Cup of Tea

星期三

6:45  鬧鐘響, 照例需要15分鐘才離得開溫暖的被窩。

7:10  叫蜜雅起床, 小挪仍然叫不起來, 告訴他只剩最後一分鐘。

7:20~7:30  蜜雅吃早餐, 我準備她的便當, 用開水泡自己的燕麥片和綠茶, 然後連抱帶牽把小挪弄到樓下。

7:40~8:00  小孩吃完早餐, 清潔牙齒, 穿上外套載去上學。

8:10~9:00  吃完燕麥片配上熱呼呼的綠茶, 開始有醒來的感覺, 收拾廚房餐桌房間。

9:20~10:20  Workout一小時, 順便把好不容易得來的Dexter第一季第二集看完, 是近來最愛。

10:30~11:00  很快淋浴, 頭髮吹八分乾, 抹上厚厚一層乳液, 天氣太冷。

11:10  到達停車場準備接小挪下課, 在車上趕快利用時間看圖書館借的 Miss Peregrine's Home for Perculiar Children。

11:40~1:00  到家準備午餐, 用餐完收拾餐桌。小挪玩一下Wii。

1:30~2:30  和小挪做他最討厭的事：寫中文作業。是兩個人的耐心與意志力的搏鬥, 然後讀幼稚園的英文讀本。

2:45~3:15  接姐姐放學。小挪在車上吃下午點心, 我趁機繼續看Miss Peregrine。

3:30~4:15  蜜雅洗澡、吃點心、換衣服, 幫她梳髮髻準備上芭蕾舞課, 再向小挪解釋第101次他不能跟著去玩(爸爸到家)。

4:30~5:30  找到地方上網工作, 認真寫有關Sciatica的資料。人的身體真有成千上萬種古怪的毛病。

5:30~5:45  接蜜雅前的最後15分鐘, 終於看完了Miss Peregrine。擺明了有下一集, 早知道就不急著現在看。情節正緊張卻被打斷了, 可惡！

6:15~8:30  晚餐、聊天、洗碗、教Polo新把戲、吃水果、洗衣服、摺衣服、寫作業、練鋼琴、刷牙、睡前親親抱抱、小孩上床就位躺平。

9:00~10:30  上網看新聞和blogs, 寫寫東西, 繼續讀The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, 準備一天結束。

 

11:00前  還想多做一點事, 可是不得不睡。打開鬧鐘開關, 6:45準時第二天開始。

新春快樂

2011又是一下下就過去了！這一年，像所有的人生一樣，有笑聲，有眼淚，有令人生氣的時刻，也有甜美溫馨的瞬間。最幸福的是，周圍的人個個身體健康，平安是福。

去年的 New Year Resolutions，五項裡完成了四項，80% 不錯了。可惜未能完成的一項，我沒有百分之百的操作權，所以失敗也沒辦法(雙肩一聳)。今年要努力的一樣有五件事，希望可以完成。

我喜歡在每一年的開始，在心裡寫下想做到的事，否則那些「總有一天」的希望，永遠都只是實現不了的願望。想做什麼，總得踏出那開始的一小步。

小時候過年，印象最深的是爸媽種的螃蟹蘭，一片片蛇木板在院子裡一字排開，粉紅緋緋，充滿喜氣。今年自己養了一年多的紅色螃蟹蘭，在悉心照料下，也首度劈哩啪啦像放鞭炮一樣開花了！

祝大家新春愉快，龍年行大運！

 

 

另有帥哥美女年節熱舞表演，但上載要花快四個小時，等等我吧！

 

又來看圖說話

奉聖母皇太后懿旨，趕來把近照貼上來。

首先是整修後的廚房：

樓下浴室：

據說長得很帥的小子(只是現在缺了三顆牙)：

(在Chicago Navy Pier 牙還沒掉)

(10/8 農場騎三輪車)

可愛Maya和阿姨在最愛的Fuji Buffet 大啖龍眼：

希望美美太后滿意！

 

2011 看圖說話

轉眼間秋天近了，開始忙著採購一長串的開學用品；早晨醒來的肌膚總是帶著涼意，常去的書店也擺出了2012 的月曆。

這大半年做了什麼？首先，歲月不饒人，大家都過了生日。

蜜雅的：

小挪的：

我(和千惠)的：

再來是蜜雅的舞蹈表演，我好愛一層層像粉彩糖果紙的舞衣啊！配上院子裡的丁香剛剛好。

還有我2011年度計畫 (New Year Resolution) 中的一項：10公里路跑！跑完了！

今年夏天感覺特別忙，廚房和一樓half bath重新整修，拆掉了所有東西，木頭地板打磨重漆，牆壁粉刷，連門也換了三扇。特別謝謝Chicago的好友讓我們在漆地板時避難，大人小孩不止玩得盡興，也多了幾磅回家！

(只要Uncle不睬爸媽的兩個小孩。)

除了中文學校，還多了一份工作：替Dr. Damon Noto的網站寫文章。他想找一個有醫學相關背景，懂得research和寫部落格的人，結果想到Michigan就有一個現成的。品逸也說：「把你research有的沒的的時間拿來研究 stem cells 吧！」於是，這幾個月我花了不少時間在這裡。

還有，小挪掉了顆大門牙，超級愛研究龍捲風的形成及分布地點，對人體內臟血管功能位置問個不停。

還有其他的，容後再敘！

 

the last roses

When I first started my garden, the roses were my favorite (along with sweet peas). The light salmon pink color is beyond beautiful and the delicate fragrance makes all bottled perfumes smell artificual.

Every summer, they bloomed up to as many as 70 flowers.  One of the plants was as tall as I.

But as much as I loved them, they must go.

Ever since three years ago, the roses had been attacked by Japanese beetles and black spot disease every July. The beetles would eat away the buds and hide in the flowers. I don't hate beetles and even think they're cute, but when they feasted on the roses, it wasn't a pretty sight.

The problem is... I don't want to hurt any of the bugs.  One of the tips I found online involved putting a cup of beetles into a blender to make bug juice spray as beetle repelent (OMG!).

I also don't want to put any chemicals in the garden for the black spot disease.

However, the roses have a place in my heart too.  So I waited and waited and watched the horrible thing happen year after year. 

Last Friday, I finally had it.  I spent an hour cutting down the flowers and the branches and digging out the big plants.  The roots were so strong and thick that I was exhausted at the end.   They've grown a lot in 8 years.

Good bye dear,  These are the last roses.  Thanks for the memories.

Camping

Yep, it's that time of the year.  The camping trip that announces the arrival of July!

Ever since I mentioned about the trip, Maya couldn't stop saying "when are we going?"  Not only did she ask about the date, but also the details, even down to the lunch and dinner menus.  She was like an overly excited bumble bee, buzzing all over the house when I started packing.  Nolan had no idea what we were doing, but caught his sister's excitement and squealed with joy playing with the luggage.

We went to the same camp site as last year.  The driving was not too bad (about 4 hours).  Both Maya and Nolan skipped their nap with no fuss.

Although this is the second time we visited Traverse city, it was still a lot of fun.  The weather was beautiful. 

We spent the first day at the Cherry Festival Carnival.  Maya's dream of riding a ferris wheel finally came true.  Due to Mike's hangover, I had to ride the ferris wheel with Maya, but I'm afraid of heights.  To make the matters worse, this ferris wheel was on adrenaline.  It spinned super fast.  The minute we started rising, I was scared to death and wanted to throw up.  My knuckles were turing white because I was holding onto the seat rails for dear life.  But with Maya there, I had to be tough.  She wanted to get off the ferris wheel because it was nothing like her imagination.  She asked what if the electricity goes out, what if we fall, what if we plummet to our death (okay, the last one was mine).  So we had a nice chat up in the air, about how to get through unpleasant situations, how to look at things from another angle and how to shift through the rubble to find good things.  Maya was so proud of herself when she made it.  But oh man, that farris wheel ride was unlike any I had taken in my younger days.  I still couldn't believe how fast and how long it was, plus the five minutes dangling in the air.

(the innocent passing the point of no return)

(where is Waldo?)

(another ride that was better in the imagination)

The second day was my favorite- at the beach!  The view was spactacular.  The blue blue sky, clear lake and sand dunes.  It was so relaxing.  The kids were ecstatic to be in the water.  They enjoyed being pulled in an inflatable raft then drifting with the current.  We had sand all over and everywhere, but it was worth it.

The only thing that was a little disappointing is that we didn't get to pick cherries this time.  We planned to do it on the way home, but the orchards were closed.  All we could do was looking at the nice cherry trees and hoping for next year.

Now it's officially July.  We have the tan (and the mosquito bites) to prove it.

Mama duck

One thing I love most about living in Michigan is how close you are to the wild life.  While sitting at the kitchen table eating my breakfast, I can see bunnies, birds (cardinal, morning dove, blue jay) and squirrles visiting my backyard.  That's why I can never get rid of the strawberries in the garden, although most are half-eaten by bunnies and those furry balls never remember to share.

A few weeks back, I had a surprise visitor who made herself home.  I couldn't believe a duck would build a nest so close to the house that I could see her every day. 

At the beginning, the duck would leave the nest when she saw me, but after a few days, she no longer treated me as a threat.  She just sat there, almost always.  There were 7 beautiful eggs in the nest, hidden carefully under the softest down.  If you don't look closely, you'd think it's an empty nest.  Those eggs had a bluish tint and each one of them showed me what perfection looked like. 

Then one day, the mama duck was gone.  Only an egg and some egg shells left in the nest. 

I guess she waddled away with the ducklings.  Too bad I didn't get to meet them.  But I'll always remember the gentleness in her eyes.  It's mama duck's love.

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy New Year!  It's the year of the rat.

(Maya and grandma's calligraphy)

Sorry for the MIA.  As some of you already know, everyone in the house was sick, especially Mike and I.  We're still trying to shake the last bits of cough off (plus painful ribs), but we are finally able to function.  During these three weeks, Mike and I went through 6 jumbo boxes of Kleenex from Costco, plus two regular boxes of Puffs from Target.  Our bathroom counter was lined with an army of cold/flu medicine.  Hopefully we'll be fine within two more weeks.

Happy New Year everyone! 

First day of December

Temperature: 24 degrees (-4 Celsius).

One week after returning from Taiwan.

One day after I received the winter gear.

I decided to hit the trail (Stoney Creek of course)!

This is my first winter ride, so I had no idea what to expect and there was some hesitation about riding in the cold.  However, ever since I came back from Taiwan, whenever I passed the bike in the garage, I had an urge to take it for a spin.

We finally had some sun today, so why wait? 

The first thing I realized about winter rides is that it takes three times as long to dress (base layers, jersey, vest, jacket, leg warmers, shoe covers).  And many more things to bring with me (wool beanie, balaclava, gloves).  Plus helmet, water bottle, map, cell phone, I.D. and sunglasses.  I ran through the mental check list several times.

The second thing I discovered was that I no longer recognized the trail!  It came as a big shock when I missed the entrance of the trail (which I've walked through so many times).  It looked completely different.  All the trees are nothing but twigs and the vegetations are long gone. 

When I entered the trail, it felt like I'd never been there before.  A very strange feeling.  Not a single thing reminded me of the summer trail.  It looked so much wider... and empty.

But after the initial overwhelming weirdness, I started to enjoy the ride, very very much.  It was such a joy to be pedaling again.  I love the sound of ice cracking underneath the wheels.  The wind was chilly, but nothing unbearable and even felt very nice after I had warmed up.  The trail also rides differently in winter, some places become easier because the sand gets hard and compact, other places become more difficult because of ice or leaves.

After a very exilirating 40 minutes, I had to leave.  Not because of the weather, but my sunglasses.  They're too dark at 3:40 PM.   

PS: Some green on the trail.  It's the only picture I took, cause I didn't want to take off the gloves again :-)

blue, white and green

What's your favorite colors?  I'd say blue, white and green after the camping trip.

We left on June 30th and headed north to Traverse City State Park, where we would spend 4 days and 3 nights there.  It took roughly 4 hours of drive from Rochester Hills.

This is my first time camping since the age of 11; everything was as good as I remembered.  Loved dipping in the beautiful blue lake and waking up to the sunlight and the caws of crows.  The wonderful scents of late night and campfire brought me back to many many years ago. 

My favorite place?  Sleeping Bear Dunes.  Look at the pics and you'll know why.

The entrance:    

White sand, blue lake and blue sky.  What more can one ask for?

Nolan had the most fun eating sand.

I'm glad I didn't go all the way down to the lake with Maya.  I can't imagine carrying her and climbing back up.  If I remember correctly, it's about 405 feet drop.

We also visited Chateau Chantal, a winery with great view.

Nolan at the winery.

Hesler Log House, built in 1856, located near Old Mission Point Lighthouse.

The little white house is the lighthouse.

Maya testing her balance on the beach.

I couldn't believe there are shells in the sand.

We also went cherry picking.  The cherries were so plump, juicy and sweet.  Unfortunately, I was busy picking the cherries and forgot to take some good pics. 

Nolan seemed to have too many cherries in his stomach.

Four days were as short as a blink.  I went home exhausted but refreshed.  I had dirt underneath my nails, a mountain of laundries to do, plus 2 dirty kids to wash.  But my only question is:

When can we do this again?