A word of advise to anyone planning a visit to Tractor Supply between now and Easter, if you bring kids with you, they will fall in love with the baby chicks. How do I know? Well two reasons: #1. It's human nature to fall in love with soft cute fuzzy things and #2. Experience. So Shelly and I agreed that no way would we get any baby chicks no matter how much the kids (Jadyn and Sojung) begged pleaded or cajoled. We were putting our foot down, no chicks, that's that ... period!
So, we're heading home with our baby chicks...we didn't get them from TSC but that is where the seed was planted. Actually, they are kind of cute now and we were promised they were "eggcelent" layers. The girls named them Korea (pronounced Kor - ee - ay) and China (pronounced Cheena) which I thought was quite imaginative using the same spelling as their native country but a different pronunciation entirely.
I figure they won't last a week but one never knows, Sojung has had chicks before and kind of knows the ropes. Shelly is not happy as we got them when she wasn't with us. (She could have provided the voice of reason) Anyway, the kids are having a surprisingly good time with them. Jadyn has been in a good mood since we got them and that's a pretty long streak for her. LOL.
We got them from a farm in Lebanon where they had an impressive array of birds including some huge turkeys (award winning they claimed) and some beautiful Peacocks. The highlight was when one of their roosters went after Jadyn sending her screaming and running for the car as fast as her little legs would take her. It was funny to watch but I'm sure she was terrified. Kids her age recover quickly and in a few minutes all was forgotten.
So, the farm era begins. I'm quite certain this will be a short experience but I hope we all learn something and have a little fun in the process.
In our 14 years of marriage, we've shared our house with quite a few children. In the early 2000's we were foster parents and shared our home with 8 children. (not at the same time) None of them stayed too long and one in particular broke our hearts when she was taken from us. It is a long story so I won't get into it here but we realized that we couldn't handle the revolving door of foster care. My hats are off to the special people who do this work. I guarantee it is not for the money.
Infertility forced us to make a decision about what we were going to do about having a child. We pretty much exhausted the fertility route and decided we needed to look into adoption. That is where a wonderful organization called CCAI came into our lives. They guided us through an International Adoption which is not an easy thing to do. Since then we've become a family with (IMHO) the most beautiful and precious girl in the world. But it doesn't stop there.
After we got our little Jadyn home, we realized that we were at somewhat of a loss to keep her connected with her heritage and frankly, (forgive the pun) she was a little dis-oriented. Shelly saw an ad in the local paper that was looking for host families for foreign exchange students. She asked me what I thought about it and I said, "I wonder if they have any Chinese students." As fate would have it they did, so we signed up to host a wonderful Chinese girl for the school year. That's how we became associated with P.I.E. (Pacific Intercultural Exchange) Her name was Feng Meng Chen but we called her Mandy. She taught us so much about China and Chinese culture and taught Jadyn to count to ten and a bunch of Chinese words. She was a very studious girl and was determined to be successful. Today four years later, she is back in China going to Dental School.
With the first year of hosting under our belt we decided we should take a year off before doing it again but the agency called us with an urgent need for a last minute placement of another Chinese girl. We checked out her profile and decided she would be a good fit for our family and once again we were hosting a wonderful young lady named Zhang Qiqi. We called her Qiqi (pronounced Kiki). In China, the last name is always written first. She was so sweet but she was shy and had trouble with English so she did not develop many friends while she was here. She did however get a job working for tips at one of the local Chinese restaurants on weekends. I asked her what the most authentic food they served was and she said it was the soup. I asked her which soup, the egg drop, the won ton or the hot and sour? She said, "None of those, it's the soup they make in the kitchen just for the employees." I will say though, the food we had in China wasn't all that different than the food we have here except that it was so much better in China. Of course we didn't try anything too exotic like ostrich liver (which was on the menu of one of the places we ate)
After Kiki, we took a year off and this year we decided to try something different so we are hosting a young lady from South Korea named Sojung. Now, the South Korean culture borrows a lot from the Chinese however it's distinctly Korean and of course the language is totally different. Another thing that's different is the cuisine. I would say (and I'm no expert but it's my blog) that it's kind of a Japan meets China fare. There's a lot of seafood, (ala Japan) of course rice and a mixture of other things such as pork (ala China) and even things we would consider pretty yucky. Surprisingly our student from Seoul has told us a lot about her homeland. Seoul is a world class city with a high standard of living. It also has the most developed IT infrastructure of any country. Not at all a scene from M.A.S.H. South Korea boasts the highest national IQ in the world. Half the population of South Korea live in Seoul. It puts South Korea in a delicate position because Seoul is a mere 30 miles from the North Korean border. (The D.M.Z.) Certainly if North Korea invaded the south again, it would go directly for Seoul. Consequently, the people of Seoul and the South in general hate the North.
That is about it for kids, but we also share our abode with 3 cats and 2 dogs.
It's been said, "Beware the Ides of March." Today is National PI day. Why you may ask? Today is 3.14 which happens to be PI. It is customary to celebrate this auspicious occasion with a slice of pie. It just so happens one must use PI to calculate the exact amount of PIE one eats. (Or a scale I guess)
March is a strange month and runs the gamut of holidays. From sinful Mardi Gras, to the indulgent Fat Tuesday, the somber Ash Wednesday, and the silly green St. Patrick's Day. (Where everyone becomes Irish for one day.) Heck, the 2nd week of March is National Bubble Week. Anyway, I thought it was worth sharing. A Google search reveals that every day in March is some remembrance or holiday. Many of them two or more special days.
There are many types of pie in this county. There's pizza pie, pot pie, fruit pie, pumpkin pie, ice cream pie, peanut butter pie, meringue pies, cream pies and the mysterious and often misunderstood minced meat pie. Just make sure if you have some pie today, it's round.
We've all been there, a tough day at work, that bloated feeling, you get home to your fortress of solitude, the sanctuary if you will, sit down to begin a transaction and you suddenly realize there's no toilet paper. One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes is where Elaine is in the restroom without any paper and she pleads with the person in the next stall (known as an opponent) for a few squares, only to be rebuffed. The opponent claims she doesn't have a square to spare. It's part of the human experience and we've all been there weather we admit it or not.
So, now that we've identified a real problem, what do we do about it? I'm glad you asked. Here are my suggestions. Some of these tips are for public bathrooms and some can be used at home.
If you're a new mother, you're probably all set, use the wipes you've stored in your purse for just such an emergency. (be careful to NOT use Clorox wipes under any circumstances)
If you have any tissue on you, use it. Admittedly that's a stretch because most people don't carry that much tissue. (however see the exotic suggestions section if you find yourself in this situation)
If you have a cell phone (this one has been used successfully by one of my coworkers) and you are in a store, call the store and tell them you're in their crapper and you need paper NOW. (Resist the urge to dial 911 unless you are facing a potentially dangerous situation)
If you are at home and you already know you are out of paper, find some soft paper that will flush, tissue, paper towel (be careful not to use a full sheet at a time or it will clog your crapper) I've even heard of using coffee filters in a pinch. Also a wet rag is nice but it has a little ick factor due to the streaks, just rinse it out in hot water and soap and it'll be ok.
If you are at home, you can choose the NO PAPER route and shower after.
There are a few more exotic suggestions. If you are prone to reasonably firm loaves instead of the more liquid splattering, you can sit on the seat in such a way that you spread your cheeks wide thus eliminating contact with the part of the buttocks that gets soiled. This technique is known as having the bay doors fully open. There are times when this technique works so well there is no real need for paper. If you've been to Asia you probably have encountered the squatty potty, a perfect example of a design taking advantage of this technique, however you must be a wiry little bugger to use those comfortably.
You could install a bidet, some of the fancier ones provide a completely hands off experience. Others require a quick pat dry using very little paper. Sadly Americans are way behind a huge chunk of the modernized world in bidet implementation. Admittedly that takes a great deal of planning ahead of time, but if you decide to do it, you're need for paper will be dramatically reduced. It is also highly recommended if you suffer from the heartbreak of the occasional hemorrhoidal flareup. When most Americans think of Bidets, we think of a separate fixture in the bathroom next to the toilet but there are many many models of bidet gadgets that fit onto an existing toilet. They range in price from about $50 to $1500 depending on the level of opulence you require.
So in conclusion, if you find yourself in a no paper dilemma, maybe one of these tips or tricks will help you out.
If you grew up in or around Detroit, you know that today is Paczki Day. What is a Paczki (pronounced Punch Key) you may ask? Well, it's really just a Jelly Doughnut but for one day of the year (Fat Tuesday) we indulge the Hamtramickites (the Polish section of Detroit is known as Hamtramick) and pretend that they are something exceptional. (They may not be exceptional but they ARE tasty.) It's like Santa and the Easter Bunny, fun to indulge in one day of the year. Anyway, if you have a doughnut today, just call it a Paczki and enjoy it. If you rarely eat doughnuts (Like most of us older dudes have resigned ourselves to) today is the day to splurge. Soooo, if you eat one doughnut a year ... rejoice! Today is the day!
