Us

... as a gingerbread family.  As imagined by Emma, just outside our pretty gingerbread house, among the candy cane trees. 

Christmas!

Oh, my goodness: a photo turned out*!  May your day also have a moment of grace amidst the chaos.

* Paul took it and made it look good.  I cropped out, as much as I could, the clutter and mess.   

Wild Times at Taipan

"Are you Yeti to party?"  


There was a change in plans (the noodle place had an impromptu vacation day) and we ended up at Taipan.  It remains a greasy spoon despite all the upscale renos. 

Go wild!  

Kevin tells me he and his friends had ramen and karaoke on the weekend for his birthday. Sure!  Sounds like fun (if not wild). 

James stole the show, spitting out a decent "Happy Birday", and then play eat with Celina.

It was a pretty tame and early night for a party.  But it was a Tuesday. 

I was happy, though they, Kevin and Veronica, technically "ditched us" for dessert.  Now that sounds like the right thing for a birthday. 

Things / words James learned / worked on: 

- Bui Gaw, Yee Jerng, Jai-jai (for Veronica) 

- Foods: hor-fun (flat rice noodles), gnow lam (beef brisket), dow-fu (tofu), cauli-fler (cauliflower)

(Above: What a spread!  But oh so greasy.)

Great Crepes! Earth Day

Chris, who's this who got married in 2017?  And, who's the kid?  :P

So, we managed to honour the Earth in one way today: we took a walk outside!

But not before having a nice big breakfast brunch.

James and I were spoiled with freshly whipped up crepes (Chris, Claudia, and Steph slaving at the hobs).  Though truth be told - James and I were pretty happy with just eating all those delicious fillings.

(Below:
1. Crepe Pig
2. Cucumbers are hard
3. Chocolate sauce? Yes.)

Chris (still planning out hosting Sunday Brunches) got us to brainstorming about other food ideas.  Crepes were certainly scalable, but I'm partial to a pancake.  Both, seemed to be similar, but not quite as awesome as his favourite Sri Lankan street food: hoppers (a version here).  Though I suspect (like crepes) it's almost all down to the delicious fillings.

(Below: Stare down!)

Eating in Sri Lanka takes us into stories about being the only white person in the whole room.  I've not experienced it.  I half wonder if it's the other side of the coin of how I felt when I was in Hong Kong...

(Right: See it's a chair and a drum!)

Chris had laughed at me when I bundled James (and myself) up for the walk in "the woods".  But see there (below): icebergs!  Vindicated!

 (Below: BASH, BASH!)

(Above Left: Nothing happier than a boy with a stick.  / Above Right: Anyone home?) 

(Below: Our beautiful hosts)

And since we were in the neighbourhood, we drop in on Celina and Theresa.  They were studying and cleaning up, and definitely up for a giggle break.

(Above: The sleepy Shaolin monk that I think looks a lot like *someone*)

I drop off James for his nap and head home for my own cleaning session.

Life can be really nice.

Time Lapsed - Some Old Photos

Mom had ideas for James (a bath, a nap...) -- so while we waited, Jackie and I flipped through some family photos.  Mom's albums were rarely labelled and weren't in any particular order -- neither the albums nor the photos were standard sized, so she stuck photos where ever there was space*. 

*I should take some pictures next time to illustrate that...

This is what we found:

Photos from Angela and Patrick's wedding (that would be 1978?).

Right: The tea ceremony at my parents'

Below: At the reception - Nancy, Gary, Theresa, Angela, Patrick, Donald, Tim, and Kathy

























Dad's early backyard gardening attempts (Jackie: "You were pretty handsome back then."  Tim: "I'm always handsome.")  

A studio photo from China, rare because it was one of the few we found of Linda (Linda, someone, someone else, someone else-else, and my grandfather 爺爺 - Linda and Dad's dad). 












Photos at Linda and Gary's house (based on the fact I wasn't there: 1976-1977?):

Left: Theresa, York, Tim, and Angela

Right: York, Tim, Theresa, and Angela

Below left: Donald, Gary, and Theresa

Below right: Ernie and Gary




















I know Jackie was really interested in the photos of China, but I was interested in the people I knew and, of course, me!  And so we have it:


Below left: Despite being 2 weeks early (and only 5 lbs 6 oz) I quickly "caught up" and became this chubby baby.  NB: They still have those couch cushions! 

Below right: Mom and me (at around 3 months-old, based on the X-mas tree). 






I'm looking forward now to my next visit to my parents'.  Goal: Photograph and label more of those photos!  (And ideally, find some evidence of me being a cute baby.)

Merry Christmas!

Love, Amazing Luck

James seemed so happy to see me that a light went off in my brain and my heart felt warm.  I've heard it before, and now I understand: this what it feels to be the subject of pure love, pure acceptance.

I'd actually dismissed Miriam Toews's "The Summer of My Amazing Luck" for being too unrelatable -- how could someone in such pain and poverty still have this lightness?  Living in that situation would be hard enough, and then add on being a single-mom with a young baby... her choices were so strange... (Though, even back then I still appreciated some of the beautifully written moments.)  I definitely counted her son as added burden, but I can see now how he could make things bearable, tolerable...

So does Theresa's repeated question, "Do you love me?" over and over again to her kids.  It annoyed me to hear it, (and likely them too since they always just responded with a sigh).  But, yep, one day it must change and it won't be as pure, unconditional, or obvious, and one has to ask.

This is another "enjoy it while you can" moment, isn't it?

Some admin: James officially has a middle name!

Canada Day - Naps, Blitz, Life

We had a fairly quiet morning -- James got some time with his friends (right).

Paul had a nap.  James had a nap.

And then we all head out to Riverdale to join the fam for their celebrations.

Well, sort of.  It was so hot we stayed inside for the first bit. 

Paul was pulled into Celina, Kevin, and Ryan Game of Life. I escape to get MY nap (finally :P). 

Yes, sleeping made me miss Life...but I joined in on "Blitz".

We eventually headed out to the community centre.  Theresa had a big pot KD mac & cheese ready. 

While others lined up for the barbeque, I hung out with James (he in the stroller) next to the salad table.  When people brought new things, I immediately asked about ingredients.  I'm glad this is only temporary. 

Good thing there was a tabuloeh salad, and fruit, else I would have been eating my plain pasta.  Oh, well, it's what I kind of expected (but I was too stubborn to give into my Mom's worrying).

Outside, Celina had a big reunion with friends (Sam and Pia). 

I caught the eye of another baby; his name is Atticus James!  This blonde cutie had a disturbing/cute play tent / sun shelter... but did one really want to crawl into the mouth of a shark?

Back at home, I gave James a bath (another one since it was so hot).  It worked!  He was actually happy to be in the water. 

(Above: Blitz in action)

(Left: Atticus James and shark tent)

(Above a rusty old Ford truck on the walk home -- coffee cup on the hood.)