Gung Hay Fat Choy

"Gung Hay Fat Choy means: Best wishes and Congratulations. Have a prosperous and good year.

Chinese New Year marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. (Can a hear an AMEN!!!) It is a time for family reunions, for honoring ancestors and for thanking the Gods for their blessings. (of which we have many)

Families make great preparations for this special celebration. Before the New Year, families settle debts and buy new clothes. (Well, the taxes are done, does this count???) The house is cleaned and food is prepared. (Got the food covered the house could pass muster I guess....) Homes are filled with flowers and fruit. (Got a couple of bananas...but flowers....hummm.... could I be so lucky as to get flowers today? Anybody? Anybody? ~silence~ that would be a no.)"

Any way you want to look at it I guess. I see it as another chance to have a new start.... or in our case: just another reason to have a special meal. Yes, surprise, surprise, one of the ways I show just how very much I love you is by feeding you.

And I'm gonna love me some family tonight! Broccoli Beef, Fried Rice, Kung Pow Chicken, Egg Rolls... all eaten with chop sticks and even fortune cookies...... all that will be missing is my red silk kimono. Go ahead, close your eyes and picture it. The mental image is good for a laugh, I promise. You know if I had one, I would be dressed to the nines!!!

O Happy Day

The project we (well, honestly, mostly HE) had been working on is finally done.

The Roomie has moved into his new room and we have moved back into our bedroom, and the kids each have their own rooms back. And I cannot tell you how blissful the first night was. We spent the whole night in our room, in bed, watching TV and just smiling at each other. Frankly I am still smiling ear to ear just reveling in FINALLY having our own space back.

It is hard to believe, really. 8 weeks ago, we had a shop, and now we have a room with a bathroom. It looks awesome. Quite an accomplishment for him. I am really proud of him and his perseverance. It’s been a long and hard (and unlike some people, apparently this isn’t something he uses to describe fun) project. But sadly luckily all things must eventually come to an end. No more long nights with him in the garage. No more trips to Jerry's several times a night week. No more sheet rock covered Chris emerging from the garage for a break. No more strings of epithets coming from the garage. Seriously, some nights I’ll be in the bedroom putting away laundry or reading and I could hear him out there through the heating vent. (You know that scene in Christmas Story where the Dad is in the basement? And he is just banging away on the broken radiator and cussing up a storm? Yeah…. That is exactly what I heard!) Then there were other times I would hear him: Ha-Ha! BooYa! Mutherfecker! It’s been an interesting ride, that’s for sure. But he did it. Each and every obstacle, he overcame. And when push came to shove he got the job done.

I don’t know what kind of “favors” I owe, but I assure you they are BIG…HUGE (I thought my knees hurt after installing the floor…) now surely they will hurt from bowing and kissing his.... feet. I tell ya! For all the times I walked into the room as he was working and said, “I was thinking….” And he’d give me that “Oh feck, here we go” look as I added to changed some part of the project. I’m sure that all of the gray hairs that he is sporting are my fault!

I guess he really does love me. Imagine that? Either that or he was really tired of climbing over me to get out of bed in the morning in that cramped little room.

So it was quite the scene on Saturday when the kids came home. I sent them in to their beds (which had both been in DQ's room until just that morning), to get their surprises from our trip, and the BIGGEST surprise of all greeted them: First it was DQ, "MY ROOM! ALL MINE!" DP Joe pushed past her and upon seeing that his bed was no longer in her room immediately turned and ran to his room, the door flew open and I tell you that look as he turned back to me, "MY ROOM IS BACK!" was priceless. Worth every minute of aggravation, every penny spend on screws, nails, sheet rock, molding, flooring and fixtures. Even if sometimes we had to buy them twice.

Merry Christmas

From Sunshine and Blue Skies.....

.....in Arizona!

Blow, Baby, Blow

My ears only hurt a little

but we could recognize most of the short songs and it was cute none the less!

Look at those cheeks! She is working hard.

A Gift for You

You know how I just LOVE to give home-made gifts for Christmas.....

Just let me know which one you'd like!

Missing!

Finally lost his top loose tooth! The bottom set are still growing in two rows like a shark! The dentist assures us this is fine and will correct itself.

What is too funny is that being the slacker parent that I am, I forgot my tooth fairy duties and a disappointed DPJ woke up to find no Pirate Booty awaiting him. Just his little tooth still where he left it. Try as I might to explain that the tooth fairy was just confused, he wasn't buying it. I told him if he left his tooth that I was sure the Tooth Fairy would find it while he was gone.

So the kids headed out to school with Chris and I immediately went in search of said tooth, figuring I would complete the swap while it was on my mind, but all I could find was a pile of change (a quarter, a few dimes, a nickel and about 10 pennies) where the tooth should have been.
I call the car phone. "Joe, where's your tooth?"
He replies, "Under my bed."
"Joe, I looked, and all I see is money..... did you take the tooth and leave money?"
"No..... Maybe the tooth fairy came!"

I eliminated all of the possible suspects (Chris and DQ). I know my memory is bad, but not that bad!! And it was too early for my meds, so I'm in my right frame of mind. Yep, it was him. That little shit pirate either didn't trust the tooth fairy at MY HOUSE or wanted to take that blasted tooth to school to share with his buddies. So he swapped his tooth with some change, so I would THINK the tooth fairy came. Hilarious how he tried to fake me out!

The Holidays are Upon Us

Yeah, even though Wally World hauled out the ornaments and fake trees and started playing Christmas music before Halloween was even over, it is never quite official for me until the TG bird's been cooked.

This year, though, Id like to do it different. It seems every year I get caught up in this wave of cooking, shopping and doing so much for everyone else, that I just lose myself. The commercialism of the season seems to take on a life of its own. I feel like I rarely have time to just enjoy the moments that matter when I am bombarded with the pressures to spend money, be perfect, make everyone happy, etc. I don't know how to not get sucked in, so I think I just need to turn it off.

So, we decided to mostly skip present exchanges with everyone. I won't completely forgo this with the kidlets, but it will be VERY scaled down and meaningful. And, about this, I am THRILLED! With just this small elimination I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can enjoy the season a bit more, without running around trying to find an appropriate, let alone perfect, gift for everyone on my list.

We've also decided to travel this year instead of gifts for each other. We are heading to the sunny part of the country. So, yes, I'm trading in my umbrella for a pair of shades for two weeks. But more than anything: a change of routine should be absolutely blissful.

Fa la la la la, la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaa!

So, in honor of my more relaxed and calm demeanor I promise:

Not to cuss at the car in front of me that can't seem to drive more than 50 miles an hour on the FREEWAY in the left lane. Yeah, get going, or get out of my way!

Not to mutter an "Are you kidding me?" when the coffee person will not quit chatting with her fellow worker long enough to take my order. Hell hath no fury like me before my coffee.

Not to roll my eyes when the low paid Wally World worker only puts 3 items in one bag before she starts to fill the next one. Do you really think I want 50 of these plastic bags? Would help if I remembered to bring my reusable one in from the car, HOWEVER, last time I did SHE BAGGED them in a plastic bag. Yeah, she really did!

Not to give the look of death to the parent on the other sports team that can't help but CHEER when our kids get a penalty or make a mistake. A mistake on anyone's part does not constitute applause AS IF SOMEONE DID SOMETHING WORTH PRAISE. Even if your team benefits from the mistake! Rather: Cheer ALL the good plays (no matter who did them!). They are kids! Didn't you hear the good sportsmanship lecture at the beginning of the game? I can't believe we even have to state that out loud.

I promise not to sigh or tap my fingers on my desk when a customer say "I can't get in..." to which I ask "What are you trying to access?" and their response is: "I don't know." Well, if you don't know what you want, how can I help you? Like going to a doctor and saying, "It hurts." and he asks, "Where?" and you reply, "I don't know."

I will try to just let go and smile. Yes, smile. (Anyone want to try one of my happy pills???)

I promise to be more patient, more understanding and more forgiving. While it seems the world around me rushes, I will try to slow down, and relax. I will try to remember that there really is something so beautiful about the quiet of this time of year as things die and shed to eventually make way for the new again. And I will be grateful, because if this is the worst there is, then I am truly blessed.