Thank You Obama!

Turns out that there were some signals crossed and I'm working with our customers Tuesday through Thursday rather than Monday through Wednesday.  So today when I woke up, it was back to work but on the laptop rather than with the actual customer.

And then Zach was an amazingly kind husband and offered to teach Julie's classes for her today so she could get caught up on things at home so by the time I came down this morning.... This is what greeted me....

Banana bread and homemade salsa

Breakfast cookies

Its Julie's YUM-azing Kitchen - OPEN!  So here's a secret, although not well hidden, about my friend Julie - and her husband Zach for that matter - both of them COOK!  And both of them COOK STUPENDOUSLY!  Every single thing that I've ever eaten that they make is incredible!  I'm always asking her for recipes and tonight I just went through her recipe app and sent a bunch of them to myself.  

For dinner she ended up making this awesome rosemary bread and broccoli cheese soup.  And Zach grilled chicken.  Everything tasted like the most incredible stuff ever but when I asked about how they made it - it was like salt, pepper and olive oil.  I don't know - maybe its the love that I'm tasting?.... I need to get some of that if thats the case! :)  BTW - those breakfast cookie things are the most stupendous "cookies" ever but they're totally healthy so when I get home - big old batch!  Can't wait to try them!

And speaking of food..

Here are some more examples of haute Chinese cuisine...

Waffles!!!  With salad, hot dogs and mustard?  I don't suppose it isn't any stranger than chicken and waffles?  Right?

And this is quite unique ... Its black chicken!  Julie says that pregnant women are supposed to eat this black chicken.  I'm not sure why and she's not sure how they make it black.... but black it is....

And the whole reason my work schedule was kind of messed up today is because the clean air thing I mentioned with APEC and Obama coming.  Its the license plates that end in odd numbers today and tomorrow its even and then Wednesday its odd... etc.... Until the whole thing is over sometime after November 12th!  So - today there was literally NO traffic out.  It was like ghost towny feeling.  And I heard that they're limiting the traffic inside the roads that are at the heart of the city so it will still be pretty barren.

Its like you can see the tumbleweeds...

Sunny skies, smog free air and clear roads.... Chinese paradise!

Tomorrow morning they pick me up from Julie and Zach's at 9 a.m.  And from there I believe we're going to a few hospitals.  I'm especially relieved as, usually when they send the car for me, they put someone else in the car to "entertain" me,  however, its like they're using this time to brush up on their English so its mentally exhausting to sit there and try to make conversation and understand each other.  SO - those tediously LLLLOOOOOONNNNNGGGG car rides will be replaced with way more abbreviated ones the next few days thanks to much less traffic and clearer roads.  I'm so relieved.  I can get in and get out and be done.  

So - for the clean air and the sunny skies and the non-existent traffic and the laid back work days..... I can only say one thing....  THANKS OBAMA! :)