Ding Dong It's Fa*lun *Gong

Oh, where do I begin, in thw description of my conversion? Let's go back ...... to yesterday. The whole tribe was at the mall, picking up my Mac that was undergoing repair. Yes, we were sans computer for FIVE days. It wasn't pretty
We were approached by a man in a Chinese costume, who gleefully suggested that we come to the "Di*vine Per*forming Arts" show the following day - "Kids 1/2 price for you because it is a wonderful show for them to see and learn 5000 years of Chinese history." The Lawyer rolled her eyes as I plunked down $75 for 3 tickets - only Ana and Elly wanted to go with me.
Just as I was paying, Lewis' nose started bleeding. GUSHING. I held a tissue to his nose and the Lawyer took off to get some napkins. A little old Chinese lady, who was with the costumed guy but sitting off to the side, rushes over. She pantomimes for Lewis to hook his middle fingers together and pull. He's freaking out too much so she takes her curved middle fingers, curves his, hooks her middle fingers onto his and pulls. I take the tissue down from Lewis' nose to fold it and the blood has stopped. It was weird, to say the least. His bloody noses last FOREVER but this woman stopped it immediately.
So this afternoon I went to the performance at a local theater. Something in the brochure mentioned that the company was proud to include some artist who practice fa*lun gong. Little did I know that I had paid $75 for a down home fa*lun gong revival! Interspersed with dances of the Monkey King, Mulan, and the first emperor of China, were "numbers" that included beating and killing fa*lun gong practitioners, who were made to look like freshly scrubbed missionaries in their khakis and polo shirts. A couple of shrieking sopranos sang joyfully of "di*vine oaths fulfilled," "leaflets in hand* born only* of effort and compassion" and when you find yourself in times of trouble, "remember da*fa* hao" (the Great* Way is good). It was all music and dance. All the singing was in Mandarin, with subtitles flashing on the background screen.
After 2 1/2 hrs, the merriment was over. I asked the girls how they liked it. Ana said, "It was weird." Elly said "I LOVED IT! IT WAS SO PRETTY! A little convert in the making.

Tip the Cup

The other day I took the kids to Dunkin Donuts to give them their "behave yourself in karate and I'll get you a doughnut." We're at the counter and Lewis knocks over the tip jar, on purpose. I said "Lewis, why did you do that???!" He says "It said on the cup, Tip the Cup." "Ummm, Honey, it says Tip Cup. If you want to give your server a tip, you put it in the cup." "OHHHHH, I didn't know that." Our "server" was a high school kid who started laughing hysterically and asked if he could "use that." I said "As long as you give credit - his name is Lewie."

Back so soon?

Back when Frances didn't whine about going to the zoo, I bought her this jacket at the VOA for $1.50. She was 3 1/2 and wore it all the time. Here she is, circa 2002.


Yesterday, Frances was looking for an alternative to her heavy winter jacket and found her beloved jacket in the back of our coat closet. "Can I wear this?" "Sure." Here she is, 7 years later. Think it was worth $1.50???

Tzuhsi is back

I guess I should have put this sign up a couple of weeks ago. It's winter in Western NY. About the only thing we do is stare at screens and go bowling. I was talking to Aunt Suzie last week and she said, "Just put up some dang bowling pictures, the inauguration is so JANUARY." Yes Suzie, poetic license taken.


I was hard at work on Friday, when the Lawyer called me. I was doing something important........ like updating my card catalog...... or something like that. She wanted to report a request, from a LURKER, that I get busy with an update. This one's for you, MB. I know the dogs are much more fascinating than my bowling scores. Awwwwwwww, aren't they darling?

Here's the crazy one, with evidence of her most loved sport - dragging my yarn around the house. Isn't she precious?


In November, I kinda, sorta FORCED Frances to sign up for an audition to play violin in the all-county orchestra. She worked her buns off for 3 months, focusing solely on one piece, Meditation. Her school orchestra teacher encouraged her to try out at a level 4 but her private teacher poo-pooed that and insisted she do a level 5 (the highest level, even for high school is 6). Frances played beautifully and did well on her scales and sight reading. She scored a 90/100 but didn't make the cut - bummer. The day after her audition, she played the piece again, for her recital. Here are all the chicks at the recital. Lewis and Elizabeth were RIDICULOUS - yapping and giggling.


Elizabeth ended up falling asleep, which made Lewis giggle evn harder.


Yesterday we got a winter reprieve so I had to drag the children away from their various screens and take them to the zoo. It was 52 degrees people! We were partying like it was 1999. with one exception. Frances had her complaints on a loop - "I'm cold." "I'm hungry." "This is boring."


Dear Readers, that's all the news for now. I will be a more diligent blogger friend, even if I have to post more bowling pictures and l*o*n*g drawn out analyses of Nip/Tuck, Lost & Big Love.