Our Picnic

As far back as I can remember, Mom always gets hysterical near dogs. Who could blame her. A lot of dogs in Medan are untrained and mistreated so they are either spoiled rotten or half crazy with distress, not to mention the ones who are raised or stolen to be eaten. So when Sasha came to the house, Mom was polite but not very happy. We all went to the park to have a picnic. Mom was still cold towards Sasha. Afterwards she took a nap while we took Sasha for a walk. We were about a hundred meters from where Mom slept when Sasha decided to play with Mom. Sasha raced towards Mom and and jumped on her. Mom woke up and tried to shoo her away with a shopping bag. Sasha loved the Catch-the-Waving-Shopping-Bag Game. She jumped and circled Mom, who fought valiantly. All the while me and Sasha’s mom were jumping up and down and shouting to distract Sasha like two crazy monkeys. After about a minute we were finally able to subdue both.

After that we went to Leichard for coffee and ice-cream. Sasha was greeted by a fan, as usual. In the end, I guess Mom was charmed too. On the way home she even volunteered to hold Sasha on her lap. A giant leap for Mom. Later on at home she took a shower and washed her hair, but I hope she will remember Sasha and that picnic fondly.

Coffee Pot

Amazing what happiness simple things can bring to your life. This is my new source of happiness. The good old-fashioned coffee maker.

Kinky Boots

pic from http://shoes.about.com/od/hot_trends_shoe1...

The white boots were the first things that I saw. It was about 7 in the morning. Newtown was still quiet with a few joggers and passers-bye. They were white, stiletto heeled, sleek boots, about 14 cm high. The kind that The Pussycat Dolls would wear, or drag queens. Problem was, the wearer wasn’t a woman or a drag queen. He was an average and very normal looking guy. I put on my poker face and sat down on a bench near the bus stop. He was already sitting on the next bench. About a minute later he calmly took off the boots and put on a pair of sneakers. He sauntered away from the bus stop, leaving the kinky white boots on the bench, and a heck of lot of unanswered questions in my head.

They're Here!

After living alone in this big empty house for over a month, the silence was finally broken. My mom arrived with my nephew would return to school very soon. My nieces came to visit almost every day, so suddenly the house came alive. No more wedging the door with a chair.

The second day my mom arrived, my nephew went to school, and I went to work. When I got home, Mom was lying on the sofa. She said she got locked out around lunch time. Before I left home in the morning, I warned her about the door. I showed her how to turn the lock so she wouldn’t get locked out. So of course she did. She opened the door to get the food boxes just outside the door. The wind blew and the door slammed shut. So she sat outside in her pajamas, in the hot afternoon sun, for about three hours. She got hungry but luckily she had the foodboxes with her. She was thirsty but was too proud to ask for water from the convenience store just next door. She was also desperate to pee…

On the third day my nephew called and asked if anybody was at home. I asked him why. He said he fell on the train during the trip home from school. It got quite bad so we took him to the doctor, and the next day to the hospital for an x-ray. His foot had been fractured and he needed a special boot.

Hmm... and to think that just a few weeks before I thought the silence would drive me crazy.

My Favorite Painting

Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh.