Matt was awarded a trip to Cancun by his employer for meeting his sales goal in the past year. He and Dawn spent three days in Cancun, plus two days traveling there and back. And I watched Brandon and Sophia while they were gone. I'll admit it: I was unsure of my ability to oversee them for five days. If they listened, if they obeyed, it would be no problem for me. If our views of how things should be done conflicted, the days would seem to be unending.
Matt had given each of the kids a gift card and their choice of activity Sunday was to go shopping! They wanted to end up at the mall, but had stops to be made on the way. We alternated: a stop here for Brandon, the next stop for Sophia. They were good shoppers. If they couldn't find what they wanted, we moved on. Eventually both were satisfied. Sophia found nail polish, fake nails and bear-faced cushy slippers. Brandon added to his football card collection. I guess one can never have too many.
Dawn and Matt were hosting a Halloween party when they returned, so I thought I'd help get ready by vacuuming. However, I couldn't get into Brandon's and Sophia's bedrooms because of all their toys scattered about. While I helped Sophia move things to their proper places, I asked Brandon to move his to his bed. I expected an argument but for some reason, both regarded this chore as more of a game. Once Sophia's floor was clear and she was free to go play, I moved to Brandon's room.
He was still working diligently. He'd begun to fill the waste basket beside him with broken crayons, old school papers, and other trash. Before the session was completed, he'd filled and emptied the container three times. And he was still on a roll.
I had dusted the bedside table and chest and said I was too tired to do more but would finish in the morning. He wanted it done now, and went to find the step stool and then climbed it so he could dust and rearrange the items on his highboy. Next he moved to the closet where he straightened his shoes and hanging clothes. Finally the sports card notebooks and boxes containing those that hadn't been assigned a place were neatly stacked in the closet. He'd worked steadily for over two hours and was pleased by his accomplishment. I was flabbergasted that he'd stayed with the task and done it right! He was so proud and said that he intended to keep his room tidy.
It turned out to be a great week. They ate what I fixed (and asked for the leftovers the next night!). We also went out to eat at their favorite restaurant and brought home ice cream to eat while relaxing before bedtime. And they kept their rooms neat, although Sophia doesn't seem to be bothered by clutter and had to be encouraged to put toys away rather than just toss them into the room!
On the following pages, and in the other blogs listed below, are pictures of my greatest joys ~ the people and places that are part of who I am ~ and material written in celebration of life as I see it here at Park Place.
The gifts are wrapped, a handful compared to past years. The grocery shopping is done. It'll be a simple meal -- ham, roasted vegetables for those who will eat them and corn for those who won't. Buttercrust rolls. Peppermint ice cream in an oreo chocolate crust.
Brett has entertained family and friends with e-mail from China. When I woke up on the 11th, several notes from him were in my in-box:
Never look out of the taxi driver's front windshield. Always concentrate your eyes out the side windows as to avoid the hysteric reactions you may have.
Always double check the address your hotel translates into Chinese for the taxi driver. Otherwise you may find yourself at a border crossing with no papers.
Don't misplace anything. You will not be able to explain the simplest item for them to understand what it is you're describing. Not even remotely!!!
Fortunately Brett doesn't get upset when these mishaps occur. And he did embellish his telling of his adventures. There was no border problem. The cabbie was unsure of Brett's destination, so Brett called the client's office and a person there instructed the cab driver where he should take Brett. The notebook was left in the back seat of the real estate agent's car and after a phone call to him, the notebook was returned to Brett at his hotel the next day.
In his search for suitable office space and an apartment, Brett went first to Shanghai and then Beijing. The cost to rent an apartment in Beijing is about one-third what it is in Shanghai. He likes both cities for different reasons, so I'm confident he and Michelle will be happy wherever they live.
Michelle flew over last Friday. She sent e-mail saying, "Brett met me at the airport and was kind enough to show up with a bag of crispy fried duck feet." What a guy! Obviously he put a lot of thought into presenting Michelle with something that would make her week's visit memorable. They'll spend the days leading up to Christmas in Hong Kong and then fly home on the 26th.
A few days after Thanksgiving, Sophia was the recipient of the Elf on the Shelf she named Freddie. The first thing she does every morning when she wakes up is search the house to locate Freddie's perch for the day. Brandon isn't ready to talk about the existence of Santa, probably because he realizes that the excitement of Christmas will be diminished if Santa really doesn't arrive with a sleigh filled with toys and come down the chimney but instead pulls into the garage and hurriedly stows packages where little eyes won't find them.
Klamath County School District - © 2009 - All Rights Reserved | Designed, Developed & Deployed by Project A