Steamed Pork Buns. WHAAAT?

I'm having an identity crisis.

I am Canadian...

....with Dutch roots.

*I love hagel and cheese and droppies and pickled stuff.

*I think that sarcasm is normal.

*I understand why the Dutch think they are better than anyone else.

*I appreciate the value of a clean house.

*I know all the Dutch jokes.

*I recognize a Dutch accent (and then proceed to ask someone where they're from, which turns into an awkward conversation with me pulling out all the dumb words I know from childhood-- some of them bad-- and I digress...)

*I'm good at Dutch Blitz (ok, that's Mennonite, but I'm still better at it than you-- please refer to point #3 above)

And here is where the conflict comes in.

I love Chinatown and Chinese food and Chinese people.

Chinatown is where you walk into a crazy, junk-filled, Buddha-laden, incense-smelling, screen-and-pottery store that sells life- sized replicas of a terra cotta warriors, and Chairman Mao t-shirts. And you feel like you need it all. Plus, you can bargain. It's a shopper's paradise.

So many treasures. For so little money. And they only take cash.

I walked away from the made in China goodness and across the street--to the "New Town."

Here's the deal. When you enter a Chinese restaurant and you can't understand anything anyone is saying to you because you're the only white person in the place, it's probably a good place to eat. Now, this was not my first time there. My Chinese friends took us a few months ago and tried to humiliate me by ordering weird things in a language I cannot understand. I'm on to his tricks. I just point at the pictures now.

And at the "New Town" they have THE. BEST. STEAMED. PORK. BUNS. EVER. I'm serious about this, folks. For $1.30 you can enjoy the most delicious treat. If you are adventurous, try the "Bola- Bola" variety. I won't tell you what it is, you'll just have to point at the picture.

These buns are filled with bbq flavored minced pork wrapped with a soft, sweet dough and steamed in giant oven-like steamers. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Oh, and they have this perfectly cheeky waitress who thinks that dumb Dutch folks know nothing about Chinese food, so she gives you the best smirky "you know nothing, dummy" looks as she deposits the hot tea in plastic cups on your table.

But, this little Dutch girl TOWERED over everyone in the restaurant. You should have seen the looks my 6'4" husband got! Hilarious! I think they thought he was a circus act. But, I couldn't understand what they were talking about, so they could have been saying wonderful things like-- "look at that nice family out with their children" or "did they take a wrong turn" or "back away from the pork buns, kids. "

I think that they knew I was coming today and tempted me with the butter cream pastry horns dusted with icing sugar. Do you see those swirly butter cookies in the photo above? Don't they look Dutch to you? Sense the conflict??

You know what's ridiculous? I only had $8 on me. That meant I could only get 5 pork buns today. If I had bought 6, no tax. DOH! Conflicted Dutch girl doesn't like to spend more money than she has to.

So, we left with 5 beautiful steamed pork buns wrapped in a tidy box. I'm not sure why we even bothered with the packaging. We knew the scarfing would begin at the door to the car. My kids know that steamed pork buns are delicious, and I tried to distract them with a granola bar. No such luck. They're on to me.

We sat in the car with 1 minute left on the meter and enjoyed the sweet, soft, bbq flavour of the pork buns. And I couldn't help but think... what if they stuffed them with droppies?

Conflict averted.

An Art Teacher's Best Friend

Someone once told me that teachers are just thieves. Ok, we are held to a higher moral standard, in general, but, I really have to agree.

I admit it.
Most of my best teaching ideas are not original.
There, I said it.
I am a thief.
Wow.
This is cathartic.
Ok. Now that that is out of the way. Here is the best site I've stolen from lately.

http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/





Best Art ideas, ever.
Try the snowmen and the sparkly poinsettias. Love them.

Oh, and you're welcome. *wink*

Family Pictures

*I had this post sitting in my "save now" pile. Oops. I forgot to post it. So, better late than never!*

My mom loves Christmas traditions. She has great expectations of how things should look and go on Christmas day. I decided to be a little cheeky this year and got us all funny t-shirts to wear at dinner rather than fancy clothes. Christmas is on a Saturday this year. To me that means casual day. So, during a trip to the Bellingham Wal-Mart, I found these shirts. They just spoke to me. "Buy me. Buy me." When clothes speak, you have to listen.


*So, here I am wearing my Grinch shirt. It's green with a Grinch face. I love it. It says so much without saying anything at all.
*Mike is wearing a "leg lamp" shirt. It says "a major award" all over it.
*A's says "Dear Santa, Save time and skip my sister."
*R's is "My sister did it" with a picture of a broken ornament
*E's is "Dear Santa, I was framed."
*Ruri has a Mickey Mouse with "joy to the world" on it. I don't think she would have liked a cheeky Christmas shirt.

A perfect family Christmas.

Why I love Saturday Mornings.

I think Saturdays are God's gift to the week. In particular, Saturday mornings. No one has to be anywhere, really. Well, unless they planned something. BUT WHY? WHY?! Why would you subject yourself to another rush-around kinda morning? (Ok, I had a little bit of a rush around with A today to get her out the door for choir camp, but now, nothing). No plans= good.

1. I love Saturday morning waffles. Who can justify eating strawberries and whipped cream as part of a balanced meal on any other day? Milk. Fruit. Bread group. It works. We recently acquired a new-to-us Waring Pro Professional Waffle Maker. This is the flip over kind that you've used at hotel breakfasts. It makes absolutely perfect waffles. The syrup fills the little squares just right. Then I discovered this great pancake mix-- Sunny Boy made with Spelt flour-- at my favorite store (Costco). Super duper goodness. In fact, I am enjoying one right now as I write this.

2. Coffee. It pairs perfectly with the aforementioned waffles. But, I'm turning into a coffee snob. Life is too short to drink bad coffee. Sorry all you Tim Horton's fans, but I'm a Starbucks girl (Grande Americano no room, please). I prefer to use a french press (Bodum) when I'm at home (And, I bought one for my camping kit, too). I grind the Starbucks espresso beans that I buy at.... wait for it.... Costco. Again, I am enjoying a cup of this black gold as I sit here.

3. Sleeping in. I consider 8 AM sleeping in. Yes, I am a mom.

4. DVD players. One thing I learned early on is to embrace technology and teach it to your kids. This is why my then 2 year old knew how to work the VCR. Saturday mornings are "watch what you wish until mom and dad get up" days. Don't wake mom and dad, kids. It's not worth it.

5. Projects. This is the part that Mike hates. He would prefer to sit and play video games all day. I want to clean stuff and declutter and feel productive. We had to establish a rule that states we were allowed to be lazy until noon. After that, game on.

6. I'm probably still wearing my pj's. Yup. Still am. Must be Saturday.

Why do kids have to be so mean?

Our 10 year old wants her own email address. Everything in my being screams "NO!" But, there is that small little niggling that says, "ah, just go ahead, it's harmless." Thankfully the sane part of me is louder than the niggling.

So, we've compromised. I let her use our email address. I have to put up with the odd "LOL" TTYL, sixteen fonts, and eleven different colour emails that show up from all her little buddies, but I think it's safer than online chatting. I can monitor everything that comes through. I am so glad that I monitor this.

A is a very sensitive, soft-hearted kid. She is so concerned with the well-being and feelings of others that she just cannot fathom it when others are not the same. Back to the email thing...

I intercepted an email that went like this:
From A--

Hey! When Is your birthday party?? JC.(Just Checking) TTYL.

Reply--

I really don't know. Just to prepare you, you may not be invited... don't take it personally. It's just your not my FAVOURITE friend. But your up there! (Just not close enough. sorry) TTYL! see ya!

DON'T TAKE THIS PERSONALLY?!?!?!?! I'm sorry, but I took it personally. I deleted the email. I grounded her off email. I grounded her off the computer. I wouldn't let her phone. I was choked!

And then I slept on it.

In the morning, with more clarity, I explained to my uber-sensitive child that some kids don't think about the consequences before they share things. I knew A would be devastated by that response. There were tears. There were many questions. Then we talked strategy.

So, overall, this became a learning opportunity. But, it still stings.

It's really hard not to put your own feelings into something like this. I can remember when so-and-so bugged me about wearing a purple coat to school. Even though Mom bought me a trendy rainbow scarf, it didn't soften the blow. I was scared off purple for years! Dad still bugs me about it. Parents are supposed to protect their kids from hurt. I was so disappointed that I couldn't help her avoid the pain. And yet, it still exists.

Where do we go from here? Not sure. But, we are learning along the way.

Friday Nights

When I was working full-time, we decided that Friday nights would be "pizza/movie night". Although I'm not working full-time now, the tradition has stuck. Our kids look forward to this every week. No one has to ask "what's for dinner," I don't have to think about what's for dinner, and the kids get to choose the movie. (Last night it was "Nana Mack-pee" as E likes to call it). We've even made a dumb song about it. It's called "comfy cozy night." I'm sure it's destined to be a top 40 hit one of these days. PJ's and blankets are a must, and it's the only time we're allowed to eat in front of the TV.

Mike has some conflicting emotion with this movie choice, particularly when the Canucks are playing. And, how many times can one family watch "Finding Nemo" before the parental decision of "not again" needs to kick in!? Sometimes, we just sit at the table and let our kids zone out. It's kind of like a date at home. Sometimes we have let other people share our comfy cozy night. Like last night. Mere and Kevin joined us. We like them.

Most of the time we have pizza from Costco. But, this week they were sold out of my favorite kind. The nerve. So, we decided to order the best deal in take-out going... Rendezvous. We fed 8 people for $40. Yes. Best yet, instead of paying for a taxi, Kevin helped us pay for dinner. (Gosh, I like that guy. He's going to make a great bro-in-law). Let me clarify... I was his taxi. I drove him around yesterday. I drove Mere around yesterday. Did I earn my dinner? Well, I'd like to say that it was a you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours kinda day. Again, I like them. It works out.

Lately, Mike has been pre-occupied with getting ready for Friday night hockey instead of sitting down and watching a show with us. Truthfully, it suits me just fine. Friday has become my mindless night. I just save up all my taped TLC shows of stuff he hates to watch and have a little "I can't believe she would wear that" fest. So, instead of hating Friday nights, I really look forward to them. Perhaps it's the routine. Perhaps it's the TLC shows. Or, it could be the fact that I like my kids and I like spending time with them. I figure, if I invest the time and energy into them now, they will keep coming back later on.

So, Friday night is family night in our house. Don't mess with it. It's tradition.

Working Mom.

I am a working Mom. I know that means different things to different people. To me, that means I work inside and outside of my house. I don't get paid money to work at home, but I get paid in other ways-- hugs, pictures of E's, cards, letters, kisses, thank yous... It's rewarding in its own way.

Three days a week, though, I dress up, grab my briefcase, and head off to work.

I really like working. I feel human. I have adult conversations. I get to impact the lives of different people.

Because I work part-time, I get the best of both words, I think. I get asked: "Is today a Mommy-day" and get rewarded with a big YESSS! and a grin. I get to go on field trips. I get to help in my children's classrooms. I get to be home when the girls get home from school.

What's the cost?
We have to pay for daycare.
We need to run two cars.
I'm tired when I get home.
I really hate making supper on my work days.
I hired a house cleaner.
It's hard to be a "part-time" teacher.

I'm happy with our family decision to have me work. I am so thankful that I have a husband who supports me.