Warrior
Our little warrior, in his dress uniform testing from yellow stripe to yellow belt in Kyuki-Do.
I was taking pictures of Abbey yesterday; meanwhile, the two juniors were fighting over a bone. After a while, Abbey became fed up and scolded the two of them. She is the grand matriarch, all right.
It’s our first official frost this morning – white roof tops against a baby blue sky. Time for some hot tea…
Retrieved.
Jazz, doing what Labs do best…
Good Morning.
A frost advisory this morning notwithstanding, life is starting to wake up around here. And finally, this year, my young lilac plants will sport some blooms. This was a nice surprise this morning.
Wherein I Begin to Wonder if the Dogs Know More Than I Give Them Credit For
Years past, we would have a big birthday party for my step-daughter around this time of year. I remember always being exasperated that the dogs would be in the midst of their spring sheds. Dog hair would be all over the place 8 minutes after I finished sweeping. Both of the dogs are Labs, and they shed a ton of hair in the spring and fall.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been wondering when they would start – but have been very happy that they haven’t; keeping the house clean is much easier without all that dog hair. By now I’ve usually swept up great piles of hair every day for days upon days. But then yesterday it dawned on me the reason they might not have started yet.
This is just this morning, as it snows outside.
Aside from a couple of days where it hit 70, and one rogue 85 degree day, it’s been pretty cold this whole year. Clearly, snow is still not out of the question. Maybe they know it’s not–weather-wise– time to shed yet?
Ack. So much for having a spring this year.
My dear, sweet boy,
I see your face everywhere. More so last week than this, but even today an expression on the street jumps out at me and causes my heart to stop for a second. In Chongqing, I could picture you easily as a young boy playing along the sidewalk. Or as a young man traveling from the airport. It’s so hard sometimes to imagine you before we met, or to see how you might change as you grow older. The images are a bit clearer now.
Today we saw a young girl, probably about 4 years old, playing on her scooter in an alleyway in the neighborhood just north of Shamian Island, here in Guangzhou. Her mom and possibly her younger brother sat and watched as we walked by, at first wondering probably at the oddity of two Americans and a baby walking down their alley. But just as soon as we said hi, the mom encouraged the young girl to say hi back – us in Mandarin and her in English. I wonder if there are alleyways such as that in Hanzhong, places where you might have played had you stayed there.
It’s comforting to see so much of you here, but it also makes me anxious to get back home to you. Next time, we will go to China together. I can’t imagine being here again with you, and I can’t wait until I see you tomorrow.
Love, Mommy
I’m in China helping a friend with her adoption of a beautiful baby girl. We spent last week in Chongqing, and have spent the past week in Guangzhou. We fly home tomorrow.
Hooky
Last week we played hooky from school and work and took a family trip to the zoo. The next day I worked the book fair at ZZ’s school. When his class came into the fair, his teacher came up to me and after saying hi, the first thing she said was, “Did you guys go to the zoo yesterday?” Busted!
Tackle
Tackle could refer to either of two things at our house: fishing gear, or football. This past Sunday, it was of the contact sport variety.
Sometimes a SAHM, sometimes a business partner with my husband, and always juggling the responsibilities of both. This space is a welcome diversion from balance sheets and Lego's.
The joys of my life are my husband, our son, and our two dogs. Coincidentally, they are the subjects of most of my pictures. Welcome to my little corner of the internets.
