[pics incl] 05/15/12 Mom and I were at the grocery store and when we walked out the door there was a bird overhead in the rafters just singing away. We stopped a moment to listen and saw him up there so mom decided to take a photo. Hope you have a day where you can be serenaded by a red bird too! 😉
[pics incl] I didn’t do it 😉 The entire house and probably this side of our neighborhood has smelled like BBQ most of the day… that’s because Jeff has been smoking ribs… mmmm. Dad decided to make stuffed jalapenos to go with it. I “almost” offered to help… they were awesome so I’m really glad I didn’t! I was gonna show you pictures of all the ribs…. oops 😉
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I invited my mom to join a friend for lunch today and she also brought a friend. [NOTE: My friend’s mother is also named Patsy 😉 makes for interesting conversation 😉 ] The four of us were ordering our soup/salad and had been discussing the types of salad dressings at this restaurant. Which brought up allergies. Two of us were allergic to shellfish and I had made a comment that I don’t frequent places that serve shellfish because I feel hesitant to trust my allergy to a teenager in the kitchen.
When our soups/salads arrived, I was telling a story… I’m sure as only I can tell it 😉 Our main courses arrived shortly after, but since I was still talking, I was still munching on my salad. Mom leaned over and quietly said “you should stop eating your salad.” I assumed she was encouraging me to stop talking and move on to the main course so I took on the tone of a teenager and said “I can eat my salad and talk if I want to!” She just laughed and said… “yes,… but you didn’t ask me WHY.”… OK… WHY? “because you are breaking out in a rash up your neck and cheek and I think maybe you are allergic to something in your salad.”
WOW MOM… that is a really GOOD reason! 🙂
I was really enjoying that salad too…. but gonna have to cross that restaurant off my list of places to frequent.
Crisis averted… but only because I was … ummm…. encouraged… to listen to my mother. I suggest you just MIND!!!
This week is the week of Advanced Placement (AP) Tests and Finals week for the high school. The girls each have AP classes and if you happen to be in an upper level class with seniors, you had to take your finals early because their last day was last Friday.
We received an email today that one of our high school students had been selected to be part of a PISA pilot program. (I have no idea what PISA stands for and as of this typing, haven’t had a chance to look it up yet). The email went on to say that our high school was part of the pilot program that includes only 100 schools from USA, UK & “one other English speaking country”. Each school will have students taking the test. It says that the PISA based test is an assessment developed by “Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)” (yes, it’s spelled that way… well, in the email we received anyway) to help provide school level results that can be benchmarked in other countries around the world. You now know as much as I do.
First… I had no idea to which kid they were referring; although I highly suspected Ashley. Second, this is finals/AP testing week so I wasn’t sure how that would go over…
[NOTE: Yes, Ashley has been selected and even though it is finals/AP test week, they have worked around that schedule and she is willing to take the test on Wednesday, May 16th.]
[2nd NOTE: Ashley said only about 30-35 kids from our school took the test… I suspect because it was optional and to have such a comprehensive 4 hour test in the middle of AP & Finals week is a bit much to ask of students!]
[3rd NOTE: ok, looked up PISA: http://www.oecd.org/about/0,3347,en_2649_35845621_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
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I have been getting bombarded with telemarketing calls this week and Courtney kept telling me to let her answer them. She has previously dealt with them in past when they called her at school by turning on her “little girl voice” and pretending to break out in tears saying that her mommy told her not to talk to them 😉 However, this time after I received my 10th call in less than 7 hours, she answered the phone in Chinese and continued to speak to them in Chinese… they hung up. Still getting calls, but MUCH fewer now 😉
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[pics incl] I was driving around yesterday and since the weather had been “wet” the past few days, it was actually snowing in the mountains (which I think I heard the news say that it was the first snow seen up there since Feb??? and I believe that!) A couple of days ago, it was 33 degrees and WET, but not snowing… that’s just wrong. Peanut (our cat) came in and asked me to turn on the fireplace… yes…. I speak “cat” and that is what he said… I obliged him!
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Since “they” are remaking every other movie these days, I’m ready for a Godzilla remake or sequel. AND… it’s probably not for any reason you will guess (except maybe Courtney, she’s scary good at guessing!)
You see, I miss the Taco Bell Chihuahua commercial saying “here, lizard, lizard.” (yes, I like the “yo quiero Taco Bell” one just as much!).
I’ve tried to think of other reasons that this commercial could be reincarnated but the Geico gecko just isn’t a good enough substitute.
One Year Ago: http://blog.scottsontherocks.com/blog/2011/05/08/happy-mothers-day/
[pics incl] [it’s long… but I think worth the read] A good friend of ours, Kevin Leung, called yesterday and invited us to Dim Sum. About an hour before lunch, he called back and said some friends would also be there and he’d like to introduce us, so bring some business cards.
First, we had no idea what Dim Sum meant but we did know it involved Chinese food, so count us in! [In my totally “white” naive way, I have decided that Dim Sum is the Chinese equivalent to British High Tea and crumpets ;-)… you drink Chinese green tea and eat all sorts fabulous little Chinese appetizer type foods].
Second, we have learned that maybe we should ASK Kevin for more details when he invites us out to appetizers with some friends.
It turned out that Kevin had invited us to the Chinese Spring Celebration. Yeah, that’s not just a Chinese holiday-type party, with food… this included everyone who is anyone in the Chinese community in Colorado, the local councilman and our U.S. Congressman Mike Coffman. [I leaned over and told Jeff that I was REALLY HAPPY that I had decided that I should not wear jeans!] Kevin had purchased an entire table at this event and invited us. There was a seating chart for the table and somehow… my name was the only one they spelled correctly?!?! There were 4 white people… the councilman, the congressman, Jeff and myself 😉 [just kidding, there might have been 6 😉 ]
I decided to start snapping pictures with my phone and I leaned over and told Jeff, even if I cannot understand anything, THIS is definitely “blog worthy.” 😉
The entire proceeding (except for about 1 minute where Congressman Coffman spoke) was entirely in Chinese. Needless to say, it was completely obvious when I wasn’t clapping or laughing at jokes, that I did not know a word of Chinese. 😉 I have to say though, that it was VERY interesting and even fun to watch.
At one point, during all the Chinese presentations… all of a sudden, everyone stopped, looked at our table and pointed. UMMM…. Monina yelps, “dad, pay attention!” And Kevin promptly stood up to be recognized.
Congressman Coffman went to every table to meet everyone and made a special point to talk to the Leung girls, asking each one their grade, school and favorite subject.
THEN… there were door prizes 😉 They had made it more than halfway through the list of prizes and Jeff mentioned that he was GLAD they hadn’t called his name because we probably wouldn’t understand them if they did call our names. Keep in mind that there is a lot of talking and presenting going on but it is all in Chinese.
The “Scott” caught our attention 😉
Jeff won first from our table, he was embarrassed, so of course, I stood near our table to take a picture. Then everyone shouted at me, motioning for me to move, shuffling me by the arm and saying: “we are all Chinese and we like to take GOOD pictures, go move to the front, make them pose for a GOOD picture, we will wait.” OK… now I’m embarrassed 😉
More talking and presenting in Chinese…
Monina also won a prize! She had written her “Chinese name” on the slip so it took her a minute to realize they had in fact, called HER name! Hers was art depicting water dragons… ok, that one took a while for us to figure out they meant shrimp… So in fact, she has a painting of shrimp and took a picture with the artist.
I won next from our table 😉 I was posed next to a very elderly Chinese woman for photos. Then, another woman came and spoke to me. She was presenting this elderly woman as “the oldest Chinese mother” in their community. I immediately recognized the honor and wish that I could have spent much more time gleaning stories from someone who was obviously an amazing woman with a rich history to offer! If nothing else, I think I have learned from my girls, to say “Thank you” in Chinese… so I did. Either I pronounced it correctly, or she recognized my effort… or I actually told her to give me a bear hug 😉 The elderly woman gave me a great big hug.
Jeff and I were then promptly dubbed “the lucky couple.”
I will never again assume a last minute lunch invite from Kevin is just lunch. 😉
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