( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

I felt bad for my Uncle today. I help my family out when they have a problem understanding business letters; I think it's the dry wording. If they don't understand something, they usually call me. Especially if they have to respond, they tell me what they want said and I write it out or tell them how to say what they want to say. It's kind of been a blessing in disguise because through out high school, I was always insecure of my vocabulary. I spoke Korean when I was little but my English fell behind, so my teachers convinced my Mom to stop talking to me in Korean. I don't blame that experience, I can still read and understand Korean afterall, but it was an insecurity for me. After high school, my Mom's family started coming to me to help them with their English and business correspondence, which I know for a fact helped me learn quite a bit. ANYWAY, my Uncle called because he received a confusing letter from a business saying he owed $4,000. I explained to him that I think it was a mistake (my uncle is very comfortable and has no debt, loans, etc., and is retired) and that I would look over it for him. He let out a heavy sigh and thanked me. I asked him what was wrong and...it wasn't a complaint about me, it was more of disappointment in himself...he said he "has to depend on his niece for everything." I tried to convince him not to feel bad about it. He and the rest of the family are very insecure about their English and unfortunately, they've read in the paper or heard others say things along the lines of "if you can't speak the language, get out." I admit, I get irritated with heavy accents I can't understand...especially over the phone. However, when I watch people try to communicate with my Grandmother and realize she doesn't speak English or to my Uncle and get frustrated because he doesn't understand, my irritation with their reactions and my broken, high expectations of them treating my family like adults despite the language barrier, reminds me that we are all human.  Something else that confuses them...their schools taught the "Queen's English"...not American. When they came here, they've all expressed that we speak a very different English.

Current Mood: productive

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

I've been getting things done this week, it just never seems to be the things I need to get done, if that makes any sense.

Finished up two scarves that I've been working on for... several years now? At least two for both of them. One's uberlong, and made from alpaca. It was going to be my walking scarf. I knitted it in the round, so it would be double layered and really warm. Well, Hubby really liked it, so it's his now.

The other was one I started with 'yarn' that was made from recycled sari silk, which was spun into 'yarn' or 'thread'. It felt good to get those two projects done and cleared from the long list of undone stuff.

I've also been outside, having just finished mowing the lawn. I try to divide it between two days, or I end up with that pins and needles feeling in my hands for a while. Also, it means I get an hour more of excersize for two days instead of wearing myself out and being outside for two hours mowing the lawn. Yeah, I'm a wuss. (Also, I've tried to explain that my yard takes me two hours to mow to someone who was complaining about how big their yard was - it taked the 30 minutes to mow...)

But it was interesting to watch the wildlife in my yard as I was mowing. I'm happy to have seen at least one, maybe two monarch butterflies. I'm hoping to have more next year, as it means I'm justified in not chopping down my milkweed patch. :D I've also found that I have Swamp Milkweed in my yard, which I was told was a hell of a lot more rare in this area. I so wish I had that book [Plants of the Chicago Region by Swank and Wilhelm], but I'm going off what I can remember from several years ago.

And then there are the other insects - everything from the blue black wasps? hornet?, fuzzy bumblebees, dragon and damsel flies - a whole host of different types, to butterflies and frogs and crickets. It's just one of those things that amazes me how alive my little plot of land it.

And I still have wild strawberries out back. My machintosh tree has apples. My Golden Delicious tree seems to have abandon or had its apples chomped. Which is the only bummer I've found outside. I picked another pint of sugar snap peas last night (since been chomped), with more on the vines. Picked another pickle for the Hubby, and there are more flowers there. Best of all is the dill. I don't know why, but dill is probably one of my favorite smells. Not the store bought dried stuff, but the still growing in the garden stuff. Its smell is just much more potent and just reminds me of the garden.

Oh, look, I'm babbling. ;) Time to scrub up and figure out what to do for dinner. Tomorrow, I weed, and the panic about the Demo.

Tags: garden, house, wildlife
Current Mood: content
Current Music: Liverpool Judies - Tourdion

That was not a cockroach. It was a wall-clinging hamster. With feelers.

Je suis finis. It's running now and I got more into it than I'd thought (but less than I had hoped). It's not leaking all over my house. I consider that change alone a vast improvement.

UPDATE: HOLY WAH are my dishes clean! I had NO idea how badly my old dishwasher worked until I used a new one with the same soap and rinse aid. /dance /dance /dance

2nd UPDATE: Perhaps I spoke too soon. We have another leak. Not what I wanted to be dealing with nearing midnight.

Tags: home

Littlepasht: I think it would be really cool if they let Druids in epic flight form swoop down and snatch a rabbit, or, you know, a Gnome.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

I have quite a few new readers - welcome! Very quick background on my family: Henry has just turned three, and Edward is almost two. They're 13 months apart, but Edward weighs a pound or two more than Henry. Henry is adventurous and very THREE, and Edward is more cautious, but determined and stubborn.

Henry and Edward continue to fight with each other. That part is not news. It will never be news. It will be news if they stop.

I put Henry in the corner a couple of times last night, with Edward in the room. A few minutes later I heard Edward firmly say "Get BACK corner, Henry."

To my utter surprise, Henry went into the corner. He gave me an imploring look, and whined, "Edward TOLD me to go to the corner."

*blink* *blinK*

Um.

Ok.

I had NO idea what to do. Mostly, I just wanted to laugh. I mostly suppressed it.

At a loss of knowing exactly what lesson I wanted taught, I just said, "Edward, tell Henry he can count to ten." (what you have to do to leave the corner in our house)

Henry counted. I said "Edward, tell Henry he can come out now."

Henry came out. How can something be so hilarious and so surreal at the same time?

Tags: edward, henry, parenting
Current Mood: amused