Compliments?

Tonight, we were sitting outside enjoying a yummy, super spicy meal at one of the local restaurants. It's still summertime so needless to say we were all sweating a bit when eating the spice. We were joking that Chris seemed to be sweating out of every inch of his body!
As Chris went up to pay the bill, he told the restaurant owner (half jokingly), "Your food was so delicious that it made my ears sweat!"
Apparently, this is a compliment in our local culture. The restaurant owner began to beam with pride and profusely thank Chris for coming to his restaurant. I guess you never know quite how to compliment people!

Qing Qing

We are so happy to be aunt and uncle!

Cornbread Chicken

Last Saturday night after reading about the new foods and old favorites that will soon be enjoyed at the State Fair of Texas, I got a hankering (thanks to Taylor Martyn for forwarding the article) for a taste of Texas. I decided, "Man, I really miss a Fletcher's Original Corn Dog. "

I wondered how I could come as close to that as possible over here. We can't get hot dogs over here. Thus, the idea of "Cornbread Chicken" entered into my mind. I thought, "If you can use cornbread batter to fry deep fry a hot dog, why not do the same thing with chicken?" So, I got to searching on www.allrecipes.com for a corn dog recipe, and eventually found what I thought to be a good one. On Sunday evening, I mixed up the batter, cut up some chicken (works best if the chicken is already cooked) and got to frying. It tasted really good, and was maybe as close to the State Fair as I can get for now.

Who knows what I'll try next. Maybe fried Oreos.

Sarah's Dad

We received some really tough news today about Sarah's father, Gary. Gary has mantle cell non-hodgkin lymphoma. This is a rare and tough lymphoma that is aggressive. They are going to hit it with the most complex and strong chemo that they can do. And that starts on Tuesday, September 8. Gary will be hospitalized for 4 days at Vanderbilt 11 North for the chemo. He will be able to have visitors as long as he is feeling good and you are healthy. Then he will have to go to the outpatient clinic for other things on and off and then 21 days from the start or September 28, he will start cycle 2 in the hospital. This will be repeated for 4 cycles (at 21 day intervals) and then he will have another PET scan. If he can achieve remission then he will have his own stem cells harvested, and then 2 more cycles of chemo and then a stem cell transplant. This is going to be a tough journey with some very unpleasant side effects. It will take about 7 months.

We cherish your prayers and those of your friends as we fight this battle. We are praying that Gary is cured, that the chemo does the job that it is supposed to do, that Gary's heart will be able to physically handle the chemo, for rest in the midst of this trial, and for an incredible spiritual undergirding.


If you are interested in following this process, a website has been set up that you can follow. Go to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/garyscudder and be sure to check "I want to receive Journal update notification e-mails" so that when we update it you can receive the updates.

Texas Stop Sign

It may not be considered the classiest date spot in the US, but it's a high class place to take your loved one when Dairy Queen arrives in your city overseas. Sarah and I had Korean BBQ for dinner, and then finished off the evening with blizzards from Dairy Queen. I love development.