Traumatized again...

This morning my sister drove me and the kids to nearby Walmart to return a faulty item. When we were about to leave the car park, a lady driver who reversed her minivan did not see us and hit our car's front bumper. Since my glasses is damaged and I couldn't see very clearly, I couldn't warn my sister in time to horn at the other driver. I told my sister what information to obtain from the other driver and how we'll proceed from there. Although no one was hurt in this accident, I was traumatized by the impact as it brought back memories of my car accident.

Praise be to Allah SWT I called my husband after we got home and he came back an hour later to call the insurance companies. He was glad that no one was hurt, and told me not to worry about the car.

After this accident, I don't know when I'll be on the road again. It's not that the car was badly damaged, but I realized that I am still psychologically affected by the car accident. Allah SWT willing I hope to get over this as soon as possible.

Bender Fender
Definition: a collision between motor vehicles that produces minor damage

Extreme Home Makeover - Sisters Edition

This morning, my dear sister and I decided to move several furnitures to make our living space more functional. It took us about 5 hours to clean, move and decorate the kitchen, living and guest room. To keep the kids busy (aka get out of our way) we let them do coloring and watch PBS cartoons. I'm really happy with the end result because now the kids have proper storage area for their toys in the living room while I finally have the much needed space to put my sewing and scrapbooking supplies and pay bills in the kitchen. Initially I thought that I'll have the time and energy to get them from the guest room, but I hardly find time to organize my workspace after my daughter learns to walk. So I really appreciate my sister's organization and artistic skills to help me with this task. Hao Jie Jie, you're the best!

Yummy Jiao Zi..

All praise be to Allah SWT, my dear sister made these yummy Chinese dumplings, Jiao Zi, with me for tonight's dinner. We used round Wantan wraps to wrap minced shrimp and chicken. After boiling them in chicken stock, we ate them with sesame oil, minced garlic and fresh red chilli in black vinegar and dark soy sauce. As we ate this delicious dish with the kids, we felt that it would be great if we were to eat this together with our friend, W and her family, in Massachusetts. Allah SWT willing next time when we see them, we'll have an enjoyable time making and eating this yummy food.

Visit an old pal in Chaska, MN

This evening, my dear sister drove us to my secondary classmate, H's house in Chaska, Minnesota. We actually called H several days before we decided to drive across eastern USA, and told him that we would like to visit him. Yesterday before we left Wisconsin, he invited us to visit his house and so we went. We left the Minnesota Children's Museum in St. Paul at around 5pm and had dinner at the Whole Foods Market in Minneapolis. We then reached his place at around 7:15pm.

The weather at his place was cool and it was really nice of H and his wife to prepare BBQ chicken, salad and drinks for us. H is as usual, polite, funny and generous. My sister and I had an enjoyable time getting to know H's wife better (since we've never meet her) and getting updates about H. while she was eating and I watched over the kids having fun climbing up the hill behind the house.

DD1 and my niece even saw three thumb-size frogs hopping across the pavement to a bush next to H's house.

Niece: Where is the frog's house?"
Me: The house is in the bush...
Me: Don't touch the frogs in case you accidently squash them...
(actually I'm more afraid of the frogs hopping towards me when they panic).

All praise be to Allah SWT, I have been looking forward to visiting H and his wife for three years, and only this time it's because of my sister that this trip is made possible.

Allah SWT willing I hope that we'll get to visit H and his wife in the near future again.

Drive across USA

Who are on this trip - my dear sister, her two kids, my daughter and I

States that we drove past -
July 1: Texas-Arkansas-Tennessee
July 2: Tennessee-Tennessee
July 3: Tennessee-Virginia
July 4: Virginia-Cincinnati-Pennsylvania
July 5: Pennsylvania-New York-Massachusetts-New Hampshire
July 16: Massachusetts-New York
July 17: New York-Ohio
July 18: Ohio

July 19: Ohio-Indiana

July 20: Indiana-Illinois

July 21: Illinois-Wisconsin

July 22: Wisconsin-Minnesota

July 23: Minnesota-Missouri

July 24: Missouri-Kansas

July 25: Kansas-Texas

Most beautiful beach - Gloucester, MA

Most delicious meal - fresh cooked lobster and home cooked food (thanks to my sister's friend)

Longest stay - MA at my sister's secondary school friend's house; July 5-16

Best places for kids - Story Land at White Mountain, NH; Boston Children's Museum and Indiana Children's Museum; Milwaukee Children's Museum; Wichita Science Center "Exploration Place, Inc."

Most enjoyable picnic - Monoca Bay in Wisconsin where the kids feed bread to ducks and we enjoyed the cool afternoon breeze

Most comfortable stay - The Seasons at White Mountain condominium resort (about $110 per night)

Favorite food on the road - pretzels and raisins

Favorite drink on the road - water, apple juice and 3-in-1 Ipoh Style Coffee!

Favorite songs - Zhou Jie Lun; Jay Chou

Favorite dramas - Coffee Prince (Korean) and Fated to Love You (Taiwanese)

Who else joined us - my husband on July 23 in Minnesota, Praise be to Allah SWT

Thoughts about this trip - who would have thought that two moms would have this crazy idea of driving across USA with three energetic and cranky kids under 6 years old? And who would have thought that we survived so far?