Dim Sum Mum - Tess' Little Pieces

we had the greatest day.

the morning got off to a slightly slow start which was fine with us. carys actually didn't wake up until 8.30. it was a breakfast of bran flakes or pop tarts, and the boys chose pop tarts while the girls went for the fda approved meal, topped with maple syrup. ( a little trick their father taught them that i am not so pleased about).

at around 11am, just as charles was ending a conference call, i informed him and les enfants terribles that it was time to get out of the house. cabin fever had settled in. we didn't have a specific plan, but we knew it involved the car because charles isn't such a fan of public transport.

so we got in the car and headed toward stanley. this 20 minute drive is quite a long one for the kids and sebastian did ask, "are we there yet" twice. they asked what we were going to do, and charles and i said we didn't know. i really didnt. i did know that i wasn't crazy about the beach...it was COLD today and we are just getting past the ubersnotty nose stage, and i hate how the sand gets tracked back into the flat....as we drove by stanley, i said, "hey, lets go into stanley. there is a playground there, and parking." bonus for us, there was also a pacific coffee company.

stanley caters to tourists, and so despite that CNY is a time that all chinese take off work and spend with family, it appeared that at least half the shops were open. we bought some laichees, tangerines and grapes, and then i spotted some dresses that might do nicely for carys and sela. they do need nice winter dresses. the girls were enchanted, and all begging to go to a playground ceased immediately. (HAHAHA!) we settled on a very nice beige and blue dress (their choice, not mine, see how non AR i am?) and charles bought the boys batman costumes.

shopping completed, we went to the playground and stayed there for 120 minutes. enough for a trip to the pacific coffee company to use their bathroom, as both jasper and carys were desperate. sebastian and sela played together and were quite gorgeous. charles and i wrote postcards and sat in the sun that did more to warm us up than the tea did.

then it was time to move on. we told the kids we were going to the next adventure. they were enchanted. shopping for cool clothes, a playground AND more? what more? they begged and we honestly said we didn't know.

for a time we thought we were going to walk around the tai tam reservoir area, but there wasn't parking space. so we didnt. we continued around hong kong island to a very unique area called shek-o. it is an old fishing village and today is a mix of mansions and homes belonging to erstwhile fisherman. some three and two walled restaurants, and, a beach.

as we were driving into shek-o we realised there was a dragon dance going on. the kids were fascinated, and disappointed that charles couldn't just park the vehicle in the middle of the street. we came back to the dragon dance and followed the dragon as it wended through the village, darting into a couple of homes and "blessing them. it danced for a few more minutes in the community hall, and charles and i held two kids while sebastian and whoever we werent holding sidled their way to the front and watched, enchanted.

i saw they were getting ready to throw down the firecrackers, and knowing my kids hatred for loud noises, i motioned that it was time to go, and 20 seconds later, the bangbangbang started. hands went to ears immediately, and the kids didn't mind leaving.

from there, we wended our way to the beach, where  jasper threw sand, sebastian immediately sprinted to the rocks and started climbing, and the girls played mamma mia, printed their names, and looked for shells. there were some surfers, and we watched them, while admitting we were very glad we weren't them. we followed charles to where sebastian was climbing, and even though the tide was coming in very quickly, we all climbed steps up to a rock, and looked out into the sea. it was quite slippy and the tide was coming in quickly, so we didnt stay, but it was a great thing to do.

we got the kids down, clambered over the rocks, and encouraged them to run across the beach to the next bit of rockery. there was a bit of a climb there, which we took. then we told the kids, much to their disappointment that the adventure part of the day was done. they were sad, but agreed, SHOPPING! (dress and batman, something for everyone), PLAYGROUND PLAYING! DRAGON DANCING, BEACH, CLIMBING ON ROCKS, ADVENTURE WALKING was quite a bit for one day. then charles and i announced our intention to have a thai /chinese meal at one of the beachfront places. it was exellent. we ordered a slew of food and it was fantastic.  the kids ate and so did we. firecrackers were going off around us, but after a while the kids realised they needed both hands to operate their chopsticks (except sela), and so they uncovered their ears and used their hands to eat.

after the truly great meal, we walked toward the car and realised...the dragon dance had started again! yes, the dragon was marching into local shops and homes and delivering ceremonial blessings. and as we watched, the dragon climbed a ladder and put a head of lettuce into his mouth, while batting his lashes. the lettuce was offered to him on a rope, fisherman style. not sure of the symbolism. the kids loved watching this and despite the cold, we did watch for a while and then headed towards the car. as i walked i saw that the dragon was winding up, i pulled the boys to me and told them, "look!" and they turned and saw the firecrackers go off. they were thrilled.

it was a gorgeous day. unexpected, and just chockers with all the things that make me love hong kong. shopping, fresh fruit, the beach, culture, great food.

doesn't anyone want to come and see us???

and on another extremely important matter...

i read the other day that prince william and kate middleton have been dating for six years now. that's quite some time in royal circles, practically equalling how long andrew and fergie were married, isn't it?

because she doesn't have a job and because she basically seems to be sitting around and hoping for a proposal, (that seems to be two years away), she has been dubbed "waity kaity". not nice.

but what's a girl to do? it's not like she has a lot of options when dealing with the house of windsor. she throws a wobbly and the press knows about it and laughs at her. she doesn't freak out and they call her milktoast and walked over.

what would you do if you were kate? would you wait it out, live the limbo life of a royal in waiting? or would you break up with william? (take up with harry??) there doesn't seem to be any middle ground option for miss middleton.

when we first moved into 122, a whole new concept of hong kong living opened up to me...community.

there was lisa, mel, paula, andrea, alice, caroline.

soon, there was lucy. then alice moved down the road, and lisa moved back to the uk. jules moved into 1b with her boys. tinja moved into 5a with her girls.

into lisa's flat moved weng. and then there was tara. gorgeous. nicole moved in. julie arrived. 122 was a great place to be.

lucy left, katie took her flat, susan moved in. ruth took 1b when jules left.

jennifer was always in "c" block, our goodnatured, "actually i do have" what ever item i was looking for.

two years ago, paula left. sebastian still remembers annie.

with the rents rising 60-70 per cent (while the rest of hong kong is dropping rental prices) people are moving out of our building briskly.  nicole is gone. tinja left over the summer. ruth was meant to leave, but they have been hanging on for the past few months, hoping the prices would go down. they haven't. she has put in her notice, and they will be moving in mid-april. right around the time it seems team caldwell will.

it's odd.

we should have received a notice from the government by now, telling us what our rent was being increased to. it hasn't come.

this last week i have been reminded again how much i love this building. or, the people in it. the spirit of it all. how we can rely on each other. how we help each other.

charles and i are not the "primary mourners" in editha's death. we are among her friends. but being able to help, being able to rally around and take care of katie and tara's kids so abi can take some rest (abi is tara's helper and was with her when the accident happened) and so katie can take care of the details is so important. being able to take your cup of tea/glass of wine over to someone's house and the door will be opened and a couple of people are already gathered there.

we're likely going to have to leave all this.

yet, as we learned during those infertility years, hope has a whisper that won't let you rest, or accept defeat until you have truly lost.

"you haven't received your renewal notice" she whispers. "maybe the government is lowering prices and you can stay."

maybe! i think.

but probably not.

i don't know. it is all so sad.

and i will stop now. charles and i are headed out.

i did a great hike the other day. it was all stairs. ursula is useless going up stairs and i am useless going down stairs so we were a fine pair, but we did it in 2hrs 12min. hooray for us. took pix, to be posted soon.

 

 

sad news

everyone is okay in our household but there has been a very sad development with a neighbour. please hop on over to Charles' blog for details.

the death of john travolta's son, jett, has been particularly unpleasant for me. dying of a seizure while getting into the bathtub.

i heard about the death first on msn, and then my mother sent me a link (because she's my mum and this is the equivalent of sending newspaper clippings) about the death.

to tell you the truth folks, i don't always shower when there are other people in the house. i try to, but it's about 40-60. i know i shouldn't shower when i am alone, but, sometimes i do. it's not that responsible of me, but i try to reason, i am SO careful in other areas, can't i have a bit of grace in this one? shouldn't it all even out in the wash, sort of?

i then remind myself that jett travolta died with people in the next room, which is a sobering thought. there are several scenarios where it is nice to be bathing and showering with someone, but, what if you've just come back from a midmorning hike? even though it is cold you have the outline of where the camelback was resting against your back, and it is all sweaty?

to be fully responsible to myself, do i need to have someone in the bathroom with me while i shower? for the rest of my life?

i have fought so hard and given up so many "basic essentials" that most people enjoy to get the quality of life i have now. no drinking, VERY few late nights, i sleep a LOT to combat the tiredness, i live with a slow metabolism, hair loss, temper troubles and weight issues. but i have a great quality of life. i just need to be careful about the parametres i live in.

for some reason, having supervision while showering just seems like a mammoth privacy issue removed. not sure why this one bites more than others. but if i owe it to myself, my magnificent and my family...shouldn't i?

can i? of course.

will i? i have so far, but we'll see how it goes.

today andrea and i went for a hike. we did the parkview-jardine's lookout-mount butler-tai tam upper reservoir-parkview walk that janne and i did on thursday.

one of the reasons i was eager to return to this walk is there is comparitively little slope downhill hiking, maybe 20 minutes. the rest is stairs, some flat terrain and an uphill slope right near the end. my knees and hip are still bad, and i am meant to stay away from downhill walking and am forbidden from jogging uphill and downhill. this hike has been good for me.

the second reason is, three years ago, during the 60th Anniversary of the liberation of hong kong prisoners of war, a plaque dedicated to the winnipeg Grenadiers who defended Wong Nei Chong Gap was unveiled at jardine's lookout, which is where the grenadiers ensured the gap was held to prevent the defeat of hong kong.

today i took a picture, but the sun was strong, and the wording of the plaque faded, so here is what it reads:

This plaque is dedicated to all members of the Winnipeg Grenadiers of Canada.

In the early hours of December 19, 1941, "A" and "D" Companies of the Winnipeg Grenadiers of Canada fought to stem the waves of Japanese troops attacking the strategic high ground on Mount Butler. After a vicious struggle the Canadians became divided. A group was driven downhill to Jardine's Lookout, where Company Sergeant Major John Osborn took charge of about 65 Grenadiers of "A" Company. Hand grenades were thrown at his group. Osborn responded by flinging these back at the enemy. One grenade was thrown which he could not pick up in time, and after shouting a warning he threw his body over it, thus saving the lives of several comrades. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for military valour in the British Commonwealth.

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i've learned that nearly 2,000 canadians, alongside other commonwealth troops, fought in the battle of hong kong. in 1941, the japanese attacked hong kong the day after the attack on pearl harbour. after 17 days of fighting, hong kong surrendered on Christmas day. the fighting claimed the lives of 290 canadians and the survivors spent almost four years in POW camps. a further 264 canadian soldiers died in the camps.

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after taking pictures andrea and i climbed a 150 or so more steps and then stopped for a photo opp. it was a great day and despite the fact that we had no makeup on, we wanted to be in the pictures. so we jumped up on a rock and snapped away.

and then we kept climbing. i think andrea had harsh words for me.

at the top, we began a descent. it was moor-ish and grassy. we were directly opposing causeway bay and hung hom, it appeared. there was no pollution and the day was gorgeous. we crossed a small bridge and then began an incline. we took a picture of the incline, and then also of the hill we had just walked down. and then the stair climbing began again. it was funny to book back and see the tiny descending figures and to know that we had been them not too long ago.

the steps were more uneven here, but we managed. we were at mount butler! definitely a cause for celebration, mainly because for a second there i thought we were getting lost...this was a walk i have only done once! we took more snaps and headed down, picking up the pace.

100 steps down andrea realised she had left her sunnies at the top.

this was karma taking a giant bite from my bottom. you see, two days ago when janne and i did this hike, while taking off my top shirt, my much loved pink lulu lemon headband got caught up in the neck of the shirt and dropped to the ground. i didn't notice it until 1k later. knowing how much i love my headband, janne insisted that we go back for it...in essence redoing 1k of a very steep incline. so today, smiling at the irony,  i rushed ahead and grabbed the sunnies. payback.

we got to quarry bay country park and turned and headed for tai tam reservoir, this was the downhill bit that was tough on my knees, but it ended soon enough.

we crossed the reservoir (the bridge in the distance beneath the red arrow,) and began the incline. i showed andrea where i dropped my headband and where i realised my error. she made a cheeky comment. and very soon it seemed, we were back at parkview and the hike was over.

here are a couple of pictures. andrea will send over the good ones and i will try to add a few comments. any pictures of close mountains, look for paths, or people ascending/descending. i climbed those paths today!!!

it was a great morning. we hope to do it again next week.

well, the parent of triplet support group seemingly annual debate on should parents of triplets get handicapped parking stickers resumed today.

the original poster, who was asking how people got the dashboard stickers, got some feedback, and then posters began stating their opinion that parents of multiples don't need the handicapped sticker, and if safety is their concern, park furthest away from the door.

one mother justified their having the sticker by saying that many people abuse the stickers (so what's one more?).

and then the original poster came back with this. the highlights are my own. i am reprinting her message in full because sometimes when just excerpts of statements are printed they can warp a sentence, or thought.

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I just wanted to share my opionion. One of the reasons the thought crossed my mind, was b/c of a multiples book I read when I was pregnant. They said that having triplets is considered a disability. Another reason I spoke to the Pedi. about it and she agreed. I do not plan to use it every time I take the kids out. The only time plan to use it is when there are no parking spots available or I have to squeeze into a tight spot, for which I can not put a triplet stroller in-between my car and the other car. I wont put it behind my car b/c of the crazy people who speed around curbs and race to take spots. I am not concerned about other people with disabilities and taking their spots. My children come first and if having a handi-cap sticker allows me to make my kids safer, then I will do it. I will not feel guilty, as others have posted, there are many people who have them that are in less need of them than I am. I do not want it to save myself from the walk...I want it for the safety of my children. Unfortunately there is only one store in my area that has spots for families or pregnant women. And due to the freezing weather here (-'s), it would be nice to be able to have that option if need be. Thank you for all the comments and advice (even the disagreeing ones). It is greatly appreciated.

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think having the handi-cap sticker would likely make her children safer, but then again, wouldn't it make all children safer, being closer to the front door?

in case you don't remember the post from last year, having a handicap sticker is not something i would do for my family. there are people in greater need of that spot than i. my family doesn't need that spot. others do, we don't need the sticker.

what do you think of triplet parents who have handicapped stickers??

sports day

today was sebastian's sports day.

each student represents one of the school's four teams: unicorn, pheonix, lion or dragon. sebastian is a lion, and has a dark blue uniform. this is not by coincidence. the dark blue uniform is the easiest to clean and therefore, i requested that my son be a lion. the fact that my last name is lyons is merely coincidental.

sports day. always fun.

there were seven events that the children spent five minues competing in. they were given two minutes to walk to their next event. sebastian did very well in the relay race, in the "chase race" and loved playing giant parachute.

points were given in the individual games. last year the dragons won in the year 1-2 sports game.

this year, the LIONS won! whether it was due to meg's creative scorekeeping or the year one and two blue lion effort, they were wonderful and WON! let's hope years three through six can continue!

and then it came time for the parent race. i did not compete in the parent race. truly, my hip wouldn't have snapped in half had i ran, but i was not wearing an appropriate upper garment.

lots of my friends ran, and you would have loved to have seen my friend mandy run! she was amazing! i love backing a winner!

and then there was the dads race. the kids were going crazy, cheering for their parents, "go 2N dads!" they were yelling, and charles obediently went and joined the race, even though he was wearing clogs instead of trainers.

and he did SO WELL! he came in second in his heat and was picking up speed towards the end. you could tell if it were a 200m race he would have won. i had mums turning to me and saying "your husband is such a good runner!" and i couldn't hear them because i was so busy yelling for him. (not that i had much of a voice left after yelling for sebastian all morning!!) but i did mention later that if they thought charles was good at springing, they should see him in long distances, where he really excels.

my men were FANTASTIC today!

i celebrated their excellence by going out to lunch with some of the other mums in the class (the ones who ran) and in a few minutes i am heading off to a board meeting. WELL DONE BOYS!!!

want me to stick a broom up my bottom and sweep?

my great friend charmaine is full of wisdom. when she is racing around the home while working on her excellent business www.adoptionprofiles.ca and organising a swimming pool or extension of her home being built, and someone asks her to take on another task, she is wont to say with a smile, "and would you like me to stick a broom up my bottom and sweep the kitchen floor while i'm at it?"

being a naturally curious type, i usually say yes, but that's just me.

so the other night, charles and i were in bed and we decided it was time to put together a lego Christmas present that young sebastian had received; a star wars thingie that luke sits in. it can fire rockets and drops green bomb like things. anyway, it has several million tiny pieces and there was no way that sebastian and his two minute attention span was getting near this lego. charles promised to put it together for him, and after two weeks, sebastian was getting anxious for the promise to come to fruition.

charles started off doing the construction all by himself. he opened the manual and read the first of the 68 pages, nodded and carefully ripped open the seven crammed full packets. i watched out of the corner of my eye and said nothing.

after 10 minutes i began grabbing the pieces that magnificent was going to need ONE STEP before he was going to need them, and handing them to him.

five minutes later i said, "i am sorry charles, but i need to tell you that you could be a lot more organised. i know this is your deal but watch." i rushed into the kitchen and returned with eight plastic bowls. carefully i emptied the contents of the packets into the bowls, and that left one empty bowl.

had i made a mistake? I THINK NOT.

that empty bowl was for putting the next step pieces in, so charles could have easy access to them.

we worked, for the most part silently. (but much more efficiently. not having to riffle through the plastic bags and painfully usher each little piece to the top saved us valuable minutes). but five minutes into the "new bowl scheme" which does sound quite appropriate for china, my friend and husband charles started asking me occasionally, "what do i do with these pieces?" or "where do these pieces go?"

to this, i answered quite patiently, "i don't know. you have the diagrams." occasionally i even said "love" "honey" or some other endearment at the fore or aft of the sentence.  but i mean, i had no idea! i wasn't looking at the overall picture, i was looking at the pieces that were needed and speedily scanning through seven bowls trying to find and collect those pieces (sometimes multiple numbers of those same pieces not to mention differing colours of those same pieces) before my husband could say, "got the next ones ready?" i wasn't looking at the diagram!

after the, (i kid you not, no exaggeration ) 20th time he asked me this, i turned to him and said, "honey, do you want me to do it all myself? you are putting the model together, remember? i am just gathering the pieces for you! it is my job to get the right pieces, it is your job to put them in the right places." (very micro/macro economics). and then i believe i made the charmaine comment. it was an appropriate time for it.

he looked at me and his face crinkled up and he started laughing.

"i just thought you knew where it all went!"

he haw-haw-hawed over that for a while (we lost precious time) but in the end the spaceship was built (and admittedly i didn't always give him the right pieces), and it looked good. but it looked better the next morning when it was in sebastian's hands and sebastian of the shining eyes was thanking us.

back for term two

it all started again today. the routine.

schools, lunches, out the door with sebastian to drop him off at andrea's at 7.30am. jasper, sela and carys leaving at 8.10am. me sitting down with a cup of tea, planning the day.

this first day back was a bit different than normal days.

i went to Bible study and it ended at its usual time - 11.15am. we had a good time, recounting Christmas and family times.

as i walked home, it registered that i was feeling something. i pushed it aside.

i got home and started doing some work, sorting through cupboards. in case we need to move i don't want to have to de-clutter and pack at the same time. but it was sort of half hearted work. i found that i was anxious for human contact.

i went back to where the "feeling" was, (right around my ponytail if you are keeping track) and examined it.

folks, family and friends, i was feeling lonely for my kids. my house was too quiet, my life just a little too streamlined and dare i say it, boring. these past two weeks have been very fun with the kids, and today i miss them.

i had expected to feel nothing but relief that the kids were back in school (and lets be honest, i am pretty happy about it), but the shock that i missed their questions, pulling on my sweater, demands that i watch them tie their shoes in agonisingly slow motion, redo their bunches, wipe their bottoms, observe their masterpieces, etc etc etc, was a bit overwhelming.

it took a good brisk walk and a step up of the cleaning to perish the thought. and then it was time to pick up sebastian, and he ran to me and gave me a cuddle. he had gotten a star for excellent behaviour at school.