HE IS HOME!

Neil arrived home about 30 minutes ago just as I was getting online to see if his flight had arrived in Chicago on time. :c) The kids are thrilled, and of course so am I :c)

Unfortunately, after it taking 36 hours for him to get home from China, he didn't arrive home with his luggage. It's lost. He said about 10 people that arrived in Chicago with him were also on the flight from China. All theirs is lost, too. I don't have any experience with lost luggage, and neither does he. Will it get back to us?!?! I hope so because daddy has some gifts for the kids and guess what?! He found me some Chinese ketchup!!!!! (Woot!)

I made him call his mom as soon as he got in and settled. (I'm such a good wife and daughter-in-law, teehee :c)) I knew she was a little worried whether he'd have troubles staying awake on his drive home from Chicago. But he said he slept 9 hours on the flight from China to L.A. and another 2 to Chicago. While talking to his mom, I heard some other interesting facts that he encountered while on his trek overseas.

* There is one major highway around Beijing and Shanghai (neither are anywhere near each other, but this holds true for both) so when it snows, the cities are basically shut down because they don't have snowplows. At all. Crazy, eh?!
* If a town has less than 1 million people, it's not on the map. And those towns (which would be cities to us) are called villages. Is that even more crazy?!
* If people in the country and villages weren't pleased with the way they were living, they would move to the big cities making them even more polluted and crowded than what they already are. So the government basically asks these people "What can we do to make you happy and keep you here?" and they say "air conditioners and TV's". So that's what they get and that's what makes them stay.
* Because they don't use their heating systems in buildings in the cities to conserve money and energy, instead of trying to stay as warm as possible, they open up the windows because they say if they can't be warm, they may as well enjoy fresh air. (Oh my goodness!!!!!)
* Things he ate: pigeon (twice), geo duck (a big clam), salted fish (which he said was the most disgusting thing he's ever eaten -- said it literally tasted like poop), Peking duck, chicken was served whole with the head, goat, his friend had snake, 1,000 year old egg, noodles were served for breakfast, and the list goes on.
* He visited 7 cities in 7 days, driving up to 8 hours in a day to get from place to place. (Nothing is close.)
* One of his customers gave him a Chinese foot massage for a gift.
* While on an elevator in a hotel, a Chinese boy about the age of 12, got on and stood under Neil looking up at him with his jaw opened the entire time. He said the translator said the boy was saying "so tall, so tall" over and over about 12 times. Is that not funny?!
* He said that the Chinese people were really rude. They smoked like chimneys and didn't care if it was bothersome to you and he said they butt in front of him all the time.

Oh I am so glad he is home. So glad. I feel like a part of me is back. I can tell the kids feel the same, especially Noah. He can't get enough of daddy as I type this. Happy weekend to you all!