Bu Yao to the Blues!

After wallowing in self-pity as murky as the unwanted soup that appeared and stayed at my table no matter how much I protested, I decided, enough is enough! Sheesh. I am so fortunate!

Besides, how bad can life be when I finally figured out the perfect way to bribe my little sister to visit. You see, traveling is not her cup of tea; purses are. So look what I found for her at a local market! I'm holding this perfect purse hostage until her cutie patootie self steps into my Shanghai abode.

With a little bit of soul searching, I realized that all the pressure of turning our House into a Home for my family was getting me down. There's only so much furniture shopping I can do. Or bookshelves and benches and carpets that I can drag my kids to look at with me. And then there was the pressure of getting back to work and facing the computer and my unfinished novel and three other book ideas I've been mulling over for a year. A year!

So new rule: for every errand we do, we must do One Fun Thing. Or two. Okay, or three. (I am such a procrastinator on All Things Boring.) And on Monday, I will return to my computer, errands be damned! So I took the kids on a little tour around the JinMao Tower where my hubby works. (It's the building that looks like a modern pagoda or so the architect thinks--and was once the world's tallest building until guess who came along? The building behind it.)

Afterward, we walked over to the Oriental Pearl Tower, which is such a weirdly fantastic building. (Notice the purse I bought for myself to match my sister's! Sue, if you're reading this blog, just look at how CUTE the purse is! CUTE! Don't you need to come visit me and collect yours?!)

Then it was over to the Ocean Aquarium that boasts the longest underwater tunnel where sharks swim right over your head. How cool is that?!

Now, here's a little known fact about me: I rather like arcade games. Not the shoot them up ones. But anything that requires a stick and bopping, sign me up! So imagine me finding a Japanese taiko drumming game--a precursor to Guitar Hero. My giggling embarrassed my kiddos who started stepping away from me when a crowd gathered to watch my drumming prowess. Who knew?


And wonder of wonders--guess who is teaching music at my kids' new international school? Their former piano teacher from Seattle! Can you believe it? Stacey is a yogini of the highest order and she's introducing me to three yoga studios in Shanghai. Just don't tell my orthopedic surgeon who lectured me on the dangers of yoga after I bruised the cartilege in my knee from an advanced jumping technique.

Then...I booked myself into a Mandarin class not far from my home. The first class is on Tuesday. And I will NEVER have an unwanted dish arrive on my restaurant table and stay there because I'm too incompetent to tell the waiters, Take. It. Away. (Many thanks to blogger buddy Emily who counseled me on email after my previous post on the effectiveness of a loud and emphatic: BU YAO!!!!!)

Just say BU YAO to the blues!