Get House Painted. Check.

Like my last post this too is hampered by controversy. This time its in the form of our main computer's hard drive not working... So. Yeah. I had made some notes of things I wanted to blog about and don't have those. But with the heart of a warrior I will push on.

First off, Heather and the pregnancy are going well. Tomorrow she will be 33 weeks! Lets keep that bun in the oven for another 7 weeks, remove, and enjoy (sorry was that wrong to say?). Like I have said in the past few updates Heather has been pretty exhausted and at times has been having painful contractions. We will continue to keep you posted.

The girls all LOVED their ballet class last week! And this week they got to go to an art class that they all enjoyed as well! The art class is taught by a Chinese teacher so its a great way for them to get some exposure to Chinese. When we were in Xian all of our girls had regular Chinese classes and as we settle here in Xining we would like to see them continue to study it.

The houses are moving along slowly but surely. This week we had one of the apartments painted and it looks great. Yesterday I went to the market and bought tile and the rest of the materials to have our bathroom, kitchen, and washing machine area tiled.

I will say this; the process of doing this is exhausting and frustrating. Of course, it's cool to have our apartments coming together, but it's not without it's difficult days. Yesterday in particular was difficult as I spent time picking out tile and bartering for a price (I'm not sure if it was a good price or not) gave the tile store their money only to drive over to the warehouse and find they didn't have the tile they just sold me. When the grout company delivered the materials I bought from them they refused to move them into my apartment without me paying more. Every step has taken longer than expected and with everyone doing their best to get a few more bucks out of me.

I have a feeling that ten years from now my family and I will be sitting around our dinner table laughing over a meal when one of my kids will say "Dad tell us about the time when you finished this apartment." Silence will then fill the air as I look down at my plate and vainly try to push around rice and eggplant with my fork. Heather at this point will probably reach over and gently grab my hand knowing the pain involved in the question at hand. I will simply utter something to the effect of "I don't talk about such things."

With that said I will close this post with what we have looking ahead. In the next few days I will seed one of our backyards with grass seed. Tomorrow the tile guys are supposed to start, but I'm not holding my breath. They said it should take a week. After that we will put in floors and move our stuff in that we had shipped from Xian. Oh and at some point I need to add; a tub, water heater, vanity, stove, curtains, couch/beds/dining room table, counter tops in the kitchen and install the toilet our landlord graciously gave us... and doors... I can't forget the doors.

"I don't talk about such things..."

with love,
the petersons