In Between Guests

Tonight it is just the four of us. Melanie has gone to visit my brother and his family. My parents arrive tomorrow night for a two week visit and I'm taking the time off. I'm so very much looking forward to seeing them since we haven't been together in a year. But it's nice to have this little break, a chance to catch our breath, a chance to blog!

Time to wash sheets and towels, rearrange furniture. Time to plan what to do - all those things that I've put off for vacation time are coming around. Then it will be time to chat, time to show off the kids, time to show Mama and Papa the places and routines of our daily lives, time to just sit and enjoy each other's company and conversation. My mom and I will cook together and shop together and talk about what good books we've read lately. My dad and I will drive and he'll comment on how nice the roads are and how little traffic there is. M will talk politics with them and we'll all get all riled up together. We'll drink many bottles of wine. Papa will take lots and lots of photos of the boys and the pictures will capture their naughtiness perfectly. We'll take the kids swimming, probably head up to Napa or Sonoma. We'll celebrate my birthday and Mama's birthday. There will be lots of laughter and smiles.

I can't wait.

Red

True story.

I looked out the window at a blood-red moon as the airplane landed in Chicago O'Hare. I looked away and back again. Still red. I thought to myself: "Red??? I've never seen a red moon. Yellow, yes. White, yes. But red? What's up with that?" I got out of the airport and into a cab and looked up again. It was the same lightly yellow American cheese color that it usually is. Had my eyes been deceived? Was there some special filter in the airplane's windows?

Or was it an omen and, if so, of what?

Snacks from Days Gone By

I'm just back from dinner at a Thai place in Chicago where we had some excellent food: basil rice noodles with beef, stir fried seafood with crispy flat noodles, green chicken curry and some awesome smoothies with tapioca balls. Gosh, I haven't had these in ages. The dinner conversation turned to fishballs and that just reminded me of the snack food vendors that would set up shop outside my elementary school in the Philippines. Here's the delicious assortment that awaited us once we stepped outside the gates:

1. Fishball vendor with wok filled in hot oil, two jars of dipping sauces (one hot and spicy, the other sweet and sour).

2. Man hawking green mangoes and bagoong (fish/shrimp paste) or just plain rock salt. Sometimes, he also had singkamas (jicama).

3. "Dirty" ice cream vendor with the following flavors: mango, ube (purple yam), macapuno (young coconut), and the all time favorite: cheese (with real cheese bits).

Heaven help you if your parents found out that you actually bought and consumed something from these people. But did that stop any of of us? Of course not.

Weapons Week

This week's menu included: knife thrusts and overhead stabs, sword slashes and jo partner practice. Very fun. I love the sound of the staffs clicking against each other and the swoosh of the jo as one swings it through the air. There's a certain feeling of strength and confidence in being able to handle a weapon correctly. Not that I'm saying that I can handle one correctly yet, but I do like the way they feel. Does that make me bloodthirsty? I don't think so. I hope never to have to use any of these techniques but it's good to know them.

As I'm writing this, I'm sitting at the airport, waiting for my flight to Chicago. The first one was canceled and I've been rebooked on a later one. Good time to blog. This trip may see a spike in posts.

Splish, Splash

Parade in the morning.

Burgers and corn on the grill for lunch.

The pool is out and filled with water. Melanie and the boys are in the water and it looks really very nice.

What am I doing blogging?????

Going to change...

Chicks with Sticks

It's outdoor weapons training time in aikido. A chance to work out with a jo - that's a four-foot staff. Last Thursday was my first jo class in a long time. It felt a little strange. I have my own bo, a six-foot staff, from my time training in karate, but I hadn't swung that around in something like five years!

Back to square one. After practicing - erm - copying - a series of strikes, blocks and sweeps, it was time to work through the 31 jo kata. Brain overload! All I remember is this: reverse thrust, block, reverse thrust, overhead strike, reverse overhead strike and ..... gone.

Need more practice, lots more practice. The best part of the class was that there were three women and two men. We don't usually outnumber the men.

Girl power :).

Thanksgiving in June

Yesterday, we had a Thanksgiving dinner in June so that my cousin who is visiting from Germany could experience a traditional American meal. Because the smallest turkey I could find was a twenty-pounder, I invited some friends over to share the meal with us. There's no way three adults and two children could begin to do justice to that much food!

We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, salad and a nice California Riesling followed by homemade apple pie and vanilla ice cream. Yummy! We were stuffed. The only thing missing was the football game on TV (which we never watch anyway but, it's part of the tradition, isn't it?). As we sat at the table after the meal, unable to move, someone suggested a walk to the park. Good idea, if we could just extricate ourselves from our chairs.

Somehow, we pried ourselves away and wandered over to the playground, seven adults with two enthusiastic little boys in tow. Who would have thought we'd have just as much fun as they did? Something got into us, maybe it was the turkey, maybe it was just the memories of childhood that being on a playground awoke. Down the tube slides, across the monkey bars, up and around the play structure, swinging as high as possible. I'm talking about the adults here! D even got us going in a heart-pounding game of tag. Wheeeeeeeeee! I don't know who had a better time, the kids or us. I do know that I haven't had that much fun on a playground in a long time. Usually, we're too busy watching out for the boys. This time, I had many pairs of extra eyes and hands and I could join in. It was great and I think it was a wonderful experience for Melanie as well.

The inner child is alive, well and kicking and she got to come out and play. I like Thanksgiving in June. Maybe I should make it a tradition.