I've had a great day. Even though part of my day included a cursory perusal through the pile which has accumulated on my desk (and the floor around my desk), I'm happy and busy with "Rainbow Fish" rehearsals.
BUT My efforts have unearthed the following urgent items:
the application for a dog license,
a notice that our foreign worker levy was not automatically deducted from our bank account in April and at the point of the notice, they hadn't received my check (another fallout from the delay with SCEM!),
a notice of a warrant for arrest of the owner of this apartment (I made a call which, though automated, revealed that the arrest was coming from a summons from the Broadcast Authority - an entity we didn't know until this year needed to be paid annually for the license to have a radio or TV in your home),
the accident report for our run in with the motorcylist May 1st (insurance said to file the report at the car repair, the car repair has told me to first file the form with my insurance company),
the rental agreement signed in January that needs to be taken to some office called the Inland Revenue Authority for some kind of official "stamping,"
and the notification forms for Tyler's change of school that needs to be filed at Immigration (I've been there twice, the first time alone, in December, I found out he needed to be with me for a picture and he'd already gone with Jim ahead of me to China for the holiday, the second time was the day I had the car full of kids was in a rush to get one of them back for an appointment and spent my time at the Immigration building in the parking lot exchanging particulars with the driver of the car I hit while trying to park).
I'll get to it tomorrow.
It was a great day. Even though I took my car in to Honda for the routine 60,000 mile check up yesterday morning and I still don't have it back...(you know standard check: check the tires, change the oil and transmission fluid, check the underside for rust, give it a good waxing and vacuum, and make sure the engine is running properly?) By 5:30PM today they finally returned my calls to say it was ready ($717 total bill - good thing I told them to skip conditioning the upholstery), but I'd have to get to the shop 1/2 hour away within the next hour, and at the time I had a guest over for dinner. I'll go pick it up on my good day tomorrow.
I had a great day because the kids and I took Rascal for a long walk just after breakfast. And even though this intended aerobic walk for cardivascular fitness didn't get my heart rate above 100, even though Cameron pooped out and we sent him up the elevator early, and even though Tyler got smacked in the mouth from walking behind me while I was swinging my arms (trying to get my pulse rate up SOMEHOW). Even though they won't let dogs on the track at the stadium, and I was resorting to calling my sons derogatory names like, "You coupl'a LADIES!" to try to get them to pick up their pace, I finally gave in. Tyler and I ended up just strolling through the park hand in hand enjoying the morning and the fact that he's already 9 and still likes holding my hand, and I've adjusted to the tropics enough that it didn't feel scorching hot, yet.
I had a great day because I find that the boys actually like study time when I'm around. Tyler did 45 minutes of a Chinese revision computer game while Cameron watched. Tyler read and reported from his WHAT YOUR 3rd GRADER NEEDS TO KNOW book (he learned about quilting), and both he and Cameron practiced their penmanship. Tyler told me last week he thought it was impossible for his writing to improve. I told him his writing was bad because I had not forced him to tediously practice his penmanship perfectly when he was in kindergarten (for which he then said, "And I thank you for that!"). So, after I gave him the "PERFECT practice makes perfect" speech, we made an agreement for this first week of the holiday: We're devoting 7 days to building the strength and coordination in their large AND small muscle groups, so along with the morning brisk walks (drags), they've agreed to submitting to daily practicing their penmanship to see if their writing improves. I hope I'm right in guaranteeing that it will.
I had a great day because I finally had an opportunity to treat my Australian neighbor to the pedicure I'd promised for her birthday present...Loonni watched all the kids in the afternoon while Jackie and I had an hour and a half being pampered at the nail shop in the Mall (our Tampines Mall has one of the only 6 nail places I could find in the phone book).
I had a great day because I had a chance to slip into Starbucks for about the 3rd time all year and treat myself to a frappucino WITH whipped cream.
I had a great day because the infamously busy dramatist and Faith Lew came all the way out to our suburbian condo to brainstorm with me ideas of what she can to teach Chinese 9&10 year olds in a drama camp in a Yunnan village next week. I taught her the ideas for teaching English that Tyler and I had used in his kindergarten class in Kunming and she was excited about these ideas for breaking up her standard drama teaching in Mandarin with some fun ways to get kids comprehending English (and it will really impress the regular teacher and parents!). We had a simple meal of some Chicken alphabet soup I'd thrown together and gave Faith our homemade flour tortillas to try for the first time (she loved the Pace salsa almost as much as she liked all the stuff we have hanging on our walls and setting about the house), and then we sent her on her way to her next rehearsal.
I had a great day because after dribbling and shooting practice (in the house on the tiles and against the wall) with our playground rubber ball, I can see marked improvement in the boys only after 3 days. To celebrate, Tyler turns on the electric keyboard to an automatic song, crank it up to the fastest it will play and do some crazy dancing until we're all sweaty and ready for bed.
I had a great day because when we stopped what we were doing because we heard a man's voice (a neighbor) yelling and carrying on angrily, I asked Tyler if my hollering ever sounds like that; and his eyes got really big and he said, "No." I told him that when I hear someone yelling like that I always like to take a minute to pray for the person who's being yelled at, and then for the person doing the yelling, that they will somehow find peace and patience in God's love and through his power.
I had a great day because we turned on the bedroom airconditioner and read more from Corrie Ten Boom's THE HIDING PLACE, and I get to be the first one who enlightens the boys to this kind of Godly courage, and give them their first exposure to that awful war, by means of the people who emerged from the horrors with their strong faith and convictions in tact. We finished the chapter, Cameron had fallen asleep, and Tyler spontaneously threw his arms around me and said, "I love you mom."
I had a great day because I didn't clean a single dish, mop any floors, scrub one toilet, wash or iron one item of clothing, I didn't even make my bed; and yet my house looks almost spotless when I turn the lock on the front door and turn off the living room lights at bedtime. I was teaching Loonni how to cook something and I joked about my being a bad wife because my cookbooks are still so "new" after 16 years of marriage, Loonni told me in her broken Chinese, "Oh, boss-lady, that is not true! You are a good wife! Wahh, I've never met anyone who can do so many things as you!" (when I told Jim this later, he joked, "Yes, and in her 28 years she's met SO VERY MANY people in her village and factory-work experience!" The rat!)
I had a great day because Tyler's last words when the lights were turned out were, "Thank you God for giving me such a neat home." I look around in the dark at their clearly cluttered small room, shut the door of his room and put away a few of the kids books still lying around on the floor by the bookshelf in the hall. This IS a fun house, even though it's just an apartment, even though they have so much homework, even though there's no carpet to wrestle on. There's something interesting to look at, play with, or learn about everywhere you turn. And there's heaps and heaps of love here too.
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