Tonight I Bawled My Eyes Out

I don't get a chance to watch too much TV, but one of my must-see shows is Grey's Anatomy.

Tonight, I wasn't sure if I was watching Grey's or Glee with all the singing going on.  Some may not like the surgeons and ER doctors breaking out in song, but I have to say that I kind of liked it.  It's not like they're going to do this every episode.  It was well done and the storyline made me reach for the Kleenex box several times! This episode had me crying so much that I was shaking.


**Spoiler Alert!** Please do not read any further if you have not  watched tonight's episode yet.
Just after Arizona asks Callie to marry her, the couple get into a horrific car accident.  Callie is in critical condition and her baby's life is on the line as well. Why all the singing? Callie's injuries cause her out of body experience. From the trauma, it appears that everyone sings as her life is hanging by a thread.

The reason this episode made me bawl my eyes out was because though the circumstances were very different from ours, just seeing Callie's 1 lb, 1 oz baby (I think she was a 23 weeker) brought back a flood of memories of our own time in the NICU.

Little One was born at 2 lbs, 3 oz and at 28 weeks. That was two years ago, and yet tonight's episode of Grey's just triggered all the memories. I wasn't expecting to react that way.  When I saw that tiny body being worked on, I thought "Oh, my gosh. Little One was that tiny when she was born". Now, look at her! She's here and she's happy and healthy.

Sometimes I wonder how on earth I survived those scary, rocky first days, weeks, and months in the NICU.  I was chatting with another parent of a preemie who said the said. We both commented on how going through all of that made us stronger people. I agree. If we could survive those early (and scary!) days then we can survive anything.  I learned that I'm a lot stronger than I give myself credit for...and that my daughter is such an amazing and strong fighter. She is a miracle.

Now, I'm kind of half-scared to see what the next episode of Grey's will bring!

Chicken Curry

I don't know what possessed me, but I have been craving curry like you wouldn't believe.  Living on "the Island", ethnic cuisine is hard to come by...unless you make it yourself.  Coming from Toronto, this is both a good and bad thing for me.  Bad because I'm used to eating at Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Greek, or Indian restaurants whenever I want.  Good because it means I don't eat out often.  This said, whenever I'm in "the city", I make sure to stock  up on all my Japanese, Indian, Korean, Thai, Chinese ingredients.

This afternoon, I whipped up a curried vegetable dish, chickpea Channa and doubles, a chicken curry, and a Japanese curry. With all that food and just Hubby, The Student, Little One and myself to eat it, I decided to have an impromptu dinner party.  I invited my parents, a few friends and their kids, and we feasted on all that delicious curry.

Since I'm feeling generous, I'll share one of my curry recipes with you :) This one is my favourite! I love how all the senses are awakened by the contrasting flavours of the curry and spices, the refreshing zing of the lemon, and the sweetness of the coconut milk.

C's Chicken Curry

Ingredients
2 medium onions, chopped
Lots of garlic, chopped
3-4 heaping spoonfuls of curry powder
2 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
Grated ginger
cayenne powder
paprika
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
The juice of 1 lemon
Salt and Black pepper to taste
4 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
Coconut milk (I used creamed coconut milk in the bar form and added boiling water to thin it out a bit)
Olive oil to saute with

1. In a heavy pan, heat oil. I used my dutch oven (just because I LOVE using it!). Saute onions until translucent. Add garlic and spices. Stir for a few minutes. This is when everything starts to smell delicious!

2. Add chicken to pan. Add coconut milk and tomato paste. Bring everything to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add lemon juice and simmer for a few more minutes.

4. Serve over bed of Basmati rice. I served vegetable curry to accompany this dish. Altogether, there were 4 different types of curries I made.

One of my friends brought some red wine, homemade guacamole and multi-grain tortilla chips, and a yummy dessert. Yeah, the wine, guac and chips, and dessert didn't really go with the Indian curry theme, but were a welcomed addition. I guess it wasn't entirely Indian themed, since we had Japanese curry and Caribbean chickpeas and doubles! :)

Everyone had a great time! For me, the best way to spend an evening is to share good company, good conversation, and good food!

**The chicken curry photo is not mine. Sadly, there were no leftovers of this dish!  I found the image here.

On A Lighter Note...

 Perhaps not quite narcoleptic, but Little One has the uncanny ability to fall asleep anywhere and everywhere.

Always Trust Your Gut

Many of you  know that I am an ESL teacher and that we also run a homestay program for students from other countries. Unfamiliar with what a  homestay is? Basically, we provide room and board to students from other countries who are studying English here in Canada.

We currently have one homestay student from South Korea and another one coming soon. We just received news that we were to have a Chinese student stay with us for four months. I was thrilled, since we haven't had any Chinese students stay with us before.

The mother, Meifeng Cheng found me via one of the ESL boards I belong to and am registered with. She sent me this message:

Thanks for your respond. Kindly let me know what your price is like for 2 meals [Breakfast and Dinner], my main worry is for her to stay with a lovely good home. I hope your home will provide her the kind of atmosphere she need.

She will be coming on the 12th of March and leave on the 12th of July, 2011. Also we are going to pay up front, I don't what Lui to have money problems when she is with you Mr.Tom Park will handle the payment for us since he reside in Canada. Mr.Park is a long time friend of my family I contacted him about Mei moving to Canada for her studies and he said is a nice idea and promised to help us out with the payment.

God has help me to rise Lui up in His way so she is a nice young girl and you will love her I promise you. She will be going to a language school and have two schools which she's talking with but I have also asked her that am going to ask you to advice us on any good school close to your home, Can you help her to enroll when she comes over? Please note that her English speaking is very slow and for this I allowed her to visit my step-sister in England, I want her English to improve a bite before coming to your home. She will move from England to Canada I pray you will assist her.

Lui is 19 year. Here in China if you can speak and write English you will have a very good job as the economy is growing everyday I want Lui to be ready I want to give her my best now after I found her.

Let me hear from you.

Regards,

Meifeng.

We e-mailed back and forth over the course of the next few days. It struck me as odd that she never answered my questions and that she kept asking me for information that was evident, had she read my work website. All the information was there, yet she kept asking me things that she should have known.

Things didn't add up, and they just got more mysterious. She told me that Tom Park would be Lui's contact in Canada and that he would be handling her homestay arrangements and everything required to get her here. Tom Park did call me and he sent me a company cheque for $4000.

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt and I am a pretty trusting person, but this felt wrong for some reason. A few days later, I received this:

How are you and your family? Am so glad that my Lui will be staying with a good home and you are going to be a nice mom to her. I have told Lui a lot about your family and she's very please and cannot wait to meet with her new family.

I just came in now and will be out again after sending you this e-mail. There's a lot for me to do regarding grammar's burial which I want it to come up on the 26th of March if possible. Am the only person doing all the arrangements for the burial. Grammar have only two children my Mom and his brother Bojing which we have not heard from over 9years now so am just alone.

I got an e-mail from Mr.Park about the overage which is $890. Our agreed price was $840 per month which is $3,360 for the 4 months. I have asked Park to loan me the money which he has agreed to, you can call him to confirm. Though in his last e-mail he told me he will be going on vacation.

Lui told me she have no money on her at all and I have no money to send to her right now as I have a lot to do here that involve money for grammar's burial, and I spent a lot on grammar's hospital bills. I told her I will talk to you. I am wondering if you can send her $3,000 from the amount Mr.Park sent to you so she can pay some bills, flight ticket, do some shopping and have some cash on her to move around with when she comes over till I settle down after the burial, I promise you I will make up the balance within her first month with you. Her welcome is over stayed in UK , I know what am talking about.

Kindly send to me the nearest airport she will land for easy pick up and the airline you think will be fine for her to fly with. I will get back to you later today when I hear from her.

Have a lovely day. Please am counting on you to take care of my Lui. I will give you her flight details once I get it from her. I have asked her to make sure her flight will land in the evening say around 6pm or 7pm your local time so you will be chance to pick her up. Or what do you think?

Meifeng.

Yes she will do her ESL with you I thought we have agreed on this before now. What I don't know is if the 840$ covers the ESL fees if not kindly let me know but my main worry now is for Lui to move and be under your roof that's when I will be happy and relax here.

I was a bit confused, as we never "agreed" on a price. My prices for homestay do not include ESL lessons. It was all a bit weird. Of course, the asking me to send her daughter $3000 sent red flags up. Why would I have to send her daughter money to get her plane ticket?

I e-mailed Meifeng and Mr. Park and told them that we would love to host Lui, but not unless all her arrangements have been sorted out first. I told them that all of my ESL students have always ensured that they had adequate funds and all their visa, plane ticket, insurance, and everything else sorted first. I also found it weird that Meifeng did not sign the contract or waiver form that I e-mailed to her for Lui.

Like I said, I'm generally not a suspicious person, but I'm glad I was this time.

Feeling an odd sensation in the pit of my stomach, I Googled the names "Meifeng Cheng", "Lui Cheng", and "Tom Park". To my horror, it was confirmed that this was indeed a scam! There were tons and tons of homestay families on one of the ESL community boards who were victims of this scam. Fortunately for me, I listened to my gut feeling.

Since the last e-mail where I told "Meifeng" and "Tom" that I would not deposit the cheque and I would not pick up "Lui" at the airport, I  haven't heard a single word from them.

To think, I was so close to getting scammed out of a few thousand dollars! It is so sad that anyone could be so low as to prey on good people like this. I feel sad for all the homestay families who have been scammed by "Meifeng"/"Tom. This was an elaborate scam! A lot of effort went into planning this. E-mail correspondence, phone calls, a cheque (again, weird that Tom used a "company" cheque from Toronto instead of a certified cheque or money order)...and Meifeng even e-mailed me a photo of Lui Cheng!

I wonder if we should notify the police of this scam? I would hate for anyone to be a victim of this.

Friday Funnies

*Disclaimer: Please be aware that this joke is not a "G" Rated joke and may be offensive to some. Please do not read any further if you are easily offended.*

One of my favourite Tweeps needed some laughs today, so I racked my brain for some jokes I could tell her. I'm the kind of person who has that "delayed reaction" thing going on whenever someone tells me a joke. Then I laugh about the punch line for days. I'm also the kind of person who messes up jokes whenever I try to retell them.

My friend, FunMommy told a bunch of us this joke at one of our International Dinner parties. I still laugh about this one. It only took me about ten minutes to finally "get it" (the joke, I mean)!

Here you go, Nugglemama!

Three very pregnant women are waiting to see their doctor.  The first says "I'm sure I'm having a boy this time, because my husband was on top, and I always have boys when he's on top."  The second one says "That's interesting. I guess I'll have a girl then, because I was on top."  The third woman begins to sob, and the other two ask her why she's crying. She says, "I think I'm having puppies!" 

Photo found via Google Images

 

Alive by Five

A friend of mine always jokes that she worries whether her son will be alive by the age of five since he's a daredevil. He's a very active little guy who has no fear.

I often wonder if I'll be alive by the time Little One turns five.

Why?

The kid is so rambunctious, full of energy, and has no fear. Okay, she's two. According to most parents I have spoken to, toddlers at the age of two are much like Little One. She's always into everything, she's non-stop go-go-go, full of energy, etc, etc, etc.

How on earth do parents live past the toddler years? Turn your back for two seconds, and this kind of stuff happens...

Yup! Little One found her butt paste and smeared zinc oxide ALL OVER my kitchen, kitchen appliances, and HERSELF! Of course, this was after she had demolished my kitchen and turned it upside down.

I almost had a heart attack. I'm sure in a million years, I'll be able to look back at this moment and laugh. Again, how can you get mad at someone who looks this cute?

P.S. I have learned am learning that I need to take a chill pill every time Little One does something that stresses me out. I need to learn to laugh more and let things go. I need to remind myself that we are so blessed that she is here with us and can even do all those things that stress me out. She is our little miracle. I have to keep reminding myself of that...especially when she looks at me with a diaper cream covered face and butt paste smeared all over the fridge and stove.

Toddlers Make Me Laugh

Many of you know that I teach ESL (English as a Second Language) and the students live with us on our farm. Having a toddler and a house full of people all the time can prove to be very *interesting* at times.

Last night, Hubby and The Student were assembling some new furniture for me when Little One saw them crouched on the floor, working hard at putting things together. She ran to her room, grabbed a diaper, and hurried back to the living room. She rather earnestly tried to put the diaper on The Student while he was on all fours! It was the funniest thing! He kept telling her, "Oh, no! I don't need a diaper! No thank  you!"

On the weekend, I was madly trying to clean my stove and oven. Little One was *helping* me. I was using an old toothbrush to get into the corners of the oven. All of a sudden, Little One yelled, "SPIT!" when she saw the toothbrush...and then she spat on my oven.

 My parents and my mother-in-law take turns taking care of Little One when I'm teaching. MIL has her on Mondays and my parents have her the rest of the week.
When I came home from work on Monday, Little One ran  up to the front door and was so excited to see me! She then started waving to my MIL and said, "Bye-Bye Grandma! Bye-Bye! Go now, Grandma." My poor MIL! I hadn't even taken my boots off and Little One was rushing her out the door! I was so embarrassed!

A few days ago, Little One ran up to me and said
"[The Student's real name] HARD-ON!"
She kept repeating "Hard on! Hard on! Hard on, Mama!" while pointing at The Student. I was mortified! It just so happened that The Student had a heart sticker stuck to his jeans! Little One was trying to tell us that he had a "heart on"!
Little One has an obsession with stickers now (thanks to my friend, BakingMomma). For some reason, Little One prefers putting stickers on her face, hands, arms...and anywhere just as long as it's not on paper. I find stickers in random, obscure places (like on my socks or on The Student's jeans).

Ah! Gotta love toddlers! They make life anything but boring!

On Toddlerhood

I remember when Little One was still a tiny little thing. We waited with anticipation for her to say her first words. Pretty soon, the babbling and chattering came.  We'd oooh and ahhhh, and clap our hands with excitement each time she said something new.

Then she became a toddler. The pointing out the window and listing off everything she saw was so adorable. The way she pronounces things in her little chipmunk voice is just so stinkin' cute.  I mean really cute! Now she's forming simple sentences and is non-stop talking. Sure, we don't always understand what she says, but she manages to get her point across most of the time.

It's the other times when she can't make herself understood that she gets a little...scary. She doesn't throw temper tantrums like the kind all parents dread. You know the big-lay-myself-in-the-middle-of-the-shopping-mall-flinging-my-limbs-and-screaming-my-head-off-while-the-tears-flow-so-everyone-can-see-me tantrum? No, we've been lucky (knock on wood!) that we haven't had the pleasure of dealing with that (yet!).

We pretty much try to deal with things immediately by either A) trying to PREVENT the meltdown (usually it's because she's either hungry or tired), B) trying to DISTRACT her/divert her attention (offer her a toy to play with or a book to read and look at), C) trying to talk to her and explain things (not always successful since she is still just 2). The "You can't stand on top of the piano because it's dangerous" doesn't compute in a toddler's mind.

As a whole, Little One is a pretty easy-going, chilled out, happy toddler.  I love her. However, along with her new found "voice" and ability to articulate her wants and needs comes the occasional meltdown.  "No!" just happens to be one of her favourite words. Sometimes, in desperation, she adds the "No, pleeeeeeeeease!" if she is really in opposition of what we ask of her.

Me: [Little One], please don't mash your potatoes between your fingers. Oh! We don't throw our food when we're done. That's not nice.

Little One: No!

Me: Give me your plate, please. You're done.

LO: NO!

Me: AH! Please do not put your squash in your cup! Milk is for drinking! (as I remove her cup and plate)

LO: (reaching for her plate and cup) Nooooooooo, peeeeeeeeeas! Peeeeeeeeeeeeas, Mama! Nooooooo!

OR

Little One: (pulling at my shirt while I'm cooking supper) Come on now, Mama!

Me: Honey, I'll be with you in a minute. Mama's cooking supper.

LO: Come on NOW, Mama! (tugging even harder at my shirt)

Me: Soon, Baby Girl! Come, sit and play with your toy while Mama cooks! Isn't that fun?

LO: NO! Come on now, Mama! Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeas!?!?! (as she throws herself onto the floor and cries her heart out)

I know I should be cherishing every moment because children grow up so quickly. These early years are so special. Little One is so much fun and she's just so funny, and witty, and adorable! At the same time, I sometimes wonder if I'll survive the toddler years! Oh, I know I will. It's just that some days are pretty unreal. Today, for example. Little One was *supposed* to be napping, but when I went upstairs from cooking lunch for the boys, what should I see? Little One *not* in her bed or in her bedroom, but in the living room where I was painting the walls! She had a paint roller in her hand and had painted ALL OVER her face and limbs! Yes, my toddler was COVERED in Cerulean blue! I almost had a heart attack.

I'm sure one of these days, I'll look back on this and think it was funny. I know I'll miss these days when she's a teenager.

Parenthood. It's definitely not for the faint of heart. :)

Goodnight Moon

 I am in constant awe of how crafty....sneaky...creative intelligent and adorable toddlers can be.

Little One's bedtime routine is as follows:
Supper, bath, put on jammies, brush teeth, read a few books and sing some lullabies, and then go to bed.

Last week she has been insisting on reading Goodnight Moon last. She says, "Goodnight moon, goodnight stars, goodnight Grampy, goodnight Lola, goodnight Grandma, goodnight Daddy, goodnight Mommy, goodnight Kenny, goodnight Brookie, goodnight Livia, goodnight Connor, goodnight Dong Woo, goodnight Yizzzz (she can't say "Liz" yet), goodnight Chance, goodnight puppies, goodnight cats, goodnight cows..." and the list keeps going on and on...and on!

Pretty smart for a two year old to try to get Mom to let her stay up a little longer! What a cheeky little monkey she is!