Sudden Shock

Yesterday, 8 left for Lake Tahoe. You won't believe the hassle it takes to get 4 teenage girls ready for the trip. Despite reminders over the past days to pack and travel light because there is so much to carry up there, they still ended up having to offload some of their stuff. And Nic of course totally forgot about her new ski pants we bought two nights ago at Big 5. Poor UJ and Bert worked the hardest, loading up the food and luggages. Well they arrived safe and sound - they left slightly after 10 am and we got a call from them at 3 pm, longer than I had expected but they made a couple of stops and had slight traffic delays.

Today, it is the rest of us. UJ was the lone thorn among all the roses yesterday. Today, I am the rose among all the thorns - 2 regular and 2 pint sized men. I am so going to be bombarded with chatter from the latter.

We'll have to get Ryan out of school early. There is a "check out" window where I can sign him out at about 11 am and we will go straight to Tahoe.

And Bert and I were taken aback last evening by the generosity of the siblings. D suggested going to an electronic shops to look-see. So we went to Fry's at Durham. And carted home a Garmin GPS which he said was a gift to us. Holy zmollie. I was flabbergasted at the value of our Christmas gift. And the better half then immediately put the load on me to immediately buy something in return. But I cannot handle these sorts of sudden pressure to come up with meaningful gifts. So I could not.

We'll have to figure out what to do before they leave. Well, maybe even after they have all trooped back to Singapore. As they say, giving back is timeless. Well, maybe no one said that but it sure makes sense to me. Don't you agree?

Tumultuous Thirteen

The lucky 13 are complete. After much delay while folks catch up with the financial markets, check email, make urgent calls back home, etc, the troop minus moi and Ryan set off for SFO to pick up the 2 vancouverites. A few phone calls back here to ask for help in connecting missing persons and they managed to connect at Terminal 1. One would think it would have been a simple thing to do but I am too harsh.

With nothing much on hand and all alone in the house, what else but do a load of laundry, vacuum the carpet, wash the toilets and trim my own fringe and the crooked hair at the nape? And then blog of course. While they are headed to Pier 39 to get some good ol' dunganese crabs, I am munching the last of the bananas, wondering if I should go ahead and book a dental appointment. How pathetic can one get? I did try to book a dental appointment only to back out because the receptionist said there is a 48 hour notice period for any change and with the schedule so uncertain, I am not sure it is wise to do it this week. Ryan does not get out from school till 4 pm today and I cannot stand to have time on my hand with nothing planned. Drives me nuts - what my mom would call pai mia, must always do something.

Tonite will be even more crowded and noisy. Very re nao. I am beginning to dread everyone's departure.

So Sad

While the siblings and their families along with Nic go to Muir Woods, Larkspur, Sausolito and who know where else, I am taking a break from housework and feeling a little depressed. It seems to be a universal value that being longsuffering is a virtue and to grit and bear with what life throws at you is good for character building. But how much before it becomes too much?

I hesitated to put this up and I really really should not engage in such silly thoughts but life has never been a bed of roses for me and having to silently take emotional and verbal punches so as to keep the peace in the home takes its toll over time. I just need an outlet even if it gets me into more trouble. My distressed mom and even my colleagues have asked me to put on weight in the mistaken belief that I would look less timeworn if there is a little more chubbiness to my frame. Having less emotional burden and abuse would do more for my looks and health than any amount of nutrients...

But I will end my nonsense here. I still have 4 children to put through school and college. All I need are 10 more years of nerves and my duty will be done.

Check-in Cheers

And we are almost complete save for Bean and V. Both are scheduled to arrive Dec 19 and then there'll be lucky 13 of us. Last night was a bit of an adventure - exciting start to the holidays. Better half and I arrive at SFO just 2 mins after the scheduled ETA of SQ002 (caught in traffic on Highway 101 but luckily that stretch to SFO is relatively short). Bert drove Ming and his family straight home while I went with the Gohs to pick up what turned out to be a large 7-seater SUV instead of a 5-seater that we expected. And so we all had dinner at my humble abode, sat around and chatted like old times and then went to check into apartment Yeeyee had booked. But no key or keylock - some paperwork issue. So after hovering around the Waterford apartment complex in Dublin at Tassajara with the kids and a couple of adults hopping up and down to fight the cold, we all trundled back to San Ramon to check the new arrivals into Courtyard where fortunately the weekend rates were fairly reasonable. Of course, we could all have spent the night at the house if needed. That too would have been fun but maybe a tad uncomfortable for those not used to crowded sleeping quarters.

This morning 'cept for BYY,ah girl and I, everyone's gone to Ryan's golf academy. Probably at the driving range now, whacking a few hundred balls between them for some fun.

Have no plans yet for the rest of the day or week for that matter. That's what's fun about this holiday - loosey goosey footloose and fancy free. Yes!

Almost All

This evening the better half and I will be going to pick up the 5some. On Dec 19 when Bean and Vera come, the contingent will be complete. And what a noisy bunch we will be - at long last after months of being without our normal social anchors.

First Fun

The BYY and her ah girl are here. Bert and Nic went too early to SFO because (1) he was not familiar with the route and wanted to be in plenty of time (2) she had fretted about getting lost in SFO (duh!) on disembarkation. So the one father and daughter pair waited 2 hours for the other mother and daughter pair to come out - haha. Like the Chinese say, good things come in pairs.

And as predicted, the new arrivals have been drifting in and out of slumber, taking turns between them to visit dreamland. Not wise to do anything right now - just let them get adjusted. In any case, I still had to go to work and the rest are not here till tomorrow.

But we did bring them to Ryan's first school band concert at IHMS's multi-purpose hall. 'Cept, of course, ah girl succumbed to jet lag and slept through almost all of it, waking up in time for the finale and then proceeded to debate with the rest in the car going home about the musical qualities of the performers, especially, of the "solo" players in the jazz band. Interesting ya?

Here are some pictures of the concert. Because he is a keyboardist and therefore sitting low down way in the back of the stage, you won't see Ryan. At the dinner table, before we left for the school, he moaned, "I have butterflies in my stomach." But I think he really enjoyed the experience. The kids had been practising for many months for this night and they did good, especially the jazz band. But the poor things were so anxious that Mrs Brown had to comment that they forgot to have fun. But to us parents that night, they were all fabulous and clearly all winners.

And so BYY and ah girl had their first experience of activities (even if it was only for an hour and a half) in an American school.

Anticipating Already

And tomorrow morning, the first visitors arrive. They should already be boarding the plane if not already in the air. The rains have just started - the week before had some but generally the days were still sunny and dry but these past days have been rainy. Still nothing like the short stormy pelts we get in Singapore, just light rain that lasts hours. Vancouver's rains are more long-lived, lasting days and weeks.

By this time next week, it will be pretty crowded, boisterous and homey - 13 people getting in each other's ways and making a mess of my nice clean home. Yay!

Weekend Work

This blog is about prep. Preparing for events to come - high school and for our esteemed and dearly loved visitors.

For the first few days after Nic arrived, she drifted in and out of sleep - a very normal phenomenon. At least she did not have to go to work like moi or worry about school for now. And of course, the family must wait until I am off work before we can start enrolling her in school. Methinks it is just an excuse to load more of the responsibilities but nvm, it is all for the good of the family. Brought her to Cal High to start enrolment yesterday on my 980 day off, after cleaning up the house (seems the bathrooms are my designated chores, sigh!). Took back two packages she would need to study to figure out what courses she would like to take. Since we do not know whether she is going to be admitted to Grade 11 or 12, we were given both packages for her to ponder. Likely we would get a call from the school counselor on Monday to go get her assessed on her standards. I hope she is good enough for Grade 12 - would shave almost a year off, just like Bean.

Looks like there is a whole menu of classes she can sign up for. Pretty different from Singapore's junior colleges. Interesting courses too. We have been encouraging her to browse the universities' entrance requirements so she can make better decisions.

We have been loading up in anticipation of the siblings' arrivals. Got a queen size air bed and two twins air beds. For BYY, Hui, Bean and Vera. Hope they are comfortable enough. Will be cramped but hey, lodging's free so no complaints department will be open for business. They can also be brought along to Tahoe since there is a possibility there won't be enough beds there for the contingent we have. And loading up on essentials so they will be comfortable and well fed. But we have not bought a Christmas tree yet. Since two weeks ago, you can see yards with Christmas trees popping up and people hauling off their purchases on racks above their cars or in their trucks. And Christmas wreaths are now on sale at Costco for about $15.

And we went and got ourselves a Honda CRV - the new very cool model. Looks like the BMW SUV. Drool all of you reading this nothingmuchtosayblog:

And Yeeyee if you are reading this, please save yourself a lot of worries. The CRV is 4WD with S+M tires. So it will eat snow and bring us safe to Tahoe and home again. It even has a very nice moon roof that brings in lots of sunlight and fresh cool air to keep us cheerful. We got this model so we can go to places like Tahoe without worries about snow chains and climbing steep slopes. So take a deep breath and just look forward to a wonderful time here. We will bring you to buy snow shoes and good warm gloves at very reasonable prices. You see, we have been preparing for your arrival.

Nic Nests

And the Nic has landed. We went to pick her up from SFO after a morning of tennis and spending a couple of hours in Chinatown picking up tong kuai, ginseng, dates, and miscellaneous quinessentially Chinese cooking must-have's of the like of a kuali and a clay pot.

Since she appeared with an SIA person from the gate, the small man and the Nic have not stopped yakkity yakkity yak. Aiyo, like they haven't seen each other for ages. I cannot get Ryan to get ready for bed and it is almost 9 pm already. It will be curious to see how long this chumminess lasts. Cynical, sceptical mom. But I have been through too many of these episodes to feel anything but...

But I am glad she has arrived safe and sound. The house should now be more lively and the better half would have one more person to keep him company on the driving range and everywhere else. So now, the whole Tey family is resident in North America. Funny how this has happened just over the past 3 months. Wow!

Nic Nocks

Nic is coming, Nic is coming, Nic is coming! The weekend is almost on us and we have to prepare for her arrival. Her bedroom has no built in ceiling light for some strange reason (note to self: call landlady and ask why and what can be done about it). We will go get her a reading light to place by her bedside, some air beds for the guests who will be descending on us en masse in two weeks' time and some good snow shoes for Brynn so she can walk on snow and ice and air(?) and spare us the agony of reading about her spilling her guts out all over UBC.

There has been a cold snap all week and the evening temperature has dropped to near zero celsius. Hee hee, be good to see the tropical citizens hudder around trying to keep from keeling over in suspended animation or hibernation mode. But the cold snap may not last till then. Pity. The better half has been moaning and groaning about the cold but at least for the last month, he has stopped insinuating about going to Vietnam. He developed a fetish for fleece jackets because fleece keeps him warmer than anything else and so he now has a bundle of fleece jackets which he wears everyday. I could not stop him - it was almost like an obsession. This place is nowhere near as cold as Hamilton, not by any measure, when we sent Brynn to high school there but then he has not lived in a cold climate for more than a couple of weeks at a time before. And my basement unit in Vancouver was definitely much colder too but he said we were young then. Sic!

I have not posted up the pics from the trip south. No time lah. Got to catch up on office work and the stomach flu took away all my energy for a while. Will try and do it this weekend. But Nic is coming, Nic is coming, Nic is coming. On Sunday.

Tis a silly post but I am delirious right now.