Hot Tamale
Yesterday I introduced Cici to the taste of tamales. These were pretty good, as tamales go. The best ones in this area are usually sold word of mouth, door to door. These tamales just came from the supermarket. She enjoyed the flavor and was able to eat them easily despite her braces. We will have to try this again when Ping is back home, as I think she will also enjoy the flavor. These tamales were a little hot, but not too bad, so they were about perfect for Cici's taste.
Papa, Cici said later as we worked together on our computers in our home office, I washed the grapes today. Would you like to eat some? She has grown to be more and more considerate like this as we have spent time together. The little sticky notes from her still appear on my computer monitor. Yesterday morning her note greeted me:
Papa, you must be at the office at 7 o'clock on Monday morning !!! Remember !!!
Her handwriting was neat and precise as usual. The exclamation points were little drawings, not lines. The thought was, as they say, priceless.
Ping told me last night that she has the truck and the movers lined up in Guangzhou. She still has the move to our new home planned for August 15. While she has been doing that, Cici and I have been looking at something different for her to drive when she returns home. Mama doesn't like the cars that look like this, Cici told me, using her hands to describe a sedan. I know she likes our Pilot, but we don't need two of them. How about this one? I asked Cici, showing her a photo of the Honda CRV. Yes, but ask Mama, she said.
Now the CRV is a vehicle that Ping has seen up close and personal because Uncle Andrew bought one of them recently, and Ping was admiring it when she saw it in his garage. Yes, Ping said when I asked her. I like that car very much. But I like black best, she said. So maybe we have narrowed our search down rather quickly, but we will see how Ping feels about it when she gets here. I like the black color too, though I like the red one that Uncle Andrew bought better, but I am not the one who will be driving it. Ping's Toyota Crown in China was also black, as is our Pilot.
As I gaze wistfully at the Ox calendar that Ping put on the wall behind my desk in our home office, I can see the tiny 24 that is written under today's date. That is our countdown number until Ping is back in our home with us, our family together once again. Ping told me that she is bringing an Ox cup home for me so she can serve my hot tea in it at the office each day, as well as an Ox figurine that she liked a lot and wanted me to have in our home or office.
Ping also said that one of our friends in China, who was one of Ping's classmates through all her years of school, bought a large, very expensive, limited edition, Year of the Ox collectible statue as a gift for me. She gave a similar gift to Ping during the Year of the Chicken. We decided to put this gift in our new home in China rather than risk it being broken if we shipped it to Houston. Who knows, one day I may be sitting at my computer at our home in Guangzhou, writing a story about that Ox as I look at it and think back on these days.
Papa, Cici said later as we worked together on our computers in our home office, I washed the grapes today. Would you like to eat some? She has grown to be more and more considerate like this as we have spent time together. The little sticky notes from her still appear on my computer monitor. Yesterday morning her note greeted me:
Papa, you must be at the office at 7 o'clock on Monday morning !!! Remember !!!
Her handwriting was neat and precise as usual. The exclamation points were little drawings, not lines. The thought was, as they say, priceless.
Ping told me last night that she has the truck and the movers lined up in Guangzhou. She still has the move to our new home planned for August 15. While she has been doing that, Cici and I have been looking at something different for her to drive when she returns home. Mama doesn't like the cars that look like this, Cici told me, using her hands to describe a sedan. I know she likes our Pilot, but we don't need two of them. How about this one? I asked Cici, showing her a photo of the Honda CRV. Yes, but ask Mama, she said.
Now the CRV is a vehicle that Ping has seen up close and personal because Uncle Andrew bought one of them recently, and Ping was admiring it when she saw it in his garage. Yes, Ping said when I asked her. I like that car very much. But I like black best, she said. So maybe we have narrowed our search down rather quickly, but we will see how Ping feels about it when she gets here. I like the black color too, though I like the red one that Uncle Andrew bought better, but I am not the one who will be driving it. Ping's Toyota Crown in China was also black, as is our Pilot.
As I gaze wistfully at the Ox calendar that Ping put on the wall behind my desk in our home office, I can see the tiny 24 that is written under today's date. That is our countdown number until Ping is back in our home with us, our family together once again. Ping told me that she is bringing an Ox cup home for me so she can serve my hot tea in it at the office each day, as well as an Ox figurine that she liked a lot and wanted me to have in our home or office.
Ping also said that one of our friends in China, who was one of Ping's classmates through all her years of school, bought a large, very expensive, limited edition, Year of the Ox collectible statue as a gift for me. She gave a similar gift to Ping during the Year of the Chicken. We decided to put this gift in our new home in China rather than risk it being broken if we shipped it to Houston. Who knows, one day I may be sitting at my computer at our home in Guangzhou, writing a story about that Ox as I look at it and think back on these days.
You might wanna consider a light colored vehicle, as they need less energy to maintain, in terms of the interior climate. Also, black cars can be difficult to keep clean, and they show swirls, as well as other paint defects, very well.
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True, all true. Maybe when we walk the lot Ping will see a lighter color that catches her eye.
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Oh, and as for the tamales - I can't stand store bought. At the company I worked for when I transferred out of Los Angeles, there was a lady that would come by twice a week with fresh tamales of all sorts. Can you believe Watermelon Tamale?
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