Well, I almost got it. A dusting of snow this morning appeared. It wasn't especially cold. But it is the day after Christmas in Korea and I got my White Christmas, sorta. It is Christmas today in California.
Just a quick update. I am still here, blog writing, but the business of preparing for the holiday kept me from my laptop. Now for clean up and a big nap. Clean up is mostly done. Nap still in order. Being this is Christmas Night, I hope you had a blessed holiday. Looking forward to the year's end and 2016! Much Love and Smiles, Leticia :)
Friday, December 25, 2015
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Snow Flurries
It came upon a winter's day. Snow! My first snow living in snow country. The billowy flakes blew around in pillowy drifts. With so much excitement, I felt like a kid on my first adventure in the snow. Being warm inside the house watching the snow like tiny popcorn float down and cover everything in white was one thing. Heading out in the cold was another. Bundling up to go outside to play was a process of patience.
On the first day, Miranda and Baby Nathaniel and I went for a snow walk. The excitement of my first snow was so refreshing breathing in the cold air and exhaling frost mist. When the girls came home from preschool, Nate and I stayed inside protected from the cold outside while Aurora and Francesca played in the snow wearing their mittens, snow bibs, jackets, hats and scarves protecting them. I watched from the window with warmth in my heart witnessing mother and daughters joyously playing in the cold snow.
On the second day, two adults, two toddlers and one baby ventured outside for a snow picnic. The bundling process again and I was always the last one ready. The girls were on an adventure to find snow beans. Lola, my grandma name, carried the snow food and a bulky canister of holiday popcorn. The Korean Cultural Center was a short distance down the road and we walked along frozen and melting snow through the neighborhood with houses scattered amongst frozen rice paddies. Everywhere you looked was draped in white. At the Center we set up under an awning with our blanket. The snow beans, a bag of holiday mint M & M's, were found after mom had flung them over the previously green lawn and we ate our picnic snacks. No one sat down because of the cold and because of the lure of expansive snow available to make fresh tracks was irresistible. I couldn't stop running around and trying to make snow hearts with my boots. The Center had holiday music playing and I couldn't have been happier dancing in the snow while the tiny flakes descended on my face. After gleaning the perfect icicle, I was surprised to find the icy treat was sharp when I pierced my tongue. "Could this be the perfect murder weapon?" That was my daughter's input.
While the exhilaration of my first snow was rejuvenating, snow excitement runs it's course. First the snow gets dirty and melts into black ice which makes walking difficult because of the fear of finding my rump in a heap of snow or worse in a puddle of muddy freezing water. Then as the snowing stops its starts to melt making even more mud. The next day, when the sun came out I began to wonder, if the snow had all been a dream with little reminders of the fun we had had the day before.
No worries for me. I'm in South Korea until January and the hope that I'll get my first White Christmas will be a dream come true.
On the first day, Miranda and Baby Nathaniel and I went for a snow walk. The excitement of my first snow was so refreshing breathing in the cold air and exhaling frost mist. When the girls came home from preschool, Nate and I stayed inside protected from the cold outside while Aurora and Francesca played in the snow wearing their mittens, snow bibs, jackets, hats and scarves protecting them. I watched from the window with warmth in my heart witnessing mother and daughters joyously playing in the cold snow.
On the second day, two adults, two toddlers and one baby ventured outside for a snow picnic. The bundling process again and I was always the last one ready. The girls were on an adventure to find snow beans. Lola, my grandma name, carried the snow food and a bulky canister of holiday popcorn. The Korean Cultural Center was a short distance down the road and we walked along frozen and melting snow through the neighborhood with houses scattered amongst frozen rice paddies. Everywhere you looked was draped in white. At the Center we set up under an awning with our blanket. The snow beans, a bag of holiday mint M & M's, were found after mom had flung them over the previously green lawn and we ate our picnic snacks. No one sat down because of the cold and because of the lure of expansive snow available to make fresh tracks was irresistible. I couldn't stop running around and trying to make snow hearts with my boots. The Center had holiday music playing and I couldn't have been happier dancing in the snow while the tiny flakes descended on my face. After gleaning the perfect icicle, I was surprised to find the icy treat was sharp when I pierced my tongue. "Could this be the perfect murder weapon?" That was my daughter's input.
While the exhilaration of my first snow was rejuvenating, snow excitement runs it's course. First the snow gets dirty and melts into black ice which makes walking difficult because of the fear of finding my rump in a heap of snow or worse in a puddle of muddy freezing water. Then as the snowing stops its starts to melt making even more mud. The next day, when the sun came out I began to wonder, if the snow had all been a dream with little reminders of the fun we had had the day before.
No worries for me. I'm in South Korea until January and the hope that I'll get my first White Christmas will be a dream come true.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
The Very Beginning
Well where did this all begin? When I was a kid there was a book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorist that was a Garcia family favorite. Alexander's days were so bad he was forever moving to Australia. Evidently problems didn't exist in Australia. In my childhood home, if you voiced you were moving to Australia, everyone knew to stay out of your way, especially mom's. As a mother with my children, I was constantly moving to Australia. Now that I have grandchildren in Korea, I would be moving there. Clearly, problems didn't exist in Korea either. Sometime in October, after a harrowing experience with a frienenemy, in a text, I bemoaned to my daughter, if I could move to Korea. Sure she said. So, I was ready to leave. I had had enough crappy days in California, I thought. The idea of me moving to Korea had been bandied about with my daughter since my grandson was born in Spring, so it wasn't just, "I'm outta here," decision. I couldn't make a permanent move, but I could do two months. So without much hemming and hawing, I put in for a leave of absence from work and gave my 30 day notice to give up my apartment. So that's the beginning. Really life in California was pretty wonderful. The opportunity to live with my grandchildren abroad was a chance in a lifetime according to my other daughter. So here I am just getting into the routine of babies with colds and laughter with Lola, my grandma name. The laughter part you can't just bottle. You have to be here. I'm glad I am.
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