Lily and Sadako

We read the sad but wonderful book "Sadako and the Paper Cranes" a few years ago and Lily just reread it and then sat and made one origami paper crane after another with some washi we had. (I am addicted to the beautiful patterns and will buy it on impulse even when I have no idea what I will use it for!) I think these are so pretty!

Six years ago today

This is Jing at the orphanage two weeks before her adoption.

It is so hard to believe six years have gone by since Lily and I arrived in a hotel room in Xi'an, exhausted, and an hour later a wild child was brought to our room - a child we were both terrified of and who was quite difficult in every way she could think of, a child who had lost everything in one day and abandoned yet once more in her short 6-3/4 years. Thus began a journey that began quite roughly but has taken us only to worthwhile places and given Lily the sister and friend she longed for and the second daughter I wanted. Six years ago today Jing became a Johnson!

Civil War anyone?

We had such a fun time today as well as a thoughtful glimpse of our country's history. We went to a Civil War battle reenactment - The Battle of Cheatham Hill. It was quite exciting! (Lily said, "Mama, why did they call it "Civil" when they did all that fighting?" Good question!)

At first they were mostly at a distance but at one point I was staring right at a horse's bum two feet away! It was a huge production and the cannons were quite convincing! I could feel the booms all the way up through my body and there were quite a lot of them! It was fun to wander around afterwards and see the tents and campfires, the blacksmith, the Ladies Aid Society offering medical car for the "wounded." Lots of tents with clothing, jewelry and even corsets for sale. We didn't want to leave but I was oh so late for work!

We ran into a guy who had actually been on the property we live on documenting a battle they recreated this morning - too early for this night-shift girl - Kilpatrick's Raid, which actually took place on the farm - Nash Farm - that we were watching the Cheatham Hill reenactment. After Kilpatrick's raid the soldiers ran all the way down where we live in one day - many miles - and crossed a bridge over the river next to our driveway, burning the bridge behind them. So much history in this area. It was so interesting to see a bit what it might have been like and wonderful tha the fallen soldiers could get up and walk away after the battle was over.

Looking back...

I found these sweet photos of Lily while cleaning out today and thought I would post this scrapbook page. We haven't had a working camera for a while and have just been having a challenging time so haven't been posting but I'm sure everyone who has my blog linked is tired of looking at Karl Malden LOL! The designers used are Studio Phong and Ptitesourus.

This man mattered, or, who are the heroes?

I came home tonight to catch the news and hopefully watch some clips of an old favorite fellow of mine who I heard, before I ran out the door, died today - Karl Malden. Needless to say, after listening through several news and entertainment programs as I worked about the house, I heard maybe one or two short sentences on each one, buried at the end of the program, and saw a flash of a picture across the screen, then it was back to more repetitive coverage of "The King of Pop." Well EXCUSE me, but this man mattered too. I admit I am not a fan of MJ and I do understand that others are. It is always sad when someone dies, especially a father with young children. But the obsessive focus of even serious news programs on this one human being leaves me feeling, hmmm, I'll call it "disgruntled" since I make it a point not to swear. And saddened.

Karl Malden lived 97 years, and even from my limited knowledge lived a full and active life up to the end. He was never accused of child molestation. He never had his lovely big nose altered and was known to be unhappy when asked to use a stage name rather than his given name of Mladen Sekulovich. I'm pretty sure he never did drugs or wandered through stores buying ridiculously useless and excessively priced items (excuse me, just a memory I have from a documentary of MJ). He served his country in the US Army Air Corps, he maintained a happy marriage for 70 years, he had children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. He worked hard and from what I understand was a gentleman who practiced kindness and humbleness. He made many acclaimed movies, he starred in a television program that earned him five Emmys and was one of my favorites of all time. He served in the Screen Actors Guild. He was fascinating to watch, a truly good steady actor.

So why does his life barely rate a blip on the screen that he gave so much to in comparison to that other person who died DAYS ago?

Who are the heroes of today and why? When you ask my girls who they admire, some of the names they mention are Anne Frank, Helen Keller, Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, Clara Barton. I am so happy about that and feel somehow I feel I did something right as a parent, though they are the ones who ultimately made their choices. I have to say they didn't even know who Michael Jackson was. Not that I purposely kept the knowledge of him a secret - it just never came up!

Who are the heroes of so many today, these people who rate countless hours of air time when they pass or do something stupid, such as Britney forgetting her underpants or Paris Hilton in jail or the beloved Miley Cyrus in a pose or situation that belies her age? Who do our children admire and want to emulate?

I will always remember you Karl, and maybe considering the mob mentality of today that rates "Speidi" as worthy of airtime, you can call it a compliment that your death went virtually unnoticed in media land. Long after the media obsessions of today have gone, you will live on through your work, as steadily and vigorously as you lived your life.

Cat envy

Is it wrong to envy your cat?! I sit and stress over work issues, scrambling to survive, and I look over at the most peaceful, contented little being. Daisy spends her days being bathed by her mom (her birth mom, not me!), sprawling out in the sun in the grassy yard, being treated like a princess by her three human slaves, being fed no less than six times a day on demand and gamboling through the woods.

Oh yes, I have cat envy, but in my attempts to decipher something intelligible from Dr Taggart's dictations from her home with the phone lying on the table and her kids screaming incessantly in the background she also provides me a little oasis of peace when I look over and see her sweet contentment. Until I now have to go back to the hair-pulling-out madness! Anyone looking for a long-distance secretary!?

LOVE the Asian Market

We had another unexpected day off work - there was none, again - and I was antsy with stress so we just set off in the car. We had been trying to get back to the Asian Market, which is a good ways away, for some time and on a whim decided today was the day. Before we even got in I had picked up a full-size seedless watermelon for 2.99 and Lily had whispered, "Even outside, it smells like China!"

Inside we got Napa/Chinese cabbage for 54 cents a pound! I still had the remains of our last head in the fridge that I paid 1.49 a pound for. I love Napa cabbage and it is very healthy. I chop some up and put it in all kinds of things.

We got some huge boneless chicken thighs, my favorite piece of meat other than rib-eye steak, for 1.99 a pound. We passed over the rabbit, beef tongue and cod fish heads!

We also nabbed a full pint of blueberries for 1.99 a pound and some nice onions for 49 cents a pound, as opposed to 1.29 a pound at Publix. I just am in awe of the prices. We had fun looking at all the noodles. I have finally come up with a serviceable Lo Mein recipe but we thought we might find some noodles like they use at the Chinese restaurants. We did not, but on googling once we got home, seems that is an American Chinese restaurant noodle, not authentic Chinese! Sadly the udon noodles were too expensive. I miss my Japanese friend's Nikku Udon, tender beef strips floating with the yummy noodles in broth. We got these rice noodles to try, which were 99 cents a package, and the girls love rock candy and this heavy box for 88 cents proved irresistable!

We never have time to look at everything and I always mean to write down some of the names of seasonings and noodles and things to look them up at home and see if we might like them. We don't have any play in our budget to experiment as I wish we could. Lily kept gloating - "Mom, you look so out of place here!" I told her that was fine, it was far past my turn to look out of place.