Happy Chinese New Year (sorry, I have been busy at work, shoveling, celebrating Chinese New Year and Valentine's day, hahaha)
Wish you all healthy and wealthy, hehehe. Honestly, I’m not too happy. I know I shouldn't but I do miss Mom a lot during the whole New Year time. Chinese New Year is supposed to be something to celebrate with your family. It’s not easy to not think about Mom and that’s why it makes it hard if you know what I mean. This is our first Chinese New Year without Mom. Even though Mom is very modern and updated from the outside, she is a very traditional Chinese woman. She follows all Chinese traditions as much as she could, especially in New Year’s, Ching Ming (a festival we pay respect to our passed away family members). Her thoughts are also very traditional, from how we need to respect to elderly/seniors to different roles of a wife at home.
Even when we are in Canada, she would give me a big red pocket every year, make a lot of yummy food, invite us over for dinner, to family gathering and dim sums, etc. We would go visit Gu Por’s family (and Grandma’s of course). Somehow we never go to Uncle Ed’s but now I think back, we never go probably because Mom is the bigger sister. They are to visit us and that’s why visiting them never clicked until just now (when Mom’s gone). Actually, according to Mom’s traditional thinking, once I’m married, I should go visit Uncle Ed’s as I’m having my own family. I guess I should pay more attention to these things from now on when no one is gonna reminds me, at least try to think like her.
The Year of Snake reminds of laziness. It then reminds me of how Mom and Dad needed to “sell laziness” end of each lunar year with Fian and I. If you read my previous blog or if you know us well, you should know who they were focusing on selling laziness, hahaha. Basically, at the end of each year when we were still young and when we were still in HK, we had to walk around the street after dinner to yell, “Sell laziness, sell laziness, sell til end of the next year!”, hahaha. Yea, it doesn't make sense and I didn’t work at all, hahaha (cuz’ I’m still very lazy, hahaha). But it’s a tradition that we do every year and I miss that a lot.
We would go shop at “Flower Market” for Chinese New Year’s decorations, flowers, toys, candies, Gwa Ji (fruit seeds we eat the middle in new years, hahaha), etc. It’s always a big thing there back home. The atmosphere here in Canada is much less comparatively. Well, I guess everyone gets three days off there while nothing changes here. The most exciting thing of Chinese New Year wasn’t the red pockets because ALL our red pockets go back to Mom and Dad, hahaha. The only two we have and we get to spend were from them. Mom kept telling me that she would put them into the back for us but I don’t think she did until when we were like at high school, hahaha. It may not be a bad thing for kids. We never touch money when young. We didn't even have pocket money until much later and even if it’s pocket money, we would only get it at the supermarket ($2 each). So, we got to select our snack there. Fian and I sometimes would combine ours to get something bigger, hahaha. Yup, she would probably finish most of it anyways, hahaha. Money is never a temptation to us, not even now.
The most exciting thing in Chinese New Year was in fact before the actual New Year. We could buy new clothes and shoes beforehand! That’s right, Fian and I would both have a new outfit from top to bottom, inside to outside ready to be worn on the first day of the year every year. Mom again demonstrated how traditional she was. Clothes are nice to have new in Chinese New Year, and she’s a good shopper and likes to shop anyways. Shoes actually are more interesting. In Cantonese, “shoes” sounds like “sigh” and if you buy “shoes” in the beginning of a year, people believe that you would be “sighing” throughout the year, hahaha. Not like Mom is not faithful, she’s just traditional, hehehe.
This year, Dad did everything he could to continue Mom’s “traditional-ness”. Since it falls on Sunday this year, we had New Year’s lunch together after church. We then visited Dad’s, collected our red pockets and had some snacks there too. Dad made us some turnip cakes and “year pudding” (Nin Go). Well, he didn't make them, he just pan fried them, hahaha. THANKS TO GRANDMA of course. She made everything!!! Oh, Auntie Teresa also made us some Nin Go too – thanks!!! It was all good. We then had dinner at Grandma’s place together with Uncle Ed’s (plus Derek and Jenny) and Wentzell’s! Yup, we all squeezed in Grandma’s tiny bachelor unit!!! Mmm…we had 12ppl, hahaha!!! You know what, it reminds me of having celebrations in HK!!! God is good all the time.
Dad misses Mom we know and even Jake misses Mah Mah too. On the ride to Dad's place, Jake went with Dad. Jake asked, "Where is Mah Mah?". Dad told him that she's now in Heaven and Jake goes, "Is it where Jesus is?". Dad didn't respond cuz' he was in tears. He told us about it when we arrived and yes, we all miss her a lot, even Jonah wanted to touch her.
Before Chinese New Year, there was two interesting things happened. First, it was the big snow fall, haha. Gloria and I love snow sooooo much (that's why I proposed outside with snow around us, hohoho). We had so much fun having snowball fights, snow mountain building, tobogganing on driveway, shoveling and driving on snow, hehe. I dislike hearing complains and the most ridiculous one I heard was, "I paid tax, how come I don't get a clean road to drive?", hahaha. Cuz' the snow just didn't stop, hahaha? I guess we are truly Canadian liking everything of it, including minus 20 and snow storms. Seriously, what cold, snow storm, hahaha? Gloria and I actually got so excited, including Jake cuz' he didn't need to go to school, hahaha. Count our blessings!
The second thing before CNY was a great party – Baby Emma’s first year old birthday! I can use three "lots" to summarize Baby Emma’s first year: she has lots of hair, lots of fun and lots of energy, (of course she has lots of love from everyone), haha. The party was jam packed with lots of activities like Baby Salsa, hand painting on canvas, cake cutting, pictures taking, refreshments eating, chit chatting, heads hitting (yea, cuz’ the light fixtures above the coffee tables were low and we needed to have the coffee tables moved, hahaha), Guinness record speed cleaning and packing at the end with lots of sweating, haha. Time just flew by so fast, hahaha. It was almost a four hour party!!! Good thing the boys were napped well - thanks to our planning of course, haha. We all had a lot of fun. Pray that this little girl would be blessed by God continuously with health and happiness always. I’ll keep up with my job – to make her laugh like crazy always, hahaha. Love you Emma!!!
Mom, Happy Valentine's Day! My sweetest Dad bought you flowers from Home Depot (yes, Home Depot) and went visit you on Valentine's Day but the snow was just too much for him to climb over to drop it to you. The flowers are still with him but I guess it's the heart that counts. We had a great supper at home together with prime ribs, clam chowder coup and salad (thanks B!!!). I'll find another time celebrate Valentine's Day with Gloria some other time this year, hehehe. Don't worry though, I didn't forget her. I just give her a few surprises, like did nothing at 12am, cake in closet, flower when she's having BSF, mailed her the card, a super cheesy slideshow, hahaha. It wasn't the smoothest per planned but it's all good: like she refused to check our mailbox until I forced her to (kinda gave it away a little), hahaha! And she didn't check my message with the YouTube link of the slideshow until we are about to sleep 12. Yes, I had to ask her to check (I was like waiting and waiting for her response but nothing happened, hahaha)! Oh well, appreciate your other half no matter if it's Valentine's Day or not. Dad, even though I know you would miss Mom a lot on Valentine's Day, your love to her is always there - she knows.
"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers" (1 Peter 3:7)
Two other notes I want to mention before leaving this time:
- Dad's soup is actually very very good;
- Jonah's crib is gone - he's having his "big boy's bed", Mom!!! Jake and Jonah actually had their first ever sleepover last weekend!!! Thank God so so much...
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