Elias!! I have been meaning to post for quite a while...things get so busy that I just keep forgetting. I really enjoyed reading everyone's postings-it is a nice way to see what's going on with everyone. Has everything been wild and crazy in China b/c of the LNY? Everything in New York is good. It has been an oddly mild January so far. I'm actually kind of worried that February is going to come in with a vengeance and we are going to have to face some of that bitter cold that is so typical of a New York winter. It's actually 55 degrees out today!! Dave got through his first Glenn family Christmas beautifully. He worked on the puzzle with Aunt Pat and my dad!! My dad built a washers board for Grandad, and Dave even participated in that :) On December 26, we left for our honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was SO beautiful and perfect. We were there for eight glorious days. As of late, I have actually grown quite addicted to the television show "The Amazing Race"-remember your grandmother liked to watch that? Anyway, on a previous season, the teams were actually in Shanghai-they had the WORST time getting around. By far the hardest location of the entire race! It was kind of funny to watch. I thought of you and how amazing it is that you managed to acclimate yourself so quickly when you first went. I would love to post a picture, but I'm actually not on our main computer, so I will sometime soon. I'm going to put the link to our wedding photos at the end of the post. I love to read about all of your cooking adventures. Though I am by no means a gourmet chef, I have really grown to enjoy cooking. Dave and I hardly ever order in anymore. There is something so therapeutic and nice about it. Like you've accomplished something :) I can't believe that they don't have stoves in China! Can you believe all of our family news? That Jeremiah is a talented performer, and that John has his own dog? And that Lindy and Annagrace are student teaching? So much going on...Anyway, I must go. Dave is building a computer and it's my job to read the various instruction manuals to him. Hope everything is well. -Katie Winarsky :)
www.kaitlin-david.lifemosaics.com

TEST/TEST

Trying this out to see if it really works, Us oilfield trash can't keep up with this new technology! A.G.
This blog is from your older sister in law, and aunt, Anna Grace, you don't think I can do this?A.G.

just trying it out for the first time. making sure we're doing it right? Aunt Patty
I was able to see the postings on the blog sight so I'm trying to add information. We'll see if it works. I loved seeing and reading about what Elias is doing in China. This is a great idea!
We've been busy with Jeremiah as he is performing in the Cooper musical Beauty and the Beast.
He's Maurice and a fine Maurice at that. We are so proud of him. This is really out of his comfort zone. We were amazed at his beautiful voice - even if he is ours and our objectivity is questionable. Mom and Dad came last weekend and Lindy, John and maybe even Matthew are coming next weekend. There are 6 performances and I am seeing them all! Annagrace is preparing to start her student teaching tomorrow. She will be with 4th graders the first part and preschool the last part. She's a little nervous about 4th but I think she's looking forward to it. I'm still teaching 5th grade reading and I love it. We're trying to get them prepared for the TAKS on Feb. 21 and that's not too much fun. I do a lot of bribing to make it a little more bearable for all of us. In answering the Christmas puzzle question. I always buy 2 Christmas puzzles each year for us to work on. Bodie is really good at these and Annagrace is a whiz. Dave was a great new addition to the puzzle working this year. He was a real trouper at Christmas! John got a puppy for Christmas -Sophia, a pug. He's really enjoying her. Well, the rest of the year we'll probably be doing Senior things for Jeremiah and Annagrace. I don't know what Mike and I will do without them here next year. Maybe we'll need to travel to China or somewhere!
We miss you and I'll try to send some pictures when I figure out how! Aunt Patty

just trying it out for the first time. making sure we're doing it right? Aunt Patty

January post holiday....

The trees don't drop their leaves until after Christmas, that is, FINISH dropping their leaves until after New Years and that means many bags of leaves out in front of the Lakewood houses along with the Christmas trees. It's a short time to view the trees; pecan, oak, sweet gum, elm, and the one with the big leaves and the curly bark that comes off too and leaves a big mess, without leaves. It has been warm for Dallas and the Bradford Pear already has buds, small, but nonetheless, buds, about to emerge. So, Woody and I raked leaves last Sat. Where are those boys when there are Large Piles of Leaves to run through and jump into? ....and help bag up? I'm pretty sure that's why Elias is in China, where there are no yards and all those leaves to rake. Matthew was skiing in CO, and Abi and David were back in Houston where they have landlords to do the leaves and I think have Live Oaks. I guess raking leaves is kind of therapuetic to me, because you pick a day that's not freezing, you're outside in the front with and occasional neighbor or friend who drives by and waves, and everything is so neat and tidy when you're through and then it's something that's DONE until next year.

more food news!

well, i have been wanting to post something lately, but not much has been going on because it is winter in Shanghai, and, well, we all know that means most of the time you stay inside with the heater with a blanket on your lap and watch 24. i have watched many more US TV shows over here than i ever did in the US (not counting the simpsons and seinfeld). It is so much better here - you buy the DVDs of the show and can watch them at your leisure. no scheduling your week around your shows and wondering for a week how Jack Bauer will convince the president that he really must help this convict escape from prison and return to mexico. so as you can tell we have been watching a lot of 24, but have also found time for Lost, arrested development, Rome, and, i hate to admit, desperate housewives.

but since no one wants to read about which old US TV shows i am watching, i will stick to my oven related posts. we have made two batches of cookies, and over the weekend made lasagna and carrot cake over the weekend, and this weekend have our sights set on an apple pie and maybe biscuits (for SR, who thinks everything we have made so far is tooooooooo sweet). the carrot cake has been excellent - we made everything from scratch, even the cream cheese icing. actually, i have to say most of the cooking has been done by our neighbor, a teacher from san antone. he is an awesome cook. the only problem we have run into is that there is no baking powder or almond extract in Shanghai, and it has been very difficult finding the right pans. but we have gotten by so far.

i find the longer i live in shanghai, the more western food i eat. i don't know why. i guess when you first get here the food is all new and interesting and good and you don't miss western food yet. but after a while you start to get the cravings and rice and fried veggies everyday starts to get a little old and you decide that you just need a good sandwich or cereal. and i don't really feel full after eating a chinese meal. but don't get me wrong, i still love chinese food and eat it most of the time, i am just adding a little more western food.

we have been doing more home cooking in general lately. i guess we are starting to get tired of the chinese food we usually order for dinner. we have this one place we call, we say jiang bao rou pian fan (matthew knows what i am talking about), and they know exactly who we are - the foreigners on the 28th floor. it is one of my favorite foods and only costs about US$.60, but everyday gets old, and the veggies aren't always fresh. so now we cook a lot more, usually chinese food. SR does most of the cooking, and i help as much as i can. michael and orion usually join us.

with all this great food, i think i have been getting a little bigger lately. i always weigh in kg here, so i was unaware what i was up to in lbs until yesterday. i think now i am at about 195. so i need to be carefull, 200 sounds pretty scary. or maybe i should just stick to weighing myself in kg so i never hit 200.

we got an oven

we bought it yesterday. chinese people don't cook with an oven, so no normal apartment in china has one built in. we have been doing more cooking lately, and we have this new neighbor - from san antonio - that really likes to cook and is pretty good at it. so we decided to get a small oven. it cost about US$55 and was sitting on out dining room table last night as we tried to make snickerdoodles using SR's new cook book. the only ingredient we couldn't find was cream of tartar, but they tasted pretty good without it. i had never mixed cookies by hand before - it wasn't easy. They came out alright, and we are now plotting our next cooking project.

we also made homemade dumplings yesterday. dumplings are one of my favorite foods, and this was my first time making them. we bought pork and cabbage (you can use a lot of different things for filling), and chopped them up very very fine and add some ginger and salt and cooking alcohol. you can make your own wrappings, but we took the easy way and bought some. they are little circular pieces of dough about the size of your palm. then you have to wrap the dumplings. SR was the expert at this, but i eventually kind of got the hang of it. then you boil them, then eat them with vinegar and they were sooooooooooooo good. it doesn't get much better than homemade jiaozi.
-elias