Happy Mardi Gras/Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year!

Mid-February had me running exhausted for a week: Mardi Gras, February 13; Valentine's Day, February 14; Chinese New Year's Eve and Day, February 15 & 16. It was an intense week. We celebrated all of them. And watched Olympics every night. Favorite sports were biathlon (Shad and I), snowboarding, bobsled, luge (Dancy), speed skating (Samson: "Go, go, go! You got it!"). It actually took some persuasion to get the kids to watch figure skating with me, but Thora started copying some moves. We learned that biathlon actually makes sense: it's a Norwegian military training activity that used to be a way to revere the gods! And it's called skiskyting (ski shooting), which means so much more than biathlon. We also learned what the stripes on the South Korean flag mean, and that the flag is called "Supreme Ultimate Flag."

Anyway, holidays.

Shad and I fell in love with New Orleans four years ago when we spent a day in the city before cruising out to Mexico. We've shared that fondness with our kids, and when I read the Marie-Grace & Cecile story arc of the American Girl collection, that sealed the deal. We had to start a tradition of celebrating the holiday. In my mind, that meant we'd have Gumbo and Beignets, but that morning we woke up and the kids reminded me that in the books they celebrated by attending costume balls. So we dressed up and had a dance party after dinner. Aaaaaand I was still mentally exhausted from Thora's potty training that I didn't look at my beignet recipe before evening when I was going to cook them for dessert...and saw that the dough takes 3 hours. Rain check, kids. I don't feel confident enough in the gumbo recipe I used (it didn't have rice!) to share it, so I won't.

My plan: Gumbo and Beignets

What happened: Gumbo and a costume-dance party

{Tommy, Dancy, Katie, Thora, me, Samson}

{Tommy, Dancy, Katie, Thora, me, Samson}

These two are precious. Katie and Tommy ballroom dancing.

No pictures from Valentine's Day. Normally we make homemade Valentines starting in January, and I tried that and decided it just wasn't worth the headache when no one wanted to do it or clean up afterwards. Sorry to anyone who had been looking forward to that mail this year. We also started a tradition last year to have heart-shaped cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I don't remember what we did instead, but we had a substitute option and we going to have the cinnamon rolls later in the day. That didn't happen. The cans are still in my fridge. But I did succeed in cooking Borscht & pierogis (frozen from Costco) for dinner. Borscht because I've been wanting to try it forever...and because it's red for Valentine's Day. It was delicious! Such wonderful flavor, but Shad couldn't get over the color. Recipe found here.

My plan: Homemade Valentines, heart-shaped cinnamon rolls, Borscht, pierogis

What happened: Borscht and pierogis

Next day, I woke up and began planning my Chinese New Year snacks. I love CNY! I taught English in China for 6 months and was there for all of Spring Festival, the month long celebration with CNY in the middle. My celebrating isn't exactly traditional because I didn't have anyone teaching me how they celebrate. I just kinda figured things out a little as it progressed. But to me, CNY is the day of the year that I get to bring China back into my life for a day and relive it. If only for a day. And it's such a wonderful day!

The Chinese market I found was close to the Olympic Training Center. I had just been down that way the previous morning for a hearing test for Tommy (everything normal, just another piece of bureaucracy I had to go through to get him approved for speech therapy to work on his R's. That was the third appointment, I think, and not the last.). Anyway, I decided that since I was by the training center again for the Chinese market, that this time we would take a field trip.

Snowcapped Pike's Peak

We were joined on our tour by another homeschool family and enjoyed their company. After the tour, the kids discovered that a four-man bobsled can fit seven kids. At least, I think it was a four-man. I honestly don't remember. But it was used by Team USA in one of the Olympics.

{Katie, Thora, Dancy, Samson, those two aren't mine, Tommy}

"Take picture of me, Mom!"

Nothing creepier than seeing your kids' eyes whited out...

{Tommy, Dancy, Katie, Thora, Samson}

Dancy and Sam

They really wanted a picture on this side of the globe, not on the front with the USA and Olympic rings. Check out them poses!

{Tommy, Katie, Dancy, Thora, Samson}

My sisters probably share the same memories I have of this sculpture. I love letting my kids pose for pictures!

{Thora, Tommy, Katie, Dancy}

Tommy wanted a picture with this plaque.

Almost, Katie, almost!

Just chillin'.

{Thora, Dancy, Samson}

Then we hit the Chinese market and came home with our haul. Not that these are traditional snacks, but they're part of my tradition because these were what I enjoyed eating in China...mostly when we were freezing cold in our apartment wearing 10 layers of clothes and cuddled under comforters in front of a space heater during the crazy winter with highs of 30 degrees with no indoor heat because the climate of that region is similar to Cuba. Good times! Marshmallows with jelly filling to be roasted later. Ah, sweet memories of teaching the Chinese to add that to their barbeque parties! Oh, and that's squid jerky in the middle. Good for the long days of rough traveling.

"Please, Mom, I want some more jello shot!"

Dinner: homemade egg rolls, yakisoba (yes, that's Japanese, but I wanted to eat it anyway), dumplings (frozen from Costco).  (Recipes found here.)

And hot and sour soup. With my Asian spoons that I *finally* got for Christmas. I've only been wanting them for 10 years. And Shad says we should've gotten them forever ago. *eye roll*

Kids are always determined to use chopsticks any time I do. Samson made it work with his dumpling.

This girl is awesome. She wore her red shirt (that I bought at Walmart that time she was throwing up during the tire change) and put gold stars on it to create the Chinese flag. I love her!

We got to share our holiday with Shad's Dungeons & Dragons group that meets at our house every Thursday. CNY is best spent with friends and family, especially when I'm determined to have allllll my Chinese food I want to eat. We ate good food, snacks, and had fun taking *virgin* jello shots.

I took one of the cases of jello shots to my church volleyball group that I meet up with on Thursday nights. I thought it'd be fun to say that the losing team gets to take a shot (we usually have 5 or 6 games), but only a couple people tried one with me. So I ended up being the only one taking shots.

And then CNY day we had a pizza-game night with the Schroeders and saw fluffy low clouds over the city. No dragon and lion parades, but this'll do.

The Schroeders enjoyed the jello shots with us while we played Lords of Waterdeep.

New Year, New Resolutions

Today is Chinese New Year, and begins the Year of the Monkey. But I'm in a crunch to get as much editing work done for my last class as I possibly can before I'm interrupted by giving birth, which believe me, can't come soon enough. Today has been a hellacious maelstrom of emotions. I feel broken, defeated and just plain done. Anyway, quick review, then on to 23 pages of heavy editing and rewriting someone's non-native English.

2015 Resolutions

One: Complete online classes to earn a copy editing certificate. Due to having trouble enrolling in a class, that might not get complete until next March. But my grammar lab class starts on Monday! 

Two: finish typing Shad's journals. That's actually a hefty one. I started typing Shad's illegible journals when we got engaged nearly 6 years ago. He writes almost a book a year. So far I've got 170 pages typed in Word. I used to do it maybe once a month, but now I'm typing one month a day, which averages an hour of typing. I'm hoping to complete one journal a month, except for April and July when we'll be travelling, and finish the project by November for a birthday present to him.

Report: My last class (currently ongoing) ends in March. Then I'll have my certificate and be done! The journals...yeah. I still have 3 or 4 to type, but I did finish 3.5 of them, which is still a huge accomplishment.

2016 Resolutions

One: Type 2 of Shad's journals. Overachieving and doing more is welcome.

Two: Reestablish daily journal writing for myself. I quit writing in my journal last year because this pregnancy has turned me into a miserable, cranky complainer, and I didn't want that in my journal. So not only daily journaling, but also writing of gratitude and happy thoughts. That's not to say I'll censor my real feelings, but that I'll make sure it's paired with positivity.

Reminiscing about Squatters

I'm supposed to be taking advantage of the time I have here while two girls are napping and the other two humans are watching Big Hero 6 and now Discovery Planets ("Uh, Mom, I think Katie and I need to learn about planets..."). I'm supposed to be reading the Chicago Manual of Style, The Copyeditor's Handbook and The Oxford Essential Guide to Writing so that I'm caught up on my reading assignments to start off next week right.

But alas, my mind is distracted thinking about squatters.

Yes, that's right. The Chinese commode. Why on earth am I thinking about all my Chinese memories connected to them? Beats me. But here we go.

First encounter was in a public building somewhere in Hong Kong. I love the way my friend Amanda captioned it:

"Sit."



"Or Squat. Why should this even be a choice?"




And I miss them. Yes, I miss them. Almost every time I go. I'd install one in my own home, if it weren't for the $1000 price tag I've found for it.

Hong Kong was a nice mix of East and West when it came to things like relieving yourself. And sometimes I'd see funny things like shoeprints on the toilet seat, and know that some poor Chinese soul got stuck with a sit stall and, not knowing what to do with it, climbed up on it to squat.

It's this exact scenario that has me stuck in reminiscences. There was one time at the end of the semester I spent over there, that we gave an end-of-the-year performance with our students to show off the English they had learned. It was in a building (who's function I forget but perhaps a hotel?) that catered to Westerners. The full realization of this hit me as I escorted my troop of eight four-year-olds into the bathroom only to find Western toilets and no squatters. I read the questions in their faces that they couldn't communicate through their limited English. (Because in a preschool class that largely focuses on crafts, snacks, games, etc., our bathroom vocabulary focused simply on asking permission to go, rather than the full functions of it all.) I gave the boys a quick tutorial, then turned to my girls. I really felt there was no better way to handle the situation than to tell them I'd hold them while they squatted. It was a bit pathetic, and I knew I was only perpetuating the cringe-worthy epidemic we found all throughout the country of muddy shoeprints on toilet seats, but I really didn't want to deal with teaching 3 four-year-old girls the proper usage.

Here was my first apartment bathroom:

Public school bathroom without stall doors:

There's another school bathroom picture somewhere, but I can't find it. That bathroom just had an angled trough for a squatter, with stall dividers, and again, no doors. There was one time teaching that I really had to go and that was the closest one. Holy cow, I was so terrified students would come in!

This is Lisa:

She's a darling. All of the kids had this cute way of asking, "Please, can I have the baffaloom?" But somehow Lisa learned correct grammar and always asked, "Please, may I go to the baffaloom?" She had a slightly high-pitched voice and I could never say no to her. I did once because there were only 5 minutes left in class, but her eyes welled up with tears and I let her go anyway. Never said no again.

And here's Lucas, who isn't talking about the bathroom until the end 3 seconds of the video:

https://www.facebook.com/laoshimegan08/videos/535859542954/?l=6554875502490854555

Chinese New Year Feast...and Resolutions

Here's the recipes I used for Chinese New Year this year:



Vegetarian Steamed Dumplings




Homemade Egg Rolls



Chinese Hot and Sour Soup



Thai Cashew Chicken



Easy, 15 minute Lo Mein

Mmm, goodness. I might have to make that Lo Mein again next week. Just looking at it makes me want to eat it again!


For 2014, my resolution was to follow two scripture passages and improve upon the areas lacking in my life:

1. Proverbs 31: 10-31

¶Who can find a ^avirtuous ^bwoman? for her price is far above rubies.

 11 The heart of her husband doth safely ^atrust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

 12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

 13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her ^ahands.

 14 She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

 15 She ^ariseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

 16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

 17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

 18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

 19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the ^adistaff.

 20 She stretcheth out her hand to the ^apoor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

 21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

 22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her ^aclothing is silk and purple.

 23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

 24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

 25 Strength and honour are her ^aclothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

 26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of ^akindness.

 27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of ^aidleness.

 28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

 29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

 30 Favour is deceitful, and ^abeauty is vain: but a woman that ^bfeareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

 31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

2. Doctrine and Covenants 88:118-119

118 And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.

 119 Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

Pretty sure I forgot about them.

While I didn't make a conscious effort to achieve and fulfill those goals, there was a lot that I did that fits them anyway. I started waking up before the kids so that I could get a head start on the day with prayer, scriptures and exercise. I finished a quilt that I started when Dancy was a couple weeks old. I do consider a field for the purpose of planting a pick-your-own orchard, but we're not buying it yet. Rather, we did buy a peach tree, plum tree, and two grape vines and planted those in October. I've been exercising more, but I need to give my arms some attention. Lately my focus has been my abs to rehabilitate my back; being pregnant this time really killed my lower back. My children don't arise and call me blessed, but I'll take it if I can just get them trained to start the day with "Good morning," and hugs and kisses, rather than, "What's for breakfast? I'm hungry." I bought several books last year, and have a few more on my wishlist, for self-sufficiency, seed saving, foraging, etc. I started working harder on homeschool efforts. Organizing and creating a house of order always needs work for me. I started having morning devotionals with the kids to help us start out with some peace instead of chaos; we don't manage it every morning, but it has helped a lot!

This year, I was bothered for a long time because I really didn't know what I wanted my resolution to be. I don't care how late in the year I start; a resolution to me is still a long term goal for improvement. A focus point. Where am I going? I finally settled on two things, and it's already looking like one might not happen. 

2015 Resolutions

One: Complete online classes to earn a copy editing certificate. Due to having trouble enrolling in a class, that might not get complete until next March. But my grammar lab class starts on Monday! 

Two: finish typing Shad's journals. That's actually a hefty one. I started typing Shad's illegible journals when we got engaged nearly 6 years ago. He writes almost a book a year. So far I've got 170 pages typed in Word. I used to do it maybe once a month, but now I'm typing one month a day, which averages an hour of typing. I'm hoping to complete one journal a month, except for April and July when we'll be travelling, and finish the project by November for a birthday present to him.