groundhog day

'nuff said?!!  mixed up the swimming and eating routine with a trip to an old, old pagoda.  the sweat must have pooled in my ears because i seriously cannot tell you one single fact about it.  but the pictures are proof we were there :).  the only two pictures of the day are so ummmm.... boring?  weird?  in the one, we have typical tourists.  in the other, we have sarah as sergeant, hannah as soldier, sam with pursed lips (on purpose he says for reasons only he knows), and lydia ready to smack herself or more likely sam.  those two are salt and pepper; like an old married couple who like each other but won't admit it :)

hannah continues to do really well.  she tells our guide she is ready to go to america.  as our time in her province slowly/finally winds down, i have a better appreciation of why this time has been valuable.  it gave her a chance to adjust to a new family while being in comfortable, familiar surroundings.  she deserves that, and so much more.

we've had numerous people tell us (via lisa) how well she speaks mandarin and how smart she is.  she's a talker, buddy.  i let her sit in the front seat of the taxi (have i mentioned that i thank God every time we arrive at our destination?) and she carries a conversation with the driver the entire time.  absolutely no idea what she is saying other than the occasional "mama" :)

it is 7:27 here and i have hit the proverbial wall.  was up at the God-forsaken hour of 5:30.  and tomorrow, it is a sad truth that i am seriously stoked about packing!!!!  when packing sounds fun, you know you are messed up :).  Lord willing, tomorrow will take us to the steamy, sauna-like city known as guangzhou.  which can only mean one thing -- one small step closer to the place i call home.  our doorman, paul, told me today that the indiana pacers won yesterday (i acted like i knew they'd played :) and thought it cute that he'd remembered there were hoosiers in his hotel :)

love from nanchang.