Busy

I am sore. Limping around the house picking up stuff and doing the laundry after a long day out. Hurt my ankle walking 20 laps around the track, forward, backwards and sideways after an hour of tennis (or attempts at tennis rather) followed by at least another half hour of tennis. The walking somehow strained the front of my right foot and the tennis after didn't help. Better nursed the leg for the rest of the evening.

We got home very late last night so today was a bit more of a strain from the reduced hours of sleep. it was the Singapore makan club again but at the very beautiful home of Sunny and Janet. The usual suspects with the potluck of Singapore dishes crowned by Hainanese chicken and roast chicken Singapore-style prepared by Sunny. The food was wonderful but it is always the company that draws us together. The chance to talk Singlish, make awful jokes and tease each other endlessly, We are so lucky to have met and joined this bunch of Singapore friends that fate somehow brought together in far away California.

Back to today. It was a mad dash from Amador Valley after Chinese class first to Big 5 at Crow Canyon to pick up a can of tennis balls and then home for the half man to change and then to CalHigh where the half man took part in his first ever tennis tournament. He was a little wary for the first half, not sure what to expect. The other kids were pretty rowdy - they obviously knew each other and we reckoned, correctly, must all be from the same tennis school. And most of them were fairly good but as the Man pointed out, taught mainly to return soft to keep the ball in play. Different from how the half man was taught - hard and fast. The second half saw a changed boy, more confident, more comfortable, surer of himself, able to serve much better and the hard shots finally had their chance to deliver their goods. You could not tell from the kids' interactions, that they had an outsider in their midst. Ryan was just one of them. Kids are so much more accepting than adults in so many ways - color blind and comfortable with one another.

We need to have more activities like these. Spring is in full swing and yes, my nose drips and I sneeze mornings and nights and in between from the pollens and trees and struggle to breathe through the one unclogged nostril but love the growing hours of daylight and the sight of people coming out in tees and shorts. Oh, if only the family can all come and live here.