8 days and counting down!

I am an avid newspaper fan like my Dad.  We got 5 newspapers plus Life, Look, Time, Newsweek, Farmers Journal and probably other magazines on a regular basis delivered to the farm.  So today in our daily paper nation + world I read "India successfully test-fired a missile that could successfully reach the major cities of Beijing and Shanghai" and apparently it will be "inducted into India's arsenal at some point in 2014 or 2015".  So we are good to go as in 8 days we leave for Beijing.  Should I worry?  No....because worry could keep a person barricaded inside their house forever.  However, with our history of enjoying a country, leaving and then having slight catastrophes or major unrest after we leave could this be another one on the way?

Fun:  Saturday night was our approximately quarterly Fairview girls and their guys get-together at Donna's house and again we giggled until our bellies hurt.  This was after an encounter with my standup paddleboard that morning in the lesson with Amy.  We had a great instructor Mark and he did not notice the blood running down my ankle because I was good at hiding it and washing it down quickly.  It was a great 2 hour lesson. 

Janelle, Donna and me!!!  Ross, Jeff and Mike are in that room somewhere.  Another excellent dinner - we are lucky to have good friends who are also "foodies".

So when I look for a picture by number in my computer file, which I do often, and because I have updgraded cameras a few times the number 4466 was the above from a couple days ago but it is also the one below from December 7, 2008 of Lucy who was then exactly 9 months old and could only stand by herself when she was in this container!  She is now in kindergarten.

Since our upcoming trip will take us all through China to Hong Kong I dig in my old boxes of pictures as we visited Hong Kong in February 1999.  This was a day trip to China and these little school kids in Guanzghou (or Canton in the old days) wanted their picture with us.  Check the little guy on the right sticking out his tongue as little kids do.

In Hong Kong these teenagers stopped us to speak English with us and then they wanted their picture taken with their cameras also.  They were very proud of their English and it was a heart-warming experience!  I look at Ross and I and wonder how these last 14 years could go so fast.  Chris was in his last semester of law school and getting married in a couple months.  Jenny was also finishing college.  We were both still working our buns off - but travelling also.

So - getting our Peking Ducks in a row here so we are reading for that 22 hour travel day 8 days from today!