New Things DAYBOOK

Outside My Window

still sweltering!

I'm Thinking About

babies. It's official. MacSlarrow Number Three - on the way!!!!! (it's a BOY! 👏 👶 💙 🙏 )

I Don't Want To Forget 
the way those who leave us - change us. RIP.

I'm Learning Trying

to ignore that to-do list more often and rest up.
to quiet down the steady stream of endless plans and lists in order to BE in the moment.

I'm Hearing

the air-con - because "outside my window"!
oh - and renditions of "Symphony" and "Despacito" by my 4 & 9 year olds.

I'm Reading

The Power of Play - by David Elkind

    Decent read. Good stuff. Great topic. Not incredibly well written.

Not My Father's Son - by Alan Cummings

    Fabulous. Very impressive writing style and quite the memoir!

Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal - by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

    Sis - you MUST get this book in your hands, stat!

A Wrinkle In Time - by Madeline L'Engle (reading aloud to ABear)

Around The House

Still settling in. At a snails pace, it seems. We moved into school housing - so my commute is a dream (an elevator ride!). The space is great. Location is more amid the bustle of life, which suits me, but still very "southside" (aka expat and green). We have a 10 minute walk to the beach. I mean - c'mon!

Arrived from the airport of our crazy summer to THIS. Welcome home.

checking out the closets (and emptying alllll the clothing boxes) Addie-style

a room of her own

and hers -- aren't those pom pom curtains divine??

At Work

Still settling in. Yep - I just wrote that AGAIN. New building. New students. New colleagues. New New New. This lower-primary building is gorgeous. Purpose-built .... this is the cream! Feeling so lucky to be here for this grand opening and to be teaching in this incredible space.

photo cred: HKIS - yes, the children made that backdrop!!!

photo cred: HKIS - our magical doorway into the library

rainbow stairs - main stairwell

photo cred: HKIS - entrance

playground on the 7th floor (our family goes often in the evenings for a romp after dinner)

made to look like the famous Hong Kong Star Ferry - unique climbing structure, water feature under construction

view from the playground at sunset

My classroom space - a work in progress

Eating Out (confession - I'm never in the kitchen anymore)

We turned "back-to-school-night" into a date night so we could actually see each other :) Stuffed ourselves silly with fish tacos, spicy prawns, and vietnamese crab salad last week. Also -  a Japanese-Peruvian blend restaurant?! Don't mind if I do!!

So Very Hong Kong

personal space. not so much. So about that new baby.... did you know that maternity wards in HK are shared rooms? Yep - I'll be just a pull-curtain away from several other new mothers (could be up to 20 depending on the hospital) when the little one is born. I was feeling a little uncertain about this "sardines in a can" deal... though trying my best to maintain game face... when a local friend lamented that a room by yourself can be so isolating and depressing... way to spin it! I love it. I'm holding on to that! Support and solidarity in numbers, baby. Bring it.

One Of My Favorite Things

pedicures.

A Less-Than Favorite Thing 
Bad air-quality. Typhoons.
A fire alarm at 5:30 a.m. on a school day with a 9-floor walk downstairs in pajamas.

 

I'm Thankful

for my husband. He's a rock. A really handsome, heart-of-melted-chocolate kind of rock.

I'm Planning

Baby!!! Making lists of names, moving the crib all around to see where it fits, collecting hand-me-down baby clothes, reading up about public hospitals in HK, prepping the girls for the chaos and beauty that is about to take front-center here.

Picture Thoughts :

downtown HK after breakfast - waiting for a taxi

making good use of this HOT weather on a weekend

hit pause on rock climbing - this year it's all about BASEBALL!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL:   Reception 1 (Pre-K) and Grade 4

Whiplash

12 days. From first notice to unpacking new flat. 12. days.

• Friday - get the notice
• Tuesday - view 7 apartments 
• Thursday - sign lease 
• Wednesday - move in

It was a normal Friday afternoon. I was finishing up my planbook for the next week of school, wrapping up emails, and tidying up the classroom.... When I got a message in my inbox informing me that we had to move. Landlord wants to sell.

From what I hear, this is totally normal in Hong Kong. Leases can be broken by either party with a 2 month notice after the initial 12 months have passed. Normal. 

Now - full disclosure - we did have until June to get out. However, we really wanted to stay in the same apartment complex to provide stability for the kids (and enjoy the view, pool, community of friends, walk to schools, etc). There weren't many options and we knew lots of teacher-families were in the same boat. So we jumped.

And of course, life does not stop. Let me ammend the screenplay:

Friday - get the notice

 *shop and bake for upcoming birthday, plus normal weekend chores

Tuesday - view 7 apartments 

 *ABear's birthday dinner

Wednesday - put down offer, get refused. Put down different offers, negotiate back & forth

Thursday - sign lease 

 *meet with realtor, make list of needed repairs & book handyman

Friday - get keys & start cleaning
 *get estimates from 3 moving companies and book one.

 *Saturday - host girls for an 8year old birthday slumber party

Wednesday - move

 *become a multi-tasking drill sergeant to orchestrate many moving parts

Thursday - unpack, clean and turn over the old flat, complete all repairs

Friday - say goodbye goodluck to family and rush to airport right after school 

 *away for the weekend (more on that later)

trying to remove & take our very expensive window safety hinges... no luck.

scrubbing the walls - for HOURS

The little stuff is tucked in there too: closing and re-opening gas, electric, water, drinking-water delivery, wifi, change of address at post office, gathering boxes, packing stuff, putting stuff away.... and being a full time teacher and mother.

in such disrepair - this place needs a LOT of work!

But it's done! We're in. And I'm here to tell you that it CAN be done. And perhaps this was the most whiplash-inducing move we've ever done (crossed fingers ever WILL do) - it also was the simplest. Very little time to get emotional, to compare options, to organize our belongings prior to the move. And now? Now we are settled and living normal day-to-day in a deja-vu similar flat just 4 towers down the road. The view is decidedly better. The flat is a confirmed 6 inches wider (that makes a difference in HK!!). And we no longer have to use a lighter to turn on the stovetop. 

cute little stovetop, isn't it?? - love these blue cupboards too

settled in. Same-Same furniture placement. Easy-Peasy.

See the window safety bars? So ugly! Like JAIL.
Might need to fork up the money to purchase those handy hinges again ...

There's still a TON of cleaning and home-making to do .... but all in good time. The kids have adjusted beautifully. And it's DONE.

The Difference A Year Makes

A picture speaks a thousand words.... just check out these photos. First day of school last year (our first year) and first day of school this year. Bit more relaxed now?

THEN

NOW

We have STUFF. (Amazingly too much already - how does that happen so quickly!?). We know where to get our groceries. We have a rhythm and 'normalcy' established to ground our new experiences in. The kids (and we) have friends.

Our flat  -

THEN

NOW 

One year ago - we were sleeping on a mattress on the floor!

Apparently, after a year of living in Asia, your drawings of people just might change to this:

It really does take one whole year to settle in to a place. Feeling the autumn wind blast through our little cove here and knowing in our bodies that this is a sign of fall -- that it will change again in the winter and again in the spring.

THIS VIEW - has become our normal - so grateful for this!

One year later we can direct the taxi driver home by speaking almost exclusively Cantonese - but we still use English to do much of anything else.

A year ago I was unpacking these boxes for my classroom:

Now I'm settling into life at school. I know my materials, space, curriculum and colleagues.

I suppose we've been busy just living our lives, which is why I haven't posted much lately. I'll catch up with a few posts in the coming days - stay tuned!