Sweet Life With Mary

I must have…Mary asks me,          

      “Why did you not want to go out when Dad was asking to marry you?”

On our drive back from Thanksgiving, that day with the near-accident, we had recounted the story of how Jack asked me to marry him.  Cold weather, snow, “butt-cold” temperatures— these are the memory triggers for this particular event.

Seven years ago this Christmas, I was visiting Jack in Iowa for the second time since we had met in Vancouver the year before.   Winter is not the best time to be visiting ANYBODY in Iowa, he should have gone to Vancouver instead and visited me.  But, I could take the time off from work, he couldn’t, so, anyway…

The relationship had been going very well despite it being a “long-distance” one.  However, on this second trip to see him, I had no inkling that he was going to take it to the next level.  Looking back, I should have seen the signs— his Mom was checking out my fingers as we were shopping, Jack was asking everyone about a great restaurant to go to, he was so insistent about going out — but, I was oblivous.

So, on that fateful day, Jack was all set to treat me to a nice dinner. But, it was so darned COLD!!!  It was the type of cold that if you are home, you don’t want to get into the car, then once you are in the car, you don’t want to leave the car.  I did not want to get all dressed up for a fancy dinner and have to be in stockinged heels, walking from the house to the car, then the car to the restaurant, brrrr!!! Couldn’t do it and Jack couldn’t make me.

Instead, I opted for a nice dinner at his place.  We did go shopping for it— we got the makings for fried rice, egg rolls (I know, not fancy but it was what I wanted to eat that night, did not know it was to be a “special” dinner) and Jack got some red wine, as well.  I should have known something was up because we rarely drink wine.

On that cold night, after dinner, while watching “The Bicentennial Man” on cable, he tells me to close my eyes, threw a kitchen towel over my head to make sure I was not peeking, he proposed.  I think, he went to get the ring, got down on his knees, asked me the question and I said yes.  While writing this, for the life of me, I cannot recall the words he used to ask me and what my exact reply was.  Blame it on the red wine, I was drunk that evening. 

What do I remember?

1. (One more time) It was a cold and dreary day.
2. I was adamant about NOT going out for dinner.
3. I got drunk on 2 glasses of wine.
4. We called my parents right after and my Dad said something like, “…she is not sweet…”  I think, my dad wanted to make sure Jack knows what he was getting.
5. My ring is beautiful.

I must have said yes… It’s seven years later and I live in Colorado with him and our sweet little Mary.—–
For more about the Marriage Proposal Blog Carnival, visit Wifely Steps. Thanks, Toni for hosting it!

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Update: February 15, 2008

Sending the link to this post to Sangria Lover, as part of Joel and Jen’s Fake Engagement Party.  Congratulations and Good Luck!!!

Now, there is nothing weird with Sugar Plum Grape Tomatoes.  They are just tomatoes that you can eat like fruit— oh, they are fruit.  I think, they are really, really good and I do not even like tomatoes, most of the time.

So, I had Mary try out one.  I told her to just pop it in her mouth and chew on it.  After the first bite, she just gave a shrug.  Then, while she was chewing, she made a “thumb down” with her right hand.

“You don’t like it?” I asked her.

Then the other hand comes up and makes another “thumb down” gesture along with the right hand.

“TWO thumbs down???”

“Actually, FOUR, ’cause my toes are doing it, too.”

I was preparing some buckwheat groats for my breakfast when Mary, ever curious, asked what it was…

I tell her, “It’s gonna make Mommy healthy.”

She tells me, “It’s gonna make baby throw up.”

The on-going Advent Treasure Hunt that I had devised for Mary to enjoy this holiday season is yielding one very rewarding find FOR ME— Mary’s ever-improving reading skill.

Mary is not one of those very early readers (y’know, like that Hooked on Phonics commercial where a little boy who “just turned 4″ is reading out loud from a book and the mom is all Hooked on Pride…” or my nephew, who was reading at 3…) and maybe, it was my fault, as I did not actively or regularly sit down with her to read during her early years.   My husband and I are both voracious readers and in my case, it was not because my parents read with me or to me.  My attitude is, if you’re going to like reading and be a good reader, you will, no matter what.

As I’ve mentioned frequently in this blog, I grew up in the Philippines.  My dad loves to read and we have books all over the house plus subscriptions to Reader’s Digest and Life and Time magazines, as well as the daily local newspaper, Bulletin Today.  My mom was not much of a reader, though she did keep track of the Dollar/Peso exchange rate and the winning daily numbers.  Neither one sat down with any of us, six kids, reading.  I feel no loss about this.  And neither do any of my siblings. 

So, I do not subscribe to that ”Read with your child, 15 minutes a day” thing.  I grew to love reading just because.  My daughter will… or will not.

I do read bedtime stories with Mary but if we miss a day or two, I do not beat myself up about it.

But, I was pleasantly surprised about how Mary loves sounding out and reading the clues for her daily treasure hunt.  Every day, she gets better at it, able to sight-read words (like “circle” and “orange” and “green” and “arrow”) the next day that she had to sound out the day before. After every one, she would insist on having a longer treasure hunt for the next day.  So that it would not be too challenging for me, I keep the clues and re-use one or two of them, though I try to come up with some original ones for that day.

Today’s Clues

The first one behind Door No. 11
ICE AGE DVD

LOOK FOR A YELLOW ARROW

UNDER THE BENCH

TRAIN

FIND THE GREEN CIRCLE

WITH THE PENS

FIND THE ORANGE STAR

The Orange Star led to the “treasure” — another little set of ornaments for her “Mary Christmas” tree.

Wifely Steps had this Birthday meme and was tagging everyone who was born in July.  My little darling sweet Mary was born second of July and I thought I would highlight HER characteristics.

Rules:

- Pick your birth month.
- Copy to your own journal (Click here for the months).
- Bold the 5-10 that best apply to you.
- Tag 12 people from your friends list

 

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

Hey, Val, go for it!

First big snow that we were in town for—

Winter Wonderland!

Off to Warmer Climes???!!!

 I want this Tree as our Christmas Tree - snow and all…

What parent has not second-guessed themselves on some parenting issue? 

With me, it is with food and when to feed or not feed Mary.

Last night, three hours after dinner time, three hours after Mary had had a full meal of steamed rice and saucy chicken teriyaki and when the yawns were coming one after the other, she announced, “I’m hungry!”

It was almost bedtime, she already had her shower and was dressed for bed and being that she really looked tired more than hungry, I said, “No, no more food tonight. You’re tired… let’s get you to bed.”

“But, I’m hungry.”

“It’s bedtime, let’s get to bed.  You’re not hungry.”

“I’m hungry,” I’m still shaking my head no, so she continues, “Ok, can I have Husk in bed with me?”

“Sure… get her ready…”

We’ve had these discussions, almost every night, after her shower.  The thing was, I used to give her a little snack at bedtime.  When she was little, I found that she slept better when she had something to eat before she went to sleep.  But, recently, I wanted to break her off this habit.  The ritual had come to be — “shower or bath, snack, toothbrush (which most of the time, we failed to do as she would be nodding off to…), sleep”— whether she just had somethng to eat right before the shower.  And I wanted it to stop.

So, last night, when she wanted food, I had to say no because I knew she was just doing this out of habit.

And sure enough, twenty minutes later, she had crashed and was sleeping soundly.

After she had wrapped Husk and Stitch in their baby blankets, of course.

I just hope that this will not be one of her “Food Issues” when she grows up. You know, when she would say that “I’m hungry all the time because my mom never fed me…” or that food became an obsession because she never got what she wanted…

Hope not.

As we were checking out of Walmart yesterday…

I’m glad for the paper towels — so accessible for any accidental spills, but who’s Dave?

And how would “per Dave” stop someone who really wants to swipe this big roll of paper towels?

Another holiday, another Family project from Mary’s Kindergarten Teacher.  Remember the Thanksgiving Turkey?

Dear Kindergarten Parents,

Our holiday hall display is a gingerbread house.

Please help your child decorate his/her gingerbread person and return it to school as soon as possible!

Thank you!

I actually got excited about this homework— we could use the leftover candy from Halloween!!!

Mary designed that pink hair, I placed all the oreos around the legs…

Still a work-in-progress… we run out of glue… the oreos are falling off… (I think, I put too much glue on them and they got soggy and broke off) … and I fear that the whole thing would be too heavy to hang off the wall…

It’s a learning experience, after all!

Was the perfect occasion for a Photo Shoot ala America’s Next Top Model.