I am finally starting to feel like myself again as I slowly recover from last week’s bout of China Blues, and as such, I have made a series of decisions that have been both good and bad.  I will start with a bad one.

Country Strong.  Okay, I have a game that I call Punch.  Essentially, you get a pass to punch five people in the world that annoy, irritate, grate on you… you get the point.  Now, you actually don’t get to physically touch this person.  That would be assault.  However, the idea is that you could approach this person, punch them, and simply say, “You know why” and just walk away.  Awesome.  Well Gywneth Paltrow tops my list. There is a plethora of reasons for this but my point in this is that she is in Country Strong… but so is Tim McGraw.  But even Tim couldn’t save this clunker.  Bad Decision. By the way, she now owes me 8 RMB and about an hour and a half of time that I will never get back.  Thanks Gwenyth.

Chinese Twice a Week.  I found myself wanting to speak Chinese so I upped my classes to two times a week.  This week, I’ve actually been speaking with the locals with the little phrases that I know.  It was very exciting and the Chinese were very helpful and understanding of my sad little efforts.  Big smiles all around.  Good Decision.

Painting. I’ve decided to paint my apartment to help me feel more at home.  Last week was pretty brutal so I bought some paint and looked into hiring workers.  Everyone, and I mean, everyone told me how cheap the labor here is.  Well, not so much.  The costs of this mild redecoration just doubled.  Bad Decision (but will probably be worth it once it is all done; it just feels bad now).

Hair Cut. At first, it was pretty shocking.  I mean, my hair went down to the middle of my back and now it’s at the top of my neck.  However, it has rejuvenated me.  It has made me rethink lots of things and I love it.  Good Decision.

Cornhole Costumes.  I have to say, I am not the kind of person who dresses up for Halloween.  I want to be. I want to be that person at the party with the really clever costume that no one else has… but alas, I am not.  So when my cornhole partner suggested we get costumes, at first I was like, really?  But then I thought, yeah!  Our team name is Les Révolutionnaires (he’s French, I’m American, great name, right?) and now we have matching t-shirts.  Good Decisions.  Vive Les Révolutionnaires!

Letting the Breeze In.  It was a pretty beautiful day outside today complete with blue skies and white, puffy clouds.  I opened my balcony door to let the breeze in.  Perfect, right?  Well, it turns out that some mosquitoes also wanted to come in for a visit.  Bites on my legs.  Bad Decision. Next time, close the screen.

Instagram. This is a great app on my iPhone. It’s like a little online community to share photos. For me, it’s very inspirational.  I love to see other people’s work and it has invigorated my creative process. I even have two followers! Good Decision.  Check it out when you get the chance.  I am under virtualclaire.

Egg Salad Sandwich. Making one for lunch tomorrow.  Great Decision. Plus, it’s Friday!