And now...The Blossom!

The Blossoms sits so nicely nowadays.

Presenting....Citizen X.!

X.'s swearing-in as a citizen is August 16. Originally he was told he would get to go July 4th but that ceremony was already full so he got the next date.

One of these days I am going to have to get a picture of him for this blog. Funny, I have loads of cellphone pics of the kids and the kittens but none of the Citizen.

Branch at Market

Our Branch at the Chinese market. He has Vietnamese cookies and Chinese eggplants in the cart with him. My purse is under the eggplant.
Notice they also sell beer there.

Penny Pinchers Gone Wild - Update

My entry was chosen to be printed in the paper. Woohoo!

Goodbye, Nanny A.

Next week at this time, we will bid goodbye to Nanny A., who will return to her native Peru. We will miss her greatly. Nanny A. came to us via a flyer we posted at ethnic markets seeking a nanny for our then-3 month old twins. She has been with us since the beginning of March. Admittedly, her ethnic background already tipped the scales in her favor. My step-brother had a Peruvian girlfriend who was hardworking, sociable, and as at home with us gringos as her fellow Hispanics. Having first been befriended by a Cuban co-worker when I initially arrived in FL., I have always thought highly of Hispanics in general, even the much-maligned Mexicans and Puerto Ricans.

Nanny A. spends about half a year in Peru and half in the U.S. Her husband and youngest son still live in Peru. Although her son hopes to come to the U.S. someday, her husband does not like the U.S. and refuses to leave Peru. Nanny A.’s older daughter and son and their families live here Somewhere in FL. Her sister, N., and her daughters and one of the daughter’s families also live here. We feel as if we’ve become friends with the whole family. N. first brought Nanny A. to our house to meet us (since, although Nanny A. drives in Peru, she has a strict policy against driving in FL. If you’ve ever driven the streets here, you know her policy is not without reason). N. is very outgoing and made us all feel at ease with each other. N.’s granddaughter is 3 days older than the Branch and the Blossom. However, the granddaughter is much larger than our Blossom, and N. has passed down many of this baby’s clothes, to be used by our Blossom.

The first few months of being a parent were very difficult for me. It is a role I never pictured myself in. If not for my utter love for X., I probably would not be a parent by my own choice. I had little confidence in myself as a successful parent, due to a somewhat dysfunctional childhood, financial insecurity, and (prior to my marriage) lack of suitable mate. Not to mention the work involved. However, Nanny A. (with her experience as a parent and grandparent) was always quietly supportive and never, ever critical of my ways. We often acted in an unspoken but understood tandem with her backing up my next move before I even made it. She would set up the Blossom’s bath, and after I diapered and dressed the Blossom, she would have the Branch’s bath ready, new diaper, and pajamas all laid out, just as I liked them (on a blanket, on the living room floor in front of the TV). If I mentioned the babies were getting hungry, the food was already set out and the bottles warmed. Her patience never, ever wore thin; even with the Blossom’s incessant crying, not to mention my occasional breakdowns.

We plan to keep in touch with phone calls and letters. I hope that when Nanny A. returns for her next 6 months in FL, she will consider babysitting for us occasionally. In the meantime, we plan to keep in touch with N., whose daughter is expecting another child in February. I feel fortunate that the Branch and Blossom had such a caring person to assist their somewhat dysfunctional mother so early in their lives. Nanny A., we will miss you.

Bill Clinton - World Leader?

In this Sunday's Parade magazine, Marilyn vos Savant asks "Are Men Smarter Than Women?"
Featured are pictures of 50 people along with captions describing their occupations. Bill Clinton is listed as "World Leader". WORLD LEADER? Where did THAT come from? How about "Former President"? Not good enough for ol' Bill?

Incidentally, Jackie Chan (a personal favorite of this blogger) is also featured. Wouldn't say he's one of the smartest people in the world. Just one of the all-around best ass-kickers and do-it-yourself stuntmen.

Penny Pinchers Gone Wild

The local newspaper's question of the week is "What's the worst penny-pinching practice you've noticed?"

Below is my answer:

"My (Chinese) in-laws don't wash the dishes clean in order to save water."

I elaborate below:

I know they had tough times in Communist China when resources were scarce. But here in America, they STILL don't wash the dishes properly - in MY kitchen! I mean, come on people, it's HEALTH we're talking about. This is one cultural difference I just can't see eye to eye on. In America, water (and soap) are plentiful and available to all.

Behind the Scenes at PETA

This article on National Review Online describes some activities of the supposedly "animal rights" activist group. Just another example of liberal whackos gone sadly astray

Seems like they'd prefer stray animals to die or be killed rather than be adopted by kind-hearted humans who could give the animals food, shelter, love, and medical care.

Rainbow Across the Street

Anyone remember when rainbows were only the province of pre-teen girls? How did rainbows get associated with gay activism? Is it historical in origin, like the pink triangle, which actually originated with Hitler?

"Aww, you got LONG way to go.!"

I used to go through a Korean drive-thru for beer, cigarettes (yes, I used to smoke, no comments please), and snacks. Beverage drive-thrus are very popular in Florida and are usually festooned with such names as "Beverage Castle" and "Beverage Barn". The ones calling themselves "Castle" even have faux castle-like edging on the top. To patronize, you pull into the open-ended garage-type building. On either side of your car are grocery store-type refrigerators full of beer, wine, soda, etc. There are also racks of chips and other snacks, cigarettes, and a few other items (cheap gifts, t-shirts, etc.) They bring your choices to your car, you pay from your car window, get change brought to your car (if needed) and drive out the other end. Very useful, however, more expensive than actually getting your fat butt OUT of the car to go into a grocery store.

This particular drive-thru was owned by Koreans. The man who worked there spoke very broken English and his wife did most of the customer service, probably because her English was better. Anyhoo, at some point he realized I took the Korean martial art Hapkido (probably because my belt was on the passenger seat one time when I came through). Although I was a brown belt (just below red and the ever-coveted black), he said "Aww, you got LONG way to go!" When I got to red belt he still said the same thing. Then I stopped going through there (cut down on drinking and smoking - good for me, but bad for his business). And got my black belt.

Still, I often think of him saying "Aww, you got LONG way to go!" in his stereotypical Asian-speaking-broken-English accent. I think if I went back today and showed him my second-degree belt he would still say: "Aww, you got LONG way to go!"

Cellphone pics

All the pictures on this blog were taken with a cellphone camera, except the "Junebee" picture which was taken by a professional photographer. (Every so often he comes in to take pictures of new black belts for the master's Hall of Ass-Kicking Fame at the school). Cellphone cameras are great, especially if you have kids and/or pets and want to take those spur-of-the-moment pictures.

At the time I got the Motorola V551 it was one of the newer phones on the market. However, the picture quality is reminiscent of the old 110 cameras (anyone remember them?).

Still, a fun and handy gadget and my mother loves getting snapshots of the babies.

Just the Blossom (pic)

Blasts in Britain

Most of the free world's sympathies lie with London tonight. Children who will never again see their mums or dads. Co-workers missing from the office. Mates never to gather around at the pub. Shop clerks never more to greet favorite customers.

And let's start calling "suicide bombers" by the more appropriate term: MASS MURDERER.
And let's start calling "extremists" by the more appropriate term - WHACKOS.

Big K (pic)

Big K is like the eunuchs in the palaces of ancient China. They didn't have any 'nads but they had alot of power in the monarchy. We call him the palace eunuch. He pretty
much determines what goes on around here. Only Emporer X.'s authority supercedes him.

Just the Branch (Pic)

Our Blossom and Branch (pic)

Aid to Africa

Why is it we need to send zillions of dollars in aid to Africa? What did they do with the money
we already sent? Think of it. If, when you were a teenager, maybe you asked your parents for $50.oo. The very next day, you went back to them and asked them for another $50.00. Wouldn't their reaction be "What did you do with the $50.00 we gave you yesterday?" (Ok, so you bought a bag of weed. If you did, you probably wouldn't be stupid enough to ask your parents for more money again so soon.)

But no, on top of the millions of dollars we've already given, we have to give more. We have to GIVE TILL IT HURTS, dammit! I am sure the majority of American conservatives would be more than happy for more money to be earmarked to alleviate poverty. After all, no-one who has children (which is most of us) or who has been a child (which is ALL of us) wants to think of starving, bone-thin children, mothers whose breasts are dry, and flies buzzing around everyone. But the fact of the matter is that the corrupt dictators ensure that no money reaches the starving people. Sorry, libs. Till the government changes, no mo' money. And by the way, you might want to think about re-legalizing DDT. (Any possible side effects sure beat dying of malaria). That means YOU, Bono, and YOU TOO, Bob Geldof.

Take THAT, France

Ha, ha, London got the Olympics

and you didn't.

Nana nana boo boo.

It's me. Junebee (pic)