My Little Runaway

Acacia ran away yesterday.

I took her iPod Touch after a second discussion (this has happened once before) about leaving it unattended at sleepovers and having friends post things under her name - in this case an unflattering picture on Instagram of a mutual friend - and then changing the password so Acacia couldn't delete the photo instantly. Said mutual used-to-be-friend texted me much later to ask Acacia to remove it, even though Acacia had done so hours prior and had already told her that... i.e. ex-friend tried to get Acacia in trouble by involving me. Because I realised this, my intention was only to teach Acacia why it's so important not to share her password - even with good friends who thought it would be funny.

Instead she assumed I was going to lay into her and she flipped out and yelled rude things.

Well, then she was in trouble. I already had her iPod and now she had to do chores on top of it. When I mentioned we were having fish for dinner, that was it. There was no reason in her mind to stay.

She left at 5:30pm in a tank top, shorts and bare feet, so I wasn't terribly worried. It's been in the 60s during the day, but once the sun sets it gets chilly quickly. She talked the whole time she was leaving about how she'd rather sleep in the woods and get eaten by animals, blah blah blah.

She was gone an impressive hour and a half. She gets her tenaciousness from her Papa, but in this case it was her ability to fall asleep anywhere (that would be from me) that helped her out.

Of course, the seat cushion, sleeping bag and wool blanket she slipped into the shed (I looked in there!) helped as well.


I tried to make her homecoming less tail-between-her-legs with a big hug.

"Hey - how are you so warm? It's cold out there."

"Jumping jacks. I was freezing."



Tonight she made an awesome caramelized onion risotto for us for dinner, so I guess she's not too scarred?

Found out today Cayenne had been trying to sneak food out to her sister, but I started cooking, never left the kitchen and foiled the plan.

That makes me happy.

Social media? Not so much. I thought we were doing well by having middle-schoolers without phones or Facebook accounts, but I'm really not interested in keeping them completely cut off, either. These days that would be cause for therapy down the road, and I'll already be blamed for enough!

I guess all we can do is try to teach them the rules of this crazy techno age, most of which are still being written. Starting with #1:

Never click 'send' without rereading it and imagining the whole world seeing it - because that is possible every single time.


 

Eggsactly What I Needed to Remember Most of the Time, Life is Sunny Side Up

"It was the eggs. They just wouldn't set."

The policeman looked at me. 

"The eggs?"

"Yes. I've got breakfast for 40 of my colleagues in the back and those darn eggs wouldn't set. So I was almost late and now I am."

His eyes smiled, I swear.

"When are you supposed to be there?"

"Now."

"I'll be quick," he said, as he returned to his unmarked, light blue, Chevy sedan that looked like something Cheech & Chong would drive billowing smoke.

I'd known I was speeding and had been very aware of every vehicle around me and there were no police cars... until there was, in disguise. Should be illegal.

I called our manager Geoff and told him breakfast would be a couple of minutes late because I got pulled over. 

"You have no infractions in the last 120 days, so I'll just give you a warning," the incognito cop said.

"Really? Thank you! Would you like some breakfast?"

As I came down the stairs with two coffee cakes, a huge fruit salad and loads of chorizo green chili eggs, I heard Geoff make the announcement of why their food wasn't here yet, and the ensuing laughter.

Then I walked into the meeting room to a roaring round of applause.

It was going to be a good day.

   

Life is Short - but it Could've Been Shorter!

Four years ago already.

That's a third of Acacia's life. For me parts of February 14th, 2011 seem like yesterday, but for the most part, it's as you see in these photos of this past weekend: A sidebar to a life we're still creating.

Valentine's in Phoenix.

Nicolas and Cayenne cooked an amazing meal.

While Acacia worked on her own fun feats.

 Good times at Goodwill...

...and not-so-good times in a dentists' chair. 

But she was being seen by the best in the profession and it really was a good thing. 

More to come on that, I'm sure!

And Ilona & Michel joined us for a warm night and cool drinks.

Our favourite picnic spot, halfway home.

Life is good.

A Family Christmas

Sometime in November my nephew Sam wrote a letter to Santa. He stuffed it into an envelope, put a 1 cent stamp on it and mailed it to the North Pole. Then he waited.

My sister-in-law Sophie had peeked at it, as is usually necessary to make such dreams come true, but this year the magic happened all on its own.

Right before Christmas a package arrived from the North Pole (and Sophie had nothing to do with it!). Sam had asked for one thing: A book on making paper airplanes. What Santa sent him was two books, paper, scissors, colored pencils and all sorts of other goodies, and this handwritten, personal letter:

Clearly this Santa not only gets joy out of making children happy, but also has a sense of humour. How awesome is that?

(The post office offers a program where people can pick up letters to Santa and fulfill wishes. Love it!!)

The rest of Christmas was filled with wonderful surprises as well, including finding out that my brother Jarrett and his family from BC were staying 1 mile away from our Cofman gathering in Palm Desert, CA. The whole scenario was a recipe for fun times, great food and long-overdue reunioning.

Alan, Greg (Rose's brother), his friend Star, my brother Jarrett and his Rose, and my Nick.

Eric

Rose 

 Sophie

 Moi

 Jellema siblings and their broods

Happy Cofmans

More happy Cofmans!

The accommodations were not bad. Thank you Ilona & Michel!

I'm detecting a theme here...

So long!

   

Shangri-La - Final Bit on Nepal

One of the first people Nick met when he moved to Nepal more than 20 years ago was Allan Christensen, the only foreign pilot in the country. He's Danish, although for some reason it's a joke between them to call him Dutch - something in which I fail to see the humour. Just saying.

They became fast friends and housemates, and share many adventurous Kathmandu memories including mountain biking, momos and meeting Parmila, the love of Alan's life.

Married 20 years ago today. ♥

Happy Anniversay!

Decades later these boys' wives connected through facebook, which is how Parmila and Alan in Hong Kong learned we would be in Kathmandu. Their HK flight landed not too long after we returned from our trek, and we had a blast zipping through Kathmandu's memory lanes and dusty alleys.

"Mike's Breakfast"

No more tuk-tuks in Kathmandu (bittersweet news, that was), so we settled on this tuk-tuk-like bus.

A large number of us fit in there, especially considering a number of us were large!

We found Allan's old house, and then his old landlord who remembered them both.

On their old porch.

The shop where they used to buy their tankas. Same artist was still there.

Lunch above Durbar Square

Nick and Allan were regulars at this momo restaurant. It was yum!!

Pretty fun to come back 17 years later and people still recognize you.

Kathmandu occupies a special place in my heart, and the new memories we made with Allan & Parmila made that place even sweeter.

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Au revoir, Nepal!