Friday, December 28, 2012

Post Xmas 2012



 Xmas Dinner
 Nail through the finger gag that came in the crackers
 Santa's gifts
 Lian gets her makeup kit
 Grandpa actually gets a present

 Bucky Badger at the light show

The Capital Monona Terrace with the real Capital in the distance

After leaving my wallet at our lunch break at a McDonalds during our trip to WI and finding that our toothbrushes were still residing in NY, it wouldn’t get much worse, right? WRONG, monkey breath.

When I check my email and phone messages at the hotel that night, after contacting the McDonalds about my wallet - they had it, yippee! I find all sorts of urgent messages from sister and Dad - Mom is in hospital with flu. Take girls swimming in hotel pool as Jamie has forgotten his bathing suit. Send hom to get Chinese take out dinner. Not even making a pretense of healthy eating on this trip. Fairly uneventful drive the next day through Ohio, Ind, IL and WI, since girls have heads buried in portable DVD players they got as pre-xmas gifts. Feel like bad parents but enjoy lack of whining. FYI NY'ers the rest of the world enjoys gas at about $3.20 a gallon. It’s really cold and snowy once we get past Chicago – about 15 inches - we barely make it up my parents' driveway. We get settled in.
Xmas eve day - get up at 5am and wrap presents for 3 hours, since tossing them into large trash bags for the trip is all I could manage. Go out and grocery shop because Dad is not feeling good and there is no food in the house. Get Xmas dinner started. Visit mom at hospital. Go to 4pm family service at church where JP and I got married 21 years ago, very nice. Come back, finish dinner. Ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli, rolls, and desert; blueberry cobbler, pumpkin pie, cheesecake sampler with ice cream or whipped cream.  The cheesecake is to replace the one I was supposed to have for my birthday but someone left out of the freezer... in August, it was nasty.  I had sniffles but by the end of dinner have come down with a massive cold. The girls decide to use sharpies to write their names on the stockings. Mommy loses it then feels really bad. Santa goes to work even though “he” really, really wants to sleep for about 15 hours.  

Xmas day! Girls get up about 7am. Stocking opening takes a good half hour as Santa buys at the dollar aisle and forgets how much stuff is in the back of the closet. For the main event,  being largely unsupervised, the girls rip through their presents in record time. Lian says it is the “best Christmas EVER.” Piles of swag litter the floor. I go back to bed and sleep for 5 hours. Leftovers for lunch/dinner. Visit mom at hospital.

Wed I take the girls shopping since they have gift cards burning a hole in their pockets. Target, Old Navy, (grocery interlude) Toys R Us. I still don't have my wallet and thus driver's license. Drive VERY sedately. After dinner we take them to the light show put on every year by the Electrical Contractors and Electrical Union,  http://www.fantasyinlights.com/green.html

Thursday and my Dad is having trouble breathing, feeling really weak. Off to Urgent Care at 9:30am as his Dr. doesn’t have an appointment. Urgent Care decides to send him to Emergency since his O2 level is low. Dad is transported in ambulance I dash back to house to get phone charger as battery is running low and grab a bite to eat. Catch up with Dad in Emergency- which is really nice, with private rooms. He’s feeling a little better as he’s on O2 and lying down. Get call from Jamie that hospital wants to discharge my mom. Many phone calls latter, she is instead waiting to be discharged to a private room (because she may still be contagious with flu) in a nursing home, as there is no-one to discharge her to and she can’t get up on her walker in any case. Dad is admitted to hospital. Get him settled, go and check on mom. Go back to house, 9pm. Jamie calls me outside- there are two Great Horned Owls in the trees over the house, calling to each other. Take large dose of Nyquil, sleep an entire 7 hours. Dad calls at 6:45 am to make sure we feed his cat, but I am up anyway.

Ho Ho Ho

Thursday, December 20, 2012

2012 in Review. Happy Holidays to You!


Yep an entire year has passed since I posted. Friend us on FB if you want more regular updates. Photos in no particular order since I still can't figure out how to reorganize in blogger. Xmas annual recap below pix.


 Mary and Angel Gabriel















Lian is now up to her orange belt - will take green belt test in January


 Evacuating for Sandy
 Halloween #2
Halloween loot
 First day of school
 Visiting the Wilson grands in WI
 Only snow of the year
 Class presentation
Ah the perils of being a small dog
 At the circus
 Mr Bobby at home
 Lian's birthday
 2nd grade Solar Sytem exhibit
Lian's school birthday party. She read a story to the class.
Christmas Letter 2012

I am writing days after the Newtown/Sandy Hook School tragedy, and seven weeks after Super Storm Sandy. It’s been a tough season for our area.

We had to evacuate for SS Sandy, being only about 500 feet from the shoreline, but had no flooding (but carried a lot of stuff up and then back down stairs just in case.) I spent the day of Sandy’s arrival cooking and washing clothes based on the theory that it’s easier to keep cooked food cool than raw food frozen. And we knew power would be out, it was only a question of how long.  I got the freezers cleaned out doing pre-emptive triage. But our power was only out for 4 days while friends went over 14-18 days in bitter weather. Chris didn’t get back power for 2 weeks. Our town didn’t suffer the devastation of the Long Island south shore and Jersey shore where homes, cars, and accumulations of a lifetime were washed away. There were close calls - an acquaintance who barely escaped with her life when two trees fell through and crushed her home. We had long waits to gas up cars and gasbuddy.com became a favorite site. But the community spirit in the wake of the storm was heartening. Neighbors helped each other out. A volunteer based emergency center served thousands of people without power every day, meals, entertainment, warmth and power. Since Halloween fell during the post storm confusion, a group of parents and local merchants managed to pull together a “Halloween on Main St.” in two days so kids could go trick-or-treating safely the following weekend. School was back in session by the second week, so that made life more normal. Our church managed to put on our Fall Fair, though we were missing our usual delicious baked goods, as most of us didn’t have any power for cooking. After three weeks we were pretty much back to normal, power on, gas stations re-opened, downed trees and lines removed. Outreach to those who lost much more was a big focus with clothing and food drives. Sandy lingers on in the form of giant piles of tree trunks, branches and mulch.

The devastating news coming over the radio of the death of school children, children the same age as ours, was hard to bear. We did tell the girls a very abbreviated version of what had happened since we wanted them to hear it from us, not a school yard version. My heart breaks for the families. Just to try and imagine what they are experiencing is painful. To try and explain this to a child is enough to make an intelligent adult want to go hide in a corner. That evil exists in the world, that for no reason anyone will ever know, a terribly sick young man would decide to kill children and carry out that plan, is something hard to fathom  much less explain. That despite this, there is still good in the world, still wonder, still love, still life. All the acts of kindness and good are not washed away. While the world seems a little less safe, that is all the more reason to take a stand on what needs to be done. Above politics, as human beings, moms, dads, brother, sisters, we can agree; this is too much, things need to change.

The year in review. We had Christmas at home last year. With no travel time before the weekend we couldn’t make the trip out to Wisconsin. Lela was cast as Mary in the church nativity pageant and Lian was Angel Gabriel.  We enjoyed visiting with friends and relaxing. January the girls continued their activities; piano, gymnastics, Brownies and ice skating for Lela, Tae Kwon Do, Daisies, and ice skating for Lian. I went to their school classes to do a presentation on the Lunar New Year, Year of the Dragon, and we marched in the big NYC parade with other adoptive families. Lela’s birthday is, as always, a long parade of festive events; family party, school party, Sunday School, and friends party. Her Family Day is quieter, just a family dinner since it falls five days after her birthday. Hard to believe that it was seven years ago a tiny baby was placed in our arms.

February is quieter, with Jamie’s birthday requiring only one event. School break gave us the chance to visit friends. In March we took the girls to see the Ringling Brothers Circus for the first time. They loved it, so we’re going again this year (bought the tickets already). Lela had been begging for a dog - it was on her Xmas list. We said, “When you are 9.” But I figured I’d better start registering with rescue groups as portable but not ridiculously tiny, social, cat and kid loving, not too old dogs, don’t come up that often. When they do they get snapped up right away. So I’m cruising the online listings of dogs at rescue groups and there is a cute mini-pin/Chihuahua/???? Mix, and it says, “likes cats.”  I show him to Lela and ask, “Should we call?” Like there was any doubt about the answer, but at least I can pin it on her, not MY choice, oh no. We called and it turned out that Bobby’s family has a hard luck story, mom and 2 daughters, mom lost her job and they have to move in with relatives and can’t take the dog. Bobby has an even harder story, they were not his first owners, he had been rescued from an abusive situation. They come out from the city to meet us and for Bobby to meet the kids and cats. All went well and Bobby stayed on. Bobby adjusted pretty fast; the second day we had him, he slipped out of the too loose harness we hadn’t had a chance to replace and raced away - straight to our front porch. He was a real city dog and is having to learn things like: nosing around in the backyard by himself, preferring to walk on grass vs. concrete. He still doesn’t really know how to play but we’re working on it. Welcome to your last home, Mr. Bobs. And it’s all Lela’s fault, heh, heh. Additionally, Lian took a cooking class at our great library. The entire second grade, Lela’s class, gave a presentation to their families on the solar system; they made moon rocks, lunar excursion vehicle, solar system models and wrote essays. Lots of tin foil was used.  Jamie taught his annual spring badminton class for continuing education. He’s got a following of dedicated badminton players that sign up every year. Lian’s birthday was also an extravaganza of parties. And we’re through the winter with minimal snowfall, whoo hoo.

April is the cruelest month, featuring the never ending School Talent Show. Lela and friends did gymnastics (Lela) and Hula-hooping (friends) routine. They were the 39th act and got on about 10pm. There were 62 acts. We did not stay for the rest. Lian’s Daisy troop visited a Fire Medic company to learn about what they do.

May brought school Field Day, but without the scorching temperature of previous years. Lela added softball to her lineup. She can actually hit the ball, but her pitching skills need work. We had fun at Math Night, where future geeks and their parents tried out math games. Memorial Day weekend we marched in the local parade (me with Community Chest, girls with Girl Scouts, Jamie and Chris cheering us on) attended the annual picnic at church, visited friends and watched an amazing sunset over the Sound, while battling swarms of gnats. We had the grand re-opening of Stannards Brook Park, a project I’ve been working on since 2004 in my role as Co-chair of the Port Washington Parks Conservancy. We were able to help the County secure an 840K grant to restore the park. http://portwashington.patch.com/articles/celebrating-stannards-brook-park-reopening#photo-10005028 (there’s even a picture of me)

In June we were invited to attend a Children’s Day celebration at the Chinese Consulate in NYC. There were several other adoptive families there and we enjoyed performances and a buffet lunch. Softball wrapped up with the Mother/Daughter game. Even with ringers (2 teen brothers) the girls whupped us. Donna, Lian’s Godmother, took her to the Terra-cotta Warrior exhibit, which she does not recall seeing when we were in China. Our friend, Dessie, who had worked with me for many years, lost his battle with cancer. He had a touching and packed funeral service, filled with music and remembrances.  I had been working with a group to create a Green Infrastructure Conference, and after many, many meetings, it happened. Brookhaven National Labs hosted the event, we had a good turn-out despite a blistering heat wave that pulled away many municipal employees to help set up cooling centers, and we are now working on the second conference. http://www.ligiconference.org/  I also was the guest lecturer on 6 tours of Manhasset Bay, sponsored by the Library Nautical Advisory Council. And we had to get a new dryer. I just love being an adult.

School's out for summer - tennis lessons began. Lela and Lian again attended Culture Camp for Asian adoptees and had fun doing brush painting, cooking, Chinese culture and crafts. Their best buds, Meiling and Ian, arrived from Shanghai to spend the summer with their grandparents. After that, swimming lessons, since the scheduling nitwits have made it impossible to have both swimming and tennis. Lots of swimming at “Grandma” Barbara’s pool though.

August and we once again took a trip to Lancaster County and Dutch Wonderland with friends. This year Jamie came too, so the adrenalin junkies, Lela and Holly, were able to get a ride on the big roller coaster that requires an adult. Then a trek out to the wonders of Wisconsin to visit my folks. Days before we left on vacation, we rescued a neighborhood feral cat who had been hit by a car; or rather she came to us for help. Her jaw was broken, she was matted with feces, and had yellow slime drooling out of her mouth – she was emaciated and dying. Rain dragged herself to our doorstep and voluntarily walked into a crate. How a feral cat made the connection that she needed help and humans, us in particular, could give it, is an amazing cognitive leap. Her will to live and intelligence to do what she had to is incredible. After 6 weeks of incarceration at the vets and in our big recovery crate we let her out in the house, where she has integrated into the pack. Rain has decided to stay for good. She climbed up the back screen door one day, and the screen pulled and she fell out onto the back porch - and raced out of the yard. I figured we’d never see her again.  About five minutes later, she was clinging to the outside of the screen trying to get back in. The smartest and bravest cat you will ever meet. I can’t pet her yet, but she will eat from my hand and is snoozing on a chair next to me. All things come in their own time.

With September, school is back and so is the packed routine; Tae Kwon Do, violin substituted for piano this year, gymnastics, Brownies. Lian bridged up to Brownies so they are both in Brownie troops this year. Lian chose a Japanese restaurant for her Family Day celebration, five years since we met a feisty little toddler with strong opinions in Xian.

October and we cycle back to where we started. The run up to Halloween included much angst over “What to wear?” We went to a giant costume sale that is also a charity benefit. Lian got a golden brown princess dress, Lela a cat tail to go with her cat suit. Plus a vampire costume, fancy wings, and several outfits for Bobby the dog. They did get a chance to wear them since our neighborhood was pretty safe by Halloween and a big bunch of neighbor kids went together.  They changed to a Rapunzel ala Disney Tangled theme for part 2 of trick or treating on Main St. We took the girls to another Disney on Ice with friends, though due to closed roads, gas lines and detours it took us almost 2 hours to get to the arena, normally a 25 minute ride. Three days after Sandy hit, one of our old cats, Sneezer, got to his time. He had been fighting liver cancer all summer.  I had a long and sad ride full of detours around closed roads to take him to the vet. He passed away peacefully nibbling on his favorite snack. We miss you baby boy.

Thanksgiving was just family. My sister, Carrie, came up to visit for Virginia. Jamie and Lela ran/jogged/walked the 5 mile Turkey Trot while Lian and I volunteered - it benefits a local charity where I am on the board. Lela went across the finish line walking on her hands. There was only 4 eight-year olds that ran. J & L had a respectable 1:27, considering their only training was walking to school a few times. We had dinner at Chris’s house since she has a dining room and we don’t, but had to take dinner to her, as she had a fall during the Sandy power outage and is in rehab at a local nursing home. And our church hosted the annual town interfaith Thanksgiving service and reception. Guess who pulled together a reception for 150. We also had to get a new dishwasher, love being an adult part 2. Our Xmas present, thanks to sister Carrie. I felt very virtuous having gotten the Xmas cards printed before December, but since I’m just now sending them out now…

With December, Lela started winter basketball, 8:30am on Sat, argh – trying to get her out of bed a 6th morning- she is NOT a morning person. One of our young cats, Rajah, who just turned 2 in July, developed a bladder stone blockage, (on a Friday night, of course) requiring very expensive emergency veterinary services. He’s now on an all wet food diet. Dry food isn’t cheaper when it comes with enormous vet bills. The Audubon Xmas bird count was last weekend, with some great sightings, unfortunately not by me. I birded and then had to serve dinner to 40 cold and starving birders. Chili is my dish for the mob - 2 crockpots full. Jamie sang in our church’s annual Messiah Concert on Sunday. This weekend, weather permitting, we’ll be off to WI for Christmas.

We count our blessing, so much more evident this year; Being spared while so many suffered nature’s devastation; having our daughters to hold close while other families have had their hearts torn away by the death of a child, mother, sister, brother, friend. This season celebrates birth and renewal, but it’s a little harder this year to set aside the workings of the world to remember. Hold your loved ones close. Do random acts of kindness, it may make all the difference to someone else. It can be as simple as admiring some snazzy shoes, hairdo, a turn of phrase, buying a cup of coffee for the next person on line, a dinner for the guy nursing a cup in the back of McDonalds,  if you have two coats…..or bigger. As a dear and wise friend has told me, “you don’t give until it hurts, you give until it feels good”-  like running past the wall.   Make yourself feel good this season.

Mother's Day

Last spring while riding the train home from the city where I had just handed in the last of Lian's paperwork, I had nothing to do since I had gone through all my reading material while waiting at the Chinese Embassy. I got out a notepad and this poem started to flow and practically wrote itself. Adoption can be bittersweet as there is no gain without a loss.
http://www.emkpress.com/mothersday.html

Lian on left in yellow

Lian on left in yellow
about 14 months, with her friend Hailey

Lian at 6 months

Lian at 6 months
Who could resist that smile?

Lian at 4 months

Lian at 4 months
Right after surgery for her lip

Sha'anxi Province Map

Sha'anxi Province Map
HanZhong in lower left

China Map

China Map
Sha'anxi Province in center