shopping spree!

One of the parishioners from the Mandarin congregation invited me to her wholesale clothing store today.  I was escorted by a couple from our group and we had a great time!  This store was not at the typical American type mall that I'm used to shopping at here.  Imagine one of those inside antique malls but times 1000 with stalls selling everything from purses and clothing to watches and jewelry, toys and linens...everything under the sun!  We were treated to a very generous take of tops and pants and skirts.  So very kind of this woman.
At the mall, I remind you not the modern mall we all know and love, I came in contact with my first "squat toilet."  After getting instructions from my friend, I managed the situation - indeed very thankful I had worn a skirt and had a couple of tissues in my purse.
We stopped by a store to pick up a few groceries and my friend noticed that I was purchasing two bottles of fabric softener.  She pointed out that I might want some detergent and I was confused.  I hadn't realized that for a month now, I had been washing our clothes in fabric softener!  No wonder they smelled so good. 
Our first piece of mail arrived today addressed to Mary!  Molly Olsen from Millbrook sent a sweet card to her hoping that she was feeling better.  What a wonderful surprise!  It looks like the card took about two weeks to get here.  Pretty quick, I think.
Jim is feeling better.  Thank you for the prayers.  Jim's friend and colleague, Pastor Tan, will be visiting this weekend.  We look forward to a familiar face and to seeing some new sights with him.  Anna loved her Batik making class that she took after school today and George got his Tae Kwon Do uniform.  Please pray for Anna.  While she has made a friend or two, she mostly feels lonely during the day and overwhelmed by the unfamiliar.  The speed of the math class has her a little lost as well.  She brought home her first test in Indonesian with only one mistake.  I asked her when she studied for that and she said she just learned it in class.  Hopefully this means she has an aptitude for languages.
If you hadn't heard, (or maybe you don't want to hear) I have been sleeping with a pair of panties over my head to keep the mosquitoes from biting me during the night.  Last night, Della joined my in bed and said "oh, you have underwear on your head."  She jumped up and said "I'll be right back!"  She came back in with her own pair of panties and put them over her head and snuggled right up next to me.  A moment I will not soon forget!