Necessity is the mother of invention

                                           
It may look stupid to you, but everyone in China is singing the praises of whomever thought up the "e-bike jacket." If you ride through the streets at 30-40 mph, you kick up quite a wind chill in the winter. It is unbearable, and it makes you want to stay indoors all winter.  But NOW! Mine is midnight blue. I get out much more now than ever before.

A whisper in the night saves the day

My dog Mimi woke me up the night after Christmas. I checked my phone to see what time it was: 2:40 a.m. I saw a note on my phone that said someone had signed into my Apple account from a new device. I got up out of bed fast!

I never did find out what Mimi cried about that woke me up. But I spent the next hour changing all the passwords on all my online accounts. Unfortunately, I made a mistake on remembering the passwords and almost locked myself out of this blog account, but I got back in. Whew!

Thank God He nudged my dog to wake me before the hacker had a chance to mess things up in a big way. 

Christmas time is near

I wasn't sure a Christmas tree was going to happen for me this year. I threw away my old one when I hastily left for the U.S. two years ago for cancer treatment. I'd have to travel two hours round trip to the countryside to get a real tree, and my energy is still too low for that kind of outing. I was gone to Thailand for 10 days smack dab in the middle of December, so that slowed my holiday progress. I got to attend a Christmas party there with delightful friends, but the tropics don't really put me in the mood for Christmas. But finally, I got back to my own place, and IKEA came to my rescue! I got a tree, some decorations to add to what I already had, and even found real live Christmas wrapping paper here for the very first time ever. Starbucks coffee mugs contributed to the Christmas decor a bit. And I still have my Texas ornament that I got back in the 80s. I have plans with friends on Christmas Day, services to attend on Christmas Eve, and the weather is even going to get cooler. It's shaping up to be a good holiday after all as we all prepare to celebrate one of the greatest miracles in history, the arrival of Immanuel, God with us!

Shot day

              

My babe is wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in front of the door so she can see who comes and goes. She had her rabies' shots on Monday and shot day always mellows her for a day.

Beautiful days of fall

I really love autumn in the Middle Kingdom. These gingko tree leaves turn golden and catch the light. It soothes the soul. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shanghai Tower

 

Some friends I know from east Texas were in China last week, and they flew in and out of Shanghai on the way to their destination further west. So at the end of their trip, I traveled to Shanghai to meet them and spent three days with them. They wanted to see Shanghai Tower, the second tallest building in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and the building with the highest observation deck in the world (you can't even go that high in the Burj Khalifa). We rode the elevator the the 119th floor observation deck. Unfortunately, the rain clouds had trapped the air pollution, and the photos turned out dark and dreary. Someday when a day off, a trip to Shanghai, a clear day and thirty extra dollars are sitting around, I may go up again and get a good photo. I do not like heights, but it only took 54 seconds for that elevator to get us up to the 119th floor. 

Plodding along

I can't believe it's been sooooo long since I've checked in here on the blog. 

Sometimes, though, I just feel tired at the end of the day -- or even in the middle of the day -- and I can't do a single thing more. I still don't have my old energy back.

And on the days I don't feel tired, the internet is too slow. It took about ten minutes to sign in to this blog, and then another five or ten to upload a single photo. I grow weary of slow internet. I mean, I'm glad to have it, but I know it works so much faster in other countries than it does here. Maybe you can't relate to this frustration. 

Since I last posted, I have been on a trip to Thailand for two weeks. I shot this elephant's backside while I was there. I actually took some other photos too and maybe I'll post a few of them here someday before long.

I also had my quarterly oncology check-up. Looks like everything is fine.

The weather is turning cool and rainy, and I am so thankful. I love autumn.

Hope to check in again soon!

Waiting for the train to come

I went on a short train trip yesterday to a nearby city to visit friends. Trains and train stations here kind of fascinate me. They are comfortable and clean nowadays too. Who would have thought the day would come when even small train stations had Starbucks in them?

My blog post title, "Waiting for the train to come" reminds me of a song Russ Taff sings. I wonder if anyone else remembers that song besides me? It's called The River Unbroken. Here is the YouTube version of the song and here are the lyrics.