Hello

I thought I would just pop in to say hello.  Blogger has changed everything and I hope I will be able to cope!  It took me awhile just to find the button to create a new post!

I can hardly believe I am saying this, but IN 11 DAYS I'M GOING HOME!!!! 

The movers were here this week to pack up most of our stuff. It was quite comical. I have a habit of accumulating a lot of "stuff", and the time in Taiwan was no exception. Not little knick-knacky stuff but enormous stuff - 2 gigantic kids beds (not just beds, they are pretty much self-contained bedrooms. Asians are brilliant at making use of every nook and cranny, so these beds have drawers and cupboards and forts and bookshelves all built in. Crazy! And quite cool.)  Here, take a look:

I also purchased a couple of Asian chests (in what I call Asian Shabby Chic style.  I'll have to take and post pictures someday.), 4 bicycles (because we found we could buy great bikes fairly cheap here), and who knows what all else. Packing and loading the container was supposed to take 1 day.  It took all of 1 day, 1/2 of another and an hour on a 3rd day when the movers realized they could fit just a bit more into our container.  This was important because we also have an air shipment (still to be packed!) but that is very limited on weight so we (they) had to cram every last bit of "stuff" they could into the container.

We are now living with almost no "stuff".  We have 1 frying pan and 1 saucepan and some old cooking utensils that I'll throw when we leave.  The kids are sleeping on mattresses on the floor.  (We are sleeping on a rental bed so no floor for us - yet!) 

The crazy thing is I think I sort of like living with no stuff.  It sure makes daily life less complicated!  But I haven't turned the corner yet to where I'm actually wanting to permanently rid myself of all the stuff and live the simple life.  Maybe someday.  Maybe when my kids move away I can send it all to their houses.

That's all for now.  Kids need breakfast so my 1/2 hour of peace is done.