30 DAY BLOG CHALLENGE - DAY 4 . . .

I haven't gone to bed yet, so technically this still counts as day 4!  ;)

Day 4 :  Your Parents

My parents are AWESOME!!! 

My Mom is Eileen.  She has been in Real Estate since I was about 8 years old.  She's an AMAZING Realtor.  Probably the best you'll ever meet.  While I was growing up she was doing it all on her own and she was a Top Producer for many, many years.  She's still very good at it, but now her major priority is her grand kids!  She brought me into Real Estate and we worked together for a few years.  Then I went to a different company.  We started working together again, including my dad, about 10 years ago, and it's worked out really well for all of us.

She's a wonderful friend, the BEST Mom and Grandma, and she loves her family very, very much.  There is nothing she wouldn't do for my brother and I.  And now that she has grand kids, there's nothing she wouldn't do for them.  She's always been there for me, and she's always stood up for me.  She's always let me know that I'm perfect just the way I am and even though there are a lot of things about me that I would change, she still loves me.  I would like to think she's taught me how to be a good Mom to my kids.  I hope when I grow up, my kids love and respect me as much as I love and respect MY mom.

My dad is Mike - Michael.  I was named after him.  My dad worked at Sears while I was growing up.  He retired the year I got married.  That's when he started working with my mom in real estate.  We've all been working together for about 10 years now.  My dad always says he's the assistant!  ;)

My dad is the best dad in the world.  He's funny.  He LOVES University of Kentucky Basketball.  Like, he's OBSESSED with it!  He won't show houses on UK basketball days.  Those days are left up to me.  And while I'm a UK fan too, I don't have the same obsession, so that's okay with me.  He's amazing with my kids, and of course they adore him.  And just like my mom, there's nothing he wouldn't do for us or the kids.  One thing I've never doubted, is that I KNOW my dad loves me.  I've always known that, and I've never questioned it. 

Don't you wish you were lucky enough to have parents like mine?!?!?!  ;)

PACKAGE FROM HOME . . .

I forgot to write about this earlier. We got a package from Mom and Dad a couple of weeks ago. The kids were THRILLED! They're having a hard time dealing with the fact that all of their friends are leaving, or are already gone, so I think the package really cheered them up.

It's funny how it's the little things that make a big difference. There are a lot things they can't get here, so they LOVED getting them in the mail. They sent candy bracelets, fruit chews, Snickers, Reese Cups, microwave popcorn, and of course, Velveeta cheese for me!

Oh, and did I mention it's already gone?! Yeah, that's right. They finished it off already. I was trying to ration it so that it would last for awhile, but then when I left, they got into, Ryan included, and finished it all off! Oh well, at least they enjoyed it.

Anyway, thanks Mom and Dad. You have no idea how much we appreciated it.

MOM AND DAD , , ,

 Mom and Dad are here visiting, so that's why I haven't been posting much.  They've been keeping me busy!  We've been running practically everyday.  One day Dad said, "You don't have to entertain us every day."  To which Mom replied, "Yes you do!"  So . . . we've been doing something EVERYDAY!  Not sure what we're going to do today.  

So far we've been to Hangzhou, Tai Kang Lu, The Underground, YuYuan, the kids school, and other places around Shanghai.  I still have a week to entertain them, so I guess I'd better come up with some more things to do!

THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!!

Well, so much for writing more often! I just haven't been motivated to write a lot lately. But the boys have been doing some writing for school, so I'm going to start posting some of their pieces. Some of them are very interesting!

Anyway, some of you know that Ryan was in the States last week. He had to go back to the Louisville office to get some things done. I, of course, didn't get to go with him! BUT, my wonderful parents put together 2 big boxes of goodies that he was able to bring back with him. And let me just tell you, they really know how to pack those boxes! One weighed 18 pounds, and the other one weighed 22 pounds. Plus, Ryan had some things in his suitcase as well, since I sent him with a bigger suitcase than what he needed. So we got Girl Scout Cookies, oatmeal, fruit chews, Ritz crackers, Splenda, Velveeta cheese, brownie and cake mixes, Easter baskets (actually bags) for the kids, kool-aid and tea, candy, coffee and creamer, Chex Mix, Combos, Jif peanut butter, and I think that's it. Needless to say, the kids were thrilled! There are a lot of things over here that are either very expensive, like Jif and cake mixes, (think $5-$6 US for 1 cake mix), or you just can't get them at all, like Velveeta cheese and Ritz Crackers. And of course, Girl Scout Cookies!

So thanks Mom and Dad. We love you!

PACKAGE . . .

We got a package from home today. Thanks to Carol who mailed it, and Mom and Dad who put it together. We got Jason's tennis shoes, Andrew's dress shoes, Splenda, Instant Oatmeal, Hot Chocolate, and MS. DASH!!!! What kind of sad commentary is that about me that I get so excited about Ms. Dash?!?!?! I must be pitiful! I've looked everywhere around here, and you can't find it anywhere. And I use it in EVERYTHING. So Mom and Dad picked mine up from home and had it sent it to me. Yea! And Andrew was SO excited about the instant oatmeal. He eats oatmeal for breakfast almost every morning, but they don't have instant oatmeal here, Cinnamon Roll flavor, so he hasn't been that thrilled with it. He can't wait to have it for breakfast tomorrow.

It's funny, the things we take for granted. The things that I use the most at home, you can't find here. And if you are lucky enough to find them, they're usually very expensive. Things like Macaroni and Cheese, Velveeta Cheese, Ms. Dash, Instant Oatmeal, Microwave Porcorn, Kool-Aid, Tea, Splenda, Jif Peanut Butter. I was planning on bringing back a big suitcase after Christmas filled with all of those things, but Ryan said you can't bring food through Customs. So I'm thinking I'll just ship a box to myself before we leave, and then when we get home, we'll get a package with everything in it that we've been missing. Sounds like a good idea to me!