終於回家了! Finally home!

I have been inactive on this blog lately. I apologize. I have been away. I was in Vancouver for 3 weeks visiting my sister's family. I am in the process of uploading photos and updating this blog with all the fun stuff my family had done in the past 3 weeks. So be patient with me. My daughter took this photo of Mount St. Helen when we flew over it this afternoon.

終於到家了! 今天下午從溫哥華飛回洛杉磯。 我們在溫哥華待了二十一天! 女兒和兒子依依不捨的在溫哥華國際機場跟他們的兩位小表妹說再見! 想起來會有點心酸, 不過我覺得小朋友從小要學習怎麼說 goodbye, 因為世界上沒有不散的宴席。 一路小孩子都有點落寞,可是當機長提醒大家往窗戶外面看時,小孩子才暫時忘記離別的難過。他們在窗外看到華盛頓州的火山 Mount St. Helen。 女兒想到照相,隨手拿起我的相機,拍下這張照片。 到達洛杉磯之後,發現機場的車子好多喔! 下次絕對不要訂晚上七、八點到達的飛機班次! 還好有手機,行李拿到之後才通知老公開車過來接我們。他通常都會把車停在機場外圍的街道旁等我的電話。 不過我那有十年車齡的老車,在三個星期沒開之後沒電了。 老公只好開他的小跑車來機場接我們。我和小孩的二大件行李差一點載不回家,因為後車箱太小! 最後只好把比較小的那一只大皮箱放在前座,我和小孩坐後座。 這樣也拖了十多分鐘才離開機場。 才下飛機,狀況還真不少!

如何取個好的英文名字 The Naming Game

Over the years, I have noticed some strange naming of English names by parents in Taiwan. It wouldn't be so bad if they translated their children's Chinese names phonetically into English. But a lot of parents, in their eagerness to give their children English names, came up with strange names, thinking that those "names" are legitimate English names. A lot of those names looked like mis-spelt names or impossible to pronounce "English" names. Worst names are those of cartoon characters. Just because a parent likes a certain cartoon character doesn't give them the right to name their children after cartoon characters. Well, it's their right to name their children however they want, but think of your children 30 years down the road. How would they feel when foreigners look at them funny at business meetings when they introduce themselves as Snoopy Tsai?!

So I have come up with a few rules if you are Chinese and want to give your child an English name.

1. Use the phonetic translation of your child's Chinese name. For example, 蔡傑熙 can be translated into Jai-Xi Tsai.
2. Use an English name (those on the top 500 of U. S. census names) that sounds similar to your child's Chinese name. For example, 蔡傑熙 can be translated into Jessie Tsai.
3. Use an English name that you like. It doesn't have to sound like your child's Chinese name at all.
4. Use an English name that has the same meaning as your Chinese name. For example, if your daughter's Chinese name has the following character: 愉、悅、樂, you can use the name Joy which is what those Chinese characters mean.

If you still have trouble coming up with an English name for your child, you can leave me a message and I will see what I can do for you.

這幾年,我看到很多台灣的父母親幫自己的小朋友取英文名字,可是取的英文名字都很奇怪。很多名字看起來像是拼錯的英文名字。所以各位爸爸媽媽如果想要幫寶貝取個好的英文名字,你們必需要注意幾個取英文名字的原則:

1. 用中文名字直接音譯成英文。請用護照上的正式拼音。有漢語拼音法(中國大陸) 或 羅馬拼音(台灣以前的拼法)。

因為大陸人口的優勢,全世界的趨勢是用漢語拼音法。 例如 “張”是拼 Zhang。在臺灣以前是拼 Chang。 漢語拼音是有一定的拼法。每個字有個統一的拚法及念法。學過中文的老外看了這種拼法也一定念得出來。

利: 本來就是自己中文名字的音譯。

弊: 怕拼出來,沒學過中文的老外根本念不出來 (尤其是 ㄓ、ㄔ 、 ㄕ、ㄩ 的音)。而且報上名字時, 還要順便報上怎麼拼。會很煩喔!

2. 用中文名字直接音譯成英文,可是採用了類似中文名字的正統英文名字來做為翻譯的基礎。所以是中文名字英文化 (anglicize)。

利: 外國人看了都會念,也比較會拼得出來,然後又跟自己中文名字的音很像。

弊: 會被人批評說不需要取英美式的名字,用自己中文名字的音譯就可以了。太矯情了!

3. 取個跟自己中文名字完全不一樣的英文正統名字。

利: 外國人看了都會念,也比較會拼得出來。自己喜歡啊!

弊: 會被人批評說不需要取英美式的名字,用自己中文名字的音譯就可以了。太崇洋了!

4. 取跟自己中文名字同意思的英文正統名字。 例如: 中文名字裏有愉、悅、樂 的女孩都可以用 Joy 做為她的英文名字。

利: 外國人看了都會念,也比較會拼得出來。有意義!

弊: 大概沒有吧!

如果要音譯, 千萬不要自己亂拼,寫出來的英文字母可能念出來的跟當初想的不太一樣。 有時候還會因為文化不一樣而鬧出笑話。

在英美國家, 家長幫小孩取名字都不會無原無故的取名。基本上, 英美國家的父母親會採用下列幾個命名原則:

1. 先人的名字。有紀念性。 家族要求。(跟父母、祖父母、親朋好友同名)
2. 地源、時事關係 ( Paris 、April 、June 、 Dawn、Hamilton、Diego)
3. 父母喜歡什麼名字就取什麼名字 (畢竟小孩子長大後,家長說得出來小孩為什麼會叫這個名字。)

取英文名字沒有對錯。只要不要鬧出笑話 或 在二十年後造成兒女的困擾就好。 大家做個參考吧!

FEDEX 終於把貨送到了! FEDEX delivered!

FEDEX finally delivered my husband's Dell Laptop today at 11:05 am. I didn't hear the door bell ring at all. I asked my husband how he knew the FEDEX man was here. He said he just happened to be outside. Oh sure! I'll bet he was standing outside the door waiting for the FEDEX truck!

老公寶貝的 Dell 筆記型電腦終於寄到了。 可是我並沒有聽到我們的門鈴響。

我就問老公: “你怎麼知道要開門?”
老公: “我剛好站在門口!”

哪有那麼剛好的!

拜託, FEDEX! Come on, FEDEX!

My husband ordered a refurbished laptop from Dell on-line last week. It is scheduled to arrive today. My husband called many times this morning asking whether his laptop has arrived. I volunteered to stay home and wait for the delivery. I really don't like the idea of these FEDEX drivers leaving shipped items right at our front door. I would prefer to be home to sign for the shipment.

Anyways, I waited until my husband got home at 4 pm, then I had to take my son to his violin lesson. It's hard to tell when FEDEX will get to my house. It can be any time. The tracking of the shipment said the laptop is already in the truck ready for delivery. So we waited. When I got home at 6:30pm, still no delivery. That's when we decided to call FEDEX and find out what happened to our shipment. The customer service rep looked into it and informed us that their driver told them that he came by our house at 6 pm, but no one was home. Oh come on, FEDEX! Both my husband and my daughter were home. No one rang our door bell. Later, my husband even went outside to test out our door bell. There is nothing wrong with our door bell.

I don't think the FEDEX driver ever rang our door bell. It's possible that he didn't even come by. I am guessing that because he couldn't finish the delivery, he just said that no one was home. It's annoying when we waited the entire day and the delivery was never made. We were able to reschedule the delivery of the laptop for tomorrow morning between 9 and 10. Hopefully we'll get it as scheduled.

When a courier says the package will be delivered on a certain day, they should deliver it as promised. Mind you, FEDEX is not the only company who doesn't like to ring door bells. Our UPS delivery man and our post man simply knock and then leave the packages in front of our house. So my advice to these delivery services is...please ring the door bell!!!

上星期老公從 Dell 訂了一部翻新過的 (refurbished) 筆記型電腦。一早網路查詢時知道今天會送到, 所以我和小孩就在家等貨。 我們不想錯過送貨時間,就怕有時候送貨員找不到人,就直接把貨放在門口。 老公在公司惦記著他的新電腦, 所以我就告訴他說我可以在家等快遞。 我本來是想去買菜的,結果什麼地方都不敢去。

我在家等了一天, 四點半才跟兒子出門, 陪他去上小提琴課。老公及女兒則繼續在家等。結果等到晚上七點多才再打電話去 Fedex問。 Fedex 說它們的司機登記六點曾經到過我家,可是沒人在家。真是睜眼說瞎話! 老公及女兒都一直在家啊! 根本沒人按過電鈴! 可是 Fedex 的客服說它們相信自己司機所說的話。

我想一定是 Fedex 司機送貨送不完隨便說說。哪有人送運不按門鈴的?!?! 明明就有人在家啊! 重點是跟 Fedex 爭這個沒有用。最後還是重新安排了送貨時間。 Fedex 說明天早上九點至十點會再送一次。我想到時候老公得搬個椅子到門口坐著等那 Fedex 的貨車。 今天其實我有好多事情要辦喔! 真的是浪費我的時間!

阿公級的男人 May-December marriages

The hottest news in Taiwan's tabloid media this week is the marriage of the Chairman and President of Taiwan's Pacific Electric Wire & Cable Co. Ltd., Tao-Tsun Sun, and his 28 year-old bride. There is a 32-year age gap between the newlywed couple. This is Mr. Sun's third marriage and he also had several long-term relationships with women during his marriage. At first look, there is really nothing wrong with Mr. Sun enjoying a May-December marriage, but it's hard to imagine a man who owes his shareholders millions of dollar for running his company to the ground, would have the time and money to wine and dine young women.

Still, it's rather unfair that only men with reasonable financial means can afford to remarry after the demise of the previous marriage, either via divorce or death. So marrying a woman 32 younger is still a sign of wealth and/or power.

This news clip is rather funny. It's about a satirical comedy show in Taiwan. The actors made fun of Mr. Sun and his new bride.



最近臺灣最夯的新聞就是台灣大哥大創辦人孫道存先生的再婚消息。他娶了一位小他三十二歲的吳小姐。媒體喜歡這種新聞, 再加上孫先生本身的情史非常輝煌, 所以這星期的新聞焦點都在講這件事。其實如果孫先生不是個有錢的人, 那麼老了, 怎麼會有人要嫁他呢? 我不是不相信有黃昏之戀這種事,可是老男人如果沒錢, 要談個戀愛, 談何容易?

我有個親戚前幾年喪偶, 所有親朋好友都希望他能續玄,找個人來做伴。說難聽一點是找個人來照顧他。雖然我這親戚身體很硬朗, 又有學識,可是錢不多, 他一個月大概有五萬台幣的收入。有房子住,免貸款 (可是房子是在兒女名下,當初是太太遺留給小孩的), 所以生活得很好。每年還能出國旅遊二次以上。 他當然也很想找個伴陪他到處遊玩,可是只有五萬塊一個月的收入,又已經七十五歲了, 誰要嫁他啊?! 其實我這位親戚也清楚他的積蓄只夠他一個人出國玩,而不夠二個人一起出國玩。所以他也覺得要交到一位知心的女朋友是件非常難的事,更不用說結婚了!

所以喽, 阿公級的男人要談戀愛、結婚還真是沒點錢不行呢!

往事只能回憶 Catching up to past blog entries

I was going over the entries I had published in this blog and, to my surprise, I had started, but never published, 49 entries! I had every intention of going back to finish up what I was writing and publish every entry. But as time passes, I wonder if anyone would bother reading my old blog entries from months ago?!

這兩天在整理這個部落格的時候,才發現我還有四十九篇尚未發表的文章。都是我過去寫了一半的文章。不是只寫了英文就是只寫了中文。反正還要花很多時間,才有可能把那些文章全補上。可是我在想...看我部落格的讀者們會再回去看我以前寫的文章嗎? 有些文章有可能已經不即時了。我會盡快完成補日記的動作!

台灣情! Giving Birth to American Citizens

In 1972, right after Nixon went to China, many wealthy Taiwanese immigrated overseas. Back in those martial law-enforced days, it was difficult to get exit visa to leave Taiwan, but people still immigrated. In the 1980s and 1990s, immigration to the U.S. became more difficult, so Taiwanese people found other countries to immigrate to--Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

As more wealth is accumulated in Taiwan, immigration is no longer restricted to the top echelon of the society. More and more upper-middle class have begin to find ways to get foreign passports without having to live there for the duration of obtaining the citizenship. It was no longer desirable to spend 3-5 years living in another country just so the family can obtain a foreign passport, risking family separation and loss of income. People began to look for short cuts which will enable them to obtain foreign passports without actually immigrating to the foreign country. One of those ways was to give birth in a foreign country. Once a baby is born in the United States, he/she automatically becomes an U. S. citizen.

The number one destination for giving birth in a foreign country is Los Angeles. It's a booming business sector which combined travel, health care, insurance, post-partum doula care, and bureaucratic services (application of SSN and passports for the newborn). Most of these facilities (birthing hostels) are situated in eastern part of Los Angeles where a substantial Chinese population is concentrated.

There is a lot of things a pregnant Taiwanese woman need to overcome to give birth in the United States:

1. She needs to fly before she is 24-weeks into her pregnancy. If an airline detects her advanced pregnancy, they can refuse to let her board the plane. This means she would have to leave her family/husband behind in Taiwan to wait in a birthing hostel in the United States until she gives birth.

2. She pays full amount for OB/GYN pre-natal care. Usually the birthing hostels would have already contracted a list of Chinese/Taiwanese-speaking obstetricians in their area who would do pre-natal care and delivery for a set amount of fees. The pregnant woman would have contractual obligation to pay for every medical expenses she incurs while awaiting the birth of her baby.

3. She must pray and hope that her baby will be born healthy. But in some cases, if the baby arrives early or complication developed from the birth, it would be a financial disaster for the new parents.

Once the baby is born, the birthing hostel would arrange for the new mom to “do-the-month” (special 30-day post-partum care and diet) for a month while they apply for the baby’s Social Security Number and the new United States passport for their trip back to Taiwan. Needless to say, to give birth overseas does not come cheap. Luckily, there are many services and packages that women can choose from so they can give birth to an American baby. There are fervent discussions over many portals regarding the pros and cons of giving birth aboard and why people want to do that. The most popular reasoning behind it all is that these parents want to give their babies more choices in life.

很多到美國生小孩的台灣媽咪都強調是要給自己的小孩多一種選擇。天下父母心,我絕對瞭解也讚同。可是這是什麼樣的一種選擇呢?

1. 可以到美國讀書。沒有拿美國護照的小孩長大後有好成績還是可以到美國讀研究所、深造。
2. 可以到美國居住。這個對沒有拿美國護照的小孩就比較麻煩了。可是在美國還是有很多臺灣人用盡各種辦法在美國住下來。最主要的是要有份不錯的工作才能在美國居住。有拿美國護照的小孩也一樣。他長大後還是要有能力跟美國人競爭,才有辦法在美國定居。
3. 可以到美國工作。沒有拿美國護照的小孩長大後有機會還是可以到美國工作。只是過程要靠公司及老板的賞識。
4. 可以到美國旅遊。這個沒有拿美國護照的小孩也照常可以到全世界旅遊。
5. 可以不用永遠住在臺灣。這就是重點!!!!!
6. 拿美國護照的小孩機會比較多。家裡有錢的小孩本來的生活機能及未來的機會都會比低收入的小孩高很多。
7. 拿美國護照的小孩比較好命。不一定,不過他們的機會肯定比別人多。
8. 拿美國護照的小孩也要同時拿一本臺灣護照才能免於三個月就要出國一次的命運。
9. 拿美國護照的小孩永遠當不了臺灣總統也無法擔任台灣的公職。也就是說這些趕著到美國生產的媽媽斷了自己小孩走政治的路!

三十幾年前,我父母親帶我們移民加拿大。媽媽留下來照顧我們,爸爸繼續留在臺灣賺錢,有空才飛到加拿大跟我們團聚。那時候(甚至於現在)不知羨慕死多少臺灣 人。媽媽在五年後(三年的移民監就讓我們拿到加籍,除了我老爸),毅然的搬回台灣,留下十一年級的我和十年級的妹妹在加拿大自己生活。媽媽不那麼做不行, 畢竟老公真的是比小孩子重要。也就是這樣,才保住他們的婚姻。我和妹妹也順利上了加拿大的大學。這一切聽起來都很美好,可是妹妹和我在這整個過程中受了很多不必要的苦。如果我們當初沒有出國移民,我相信我倆也是有辦法就讀台灣頂尖的大學,畢業後繼續到國外深造。

學業完畢後,就業也沒問題。可是讓父母最擔心的還是我和妹妹的婚姻問題。受外國教育以及在外國長大的台灣女孩子基本上擇偶的範圍就很小,不是嫁外國人,就是嫁ABC(其實是跟嫁給外國人沒兩樣)。可是因為我不是ABC,又有點不中不西,根本就無法跟外國人談戀愛,總覺得文化背景不一樣,很難溝通。不知不覺的就只好回臺灣,希望能認識些台灣人。到最後也不行,緣份把我帶回美國,嫁給一個跟我有一模一樣背景的台裔美國人。那是我的好運氣。我差一點就因為我的成長背景而嫁不出去。我結婚時已經是三十三歲了! 我妹妹也拖到三十四歲才結婚。她嫁給一個跟她同行業的越南人(雖然兩人的收入高,可是畢竟文化及生長過程的不同,我妹這條婚姻路走得比我辛苦。)

妳說這是我們的選擇還是我父母親的選擇而造成我們後半輩子的命運?

話又說回來,在美國我有兩位好友,剛好都是從臺灣來的。一位是到美國讀研究所而認識了先生(先生是197O年代移民到美國的臺灣人)另一位是從台灣嫁來美國 的(先生也是197O年代移民到美國的臺灣人,可是他在十幾年前回台灣相親把她娶回美國的)。我想說的是我們三個台灣女人過得差不多一樣的生活,可是我是唯一當年父母親想盡辦法讓我們移民到國外的人。至少我的朋友可以說她們的生活很多是他們自己的選擇,可是我總覺得我會淪流在國外是我父母親三十幾年前所做的決定而造成我後半生的命運。不管是移民到國外或跑到美國生小孩都是時代造成的悲劇。自己的國家不被其它國家認同及尊重(而且處處遭到某鄰國的威脅及牽制,所以台灣國民才需要想盡辦法找退路)。萬一臺灣不在是我們想要住的地方了,我們的下一代才有另一個自由民主的國家可以落地生根。我只替我的父母親婉惜,因為他們為了下一代的著想,而導至他們的子孫永遠不再是臺灣人了。我可以教我在美國出生的子女愛臺灣,可是這段對臺灣的情不可能再延續到他們的下一代了!

兒孫自有兒孫福。人算不如天算。搞不好將來臺灣會有一天不用讓台灣人這麼大費周章的想辦法弄一本外國護照來保護下一代的自由生活。

Wii Spit! 任天堂的 Wii Sports

I took the kids to my sister-in-law's (my husband's sister) house yesterday. They bought a Wii system in May. Everyone is eager to try it out. They have a Wii Sport game and a Wii Fit game. The kids' uncle asked the kids which one they want to play. My 5YO nephew blurted out, "I want to play Wii Spit!!!" (sport + fit = spit) You had to be there. It was very funny and cute.

The kids ended up choosing to play the Wii Sports games. Wii Sport is a lot of fun. We tried tennis, bowling, and baseball. The kids had more fun playing tennis and bowling; the baseball game was more unrealistic. The Wii system made these sports feel so easy. The kids actually worked up a sweat playing these games. It's understandable why the Wii system is so popular with families. It's a game that the whole family can get involved in. While the children play, the parents cheer them on, and vice versa.

My sister who lives in Vancouver has a Wii system at home too. My kids played with it last summer. It was torturous seeing them taking turns playing Super Mario Brothers. My sister had 2 controllers and there were 4 kids. It was too much work just trying to figure out whose turn it was to handle the controllers. But playing with Wii Sports is different. In real life, when you play bowling with friends, you would have to wait for your turns to play. So waiting to take turns in sports comes more naturally to kids.

My kids had so much fun yesterday that they are going back to their auntie's house again today to play Wii. My husband and I don't plan to buy the Wii system for our kids. My kids already have their own Nintendo DS, so they have plenty of games to play with. If they want to play Wii, they can always visit friends or relatives who have Wii. Wii is more fun when played with many people.

昨天帶小孩到我小姑家玩。他們買了一套任天堂的 Wii 系統。大家後來決定一起來玩 Wii Sport (體育)。結果我發現真的是超好玩! Wii Sport 包括 保齡球 bowling, 網球 tennis, 高爾夫球 golf, 和拳擊 boxing。 玩起還蠻傳真的。 小孩大人都玩得滿身大汗! 小孩玩得太高興, 決定明天再去姑姑家玩 Wii。雖然我的小孩很喜歡玩 Wii, 但是我不打算買 Wii 給他們。他們已經一人一台 Nintendo DS 了,所以再買 Wii 給他們也是多餘的。買 Wii 給他們只是滿足他們一時的慾望而已(況且慾望是無止境的)。想玩 Wii 再去親朋好友家玩就行。

很糟糕的新聞標題 Terrible headline!

Whenever I have time during the day, I would browse through all the headlines of my two favorite Taiwanese on-line news source: The Apple Daily and China Times. Today, one such headline on www.chinatimes.com grabbed my attention (it served its purpose). "水牛城墜機報告 正副機長打情罵俏 奪五十命" (http://news.chinatimes.com/2007Cti/2007Cti-News/2007Cti-News-Content/0,4521,5040654+112009051500172,00.html). It was one of those news that captured the hearts and minds of the audience when it happened. Seeing the inferno that ensued after the crash really tugged at my heart strings at the time. The Chinatimes headline indicated that the Buffalo NY crash of a Colgan Air jet a few months ago was caused by the intimate conversation of the pilot and copilot (implying that there might be some hanky panky going on). I was shocked to see the headline, so I went on to read the article. But nothing in the article supported the headline. I went on to read the readers' comments and realized that I wasn't the only one who felt that the headline was either badly translated or badly written. In any case, I went to cnn.com (http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/14/buffalo.crash/index.html#cnnSTCText) and Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124212789938210353.html) to get the actual news story. Apparently, the real cause of the crash was the pilot and the co-pilot's inexperience. It really makes me wonder who are flying the planes these days!?!?

我每天有到網上看報的習慣。因為台灣的報社大概會在美西時間下午一、二點時刷新版, 所以我晚上一有時間就會上網看台灣新聞。今天在中時電子報看到一篇很聳動的標題: "水牛城墜機報告 看正副機長打情罵俏 奪五十命" , 看起來這正、副駕駛還真的有來一腿。但是文章內卻沒有提到那正、副駕駛有多曖昧。看到很多人留的言都在批評那記者寫錯標題。我也覺得是這樣, 所以我再上網找一些美國來源的文章來看。看完後才知道這次飛機失事的主要原因是因為正、副駕駛的飛行經歷不夠多, 一旦發現緊急狀況, 他們無法隨機應變, 導致墬機。

看樣子, 中時電子報的記者(或主編)可要多加學習英文了, 才不會把新聞標題翻譯錯誤 。

大家的母親節是怎麼過的? How was your Mother's Day?

I had a very relaxing Mother's Day. Neither of my kids have any projects due in the coming week, so I didn't have to nag them about their assignments. I don't know why I still have to worry about school assignments. It's like my recurring high school nightmares never ended--forgetting about an exam or assignment. Maybe it's more about me than about them. Perhaps, I'm the one who stresses out too much about their school experience.

Anyways, this morning my dad woke me up via Skype. He wanted to chat, but I wanted to sleep. Then I realized I had family coming over for lunch, so I got out of bed and started to clean the house. My dad had forgotten about Mother's Day. At least I got to wish my own mother a Happy Mother's Day via Skype. I told him I would call him back later on tonight and began my "special" day.

My husband decided to have a barbeque at home and invited his parents and his sister's family over for lunch. This is no different than what we normally do on a Sunday. The only difference is that my son doesn't have baseball practice today. His coach canceled the practice so all the boys can spend their afternoons with their moms. All the kids were playing in the backyard while my husband fired up the charcoal and made some fabulous ribeye steaks for lunch.

Before my husband went out to Costco this morning to buy the steaks, I told him not to waste any money buying jewelry for me. What's the point of a gift when I can basically buy anything I want the other 364 days?! He said OK and off he went.

I believe that everyday should be Mother's Day, not just one Sunday in May. Mothers should be appreciated everyday of the year, not just one Sunday in May. But the American culture promotes Mother's Day and all the kids in schools will make a card and a small gift for their mothers or grandmothers. I got a pair of earrings from my daughter. She made them at her last Girl Scout meeting. My son made me a pen holder which looks like a potted plant.

But the best gift I got today was the gift I asked my son to give me. I told him that for Mother's Day, I want him to practice his violin. So without any complaints (which he normally does), he went to pick up his violin and played everything once. He did mumbled under his breath "I am only doing this for you because it's Mother's Day!" Whatever, I got what I wanted!!!

In the end, my husband did buy me something for Mother's Day. He bought me an orchid plant from Trader Joe's. His explanation: "You are so good at raising orchids." There is some truth to that because orchids are the only plants that hadn't died in my care.

我先說我自己的母親節好了!

今天的天氣不錯,我老公在家烤肉,請了公婆和小姑一家到家裏吃飯。其實這跟我們平常星期天的作息沒有兩樣,只是兒子下午的棒球練習被教練取消了(通常是每星期天下午四點到五點半)。教練說這樣才能讓小孩在家多陪陪媽媽。

兩個小孩和表弟玩到五點才散會。

我 叫老公不用買什麼東西送我。我該有的都有了。母親節本來就不需要存在。大家應該天天都要對媽媽好,不是等到母親節才對媽媽獻殷勤。不過話又說回來, 我倒是利用母親節給我的特權, 叫我兒子練小提琴給我聽。今天是唯一的一次他沒有跟我討價還價, 而自動的把小提琴拿出來練。雖然他的嘴不斷的碎碎念, 我還是很感動!

女兒送了我一副耳環, 是她在上個女童子軍聚會時做的。兒子則在上課時做了一個花盆式的筆架給我。老公最後還是有買東西送我---他到 Trader Joe's 買了一盆蘭花給我, 因為蘭花是我唯一養不死的盆栽!

祝所有媽咪母親節快樂!

母親節的禮物 Mother's Day Gift

Time flies. It's almost Mother's Day! I wasn't fully aware of how close we are to Mother's Day until I got an email from my son's class mom telling all the parents that volunteering in his class has been canceled today because the kids are making Mother's Day gift in class this morning. So, of course, no moms are allowed in class. I was suppose to go in to help today, but since I didn't have to go, I decided to go to Sam's Club to look into a Mother's Day gift for my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law is very frugal. She doesn't want any of her children to spend money on her. Even with that in mind, I still want to buy a small present for her. She has done so much for her family. It's such a cliche, but she really treats me like her own daughter.

I thought of making a photo mug for her. I can upload photos onto Sam's Club digital photo center and order special gifts using those photos. I was going to get my sister-in-law and brother-in-law to email me photos of their kids, so I can present a mug to my mother-in-law with all her grandkids' photos on the mug. Unfortunately, the order would have taken at least a week and there just wasn't enough time to get this gift made before Mother's Day.

Since the photo gift idea didn't work out, I had to find another gift for my mother-in-law. I ended up buying her a burgundy velor jacket, a beaded top, a huge bag of Hershey's Nuggets, and a pot of roses for my mother-in-law. As I'm typing this, I've decided to return the pot of roses. In showing the roses to my husband, I got pricked twice by the rose bush. As my mother-in-law has poor eyesight, I am sure she would prick herself if she had to take care of those roses. I will find another potted plant from Trader Joe's to give to my mother-in-law.

My husband asked me what I want for Mother's Day. I told him not to bother. It really is meaningless to buy me a gift. What kind of gift will show me that I am appreciated as a mother?! Nothing can compared to a simple statement from my 7-year old son, "Mommy, you are so cute!"

母親節快到了。事先我完全無警覺, 真的沒想到這星期天就是母親節。好快喔! 又一年了! 昨天兒子班上的班媽寫了一封電子郵件給班上所有的家長告知這星期四(今天) 我們不用進教室服務(volunteer),原因是小朋友要在課堂上做母親節的禮物給自己的媽媽, 所以媽媽不能到教室幫忙。

也好,我可以去做別的事情。當然, 最緊迫的事情就是得準備個母親節禮物給我的婆婆。我本來想利用小孩子的生活照 (我也向小姑和小叔索取他們小孩的照片), 把它印在馬克杯上送給婆婆。把所有婆婆的孫子孫女的影像印在馬克杯子上是一過不錯的 idea, 只可惜 Sam's Club 需要七天以上的工作天才能製作完畢。那時候母親節也就過了。算了, 買別的東西送婆婆好了。

我在Sam's Club 逛了逛, 挑了一件葡萄酒色的絲絨夾克及一件同色的長袖上衣給我的婆婆。我的婆婆非常節儉(台灣人的美德!), 通常是不希望晚輩為她花任何的錢。但是我還是想買個小禮物送她, 因為她真的是一位好婆婆! 反正我知道我不能花太多錢在她的禮物上面, 要不然她是會不收禮物, 叫我直接拿回去退。我正是怕她不喜歡我送她的衣服, 所以我又另外買了一大包的巧克力糖 (Hershey's Nuggets) 給她。這巧克力我知道她一定會收的, 因為我兒子也喜歡吃。所以我的婆婆不只是位好太太、好媽媽、好婆婆,她更是一位好阿嬤!

笑話 Joke of the week

I just saw something funny on NBC. It was a commercial trailer advertising Jay Leno's Tonight Show. Jay Leno, the host of the Tonight Show, was doing an on-the-street interview, asking pedestrians some questions.

Jay Leno: Who lives in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
Woman on the street: I don't know.
Jay Leno: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
Woman on the street: (big smile because she knows the answer) SpongeBob Squarepants!

剛剛在電視上看到一則笑話,是個節目宣傳廣告。美國國家廣播公司(NBC)的深夜談話性節目主持人Jay Leno 在做街頭訪問。

Jay說: 誰住在 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? (答案是美國總統因為 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue 是白宮的地址)
街頭女人說: 不知道耶!
Jay說: 誰的家是海底裏的一個鳳梨?
街頭女人說: (開心的笑,因為她終於知道答案了) 海綿寶寶!