The week-end synopsis....so far

Friday was spent doing some homework and playing "sign language" with the cleaning lady....(okay I know, stop rolling your eyes)Mark says we have to have someone twice a week, or I keep someone from having a job. So, I relent and have this very nice Chinese woman named Mrs. Song come in and clean. Well, I have to "hide" the laundry because she does it and then doesn't use the dryer and hangs everything out on the clothes hanger on the patio (it's enclosed). In frigid temperatures, can you say "frozen knickers?" So, I don't have her do the laundry. She also came with a receipt and speaking Chinese..I figured out it had to do with Mark's dress shirts that get taken to the cleaners. I had to call him, and in turn he had to put someone on the phone to speak with her in Chinese. Lots of smiling and shaking of heads after she was done on the phone. What happened? Heck if I know, but after she left about a half hour later, a nice young man came with the dress shirts..all clean and in their cellophane wrapping...mission accomplished!
Mark had to go to Shanghai for a business dinner...so I was on my own for the evening. I just had some leftover chicken and vegetables from dinner earlier in the week. I was settling in to watch American Idol..(we get it the next day) on a Phillipines channel. I then got a call from CC to see if I wanted to play poker this evening. I thought....hmmm why not? So, I hopped in a cab with my address card and went off to a local bar to meet up with the poker players. I had a great time...Mark called to ask what I was up to around 11:00pm, he was a bit surprised and I do believe happy that I ventured out and made an evening out of it. I do think he was feeling a bit bad about having work obligations in the last two evenings. So, he swung by on his way back from Shanghai and picked me up to go home back to the apartment.
Saturday started out with our walk to Casa Zoe's for breakfast. It's a cute Tex-Mex place that has unlimited refills on coffee and they do a really good breakfast. It's about a 12-15 minute walk and the weather was decent so it was a great way to start the day. We then came back and I continued to practice my Ebike skills in the garage. I just want to feel comfortable before I venture out on the streets. Well, we ended up lost in the garage! After heading up a ramp to see where we might be, we discovered we were on the other side of the other phase of the complex! That is one HUGE underground garage!!! We then drove the bike around the complex to near our building. Practice will continue...and hopefully when the weather gets a bit warmer, I will be biking around Suzhou!
My husband took me out to a fabulous Italian restaurant called La Casa Vostra. Excellent indeed. I enjoyed my pasta dish and my glass of vino. It is quite obvious my husband is very well known here and the staff welcome him warmly. I understand why he likes it here, the food is outstanding and the service impeccable. We then went to a DVD store to buy a few movies because as Chinese New Year approaches, he has informed many things will be closed and it's not just a one day holiday here. Mark is off work Feb 2-8th. A lot of travelling goes on this time of year. We are staying put. He is planning something for our 10th wedding anniversary in March. Unfortunately, he will not share any details except to say I need my passport...Hmmm.
We ended our evening at a place called The Blue Marlin that is a bar geared toward the westerners who are here. They have a band and we enjoyed a nitecap before heading home back to the apartment. It was a wonderful date nite with my fabulous husband. Today, he has already made me breakfast, then this afternoon, we are headed to Shanghai for a bit of shopping and then to meet his boss for dinner. I'll fill you in later on that. Time to get in the shower and get goin'!