Destruction Derby

Now really, where am I? What is this strange new land Jason has moved us to? After a foot of snow last night and snowy conditions this morning, JR comes in from school today and says, "Mommy! We were late for school this morning because we got in a wreck!"
Me (In complete mom panic mode): Oh my gosh! Are you okay? What happened?
JR: Ummm...a car ran into the bus.
At this point I grab his backpack and start searching for the note from his school. The note which will certainly give me every teeny detail of the event. But, there's no note. Nothing, nada, zip, zero, zilch. I was literally holding the backpack upside down and shaking it hoping an invisible note would miraculously fall out.
Appalled at his school, I continue my questioning with JR.
Me: So tell me what happened.
JR: We were on the bus and a car hit us.
Me: And you were late?
JR: Yes! We were all late!
Me: Are you hurt?
JR: No, I'm fine.
Me (making sure my baby is really okay): Did you fall on the floor or anything?
JR: No...Can I have a snack?
Obviously JR was as fazed about this wreck as his school. So I call Jason, "JR says another car hit the school bus! They were late to school...and the school didn't even send a note! If we were at home this would have been on the news!"
Jason: Is he okay?
Me: Says he is.
Jason: Okay. I'll see you tonight.
Now that's two people who seem to be as concerned about this wreck as the school. But, luckily, I knew just the person to call. The one person who would certainly give this "incident" the dramatics that was entitled to it.
Me: Mom! JR's bus was in a wreck this morning and the school didn't even send home a note!
My mom: Oh! Is he okay?! Is he hurt?! Not even a note?! That would have been on the front page of the paper here!

My Least Favorite Ingersoll

I have more Albuquerque pictures and stories, but since there was "an incident" last night, I have a much more pressing matter to share today.

Being a native Texan I'm pretty enthralled when it snows. Even in Beijing we didn't get but a snow flurry or two a year. So when it snows, I can't help but watch and enjoy. It started snowing yesterday (it's supposed to snow most of the week) and the babies even seem to like to look out the window with me. I'm not sure they're really excited about the snow, but the standing on the couch part seems to be a lot of fun.
But, alas, my love affair with the snow took a turn for the worse last night. About 3:30 A.M. Hunter (our dog) jumped off the bed and started whining. Since Jason had to get up for work this morning, I decided to be the good wife and go let Hunter out. Being that is was 3:30 A.M. and Hunter seems to like to sleep as much as I do, I figured I could just open the front door and let him run out to do his business. I could see it was snowing and obviously it was cold, so I stood at the front door peering out the window waiting on him. So what did Hunter do? Not what he was supposed to! Hunter decided to prance through the middle of the front yard and go down to the neighbors house. Now let me stop my story there and show you a picture of our front yard.

As you can see my front yard is really just a big pile of snow, so if I was to follow after Hunter I would have sunk up to my knees. But my first problem was that I needed to go put on 18 layers of clothing just to stick my toe outside. Since it was 3:30 I grabbed a pair of pajama pants, Jason's coat that was by the front door, and Jason's snow boots. I was quite a sight! Here I go marching down the street in over-sized boots trying to scream "Hunter!" as quietly as I could. Hunter could have cared less about the crazy woman wandering the snowy streets in her pajamas. He was having a grand old time just hanging out in the middle of the yard. I somehow got him to follow me (he was in the yard, I was in the street) and got him close enough to me where I could reach out a grab him...both of us covered in snow. Let's just say Hunter is doing his best to keep a low profile today. And I can assure you, I will not be marching around in the snow again tonight!

Bathing Suit Bodies

Thankfully the Hyatt Tamaya Resort in Albuquerque keeps their swimming pool heated during the winter. The pool also just happens to have JR's favorite thing in the entire world... a big tunnel water slide. I tried out the water slide after JR, and was surprised to find that the tunnel is completely dark until the very end. You have no idea where you're going...and it's actually a really long slide. I said, "JR, I can't believe you didn't tell me how dark it is inside the slide." JR's response, "Mommy, I thought you needed to figure that out on your own."
Being at the pool in our bathing suits also gave Ayi the chance to figure out how "skinny" we are. Never ones to mince words, the Chinese will always let you know just what they think of you. There were plenty of times I was shopping in Beijing when I was told, "You can't try that on!You're too fat!" I know it sounds rude, but to them they're just stating a fact: "You are a big American, and you will not fit in these little- bitty Chinese clothes. You will be wasting my time if I let you try them on." Pretty much anything we find "rude" to ask or say they find perfectly acceptable. They'll ask you how much money you make, how much you paid for something, or how old you are in a second. They will also point out any imperfection you might have and ask you about it immediately. So Jason and I weren't surprised a bit when Ayi said to us, (I've taken the liberty of translating it into English for you) "You, Jan, and JR were all fat the whole time you lived in China, but now all of you are skinny!" I'm just going to take that as a compliment and run...A Chinese person finally thinks I'm "skinny"!

New Mex vs Tex Mex

So I was going to casually mention what I thought about New Mexican food, but since I got so many comments about it, I'm going to give my audience what they want and dedicate a whole post! Our friends from Beijing, Dan and Christina, live in Albuquerque so they took us to the world famous El Pinto. I was happy to eat there since my buddies John McCain and Sarah Palin also ate there while visiting Albuquerque. I thought the food was great: chips and salsa-great, margartia-great, huevos rancheros-different than Tex-Mex but great (I chose the red sauce), sopapillas-great. Jason had the red chile ribs which are a speciality of El Pinto and he said they were terrific. I guess the waitress picked up on my "out of town-ness", perhaps she heard me making a spectacle of myself over the Sarah Palin buying salsa picture hanging on the wall, so she warned me of the spiciness of the sauce. My reply..."Oh, I'm from Texas. I should be okay, right?" She then quickly assured me since I was from Texas I'd be just fine. So verdict on New Mexican food. It was some good stuff, it's different than Tex Mex so it's not really fair to say one's better than the other. I love my Tex Mex, but while I'm not in Texas...New Mexican will do just fine.

Bright Lights/Big City

Ayi will be going back to Beijing in about a week, (Can you hear me crying?) and she wants to do some shopping before she goes back. Since we only have a WalMart here in Durango, (No Target! Don't you feel sorry for me?) we're using shopping as an excuse to go to the big city... Albuquerque. We're heading out tomorrow and will be back on Sunday. I'll be sure and give you all the low down including how I like the food. I was told New Mexico serves "real" Mexican food, not Tex-Mex. It was said to me like Tex-Mex is a bad thing. Now, I'm really trying to accept everybody's "diversity" up here. But, come on! Tex-Mex not as good as Real-Mex? I don't know, I just don't think my "tolerance" can handle that!

Baby Talk: Splash Town

Reed (on left): Dude! Finally we can take a bath without you bellerin' and bawlin'!
Kyle: Man, I have no idea what you're talking about.
R: Oh come on! Mommy's been trying to get us to take a bath together since we moved in, and you've burst out into hysterics everytime. Look at ya! You've got a pacifier in your mouth right now! Who does that? I mean really, who needs a pacifier to take a bath?


K: Stop it, man. You're being mean. Mommy says I'm "sensitive". This big bath tub scares me, and my pacifier comforts me. I'm still a little nervous.
R: Nervous about taking a bath? Dude! We sit in warm water and get to play with toys. Yeah we have to get washed off, but that only takes a second. The rest of the time it's fun.
K: Well, Mommy lets me do whatever I want, and if I want to take a bath with a pacifier then I can!
R: Whatever, I'm going to get busy doing my tongue trick...that always gets a big laugh. You just sit there and suck that pacifier. When you're ready to play, you let me know!


K: Play? I do like to play....Reed! Look! I can do it. I can take a bath without crying and without a pacifier!
R: Way to go Big Bro! Now pass me that Power Ranger.

Can't Take the Texas Out of the Boys

Photo Disclaimer: Yes, Reed's face if very chapped in this photo. I have a Chinese woman living with me who was quite upset about the situation. Lots of lotion was applied, and the problem has been remedied. Grandmothers, please no comments about "your baby's" face.
The babies have now learned to get on their rocking horse and rock themselves. True to form, Reed is really great at this. He'll climb on without incident and rock and rock. Also true to form, Kyle will climb on (after falling off a few times) and is usually facing the wrong way. He jumps up and down a few times, and though not riding it "properly" has a fine time of his own. Of course we have a room full of toys, but usually they prefer to play with the exact same toy at the exact same time. (Having 2 of the same thing doesn't always fix this situation either.) When it comes to the rocking horse there's just enough room for them both to fit. But when they're both trying to get on at the same time it's quite a show. It's eerily similar to a WWE wrestling match. There's certain to be lots of squeals, hollers, and cries. It's unbelievable the elbows these guys can throw at one-years old! But once on, Kyle quite enjoys the ride with brother Reed at the "wheel". Giddy-Up!