Sorry I haven’t posted in a couple of days. I have been really tired at night. I think it is my body’s way of saying slow down. That is just what we did this weekend had a little bit of slow time.
On Saturday we got caught up on our sleep then and just lounged around for a while. That evening use ladies and Ken went to a candle party at my friend Julia’s. It was fun to visit with Julia and Andrea a little bit.
After the party I took Ken over to see the neighborhood where I grew up. I took him down the street that I lived on for 22 years of my life. My old house in Custer has changed a bit. For those of you who know the house where we had our deck and hot tub the new owners have added what looks like a three-story addition to the house. It looks a little strange to me but that is because it doesn’t look my childhood house.
We also stopped to meet Pam my 2nd childhood mom. Pam, her husband Hal and their daughter Angela bought the house across the street from us about a month after my parents and I moved in. This was in the spring of 1972. I don’t think my parents could have asked for better neighbors. Angela and I were both only children. We were only one month apart. Angela’s birthday is February 6th and mine is March 6th. Please note that she is the older one. We were like sisters growing up. Angela went on family trips with us. My best memories are camping trips to Whidbey Island. Maybe that is where we got our liking for Military boys. Pam and Hal still live in the house on Main Street. Angela and her kids where at her mom’s as well so Ken got a chance to meet her.
After that we went to Fred Meyer’s to get some groceries. While at the store I found they had a deal on eggs. You buy one box of 18 and you get the second one free. Of course I had to get the free one. Jordan kept saying we had enough eggs. I was thinking maybe I had one box, but that it would be fine. Jordan was right I had more then enough eggs. With the eggs at home and the eggs I had just bought I had 4 yes 4 18-count boxes of eggs. Dang that’s a lot of eggs.
On Sunday I called Michelle and Dave up and told them to come over we are have eggs for breakfast. lol. Marty made us a wonderful breakfast. We had hash browns, toast and of course eggs. Then Jordan made us some cinnamon rolls. It was a wonderful breakfast. After that we decided to go to the mall and let Ken do a little shopping. He loves to shop.
My five-day weekend was over. I really like working a two-day work week and have a five day weekend. That would be a nice schedule. lol
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
WOW!!!!!
Get a cup of tea or coffee and go to the bathroom because this is going to be a long one……….
As I start today’s blog I must start my quoting Seattle Mariners’ commentator Dave Niehaus by saying “My oh my.” This has been an incredible couple of days. I must tell those of you that don’t know me my life is not normally this busy. I like to plan my weekends so that I get all my plans, housework and chores done on Friday or Saturday just so that I can relax on Sunday. Please don’t think that my life is always on the go.
Well let’s start at the beginning of Thursday morning. We headed out of the house about 11:00am. After several trips here and there we finally got on the road and down to the Edmond’s to catch the Ferry. We made it over to Camp Indianola in plenty of time to get good seats to watch Jordan’s play from Drama camp. They told us to arrive by 4:30 but the play didn’t start until 5:30.
The entire play took about 30 minutes. It was so cute to watch. All the kids did an excellent job. It was very impressive to see that they could pull this off in just four and a half days. I have a ton of pictures from the play. As soon as David has a chance to sit down tomorrow to get them on the computer I will post them to share with everyone. No I haven’t learned how to get the photos from camera to computer to the Internet yet. lol I have been a little busy as you can tell. lol
Ken seemed to like watching the play. He told his Aunt Melanie that it made him a little home sick to see the kids it reminded him of his brother. Ken is still adjusting to being so far away from home. Who can blame him he has to adjust to being away from home along with the whole culture shock as well. I must say he is doing real well, but nights seem to be the toughest when his mind gets the better of him. I can understand where he is coming from on many levels. But the number one is I used to be a child that got home sick A LOT. I think I was about 12 before I could stay the night at someone’s house. I was so bad that I couldn’t stay at my neighbor’s house in a tent 30 feet from my own house. I had a good time until it was time to go to bed, then I would cry and cry and cry to go home. (Sorry Pam and Angela) On the other hand I did go to China when I was Ken’s age and I did great. I can’t say I didn’t do it without a little homesickness, but I did make it.
Ken and Jordan sat together on the way home from camp. There wasn’t much communication passed between the two. But they seemed comfortable with each other. I am sure before long they will be enjoying each other’s company. I know Jordan feels much better having Ken in the next room. Before camp she was having some issues with being alone on the opposite side of the house as her dad and I.
They Ferry ride was fun on the way back. We had our Friend Pastor Michele…….yes another Michelle. But Pastor Michele spells her name wrong. LOL She seems to think that Michele only has one L in it. What was her mother thinking? Just kidding Michele. Ken laughed and said, “I haven’t meet very many people in America, but all their name’s seem to be either David or Michelle.” (Please see previous blogs if you don’t understand this joke)
Back to the Ferry……We all went outside to watch as the Ferry left Kingston. There was a beautiful sunset behind us lighting up the sky with multiple shades of purples, pinks and oranges. It was casting a beautiful light on the Mt. Rainier. I must say it reminded me why I love Washington so much. The whole combination and being with my family made it a good ending to a great day.
I think after the full day Ken was tired. He said he feel asleep about 3:00am. This is an improvement from the 5:00am the last couple of days. I am so glad that he has a couple weeks to adjust his personal clock before school starts. As you can see by the link to your left Vietnam is about 14 hours ahead of us. I can’t say much about my personal clock. It is 2:00am and I am up righting this blog. Right now I am not setting a good example for him.
Now onto Friday we got up about 9ish. Got showered and headed out the door about 11:00am. We went over to my work and I introduced Ken to my co-workers. Then we went and had lunch Julia, from work. We went to KFC. Then it was off to the High School to get Ken registered for school. We have his class schedule for the year. He is taking an English as a Second Language class. They will test him the first couple of days to see where he is at and then place him in the proper English class. He is also taking Pre-Calculus, US History, Citizenship, Choir, racket sports, web design and a couple more that I can’t remember. This is all spread out over the school year. I think it was all a little over whelming for him. It was for me to say the least. They don’t have it like when I was in high school. They now have X, Y and Z days. Each day has a different schedule. On X days we will only have three of the classes. One Y days he will have a couple more. Z days are a little combination of both. It is nuts I tell you. Next week I will go over it with Ken on what days are what he has each class. I will write it on his calendar and hopefully I understand it enough that I can explain it to him. Wish us both luck on that one.
After we got done with the school Ken wanted to go to the mall and do some shopping. We stopped at a bunch of different stores. Ken shopped around he got some shorts and a belt. I think he might have had a little bit of sticker shock on the prices of things here, but he did very well with finding stuff that was a good deal.
Then we stopped at Verizon wireless and got Ken a cell phone for the year. He was so proud of the phone. He was getting the phone all set up with all our phone numbers. I was a little shocked when he made a phone call to someone I was a little worried that he was calling Vietnam. He was calling friend who was in Minnesota on an exchange program. He was so pleased with all his new stuff. It was a pleasure to see his excitement. He was so cute to watch.
After the mall we went home and got ready for dinner. Our neighbor’s David and Michelle came over for dinner. Yes we seem to spend a lot of time with them. Believe it or not we have lived next to each other for five years and didn’t become friends until this last July 4th. Michelle (spelled the correct way) said tonight that she doesn’t know how we survived this long without each other. I tend to agree with her. We really enjoy each other’s conversation. It is kind of funny they bicker, argue and pick on each other as much as David and I do. It is all in a fun way.
As dinner tonight Ken asked for another hamburger. Yeah!!!! Michelle patted his stomach and said we needed to fatten him up. He laughed and said to her…”You dream of me?” Oh my gosh we all started laughing. It was wonderful to see him feel comfortable with us to let his sense of humor come out.
After dinner we headed out to go bowling. I really can’t remember all that happened at the bowling alley because it is late and my brain is falling asleep. I can tell you that it was continuous laughter and fun for everyone. Sorry to say we all suck at bowling and that is even with having the bumper’s up. But we had so much fun. Ken’s seems to be getting more and more comfortable with us. Michelle kept saying I just live him he is so sweet.
After bowling we went back to David and Michelle’s to watch the movie Independence Day. Ken seemed to like it. We didn’t get home until after midnight. That is why I am up so late writing this blog. I would have waiting until tomorrow, but I had a couple people…Michelle…complains that there was nothing for her to read. lol
Little side not for those of you that don’t know text language lol means laugh out loud.
That sums it up for the last couple of days. I am sure I left a few things out here and there, but this is already long enough. Keep watching I will be posting some photos real soon. I am sorry if there are a lot of errors in my blog tonight, but I am very tired.
As I start today’s blog I must start my quoting Seattle Mariners’ commentator Dave Niehaus by saying “My oh my.” This has been an incredible couple of days. I must tell those of you that don’t know me my life is not normally this busy. I like to plan my weekends so that I get all my plans, housework and chores done on Friday or Saturday just so that I can relax on Sunday. Please don’t think that my life is always on the go.
Well let’s start at the beginning of Thursday morning. We headed out of the house about 11:00am. After several trips here and there we finally got on the road and down to the Edmond’s to catch the Ferry. We made it over to Camp Indianola in plenty of time to get good seats to watch Jordan’s play from Drama camp. They told us to arrive by 4:30 but the play didn’t start until 5:30.
The entire play took about 30 minutes. It was so cute to watch. All the kids did an excellent job. It was very impressive to see that they could pull this off in just four and a half days. I have a ton of pictures from the play. As soon as David has a chance to sit down tomorrow to get them on the computer I will post them to share with everyone. No I haven’t learned how to get the photos from camera to computer to the Internet yet. lol I have been a little busy as you can tell. lol
Ken seemed to like watching the play. He told his Aunt Melanie that it made him a little home sick to see the kids it reminded him of his brother. Ken is still adjusting to being so far away from home. Who can blame him he has to adjust to being away from home along with the whole culture shock as well. I must say he is doing real well, but nights seem to be the toughest when his mind gets the better of him. I can understand where he is coming from on many levels. But the number one is I used to be a child that got home sick A LOT. I think I was about 12 before I could stay the night at someone’s house. I was so bad that I couldn’t stay at my neighbor’s house in a tent 30 feet from my own house. I had a good time until it was time to go to bed, then I would cry and cry and cry to go home. (Sorry Pam and Angela) On the other hand I did go to China when I was Ken’s age and I did great. I can’t say I didn’t do it without a little homesickness, but I did make it.
Ken and Jordan sat together on the way home from camp. There wasn’t much communication passed between the two. But they seemed comfortable with each other. I am sure before long they will be enjoying each other’s company. I know Jordan feels much better having Ken in the next room. Before camp she was having some issues with being alone on the opposite side of the house as her dad and I.
They Ferry ride was fun on the way back. We had our Friend Pastor Michele…….yes another Michelle. But Pastor Michele spells her name wrong. LOL She seems to think that Michele only has one L in it. What was her mother thinking? Just kidding Michele. Ken laughed and said, “I haven’t meet very many people in America, but all their name’s seem to be either David or Michelle.” (Please see previous blogs if you don’t understand this joke)
Back to the Ferry……We all went outside to watch as the Ferry left Kingston. There was a beautiful sunset behind us lighting up the sky with multiple shades of purples, pinks and oranges. It was casting a beautiful light on the Mt. Rainier. I must say it reminded me why I love Washington so much. The whole combination and being with my family made it a good ending to a great day.
I think after the full day Ken was tired. He said he feel asleep about 3:00am. This is an improvement from the 5:00am the last couple of days. I am so glad that he has a couple weeks to adjust his personal clock before school starts. As you can see by the link to your left Vietnam is about 14 hours ahead of us. I can’t say much about my personal clock. It is 2:00am and I am up righting this blog. Right now I am not setting a good example for him.
Now onto Friday we got up about 9ish. Got showered and headed out the door about 11:00am. We went over to my work and I introduced Ken to my co-workers. Then we went and had lunch Julia, from work. We went to KFC. Then it was off to the High School to get Ken registered for school. We have his class schedule for the year. He is taking an English as a Second Language class. They will test him the first couple of days to see where he is at and then place him in the proper English class. He is also taking Pre-Calculus, US History, Citizenship, Choir, racket sports, web design and a couple more that I can’t remember. This is all spread out over the school year. I think it was all a little over whelming for him. It was for me to say the least. They don’t have it like when I was in high school. They now have X, Y and Z days. Each day has a different schedule. On X days we will only have three of the classes. One Y days he will have a couple more. Z days are a little combination of both. It is nuts I tell you. Next week I will go over it with Ken on what days are what he has each class. I will write it on his calendar and hopefully I understand it enough that I can explain it to him. Wish us both luck on that one.
After we got done with the school Ken wanted to go to the mall and do some shopping. We stopped at a bunch of different stores. Ken shopped around he got some shorts and a belt. I think he might have had a little bit of sticker shock on the prices of things here, but he did very well with finding stuff that was a good deal.
Then we stopped at Verizon wireless and got Ken a cell phone for the year. He was so proud of the phone. He was getting the phone all set up with all our phone numbers. I was a little shocked when he made a phone call to someone I was a little worried that he was calling Vietnam. He was calling friend who was in Minnesota on an exchange program. He was so pleased with all his new stuff. It was a pleasure to see his excitement. He was so cute to watch.
After the mall we went home and got ready for dinner. Our neighbor’s David and Michelle came over for dinner. Yes we seem to spend a lot of time with them. Believe it or not we have lived next to each other for five years and didn’t become friends until this last July 4th. Michelle (spelled the correct way) said tonight that she doesn’t know how we survived this long without each other. I tend to agree with her. We really enjoy each other’s conversation. It is kind of funny they bicker, argue and pick on each other as much as David and I do. It is all in a fun way.
As dinner tonight Ken asked for another hamburger. Yeah!!!! Michelle patted his stomach and said we needed to fatten him up. He laughed and said to her…”You dream of me?” Oh my gosh we all started laughing. It was wonderful to see him feel comfortable with us to let his sense of humor come out.
After dinner we headed out to go bowling. I really can’t remember all that happened at the bowling alley because it is late and my brain is falling asleep. I can tell you that it was continuous laughter and fun for everyone. Sorry to say we all suck at bowling and that is even with having the bumper’s up. But we had so much fun. Ken’s seems to be getting more and more comfortable with us. Michelle kept saying I just live him he is so sweet.
After bowling we went back to David and Michelle’s to watch the movie Independence Day. Ken seemed to like it. We didn’t get home until after midnight. That is why I am up so late writing this blog. I would have waiting until tomorrow, but I had a couple people…Michelle…complains that there was nothing for her to read. lol
Little side not for those of you that don’t know text language lol means laugh out loud.
That sums it up for the last couple of days. I am sure I left a few things out here and there, but this is already long enough. Keep watching I will be posting some photos real soon. I am sorry if there are a lot of errors in my blog tonight, but I am very tired.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
First day
Khoa has informed us that he would like for us to call him by his American name of Kenneth or Ken.
We had a great afternoon. Once David got home from work we headed into town to give blood. While we gave blood Ken and Marty, my mother-in-law, went to Kmart and got a few things. Then we went over to my dad’s house where Ken got to meet my dad, his wife Karla, and my two little sisters, Mandi and Samantha. Then it was home for dinner.
Dinner tonight was my dad’s special baked beans left over from the family reunion this last weekend. I also made French Dips. Ken seemed to like both the beans and the dips. He had several helpings of beans. Thanks dad you have one more fan of your famous baked beans. I was a little worried about what to make for Ken to eat. I have no idea what he likes to eat in Vietnam. He keeps telling me that he is not a picky eater. I was very happy to see him eat. It sounds like he is not afraid to at least try it before he says he doesn’t like it. That is not like a typical American kid or at least not my kid. I kind of like that about him.
After dinner the rep from the agency that we went thru to have Ken come stay with us came over for the first visit. She went over all the rules and what is expected of both Ken and us while he is here. Her name is Shelly. The picture above is of Shelly, Ken and I. For Ken’s family Shelly is the blonde.
After Shelly left our neighbor’s Dave and Michelle came over to meet Ken and to sit in the hot tub. We sat around the living room chatting while we waiting till the sun went down since Dave, the neighbor, whined about it being too hot to sit in the tub. LOL Then we all got in the tub. We had a good time teaching a little bit of American slang to Ken. Tonight Ken learned the following phrases….. What’s up Dawg? That’s Awesome!!! and my favorite word SWEET!!!!! Michelle commented jokingly that Ken was a nice kid and she hopes that my Dave doesn’t ruin him. For those of you that know Dave would understand that one. LOL
Ken is a very nice young man. He is very polite and always trying to help. He was so sweet with Marty tonight. He opened her car door and when he walked with her he helped her out. His parents should be very proud of him.
As far as his English he seems to be getting a little more comfortable with us and when we say something he doesn’t understand he will ask what we mean. I found out tonight he has been studying the English language for 7 years. I think that is great that he has done it. When I was in school you didn’t have to take a foreign language and when it was offered it was when I got into high school.
That’s it for our first full day together. Tomorrow Ken will get to meet his little sister. I am sure David will get lots of pictures.
We had a great afternoon. Once David got home from work we headed into town to give blood. While we gave blood Ken and Marty, my mother-in-law, went to Kmart and got a few things. Then we went over to my dad’s house where Ken got to meet my dad, his wife Karla, and my two little sisters, Mandi and Samantha. Then it was home for dinner.
Dinner tonight was my dad’s special baked beans left over from the family reunion this last weekend. I also made French Dips. Ken seemed to like both the beans and the dips. He had several helpings of beans. Thanks dad you have one more fan of your famous baked beans. I was a little worried about what to make for Ken to eat. I have no idea what he likes to eat in Vietnam. He keeps telling me that he is not a picky eater. I was very happy to see him eat. It sounds like he is not afraid to at least try it before he says he doesn’t like it. That is not like a typical American kid or at least not my kid. I kind of like that about him.
After dinner the rep from the agency that we went thru to have Ken come stay with us came over for the first visit. She went over all the rules and what is expected of both Ken and us while he is here. Her name is Shelly. The picture above is of Shelly, Ken and I. For Ken’s family Shelly is the blonde.
After Shelly left our neighbor’s Dave and Michelle came over to meet Ken and to sit in the hot tub. We sat around the living room chatting while we waiting till the sun went down since Dave, the neighbor, whined about it being too hot to sit in the tub. LOL Then we all got in the tub. We had a good time teaching a little bit of American slang to Ken. Tonight Ken learned the following phrases….. What’s up Dawg? That’s Awesome!!! and my favorite word SWEET!!!!! Michelle commented jokingly that Ken was a nice kid and she hopes that my Dave doesn’t ruin him. For those of you that know Dave would understand that one. LOL
Ken is a very nice young man. He is very polite and always trying to help. He was so sweet with Marty tonight. He opened her car door and when he walked with her he helped her out. His parents should be very proud of him.
As far as his English he seems to be getting a little more comfortable with us and when we say something he doesn’t understand he will ask what we mean. I found out tonight he has been studying the English language for 7 years. I think that is great that he has done it. When I was in school you didn’t have to take a foreign language and when it was offered it was when I got into high school.
That’s it for our first full day together. Tomorrow Ken will get to meet his little sister. I am sure David will get lots of pictures.
Arrival
It is Wednesday and Khoa has arrived, sorry no pictures yet. We forgot to bring the camera with us last night. I will get some today. We have no major plans for today except David and I are giving blood this evening. For today I was just planning on letting Khoa just rest and get settled in here at the house. We will take him into town this evening to borrow my dad’s van for tomorrow. He will get a chance to me my dad’s and his family.
Khoa speaks English very well. I did find that we have to speak a little slower for him to catch everything we had to say. But I am very impressed with how well he was doing after traveling for such a long time.
He brought us some beautiful gifts from Vietnam. I got a beautiful tablecloth, a wine holder that has some great needlepoint on it, a Kleenex cover and a nice hand sewn portrait of a scene along a river. Then he brought David the coolest looking tie. It was so sweet of him to bring us gifts. He of course loved his Mariner t-shirt we gave him.
Tomorrow will be a busy day of going down to the Kitsap Peninsula to pick Jordan up at Camp Indianola. I did get a great letter from Jordan. Sounds like she is having a great time at camp. It is a drama type camp. They are going to be doing some sort of performance tomorrow night after dinner. It ought to be fun to watch. My little drama queen should do well.
That’s it for now.
Khoa speaks English very well. I did find that we have to speak a little slower for him to catch everything we had to say. But I am very impressed with how well he was doing after traveling for such a long time.
He brought us some beautiful gifts from Vietnam. I got a beautiful tablecloth, a wine holder that has some great needlepoint on it, a Kleenex cover and a nice hand sewn portrait of a scene along a river. Then he brought David the coolest looking tie. It was so sweet of him to bring us gifts. He of course loved his Mariner t-shirt we gave him.
Tomorrow will be a busy day of going down to the Kitsap Peninsula to pick Jordan up at Camp Indianola. I did get a great letter from Jordan. Sounds like she is having a great time at camp. It is a drama type camp. They are going to be doing some sort of performance tomorrow night after dinner. It ought to be fun to watch. My little drama queen should do well.
That’s it for now.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Oh what a feeling........
Tonight is the night that Khoa arrives. My neighbor, Michelle and I did the final touches on Khoa’s room. Yes my neighbor is named Michelle and if you can believe her husband’s name is Dave. While doing our landscaping this summer Andy, my father-in-law, has been making a path across the field between our two houses. He likes to say that is so Dave and Michelle can go to Dave and Michelle’s house. Lol Anyway Michelle and I put a dresser in Khoa’s room along with an MP3/CD Stereo for him to use this year. I hope he finds his room satisfactory and comfortable.
Doing all of this reminds me of my time as an exchange student. I was a junior in high school and got the chance to spend six weeks in Chengdu, China. I attending the high school there, the name was Middle School #3. I remember the flight over there was almost 30 hours. It was an incredible feeling of mixed emotions on the flight. I was excited about going and seeing something new. But I was scared because I was going to be on the other side of the world. I was feeling goofy from being on the plane for almost 30 hours with very little sleep. I was worried about the food and what kind of food they would try to feed me. I was nervous about the school and if I was going to make any friends. Lets not even mention the fact that I didn’t know a word of Chinese. I can tell you that my first couple of days I was a little homesick, but I did get settled into life in China and I had the time of my life while I was there. I have memories that will last a lifetime. I am hoping with my experiences, as an exchange student will help me be a better host mom to Khoa.
I still have a few final touches I would like to do on the general part of the house. I need to stop at the grocery store and have some food in the house. I have no idea what I should get for food. I keep telling myself that he is here to experience America and food is part of that experience. I also remember my first couple of weeks in China I didn’t eat much. I would hate for Khoa to be starving his first couple of weeks. He may also not be as picky of eater as I was when I was his age. I am still somewhat of a picky eater, but I am much better then I was when I was 17. I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens. Teach Khoa is first slang expression……We will play it by ear.
I plan on taking pictures of Khoa’s arrival I hope to get them up on the web site sometime tomorrow. I might have to wait until David gets home from work. I need him to teach me how to get them from the camera to the computer then ready to post in the site. You would think I would know how to do it by now, but having a photographer as a husband I just take advantage of him and have him to do it for me.
That's it for now I will keep you posted.
Doing all of this reminds me of my time as an exchange student. I was a junior in high school and got the chance to spend six weeks in Chengdu, China. I attending the high school there, the name was Middle School #3. I remember the flight over there was almost 30 hours. It was an incredible feeling of mixed emotions on the flight. I was excited about going and seeing something new. But I was scared because I was going to be on the other side of the world. I was feeling goofy from being on the plane for almost 30 hours with very little sleep. I was worried about the food and what kind of food they would try to feed me. I was nervous about the school and if I was going to make any friends. Lets not even mention the fact that I didn’t know a word of Chinese. I can tell you that my first couple of days I was a little homesick, but I did get settled into life in China and I had the time of my life while I was there. I have memories that will last a lifetime. I am hoping with my experiences, as an exchange student will help me be a better host mom to Khoa.
I still have a few final touches I would like to do on the general part of the house. I need to stop at the grocery store and have some food in the house. I have no idea what I should get for food. I keep telling myself that he is here to experience America and food is part of that experience. I also remember my first couple of weeks in China I didn’t eat much. I would hate for Khoa to be starving his first couple of weeks. He may also not be as picky of eater as I was when I was his age. I am still somewhat of a picky eater, but I am much better then I was when I was 17. I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens. Teach Khoa is first slang expression……We will play it by ear.
I plan on taking pictures of Khoa’s arrival I hope to get them up on the web site sometime tomorrow. I might have to wait until David gets home from work. I need him to teach me how to get them from the camera to the computer then ready to post in the site. You would think I would know how to do it by now, but having a photographer as a husband I just take advantage of him and have him to do it for me.
That's it for now I will keep you posted.
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