorrow.  About midway through the pigeon heads and scaly fish, someone got an email from Delta saying that due to the impending typhoon in Tokyo (our layover) we needed to rebook for sometime starting Friday, but before October 25th!  You know, it is what it is, so I was just thankful we would be in Hong Kong which is very Western.  However, I knew we had a great travel team that would take care of us and I was right...our security department and travel agents got all over it.  They have asked us to go back to the Guangzhou airport on Tuesday night where they will have a flight for us to Beijing.  They believe if they can get us to Beijing, there will not be an issue getting us home by Friday.  I'm looking forward to getting on the flight and sleeping...5 hours has still been my maximum number of sleep hours since I have been here.  No problem falling asleep, but can't stay asleep.  I'm thinking I need to invest in some ambien like most others before my next trip.  

Sunday Funday

My Shanghai Sunday Funday started with a great run on the dreadmill, followed by a leisurely breakfast by myself where I read my book and discovered banana milk.  I don't believe I've ever seen banana milk in the States, but it might be my new favorite thing!  At noon, Marilyn, Jim and I met two of our agents and headed to Foreigner Street for lunch.  This little narrow street has about 40 restaurants...basically any taste you could be craving.  We chose Mexican (even over American) and our agents had the best time trying it...I think they took about 40 pictures of their food and us eating our food!  The chicken tacos were probably the best I have ever eaten; however, the cheese dip and salsa could use some help.  We then braved the traffic and headed to the U Garden which is what we in the states refer to as a tourist trap.  Booth after booth of Chinese Chockskies and food trucks surround a beautiful Chinese garden.  I had been there before, but didn't realize it until we got there.  Note to self...you hate the U Garden so stay at the hotel next time...the crowds are unbelievable, the smells knock you off your feet, their gardens are not known for their flowers and nobody wants overpriced jade statues, chopsticks, or car ornaments! It was about 5:30 when we finally got to where I wanted to go...Pearl City. I got my favorite necklace from last trip fixed!  Then I went up to the 3rd floor where all the knock off stuff is, but really didn't feel like anything.  I'm not into knock off purses as 1. it is illegal and stressful when going through customs, 2. nobody asked for anything and 3. they closed at 7, so I really didn't have time to inspect everything.  However, I did finally find Lily a Chinese dress that I believe is her size to replace the one she outgrew!  We then headed for a foot massage, which was absolutely wonderful and I see why people are fond of them.  We have a 6 am inner country flight Monday morning and while I am kinda sad to say goodbye to probably one of the nicest Western Hotels, I'm happy to keep moving!  

Saturday

When people ask me about going to China, I usually tell them the key is to remember 'When in China you have to do as the Chinese!'      Everyday has its ups and downs.  At first the downs take over because it is such a different type of down and you are so sleep deprived.  However, China is a pretty eye opening experience overall and one I probably wouldn't get if it wasn't for work.  I hit my stride on Saturday.  We went 400 miles inland which is the most inland I have ever gone...it took 3 hours and 45 minutes each way (because there isn't a high speed train that goes that way).  We split up today, so it was nice to be with a smaller group.  The train ride down was for the most part uneventful.  I've mastered the squatty potties and learned it is really all about the skinny jeans (not having to try to hold up your pant legs too)!  Quehou, the town we visited, was very pretty in its own way.  It's claim to fame is that it was the home to the Chinese philosopher, Confucius.  We took a quick tour of his temple which was pretty amazing given how old it is.  The cars in Quehou didn't honk at each other unless it was really necessary, so that was so nice.  The factory owner took us for a traditional Chinese lunch at local government hotel and it was DELICIOUS.  First they served watermelon juice, which is a favorite of mine!  The highlights were the glass noodles, something I'm going to call Chinese sloppy joes for lack of the real name and roasted cabbage.  I could eat that cabbage everyday.  The factory was good considering it's location and type of products produced.  So all went well and we boarded the train back to Shanghai at 4:30.  There is just something about returning trains that get us every time.  This one didn't have a first class, so we were on what we named the toddler train!  The seats faced each other, but the bad part is that the people across from us were not our people.  One was a 2 year that must have had a tummy ache (they don't wear diapers over there...they have a slit in the back of their pants and they just squat).  Each time the mother would just pick it up with a tissue and put it on the table like it was nothing.  The happy little boy would then proceed to jump back in the seat and rub his little bare bootie on the seat. Seriously think I will be throwing away my clothes when I get home!  The funniest thing is that his shirt had a picture of Winnie and said Pooh below it.  By this time we were so delirious that the three of us belly laughed every time he stood up!  Others were singing...Oh my darling, happy and you know it and the ABCs all in English, which seems so strange to me.  Anyway, it was an experience to say the least.  When we got off the train at 8:15pm, we went straight to dinner at a karaoke bar.  Never have I had so much fun singing karaoke...seriously 3 Americans, our agents and 5 other Chinese ladies from their office.  Let's just say they really like Taylor Swift, Miley and Bruno Mars!  Chinese people really are shy, so usually at restaurants you have your own private dining room, well you have your own private karoke room too.  Which seems strange, but was so cool...you didn't have to wait your turn!  All in all it was a 20 hour day that was full of ups and downs, but overall I let the up win!   Sunday is our free day! The guys are driving 2 hours each way to play golf, but thankfully I got out of that.  Marilyn and I are meeting one of our agents to go shopping and for a foot massage.  Here's to a beautiful Sunday with mostly clear skys in Shanghai...  

Friday

Two things that Western hotels in Asia get right...showers and breakfast.  I kicked off Friday with a 4:45 work out and I felt great (well until I realized it was KPH vs MPH).  I thought I had really gotten fast!  The showers in the hotels are always their best feature...all of them have multiple shower heads with a awesome rain option.  They also have the largest bath sheets I've ever seen and they are so soft.  We didn't have to leave till 7am, so we finally got to eat at the hotel's breakfast buffet.  The buffets are HUGE.  They have a wide variety pastries, fruit, fresh juices, full on Chinese area, brown eggs, homemade smoothies, etc.  It is different, but you can usually find pretty normal food (just stay away from all yogurt) that will keep you full.   We then boarded a high speed train to Ningbo to visit a filter wrench factory.  This is South of Shanghai and where the Typhoon hit earlier this week.  It was devastating to see all of the flooded homes and factories.  In the US this would have been a state of emergency, but here they just live on the upper level apartments until the waters recede.  No electricity or food and very little help.  When we got to Ningbo, the train station was rough.  Lots of beggars and an overall lower class area.  Our vans had not all made it there due to flooded streets and power lines down, so we had to squeeze into taxis.  It was an experience to say the least.  We arrived at the factory which was about 30 miles outside of Ningbo 2 hours later.  I believe the town was Nehaigh and it was beautiful with lots of rose bushes and large mountains...still horrible smog thought.  The factory owners were nice and the Chinese lunch they brought in was delicious.  I really am starting to appreciate good Chinese.  My favorite dish is the warmed bamboo and fungi.  I know...it sounds crazy, but it is delicious and I think pretty healthy.  Luckily our drive back to the train station only took about 45 minutes and we were back in Shanghai by 6:30 so we headed straight to dinner we had scheduled with a refrigerant vendor.  Train story...I was so tired and my ticket happened to be the seat next to my VP, so in true Brooke fashion I couldn't even hold my eyes open and I guess I passed out mid conversation and slept with my mouth open the entire 2 hours home.  Good thing he is probably the most understanding person I'm traveling with this trip and he owns bose sound canceling speakers!  Dinner was teppanyaki, which if a favorite.  Mine started with salmon, followed by the best french onion soup I have ever eaten and amazing shrimp, scallops and bean sprouts.  Not a bad day overall, but another long one.  However, I can't even talk about long days still Saturday is over...3:45 minute train each way.  Send me good vibes please!

Thursday

Thursday morning I was able to sleep from 7:45 pm to 1:15 am.  Seriously, not sure why my body thinks it only needs 5 hours of sleep.  The Hyatt proved to be great, besides the fact that the air turned to heat about 2am.  Seriously don't understand these hotels.  We had a 6am train to Bengbu where we met with the largest filtration company in the world. This train ride was ideal...1st class comfy seats and my ticket was next to Marilyn and we are both reading Night Circus.  So far so good.  My vendor is a German company with lots of Brazilian management, so for lunch we got a pass on the lazy susan meal and were delighted for Pizza Hut.  Despite the canned corn, my veggie pizza was delicious.  After our eventful day, our crew of 6 and there crew of 6 headed to Shanghai.  When we got on the train, we were rudely awaken to the fact that our 12 people were assigned to 2 sleeper cars as this SLOW train to Shanghai didn't have a first class.  Four hours on a train...you have got to be kidding me.  Nope, due to the countries Holiday last week we were lucky to have a spot and at this point we just wanted to be in Shanghai where we get to check into a Marriott!  So, we all sat 3 to a crazy hard bed and were the only Americans on the train that didn't serve beer.  Needless to say, I didn't think a bathroom experience could be so bad, the air could be so stale and hot nor a seat could be so hard.  So what I do next will probably get me fired, but really at this point I didn't care, so I pulled out left, right, center with their VP of Americas and Asia!  Let's just say our car of 6 had a blast and the other car all had headaches from our dice bouncing and yelling!  It made the 4 hour SLOW train a little bit better.  We finally got into Shanghai and I am a hot, sweaty mess (I saw how the other girl with our party was looking and was scared to look in the mirror...seriously I had been sweating since 2am!), but they insist we go to dinner at one of their favorite places...a Brazilian steak house in the middle of China.  True Brazilian band and everything.  Never in a million years would I have ever thought a place existed, but really I could not have imagined ending the day any other way!  Till Friday...

Wednesday

Well my night at the New Century hotel kept getting better and better...let's just say we were all beyond thrilled to check into the Hyatt on Wednesday night, where they have working toilets, a little air conditioning, 24 hour gym and no Chinese people sneaking in your rooms during the night to leave re purposed chocolates and notes!  Anyway, since I woke up at 1am, I had no problem with our 5 am pick up.  We had Egg McMuffins at the train station and I'm thrilled to have brought my shakes...McDonalds just doesn't taste the same.  We took a 2 hour high speed train (goes 188 mps) to Jinan which was great.  The seats were nice and the people were evenly friendly.  

Once we got to Jinan, we took a 2.5 hr mini bus ride to Qubghe which I found out is a silk region of China (however, I never saw any silk!).  I had forgotten about the driving and horn honking, so any dream of a nap was brought to an abrupt halt (many times)!  Along this entire ride, there were farms on each side of the road and I saw hundreds and hundreds of workers and only 2 tractors.  The pollution in Beijing was nothing compared to Jinan and Qubghe.  Seriously it looked fog that just never burned off and I told myself that, but when you get out and it just cakes you and you have trouble breathing you know it isn't just fog.  We had a lazy susan lunch at the only restaurant in town.  Both bathroom trips had squatty potties, but I handled myself well!  We returned to Jinan for the night at the Hyatt, which is lovely except for the fact it is on a major street and horn honking happens at all hours here!  Dinner was another Chinese buffet, but thankfully this one had some American twists...like pizza with ham and bananas and french fries!  Since I was having trouble staying awake I excused myself and came to bed at 7:30!  Slept great until 1:15 am.  I think I dozed back off about 3:15, but was rudely awaken by the heat...woke up a sweaty, stopped up mess.  Needless to say, I didn't make it to the gym this morning, but I must make it for our 6am train.  Everyone have a good night!

I'm not sure how the photos will load since China doesn't allow blogspot, but below are the description to match up...

1.  Our friendly train snack cart girl

2.  Farmers tending to their crops

3.  Our lazy susan lunch (pumpkin may be my new favorite fruit/veggie)

4.  The view from my hotel room

Made it...

We made it to Beijing.  Overall the flight was uneventful; however, I guess I was a little anxious because none of the movies sparked my interest.  I am thankful for my new Kindle because I have almost finished one book, The Night Circus.  We got checked into our hotel and met back for dinner with the vendor.  We were really all too tired to try and understand the menu, so we had the buffet.  This true China buffet had any and everything, but really the only think that interested me was the fried noodles, fried rice and shrimp, watermelon and cantaloupe and some mango ice cream (which at this moment isn't settling well).  We are at the New Century Grand Hotel...it claims to be a Western hotel, but nobody and I mean nobody speaks English.  Seriously the table was trying to get bottled water and Diet Coke and after 3 tries we settled for sparkling water and a regular Coke!  The rooms are comfortable and after much discussion between the manager and our vendor (and I'm sure some bills exchanged), they turned the air back on for us (the ac in China only runs for June 1 - August 31st)!  Beijing is so polluted, smoggy and muggy so you really don't want to open the window.  The leaves on the trees look like they are covered in dirt and I hear it rains mud...good thing we are leaving at 6 am.  

I forgot that most hotels don't use sheets, so I didn't bring one and trying to request one has gotten me nowhere.  My toilet doesn't really flush  and Marilyn's window will not stay shut so she hopes there are no China Ninjas roaming!  I'm just hoping I can sleep till 4am and then looking forward to the Hyatt in Jinan tomorrow night.  

Today a typhoon hit where we are scheduled to fly into on Monday, but word is that they will be recovered.  I'm secretly wishing for an early flight home!

So many options...

I think I'll be able to save my snacks till we get there!






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Cheers...

To a safe, productive and healthy China trip (and yes, I'll do my best to stay away from the hornets!)


If your looking for me I'll be relaxing right here for the next 14 or so hours!


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Molly

Molly is so strong! There is no way I would still be so sweet to every nurse and Dr that interrupted me every hour of the day and night! They are like celebrities of the Women's hospital...they have been on 3 floors and in 6 rooms over the past 9 nights, so everyone knows their name and everyone is praying for them! Even the Chaplin came to meet them! Thought Molly's Facebook post summed it up nicely!



Mullen is the most precious baby! I'm not going to go on about how calm and relaxed he is until he spends his final night with us! Don't want to jinx myself.

The multiple night feedings and working all day is hard work! Thankfully, mom, Emily and Ms Lisa have been able help out while Logan stays with Molly! You know, it really is taking all of us to care for them, but so glad we are all able to!


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