Just Seems Right
When I slip out of the house under cover of darkness on weekend and holiday mornings, I leave my two chicken babies sleeping soundly in their beds. I arrive at the office where I interrupt the darkness that still blankets the windows by flipping a few light switches. The first order of business is to put the teapot on the burner and turn on the heat. This morning I have a pumpkin bread muffin that Ping baked last night waiting with me for the hot tea. I can see the lights of the early morning traffic speeding past our building on the freeway as I sit at my desk.
The teapot called me to the kitchen where I dropped in a bag of Mandarin Orange herbal tea, came back to my office, and hit the play button on the CD player. The sultry voice of Norah Jones is singing about how it feels like home. I take the first bite from the muffin and think about how it was just a short time ago when the girls arrived from China. The idea of Ping knowing how to bake some muffins would have been laughable at that time. Now she handles it like a pro. But there are so many other changes in our lives.
Ping knows Houston now; at least well enough to follow the familiar roads. She picked Cici up at school after the football game last night and brought her home. She drives to the office on her own some days now. She drives to Chinatown and Costco and Marshall's and has even explored the road to the Galleria. I think I will take the girls to the Galleria for the first time on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but I doubt that Ping follows that road back for any shopping. They have stores at the Galleria that are even more upscale than Macy's, and Ping has told me that she and Cici don't like shopping at Macy's. They prefer to find their clothes and shoes at Marshall's. Maybe I should introduce them to TJMaxx.
These days, Chinese ladies come to visit Ping at our home. One of them who came this week is a dance instructor at the fitness club where Ping works out a few times a week. Cici has started working out with Ping now. On the days when I can't go with them, Ping drives them to the club. Through her network of friends, Ping discovered a place not far from our home where she can take English classes twice a week, and she drives herself to the classes. The teachers are volunteers and some are better than others, but the classes have helped Ping focus on continuing to expand her vocabulary.
The amount of time that Cici needs me to help her with her homework is down to just a couple of hours a week. She has to find an article on a current event each week and write a paper about it. For the first paper, she needed a lot of my help. She does them on her own now, just as she is now writing chapter summaries from her history book on her own, and studying vocabulary words and writing sentences using them for her English class.
After pulling a 97 on her second chemistry test, Cici seemed to find her stride in that class. She has needed no help from me with her homework, and just scored a 98 on the third chemistry test. She has never asked for help in her theology class, and continues to set the curve in her geometry and algebra II classes with no help from me.
I think I am becoming superfluous in our home, but I am happy to see how far the girls have come since they arrived in America. They could almost make it without me now if they had to, but somehow, that just seems right.
The teapot called me to the kitchen where I dropped in a bag of Mandarin Orange herbal tea, came back to my office, and hit the play button on the CD player. The sultry voice of Norah Jones is singing about how it feels like home. I take the first bite from the muffin and think about how it was just a short time ago when the girls arrived from China. The idea of Ping knowing how to bake some muffins would have been laughable at that time. Now she handles it like a pro. But there are so many other changes in our lives.
Ping knows Houston now; at least well enough to follow the familiar roads. She picked Cici up at school after the football game last night and brought her home. She drives to the office on her own some days now. She drives to Chinatown and Costco and Marshall's and has even explored the road to the Galleria. I think I will take the girls to the Galleria for the first time on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but I doubt that Ping follows that road back for any shopping. They have stores at the Galleria that are even more upscale than Macy's, and Ping has told me that she and Cici don't like shopping at Macy's. They prefer to find their clothes and shoes at Marshall's. Maybe I should introduce them to TJMaxx.
These days, Chinese ladies come to visit Ping at our home. One of them who came this week is a dance instructor at the fitness club where Ping works out a few times a week. Cici has started working out with Ping now. On the days when I can't go with them, Ping drives them to the club. Through her network of friends, Ping discovered a place not far from our home where she can take English classes twice a week, and she drives herself to the classes. The teachers are volunteers and some are better than others, but the classes have helped Ping focus on continuing to expand her vocabulary.
The amount of time that Cici needs me to help her with her homework is down to just a couple of hours a week. She has to find an article on a current event each week and write a paper about it. For the first paper, she needed a lot of my help. She does them on her own now, just as she is now writing chapter summaries from her history book on her own, and studying vocabulary words and writing sentences using them for her English class.
After pulling a 97 on her second chemistry test, Cici seemed to find her stride in that class. She has needed no help from me with her homework, and just scored a 98 on the third chemistry test. She has never asked for help in her theology class, and continues to set the curve in her geometry and algebra II classes with no help from me.
I think I am becoming superfluous in our home, but I am happy to see how far the girls have come since they arrived in America. They could almost make it without me now if they had to, but somehow, that just seems right.
I'm glad to hear that Angela is doing so well in her classes. It must be very inspiring to have such good women in your life!
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