Coincidence, The Unexplained or Both?
The most bizarre thing just happened to me. I am on the 15 hour CX flight from LA to HK. I watched “The Exorcism of Emily Rose,” which was an excellent film. (Based on the recent and true story of a US-based Catholic priest who was charged with murder after a girl died during an exorcism.) Naturally, any discussion about God and the voltage turns up. Sensors awake. Antenna receiving.
After the movie I drift around the plane, turning the film’s content over in my head. I stretch my legs and returning to my seat, stop to get a drink.
Splash! I look down and the flight attendant spilled a glass of water down the back of my leg. She is extremely apologetic and helps me clean it up. Not much damage.
I return to my seat but feel a slight headache coming on. Decide to take an Ibuprofen and more juice, since plane headaches can grow while one is asleep. Stay hydrated, too. I return to get a glass of juice from the flight attendant. I haven’t been gone longer than two minutes.
Splash! I look down and another flight attendant spilled a glass of water down the back of my leg in the exact same spot. She is extremely apologetic and helps me clean it up. The first flight attendant watches the whole thing in disbelief. Now I’m wet.
I return to my seat, on the way telling a colleague what just happened. “Buddy, you better sit down,” he says. I do exactly that.
Splash! I look down and the guy sitting across from me knocked over his water glass. The water splattered across the aisle and all over me.
Three glasses of water thrown on me in less than four minutes after watching The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
Coincidence or part of the unexplained?
Cuter Seb Moments
Like any four year old, Sebastian has an incredible and sweet imagination and then some. Here are two adorable things recently demonstrated by Sebastian:
Shaving
For well over a year Seb likes to join me in the shower many mornings. Up until a month ago this primarily involved playing with a bucket (that often substituted for a boat, car, train or bus) and Nemo, Dory, Marlin and Crush. At Seb’s November birthday party, though, he received a play shaving kit. The kit consists of shaving foam (foamy blue soap), plastic play razor, shaving brush and small mirror.
The kit really changed the dynamic of our showers. Now he loves to shave. The other day when we had to run out somewhere in a hurry, there was no time for a shower and instead we shaved at the sink. Tess captured the moment in this pic!
Computers
As you can imagine, Sebastian is becoming inceasingly interested in computers. He regularly sees Tess at the computer doing her work – writing articles etc. If he asks what she I’d doing, she’ll say, "I am doing some work." Same with me… sometimes I’ll be working on my laptop or our home computer. Seb will arrive from the playground, for example, and will ask, "Are you doing your work, Daddy?"
So now, Sebastian is doing work, too. If we are going out or asking Seb to do something, occasionally he will answer with, "I can’t right now, I am busy doing work." Usually he says this very innocently with no attitude. I’ll ask, "How long will you be?" and he’ll normally explain that he’ll be done in "just a few minutes." I am okay with this, taking it as a chance to teach patience and planning.
Patience is something a little lacking with Sebastian, especially when HE wants to use the computer but it is already in use. The other day he became increasingly anxious and finally I suggested we find his keyboard. (Long ago we gave him an old keyboard to play with.) A short while later I handed Sebastian an old wireless keyboard and mouse. Off he went to do his work.
Sebastian quiet for the longest time. It was just before bedtime, triplets asleep, and I wondered if maybe he had nodded off himself somewhere. I got up from the computer to investigate. As I walked down the Sebastian came walking out of the playroom. I asked him, "Have you been doing your work?"
"Yes," he replied excitedly.
I walked into the playroom to find the keyboard sitting on the sofa and a chair in front of the keyboard. But the sweetest part, was who Sebastian was using as a computer: Baloo. Perched beyond the keyboard was Baloo… "Is this the computer screen?" I asked Sebastian.
"Yes," he replied excitedly. His imagination was so endearing it broke my heart.
The Last Christmas Cake
I am writing from my old bedroom in my parent’s house in Toronto. I arrived last night after the 17 hour flight from Hong Kong. In a few hours I head to Orlando to attend a business conference. As one can imagine, since leaving Toronto in 1992, each trip back to this house – now only occupied by Dad after my mother passed away in 2002 – is a bit surreal.
My Dad and sisters picked me up at the airport and we spent the next several hours sitting around the kitchen table of "124" getting caught-up. We all love Christmas Cake and broke out a cake with maybe ten slices remaining. My mother was known for making excellent Christmas cakes, giving them away to friends and family as presents. As we carved through the brandy soaked cake – helps to preserve the cake! – suddenly my Dad said, "This is the last one."
"What do you mean? I thought you were making them now?" I said.
"I am. But this is the last one your mother and I made together: November 2001," Dad replied. We all sat there staring at the cake… fruit, nuts, flour, sugar… brandy… just a cake but maybe more. Something my mother created with her own hands long ago, and fifteen years later we didn’t want to let it go. (That’s my mother’s hand writing, identifying the type of cake and year made.)
"Maybe we should freeze a piece. Keep it forever," I suggested. As much as everyone thought that was a wonderfully sentimental idea, it was not to come to be. Instead we kept eating until one piece remained.
"You have it," Dad said.
"No, we should share it," I suggested as I cubed the last slice into four pieces. I took the plate, offering a piece to everyone.
"Here’s to Mummy," Carolyn said, and it was gone.
This prompted a hunt for the recipe that apparently has been in progress for months. "It’s in the large cookbook scrapbook," I explained that was met with, "we’ve looked there and couldn’t find it."
Again I said, "It’s in the large cookbook scrapbook!" That book showed up on the table a few minutes later. Penny flipped through the aged, dog earred pages and soon found the recipe, "Dark Christmas Cake."
"That’s the one," I said but the book and it’s contents, years and years old, were falling apart. On this page were recipes for a light Christmas cake, dark Christmas cake, Christmas pudding and a few others.
"Ooooh dear," Penny said in a soft delicate voice. "These are falling apart. We need to copy them out before we lose them forever." I whipped out my digital camera, and snapped each recipe. Digitally preserved forever.
I slept about four hours then awoke. I’ve been lying here in the dark typing on my Blackberry. I’ve spent many nights in this room, or the one next to me. At one point my mind took me back to what I was doing years ago… I went back in years of five…
Five years ago: 2001 in Hong Kong, Tess and I were about to move into our current home. The year Seb was born. The Last Christmas Cake was made.
Ten years ago: 1996 in Vancouver. Halfway through grad school, would leave four months later for Hong Kong.
Fifteen years ago: 1991 in Toronto. Running my business, a few weeks later I would participate in The Forum for the first time. Twenty years ago: 1986 in Omemee, Ontario. In my 2nd last year @ Trent University, living alone on parent’s farm as a student.
Twenty-five years ago: 1981 in Toronto. Last year of high school.
Thirty years ago: 1976 in Toronto. In Milneford Junior High, the year of the sailing Olympics, Bondi Lodge with family friends one weekend in January.
Thirty-five years ago: 1971 in Toronto. Grade Four, we took my first trip to Orlando two months later. Stayed at the Sand Dunes Hotel.
Forty years ago: 1966 in Toronto. Attended Bayview Glen Junior School. My first memory of Christmas was a few weeks earlier when my parents surprised me with a beautiful, red, fire engine. I awoke about 6 AM and had to be peeled off the ceiling in my excitement. My mother came to the top of the basement stairs and said it was okay to play with the truck (it was a one seater) but I couldn’t ring the bell while people were asleep. (Familiar words I now use today with Sebastian.)
All here, all in this house. The Last Christmas Cake may be gone but the circle of life continues.
Happy New Year!
We are now well into 2006, been to church and back, and the babies are having a nap before we head out to Wanchai Gap Playground to meet up with friends. I am doing some planning and preparing of the 2006 Blog. Please take a moment to answer the poll in the right hand column. (And while you’re at it, please leave a comment.) Meanwhile, here is a fun game I saw the last few days… each month’s first line of my blog since inception last April (pretty boring actually – I’ll try to do better!)…
April 2005: I doubt my father will be thrilled with my inaugural entry into the blogging world.
May 2005: We’ve been manoeuvring down the highway of life playing Preemie Pinball now for the last fourteen months.
June 2005: I have left on my business trip to the US.
July 2005: … back in Hong Kong. Wow, what a buzz.
August 2005: So sorry for the lack of updates… have been nutty crazy the last few days.
September 2005: For most of my life I have been aware that God has been knocking on my door.
October 2005: I am on my way to India today with my new boss.
November 2005: Last week, we had friends visit from Canada – Paul & Fran.
December 2005: The long absence is due to excessive travel.
