back into their routines at school
and are able to play outside after school. We've gone to the park a couple of times this week, enjoying the above freezing temperatures. Katie rethought her renouncing of the family and decided to stay a Whitfield. She still wanted the Valentine present back, but since it was chocolate I informed her she was out of luck.
heartfelt "I'm sorry and I should have listened". After almost 42 years, I'm taking the blinders off and finally admitting I do not in fact know everything. My nine year old informed me of that newsflash last night during our latest battle. It wasn't so much of a battle as it was a skirmish, but lately, a common occurance. And, since she does know everything and will argue until your ears bleed, things around the house are...how shall I say...testy. Yes, she's testing me and quite frankly, I do believe I am failing.
sometimes, bargaining with her sisters. Sydney is too much like her and seldom falls victim to Katie's schemes, but Sarah is too nice and a bit gullible. Katie convinced her to jam the wrong key into her bike's lock since 'in the world according to Katie' all keys fit all locks. It fit. It fit so well, half of the key broke off in the lock. If she and I hadn't already butted heads I probably would have laughed it off as I'm internally doing so now. Instead, I told her and Sarah they would have to pay for a new lock with their own money and to go to their rooms until dinner. Sarah ran upstairs and started counting her money. She hates conflict. Katie said she wanted me to return the Valentine present she had bought for me and she wished she was never part of this family. Ouch, she knows when to go for the heart. Yet, at bedtime, when the dust had settled and tempers had died down, I was suddenly the most popular person on her list. 
the Tooth Fairy and was sure Sydney got some money. If she'd woken up at 11:58pm, she would have had something even bigger to tell everyone. Phew! Katie woke up again around 2am because of aliens attacking in her dreams.
Year break, the high was bound to wear off.
nd all of the buying. Americans shopping on the day after Thanksgiving look like novices out for a Sunday stroll in a museum compared to what we witnessed. The girls were still at school so Larry and I decided to grab some essentials before Mr. Liu left to go to his hometown. Good thing as I would have feared for their safety. It's one of the few times it's felt like a country of 1.3 billion people. All 110 check out lanes were open and had at least 20 people in line. We grabbed a basket each thinking it might be easier to manage than a cart. What we realized in hindsight was that folks were using their carts as buffers or bulldozers, which ever need fit. My ankles are still recovering from the many "bumps". Carts were piled high with bai jio (very strong wine), candy and gifts. Everyone was in good spirits and in a hurry. We came to a quick conclusion those essentials we thought we needed weren't that essential after all. We grabbed some milk and got the heck out of Dodge.
The fireworks had already started throughout the city and when we left their apartment to find a taxi, the sky was lit up with color. We watched from all the windows in our house as our neighbors exploded box after box after box of TnT. Firecrackers packs twenty feet in length popped all around. Sparklers and rainbow whirleys and so many others with names I cannot either remember or pronounce entertained us and then annoyed us. It was after 2am before I finally succombed to sleep, lulled by far away thunderous booms. 
7:30am. They built snowmen, had snowball fights with the guards, took a walk by the canal and enjoyed the wintery white stuff, while I enjoyed their enjoyment from the comfort of our family room. I'm pretty sure I stopped liking snow when I moved to South Carolina and was seduced by the balmy winter months. We thought about travelling to a tropical location, like Thailand or Vietnam. We decided we'd hold off as Larry's been travelling so much. We all just wanted to be "home" together. 
places. We found a DVD store and stocked up on the latest theatrical releases. That's one of few times the girls actually don't hear "no" from me when they ask for something. I mean, really, how can I refuse them a 5RMB movie. We walked out of the store with 20 DVDs, most new releases, for less than it would have cost for two DVDs in the States. One of our favorite restaurants opened a store in Times Square. It's the Japanese-owned Italian restaurant that has free refills. Free refills hasn't caught on just yet, but we're hoping if the girls ask enough times at the different places we go, it might just happen.Three days after New Year's Day, the 
fireworks barrage hit a new level. Larry said it felt like we were living in a war zone. The debris from the explosions rained down everywhere. I was standing on our back steps watching the dazzling displays when I was sprayed with powdery residue. Our next door neighbor had a minor mishap when his box of rockets tipped over and shot down the street. A couple rockets lit up the underbelly of anothern neighbor's BMW. I watched in horror, just waiting for the luxury sedan to burst into flames. Thankfully, the flames sputtered out and our neighbors ran inside. These rockets aren't like the little 
bottle rockets, these things revurberate and shake the foundation of the homes. Mr. Liu left a half dozen for us, so when I was pretty sure some of our neighbors were asleep, we lit those suckers. Well, the effect wasn't what I hoped, in fact, just the opposite. Come to find out, fireworks competing is part of the fun. Just wait until next year. I am starting to understand the importance and excitement surrouding the holiday. It also explains why for many it's the only holiday celebrated. It takes an entire year to recover.
fewer times I had to go near the beasts the better. The twins had a playdate with one of their classmates on Saturday, so after dropping them off, Katie and I headed to "pet street". Mr. Liu made a couple of phone calls and was told of several stores. We went into three; the first was making them right there in front of his little shop. The tanks were nice, but he didn't have any of the necessaties...ie a cover, filter and BIG net. We found what we were looking for and after a bit of confusion (par for the course) we left with an outfitted tank AND eight more meaty goldfish. I guess my overzealous response was taken as an "Oh, yes, by all means...give me more spawns of satan" instead of what I actually said "Oh, Hell No!" Did I mention EIGHT???!?!? That brought our grand total to a whopping dozen. I was not pleased, but Katie got a huge kick out of seeing her mom freak out again.
were tougher. We did get a net, but it's not nearly the size I wanted. It came in the box, so I didn't get to inspect it before we left the store. Probably because I was in shock holding the bag o' fish. They obviously remembered the last time I came near them and they went ballistic. I remained as calm as I could so as to not give any more fodder for the girls and Larry. Slowly, all four made it into their new covered home. I know I'm cruel, but I secretly hoped for some floaters the next day. Nope, all were swimming and, I do believe, smiling at me.
it. Evidently, early last week (judging from the remains), the poor thing anticipated a torturous future and committed suicide. May was sweeping under the big chair today, which was directly in front of their little bowl. She let out a little "Oh" and pushed the stiff, little guy into the pile of dust bunnies. I screamed like the baby I am and jumped up onto the sofa. I stayed there with my toes and fingers curled up in balls and my eyes squeezed shut until she'd taken the corpse away. I don't think 8000 miles would have been far enough away to shut out the screams if I'd been the one to have found Nemo.
supervision. Come to find out, it's exactly as its name professes - a wee world. There are restaurants, hospital, hotel, department stores, airport with plane, gas station, and dozens more. A miniature city with money, passports and business cards for the children. It is set up for groups of ten children. These groups are given a profession to learn about and then they are given a wage for their work. They spend about 45 minutes and it's my understanding you can prepurchase up to half a dozen professions for your child to "try out"...hahahaha. I thought that was so funny. 
"Honey, what do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor? Well, here, let's go to that room and see if it's right for you." I was being kind of my sarcastic self, but managed to do it quietly, while some of the other "mums" were jealous their child didn't get to fly a plane or deliver a baby. Since there were close to 150 kids, the professions were chosen for them and they were placed in groups prior to leaving the school. I met the cherubs there and we were ushered into the first job. They entered a laboratory and had to put on lab coats. Their experiment consisted of mixing vinegar and baking soda to make a balloon blow up. All were successful. They really looked like little 
scientists. I could handle a future scientist and Sarah and Sydney really enjoyed "mixing potions". All hope, however, vanished when we were taken to the next place of employment. 
answered the call. The other children were shy when they first started so Sydney and Sarah took it upon themselves to train the 
beginners. To say the other mothers, teachers and kids were speechless would have been putting it mildly. Shocked silence eventually changed over to uneasy admiration and whistling, cheering laugher. By the end of the "show" the entire catwalk was surrounded with fans and all of the models were striking a pose of which even Tyra would have been proud.
great time fishing, boating and exploring. My brother and I loved to explore the lake and would snorkle for hours. During one of these journeys, we came upon a school of large trout led by a fresh water eel. I was instructed by Mark to follow the school while he went back to get the boat and fishing poles. He hadn't made it back to the shore when I realized the school was moving further out towards the center of the lake. In a vain effort to manuever them, I started splashing the water. All I really did was tick them off. The leader decided to let me know they weren't falling for it. This thing came up to me in the time it took to stop splashing and look back down in the water. I was sure I was a goner and the thing had eaten my leg. I almost drowned my brother when he finally reached me. I'm pretty sure if you met someone who was there that day they'd remember the blood curdling screams that echoed over the lake for several minutes. It took a good thirty years for me to admit that the eel probably just brushed up against me and didn't bare it's deadly teeth. I even faced some of my fears last summer when we went boating on Keowee and the girls wanted me to swim in the lake with them. But, I realized I am not cured...Enter...the...goldfish.
could have taken it home for dinner. Since we've only had them for a little over a week, she washed the bowl the first time. However, Katie decided to feed them on Monday and instead of putting the alloted ten pellots, she had an all-you-can-eat buffet. I took a deep breath and willed myself to clean the bowl. So, Mr. Liu gave us the fish and bowl, but we don't have a net. I improvised and used my cooking strainer. Not one of my smarter moves.
scoop up the suckers. With my toes curled under my feet I managed to get that thing off the floor and in the bowl. The one thrashing in the sink was a bit trickier. It was laying across the handle part, which meant I had to move it. It flopped down into the basket and it, along with a few remnants of the past night's dinner, made it to the bowl. By this time, I was such a wreck I merely walked away, sat down on the couch and tried to start breathing again. The girls were trying to recover from their mother's apparant lapse into crazy world when they all gasped at the same time. "Oh, no!" I thought, "it's not over". Katie informed me there was something moving on the counter near the bag of bread. Then, she screamed out there were only three fish in the bowl. I initially didn't think anything was wrong with that particular piece of information until I remembered there had been four darlings when this fiasco began. We scoured the counter looking for the blasted creature until the bag of bread moved of its own volition. The stupid thing was lodged down in the bag in between two slices of wheat bread. A few more seconds passed while I tried to formulate a plan. First thought was I could just pack it into Katie's lunch box and she could trade it for a cup of soup at school. Instead, I replaced the already fishy sink basket, dumped out the premade fish sandwich, tossed the few pieces of bread across the kitchen, and slung the remaining critter into the bowl. This guy had to have been breathing air and munching on bread for a good three or four minutes, but remarkably (or unfortunately) the darned thing rebounded.
ahead and have coats made for Syd and Katie. We also had two school shirts, two pair of pants made and had her blazer altered for Katie. Everything turned out so nice. Katie loves her pants and now all the old Chinese ladies have stopped coming up to her and grabbing her bare legs while giving me dirty looks. Since all she used to wear were capri length pants, ladies would literally stop Katie and rub her legs and frown at me as if I was abusing Katie by sending her out into the cold with skin showing. I guess I was. 
Liu was an immense help. The girls picked out some hats to go with their new coats and I take no credit for any of the choices. We walked by a fish store and Sarah runs up to the tank begging for one. I refuse and as if that's his cue, Mr. Liu disappears. A few minutes later he returns with a bag filled with squirmy little fish. Oh no, not just one, but five beauties. And, not just the little goldfish, but small sunfish size darlings. Just in time because the last of the three turtles we bought back in September died. Don't hold out much hope for these fellas...I'm not much of a fish 
lover....more to come
large dragon. Their efforts were evident. They presented a Chinese New Year performance worthy of many 
accolades. 
have thought they'd practiced all year, but I'm still amazed they coordinated this performance in less than a month. 
