Qing's arrival and beyond .

[Arnold]

Yesterday, a funny thing happened on the way to the Foru... I mean to the Mailbox.

I picked up my Mail as usual, on top I find a Letter from the USCIS. I first felt it, to see if Qing's new Green Card is in there. NO.. only paper and now opening it get's me worried. What will it say? Slowly I unfold it and the first thing I see.. is "Congratulation" on top. That put a smile on my Face, which in turn made my LaoPo almost jump for Joy. Reading further, it said.. you should receive your new Permanent Card within 60 days.

Yahoooo..

Thats not all though, after going through the rest of the Mail.. I see a big square Envelope! Also from the USCIS, now feeling this one up.. I could definitely feel a Card inside. Leave it up to our Gov., to speed things up.. where 60 days seem only like "Seconds". haha
I am so glad this hurdle is over, Card good for 10 years! Qing, comes over to me.. Thank you.. Thank you.. kiss kiss. Well, I kind of feel guilty.. taking all the Credit and Comp's.. when the Fed's made it final.

[Clayton]

Congratulations Arnold, now you and Qing can relax and settle into your future together.

I wish you both many years of happiness.

Cheers
Leeroy

[Vince G]

Very Good, Congrats!

No more being bothered by them for a long time... Hopefully.

[shaun]

Congratulations.  Another biggie overcome.

[RobertBfrom aust]

Congratulations Arnold to you and Qing now you can start to relax and do not forget to buy her that exotic VW , named Porche ha ha , regards Sujuan and Robert .

[Arnold]

Thanks Guy's! It is a good feeling to have that behind you. I think the same goes for Qing.
Robert, Porsche? She wants one of those Electric Bicycles, so it a hard choice for me?

[David E]

I think one of the new electric Porches would be just about perfect...only $300,000...go for it  !!!

[maxx]

congradulations Arnold .

[Arnold]

Well here is something, I did not want to write/mention in my Blog. Did not want to embarrass my LaoPo "TOO" publicly with this mishap that happened last Sunday.
As the weather was really nice and Sunny that Sunday morning, we were talking and decided to rather go Bicycle ridding instead of playing Tennis. This I thought would give us more exercise in the long run. All was fine, loading up the Bikes for a 15 minute ride to Palmdale Lake and dop off the Car and start on a very nice Trail for Bikes and Running. As it was Sunny and warm (as mentioned before), we both were wearing our Hat's. Well, Qing's Hat was to be the reason.. just ten minutes into the ride.. when something went very wrong in front of me. We were going somewhat downhill and gaining speed. I was about a bike length behind her on the right side and she on the left of the Trail. When suddenly (due to the speed)Qing's Hat came loose and started to fly off her head. As you might all know, when reflexes kick in with NO time to react.. one try's to reach/catch the now airborne object (Hat) and NOT think your still on a Bike with speed going down a hill. At that same moment, my Heart just about stopped.. as I saw Qing loose control of her Bike and she became Airborn and over the Bike she flew onto the Pavement and the Bike on top of her. I came to a stop about ten/twenty feet in front of my Sweetheart laying ( in total shock ), due to my speed. Now I think back, how lucky Qing and I were.. that we were in differnt lanes at that time.. or I would have run her over with my Bike too.

[Arnold]

sorry, have to continue here.. it would not let me write more into that Post for some reason?

Anyway, I rushed over to see if she was seriously hurt and expecting the worst.. but of course wishing she wasn't hurt or in pain too much .. considering the fall I had to witness. She was sitting upright and I could see some blood coming from her elbow area, also from her hand. By the looks, she landed on her right side only.. as you could see burn marks on Hip/Hand/lower Arm/Elbow and a scatch mark on her shoulder ( which tore her shirt she was wearing ). I checked/asked if anything was broken? She was very lucky indeed, thatshe didn't get mixed up with the Bike and then fall, as this is a sure way to break an Arm or Leg at the speed (25mph my guess). After the shock wore off somewhat, I helped her stand up to see.. if really all the limps were okay. Knowing that it could have been much worse and counting our Blessing, that it only came to scrapes ( which were not bleeding anymore ). Back to the Car and home to take care of her wounds. Clean, disinfect,wrap up her wounds.. and we look into each other's Eyes..  gave each other a big warm hug. Now, all she said was and I quote " I'm sooo dumb "!! This had of course nothing to do with being dumb/smart, reflexes are what they are.. just that. When one has NO time to think/adjust/react, this is what happens.. Accident. I know, one can learn from that, but.... what will we do when that situation comes up again? Most likely... the same thing over !

She is doing fine now and I also slept much better than Sunday night.. as this scene Ran through my Head all night and most of the following Monday at work.

[Rhonald]

Goes to show that the hardest part of riding a bike is the ground. I am glad nothing more serious happened Arnold as I can only imagine the panic that engulfed the two of you at that moment

[john1964]

Arnold, It is good to hear your lao po did not suffer too much in the way of injuries, It could have been a lot worse, I too can imagine your panic when seeing Qing having an accident, I felt helpless when MinYing broke her wrist in Handan and I could not be there to help her, John .

[Scottish_Robbie]

congrats to you both

[Arnold]

  hahaha.. an insight for those planning on a visiting Trip to China. For the ones that can't get to my Blog.

Been to China? You'll know about this....

I am sure, anybody that is going to China.. may it be visiting Girlfriend/Fiance' or Wife.. knows what I'm about to write about.

Whenever going back for whatever reason, one must take care of the Gift/Present part for the Family/Friends whomever you'll be seeing/meeting. This starts as soon as you have a chance to "Open" that one or two Suitcase's. It actually is expected especially coming from the west, as they all are looking forward to items not found in and around China.. or are not at all available anywhere. If they do have it, it is usually of lower/less quality. You know.. like in "Copies"!

Having a total weight limit of 46kg (50 US lbs.each suitcase), this has turned into quite a challenge. With a question asked of my Sweetheart.. " Do you.. are you taking any "Clothes"? This might seem funny, but it is what I had to deal with packing my LaoPo's two Suitcases. Item's in.. no not here and out again, this I must have done...well? Over and over and over, til it was filled and ready to carry over to the Scale. First the large one: Let's see.. three bottles of Wine/ six large Fish Oil containers/ Candy, enough to open a Store/ Gum ( well finally something light)/ dried Fruit/ Vitamine Bottles for Adult&Children/ did I mention Candy already? Of course, of all things, we can not forget "Nut's"! No... I don't mean myself by that! If this needs to be re-arranged or it's too heavy, I just might just have a "Nut" case on my hand. Over to the waiting Scale it goes, slowly lowering (while praying) we await the numbers to finally hit my Eyes with the speed of light... 50.6 lbs.(a little over 23kg). Looking at Qing, it was like.. ohhh? There is still room for a "Little" more, after all she thinks that.. that is okay with the Airline.

Haha.. I of course was celebrating a little too soon here. While Qing was now talking to her brother, the news came.. we need to buy some Baby Formular's for Cousin's new born Baby Girl. Great.. Wonderbar.. Ausgezeichnet! This has to go into the smaller one though.. I did not want to move anything out of the large. Unless, my Life will be in any kind of danger by NOT doing it.

On to the second stuffing and it's not even Thanksgiving yet.

Now this one actually get's some Clothes, believe it or not. There were still large Jars of mixed Nuts ( from Costco mind you ) more Chocolate/ dried Milk which is much better than the Chinese Brands and now to the heavy part for this poor Suitcase. Seven large Hand/Body Lotion's and all kinds of Make-up items that must of taken over two hours at Walmart's to buy. I'm such a patient Person.. really! Oh my... just lifting those Items which I put into a nice fitting Box for safety reasons. What will this weigh... I ask myself again?

Oh oh.. this one ( the small one haha ) was 56.8 lbs.! Incredible, I sure do excellent packing! So, now what? Open it up again and I remove the two large Containers of mixed Nut's and bags of Candy.. that equals a nice 6 lbs. even. Those will have to go on the Carry-on Bag (not the candy). But, those need now to be replaced with the Baby Formular of the same size.. a little lighter though.
I hope!!!!

See, I almost don't even have time to think about my Sweetheart leaving on Saturday. I don't know, if this is good or bad... just yet?

[Jason B]

I know all about the baby formula thing.  Whenever Xia has a friend going to China she will get them to take a couple of tins for her brother's baby with them.  Around 2kg all up.  When her mum came here she had 2 bags.  One with clothes the other empty inside the other one to take stuff back with her,  besides all the room left over as she brought a lot of Chinese baby clothes with her for Laura.

I hope Qing has  a great trip back to China.  She will need a porter to cart those bags around with her.