still me

what day is it?

So what is it? Friday? Yea, Friday night… and I am typing on my computer, that is on my desk that has internet connected, printers hooked up and boxes and Rubbermaid containers stacked all around me! we are moved in. I guess that I didn’t make it clear that we were moving to a different house here in Beijing- and not back to the states yet. We were only in a year long lease, and had decided to move into a more family-friendly compound. This house offered a few perks that we didn’t have in the other house: central air, dishwasher, a full size washer and dryer, and bath tubs! (these are major improvements)

We are starting to feel functional and settling in nicely… just in time for school to start on Monday. We had orientation at the new school today… so exciting. The kids are attending a bilingual school, so it’s ½ of a day in an English speaking environment, and ½ the day in a Chinese environment. The school has moved to a new campus, and today was meet the teacher and other students. I am guessing the Chinese/English speakers are a 50/50 split, so all the kids are learning in a foreign language at least half day. admittedly, I was feeling totally nervous taking them there today- ready for a bit of a back lash or something…but they were SO excited. Everyone was. We got the grand tour, some instructions and requirements, and picked out their uniforms. So it’s back to school for us! (whew)

Seriously, moving is stressful! and I was so afraid to take down my computer and give up my internet at the old place, until I was totally sure that I could get back on over here… but we are all set up! I think that Monday morning I was going to blow a gasket from just anxiety of the mess on both sides….but it’s totally worth it. the purging alone is good. we just have so much stuff that we never use, and don’t need. Eric hates that. lol.
Just under a week until CE!! I leave here on Tuesday and get there on TUesday and guess what… I get to get my hair cut. holy cow.. I am so excited. My hair is bugging me so bad. I really need to figure out a low maintenance hair do!
Ok, I am going to get through one more box, and then going to B E D!!

non-stop!

It’s late sat night, and I am ready to crash, but thought I’d quickly put up a few photos and observations from today. It was a beautiful day, which we are always so thankful for, and we were out the door at 8am for our ‘green hockey’ tickets. We watched the Chinese beat the South Africans in over-time, so it was a pretty exciting game. We were out by the tennis and archery venues. I think I keep mentioning how beautiful I think that all the graphics, banners, flags, signs, EVERYTHING looks so fabulous… I LOVE the swirls. I LOVE how the color fades into each other, and how they have used different color combos and different crops of the swirl at each different place… it’s just so beautiful I think! The whole thing is just so festive. Eric and Clark went out to Mtn. Biking while the rest of us went home and Katie and I got naps. (much needed). Tonight was their last night in Beijing so we celebrated with a yummy Chinese food dinner at a restaurant called ‘bellagio’. Tasty food. Then got foot massages afterward (heaven)… the room that we were in had 4 chairs and a HUGE big screen tV where we could watch the US women and men clean up in the 4x400 relay… my favorite race. Sweet!

Yesterday we did some riding around the city. It’s usually our visitor’s favorite thing to do, and as per-usual… we had a wonderful time! It was a really beautiful day, very clear with blue skies! We did our usual route through the Hutongs and around the Bell and Drum tower and on around the Forbidden City, Tian’amen and the new ‘egg’ which is like the national performing arts building. We grabbed a bite in an area that we had never really explored at a yummy Thai restaurant right on the edge of Bei hai park. it was such a nice evening. We dropped Clark and Katie off at the theater so they could see the acrobats perform, and then Eric took the older kids to IkEA to get a couple chests of drawers for the big move.  FULL days.  It’s SO great having family here to enjoy all this with us. we’ll be sad saying goodbye…we have a big week of moving and transitioning next week, but we are looking forward to a chance to re-organize and clean out!
wish us luck!

fitting it all in.

Last night we went to the best game, and my favorite spectator sport so far at the Olympics… handball… have you seen this? We got tickets not really knowing much about the sport, not understanding the rules and not even knowing who was playing who, or who was in contention for what….we watched a little online, and saw some of the photos that had been uploaded on  NBC’s site… but other than that… we knew nothing..
We happened to have tickets to the germany vs. denmark match… which pitted the world handball champ (deutchland) against the European champs (denmark). And what a crowd was there to support the teams. I was not prepared for such a crowd. We showed up to our best seats of the entire Olympics.. only to find really passionate Deutchlanders in our seats whom REFUSED to move. And we considered pushing the matter, and then decided that we would rather not sit around all the friends that didn’t get kicked out! we were sooo bummed though… they were like 4th row. (imagine little, young Chinese volunteer trying to get a group of rowdy, rude sports fans to move from such a pivotal game)… we were re-seated by the volunteers right into the heart of the Danish fans, and decidedly joined their cheering forces, having been SO put out by the Germans…! What an EXCITING game.. SO much fun to watch! And as I mentioned, the crowd was serious! They had a million chants, songs, cheers and were very committed to not just their team, but their country. it was awesome. not to mention the Denmark players were totally cute,  Katie and I were wondering if there was a team calendar available anywhere… !  (ha ha). Once the game was over. (Denmark won to our delight!) and it was so cool, b/c when the team won, and they were hugging and high 5-ing in the middle of the court, they turned to their fans and totally applauded their fans. They did this cool thing where the crowd started a low rumble of a cheer, stomping their feet and clapping, and the team joined hands down low, and then ran toward the crowd lifting their hands as the crowd grew louder and higher pitched… it was just cool. the celebrations spilled out into the lobby of the venue, and more songs, chanting and excitement continued well into the next game.  Needless to say, now my  boys want to play handball!

In between the Olympic festivities, we have managed to take Clark and Katie to the Great Wall – turned out to be a very nice, cool afternoon… and they yesterday morning, a successful trip to the fabric market! I love taking people there for the first time. such an adventure. Today we met w/ our local tailor and braved the masses at silk market. It’s always such an experience! Katie chose pearls for a necklace and earring set, and Clark chose ties to compliment his fabric market selections… tonight all the guys went to see boxing, they were so excited.  I am going to attempt to play catch up! Wish me luck.

trampoline day

We woke up EARLY to an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day here in Beijing. Love those days! Why so early? Well, Clark and Katie arrived this morning! they were scheduled to arrive at 5:20am, and got in about an hour early! … they had a series of ‘set backs’ before they made it to our house (including an ATM card lossage and a couple disgruntled taxi drivers)… but we were SO thrilled and happy to see them. We only have time for a pancake breakfast and quick showers before we were off on our way to the Olympic Green for the Trampoline competition. It was an even day, so no driving. We took the subway in, grabbed McD (I might need to swear that place off) and found our seats just in time for the 11am start. we only had 6 tix, for the 7 of us, so eric did some wheeling/dealing on the subway and scored not only an extra ticket to trampoline, but one for mtn. biking as well. We really enjoyed the trampoline stuff. They get SO high, and it’s really fun to watch. We watched the women and men’s qualifiers. It was in the Indoor Gymnasium where the gymnastics are held. The crowds were significantly greater today…everywhere. Might have been the beautiful weather. we left the Olympic area and went down to Wanfujing- which is a big shopping area.. like just for pedestrians. It’s always hoppin’. I really wanted to find Olympic t-shirts for everyone (I feel a christmas card photo coming on) but no luck… however, we were SUCKERED into all kinds of other Olympic merch. The kids really wanted mascot toys… so I didn’t realize that the names of the little cartoon characters are “beibei” “jingjing” “huanhuan” “yingying” and “nini”  - the translations of their names is “bei-jing-huan-ying-ni”… or in English: Beijing  Welcomes You!  pretty cute. So… don’t worry, we are all set with t-shirts, hats, bracelets, and stuffed toys.

swimming...

Last night eric and I got to go to the swimming cube! We only have one swimming event.. I really wish that we could have bought tickets to diving.. I love diving.  Last night we watched 4 different qualifying heats. There were a few new ‘olympic records’ set.. and we even got to see the amazing Michael Phelps swim… so that was cool. you can see from the photos, that our seats were up quite high!! But we had a great view. It was fun to meet and talk to other spectators around us.. it’s so cool to talk to people from all over the world…people that travel and live all over. So exciting. Makes me realize how many amazing opportunities and experiences are really out there.  I loved it when the Chinese athletes came out and the place just erupted with enthusiasm, as the Chinese people just go crazy for their own athletes! Isn’t it remarkable the sense of pride and allegiance you feel for your own country as those athletes are competing!
Here are a few shots from last night. we stopped by where they are doing the live taping of the Today show, and got a chance to watch for a little while... but i was starving so we didn't hang around long. when they braodcasted it this morning.. we were able to see ourselves, but  you had to really look! maybe we'll try again.
the last photo is an upclose of the bubble... such a weird building! but it looks soooo cool at night.

olympic spirit

It’s been an absolute down pour here this afternoon.. I am feeling so sorry for all the athletes and attendees at the outdoor competitions… it’s not cold at least… but really, really wet. We are heading to swimming tonight, and I am SO excited to get to go into the Swimming cube… such a freaky cool thing. we will be watching Mens 50m freestyle, womens 800m freestyle, mens 100m butterfly, womens 200m backstroke, but not sure what countries we’ll see. When you buy tickets, you have no idea who will be competing when, so that is a bummer.
While I have been in the midst of my deadline abyss… the boys have been to a few other events and venues.. having a great time! They had 2 days of basketball and also rowing. They don’t seem to show much on tv here, and what they do show is obviously not what the US is doing well in! so, I am wishing we had more television coverage! (you can’t have it all!)
We are going to try to go to the today show taping tonight our events…so maybe we’ll be on TV!!

note on the photos (post by eric):
the boys and i were down in wangfujing the other day just seeing the sights and looking for some USA olympic gear that would fit them and we noticed a crowd (mob scene) ahead. the boys were interested to get in and see what athletes were there signing autographs. as we got closer i could see that whoever they were, they were shorter than i was (5'10" on a good day, with hair) and that one was wearing a MLB hat and a USA t-shirt that did not seem very official the other a USA headband and michael jordan earrings. the first guy had his back to me and i nudged the boys to get in and get a look to see who it was. they wedged their way up to the front of all the chinese fans and the guy turned around and grabbed their shirts and scribbled something on each of their shirts as he was telling the crowd to come watch him play "bes-ket-bol" (pronounced this way) as he made a hand gesture of him shooting a basket. about this time i noticed he was not wearing any olympic athlete credentials nor were there any security or press around him. the boys came out of the melee and were ticked off as we all realized they were total fakes and he scribbled on their shirts. this did not stop more and more locals from joining in and just acting crazy to get pictures and autographs with them.
while there, the boys played a little hoop shoot arcade game and CORY schooled Colton in all 4 games. at the addidas pavilion there was a mock track with starting blocks that timed your start times. once again, CORY schooled colton each race. ~eric

the ultimate...

I am taking a little break from my deadline stuff! Ugh…my brain is mush. Either deadlines bring out the best, or they bring out the worst… or, maybe it’s just a little of both! I keep wishing for a sandy beach. That is my favorite kind of vacation. Beach vacation. Anyway…with no beaches in my immediate future.. I think that I have been contemplating ways that can get myself on a beach. Really anything beach, sand, water, tan, RELAX. So this is the PERFECT solution! And I can’t stop thinking about it!, so lokoing forward to it… The ‘ultimate scrapbooking cruise’… this morning Beijing time all the teachers chatted online with the yahoo group answering questions and talking more about what they can expect and plan for… but I wanted to provide the most up-to-the-minute information on what we, (the teachers) have planned. This has been a really unique experience.. I don’t get a lot of opportunity to collaborate with other scrapbookers in the industry.. and I just love working as a group. Especially with such talented people! I have been catching up on their blogs, and learning more about each one of them as we have been figuring out how to make this cruise amazing. we are going to have a blast together, and everyone is invited! Ok, so I am posting this MONSTER LONG pdf that talks about what makes this an “ULTIMATE” cruise. I know that it’s a lot of stuff to read.. but hey, IT”S A LOT OF STUFF! Seriously, if ever you were going to mix scrapbooking with cruising… this is the trip! and lots of people have booked with NON-scrapbookers…so grab your favorite person and give yourselves a little something fabulous to look forward to!  for dates, cost, and more information… go to www.scrapmap.com. You can contact Jim West or Jaci Haag… they can answer all your questions.  i am going to post links to all the teachers blogs so you can check them out, and their style... they are awesome, and just FUN!
k, i gotta get back to reality! dont' worry, colton made brownies to get me through the deadline process...training him young to know how to make a stressed-out girl happy!

OLYMPIC FEVER!

Capturing the way I am feeling about being here during the Olympics and being able to attend, and see it all first hand, is proving to be an impossible task. It’s overwhelming. As we have attending 2 events so far…it’s all just boggled my mind. Thoughts about all the preparations, all the details, all the security-the set up… the branding, the buildings and planting… it’s just SHOCKING… and then having the opportunity to watch these world-class athletes compete on this level. It’s so inspiring!
we were at beach volleyball yesterday in the morning for about 5 hours… and it was just horribly hot, and muggy. In the morning, the stands were pretty much full, and after about 2 games, lots of people left, and so we moved from our nose-bleed seats down quite close to the action. Beach Volleyball is a party. I guess I didn’t really expect that party atmosphere in the Olympic version, but it had it all.. the loud, fun (American) music… bikini-clad cheerleaders and quite the fun, beachy atmosphere. The stadium holds 10,000 but still seemed quite intimate, with only one court. It was so weird to have the announcements in Chinese and English.. and you’d have ½ the crowd respond to the announcer and then the other announcer would get the other ½ of the crowd to respond (with clapping and cheering…etc). I wondered how the athletes felt hearing cheers in chinese! Pretty cool. We saw about 6 matches I think… no US teams.. but we did get to see the Women’s Australia team, and they rocked… they put on a great show. And the men’s team from Netherlands was amazing. one of the guys (shoot, I can’t remember the names) was a past gold medalist… so he was awesome. The Chinese women’s team competed in one match and they got the definite ‘home town’ reception. The Chinese people were just erupting with excitement (they won). It was great fun to watch. The concessions were pretty lame…(Americans just really know how to eat at sporting events!). I was craving like nachos and licorice.. maybe a hot dog!
Later Sat evening, we got tickets with another family to see men’s gymnastics.. that was so cool because it was in the “National indoor stadium” that was right down on the Olympic Green. That whole Olympic Green area is SOOOO amazing. SO beautiful… right by the Swimming Cube and the Bird’s Nest. Everything is lit so beautifully and there was just a hum of emotion! All the banners, and flags and people. You can only go down on the green if you have a ticket to something in that area. The security is over the top. I didn’t realize that our tickets are magnetized. As you arrive at the first check points of any ‘area’.. you  must pass through securing and present your ticket to this podium thing that must ‘read’ the ticket to determine if it’s a ‘real’ ticket. Then you go through the same type of security you do at the airport… everything goes though the metal detector and they wand-check everyone. To get to the Olympic Green , you have to arrive on the subway… it’s a very special Olympic line that is just beautifully decorated.. you have never seen a subway like this one! right when we got off the subway, the first smell was McDonalds.. there is a huge McDonalds right there. and of course, we ate dinner there, with everyone else. They had a special menu that was more ‘american’ than the usual menu here. – get this… they had SALAD and APPLE PIES. Dang… almost as good as home! The gymnasium that the gymnastics is in is so beautiful and so decked out with all the banners… and seriously, I can’t tell you how fabulous I think all the banners look. I am not usually a ‘primary colors’ girl.. but it’s just go the right mix, and blend and the swirls.. I think it looks so awesome. the performances were inspiring by the men… just so fun to watch, and we were thankful for the huge ‘jumbo-tron’ screens. Gymnastics is a little confusing b/c so many athletes are competing at the same time at different parts of the stadium.
Last night I was shocked and horrified to hear of the attack on 2 american tourists … I have never felt the least bit unsafe anywhere that I have ever been, and I have found the Chinese people to be nothing but thrilled to have foreigners here, and welcoming… I find them to be such warm and kind people…that is just so sad, so heartbreaking… we have been praying for the families of the victims…and praying for the security and safety of those who are here… athletes and visitors alike.

08.08.08

Amazing… you HAVE to tune into the Olympics Opening Ceremonies… WOW. It was amazing. it’s LONG, but when there are 204 delegates or something like that, it takes time! we have been so excited to see the opening ceremonies, and it was so hyped up with secrecy, and the sheer numbers of people that it was involving. I think there are over 10,000 performers… when we went to Yangshuo with my parents, we saw a show on the river that was directed and put together by the same guy that was doing the opening. We knew that it would blow our minds. But what they did was so uniquely Chinese… and so technologically advanced.. and yet so reflective of their disciplines and traditions… so different than anything that has been done before. the fireworks were spectacular. I’d LOVE to be able to see it in high-def and American coverage. Anyway.. very cool. eric got me a cool USA t-shrit and we have our first event in the morning, bright and early… beach volleyball… and tomorrow night, 3 hours of men’s gymnastics! I promise to post photos!

So guess what…
Today my new website went live at heidiswapp.com … it’s cute, and it’s fun… it’s not quite where I want it to be… so much more content and STUFF that I am planning on adding in, and filling it with on a regular basis… but I am so happy that it’s all plugged together, and up and I can see it all in once place! Thank you so much to all those who have been working on it, and putting up with this project! as you look around, know that we have lots more planned to add and update… it’s going to be fabulous.  I get SO many emails asking about ‘club heidi’ and when it’s coming back…it’s first month back will be September, and it goes up for sale as of the first. You may remember, they usually sell out QUICK. You can see the kit in the club heidi section of the website…it’s all clocks.. so cute! I can NEVER get enough clocks. This is a great ‘time’ (ha ha) of year to get this one… it comes with a 12” memory clock, which is an awesome gift for Christmas. as always, these kits are a tremendous value! Pretty cool, be sure to check it out, and plan on snagging one when they come available! Another thing that is super cool, that I love on the site is that we have my full catalogs in there with that cool ‘page turning’ capability… so it’s easy to just flip through the catalog. This will be an awesome resource even for me! I hate it when I can’t find a catalog. Like I said, now that we have it in place, we’ll be adding all kinds of little things here and there. I am excited to have it as part of our education and brand support. … it’s so amazing to think of the way that technology for web keeps improving all the time. I can’t wait to put more, and better videos on there… as well as downloadable projects, exclusive products and kits… and all kinds of unique ideas. It’s really just the beginning.. and it’s totally requiring me to ‘stretch’ and learn new stuff… which mostly, I hate! but you have to… otherwise, your kids know way too much more than you! 

Planning events has sort of taken over my creativity at the moment. With 4 big education events on the horizon, it’s both an exciting time as well as a very busy time.
There are only 26 days before Creative Escape… and the final touches are happening! The CE book is coming together beautifully and all the little unique details are so fun to ‘wrap up’. Those of you coming are in for such a treat! Be sure that you order a t-shirt that you can pick up at the event. They are pre-sale ONLY… so you won’t want to miss out.  and if you need to order anything else.. you can do that through Scrapbooks ETC.- our ‘on-site’ store… it’s always amazingly stocked.

Right after I return to Beijing, the Scrapmap China Tour will be coming to town! Sept 20. We have been chatting online in our yahoo group, getting to know each other and getting excited. I have been planning my little presentations, trying to give everyone all the inside scoop possible so they will have a ‘local’ perspective on things. Don’t worry, I will be bringing the ‘blog’ along so that all of you can live vicariously through our travels! It’s going to be an exciting trip.

Registration for my Australia event: Create ’08 started on August 1st. I will be visitng 2 citites: Brisbane and Melbourne and hosting a one day event in each city. During that day together, I am teaching 3 classes… I am really excited to get back to Australia! And this time I am brining my family and making a beach holiday out of it. I can’t wait!  We still have a limited number of seats in each city available… check the Create 08 blog for registration instructions.

Yesterday…I had the pleasure of visiting in a conf. call with all the educators on ‘The Ultimate Scrapbook Cruise”… Donna Downey, Teresa Collins, Karen Russell, Margie Romeny-Aslette, Michelle Van Etten and myself will be joining Jim West in January on his ‘Ultimate Scrapbook Cruise’… we talked and laughed and brainstormed for almost 2 hours. I am SO excited about doing this with these girls. it’s so fun to talk, and bounce ideas around… we have some things in the works that will make this truly THE ultimate scrapbook cruise. I’ll be filling you in more as we get everything finalized… suffice it to say… you won’t want to miss out! there are still spaces available, go to Scrapmap.com.

Also, Janet has a bunch of classes on her calendar in Texas and Arizona… check her blog for more info and descriptions. She has put together a cute project using a bunch of my new papers. Check them out. really fun!

Shoot, this is a really long post.!! Good night.

happy birthday capri...

It’s hard to believe….
She’s 2.
I was laying in bed last night trying to remember my feelings 2 years ago… I was trying to remember what life felt like before Capri… and how it changed so drastically upon her arrival. As I really focused on my memory, floods of thoughts filled my mind. I think I was using photos in my mind’s eye to jog my memory… photos that represented mile stones and benchmarks of her little life so far. in just 2 years, how cosmically different our lives are. I can remember how excited I was to be driving to the hospital, and so ready to meet her. I can VIVIDLY remember when the kids came…and if I thought I was excited, it was NOTHING compared to them! they were instantly in love, and forever changed. It was amazing to watch as their lives turned from revolving around themselves.. to revolving around her.. and it hasn’t stopped. They all adore her so completely, and treat her so carefully and lovingly…she has to be one of the most loved little people on this planet. She is a breath of fresh air, and the warmest beam of light… she is such a bright spot in our home! And that curly hair… it’s just an added dose of charm that puts her in a category all her own! We are so lucky to have her. It’s impossible to imagine life with out her.  (her new passport photo)

As I mentioned, I was wishing for Target to get stuff for her birthday, and because we couldn’t drive… eric borrowed an ‘even plate’ car from a friend… (thanks john..) and stopped off at a shopping mall by his office he picked up this cute little sundress, and a few gifts for her… the highlight was the potty-chair… she has been hauling it all over the house and sitting on it… with the seat up, seat down… and loves it way more than the sparkly pink trike! (it’s a bit too big… looked SO small last night) I have to share this… I have mentioned that we are constantly laughing at the translations of signs and packaging… this was a good one on the potty chair, we were cracking up.