Dad’s 80th Birthday Party
For a terrific account of my dad’s 80th birthday party, hop on over to Tess’ blog. Tess is still in Canada but managed to write an update. I also added some pictures. The party was held on Friday, February 8th. I flew in from Fort Lauderdale, arriving into Toronto at 2 PM. I left for Hong Kong the next morning at 8 AM. A short but worthwhile visit! While in the US, I happened upon a costume store and bought a gorilla outfit – something I have always wanted. I wore the suit for about an hour to greet the first 20 – 25 guests. Of course, no one knew the door monkey’s identity until I went upstairs to change… but of course the cat was out of the bag when everyone saw gorgeous Tess while I was changing! For more details on the party, please visit Tess’ blog!
Meanwhile, do you like my outfit?
Dreamy Delights
From our guest blogger, MoZiLLa…
The end of our second full day here and will be in bed at exactly the same moment the children are 🙂 We did that last night and both of us were OUT by 8p.m.! Ah, the joys of jet lag.
The children are very gorgeous and I notice a difference as to how welcoming they are to us – it is like they know us and are so glad to see us – lots of hugs and sharing. Seb is not so happy with life in general and we are all trying very hard to figure how best to help him. I had a "Grandmother’s Dream Situation" this afternoon when JJ and I lay down together and he fell asleep beside me (he had coughed and coughed and coughed early this morning and was so tired). I lay there and just soaked in the beauty of the moment – dear little man.
Much love from all of us here – M xox
Visitors from Canada
I left on January 26th for a two week plus business trip to the US. During my first week away, Tess’ parents – Blake and Maureen, the latter referred to as "Mo" by the kids and others as MoZiLLa – arrived for a visit. Once again, here is our guest blogger, MoZiLLa!
We were so impressed by Oasis Airlines and recommend it highly. So pristine – even the bathrooms were sparkling. Not like Air Canada where both of us at times have used bathrooms that had a good inch of ….. er… urine on the floor in the corner? Quite gross.
We took the airport express into town and there was Tess with Gary and the van. We were not expecting her/them so this was a lovely surprise. Gary and Marianne are delightful and already we are very fond of them. The children are so beautiful and we see maturing differences since the summer. Conversations are ‘deeper’ and fuller; their speaking is progressing per expectations; their energy is amazing! They are very loving towards us. I had a grandmother’s dream yesterday when JJ, who had coughed a lot in the early morning hours, was sagging after lunch. He and I cuddled on Blake’s and my bed – now a sofa – and I watched him succumb to the arms of Morpheus, all in my arms. Sigh. Sigh.
The weather was nasty today (Saturday) and we had a slow and lovely morning – Charles is in the States. Tess gave Gary and Marianne the day off, bless her, as there really was no reason not to. We all eventually got dressed, took a cab and headed to Cyberport – a state-of-the-art mall, where the kids could run and run. It was so empty. Then we had a bit of lunch….. the state of the floor under the table and chairs by the time we were finished was amazing!! On our way home we stopped at a really nice children’s toy store and each child was allowed to purchase a small item which they then played with upon returning home. JJ is now resting again as he really isn’t feeling great.
Blake and I have been in bed by 8 p.m. each night since we arrived! Not only in bed but asleep! Seb seems to be up at 6 a.m. these days so am trying to keep things quiet in the early morning so that Tess can rest up.
It is a joy to be here, needless to say. Haven’t got one thing planned for the Philippines, where B;ake & I hope to escape for a few days, so that should be interesting!
First day here we were in The Lanes! (A very popular shopping area in between buildings in Central/downtown that has been there for decades and the HK government is trying to close.) Such a fun place. In this city of 8 million we walked straight into Sandi while in the Lanes. Can you believe it? As we walked in the 1p.m. crush (lunch is at 1p.m. in the professional world in HK) on a major thoroughfare downtown Blake and I looked at each other, shook our heads and tried to assimilate the differences in our world in the last 24 hours. Yesterday we wandered up to Chi Foo where there is a shopping mall – more of an old world look and feel to it. They even have a Wet Market there and of course we wandered through. The smells at times are really pungent and more than I care to sniff! And when we came across loads and loads of live chickens in cages and saw ‘the chopping block’ I told Blake I wouldn’t be lingering there and moved on smartly. Yug. The other thing that caused my stomach to quiver was seeing eels in buckets – they look too much like snakes and the combination of that along with their impending death…. well, you get it.
Tra la, that is it to date. Much love to you and keep well.
M xox
Pictures from Christmas 2007
I haven’t been blogging much lately and there is a definite reason why that I will share in due course. For now I wanted to post some photos from Christmas 2007. Sebastian got the big picture probably as far back as 2005 – in other words the excitement of Christmas morning – but this was the first time it really sank in with the trips. Tess already shared about Christmas Eve at church. After the kids were in bed we placed presents beneath the tree and stockings on the sofa. I must admit, this year I was very organised with almost not last minute shopping or wrapping. Tess and I were in bed in good time and this was the scene. The little elf has been in my family for decades. I think he and his fellow companions, still in Toronto with my dad’s Christmas ornaments, first debuted when we were in The Bahamas for Christmas when I was six years old. My sisters and I were forewarned by our parents not to expect much when we woke up Christmas morning because we were all packed aboard a very small sailboat. 
But wow… I’ll never forget waking up to find my parents had decorated the inside of the boat with ornaments and all sorts of little presents and stockings waiting for us! Meanwhile, here are some pics of Christmas morning. At left the kids sit on the sofa just prior to opening their stockings.
Here the girls enjoy drawing in some new books and also try their hand at putting make-up on… I think that’s Cinderella underneath all the layers. Poor thing looked a mess by the end of the effort. Tess and the girls ended up "giving her a bath." A fun way to clean=up (read diversion), of course!
Jasper sports his new Buzz Lightyear costume – I think he’ll need six months to grow into the outfit but in the interim was willing to share with Sebastian – while Sela and Carys show-off their new pink tutus. The girls were thrilled with this present since they have a book called "Pink Tutus" that they absolutely love. It was as if the book had suddenly come to life for them.
The girls continue to show-off their pink tutus, accessorised by some gifts from Aunty Penny in Toronto: fairy wings, tiaras and magic wands. They were absolutely thrilled and also play "back-up" to Jasper after he received his new guitar. JJ will definitely turn out gifted in the musical area. He loves to sing and this present – inspired by Tantalising Tess – was probably the most favoured present he has ever received ins hi life. He likes to sleep with it!
Finally, last but not least, Tess admires a gift from Sebastian that he proudly made at school. For the remainder of the day Tess and I prepared for some friends to come for dinner: four adults and eight kids. Great time was had by all! I know these are from a month ago but was it worth the wait?
IFC Christmas Party
Just before Christmas I took the kids to the IFC Christmas Party, held on the top floor/roof/podium of the IFC complex where I work… don’t get too excited, that’s about the 4th floor – the office buildings tower up on either side. The building behind Santa is where I work, overlooking the harbour. At the party we were joined by Terri, who we know from Union Church, and her daughter Olivia, who was a classmate of Sebastian’s at Small World last year. The party consisted of many inflatable rides, inflatable obstacles courses and gigantic cartoon characters. Horrendous food line-ups meant we topped off the afternoon at Ben & Jerry’s for ice cream. Below are some of the pictures from that afternoon. Enjoy!
