7 Quick Takes: Dec 19th

Join the fun at Jen's blog, Conversion Diary.

One
This past weekend I traveled to my mom's home in Virginia Beach and helped her move out. She and my dad are divorcing after over 40 years. That is weird, I must tell you. Without going into the details, I will say that life's hardships have taken a serious toll on their relationship. My Dad came over and helped with the move. They were more than cordial - friendly, actually. That is weird, too. But good. Many of my mom's friends came to help and quite a few of them mentioned how much happier she's been in the last few weeks (when the house sold and she found her new place)...happier than she's been over the past 4 years that this divorce has been coming.

Two
My house is STILL not decorated. I've got my St. Nick decorations up from that celebration, and some advent calendars...and an under-used Advent wreath...but nothing else. We won't be here for Christmas, so we aren't putting up a tree this year (not my choice). Usually I do lots of decorating on Gaudete Sunday - but I wasn't here, so it didn't get done. It wasn't really bugging me until now. I think I have to decorate...which seems silly when we won't even be here to enjoy it. What do you think - should I or shouldn't I?

Three
I've started some new crochet projects (a scarf to go with a cute hat I rediscovered and a hat/scarf set for my 6 year old daughter). I've still got some to finish, of course, but new is always so much fun. I love crocheting because it gives me something relaxing and productive to do during those "in between moments": when you have too much time to waste, but not enough to get a big job done.

Four
Today we met our Dear Neighbors (formerly neighbors, still dear) at the MALL for an "annual" Christmas trip. My friend, Dear Neighbor, informed me a couple of weeks ago, that we did not go last year (so this would be our first annual, when I thought it was our second annual at least)...I could swear we did, so either I'm losing it or she is. Do you think it is strange that our kids view a trip to the Mall as a wonderful event? Dear Neighbor and I do, but we are so glad they are "unplugged" enough that this is still a fascinating day for them. We had a nice lunch and saw Santa...this is where it gets really good...but wait, that is number five...

Five
You may remember that Dear Neighbor has a daughter, now 2 1/2, who was adopted from China about 18 months ago. Well, the Santa at the mall started speaking in Mandarin to her...and SHE UNDERSTOOD. She didn't reply (she's still a babbling toddler after all), but she responded directly to his request to "Come here" in Mandarin. So often Dear Neighbor laughs about people asking, "Does she speak Chinese?" Because, of course, she's growing up in America with an English-speaking family, so she speaks English. However, it seems her 9 months of life in China has cemented some Mandarin in her brain. It was almost eerie how clearly she responded to him. Amazing.

Six
So, are you wondering like we were - How does a "Santa's Helper" guy know Mandarin? Turns out he was missionary kid who grew up in Guangdong Province, China and lived in Hong King for years as an adult. I told Dear Neighbor that she should let her friends in the local China adoption community know about him - their kids might really enjoy meeting him. Her daughter seemed to really warm up to him after he spoke to her in Mandarin.

Seven
Not one to pass up a bookstore, before leaving the mall we made a trip through the Barnes and Noble. My two little Webkins addicts found another new crochet project for me...amigurumi. Have you heard of these? They are pretty darn cute...but thinking about making them kind of makes my head hurt. We bought the book, but I'm wondering about other patterns for these little creatures. If you have a good link, let me know!


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