Getting ready for Halloween

We brought some Halloween decorations with us, but I honestly thought we would be able to get more here.  I mean, it is all made here.  The girls and I decorated a little and we have a few small pumpkins.  Large carving pumpkins are very, very hard to find.  And are too heavy to lug home in a taxi or subway.  Halloween is a new thing out here to most Chinese.  But the younger people (teens, young adults) seem to be excited about it.  I saw some people in their twenties trying on hats and looking at masks at Carrefore, and they were laughing and joking around.  Even many of the European Moms I spoke with said Halloween is not such a big event back home.  Maybe it's mostly an American tradition.  This is when I miss living on Grand Oaks - sigh.  Halloween was always so much fun in the neighborhood.

FAILS
1.    Buying imported makeup.  I really needed a new blush.  Clinique blush in the US is $20 -$24 each. Here is it $45.00!  I had not idea the price when I chose it, but it would be cheaper for me to have it sent from the US.
2.    This is a really hard Mandarin lesson:  Shì (am), Sì (4), Shí (10) !!  The accent and tone of words when spoken make all the difference.  The classes are very challenging, and worst of all, the kids are better at Mandarin than I am.  They correct my accent all the time.
3.    We are on the third person to come out and try to fix our super low water pressure in the back yard.  I have a hose on the faucet, but the water is a light trickle at best.  This is how things oftentimes are here.  It takes about 3-4 different people to come out and even agree there is a problem before anyone can fix it.
4.    The hair color I bought made my hair kinda purple-ly.

SUCCESS
1.    Chris bought the girls new bikes last weekend.  Katie, who was always afraid to ride back home, was so happy she rode and rode with her Daddy.  Emily is already talking about riding her bike to the bus stop for school.
2.    Went to see Jeri (plant lady) at her shop.  Ordered lots of house and garden plants.  She potted them, and delivered them that same afternoon.  She also planted some outdoor plants for me, and gave me some good advice about gardening in China.
3.    Made a big pot of Chili with Beans Sunday night.  We had it with cheese, onions and tortilla chips.  It was a cold night, and it was just what we needed.