February 28, 2010

Happy Birthday Julie!

February 25, 2010

It snowed in Austin! Weren't there, but it looked like fun.

February 18, 2010

Mr. Tan from my Chinese Ink painting class.

And a tag that I saw in the elevator.

February 14, 2010

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

and

Happy Valentines Day!

February 12, 2010

Tucker informed me this morning at 6:45 that he needed to be to school early this morning at 7:30. It takes 30 minutes to drive to school. I could have rushed and driven him… Instead I put him in a cab. And Jacey, too for good measure. First time they’ve both ridden a cab alone.

Everyone says cars in Singapore are “Expensive”, but it was all anecdotal. No one had ever told me exactly how expensive. Last night I met a Volvo dealer. He said an XC90 is S$180,000 to buy new plus $30,000 to buy a license plate. S$210,000 is about US$140,000. An XC90 in the US is probably around US$55,000.

February 14th is Chinese New Year! It’s a 4 day weekend and the Mathis family isn’t going anywhere. Something is definitely wrong.

February 10, 2010

It's 2/10/2010! Several months ago at a Christmas Fair I saw a booth with some traditional Chinese paintings in it that I really liked. I didn't buy one, but got a card. The lady said that the artist had a little shop in one of the more run down malls and didn't speak English. He gives lessons in Chinese painting, but it would be best for me to go by on a Saturday morning when there are other folks there who can translate. Saturday mornings are difficult.

So finally today I stopped in. Mr. Tan really doesn't speak English. Actually, he speaks more English than I speak Chinese. But in no way does he speak English. His studio is hardly large than an average bedroom and when Mary and I arrived he was sitting on the couch with his head bobbing taking a nap. I liked him immediately. We continued to talk to him as if he could understand us and he said very little. But somehow we were able to schedule a class for next Thursday (or as Mr. Tan called it "4" -- it's the fourth day of the week). Though he couldn't say "Thursday", he could say "$120 for lesson". As we were leaving he gave me a book of his work. I'm pretty sure he would have found a way to ask for payment otherwise.

I was motivated when I got home and finished a pastel I've been working on. I't from a picture we took in Cambodia.

February 7, 2010

It’s Monday. I didn’t exercise. I haven’t showered in days. I made no plans. I forgot the Super Bowl was on TV. I paid bills. Last Monday I was lost in a jungle. By late morning I decided to go to a movie but the 6 stories of corkscrew driveway to the parking garage was overwhelming and I turned around and came home. Grabbed my book and began to read the most ridiculous book ever mandated by my book club (missed the 1st meeting, didn’t finished the 2nd book, and 3rd book stinks – what a great book club). Fell asleep on my right side and woke up with a nap induced hip injury from years of napping on inadequate couches on my right side. Hip replacement is imminent. Walked to Starbucks for a pick-me-up. While lumbering down Orchard I passed the Prime Minister’s (albino) son. I’m certain it was his son, because there just aren’t that many white haired Asians around. I followed him for 2 blocks with a hip limp hoping he was headed back to our street so I would have an excuse to talk to him. Finally deciding he wasn’t heading our way, I let him slip away. Without a good excuse, all I could have said was, “Aren’t you the Prime Minister’s (albino) son?” Then I would be arrested and caned as a hip limping stalker. The kids arrived home early and we took full advantage by watching two Hallmark Hall of Fame/Lifetime Original movies featuring Gena Rowland as an older southern woman (the only role she plays in every Hallmark movie). One was “Jacey’s Story” so we had to watch it. As bedtime approached and I should have been saying, “Time for bed!” I instead said, “Let’s walk to the mall for ice cream!” Now that’s good parenting. As 8:00 passed me by I spent the evening with Carrie, Amanda, Samantha and the other one watching the Sex and the City movie, realizing they’re just a little too old for this and I’ve never liked Sex and the City. While I was watching the Sex movie, I was forgetting that I should have been at the mandatory parent meeting for Jacey’s first confession. I was so busy today I forgot about it. And the Super Bowl.

And the Opposition's Response:

OMG!!!!!.... I am driving the 50 minutes home from the 10 hour Mandatory VP/D mtg in freakin Bastrop, TX getting inspired to embrace the "Dell Transformation Agenda around the 3 Strategic Pillars for 2010 to take my leadership to the next level"...and then I see this? I am on my way home to mice in the living room, squirrels in the attic, gas leaking, refrigerator broken house...and I see this?

So ...Ladies in Singapore - I need an intervention...for you know who: the albino-stalking, Sex in the City Watching, Hallmark Hall of Fame lover, who has forsaken all parenting duties during his busy days!

Even I had the confirmation class on my calendar...but I wouldn't want to remind him...as he loves it so when I do this!

So...If you can't do an intervention on my husband - can you at least ensure my children have some good Catholic role models? Can someone go beg the Church to let poor little Jacey still receive the Blessed Sacraments even if she is in the care of her albino-stalking father?

I'll be home in 6 days.....

Thank You!!!!! And May the Lord Bless You!

February 6, 2010

Went to the Singapore Airshow today. Were able to cut the queue and get a tour of one of the U.S. Army's transports. The guys who showed us the plane had spent the last several weeks going back and forth to Haiti before their 40+ hour trip to Singapore. Below is an unmanned drone. I always imagined them being the size of a toy plane. This is not.

February 5, 2010

I've been working on a painting for Jacey's room. It's a the Chinese character for Love. Tucker, my best worst critic, said he really liked it. When I told him that something wasn't just right about it he said, "It's probably your stroke order." What? "Every Chinese character has a specific stroke order when you draw it or it doesn't look right." You learn something new every day (from Tucker). And I think he was right.

February 2, 2010

I scaled the heights of Bukit Timah this morning. Bukit Timah (which means “tin bearing hill” in Malay) is the highest point in Singapore. A sign at the top says that it took the first explorers in 1828 3 days to reach it from the city. It took me all of 20 minutes to reach the summit, but the paved paths gave me a slight advantage. The first explorers could see all the way to Fort Canning. I could see a sea of condos. On the way back to the parking lot I decided to take a side trail. And within minutes I was lost in the jungle. All humanity disappeared, the trail narrowed, the air thickened, and I continued to sweat. On an island with 5 million people, I get lost in the jungle on Bukit Timah for the next two hours! Luckily, this was a small preserve or I might not have been found for days (I now know why it took those first explorers so long). Along the way I saw (what must have been a spitting cobra) a snake and a herd (of what was certainly) killer monkeys that were contemplating chasing me down for dinner. They didn’t realize that I was contemplating monkey stew for dinner around a jungle fire had this adventure lasted much longer. Have you seen “Lost” where the jungle quivers and black smoke comes out and then they’re all attacked by a killer polar bear? That happened to me twice. Seriously. Or it could have just been the rivers of sweat stinging my eyes and blurring my vision. I knew I would find salvation soon because I was still on the island (I didn’t remember crossing an ocean), and my trail kept being redirected by signs that said “Keep Out – Singapore Army Firing Range”. You know the one – red sign, one man with a gun aimed at the other who has his arms raised. I was the one with the arms raised in submission. As I finally stumbled back to the parking lot and set off my car alarm I remembered… My phone has a GPS.