Taken while we were exploring the streets of Macao

Just working off a few calories in preparation for dinner later


Going out for dinner to 'Fernandos': our apartment is above the Paris restaurant you see in the background


the weekend of october 9th we were incredibly blessed to have connie come and stay - at long last - some family! we scrambled down to the ferry as she was coming over from hong kong - and right away we noticed most people (tour guides) were holding up signs with what we presume were chinese surnames. not wanting to be left out we quite creatively made a large sign "JACKSON" - dave wanted to find a wheelchair but just didn't have the time (he can be so nasty when we wants). we had such a wonderful time together - lots of great food (thai, macanese ... and even a good ole canadian grilled cheese at home!); lots of walking (toured most of macau); more food (fabulous portuguese egg tarts); shopping (finished all our Christmas shopping in zhuhai); and oh yes! i must include the massages we all had in zhuhai - now this was funny! - the spa was large and looked actually quite appealling from the lobby - as we were led through the maze to our private room - once inside it wasn't as how shall i say, .. "polished". still tidy, clean sheets (i checked), but you know the construction standards - just not like at home ... in any way! our attendants' cell phones kept ringing as we were in the midst of the massage(s) - what is with that we wondered - but we still felt in the end we did get our money's worth - about $5 cdn for an hour. this was the evening we came home, hopped right into our pj's and checked out all our purchases, which filled both couches. when viewing the pictures you will see one of us from that evening - but there is a bit of history that must be noted here. being the wonderful "sister" that connie is, she once chastised me on the appearance of my nightwear, in fact being so bold as to ask me if "i actually wore that". ... well! it must first be said that one cannot look glamorous ALL THE TIME - this DOES take work. and secondly, when she joined us in the living room having donned HER pjs - well PLEASE! - she started to giggle and admitted before i said anything that perhaps she would have to take "a certain observation back"!!!

we tried to prepare ourselves when it came time to say goodbye, but oh my goodness, it was SO HARD to let her go. both of us had a definite case of the down-in-the-dumps blues for a couple days - in fact it wasn't until thursday that i started feeling better. that first day (monday) was AWFUL - work was extremely frustrating, street odors were "smellier", the smog seemed thicker, more enveloping ... all because i was unable to pick up my fat bottom lip!

and as i write this we are only 18 days away from flying home - we are really looking forward to seeing you all - we are so blessed to have you in our lives!