So sorry...no internet

Well, finally, it is Monday morning and we're back online.

I really don't know what happened...why suddenly our internet connectivity was interrupted (even though others in our building were not)...but a quick visit from a kindly computer tech fixed it.
(Okay, truth be told, THREE visits...the first was from a guy working for the wrong ISP...translation issues; the second was from a guy working for the right computer company...but he couldn't fix my English only computer...translation issues; the third visit from the second tech who brought a buddy along with him who could read English.  That's just how things go Here.  When I lived There, I used to think waiting in line behind 3 people at Walmart was a MAJOR slowdown in my life.)

Thanksgiving is this week.  It is also a milestone birthday for myself.  I've always LOVED birthdays as my family will attest.  However, I feel a bit glum this year about entering this new decade.  I think that is probably shameful to say...but it is true.  They say 40 is the new 30...so, perhaps , although my 30s have been the busiest decade of my life, I'll think on that when Thursday comes!  ;)

Speaking of Thanksgiving...

 We nearly had to call it off.  The past two years we've held very big dinner parties with turkey and as many American trimmings as we could achieve.  The first year, I even made mashed potatoes for 45...without a mixer!  (I thought that was a real hardship...now I've live Here longer so I don't think of it as so bad anymore!)

Anyway, this is the time of year that a few, VERY SELECT turkeys fly over from the US and must clear customs.  No kidding, at least not about the clearing customs...they are supposedly quite frozen for their entire sojourn to the Middle Kingdom.

As has been my custom, using money we've saved up for the purchase of the bird (no joke, turkey here is $3.50 per pound!  For a frozen turkey!)...I would make the trip one hour away to the major Western-food market.   But alas, this year...no turkeys appeared in the freezer section.  Several desperate phone calls revealed that the turkeys were stuck in Shanghai...that they had not cleared customs!  Worse yet, they MAYBE would clear in time to arrive in stores on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day)...but we were not to know until THEN!)

Mrs. Wu, our teammate,  and I began frantically "shaking the bushes" of any possible contact we might have that could provide us with turkey!  You can't imagine how ridiculous this is to our neighbors, desperate for a 7 kg bird to eat...and how utterly hopeless it is to not have access to the key element of the Thanksgiving Feast!

(Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday.  In part because it was always my birthday and all my family gathered for games and food...but it is during this next month that my longing for family back There really peaks for the year.  My heart feels heavy and sore from the missing...but I've been blessed to busy myself with this huge Thanksgiving feast as an outreach...which has given me little time to pine in my heart.)

Finally, after contacting an American woman who owns a restaurant here in our city...she texted back after several tense hours..."WE HAVE TURKEY ON ORDER FOR YOU!"  Oh, the joy of it!  ;)

Daddy joked that the distributor supplying the restaurant (and now us) must have a contact in customs in Shanghai...asking that buddy to DELAY those turkeys' clearances just a few more days...so a few more scalps can be taken! :)

Mrs. Wu graciously took a big trip across town to pick it up as freezer space big enough to house our two turkeys is hard to come by!  Then under cover of night, with heads shaking by the security guards at our complex, 30lbs of turkey in her little pink roller cart,  they let her into the school kitchen so she could store the prizes in their freezer... and I breathed a sigh of relief.  Thanksgiving has been saved!

On a quick Qian Qian note...we hope to see him return to the hospital this week, recovered from his fever, and ready for his surgery.  I promise, I will post more as I know it.

There is more news to tell...but, the sun is rising Here...and we have each 3 layers of clothing to put on...more tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving dear ones!  May our hearts reflect genuine gratefulness for all He has blessed us with each day of our lives!