What Planet Am I On?
Today was one of those surreal days… as if today is different from any other day, though… I don’t think so. Since returning from the Gold Coast I have orbited through Hong Kong for eight days and tomorrow I leave again. Orbit is exactly how it feels, coming close to the planet/home base but knowing that soon some type of gravitational force will shortly pull me away. Things are moving pretty quickly and all those plans I had to clean up my clutter, spend more time with the kids and family… well it’s happening and it isn’t.
Today was actually a pretty extraordinary day. Right now it’s 9:45 pm in Hong Kong… the trips went to bed an hour late and Sebastian is watching Veggie Tales… he should have been in bed 1.5 hours ago but you know what… I don’t care… tonight I’m gonna let him have his way and fall asleep watching TV. I’ve Mr. Drill Sergeant today and need to let up a little. Tess is quite tired and currently sleeping. (Ed note: Seb ended up volunteering to go to bed – with NO toy – at 10 pm.)
My HR team had a guest in from US HR this week and she’s very, very good at her job. We have this list in HK called the Pain Reduction Matrix… it’s a list of more than two dozen horrible time wasters… monkeys that we just can’t get off our back. Well, our US guest, being so good at her HR systems job, has found a way to eliminate most if not all of the Pain Reduction Matrix. BTW, my boss hates when I call it the Pain Reduction Matrix… he wants me to call it the Task Reduction Matrix! Sure… no problem… I’ll do that at work but not on my blog. (Note small print in profile!) Anyway, this morning some of the team arranged to meet at The Peak to go for a walk… something that I’ve wanted to do for a while with the Kettler Trike but we’ve just never quite made it past Bowen Road. Tess and I talked and decided to go for it.
We had a terrific time… took a little longer than we expected but fun nonetheless. Friend and colleague Paul brought Isabella who is somewhat of a “girlfriend” for Sebastian. At one point Sebastian and Isabella decided to run ahead together as opposed to riding trikes, and Sela actually piloted the Kettler for a good half hour. Amazing! Jasper had a hand at driving when Sela and Carys decided to run for a while and he did quite well. We wrapped up the two-hour walk/ride with wee wees and a quick snack. Tess left us halfway through to join a friend (Stephay for some online Amazing Race fun so on our way home we picked Tess up. The kids had leftover pizza for lunch and then raised havoc when they were supposed to be napping. Tess was wiped after naptime… not that the little rascals did any napping… so I did something I never thought I would do with the kids at this age… I took four kids grocery shopping by myself.
We had a little pow wow beforehand where all parties involved were forewarned that good behaviour, plus eating all their dinner, would be rewarded with ice cream for dessert. We drove to PNS (Park ‘N Shop) where Sela metled down in the parking lot because she couldn’t sit in her chosen spot. (This was not a big shop so I planned on all three in a shopping cart and Seb helping to push.) I said, “Sela, you either sit here or we go home.” This went on for two minutes.
Sela dug her heals in. “Okay then,” I replied, “we go home.” I put her back in her car seat, and Carys, too, which set her off. I explained to Sebastian that we had to go home and he started to cry. Jasper sat in the shopping cart bewildered. Somewhere in the middle of all the screaming Sela conceded, sat where I asked her to and we were on our way. I think Sela was a little miffed I was willing to Abort Mission so close to the store. Sebastian, however, is well accustomed to that practise.
The most important prop for this mission was The Lollipop. Once out of the parking lot (called a "car park" in Hong Kong) I pulled out the lollies. Everyone was happy but Seb was the first one to ask for the pink lolly. Therefore, I gave it to him. Sela went into orbit with anger and refused to eat her lolly. Finally I said to Sebastian, “Seb, forget it, we have to go home. Sela won’t eat her lolly because she doesnt have the pink one. She’s just going to cry the whole time and be uncooperative so we are going back.” We were 20 steps from the store front at this point with Seb just ahead of us. I pulled the shopping cart to a halt and started in reverse.
Then Seb did the most amazing thing. Unprompted he surrendered his pink lolly. “NO! No… no…” said Sebastian soothingly running back to the cart, “Here Sela!” and instantly traded lollies with her. Sela stopped crying, thanked Seb who muttered, “that’s ok” and we were on our way.
The kids were incredibly well behaved in the store – duh, no surprise with lollies in their hands! Thirty minutes later we loaded the grocery bags into the back of the car when there was a shattering pop… a bottle of sparkling San Pelligrono dropped through the bottom of a shopping bag and bounced on the pavement. On the second bounce glass and sparkling water exploded – in slow motion no less – all over the ground and my brand new MBT shoes.
I received my free MBT shoes on Friday after going to MBT’s Hong Kong office and receiving a lesson in how to walk with the curved sole. I opted for the leather business casual style since most of the walking I do surrounds work. I also didn’t want to get new and expensive running shoes muddy on HK trails where I do most of my running. You can imagine my reaction to see my new shoes covered in broken glass and water. Actually you probably can’t… I didn’t really react at all. After all… the shoes were free, it was only water, and any scratches from the glass would probably come from normal wear and tear in a few months anyway.
The kids were amazed at the science of glass and water splattered across the carpark pavement behind the car. This kept them quite distracted as I seated everyone back into the car. At home they had spaghetti and sausages for dinner and yes, ice cream, too, once Jasper accepted he had to finish dinner to get dessert. The triplets fell asleep in a moment and I let Sebastian watch TV while I tried to bring some normalcy back into my life by writing a blog. It’s also Remembrance Day today, too.
Surf’s Up!
Someone’s come undone
I am so, so tired. Months ago, when writing about my exhaustion, I didn’t think it possible to become more tired. I was wrong. I am so tired, and life is so nutty right now, that I am becoming severed from my reality. I feel dislodged from all my anchors. It’s just weird, and I am tired.
It’s Saturday night, the kids are finally in bed… what a bunch of nasty little critters WE had today. Let’s see… hmmmm… the highlights…
- Last night before going to bed Sebastian asked me to wake him up before I went to bed so he could do a wee wee because, "I had soooo much to drink." (He drank a lot of water between dinner and bedtime.) I forgot to do that. Turns out he didn’t wee the bed, but he did wake up at 6:25 AM to do a wee wee and wake-up the world… triplets, me… half the building. (But not Tess.) I was sooo, sooo tired that just after breakfast when Tess awoke she sent me to bed for a nap.
- Halfway through that nap someone – I think it was Seb – announced a poopers on the kitchen floor. I shot out of bed to discover Jasper had whipped off his PJs to plant a big one on the kitchen floor. As calm as possible very firm words – not yelling – were had with JJ. I could see the adrenalin coursing through his eyeballs as he reverted to tears. We made him scoop it up with tissue and plop the offending matter in the toilet. Then together he and I cleaned the floor and mopped it, too.
- Somewhere in the middle of all this a seriously stinky load wafted through the air. Carys! The payload in her nappy was soooo nasty, it started a case of nappy rash. Tess and I were stunned. Tess looked down, "THAT wasn’t there 12 hours ago." Remorseful Carys said, "thank you, Daddy" after I changed her diaper (as she always does.) I’m telling you, Carys is pure lady with manners but wow, she has toilet issues.
- I don’t know about Tess because we’ve hardly had a moment to talk today, but I was sooo tired this morning that nothing happened according to plan. Ideally, Tess would have had a lazy morning sleeping and recovering, while I took the kids to Bowen Road for a run on the trike. That never happened. Tess got up and we plotted taking the kids out to lunch somewhere different. That never happened. Time slipped by and toddlers continued to either demand time or burn through toys (read: throw toys everywhere) while we tried to get our world organized. No such luck. Finally I said to Tess, "let’s start by getting them all in the car." That worked, and finally Tess said, "let’s just go to the ABC for lunch." This was a major concession for Tess – I love the place because it reminds me so much of sailing as a kid and I just love the whole thing – but Tess tires of it… same menu, same environment, blah blah blah. But a terrific compromise was to order something competely different for the kids… NOOOOO chicken nuggets, instead they had sweet and sour pork, Singapore noodles and fried rice. They did okay despite the nasty and beligerant behavior throughout. (And Sela loved Tess’ chicken tikka as always.)
- Naptime… what nap? We arrived home to discover more poopers in nappies that we reacted to with various degrees of concocted poker faces. We warned the triplets that failing to nap – or any form of partying in their bedroom – would be met with confiscation of all bed toys. (Note Tess’ blog about what the kids love to take to bed.) One hour later none of the trips had any bed toys and Sela & Carys weren’t even wearing their Grobags. ARGH! The party continued until Sela & Carys stripped off their PJs and nappies. I stood above them in shock with every molecule inside me summoning a poker face.
- Playground nasties… with no nap to keep their moods buoyant, the afternoon quickly digressed. In the playground JJ had multiple time-outs for various infractions, although he did impress me with his ability to drive the four seater trike. Sela was a basket case… any little thing set her off and she easily spent 50%+ of the time crying. (We were on the playground for almost two hours.) Carys was remarkably calm. Sebastian was all over the map. When it came time to go home, Tess was talking to a good friend of ours, Mark, so she stayed for an extra few minutes. Carys felt she needed to accompany mom and stayed, too. This sent Sela into orbit, and she spent the next 435 minutes screaming her head off (okay ~ it was only 45 minutes but I think you get the point.)
- Dinner was on the edge but we got through it. Sebastian proudly shared his leftover ham and cheese panini from Friday night but the trips were not interested (other than Carys who will eat anything but we later had to check to make sure the thing wasn’t stored in her chipmunk cheeks.) The moment the trips throttled back on eating… "oh, all done??? Don’t want anymore… well then bedtime for you!!!" They went from nasty to sleep in above four seconds.
- Despite the usual cautionary comments about being a bit bossy etc, Sebastian generally stayed clear of the trips’ trouble throughout the day. He’s had better days but came in for a very pleasant landing while Tess read him a book, and I talked to him about his first dental visit in a few weeks while helping him brush his teeth. He was asleep in about ten minutes.
I stop to look back at the last 12 hours and think, "what the heck was that?" Tomorrow De & Lita will be back on deck since I fly off to the US in the afternoon. I am on my second rum & coke. In a few minutes I am going to self medicate with prescription drugs found – without a prescription – in none other than India that I guarantee you will help me get the ten hours sleep I so desperately need. You don’t like that idea…? Go ahead, spank me. I dare ya.
Back on the road (trike video, too)
I am tapping this out on my Blackberry while flying from Hong Kong to Shanghai. I’ve been fortunate with a travel hiatus the last five weeks – that’s changing. Here is what the next few months look like… today flying to Shanghai then on to Beijing on Tuesday, back to HK on Wednesday. In HK four days then fly to US for six days. Arrive back Sat morning. Spend Sat/Sun/Mon in HK then fly to Australia (Sydney then Gold Coast) for the week, returning Nov 3. I am then in HK for eight days, after which I go on a whirlwind ten day trip across Asia with our CEO, starting Nov 12: HK -> Mumbai -> Bangalore -> Bangkok -> Tokyo -> Sydney -> Melbourne -> arriving back in HK on Nov 21.
Wait there’s more… after 11 days in HK I head back out for the first week in December, return for five days, then do a quick trip to India from Dec 12 to Dec 17. That’s it for three weeks until I do a ten day trip to Orlando, Florida the middle of January 2007.
Whooosh… knowing this impending travel, and the energy required sustaining the pace, my body has been winding itself up in preparation. Not unlike the whine of a jet or helicopter engine starting up from "off" to a full blown roar of "let’s take-off!" My back tensing up has been a side effect of this wind-up. I finally had to get a massage on Saturday night. I feel better today but am still very tired.
The weekend was a little more hectic with Tess rightfully being cautious post-surgery. I’ll write later about our weekend. I have some very funny stories to re-count. Meanwhile, I will tell you that on weekends we often take the kids to Bowen Road on the four-seater Kettler trike. (The BMW of tricycles… a gorgeous piece of German engineering!) Obviously not this past weekend, but a few weeks ago we put together the video below to demonstrate this rather hilarious exercise routine.
By the way, Action Asia magazine recently ran a contest asking people to write in ten words or less how they maintain an active lifestyle. I wrote, "I run Bowen Road with four kids on a trike!" I didn’t win first prize (two round trip tickets to New Zealand) but I DID win one of the runner-up prizes: a pair of MBT shoes valued at over HK$ 2500! (US$ 310 or C$ 360.) I’ve wanted a pair of these state-of-the-art shoes for a long, long time, too. Wooohooo!
To reward those who have read this far… here’s the Bowen Road video! Please take a moment to rate the video and leave a comment. Thanks!
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Tess busted out
I picked Sebastian up from school at noon today (with his lunch in hand) and we went to the hospital to see Tess. That’s when I discovered that this morning the doctor granted Tess permission to go home, provided she goes home and "pretends" she is still in the hospital. Hmmm… I am not sure how that will work but it’s still a great thing that Tess is back at home. I am sure she will be blogging in no time and thanks to all the visitors who dropped by while she was out of communication. I am now back at work.
Errr… just about to push the publish button when Tess called… Sebastian was so excited to have Tess at home that he went into the bedroom to loudly announce her arrival to sleeping triplets. Chaos has once again arrived to our home! Aiya!
Meanwhile, we have a real live picture of the procedure taken with a mini-camera while inside Tess’ abdomen. Looks just like it does on the Discovery channel. I can’t post it without Tess’ permission but if you yell loud enough you might just get to see it. It’s pretty cool.
Tess is okay
A quick note before dashing off to sleep… Tess’ procedure took place today without incident. About fifteen minutes after returning to the Canossa I was sitting in Tess’ room when Dr. Chan called from the OR to say everything went according to plan. He had literally just finished and called me – amazing… that’s not something I expect from your average doctor. He told me he was still in his surgical gown and would join me in Tess’ room once cleaned up.
About ten minutes later Dr. Chan arrived in Tess’ room. He explained that everything was uneventful and Tess was recovering in the OR. After chatting for a few minutes he left and as he opened the door Tess was wheeled in on a stretcher. After settling her back in her bed she pretty much slept from noon until 7 PM, waking every few minutes to talk or drink some water. Tess is a very resilient person with a much higher pain threshold than her DH (blush!) and did very well post-op.
Normally, we would have prayed prior to her going into the OR but everything happened just too quickly for that to happen. (Lesson from Jesus: be more planful with your praying.) Tess told me afterwards that as she lay on the OR table about to go under she looked over to see a sign posted on the wall, "Hand all your burdens over to God, for He is with you now." (That’s about when I was sitting in Tess’ room praying and was awash with peace.) A few minutes later the anaesthetist, leaning over Tess’ arm, said to her, "I’m just going to give you a little gin and tonic…" and Tess was out like a light.
I spent the day in Tess’ hospital room getting caught-up on e-mails and finally left at 7:45. Just before leaving a nurse came rushing in to ask in excited Chinglish, "We R sending specimen to lab for testing need permission, want to see, OKAY?" Huh? Wait… Tess turned her head away as I asked, "Is that the fibroid?"
"Yes, the specimen," the nurse replied a little calmer but still excited.
To make a long story, the nurse and I disappeared into the private bathroom to look at the fibroid and I even took a picture. I know, gross, but eventually either Tess, Sebastian, Jasper, Sela or Carys will ask what a fibroid looks like and as their husband/father, I need to be ready with an answer. Observation reveals: a chopped up, cooked but pink italian sausage… and wow, yes it was huge. About the size of a large Fuji apple. Okay… TMI, I’ll stop now.
Amazingly, as I was leaving, Stephanie came to visit so Tess was not alone upon my departure. I am totally bagged and now heading off to sleep.
By the way, if you have not yet seen the video of Sebastian below, please take a moment to check it out!
